The brothers behind him died one after another. Never before had Da Niu felt the cruelty of war so clearly.
Having activated Heavenly Law, Earthly Form, Da Niu could no longer control his emotions, and tears streamed down his face.
"I'll make all of you pay for my brothers with your lives!"
A white, red, and gold Three-Colored Sacred Lotus condensed before Da Niu.
"Stop him! We absolutely cannot let him finish condensing it."
As soon as Dai Shan finished speaking, his wife beside him took his hand of her own accord. A Hell White Tiger suddenly appeared and charged at Da Niu.
The roughly ten-meter-tall Da Niu was slammed to the ground by the Hell White Tiger, but the movements of his hands did not pause in the slightest.
Countless soul skills surged toward the mighty Da Niu. He passively endured them, and his body began to sway unsteadily.
At last, the Three-Colored Sacred Lotus in his hand finished condensing, and Da Niu revealed a relieved smile.
His spiritual power was exhausted at that moment. At the very last instant, he hurled the Sacred Lotus out, and a force comparable to a Soul Emperor's self-destruction swept across the battlefield.
Red, gold, and white enveloped the entire battlefield. The opposing Soul Emperors joined forces to resist, but the Soul Power barriers they released were utterly useless.
The overwhelming attack sent several of them flying, and they coughed up blood in great mouthfuls.
"Damn it! He actually managed to unleash his ultimate move before dying."
"Heh, it's nothing more than his final struggle before death."
As the dust cleared, the sight of a dying Da Niu did not appear. In his place stood a majestic Golden Holy Dragon.
Bai Fan stood tall atop the Holy Dragon's head, his white robes fluttering in the wind.
(Da Niu and the others were able to rush from the Heaven Dou Empire to the Star Luo Empire in such a short time entirely thanks to Little Golden Dragon. Little Golden Dragon could be compared to an airplane, saving everyone the time spent traveling.)
"Be annihilated!"
Bai Fan effortlessly condensed a white, red, and gold Three-Colored Sacred Lotus and hurled it toward the weakened Soul Emperors below.
An explosion far greater than the previous one erupted from the ground. Just as Bai Fan had said, everything was annihilated amid the blast.
Little Golden Dragon carried Da Niu and the few fortunate survivors away from the Star Luo Empire.
Inside Spirit Hall.
Qian Xunji listened to his subordinates report on the continent's current situation, and his gloomy face gained a trace of solemnity.
"I never expected you to have grown to this point. It seems I truly cannot spare you any longer!"
"Someone, send a message to the Republic Empire. Tell them that Bibi Dong lives a fate worse than death every day."
After giving the order, Qian Xunji muttered to himself, "You trash of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, will you walk into my trap or not?"
Within the Republic Empire, Bai Fan was comforting the despondent Da Niu.
"Da Niu, you don't need to blame yourself. Casualties in war are perfectly normal."
"Pull yourself together. I believe the brothers watching from heaven would not want you to remain like this every day."
Da Niu suddenly hugged Bai Fan and burst into loud sobs.
A strong man vented the pain in his heart just like that.
"Boss, I feel terrible. Those brothers went out with me, but nearly all of them ended up staying behind in the Star Luo Empire."
"It's all my fault. If I had been smarter and not so eager to keep fighting, maybe they wouldn't have died!"
Bai Fan gently patted Da Niu's back.
"Da Niu, this isn't your fault. War is simply like this. All we can do is end it as quickly as possible."
"We will always remember our fallen brothers. What you need to do now is improve your strength quickly and strive to contribute even more in the battles ahead."
With Bai Fan's comfort, Da Niu's mood clearly improved.
Then came the message from Qian Xunji.
When Bai Fan first heard the message, his face was filled with disbelief.
"Why? Shouldn't Qian Xunji have been tormenting Dong'er? He already got Dong'er as he wished. Could it be that in the original story, Dong'er was also tortured by Qian Xunji every day?"
Da Niu, who was standing beside Bai Fan, tilted his head as though he had recalled something.
"Boss, when you snatched the bride last time, Goudan and I followed you. We wanted to help you teach Qian Xunji a lesson."
"On the night of the wedding, when he was about to force himself on Bibi Dong, we scared him. I don't know if that was why he started tormenting Bibi Dong."
Da Niu could not remember whether he had told Bai Fan about this before, so he brought it up again.
Bai Fan found it rather unbelievable.
"You were ordinary people back then, right? How did you scare him?"
Da Niu scratched his head and answered sheepishly, "Back then, we made a small mechanism out of wood and controlled it with a rope. We placed a small piece of glass on the mechanism, then used a telescope outside to watch the scene reflected in the glass and observe Qian Xunji's every move."
"Before Qian Xunji was about to force himself on Bibi Dong, we pulled the string and activated the mechanism. The brother hiding in the shadows received the signal and immediately made a sharp, piercing noise, making Qian Xunji feel deeply unsettled."
"Wait." Bai Fan stopped Da Niu. "What about that brother inside Spirit Hall?"
"That brother took advantage of the night to jump into a cesspit. Spirit Hall happened to be searching for him at the time, but the filth covered his entire body and hid his appearance. No one suspected him, so they let him leave."
Bai Fan was at a loss for words. Amid his anxiety, he was also somewhat amazed.
"Boss, do you think they released this message at this specific time just to lure you into walking into their trap?"
Da Niu hit upon the truth in a single sentence. Anyone with eyes could see through Qian Xunji's little trick.
"Of course I know they're trying to lure me into their trap, but I don't want Dong'er to continue being tortured."
"Boss, wait a little longer. Give us some time. Once the Republic Empire's cavalry is established and we annex the Heaven Dou Empire, we'll be able to take our sister-in-law back from Spirit Hall."
Bai Fan looked in the direction of Spirit Hall. "Perhaps. I just hope Dong'er suffers a little less."
Another month passed.
The Heaven Dou Empire became increasingly precarious.
The Soul Masters who had originally watched from the sidelines also realized something was wrong and began resisting the Republic Empire. However, the tide of the times could not be resisted by a handful of people's subjective will.
More and more Soul Masters began following the trend of the times, joining the Republic Empire and abandoning the Heaven Dou Empire.
These Soul Masters had no sentiment for their country. All they wanted was a way to survive.
Spirit Hall, inside Qian Xunji's bedchamber.
Qian Xunji roughly grabbed Bibi Dong's hair, lifted her face, and forced her to meet his eyes.
"Looks like your little lover doesn't care about you that much after all! It's been a month already, yet it seems his eyes hold nothing but his Republic Empire."
A gentle smile appeared on Bibi Dong's bruised face. "Xiao Gang has done it. The grand ambition he once set is about to be realized."
Bibi Dong's rare gentleness wounded Qian Xunji's fragile heart. "Bitch! Since you love that piece of trash so much, I'll send you two to reunite on the road to the underworld at once!"
Qian Xunji furiously flung Bibi Dong away. A large clump of her hair was still caught on his nails, showing just how enraged he was.
Before you continue