Chapter 4 Success
“Lin Yiquan, come out, why did you betray me?” Long Lidoqi was still screaming wildly.
The half-orc was invincible after going berserk, but the opponent was also a veteran of many battles. Although he was in a desperate situation, he still stubbornly resisted, unable to make a move in a hurry.
Fifteen blades charged into the enemy like a storm, instantly tearing a gap in the orderly battle formation. The orcs immediately poured through the gap, while the winged clan members swooped through the air to prevent the enemy from closing the gap again. The fourteen people were the ten members of the golden team, Garu Wei Xian, Wu Jianjun, Zhao Yun, and Lei Zibing.
The five clan leaders also charged into the gap. Paganini’s great axe swept across the ground and directly targeted Long Lidoqi, while the Lion King’s sword pierced the air and sealed the cold-looking man on the right. Zhang Zhengli swung his sword in and also directly targeted Long Lidoqi. However, there were seven people around Long Lidoqi who confronted the five clan leaders and Zhang Laoshi. Four of them were Long Lidoqi’s four top protectors, while the other three were unknown.
Zhang Lao’s terrifying blade met two of them but was in vain. The swordsmanship of the two was equally terrifying, and the combined power of the two swords was even stronger. The sound of the swords clashing made people’s scalps tingle, and no one dared to enter within a radius of three zhangs, as if there was a thunderstorm.
Puchi, puchi, the continuous strange sound was emitted continuously, and the originally indistinct silhouettes of the three people appeared.
“Damn, it turns out to be Chen Jianneng from the Divine Sword Villa, and that’s your younger brother Guo Yu, the Mad Swordsman.“
A strange laugh, ‘Zhang Zhengli, I didn’t think you’d be here.’
”No need for nonsense, give me your life.” Zhang Laodaodao disappeared strangely and charged up again valiantly.
Sang Jie’s spear in his hand flashed with electricity, and the “Three Whirls of the Demon Shadow” spear shot out three shadows, directly pointing at Long Lidoqi. However, Baku’s lion blade went one step ahead, and thousands of wind blades suddenly appeared on the blade. The violent wind blades cut the people around Long Lidoqi, and blood rained down. The blade attacked Long Lidoqi unhindered.
Wu, Lei, and Zhao’s sword, whip, and spear converged in an instant, and their terrifying combined power surged towards Long Li Duoqi like an undercurrent.
Long Li Duoqi’s figure was incredibly able to escape from Sang Jie and Baku’s converging swords and spears in an instant. Long Li Duoqi’s hands closed together, and a terrifying storm formed from his true power erupted forward with himself as the singularity. Under the protection of the mysterious martial arts body, the slash of Wu, the whip of Lei, and the spear of Zhao presented an irregular fluctuation against the backdrop of the firelight. Three thunderbolts followed, and the deafening thunder shook the hearts of men. There was very little room to avoid in such a place, and victory or defeat depended on the strength of both sides and the number of people.
Long Likudqi’s face turned pale. He had just clashed with Wu, Lei, and Zhao, and was not lightly injured. He suddenly lurched backwards, charging into the fighting crowd. The five people followed closely, but they were unable to form a siege.
The sound of resistance had already become extremely faint. Wu, Lei, Zhao, Sangjie, and Baku once again formed a siege against Long Li Duoqi. A terrifying storm formed within a radius of three zhang (about 10 meters) around the six of them, from which lightning and wind whirlwinds occasionally escaped. Bows and arrows and spells were simply unable to provide support to the five. But at this moment, the shouting and killing cries of the soldiers from the Xuanwu Gate also faintly came.
The six people fighting together suddenly separated. Long Li Duoqi vomited seven mouthfuls of blood. He extended his right hand forward, but his left hand formed a strange seal. The “Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique” stimulated the blood and qi throughout his body, causing him to injure himself, which instantly tripled his power and increased his mental strength threefold. The seal in his left hand was the extremely domineering “Seal of the Void and God-Destroying Technique” in the sorcery. Paired with the magic in his right hand, the terrifying typhoon spun outward with Long Li The outer five people were instantly spun out, and the siege was immediately broken. They knew that this was the only opportunity to escape for their lives. As long as they could meet up with the people from the Xuanwu Gate, they could escape. With the help of the seven mouthfuls of blood that spurted out, they turned into a bloody light and escaped with the blood. Just as they got out of the siege circle, eleven sword rainbows also came across the sky and became entangled with the bloody light. The strange sound made people think they were in hell.
A red cloud of blood exploded in the air, and the eleven sword lights scattered and disappeared. The ten people from the Golden Team and Lu Weixian vomited a few mouthfuls of blood and collapsed to the ground.
