Now, Xia welcomes you to Xia, and now it's Lan...

The flames engulfed Jianying's corpse, leaving a handful of ashes on the ice.

Jiang Yunlan, confirming that he was undeniably dead, returned to the ship with Ilovian and the elves. Albero, worried, leaned close to her, snorting and his face showing clear confusion.

The elves' auras weakened.

“Don’t worry, everyone just used up too much energy.” She raised her hand and scratched Albero’s chin, a smile appearing on her tired face.

Her complexion was poor, and she was blinking more frequently than usual; anyone could tell she desperately needed rest. Xia's orcs, forced to watch their battle from a distance, understood that she and Ilovian were exhausted and quickly told them to rest.

"Lan, leave the return to the mainland to us!" the Xia beastman said with high spirits. They had compasses and could easily determine the direction back.

Jiang Yunlan nodded, and after comforting Albero and the Wind Beast for a few more minutes, she went to rest.

The behemoth needs to go through two snow seasons to travel from its place of awakening to the mainland. Therefore, it would take Xia Chuan at least a year to reach the behemoth's birthplace using the guiding stone, and it would be two or three years before he returned to the mainland.

Two or three years is too long; Jiang Yunlan couldn't bear to leave the orcs on the mainland. She had left in such a rush that she hadn't had time to properly settle the Tianqi territory that the Xia tribe had taken. She wanted to go back first to settle the orcs in those territories, so she appeased the two giant beasts. This was because Xia's forces were returning to the mainland.

The elves were too exhausted to explore the ocean with the first fleet. She decided to send both fleets back together, and had to reassure Albero and the others to wait until Xia was ready again before returning to her birthplace.

After listening to Lan's explanation and concerns, the two giant beasts comforted her instead.

They said, "We are eager to return to the mainland. Once the last orc who raided the elves dies, we will take our kind back with us."

They longed to see the being that had awakened them, and the other giants must have longed to see it as well.

As the sun rose and the moon set, the continent welcomed back the orcs who had traveled far away.

"Shh, shh."

A squirrel-like orc with black hair and black eyes crossed the withered grass, heading towards the grassland habitat that had become a town. Behind her followed orcs of various races, large and small, occasionally a towering beast taking a step forward, and elves like Sylph flying through the air.

The large and imposing procession quickly attracted the attention of the grassland orcs. The summer orcs patrolling the grasslands were stunned for a moment, then rushed forward at lightning speed.

"Lan is back!"

The orc responsible for relaying the message ran from the city gate to the central building, shouting words that excited the orcs.

"What?! The chieftain is back?!" A beastman who had just been rescued blurted out the question, and before he could even process what was happening, his companion grabbed him and dragged him to the city gate.

The officers rushed to the scene after receiving the news, maintaining order in the air and on the ground to prevent any accidents, but they couldn't help but occasionally glance at the city gate, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lan. The orcs guarding the city gate quickly lined up on both sides of the road, guided by the officers.

Many tall orcs noticed that the smaller orcs squeezed next to them couldn't see the city gate, so they would hug the smaller orcs in front of them or turn slightly to let them go to the front.

Jiang Yunlan walked through the city gate and looked up, but couldn't see the orcish procession ahead of her. She noticed many unfamiliar faces on the grassland; they had blended in and were calling out to her along with the many Xia orcs.

“Chief Lan! Welcome back!” said Xia’s beastman.

She heard their calls and smiled brightly, "I'm back."

...

"Lan, when are we going to hold the ceremony for Xia to become a nation?" Maple Sugar asked, puzzled, staring at Lan who was engrossed in her work.

The remnants of Tianqi's forces have been completely wiped out, and the various regions under Xia's control have been settled by orcs sent by Lan. In her view, the affairs in various places can be temporarily put to rest, but Lan has not once mentioned the ceremony for Xia to become a nation.

Could it be that Xia Zailan is still lacking something necessary to become a nation?

Jiang Yunlan was stunned for two seconds upon hearing this. She belatedly realized that almost a season had passed since she returned to the grasslands, and the snow season was approaching, but summer had not yet officially become a country.

She looked down at the documents covering the desk, pondered for a long time, and slowly said, "The flowering season, the first day of the flowering season."

Summer should be a time when a country is moving towards spring, a country full of vitality.

"What do you all think?" Jiang Yunlan asked with a smile, expressing her expectations for Xia, and then looked up to ask the orcs, including Gray Honey, who had come to find her.

How could the Xia beastmen possibly oppose her proposal? Of course, they readily agreed and happily went to the central left room to draft a notice, informing all the Xia beastmen of this good news. The grasslands, mountains, forests, lakes... every village and town in Xia gradually learned of this news.

"Great! From now on, we are citizens of the Xia Kingdom!" The Xia beastmen cheered upon seeing the news.

Upon hearing this, the newly arrived orc, who had not yet learned to read, immediately had a bright gleam in his eyes. "Then we should call our leader 'King' from now on, right?"

