Wang Hao drew the Western Regions map as the territory of the Great Zhou

The Great Zhou Imperial Palace, the Imperial Study.

The three foundational ancestors of the Great Zhou imperial family wore ancient robes of the retired emperor, their faces withered but their auras as deep as the abyss. The current stabilizing pillar of the hidden Ren family and Ren Mingyue's great-grandfather, Old Master Ren, leaned heavily on a purple-gold dragon-head walking stick, his brows tightly furrowed. The Vice Palace Master of the Ice and Snow Divine Palace and Shen Xue's mentor wore a snow-white palace dress, surrounded by a freezing chill that seemed to ice over the void itself. Finally, there was the First Elder of the Illusory Sea Immortal Sect and Yun Meng's master, an old man in a green robe who looked like a transcendent immortal but was in truth a ruthless killer who shed no blood.

These six individuals represented the absolute peak of combat power in the current Avengers Alliance. Releasing just one of them would be enough to stir up a storm of blood and slaughter in the Eastern Wasteland, forcing the masters of first-rate sects to their knees to beg for mercy and call them ancestors.

Yet at this moment, these six Skysoaring Realm mighty figures stood like a group of naive school children waiting to be scolded by their strict private tutor. They did not even dare to breathe too loudly, their eyes fixed on the young man's back in the center of the Imperial Study.

Wang Hao wore only a loose black casual robe. He wore no imperial crown, and his long hair was casually tied back with a single red string. With his back to the group, he held an imperial brush heavily dipped in crimson cinnabar ink, quietly looking up at a massive map hanging on the wall.

It was the Complete Map of the Eastern Wasteland, and its Western Region half was densely annotated: the Western Region Righteous Alliance, the Western Region Demonic Lairs, the Crimson Moon Demon Cult's Sealed Land, and the high and mighty Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

Drip.

A drop of cinnabar fell from the tip of the brush, splashing onto the golden brick floor like a blooming flower of blood.

Wang Hao moved.

He did not turn around. He simply raised his hand slowly, and the vermilion brush in his grip slashed violently across the map!

Riiiip!

A glaring crimson line directly pierced through the territory representing the Western Region Righteous Alliance!

Immediately after, Wang Hao's wrist danced like a swimming dragon, the vermilion brush running wild over the map.

He drew massive crosses!

Western Region Demonic Evils, crossed out!

Crimson Moon Demon Cult, crossed out!

Heaven's Secret Pavilion, ruthlessly struck with a giant, blood-red cross that nearly tore through the paper!

Finally, Wang Hao shifted his brush stroke. Right in the very center of the Western Region territory, which he had painted beyond recognition with red lines and crosses, he wrote a single, sprawling, murderous character—

Zhou!

Having done all this, Wang Hao casually tossed the priceless imperial brush into the brush washer. He turned around, his abyss-like eyes sweeping over the six Skysoaring Realm mighty figures present.

I did not summon you here tonight to discuss matters with you, but to inform you.

Wang Hao's voice was not loud, but it carried an absolute, undeniable imperial will that echoed thunderously throughout the Imperial Study.

Within three months, this place called the Western Region must bear the surname Zhou.

As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the Imperial Study felt as though it had been instantly drained.

The six Skysoaring Realm ancestors looked at each other, each able to see the sheer horror in the others' eyes.

The Wang kid! Old Master Ren was, after all, an old fox who had lived for hundreds of years, and he was the first to recover from the shock. He took a step forward, thumping his dragon-head walking stick heavily on the ground, and forced himself to speak.

This old man knows that Your Majesty harbors great ambitions, and your divine might in the Northern Frontier battle was unmatched. But... this Western Region is unlike those hidden sects in the Eastern Wasteland who were terrified out of their wits by you! Leaving aside the bizarre and unpredictable Western Region Demonic Evils, the Crimson Moon Demon Cult has the Martial God Physique in their grasp! That is a terrifying existence that surpasses the Skysoaring Realm and truly touches upon the realm of martial gods!

Furthermore... Old Master Ren swallowed hard, lowering his voice significantly, The Old Charlatan of the Heaven's Secret Pavilion, Xie Wujiu, is known for his infallible calculations and ability to divine the secrets of heaven. If we mobilize the entire nation's strength for a western expedition and he calculates our fatal weakness, the Great Zhou and our old bones will probably all be buried in the yellow sands of the Western Region!

Indeed, Your Majesty. This matter affects the entire situation with a single move, and requires careful, long-term planning! The Vice Palace Master of the Ice and Snow Divine Palace could not help but advise as well. It was not that she pitied the Great Zhou's soldiers, but rather she pitied the disciples of her Ice and Snow Divine Palace who were about to be thrown into this meat grinder.

