Upon hearing Zhang Juncheng's words, Lin Qian burst into hearty laughter and grasped his hand. "Of course, the Hua Xia Empire would be honored to have you, senior."
Lin Qian had been racking his brain about how to persuade Zhang Juncheng to join the Hua Xia Empire. Unexpectedly, the man himself had proposed it.
In fact, when Lin Qian encountered someone as talented as Zhang Juncheng, he couldn't simply let him go. If Zhang didn't join the Hua Xia Empire, it would be a great loss.
Even Zhuge Ming was very eager for Zhang Juncheng to join. According to his vision, Zhang's involvement would greatly accelerate the evolution of the soul power cannons, making the empire's battles even more unpredictable.
The surrounding battlefield was still chaotic. Zhang Juncheng looked around at the Imperial Army and Beast Army's methods of combat and the current state of the battlefield. He couldn't help but exclaim, "If His Majesty had been present during the ancient war, the human race would have fared much better."
Zhang Juncheng's remark piqued Lin Qian's curiosity. "Senior, I'm really curious, what caused the ancient war?"
"Because of the existence of Xuanjun Yuanxiang, the human race became dominant and ruled the entire Soul Martial Continent. But at that time, the humans weren't treating the other races badly. Many among the humans understood a simple truth: coexistence is key. Different races living together in this world wasn't an issue." Zhang Juncheng paused, his eyes revealing a hint of confusion. "What I still can't understand is why the other races suddenly revolted."
"Back then, all the other races allied to attack the human race—it was an unprecedented crisis." Reflecting on those years, Zhang Juncheng sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I grew up during one of the best eras, when the human race was at its peak, and peace was abundant."
"If it weren't for that peaceful environment, there would have been no way to research how to integrate formations and sword qi to create sword formations." As he spoke, Zhang Juncheng smiled bitterly. "I never thought that just when the human race was at its pinnacle, we would be attacked by the other races, leading to our decline."
"During that time, were there no other races willing to help the humans?" Lin Qian asked, curious about the human race's perilous situation back then.
Zhang Juncheng chuckled and replied, "Of course, there were. For example, the Sea Clan stood with us humans. Without their assistance, the human race might have been completely wiped out."
"But I suspect that the Blackblood Clan and the Formless Clan had something to do with the revolt. Originally, these two clans didn't even exist on the Soul Martial Continent." Zhang Juncheng glanced at Nan Wudi, frowning. "However, it was impossible to extract any useful information from them about their origins."
"Oh? Why couldn't you interrogate them about their origins?" Lin Qian's curiosity grew. What would happen if they were forced to take a truth serum?
But Zhang Juncheng's next words made Lin Qian understand why it was impossible.
"Whenever we tried to ask them about their origins, both the Blackblood Clan and the Formless Clan would explode, completely vanishing from existence." Seeing Lin Qian's curiosity, Zhang Juncheng explained, "Based on what we learned from the battle of the hundred races, I believe they were behind the entire conflict. There's a saying in the Blackblood Clan—they could revive their ancestors."
"I see!" Lin Qian suddenly understood.
It became clear that the Blackblood Clan was using the bodies of their ancestors from other races, refining them into Blood-Rearing Corpses. However, at the time, other races didn't understand the true nature of the Blackblood Clan's abilities. They mistakenly believed their ancestors had been revived.
As for the Formless Clan, they had the ability to seize control of the bodies of other races.
Both the Blackblood Clan and the Formless Clan had powers that allowed them to control the upper echelons of other races. At that time, these races knew nothing about these two clans.
It wasn't until much later, after thorough study of these two races, that their plots were revealed.
"Now, it seems that the other races must have figured out the truth about what happened back then," Lin Qian said thoughtfully. Today, the Blackblood Clan held an extremely low status and were commonly known as grave robbers.
The Formless Clan, however, seemed to be in a slightly better position, still managing to manipulate certain races into launching attacks against the humans.
But what was their ultimate goal?
Once the Imperial Army and Beast Army had wiped out all the crazed members of the Five Races, the situation finally settled. Nan Wudi, who had been captured, still harbored resentment. He glanced at the disassembled mid-grade Destruction Shock Soul Cannon and asked Lin Qian, "What was that thing that destroyed my painstakingly prepared defensive formation?"
If not for that one cannon blast that shattered his formation, his cultivation would have been fully restored to the ninth stage of the Awakening Realm, granting him sovereign-level power. He could have surpassed the Awakening Realm!
Had his cultivation not been weakened, he would have slain all of them before his strength deteriorated to a hero's level, preventing his current predicament.
"That was the Destruction Shock Soul Cannon. Even if I explained it to you, you wouldn't understand," Lin Qian said mercifully, seeing the unwillingness in Nan Wudi's eyes.
In the end, Nan Wudi, full of resentment, was taken away by the Imperial Army. After the establishment of the Engineering Division in the Ancient Forest World, he would be thoroughly studied.
After all, the Blackblood Clan's abilities to swap blood and souls were still uncharted territory for the Engineering Division.
"When he's no longer of use, I'll hand him over to you. You can take your revenge personally." Lin Qian's voice suddenly echoed in Yue Liqun's mind as the man stared at Nan Wudi with hatred.
Startled, Yue Liqun glanced toward Lin Qian and saw him smiling in his direction. Grateful, Yue Liqun immediately bowed in thanks.
With the dust settled, the next issue for Lin Qian was to study the entire Ancient Forest World, create a complete passage to return to the surface, and fully integrate the Ancient Forest World as part of the Hua Xia Empire's Gu Lingzhou.
Moreover, the Ancient Forest World housed five different races, all of whom had now become citizens of the Hua Xia Empire.
The era of a multi-racial empire had begun, and with the vast production of Transformation Fruits, the Hua Xia Empire was on the brink of a nationwide evolution.
Lin Qian could hardly wait to see all these tasks completed, as he needed to head to the Central Region next to find his parents.