Five Million Plants

Emperor Xue Rong died on the last day of the year 2618 of the Douluo Calendar.

It was an utterly ordinary day. The ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire, whose life could be said to have known neither great merit nor great fault, simply closed his eyes and never opened them again.

As a result, the border between the two great empires, where dozens of minor clashes had already taken place, suddenly fell into an eerie calm.

Spring arrived in the year 2619 of the Douluo Calendar. On a sunny morning in early February, with heaven and earth wrapped in a blanket of silver, Crown Prince Xue Ye ascended the throne and became the new ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire, Emperor Xue Ye!

When Ling Yi received the news, he was teaching a class at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy in Nuoding City.

After class, Ling Yi returned to his private office. Reading the written accounts of the turbulent, unpredictable events that had unfolded in Heaven Dou City over the past month or so, he could not help shaking his head inwardly.

Back in early January, when news of Emperor Xue Rong's death had reached the Heaven Dou Border Army, Ling Yi had already anticipated unrest there. But he had not expected Xue Ye to act on such a grand scale.

In a little over a month, twenty-one of Emperor Xue Rong's twenty-six sons had been "overcome with grief" at their imperial father's passing. They had fallen ill and never recovered, ultimately dying of "mental exhaustion."

The princesses had fared better. Each had either entered a marriage alliance with a minister's legitimate son or grandson, or married a powerful Soul Master. With "family ties" of their own, they had not let go of life to follow Emperor Xue Rong.