The blood light also landed at the same time, revealing Long Liduochi. The sword stood on the ground, panting like a cow. “Kill!” Zhang Lao no longer struggled with others but chased Long Liduochi the moment Long Liduochi broke free. At this time, he arrived just in time. Taiyi Xuangang Rongjin Xuan Qi, palm out Daxuan Feng style, pressing the void towards Long Liduqi’s vital point, a long shout, Long Liduqi leaning on the ground with a knife, instantly turning into a rainbow and shooting towards Zhang Lao, while he himself used the Wind Seizing Technique to fly towards the soldiers from Xuanwu Gate who had already appeared.
The terrifying palm power was firmly imprinted on Long Liduqi’s vital point, and at the same time the knife was inserted into Zhang Lao’s abdomen, making a strange sound like breaking leather. The tyrannical qi wreaked havoc everywhere in Long Li Duoqi’s body, destroying 80% of his qi and temporarily disabling the remaining 4 levels. However, Long Li Duoqi’s body still flew towards the soldiers at the east gate. At this moment, thirty living corpses appeared on the ground. One living corpse took over Long Li Duoqi, while six others immediately protected it and ran towards us, with the remaining twenty-three blocking the opponent’s reinforcements.
At this point, I could no longer hold back. Escorted by the Yuri siblings and twenty-two half-beasts, I charged at Long Lidoqi and roared with all my strength, “I am here! Xuanwu City’s imperial army, stop immediately!”
Hearing my shout, the Xuanwu City imperial army almost subconsciously stopped pursuing. After all, they were the imperial army, and their usual education was to protect the emperor and the imperial city. The nominal supreme commander was the emperor, not anyone else.
The living corpse brought Long Lidoqi to my side. It was only then that the soldiers, who had just reacted, made a commotion. What was in front of them? The hideous orcs, winged people, and the legendary skeleton army. In their eyes, I was just a devil. Some soldiers couldn’t help but retreat, while many others wanted to kill. “That’s the devil. Kill him and save Lord Long.”
I grabbed Lung Ridoki and shouted, “Anyone who dares to take a step forward will be exiled, their families destroyed, and their clan eradicated.”
The soldiers of the Xuanwu Gate immediately fell silent, and only the sound of the torches burning resounded in the night sky.
“Long Lituoqi rebelled against the emperor and tried to seize power. I took him down preemptively. I know that all of you were forced to obey, but you no longer have to worry about it. Just return to the east gate and what happened today will be forgotten.“
Just then, General Lin had already controlled the situation at the west gate and led 3,000 troops over.
”Your servant greets Your Majesty’s long life.” Lin Yi dressed in armor and bowed.
Looking at the 3,000 troops in front of him, even the people of Long Li Duo Qi had to admit that they had suffered a crushing defeat. Seeing General Lin Yiquan bow to me, many soldiers also bowed to the ground and shouted “Long live the emperor”. Soon after, the sound of “Long live the emperor” resounded through the stars, and everyone except me knelt down. (The people of Long Li Duo Qi were all killed.)
“Long Lik Duqi should be executed for rebellion, but his wife and children are innocent, so their family will not be punished. However, some ministers in the court usually colluded with Long Lik Duqi to disrupt the order of the court, and these people must be punished.“ I slowly swept my gaze over the crowd. The soldiers let out a sigh of relief when they heard that Long Lik Duqi’s entire family would not be killed. If even Long Lik Duqi’s family could be spared, they would certainly not be killed.
”General Lin.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.“
”Send someone to the West City Garrison Command to take control there, and then send someone to arrest the people on the list according to the list on the paper. Remember to only arrest the people on the list, their families do not need to be arrested.“
”Your Majesty, I obey.“ After saying this, Lin Yiquan sent soldiers from Xuanwu Gate out of the imperial city to arrest people.
”In the history of the mainland, Emperor Alexander was the first and only human emperor known as the Demon Emperor.”
It was already bright outside, and the city guards and imperial troops were still on duty in the city. The city was under lockdown, and no one was allowed to stay in the streets, or they would be thrown into jail. The fierce-looking soldiers entered and left the residences of countless ministers to arrest Long Lidoqi’s accomplices.
The upper nobility of the empire, which has endured for more than two thousand years, is extremely corrupt, but they happen to hold a lot of power. Therefore, every reform is almost impossible to succeed. This time, I am going to take advantage of this power struggle to carry out a major purge of the nobility. Therefore, there are actually quite a few people on the list who are not Long Li Duoqi’s people, but I feel that they will hinder me in the future, so I have to get rid of them all.
Ten days later, the capital had stabilized, the people could go back to the streets, and I had complete control of the military power in the capital. Lan Mieqing was returning to the capital with 5,000 troops from the Varna Plains, saying that he wanted to report back to the capital. I was going to seize his military power anyway, so I agreed to his request without thinking. It was ridiculous that many ministers still strongly opposed it. But just to be safe, I urgently ordered my third brother to return to the capital with 10,000 troops from his unit seven days ago.
When Lan Meiqing arrived in the capital, I gave him no chance at all and immediately summoned him to the palace.
Three days later, Xie Yuanling took over the position of Commander of the Blue Dragon Army, and Lan Meiqing was placed under house arrest in the general’s mansion.
