Yan Feng, you really are a goddamn genius

Outside, the rain grew ever more torrential.

In the distance, patrol alarms rose one after another, rapidly drawing closer.

Xu Yan let go of Xu He and turned to Ji Juechen and Yan Feng.

His gaze regained its composure.

"We're not at a dead end yet."

He spoke in a low voice, his delivery steady and his reasoning clear:

"Mingdu may be under citywide lockdown right now, but they can't maintain such a heavy-handed blockade until morning.

Once daylight comes, large numbers of Soul Engineer corps, led by the Dragon Emperor Soul Engineer Corps, will have to withdraw."

"Xu Tianlong seized power through a coup. Even with support from radical ministers and nobles at court, he wouldn't dare let the whole world hear about it.

Exposing the scandal would shake the people's faith."

Xu Yan still held considerable respect for his father's accomplishments as ruler.

The old emperor, Xu Jingyao, had been indecisive and somewhat weak-willed.

Yet he had pursued a policy of recovery and recuperation.

He had devoted himself to developing soul guidance technology, allowing the Sun Moon Empire to build formidable reserves and earning tremendous prestige among the people.

But to the powerful ministers and imperial nobles impatient for expansion and hungry for the resources of war, that gentle stability had become cowardice and incompetence.

As soul tool technology advanced at breakneck speed, the empire's upper ranks grew increasingly radical.

Everyone wanted to wage war abroad, annex the other three nations, and plunder their resources.

Those resources would sustain continued breakthroughs in soul guidance technology.

And Xu Jingyao, conservative and committed to stability, had become the greatest stumbling block on their road to expansion.

Xu Yan snorted inwardly, filled with contempt.

These people mouthed lofty ideals of nation and duty, but every last one of them was selfish.

Without his imperial father's years of restraint, pursuit of peace, steady development, and accumulation of national strength,

where would Xu Tianran have found the means to launch his wars later on?

Drawing his thoughts back, Xu Yan continued his rapid analysis:

"Their immediate priority is to quell the unrest, fabricate a plausible explanation to reassure the people, and consolidate the power they've usurped at court.

As long as we survive the next six hours, the lockdown will ease at daybreak, and we'll have a very good chance of escaping Mingdu."

Hope instantly lit up Yan Feng's eyes at those words:

"Then can't we just stay here until dawn?"

"No."

Ji Juechen immediately shook his head, his expression grave. "This place is right next to the imperial city, within the most tightly controlled central area. It's too dangerous.

We have to move farther away."

Xu Yan nodded slightly, agreeing with his judgment.

In just those few moments, two patrols had already passed outside the wall.

One had even entered the alley to search, with only a single wall separating them.

Fortunately, they had failed to discover any sign of the group in the courtyard.

This was certainly no place to linger.

Listening to the footsteps gradually fade beyond the wall, Yan Feng lowered his voice, anxiety on his face:

"But Brother Yan, their searches are too thorough. We'll probably be exposed the moment we step outside. There's no way to get away."

Ji Juechen also frowned slightly and said gravely, "That is indeed our biggest problem right now."

Xu Yan's gaze swept rapidly across the small courtyard before settling on an iron disk in the ground nearby.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "Don't panic. I have a way."

The other three followed his gaze, and their eyes immediately brightened.

"That's... a sewer?!"

Yan Feng froze for a moment, then broke into an ecstatic expression, keeping his excited voice low:

"How did I forget about this thing!

Mingdu's underground pipes are a tangled maze. With tonight's downpour blinding everyone, no one will pay any attention to what's happening underground.

It's perfect for hiding and sneaking away!"

"If we follow the underground network, we might even be able to slip straight beyond Mingdu's outer city!" Ji Juechen added.

As one of the continent's foremost super-capitals, Mingdu had a population of ten million.

It was not merely a city of towering buildings and advanced technology aboveground.

Its underground pipe network was likewise an interwoven web, extending in every direction.

Quite a few pipes even connected directly to the wilderness outside the city.

Even Xu He, who had been steeped in despair, now had light rekindled in his eyes.

The gloom weighing on his heart vanished, and he truly saw hope of escape.

Seeing this, Xu Yan remained composed. Without letting down his guard, he warned them:

"Don't celebrate too soon. The rain has sent the water surging, and the sewers are probably filled to capacity.

One wrong move, and we could easily get trapped in an enclosed pipe and suffocate or drown.

Even if we blasted an opening, the pursuers above would detect it immediately."

"What's there to fear? With Brother Yan here, we're perfectly safe!"

Yan Feng waved a careless hand, utterly confident. "If it comes to that, you can just release your flames and evaporate the water!"

He knew that his Brother Yan had acquired the incredibly rare ultimate fire attribute through a martial soul mutation.

Its heat was enough to burn through any steel.

Xu Yan's mouth twitched as he looked at Yan Feng in disbelief:

"You really are a goddamn genius!

I told you to study properly, but you insisted on pumping iron with Ji every day."

With that, he ignored the idiot Yan Feng and headed straight toward the sewer entrance.

