24 Prelude to Spirit Sovereign

Time passed by uneventfully. Every moment felt like an eternity to the Shura who cultivated day and night unceasingly.

It was not long after he had returned from the danger zone that Shura realized that the number of spirit stones he had at his disposal was not enough. He needed the spirit stones of the entire world. Even though that amount was astronomical, as long as he could become a Spirit Sovereign, no price was too high.

Shura began a massive project, the unification of the six empires into one. Although he called it a massive project. He probably wouldn't have to do much. Strength was key after all. After his strength overawed the world, then his subordinates could just take care of the rest. None of the other emperors of the super empires was his match, it was just that they didn't know it yet.

The Skyward Empire was located to the southwest of the continent. The other empires were located to the north, west, center, east, and southeast of the continent. Shura didn't bother with knowing their names, they would all soon be part of the Skyward Empire, his empire.

Shura had cultivated so much that he was certain that he was invincible in the Spirit Emperor level. As long as his opponent wasn't a Spirit Sovereign, he would be able to defeat them with ease. It was this confidence that made everything easy for him. Where would one even find a Spirit Sovereign in a world where everyone was trying to become one, yet none had before?

As long as he was strong enough, there was nothing he couldn't do. He was strong enough for what he was about to do.

The first thing Shura ever did as an emperor of his empire was to have his Grand Chancellor declare war on the other five empires.

The declaration was long and wordy, but the key points were that the strongest deserved to rule the world and that the Skyward Emperor was the strongest. Not even a hundred of the five emperors were his match. Such words were a part of the declaration.

This arrogant and provocative declaration drew the attention of the entire world. Many people were waiting to see how this Skyward Emperor and his empire would fare when faced with the wrath of the entire world.

The five emperors, however, were on their guards. They felt it was suspicious that the Skyward Emperor who had agreed to meet up with them did not meet up with them. Their intelligence network spotted the Skyward Emperor setting out but never returning. They had the suspicion that the Skyward Emperor was the mysterious thief who stole the treasure to the higher realm. The fearless manner in which the Skyward Emperor operated was similar to the thief. Their suspicion was quickly shared with the Sun Institute.

The Sun Institute fanned the flame of discontent and conflict by announcing to the world that the mysterious thief who stole the treasure that contained the secret to the Spirit Sovereign level was none other than the Skyward Emperor who had just declared war on the entire world in an arrogant manner.

They added that it was due to the secret contained within the treasure that allowed the Skyward Emperor to become infinitely close to ascending to the Sovereign level and that was what gave him the confidence to subdue the world.

The world was in turmoil as countless experts eyed the Skyward Empire. The other five empires also had the reason to attack, since the Skyward Empire just declared war on all of them.

The people in the Skyward Empire were nervous. The entire world was ready to pounce on them.

None of these developments alarmed Shura at all. He never thought the Sun Institute would rear its ugly head again. He'd deal with them first.

…

Shura stood high above his capital.

"Hear me, world!" Shura said.

His voice spread throughout the entire world. Men, women, and child, from babies to the elderly, everyone heard him. They heard his voice with their ears and their minds.

Even animals heard him, both normal animals and sentient spirit creatures.

"I only want spirit stones to break into the Spirit Sovereign level. I don't want your life, your land, your wealth, your women or children. I only want spirit stones! This is the reason why I've declared war on the five empires. They each hold a share of the spirit stones of the world which I want."

"Submit to me, and your life will be the same. No, your life will be even better and more glorious under my rule, the rule of a Spirit Sovereign! Any greedy fools who are misled by the lies of the old of fogies from the Sun Institute can come at me if they want to die. And those who resist my right to rule based on strength can also die!"

"I have given you enough warning. Surrender and your life will be better than ever before, resist and misery and annihilation will be your only end."

Shura raised his hand above him. An enormous ball of spirit energy converged above him. The light was so bright and blinding like that of the sun. And then this sun suddenly disappeared and the world became dim.

A thunderbolt shot out from the disappearing sun and headed for a certain location.

…

The Sun Institute had a large presence in the world. It made sense that the place where their members lived was large and well protected. The Sun Institute was located on a mountain. It was not a sect, yet the place where it was located was a mountain.

The Sun Institute was a respected organization where wise and learned cultivators gathered to safekeep knowledge. Supposedly there was nothing in the world which they did not know. Countless people eager for answer to their problems petitioned the thinktanks and diviners of the Sun Institute for help. Of course, a hefty donation would be required for this. Thus, the Sun Institute was not lacking in wealth at all. They were wealthy and powerful.

This mountain of the Sun Institute was special. The mountain was large. A sect would only choose to build buildings on large mountains. But this mountain of the Sun Institute was filled with buildings. From the highest peak to the base of the mountain. There were countless buildings and road. People lived everywhere on the mountain.

Everywhere was tranquil and lively.

This tranquility and liveliness suddenly came to an end all of a sudden.

A red lightning shot from the horizon and suddenly stuck the top of the mountain. Enormous heat was immediately generated. The top of the mountain exploded. An enormous explosion of energy started at the mountain top and shot downward engulfing the whole mountain.

The entire world was painted red by the single thunderstrike. The entire mountain turned into light.

The light then vanished as fast as it had appeared.

An enormous crater then appeared where the enormous mountain used to be. Everything and everyone was gone.

The Sun Institute was gone.

…

The entire world watched in awe and fear at the fate of the Sun Institute. Every expert had their awareness aimed at the Sun Institute. Soon, even the less powerful cultivators heard of the shocking and tragic news.

"Do not pity them, for they deserved their fate. Their deaths were too good for them. Scheming bastards like the members of the Sun Institute shouldn't have died so simply and peacefully." The voice of the Skyward Emperor reached every corner of the world.

"Anyone of you who feel like resisting can give it a try. The Sun Institute was just a warning shot. I am fully capable of laying waste to every single empire. Your venerated emperors are no match for me either. You should ask them if they were even able to do anything to me in the danger zone."

"Surrender and live, resist and die. You all have one day from now."

…

Soon an entire day had already passed since Shura made his declaration to the world.

The empires decided to resist. Who decided to resist? Those men and women in charge of course. The people were unwilling, they were only concerned with their everyday living. What did the squabble of those in power had to do with them? But they were powerless.

Shura knew of this, so his attacks would only target those who were deserving of their fate.

Shura was once again floating above his capital city. Today everyone in the city looked up at the sky. Their emperor was about to fight against the world here today.

The sky above Skyward City turned bright red. Countless thunderbolts spewed forth from the sky above the city to countless places in the world. Some of the thunderbolts were big and domineering, while others were small.

Crimson thunder flashed across the entire continent. After each flash, a place would disappear or a certain expert would disappear.

A great change occurred in the world in the span of a moment. All oppositions vanished.

An enemy cannot be an enemy if they were incapable of causing one harm. Shura was without an enemy because he was the most powerful person.

Soon, everything once again regained its usual calm and normalcy. All the spirit stones were going to Shura's cultivation now. Countless new mines were being unearthed all over the continent. Equally countless numbers of prospectors were sent out to find more spirit stone veins.

It was just a matter of time before Shura became entirely saturated with spirit energy and the energy reaches a critical level. Once that level was hit, his cultivation would undergo a qualitative leap. He would become a Spirit Sovereign.