Facing the doubts and fears of these old timers, Wang Hao smiled.

He leaned one hand on the massive red sandalwood desk, laughing so hard that his shoulders trembled slightly. Gradually, that low chuckle morphed into a bone-chilling, maniacal laughter.

Hahaha... Martial God Physique? Divining the secrets of heaven? Careful, long-term planning?

Wang Hao abruptly straightened up. The supreme pressure belonging to the peak of the Astral Aura Realm, yet faintly mixed with a trace of the system's One-Day Martial God Realm Trial Card, swept through the entire Imperial Study like a materialized storm!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three merfolk oil lamps shattered instantly. The six Skysoaring Realm ancestors grunted muffledly, actually forced back half a step by this aura, their eyes filled with unbelievable shock!

He was clearly only at the peak of the Astral Aura Realm. Why was the aura on his body even more terrifying and tyrannical than a legendary Martial God?!

Old Master Ren, you have lived to such an old age, do you still not understand a simple truth? Wang Hao looked down at Old Master Ren from above, a smile curling on his lips. No matter how tough the Martial God Physique is, it is still just a soulless shell! Can it be harder than my fists?!

As for that Old Charlatan Xie Wujiu... Wang Hao walked up to the map, his slender finger poking fiercely at the red cross representing the Heaven's Secret Pavilion. Infallible calculations? I'd like to see if his heavenly divinations are faster, or if my speed at flipping the table is faster!

In the face of absolute violence, all schemes and tricks are just dog shit!

Wang Hao cursed, but it made the six mighty figures present shudder simultaneously. They suddenly realized that the young emperor before them, who was barely in his twenties, was not some wise ruler of a peaceful era in his bones, but an absolute madman, a tyrant who would drag the entire world down with him to achieve his goals!

Now, I will lay out the first phase of the western expedition battle plan.

Wang Hao tapped the table, completely ignoring the massive psychological trauma he had just inflicted on these old timers, and coldly issued his commands.

The strategic codename for this operation is Peeling the Onion.

The first layer of the onion skin: the Western Region Demonic Evils. These scumbags are on the outermost periphery, they are the most annoying, and highly infectious. I will group all those hidden sects of the Demon Suppression Alliance that we just incorporated, along with those arrogant little brats on the Prodigy Roll, into a Vanguard Special Task Force. Let them clear the minefield! Let them fill it with their lives! Once they have uprooted most of the demonic strongholds, the main forces of my Great Zhou will press forward to reap the harvest.

Hearing this, the First Elder of the Illusory Sea Immortal Sect gasped. So ruthless! This was using the health bars of all the factions in the Eastern Wasteland as a meat shield for the Great Zhou! After this battle was fought, even if those hidden sects did not go extinct, they would only have one breath left. Who would be able to rebel against the Great Zhou in the future?

The second layer of the onion: the Western Region Righteous Alliance. Wang Hao continued, a calculating glint flashing in his eyes. These hypocrites love to flaunt justice the most. After defeating the demonic evils, I will use colluding with demonic evils as an excuse to impose direct military rule over the Western Region. Anyone who dares to resist will be executed on the spot. The men will be conscripted into the army, and the women... will be sent to the Demon Suppression Army's Entertainment Bureau!

"The third layer of the onion: the Crimson Moon Demon Cult." Wang Hao licked his lips as if looking at a juicy piece of fat. "Force them to hand over the Martial God Body! If they refuse, I will use the Great Zhou's million-strong grand array and rune heavy cannons to level their headquarters to the ground!"

"Once these three layers of the onion are peeled clean..." Wang Hao finally pointed his finger at the location of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, his voice as cold as the ice of the Nine Netherworlds. "What remains will be a bare commander, Xie Wujiu. I will mobilize all the Skysoar Realm experts in the entire Eastern Wasteland, including myself, to carry out a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree, dead-end-free ultimate beatdown on the Heavenly Secret Pavilion! I will peel off his charlatan skin and pull out his divine tendons!"

A deathly silence filled the imperial study.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed hard.

This "peeling the onion" tactic contained no hidden schemes; it was an entirely open and overt plot! It was using the national destiny of the entire Eastern Wasteland and the lives of billions of living beings to forcefully bulldoze through the Western Regions!

"Your Majesty..." the Grand Elder of the Illusory Sea Immortal Sect spoke with a dry voice. "Your strategy can be called perfect, and your thunderous methods leave me in awe. But... a military campaign requires a justified cause!"

"The Western Regions are, after all, a major territory independent of the Eastern Wasteland. If we brazenly launch a nation-destroying, unjust war without a legitimate excuse, I'm afraid it will trigger a frantic backlash from rogue cultivators all over the world. Even the civil official faction within the Great Zhou will protest to the death..."

