Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

The Sword Leader King finally understood. The ones attacking him were the descendants of the Azure Flame Sect.

The Tiger Flame Kingdom had, in fact, notified him to monitor Fan Jinhu’s movements after his escape. And he had casually sent a few men to keep an eye out. But who would have thought Fan Jinhu would dare to attack the city with a mere two thousand soldiers?

And who could have imagined that he would be completely unable to stop them?

The Sword Leader King asked in terror, ”What are you going to do? If you kill me, the Six Great Flame Kings won’t let you off!”

Fan Jinhu chuckled slyly...

”I don’t want to kill you. I just need you to send some troops to move with us...”

And so, to the hostages Li Wumian and his disciple, Lu Chao added the Sword Leader King. At the same time, several thousand of the Sword Leader’s soldiers were forced to move out with them. They would attack the next kingdom.

「At the same time...」

Several disciples of the Azure Flame Sect, who had been living in anonymity, also sprang into action, launching attacks from where they were.

They would follow the route planned by Lu Chao and Fan Changcun, fighting their way out to rendezvous.

And just like that, with the two thousand Descendants of Azure Flame as his core force, Lu Chao carved a path toward the Dragon Flame Kingdom. In just a few days, they had conquered three Small Kingdoms and taken their kings hostage.

Chaos erupted in the dozen or so small nations in the vicinity, and panic spread like wildfire.

...

「In the Tiger Flame Kingdom」 The Six Great Flame Kings laid eyes on Fan Changcun as he was escorted back.

They stared daggers at Fan Changcun, and the Tiger Flame King finally broke the silence with a low growl. ”Marshal Fan, what are you trying to do?”

He had already received reports that Fan Jinhu and the ”Fake Lu Chao” were attacking the other kingdoms.

No one could have imagined that with only two thousand men, they could carve a path straight through, taking king after king hostage and forcing them to join their ranks.

The main reason, however, was that the Sword Leader King at the outset had been utterly useless.

Upon hearing this, Fan Changcun simply offered a faint smile.

”Execute the six Royal Decrees. Send all the family members of my Descendants of Azure Flame to the ruins of the old Azure Flame Sect.”

”Furthermore, announce the contents of the Royal Decrees to the Hundred Countries, and proclaim the freedom of our Descendants of Azure Flame.”

”Otherwise, my grandson, Fan Jinhu, will plunge your Hundred Countries into chaos.”

Hearing this, the Six Great Flame Kings looked up to glare at Fan Changcun, every one of them radiating killing intent.

The Wolf Flame King couldn’t contain his fury, roaring, ”Fan Changcun, do you really think your grandson Fan Jinhu can cause chaos with a paltry two thousand men?”

The Lion Flame King added, ”We only need to dispatch a small force to annihilate you.”

None of the Flame Kings showed any sign of compromise.

But Fan Changcun just chuckled. ”My grandson’s abilities may be somewhat lacking, but isn’t there still the Great Martial Emperor Star, Lu Chao?”

’Emperor Star, my ass! That damn fake.’

Just as mentioned before...

Without Lu Chao, Fan Changcun would never be able to negotiate with such peace of mind, because he’d have no one capable of leading the troops. Without Lu Chao, his grandson Fan Jinhu couldn’t have even conquered Sword Leader Royal City.

But with Lu Chao in the picture, he had free rein to play his hand and negotiate however he pleased.

Their plan was precisely this: negotiate on one front while sowing chaos throughout the Hundred Countries on the other.

As for why they insisted on calling him Great Wu Lu Chao?

Why did Lu Chao continue to wear a mask? It was to blur the lines between truth and falsehood, letting people think whatever they pleased. The most important part was that the more he played the part, the less likely anyone was to believe he was the real Lu Chao.

Plus, it was a good way to get on the nerves of Lu Dingtian and the others in the Great Wu Empire.

It would make them howl with rage.

Getting them angry enough to continuously attack the Hundred Countries would increase the pressure on the Six Great Flame Kings, thereby reducing the pressure on Lu Chao and his forces.

”Oh, that’s right. I believe I told the Tiger Flame Eldest Prince...”

”The moment your men catch up to ours, the first thing we’ll do is kill Li Wumian. And we’ll take care of the other kings while we’re at it.”

The wrinkles on Fan Changcun’s face seemed to smooth out as he surveyed the hall with complete indifference.

