"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Turtle has vanished without a trace, and to this day has not returned to the Dragon Palace," the Clam Lady said, trembling.

The rage that Ao Guang had just shown had terrified her.

Ao Guang’s face turned gloomy. After so many years of working together, he knew Prime Minister Turtle very well. The Prime Minister was not one to dawdle; even if an incident occurred, he would find a way to send a message.

Unless he was either dead or had been imprisoned.

This thought made Ao Guang agitated, as he felt that matters were slipping out of his control.

Pacing back and forth in the Crystal Palace, a series of recent upheavals had alerted Ao Guang to an ominous presence. The major defeat of the allied forces at the front could very likely have deeper implications.

It was at this moment that intelligence from the front lines was delivered.

Of course, the content of the report was drafted by Ao Ming and others. In the letter, they laid all the blame on the generals who had died.

They portrayed themselves as individuals who had strove to tip the balance back in their favor, while also emphasizing the brutality and arrogance of the Demon Clan. In the conclusion, they requested a decisive battle with the Demon Clan to comfort the souls of the deceased Aquatic Races in the heavens and to defend the dignity of the Dragon Clan.

After reading through the report, Ao Guang sighed deeply. He did not believe the content in his heart, but the fact that these Dragon Sons managed to send out this letter indicated they had seized actual power.

Even if he did not acknowledge it, he could not change the fact that it had been established, and since these individuals were of the Dragon Breed and true members of the Dragon Clan, Ao Guang was naturally more inclined to trust his own kin over others from the Aquatic Races.

The next moment, the Dragon Gathering Bell rang again, and the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas gathered once more at the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace.

Everyone’s faces were somber, clearly having received the reports and were aware of the heavy losses suffered by their armies.

These upheavals also made them realize that something was amiss.

"Eldest brother, this matter reeks of conspiracy. These fellows have the audacity to act on their own and deploy troops, not to mention, the messengers we sent out have vanished without a trace. When did they get so bold?" Ao Qin said with a furrowed brow.

He understood his own generals to some extent; they likely took action on their own for the sake of military achievements, but capturing or imprisoning his messengers was beyond their courage.

"Now that there are no witnesses to verify the deaths, we have nowhere to begin our investigation. Anyway, those whelps insist that these men died on the battlefield, and no messengers were ever found."

"Those sly youngsters usually keep a low profile, and who would have thought they had such boldness," Ao Run said with a smile.

Despite his words, he held a measure of admiration for Ao Ming and the others. As an elder of the clan, it had been a long time since he had seen a member of the Dragon Clan who could impress at first glance.

"Eldest brother, what do we do now? Our front-line troops have suffered heavy losses, but those youngsters are riled up, demanding a full-blown battle with the Demon Clan."

Ao Guang spoke gravely, "Now we are in a situation akin to riding a tiger and can’t afford to choose otherwise. Showing weakness now would likely drown us in the criticism of those within our clan."

"Besides, even if we’re unwilling, would those youngsters at the front listen to us? Have you not seen their stance in the letter?"

The Dragon Kings silently nodded. Although they were reluctant to be the pawns of the Heavenly Court, the issue now concerned the face of the Dragon Clan, and they dared not speak of retreat.

"Well then, since things have reached this point, let us fight the Demon Clan properly. We must not let the beings of the Three Realms look down on our Dragon Clan. As for the deceased from the Aquatic Races, let them die; it’s fine as long as the losses among our Dragon Clan are not great," Ao Qin sighed faintly.

Everyone was silent. Although the words spoken by Ao Qin were somewhat cold-hearted, they represented the stark reality. For the Dragon Clan, these Aquatic Races were expendable, and it didn’t pose a major issue as long as there were not too many casualties among their own people.

After all, with this vast ocean at hand, it would not be long before a large number of Aquatic Races replenished their ranks.

After consulting with one another, they decided to turn a blind eye to the matters at the front, pretending they hadn’t happened and let the youngsters stir up trouble to see what they could achieve.

In reality, this was a compromise with the radical faction within. Ao Guang and the others were well aware that constant suppression might cause even more serious repercussions.

The battle in the Northern Sea came to an end, while the tug-of-war between Li Jing and The Great Saint who moves mountains on the other side of Luzhou in the North continued.

Both sides waged a battle of wits and courage in these mountains, with continuous fatalities that left bones buried within this forest.

The Demon Clan found the fighting tough, and as time progressed, Li Jing, leading the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, became increasingly familiar with the forest, no longer displaying previous carelessness, which directly boosted their combat effectiveness.

The Monsters living here clearly felt that the Heavenly soldiers were getting tougher to deal with. Previously, traps would always manage to catch a few Heavenly soldiers, but now, these traps hardly had any effect and might even be exploited by the Heavenly troops to turn on the Monsters.

These changes cast a heavy shadow on the faces of the once buoyant and confident Demon Kings.

They once believed they could keep the Heavenly Court at bay within these mountains indefinitely.

"Haha, you can’t handle even this small setback?" The Great Saint who moves mountains, seeing the dejection among the crowd, laughed aloud.

"The forces of the Heavenly Court are all elites. They suffered greatly at first due to unfamiliarity with the environment, but with time, they were bound to adapt. Meanwhile, if we remain stagnant, of course we’ll feel they’re getting tougher to deal with," he continued.

"But, on the other hand, our goal is to delay them here as long as possible to win time for developments in our rear. The longer they’re held up here, the earlier their defeat will come in the future, so it’s they who should be in a hurry, not us," the Great Saint consoled everyone with a smile.

Having followed the Demon Master through many hide-and-seek years and endured the most brutal times of the Demon Clan, he wasn’t worried about the current difficulties.

Being able to hold the Heavenly Army here for so long had already exceeded his expectations.

"So, we need to be smarter going forward. We won’t defend indefensible peaks, and we won’t engage in battles we can’t win. We’ll focus on the easy targets; after all, we have only one aim: to make their lives miserable," he said.

After his speech, the disheartened Demon Kings finally showed smiles. They had been overly optimistic before, and now, enlightened by the words of The Great Saint who moves mountains, they realized they had been oblivious to the bigger picture.

Seeing the crowd regain their spirits, The Great Saint who moves mountains then said with a laugh, "That’s why I say, get your mind in the right place and slowly toy with these heirs of the Heavenly court. If things get dire, we’ll simply retreat. We’ve already won enough time for reinforcements to arrive, and they’ll be here soon."