Tiandou Dispatches Troops! (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

A few days later.

Deep within the Sunset Forest, a series of roars slowly echoed.

"Who!"

"Who on earth broke my formation!"

Seeing his poison array shattered, Dugu Bo's expression changed drastically as he flew frantically toward the depths of the formation.

When he reached the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, he stared blankly at the surroundings, finding the area completely empty.

"No!!!"

"You beast, you absolute beast!!!!"

Dugu Bo had intended to use the rare flowers and herbs in his garden to cure the poison within himself and his granddaughter.

Now, it was all gone.

The wealth he had spent most of his life accumulating was gone.

Everything was gone.

Which thousand-cut bastard had uprooted everything, taking the plants, the soil, and the pots, cleaning the place out entirely!

Back to square one in a single night.

Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.

Upon hearing what had happened in the palace, the ministers arrived one after another to seek an audience.

The truth was, the geographical location of the Great Ming Kingdom was now far too important.

Originally, according to the plan, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire had tacitly agreed to split the former Starry Sky Kingdom—now the Great Ming Kingdom—between them.

But no one had expected Xu Nian'an to emerge halfway through.

He had flooded the Gulei Kingdom's two-hundred-thousand-strong army and, instead, annexed a kingdom within the Heaven Dou sphere of influence.

At that time, Emperor Xue Ye had chosen to invest further.

This investment had been incredibly successful; the entire territory of the Great Ming Kingdom was now under the Heaven Dou banner.

Moreover, without a single shred of aid from the Heaven Dou Empire, they had been invincible, crushing the Star Shine Duchy—which was supported by the Star Luo Empire and backed by the Galloping Wolf Kingdom—and reclaiming lost territory.

The Heaven Dou Empire's map had received an epic expansion once again.

In truth, when Xu Nian'an annexed the Gulei Kingdom and the Heaven Dou Empire chose to invest, it had already been a guaranteed win.

Who could have imagined that the other party would also directly conquer a significant piece of territory from the Star Luo Empire's side?

Even less expected was that after defeating the Star Shine Duchy and reclaiming lost lands, he did not stop there, but instead launched an attack directly against the Galloping Wolf Kingdom.

And with an absolute advantage, he had achieved a crushing victory.

The Heaven Dou Empire's territory had reached an unprecedented scale, surpassing that of the Star Luo Empire.

That was the territory of a kingdom.

Even if they did nothing, the annual tax revenue alone would be immense.

The more excited the Heaven Dou Empire had been before, the more painful it was now.

Because Xu Nian'an had announced his withdrawal from the Heaven Dou Empire, declaring his independence from that moment on.

Furthermore, he had resolutely chosen the path of declaring himself Emperor.

In the two thousand years of conflict on the continent, only two empires had ever been born; the Great Ming Kingdom's withdrawal from Heaven Dou was already cutting into their profits.

Declaring himself Emperor was not just cutting into their profits—it was taking a bite, spitting it in their faces, and trampling on it with mockery.

"My Heaven Dou Empire will absolutely not recognize the existence of a third empire!"

"The Great Ming Kingdom is currently suffering from a coup d'état; therefore, the Great Ming King's proposal to withdraw from the Heaven Dou Empire and declare independence is invalid!"

No empire would accept such an outcome.

One must realize that in order to invest in the Great Ming Kingdom, the Heaven Dou Empire had relinquished its right to govern the Gulei Kingdom's territory.

Now, all the territories of the Great Ming Kingdom, including the Gulei Kingdom and the Galloping Wolf Kingdom, added up to nearly a thousand kilometers.

This was already almost one-third of the territory of the two great empires.

No monarch would sit idly by and watch this land be lost.

However, Xu Nian'an had now clearly expressed his withdrawal from the Heaven Dou Empire.

Disobedient, naughty children needed a good education; a sound beating would suffice.

But the military strength Xu Nian'an currently possessed, while not quite equal to an empire, was—when combined with the Holy Spirit Sect and the two hundred thousand Dragon Guards—completely unafraid of either the Star Luo Empire or the Heaven Dou Empire.

"In order to assist the Great Ming Kingdom in quelling their coup d'état as soon as possible, the Heaven Dou Empire is mobilizing five hundred thousand troops for international support and gathering three hundred thousand to guard the Imperial Palace!"