”Second Prince, you’re here as well?”

”If Li Wumian dies, there is no antidote for the Fierce Demon Pill. Even if you won’t consider the lives of our Descendants of Azure Flame, you should at least consider your own. Go on, beg your father, the King, for our sake.”

That was right. Chang Qi was also present in the Tiger Flame Palace, suffering unimaginable torment from the poison.

He had lost a shocking amount of weight.

Upon hearing Fan Changcun’s words, he dropped to his knees with a THUD. ”Royal Father, please, just do as Marshal Fan says.”

The Tiger Flame King flew into a rage at his son’s words. ”Drag this useless trash out of my sight!”

’Damn him,’ he thought, ’contradicting me at a time like this.’ He immediately ordered his men to drag Chang Qi away.

’What a useless piece of trash...’

’I told him to get close to Fan Jinxiang, to see if he could dig up any of Fan Changcun’s secrets, but he couldn’t even fucking succeed at that simple task! If he weren’t so damn useless, would we even be in this situation?’

’If it weren’t for him, Fan Jinhu never would have escaped Tiger Flame Royal City in the first place.’

Finally, after forcefully composing themselves, the Six Great Flame Kings let the Tiger Flame King speak for them once more. ”Marshal Fan, we want to open the treasure of the Azure Flame Sect’s Forbidden Land. Once the Forbidden Land is open, everything else is negotiable.”

This was the crux of the issue.

Fan Changcun gave a faint, enigmatic smile. ”I’ve said more than once,” he stated quietly, ”that with my current abilities, I cannot open the gate to the Forbidden Land.”

This was what Fan Changcun had been saying for forty long years.

And, just as Lei Zhen and his father had said, the Six Great Flame Kings had once believed Fan Changcun. But now, he was on the verge of dying from old age, and he still couldn’t open it.

This made them suspect he was just stringing them along, which is why the mission to assassinate Lu Hanyan had been ordered in the first place.

”Whether you can or not, you will open it.”

The Wolf Flame King slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet. ”If you can’t open it, then don’t even think about us agreeing to your conditions!”

The Six Great Flame Kings fixed their deadly glares on him once more.

Fan Changcun spoke slowly. ”I can try. But the six Royal Decrees must be publicly announced, and I must personally witness the safety of the Descendants of Azure Flame.”

’He’d already told Lu Chao the truth—he really couldn’t open it...’

’And even if he could, he absolutely must not. Otherwise, the Descendants of Azure Flame would be... wiped out, root and stem.’

”Impossible. Open it first, then we’ll talk,” the Eagle Flame King said coldly.

Fan Changcun retorted, ”The six Royal Decrees do not need to be announced immediately, but they must be carried out. Send all the families of my Descendants of Azure Flame to the old site of the Azure Flame Sect. I will only begin after I receive word that they have arrived...”

The Tiger Flame King roared again. ”Fan Changcun, you think you’re in any position to negotiate conditions with us? The families of your Descendants of Azure Flame, you say? Believe me when I say I can have every last one of them killed!”

Fan Changcun’s body went ramrod straight, and his voice boomed in response. ”And you should believe that my grandson, Fan Jinhu, can wipe out all of your pursuing troops!”

It all came back to the same strategy: Fan Changcun would negotiate while Lu Chao led the army, plunging the Hundred Countries into chaos.

At this moment, the Tiger Flame Eldest Prince stepped forward with a heavy stomp. ”You think you can do that with your paltry little army?”

The words had barely left his mouth when— ”Report!”

A Tiger Guard messenger burst into the hall. ”Your Majesty, our pursuing forces... they’ve been crippled by Fan Jinhu!”

As soon as the words were spoken, an eerie silence fell over the hall. All eyes widened as they turned back to Fan Changcun.

It was as if the Tiger Flame Eldest Prince had just been slapped hard across the face.

He had been brimming with confidence just a moment before. He shook his head frantically, ”Impossible! We sent the royal elites! There’s no way they could be defeated by a ragtag army cobbled together with hostages from the Small Kingdoms. Absolutely impossible!”

But a flash of admiration for Lu Chao glinted in Fan Changcun’s eyes.

His murky eyes suddenly shone with a piercing light, and his voice echoed throughout the Tiger Flame Hall. ”Today, they’re crippled. Next, they will be annihilated.”