The name that the original Xia Beastmen had secretly passed down by word of mouth finally reached the ears of all Xia Beastmen.

A king is one who can protect the lives of his people.

Lan had once said this to them, and the beastmen of Xia had always remembered it. In their hearts, the being who best embodied this sentiment was Lan. And Lan lived up to it.

Lan rescued them, gave them shelter, and led them out of hunger, cold, and death.

The Xia beastmen whispered among themselves, deciding to adopt a unified term for Lan on the day the Xia Kingdom was founded. They genuinely believed they were the king's subjects, the subjects of Lan.

They wanted to convey this to Arashi.

But there is something more important to do now: prepare for the founding ceremony of their Xia Kingdom.

The beastmen of Xia mobilized, and preparations began in places outside the main city. Some of their villages/towns were wealthy enough to support a celebration on the first day of the flowering season, while others were so poor that they couldn't afford any extra food. But even without a feast, they would gather together to celebrate the founding of the Xia Kingdom.

"Lan, do you mean you're going to check on other places after National Day?" Maple Syrup asked in surprise.

Jiang Yunlan nodded, "Once you've all been settled, I'll head to the ocean again. I came back this time because I was worried about the new orcs and your situation."

As she spoke, she looked at Maple Syrup, who had grown into a good city lord, and smiled meaningfully, saying, "I'll leave Xia to you while I'm at sea."

She had decided what to call the beastmen who led Xia—she would call them…

"clang--"

As the clock struck midnight, Jiang Yunlan looked up at the beastmen who had come to the square. She would use the power of the wind to amplify her announcement on National Day, ensuring that every beastman who came to the city would hear what she said.

The orcs understood, but they still chose to come to the square and crowd together to look at her.

“The original Xia came from an ordinary forest and was a clan of mixed races.” Jiang Yunlan said, taking in the sight of the beastmen who came out of the forest with her, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved up. “From its birth, Xia was a clan that could accommodate different beastmen, and later it became a tribe with different creatures.”

Jiang Yunlan saw that Maple Syrup, Azure Wood Crow, and Half-Full Unicorn, like her, had relaxed smiles on their faces. The eyes of the orcs, including Rainbow Hundred Flowers, Aliya, and Budodo, were still clear and bright as they looked at her, untouched by shadows.

Her gaze swept lightly across the familiar faces, finally settling on the elves mingling among the orcs. The elves radiated light, their excitement palpable.

The giant beast in the corner of the square pricked up its ears to listen to her speech, and winked at her when it saw her looking at it.

Jiang Yunlan smiled, her calm voice echoing throughout the main city, "Please remember, no matter what species we are, we are born equal. Here, we all have only one identity, and that is, we are all beings of Xia."

"The 12th year since the founding of Xia, the flowering season, January 1st. Xia Kingdom—"

"Officially established!"

After these words were spoken, the air was silent for a few seconds, then erupted into a somewhat disordered but deafening shout.

"king--"

“We will always be proud to be the king’s subjects, to be a member of the Xia dynasty,” said the people of Xia.

Jiang Yunlan suppressed the urge to take a step back, a question mark appearing on her tail. She was moved by their declaration, but how could they still remember that name, and shout out the slogan so uniformly?

Was this a surprise they were preparing for her?

She was so startled by their surprise that she lost her voice for several seconds, her emotions fluctuating several times before finally settling into a deep sense of helplessness. They just wanted to surprise her; they had no ill intentions.

It was just a form of address; she didn't feel embarrassed, nor did she intend to flee the scene.

Jiang Yunlan took a deep breath and gently pressed down with her hand.

The orcs who had been watching her closely gradually quieted down, though the good-natured laughter of the elves, such as Sveta and Agni, would occasionally break the silence. They sensed the awkwardness she was trying to hide.

She pretended not to hear and smiled as she explained to the people of Xia that the future Xia would be governed by thirteen leaders. Xia's laws, policies, and future development direction... would all be decided by a vote of the thirteen leaders.

The leader is elected by Xia's people. Whether they are orcs, elves, giant beasts, or guardian beasts who also have citizenship, they all have the right to vote.

One chief will be chosen from among the thirteen leaders, also through a joint selection process among the thirteen leaders.

"The leader, what is a leader?"

Jiang Yunlan first raised this question, and then answered the question about the meaning of the name, "The meaning of 'Leader' is that of a being that leads us toward the future."

"No one, including myself, has the right to control the life of any living being. Please remember that leaders come from us; they are beings who have emerged from among us. They could also be another you or me."

“Leaders exist because of us,” she said.

The bewildered creatures gazed at her on the platform, memorizing her words. They couldn't yet comprehend them, but they knew they should remember them. They couldn't forget, and neither could their descendants.

This is because that's why Lan established the leaders, and it's something Lan wants them to understand.

Later, the leaders said—

"We are the leaders! We stand before all living beings for the sake of the millions of Xia's children behind us!"