"Those men... They... Where are they?"

Li Wutong’s lips suddenly began to tremble. He felt a wave of weakness wash over him as a strange thought rose in his mind: ’It seems I... I shouldn’t have provoked that brat Ling Xiao. He doesn’t seem all that ambitious. So what if I gave him Penzes City? He’s also good friends with Tianluo. I... was I possessed?’

In reality, Li Wutong was far from possessed; he was shrewder than anyone. It was just his deep-seated arrogance that made it impossible for him to tolerate a "state within a state" in his territory. This was especially true with Ling Xiao acting the part of a diligent and beloved ruler. If this continued, he feared all the great merchants of Cameron Town would be drawn to that southernmost city of the Lanyue Empire. That... was Li Wutong’s true worry!

Sending Elder Peng to attack Ling Xiao’s Lord’s Mansion with them wasn’t an impulsive decision by Li Wutong. On the contrary, it was the result of careful deliberation—a kind of indifference born from possessing great power. That’s right. As long as Master Yu Tian agreed to help, Li Wutong had nothing to fear. A Crown Prince? The King? To a Middle-Tier Sword Emperor, they were nothing more than ants! Utterly beneath his notice!

So what if they killed Ling Xiao? Last night, aside from Elder Peng, all the others were from the Yu Family. Even with such a powerful lineup, they had failed to kill Ling Xiao. But what did that matter? What did it have to do with him, the Southern King? No one would dare suspect him! Besides, Li Wutong refused to believe that so many experts couldn’t kill a single Ling Xiao!

Once Ling Xiao was dead, he could logically take control of Penzes City and regain command over its smuggling and slave trade. Only with a strong economic foundation could he pursue his grand ambitions. Otherwise, his ambition would be nothing but empty talk!

’How is that possible? How could they all be dead?’ Li Wutong took a few deep breaths, then stood up and tried to put on a dignified expression, but his ashen face and faintly trembling lips betrayed him.

Fortunately, none of his subordinates dared to scrutinize the Southern King. After stepping outside, Li Wutong looked up at the gloomy sky, his mood worsening by the second.

"Reporting to you, Prince. Those people are just outside the city. It’s a bit strange... they delivered a pile of corpses. Even if they’re trying to claim credit, this is... this is a bit disgusting, isn’t it?"

The subordinate rambled on, not noticing that his master’s expression was growing darker and darker.

Li Wutong said, "Let’s go take a look!"

As he spoke, someone brought him his warhorse. Li Wutong mounted it, ignored the subordinate, and dug his heels into its sides. The horse let out a long neigh, raised its hooves, and galloped away.

The subordinate who had delivered the message was quite puzzled, muttering to himself, "What’s wrong with the Prince? He’s not usually like this." Shaking his head, he too headed outside.

Li Wutong was burning with anxiety. He quickly arrived outside the city and saw several tall, ordinary-looking soldiers leaning casually, laughing and chatting. One of them held a waterskin, tilting his head back to drink, as if completely unconcerned by the tarp-covered corpses in the cart behind them.

Seeing Li Wutong ride up, the soldiers exchanged a glance. One of them asked, "Is that the Prince?"

Li Wutong shot the soldier a sharp, hawk-like glare and snorted. ’Ling Xiao’s men have no manners,’ he thought. ’How insolent.’

The man seemed completely unafraid. He gave Li Wutong a lazy salute and said, "Prince, our Lord said that these men are bandits who were menacing the south. They’re extremely powerful, so there are probably some of the Empire’s most wanted criminals among them. He figures someone under your command might recognize them. Our Lord also said he doesn’t want any credit. Consider it a service to the nation. If no one here can identify them either, then we’ll just dump these bandits’ bodies in the wilderness!"

As Li Wutong listened, he cursed inwardly: ’Absurd! Even if you, Ling Xiao, really did capture the Empire’s most wanted criminals, you shouldn’t have sent them to me! What’s the meaning of this? Are you trying to frame me for treason?’

Li Wutong steeled himself. Reaching out from his horse, he yanked the tarp off the cart of corpses. His face remained expressionless, but wild joy bloomed in his heart. As a veteran of the battlefield who had seen countless dead men, the sight of a few more bodies didn’t bother him. The crucial point was that among the pile of the dead, he did not see any sign of those three!

In other words... they must have gotten away!