A coup in the Great Ming Kingdom?

What a joke; that was now Xu Nian'an's personal domain, and there was only one voice to be heard there.

A coup was merely a pretext fabricated by the Heaven Dou Empire to explain away Xu Nian'an's withdrawal from their territory.

It was nothing more than an excuse to deploy troops against the Great Ming Kingdom under the guise of international support to quell a rebellion.

As for why they had massed three hundred thousand troops to surround the palace, it was simply out of fear.

"Order the King of Haagen-Dazs to take control of the Gulei border. Under no circumstances... must he... be allowed to return to the Great Ming Kingdom!"

Having finished arranging the funeral rites for his son, Emperor Xue Ye finally found a moment of respite from his hectic schedule.

His gaze turned icy as he looked toward the direction of the Great Ming Kingdom.

Humiliation. This was... his own humiliation.

To be threatened by a Title Douluo and forced to bow his head to a... child; this was the greatest disgrace of Emperor Xue Ye's life.

For this, Xu Nian'an must pay a bitter price!

At the border between the Gulei Kingdom and the Heaven Dou Empire, a group of people galloped frantically toward the territory of the Great Ming Kingdom.

"Who goes there!!!"

At the final checkpoint on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Gulei Kingdom—bah, no, it should be called the Great Ming Kingdom now.

The moment Xu Nian'an's carriage convoy arrived in the vicinity, the challenge rang out instantly.

"Are you blind? How dare you block the convoy of the King of Great Ming!"

The Imperial Guard roared in response.

The commander of the checkpoint narrowed his eyes.

"The kingdom ahead is currently in the midst of a coup. His Majesty has ordered a total lockdown of the Heaven Dou borders; no one is permitted to enter or exit."

"I suggest the King of Great Ming turn back the way he came!"

Thud, thud, thud, thud~!!!!

The moment the commander finished speaking, the ground began to tremble, and the crisp sound of galloping hooves echoed across the sky.

In the blink of an eye, a massive army surrounded the checkpoint.

"I, the King of Haagen-Dazs, acting under His Majesty's orders, have come to take control of the Heaven Dou border!"

The checkpoint commander's eyes lit up at the sight, and he immediately descended from the wall.

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

The King of Haagen-Dazs, dressed in magnificent robes, did not even spare the commander a glance, his expression cold as he barked an order.

"Open the gates!"

The commander was stunned, as if he had heard something inconceivable, and stared at the King of Haagen-Dazs in disbelief.

"I command you to open the city gates and let the King of Great Ming pass!"

Hearing the King of Haagen-Dazs speak so plainly, the commander was terrified.

"B-but the orders I received were..."

Clang~!!!

Before he could finish, a longsword was pressed against his throat.

"Open...!!! Open the gates!"

The army surrounding Xu Nian'an slowly stepped aside, clearing a path.

Watching the three thousand Imperial Guards of the Great Ming Kingdom escorting the carriages adorned with the Great Ming flag, the King of Haagen-Dazs adjusted his robes.

"A safe journey, King of Great Ming!"

Thud, thud, thud~!!

As the carriages slowly passed by, a voice drifted out from within.

"You are very clever. I hope you and your kingdom will not involve yourselves in the muddy waters to come."

After Xu Nian'an's convoy had moved into the distance, the commander looked at the King of Haagen-Dazs in confusion.

"Your Highness, why... why did you do this?"

The King of Haagen-Dazs opened his mouth to speak.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~!!!

Suddenly, the sound of objects piercing the air rang out.

Bang~! Bang~! Bang~!...

The guards on the city wall fell one by one, their eyes wide with shock. The next instant, a group of figures clad in black robes appeared, radiating a formidable aura.

From behind the city wall, a deafening roar suddenly erupted.

"Welcome, Your Majesty!!!"

"Why!"

"Because the moment I received those orders, the messenger suddenly dropped dead, and the twenty miles of the Haagen-Dazs border were swarming with the Dragon Armor Army!"

Thanks to... Jun Sheng Wo Wei Sheng, Wo Sheng Jun Yi Lao, and Kai for the coin donations!