Qian Renxue had replaced the current First Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Qinghe.
If Xu Nian'an were Qian Renxue now, he would use his connections without hesitation to bring down the other princes.
Rumor had it that the Second Prince had suddenly come down with a grave illness in the palace and never recovered.
If he were Qian Renxue, Xu Nian'an would use this Hunting Festival to take the opportunity to resolve another problem.
The Third Prince, Xue Luochuan.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Whoosh—
Xu Nian'an had just lifted the curtain of the carriage window when he saw Xu Fu rushing toward him, his face stricken with panic.
"What happened?"
Xu Nian'an asked in confusion. Then Xu Fu's trembling finger pointed toward the blood-soaked Heaven Dou banner nearby, and Xu Nian'an's pupils contracted sharply.
Sure enough, Qian Renxue was no kind soul.
Only one prince from the Heaven Dou Empire had attended the Hunting Festival: the empire's Third Prince, Xue Luochuan.
With the Heaven Dou banner here and bodies strewn across the ground nearby, Xu Nian'an didn't need to think to know what had happened.
Thud—!!!
Xu Nian'an stepped onto the solid ground and narrowed his eyes.
The heavy stench of blood filled his nostrils.
"Your Majesty... What... what should we do now?"
Xu Nian'an glanced lightly at Xu Fu, who looked somewhat panicked.
"A man with no roots will always be a man with no roots."
"Everyone's already dead. What are you afraid of?"
"Afraid they'll pin the blame on the Great Ming Kingdom?"
As he spoke, Xu Nian'an quickened his pace and soon reached the heart of the incident.
A mass of eunuchs and guards lay sprawled on the ground, their faces frozen in terror, their eyes wide. Nearby, Xu Nian'an spotted Xue Luochuan's corpse.
Xu Nian'an wrinkled his nose. He had killed people with his own hands and seen plenty of corpses, so he was somewhat inured to them, but he still grimaced in disgust.
He slowly pulled on a pair of gloves.
He lifted Xue Luochuan's head, whose eyes remained open in death. A thin line of blood marked his neck: one strike, straight through the throat.
On top of that, a spear was buried in his chest.
Two fatal wounds. It seemed they'd been determined to make sure he was dead.
"Your Majesty, perhaps we should leave. This place is bad luck. We should report it to the Heaven Dou Empire as soon as possible."
"At a Hunting Festival, the Third Prince is dead. The Heaven Dou Empire is about to be thrown into chaos."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!!!
Just as Xu Nian'an was absorbed in what he saw, the forest suddenly filled with the sound of something cutting through the air.
Xu Nian'an turned his head. A sharp sword instantly loomed larger and larger before his eyes.
His pupils contracted sharply. The other man's seven Soul Rings rose slowly into view: white, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, and black.
And that wasn't all. Masked men appeared in every direction throughout the forest.
Each one held a weapon, their eyes brimming with murderous intent.
"Damn... I let my guard down!"
Rrraah—!!!!
The next instant, a dragon's roar split the sky. A terrifying pressure erupted from inside the carriage.
Thud! Thud!
Centered on Xu Nian'an, more than twenty assassins were suddenly crushed to the ground by waves of overwhelming pressure.
Boom—!!!
The next instant, a tremendous explosion rang out above the Hunting Forest. When it faded, the enormous character Ming suddenly appeared in the sky.
Inside the Great Ming King's camp.
The three thousand Imperial Guards assigned to protect the Great Ming King's camp sprang into action.
"Hyah!"
"Move! Find His Majesty within ten minutes!"
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop—!!!
Seeing the Great Ming Kingdom's Imperial Guards spring into action and charge into the Hunting Forest without the slightest regard for Heaven Dou protocol, the other kingdoms and the armies of the two empires could no longer sit still.
At the sight, Xue Qinghe's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Heaven Dou Royal Knights!"
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop!
"Here!"
Deep in the Hunting Forest.
Xu Nian'an looked up, his eyes already cold and brimming with murderous intent. Deep in their depths, however, lurked sheer terror.
He'd come so close. So close to dying.
Dying in this godforsaken forest.
It was a disgrace, and someone had to pay for it.
Xu Nian'an didn't care if other people died.
But if his own life was threatened—
"You... wanted... to kill me!!!!"
Xu Nian'an's furious roar rang through the forest.
Beneath the overwhelming pressure, the Soul Saint who had attacked Xu Nian'an first struggled to raise his head.
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop—!!!
Just then, a series of hurried hoofbeats echoed through the forest, and the Great Ming Kingdom's three thousand Imperial Guards arrived first.
Next came the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, the Balak Kingdom... People poured in from every direction.
When they saw the bloodstained Heaven Dou banner and the Heaven Dou Third Prince, Xue Luochuan, with a spear stuck in his chest, their pupils contracted sharply.
"Kill you?"
The Imperial Guards hauled the Soul Saint upright. Under the boundless pressure, even a Soul Saint couldn't move.
Whum—
A Dragon-Pattern Longsword flew from Xu Nian'an's hand.
Squish—
Xu Nian'an casually used the sword to slice away the man's black face mask. A clump of flesh flew off with it.
Blood poured out at once.
On the man's neck, Xu Nian'an saw the mark of a wolf, the crest of the Galloping Wolf Kingdom.
"So what if we killed you?"
"We've only killed a few of your people, and already you're carrying on like you're about to die."
"Do you know how the 170,000-strong army of my Galloping Wolf Kingdom, with more than thirty tribes, was beaten in a single month by the Heaven Dou Empire... by your Great Ming Kingdom? Driven into hiding, forced to sleep on the bare ground, with barely enough food to stay alive?"
"The brave sons of the Galloping Wolf Kingdom joined the army, leaving behind only women, the elderly, and children... One hundred and seventy thousand soldiers of the Galloping Wolf Army died on the battlefield, and their families are struggling just to stay alive!"
As he spoke, the Soul Saint's eyes reddened, his face twisting with rage.
"Tyrant!"
"Tyrant, do you know how many families you've torn apart?"
"Do you know?!"
Xu Nian'an's face twisted with fury.
"Bastard, don't think that being louder makes you right."
"Did you bring this on yourselves?"
"Encouraging Li Xingyao to split Tianxing apart and kill my father... How dare a mere barbarian land—!"
"How dare you criticize my achievements!"
As he spoke, Xu Nian'an suddenly raised his head.
His eyes were filled with such murderous intent that it seemed to take physical form.
"Tyrant. I like that name."
"I'll show you what a... tyrant is!"
Swish, swish, swish—
At Xu Nian'an's words, countless people stared wide-eyed.
"What are you going to do? What are you going to do?!"
The Galloping Wolf Soul Saint panicked, staring at Xu Nian'an in terror.
"By my royal decree: any who trespass against the Great Ming shall have their cities slaughtered and their kingdoms destroyed!"
"I'd planned to spare you and let you raise cattle, sheep, and horses under the Great Ming Kingdom's rule."
"But if a dog won't be tamed, can't you still kill it and boil it?"
"No! You can't do this! You can't do this! Heaven will punish you, you tyrant, you—!"
Squish—!!!
Before he could finish, Xu Nian'an's sword flashed down, and the man's head came off.
When the hot blood splashed across Xu Nian'an's face, he felt no fear, no disgust. His heart burned with fierce passion.
This wasn't excitement. It was... fury.
Damn them. They all deserved to die. Anyone who defied his will... deserved to die!!!
Among the Imperial Guards, one man heard Xu Nian'an's order and immediately dispatched an urgent messenger, wasting no time. The message was bound for the Galloping Wolf Kingdom, now occupied by the Great Ming Kingdom.