Seven days later, I issued an imperial decree, stating that the five beast tribes and the two winged tribes had meritorious deeds in protecting the throne, and were therefore granted the Songhua Plain as their fiefdom. The seven tribe leaders were made barons, ranked third in the nobility. In view of the achievements of necromancers and dark mages and necromancy and dark magic are of great help to the empire’s cause. Therefore, the imperial family has allocated funds to establish the Academy of the Night, and an additional 50,000 gold coins will be allocated each year as funding. In order to win over the goblin tribe, I have also granted the goblin tribe the 400-square-kilometre Sun Plains north of the Sunset Forest.
This imperial decree immediately aroused fierce opposition from many ministers in the court, who considered it a compromise with slaves. I found that although I had successfully seized power, as I was still a 13-year-old child, and my naturally baby face made me look even younger, I had no deterrent effect on the court ministers at all. However, there was still a way to deal with these old-timers. I ordered the Night Assassins to make a few more appearances, and when I asked my mother to intervene, the opposition in the court immediately subsided.
There was nothing I could do, so I had my mother resume the reins of power behind the curtain. Of course, she was just going through the motions, and sometimes she even sent a maid to impersonate her. Wei Wuhou Lu Ao took over some of Long Lituoqi’s duties, and the rest of his powers returned to the Six Ministries.
Soon rumors spread in the capital that Wei Wuhou and the empress dowager had conspired to capture and kill Long Lituoqi, and now the two were in control of the country’s affairs, while I remained an emperor in name only.
The commander of the East City Imperial Army was killed that day, so I appointed Wu Jianjun as the commander of the East City Imperial Army, assisted by Lei Zibing and Zhao Yun. I reappointed the commander of the Imperial Army (the position had been abolished by Long Lituoqi), Sun Yong, the top fighter from the lay family of the Xie Temple, who had killed Guo Yu of the Divine Sword Villa.
I told Lu Wei to go with Xie Yuanling to the Canglong Army in the west. The Canglong Army, which was currently engaged in battle, had a good chance of earning military merit. Zhang Lao had been seriously injured by Longlikuchi’s attack and was recovering in the palace.
In addition, I let Jin Yi, George Sand, take over Long Lidoqi’s 10,000 city guards, and sent six brothers to help. The city guards, who were originally disobedient, lost half their energy after seeing George Sand’s beauty. After a few hands with her, no one was disobedient.
A month later, I ordered the temple to immediately reduce the size of the paladin corps and only allow it to retain 5,000 people.
At the same time, I ordered the reorganization of the Imperial Knights and the Knights of the Wind and Snow, with an independent establishment of 30,000 each.
“Your Majesty, it has been confirmed that Long Lidoqi is indeed a member of the Demon Sect. He and Lan Meiqing are both the most outstanding experts of the Demon Sect. The two belong to the same school of the Invincible Heart Demon. Some people say that the Bu Xin Pavilion and the Invincible Heart Demon are one and the same, but according to our observations, the two are not close at all. Both are mavericks. In fact, the Demon Sect is divided into four factions,“ said Yamada Hoko.
”What is the situation with the Demon Sect?”
“After Long Li Duoqi was arrested, the Chengmo Society’s whereabouts became hidden, but people’s minds are already in turmoil. We have discovered quite a few secret caves. Do you want to deploy the Night?“
”What about the senior leaders?“
”We have detected that one of the senior leaders is likely to be Long Li Duoqi’s son. The one currently in the capital is his double.“
”Find out immediately where he really is!“
”According to our judgment, he is likely to be in the capital.”
“In that case, we can’t execute Long Li Duoqi yet,“ I said with ulterior motives.
”He probably won’t break out of the prison. He’s not strong enough to even get through the front door.“
”Escape from the execution ground?“
”Yes, when there are a lot of people, and there is chaos, we can break out and escape smoothly.“
”I understand. Anything else?“
”There is one more thing, which is related to Your Majesty’s eldest brother.“
”Speak.”
“His Highness has a mistress in the city and a bastard child.”
“How do you know?“ I asked, my face turning pale.
”He practices the Daoyi True Qi, and his martial arts are derived from the Overlord Cauldron. Furthermore, the mother and son have two Wind Rings on their hands. According to our investigation, the Prince took two Wind Rings from the treasure vault three years ago. The Wind Rings on the mother and son also appeared three years ago. We have also investigated the Prince’s whereabouts over the past ten years. Every time he returns to the capital, he will disappear for a while, and the mother and son will also disappear at the same time.“
”What are their names?”
“The mother’s name is Melisande, a former slave who was later ransomed. The child’s name is Qiuchengxin.“
”Who else knows about this?“
”Only I.“
”Suizi, don’t tell anyone, or don’t blame me.“
”I know.“
”Have someone from the Water Team approach them and teach them some martial arts and magic.“
”Okay, I’ll go right away.