After becoming king, Zhan Fanyin issued a command that same day to assemble the army and attack the Underlaw Empire.

This was actually Han Wu’s idea. He called it fighting chaos with chaos.

Zhan Fanyin faced two problems. The first was internal dissent within the Battlecraze Empire, as Zhan Yuwen’s gruesome death had left the generals unwilling to accept the new king. The second was the looming threat from the Underlaw Empire.

Even though the Battlecraze Empire had ordered a media blackout on the old king’s death, no secret stayed hidden for long. The Underlaw Empire would undoubtedly make its move sooner rather than later.

Thus, Han Wu suggested that Zhan Fanyin order the potentially rebellious generals to attack the Underlaw Empire’s forces, turning the internal turmoil into an external conflict. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Regardless of whether they won or lost, it would buy Zhan Fanyin time to adapt. If he performed well during the war, he could even win over the military’s loyalty.

When this order was issued, the generals who had been preparing to rebel shelved their plans. The Battlecraze Empire and the Underlaw Empire were blood enemies. Nothing mattered more than fighting the Underlaw Empire!

The generals redirected their assembled forces toward the Underlaw Empire. Meanwhile, the Underlaw Empire had just learned of the old king’s death and was preparing to take advantage of the situation when they were attacked. The Battlecraze Empire had launched an all-out offensive before their troops could even set out!

This unconventional approach completely caught the Underlaw Empire off guard. The old king had just died. The Battlecraze Empire was supposed to be in mourning! Instead, they launched a full-scale invasion. What kind of mourning ritual was this?

The Underlaw Empire hastily shifted to engage in full-scale warfare.

The war lasted half a year. During this time, He Xu stayed by Zhan Fanyin’s side as his personal guard, while Han Wu and Qin Shuang went out to search for the Titan Stones, though occasionally returning to offer advice.

Zhan Fanyin implemented each of Han Wu’s creative and unconventional strategies, with surprisingly good results. The generals, unaware that Han Wu was secretly advising Zhan Fanyin, believed the strategies were Zhan Fanyin’s own, and their approval of him steadily grew.

After six months, the war ended in a truce. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and their economies took a severe hit. The people struggled to survive.

Without the war to consolidate his position, Zhan Fanyin had no choice but to focus on rebuilding the Battlecraze Empire’s economy. He Xu turned out to be an excellent teacher for this.

Under He Xu’s guidance, the Battlecraze Empire’s economy grew rapidly in a short period. The people’s living standards improved from widespread famine to having two meals a day. Zhan Fanyin’s repeated display of practical insight caused the generals’ approval to skyrocket, and they gradually forgot about the rebellion.

Within a year of Zhan Fanyin’s crowning, the Battlecraze Empire’s economy recovered to its level under the old king. Though still far from the prosperity of the old king’s peak, Zhan Fanyin had managed to hold things together and secure his seat upon the Iron Throne.

During this same period, Han Wu had used the Titan Stones to develop his Duel Jurisdiction to 100% and awakened a new Divine Jurisdiction effect called the Duel God Physique.

[Duel God Physique: The battle will never stop for as long as life persists. Every fight serves as nourishment for the Duel God Physique’s growth.]

In theory, Han Wu could’ve advanced to a God King while in the Battleborn Civilization and gained a free ability, but he chose not to.

The Duel Jurisdiction could not fully satisfy his goals. Only once he found a Divine Jurisdiction that could fulfill all of his ambitions would he advance to God King.

If he truly could not find one, he could always load his backup Divine Jurisdictions onto his abilities and select the most suitable one for his God King advancement.

After wrapping up their affairs in the Battleborn Civilization, the three of them chose to leave. As repayment for their help, Zhan Fanyin used his authority as king of the Battlecraze Empire to request the Battleborn Civilization for three slivers of its Will, which he gifted to the trio as thanks.

Han Wu and the others accepted without hesitation. With that, they exited the Battleborn Civilization and returned to the Divine Civilization. Their return was met with praise from Xu Hai, who had already received the news from the Will of the Divine Civilization.

The three of them had truly done well in maintaining the friendly relationship between the Divine Civilization and the Battleborn Civilization. The only downside was that the war had killed a lot of people.

Thankfully, the Will of the Battleborn Civilization understood the nature of its two empires. They were the type to start fighting the moment nobody was watching. A war that thinned out some numbers would at least keep them peaceful for a while.

Their excellent performance naturally also came with rewards. Xu Hai distributed three reward packages to them and then left to tend to Wisdom Faction matters. The three opened their packages to great satisfaction.

He Xu obtained a cultivation technique that could help him improve the development of his Divine Jurisdiction. Qin Shuang received a new type of element called Chaos Storm, which could absorb all other elements and convert them into lightning.

Han Wu’s reward was the most unique of all. He received a miniature divine realm Core with five levels. Once implanted into his divine realm, it would allow his Core to equip additional Sacred Objects up to five levels.

For Han Wu, this was a huge gain. Given the enormous population of his core race, even the slightest boost per locust would translate into a massive overall improvement. The miniature divine realm Core only had five levels, so it could only equip a Rank 5 Sacred Object at most. Deciding which Sacred Object to use would require some careful thought.

After receiving their rewards, they returned to their respective divine realms. Han Wu patiently organized everything he had gained throughout his summer break.

The semester was about to start. Once classes resumed, he would be a third-year student, one step closer to his fourth year.

“Chaotic Starfield. Just wait until I reach my fourth year...” Han Wu muttered as he went over his gains.

During this trip to the Battleborn Civilization, Han Wu had learned to forge Divine Authority weapons under He Xu’s guidance and successfully crafted a Divine Authority greatsword. He already had ideas for his second Divine Authority, though it still needed more refinement before taking its final form.

The second gain was the Duel God Physique, derived from the Duel Jurisdiction. Upon activating it, Han Wu discovered that the Duel God Physique was a transformation-type ability, similar to the Demon King Transformation.

Han Wu planned to invest some resources into merging the Duel God Physique with the Demon King Transformation, granting it the effect of growing stronger through combat.

Then, there was the sliver of the Battleborn Civilization that Zhan Fanyin had gifted him. Han Wu watched as it floated silently before his eyes. With this, Han Wu could craft a totem of his own.