As it turned out, things unfolded just as Cheng Zongyang had predicted.

Just as the fire reached its peak intensity, threatening to consume the entire forest, the sky suddenly grew dark.

Dark clouds gathered, plunging the world into near-total darkness. Moments later, a clap of thunder tore across the sky, and a torrential downpour came cascading down.

The suddenness of it far exceeded the expectations of Cheng Zongyang and the others.

As the downpour met the mountain fire, steam billowed up, and the blaze began to be suppressed.

The animals, sensing a chance at survival, grew lively. They stopped pressing toward the center and began to spread out, as if eager to feel the baptism of the long-awaited rain.

The rain fell harder and harder, as if releasing two years of pent-up moisture. The flames were gradually extinguished, leaving behind nothing but scorched trees and a landscape of utter devastation.

Watching the relentless downpour, Zhou Hanchang grinned from ear to ear.

"More than two years! It’s finally raining! It’s all over! HAHAHAHA!"

However, Cheng Zongyang’s expression remained grim as he gazed to the west.

’That shriek before the fireballs appeared! Then came the countless, densely packed fireballs, shooting into the sky. That terrifying cry... what on earth could have made it?’

’Besides, Tianduan Mountain spans the entire Land of Four Mansions. Judging from how the fireballs scattered, the wildfires must be raging in more than just a few places.’

’Those villages, towns, and county towns have probably also suffered various degrees of destruction.’

However, Cheng Zongyang and his men were unaware that while rain poured down on Tianduan Mountain, the lands outside remained under a scorching sun, without a single drop of moisture.

At the same time, the fireballs that had rained down from the sky had also caused varying degrees of destruction in the villages, towns, county towns, commandery cities, and even the prefecture cities of the Land of Four Mansions.

When Emperor Liang in the Capital City learned of this, his expression changed drastically. He swiftly dispatched officials to manage the situation and immediately ordered the Border Army to be on high alert.

Within Jade Peak County, several fireballs had smashed into residential houses, starting an unknown number of fires. Countless people wanted to draw water to fight the flames, but they could only stare in despair at the nearly dry wells.

The only place that still had water was the large public well in the center of town.

Luo Dingran and his men were completely overwhelmed. They were forced to use harsh measures to suppress those who were taking advantage of the chaos to loot supplies and water. They also quickly organized teams to quarantine the fire-stricken areas.

The mountain forests and some villages outside the County Town did not receive the torrential rains of Tianduan Mountain, and could only let the great fires burn unchecked.

This same scene played out again and again across the Land of Four Mansions.

Meanwhile, in the border cities of the three prefectures of Linchuan, Xiangyang, and Xichuan, battles suddenly erupted!

Men who had long been lying in wait saw the fireballs over Tianduan Mountain as a signal for war and instantly launched their battle to seize the city gates!

One after another, signal flares burst in the air.

At the same time, outside the border city, countless organized but differently dressed groups of people appeared in the distance and drew near, forming distinct units that charged toward the city like a torrent!

They were not national soldiers, but the private troops belonging to the Thirteen Royal Families.

The Thirteen Royal Families were super-families who stood above the Gate Influence, only slightly weaker than the Royal Influence. They could also be called top-tier Gate Valves.

But their strength far surpassed that of the Gate Influence, which is why they were called Royal Families.

Unwilling to be constrained by the Dynasty, they had moved their entire clans out of the Dynasty’s territory. Some of the stronger Royal Families in other nations had even dared to carve out their own territory and declare independence, establishing themselves as new Royal Families.

However, any Royal Family that dared to secede would almost certainly be targeted and attacked by the Dynasty, so most chose to migrate away instead.

Dynasties were unwilling to risk the instability of warring with a Royal Family—a family possessing at least five experts at Innate Perfection and twenty in the Innate Realm—so most would simply allow such powers to leave their borders.

Yet, over many years and across all nations, only thirteen super-families had managed to achieve this status and become known as the Thirteen Royal Families.

The formation of every Royal Family came from harvesting a Dynasty’s resources; once they left, it was the nation’s wealth that was ultimately lost. It was because of the cautionary tale of the Thirteen Royal Families that all Dynasties now restricted and suppressed the growth of their Gate Valve Families, lest more Royal Family-level powers emerge.

Now, the troops of each color-coded family numbered no less than ten thousand. Perhaps this number was not much compared to a national army.

But upon closer inspection, one would find that these men were mostly composed of Martial Artists of the Lower Three Grades, with some from the Middle Third Grades, a few from the Upper Three Grades, and even several experts in the Innate Realm!

One family alone might not be much, but united, their numbers represented a force that not even the Da Liang Kingdom dared to underestimate.

Even the well-prepared Da Liang soldiers paled when they saw the imposing appearance of the Thirteen Royal Families’ troops.

Although the signal fires had been lit to notify the main garrison the moment the spies began their battle for the gates, it was clear they could not hold out for long.

The bad news came quickly.

With an Upper Three Grades Martial Artist guarding the border wall being slain by a newly appeared Innate Expert, one of the city gates was instantly breached!

The speed of it all horrified the defending Martial Artists.

Even though that Innate Expert was eventually intercepted by one of the army’s own Innates, it was already too late to stop the charge of the Thirteen Royal Families’ forces.

And so, war erupted across the three prefectures.

Their goal was the thing within Tianduan Mountain.

They had long known of the object that fell from the sky. They had merely been sending out scouts to investigate while biding their time, waiting for this very day.

「Xiangyang. Tianduan Mountain. The Inner Mountain Pass.」

After the rain extinguished the forest fire, Cheng Zongyang and his men led Zhou Hanchang and the workers back to their camp.

It had been half a month since the gold panning began. The salt produced by the Salt Workshop had been sent back to their clan lands in batches. The last delivery of finished salt had been sent back the previous night, leaving none at the camp.