Before the Grand Elder could finish his words, he saw Wang Hao looking at him as if he were an absolute idiot.

"An excuse? A justified cause?"

Wang Hao sneered. He turned and walked behind the dragon desk, opened a drawer, and with a smack, threw a thick stack of documents and three faintly glowing top-grade recording crystals at the Grand Elder's feet like trash.

"Take a look, Grand Elder. Are these enough?"

The Grand Elder suspiciously picked up the top document. With just a glance at the title, the hairs all over his body stood on end!

Top Secret Confession of Zhao Hu, Vice Hall Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance's Punishment Hall (Cross-Verified via Seventy-Two Major Tortures of the Eastern Depot)!

Reading further, the contents were absolutely shocking: how the Heavenly Secret Pavilion colluded with the evil demons of the Western Regions, how they used living people for blood sacrifices, how they deliberately destroyed the Northern Border's seals to create a tide of aberrations, and there was even a meticulously detailed "ledger record" describing how the Righteous Path Alliance of the Western Regions secretly supplied virgin boys and girls to the demons!

"This... this..." The Grand Elder's hands trembled violently. The logic of this confession was so rigorous and its details so rich that even he, someone who knew the truth, would almost believe it was real!

Not to mention the three recording crystals nearby. As soon as true qi was injected into them, they would immediately play an uncensored, high-definition close-up of the "Heavenly Secret Seal" flashing on the forehead of that stitched mountain of flesh on the Northern Border battlefield!

"Your Majesty... this confession from Zhao Hu... I remember that back in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he didn't mention anything about the Western Regions' Righteous Path Alliance supplying virgin boys and girls..." Old Master Ren also leaned over to take a look, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Oh, that." Wang Hao waved his hand dismissively. "Zhao Hu was too nervous in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and forgot to mention it. Later, after entering the Eastern Depot's sky prison, under Wei Zhongxian's 'meticulous care,' he suddenly remembered again. Not only did he remember the matter of the Righteous Path Alliance, but he also remembered the Crimson Moon Demon Cult's conspiracy to use the Martial God Body to destroy all of humanity."

Wang Hao looked at the six pale-faced Skysoar Realm mighty figures, revealing an extremely innocent and amiable smile. "What's wrong? Do you gentlemen feel this excuse isn't solid enough? If it's not enough, Zhao Hu still has a breath left. I can have the Eastern Depot 'unearth' some more ironclad evidence of their collusion with extraterrestrial heavenly demons tonight."

The Grand Elder, Old Master Ren, and the others gasped, feeling a chill run down their spines as cold sweat instantly soaked their clothes.

It was only at this moment that they finally and completely understood!

So that was it! During the Demon Suppression Assembly, Wang Hao's desperate collection of blackmail material on the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, and even publicly exposing that Heavenly Secret Seal, was not just to win the public opinion war and consolidate the Great Zhou's ruling position!

From the very beginning, he had been preparing the most perfect and irrefutable Declaration of War for this realm-destroying campaign that would mobilize the entire nation's power!

He was using forged and exaggerated evidence to package a war of aggression into a holy war to save the common people!

He was turning the righteous indignation of the entire world into the sharpest meat grinder on the Great Zhou's war chariot!

"It's enough... that's enough..." Old Master Ren closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "With this ironclad evidence, once the declaration is issued tomorrow, the Great Zhou will be the army of destiny. Whoever dares to stand in the way will be a traitor to the human race. I... will strictly obey Your Majesty's decree. The hidden Ren family is willing to serve as the vanguard for the Great Zhou."

The other few also successively bent their noble waists and bowed their heads, swearing their allegiance.

Although they were mighty figures of the Skysoar Realm and the patriarchs of their respective factions, at this moment in front of Wang Hao, they suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness and sorrow.

Nominally, they were allies of the Great Zhou and founding members of the Avengers Alliance.

But in reality, in the hands of this black-hearted, ruthless tyrant who calculated every step without fail and had unreasonably hard fists, they... were just a group of slightly higher-level wage earners, a bunch of premium beasts of burden that could be discarded at any time!

Looking at this group of old fogeys who had finally bowed their heads completely, Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction.

"Very good. Rest in the palace tonight. Tomorrow during the morning assembly, join me in admiring the wonderful expressions of the civil and military officials as they are tied to our war chariot."

Wang Hao turned his head to look at the thick darkness outside the window. The ambition in the depths of his eyes was like a prairie fire, almost threatening to burn down heaven and earth.

"Xie Wujiu, the game has begun. I hope you don't die too quickly."