Looking utterly bewildered, Yan Feng turned to Ji Juechen and asked in confusion:

"Brother Chicken, was I wrong?"

Ji Juechen's face darkened, and he corrected him helplessly. "How many times have I told you? My surname is Ji, not Chicken."

With that, he turned and followed Xu Yan.

He wanted nothing to do with this moron.

Just then, Xu He stepped forward and explained quietly:

"Suddenly releasing high-temperature flames inside an enclosed, water-filled space will instantly produce a huge amount of high-pressure steam.

That can easily trigger a steam explosion, with power comparable to a Level Seven Soul Cannon Shell."

"Holy shit! That powerful?"

Yan Feng's pupils abruptly contracted, and his scalp instantly prickled.

He was only a rank-twenty-three Soul Grandmaster.

Even with the exceptionally strong defenses of his bone dragon martial soul, he could never withstand a point-blank explosion from a level seven Soul Cannon.

Wouldn't he be blown to bits in an instant?

At that thought, Yan Feng went rigid and immediately settled down.

He obediently followed behind Xu He, no longer daring to offer reckless suggestions.

Xu Yan lifted the iron sewer cover and looked down, scanning the space below.

He silently breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. The current is fierce, but the pipe isn't completely flooded.

There's still a gap of about three centimeters, enough for us to breathe."

With that, he leaped down, the first to plunge into the water below.

Ji Juechen stayed where he was and raised a hand to signal Xu He to go first, taking responsibility for bringing up the rear himself.

"Go on, Brother Chicken! I'll bring up the rear!" Yan Feng volunteered.

Ji Juechen's mouth twitched, and he unceremoniously kicked him down:

"You? Bring up the rear?"

After hearing Yan Feng's earlier display of "wisdom," he trusted the brat even less.

If he really let the brat bring up the rear, who knew what unexpected trouble he might cause along the way, dragging everyone down with him?

"Fuck! Brother Chicken, you ambushed me!"

Before Yan Feng finished speaking, a mouthful of sewage poured straight into his mouth, choking him until his face turned scarlet.

His stomach churned like an overturned sea, agony written all over his face.

"What is that smell? It reeks!"

Ji Juechen gave the deserted courtyard one final sweep.

Once he confirmed they had left no traces behind, he jumped into the sewer.

As he went, he fitted the iron cover snugly back into place.

At the same time, in the imperial palace's great hall.

Fierce wind swept through the hall, whipping up the thick stench of blood.

Bodies lay strewn throughout the hall, more than thirty corpses sprawled in pools of blood.

Soldiers silently and methodically carried away the dead, cleaning up the aftermath.

The court, once resplendent with song, dance, and prosperity, had become an Asura hell in a single night.

Below the throne in the center of the hall lay an elderly corpse clad in imperial dragon robes.

Before the corpse, two figures, one old and one young, stood silently.

Neither of them looked at the dead old emperor.

Instead, they stared fixedly at that bloodstained seat of supreme power.

The boundless greed and exhilaration in their eyes were impossible to conceal.

"Hahaha! That old bastard is finally dead!"

Xu Tianlong threw back his head in wild laughter, his eyes filled with an insatiable hunger for imperial power.

With a sweep of his large hand, he roughly brushed the old emperor's corpse off the throne.

Then he strode forward and sat down without hesitation.

He paid no mind even to the still-wet bloodstains on the seat.

Stroking the throne's armrest, Xu Tianlong remarked with smug satisfaction:

"Everyone says sitting on the dragon throne is torment. What a load of bullshit!

I feel perfectly secure sitting here. Couldn't be happier!

Tianran, wouldn't you agree?"

His eagle-sharp eyes suddenly swept toward the young man before him.

The young man was about twenty, dressed in luxurious noble attire.

He had handsome features and a tall, straight figure.

Intense greed had been surging in his eyes, but that look instantly jolted him awake.

Xu Tianran's heart lurched, and he immediately suppressed every selfish thought.

Assuming an obedient, earnest expression, he bowed and spoke respectfully:

"Imperial Father, as the saying goes, he who would wear the crown must bear its weight.

Others sit uneasily because their hearts are timid and their confidence lacking. They cannot shoulder an emperor's heavy responsibilities."

"But Imperial Father's courage towers above the world, and his methods strike like thunder.

It is only right and proper that you sit firmly upon this throne. Naturally, you feel neither fear nor restraint, only peace and ease.

Throughout the court and the realm, only Imperial Father is worthy of this supreme seat."

At those words, Xu Tianlong immediately threw back his head and laughed, his voice shaking the hall.

Yet once his laughter passed, a deep, calculating glint slipped quietly through his eyes.

Nowhere was more ruthless than the imperial family.

Even fathers and sons, the closest of kin, harbored reservations and suspicions of one another before the supreme power of the throne.

So it had always been, throughout the ages.

When his laughter ended, Xu Tianlong composed himself, let his delight fade, and asked in a low voice:

"By the way, have my two nephews been found?"

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