The moment they entered the Military Command and Council hall, Zugo threw himself onto the flame-carved Luohan bed, its raging patterns etched in twisting fire—symbols of war, destruction, and absolute dominance. It was a throne befitting the one who held the security of the entire country in his hands. Everyone feared provoking him, so no one dared speak. They sat silently along the sides, waiting for him to break the silence.
After what felt like half an hour, he finally rose, flicked open his fan, and began fanning himself lazily. As he paced the hall, his eyes scanned the gathered crowd, counting each person with a slow, deliberate gaze.
"Everyone is here. Now we can start," he said, stopping a few steps away from the doorway. He then spun around, quickened his pace toward the Luohan bed, and sat down. "Lǐ Xùyáng, can you elaborate on the empire's hierarchy for us? And don't forget to include the clans," he said quietly, pointing at the map spread out on the war table.
The poor Lǐ Xùyáng was caught off guard, unsure of what to do. He glanced nervously at everyone around him before finally managing to regain control of the situation.
"Oh, right, the hierarchy," he said, stretching out his hands to remove the counters from the map. "The Lí Shēng Guó Empire is divided into six realms—countries, as they are commonly known. Each realm has one king, two dukes, three marquises, and four earls—except for Xiāng Jīng, which is where the emperor lives. The governing structure of the imperial country is very different from different the rest due to having to serve as it serves as the core of the Lí Shēng Guó protection array—one that has stood for centuries, and one no demon dared to attack it or look in its direction. Since the beginning of history, there has never been news of two rulers governing the same kingdom; hence, only the emperor rules over Xiāng Jīng. It has three dukes, one marquis, and two earls—no king resides there.
Many people find this very confusing: why would the imperial realm have more earls than marquises? After all, it is the core of the continent and is supposed to be heavily guarded. What is even more confusing is the fact that it has never experienced any demon outbreaks ever since its existence. If the demons really wanted to bring demise to the Lí Shēng Guó and drain its life force, why have they not attacked Xiāng Jīng? If they can invade the countries even though the protection array is this strong, why can't they attack the core country? There have been legends and folktales explaining the very same reason for it not experiencing any attacks. "
"As for why there are two earls, even though the imperial country is made up only of cities—whereas earls' roles are to manage the small towns—Xiāng Jīng has no towns, only cities with large populations, which are too much for the three dukes to manage. Thus, two earls were appointed to help lighten the load for the dukes," he said, pointing at three ivory tokens, each curved with 'Gōng' to represent a duke.
"Now, the question is—which clans are part of the hierarchy?" he asked, folding his arms as he paced slowly around the war table.
"The Lí Shēng Guó Empire is made up of six realms," he said, pointing at the map on the war table. "Each realm is ruled by a strong clan, and the names of these realms come from the dragons and spiritual powers people there learn to use."
"Most of the spiritual energy is found in five of the realms, which is why those places have many dragons and strong powers. But in Móyù, the Jade Spirit Realm, and Shénmì zhī dì, the Silverwing Celestial Realm, the spiritual energy is less. The reason why is because they each have the power of only one dragon."
He moved his hand to the center of the map. "Xiānjìng, the Celestial Earth-Thunder Realm, is special. It has the spiritual power of the purple and brown dragons because of the Ghost Predator — a Life Sword said to bring either great luck or disaster depending on who wields it. Most energy is found in the other realms, but this one is important because of that sword." he said tapping the center of the defense map.
He moved his hand around, pointing out to the other realms. "Because these four realms have so much spiritual energy, demons often attack them, then their life force to grow stronger and break through their cultivation levels. That's why they try to take over those places."
He paused and looked around the room.
"But the realms with less energy, like Móyù and Shénmì zhī dì, don't get attacked as much because they don't have enough energy to help the demons grow.
This put them at more advantage, but they are bound to be drained of their life force by the other four realms when they lose their life forms to the demons." he said, tapping the two realms on the map then shifted his attention to the other four powerful realms.
Zugo stood up and started clapping his hands as stepped forward, with lazy smirk on his face.
"Wow, that was quite the history lesson. Sounds like you've got the whole empire figured out—kings, dukes, clans, and all the dragons and spiritual mumbo jumbo." he chuckled, shaking his head.
"Honestly, sounds more like a bedtime story for ambitious kids than a real threat." Zugo flicked open his fan and gave the map a cold glance.
"What you call the strongest demon is what we demons see as the weakest. Out there, it's survival of the fittest. The hierarchy is earned in blood and death fights. No position is permanent—except for the emperor, of course. Not every demon can become emperor... but there is one who did."
He closed his fan slowly, eyes narrowing. "Remember that. While you're busy memorizing clans and titles, the real power plays are happening where you least expect."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving the room thick with unanswered questions.