As for these men, what did their lives or deaths have to do with him? Li Wutong said nonchalantly, "Go back and thank your Lord for his efforts in maintaining the Empire’s unity and stability. I... will submit a report to the throne to request a commendation for him! Thank you for your hard work on this journey!" Then, turning to the retainers who had caught up, he said, "Go fetch one hundred Gold Coins and give them to these men. Consider it a reward from me!"

The soldiers grinningly accepted the Gold Coins from Li Wutong’s retainer. As Li Wutong’s men began to haul the cart of corpses away, the few soldiers from the Lightning Legion mounted their horses. The one who had spoken before suddenly turned back and said to Li Wutong, "Oh, right, Prince! There’s one more thing I forgot to tell you. There were actually a few other people who attacked our Lord’s mansion last night!"

Li Wutong’s heart skipped a beat, but he immediately realized this must be one of Ling Xiao’s tricks! ’Trying to catch me off guard and expose myself? Dream on!’

He said coolly, "Oh? And were they caught?"

The soldier chuckled. "It must have been their unlucky day. Last night, a freakishly loud thunderbolt struck all three of them dead. They were zapped so thoroughly that not even a speck of dust was left! They must have been truly wicked people. Why else would heavenly lightning strike them? Well, Prince, we’ll be on our way!"

With that, the soldier reined in his warhorse. The steed neighed, raised its hooves, and kicked up a cloud of dust as it galloped away at full speed.

Li Wutong sat motionless on his warhorse, his eyes glazed over. The soldiers from the Lightning Legion had already vanished without a trace. Only then did one of Li Wutong’s subordinates cautiously ask, "Prince, they’re long gone!"

It turned out Li Wutong’s retainers thought their Prince was respectfully seeing the soldiers off! They were even moved, thinking, ’The Prince is truly courteous to his subordinates. He gave those low-ranking soldiers Gold Coins for their journey and even watched them depart. Where else could you find a Prince like him? It seems we’ve chosen the right man to follow!’

Li Wutong’s body swayed, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. His face turned ashen, and he tumbled from his horse.

"Prince!"

"Prince, wake up!"

The crowd of retainers behind him descended into chaos.

「Penzes City, at the Marquis’s Mansion.」

Ling Xiao listened with a smile as the soldiers took turns recounting their trip to the Southern King’s base. When he saw the squad leader try to hand over the one hundred Gold Coins, he laughed and said, "Go ahead and split it among yourselves. Or better yet, use it to treat everyone to a round of drinks when you have some free time!"

The soldier beamed and left with the Gold Coins.

Uncle Fu, standing to the side, said with a smile, "The Southern King should stay quiet for a while now!" Uncle Fu had sustained a minor injury on his arm during last night’s battle. Thankfully, Tiger had arrived in time; otherwise, Uncle Fu would have been their first target!

Ye Zi sneered from the side. "He can try something else if he wants. Let him send his army to attack us! When the time comes, we’ll just use the magic crystal cannons he gave us to bombard them!"

Chunlan and Qiuyue chuckled softly. Wind Bell added, "Using the magic crystal cannons would be such a waste!"

"Oh, little sister Wind Bell, you haven’t even changed your name yet, so how has your heart already switched sides?" Ye Wen Ni’s sharp tongue made quick work of someone like Wind Bell.

Wind Bell pouted and pretended not to stoop to Ye Zi’s level. The two girls were actually on good terms; their occasional bickering was just their way of interacting.

Just then, Yisha walked in from outside. Seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, her own mood lifted. To her, Ling Xiao was like the vast, blue sky of her world; as long as he was there, her sky would be too.

"Big Brother Ling Xiao, I heard you’re going to the Sea Domain with them. Do you have to go?" Yisha asked softly, her star-like eyes fixed on Ling Xiao.

Behind her, Huangpu Yue glanced at the flock of chattering women, shook her head slightly with disapproval, and thought, ’Even if he is that outstanding, I would never be willing to share him with other women!’

’If I’m going to find someone, it has to be a man who only cares about me—a man who, aside from me, wouldn’t even so much as glance at another woman, let alone marry one!’

Although Yisha had mocked her for this idea, Huangpu Yue held firm to her principles. ’Look,’ she’d argued, ’the father of the man you like—hasn’t he only had one woman his entire life!’

In last night’s battle, the dozens of Tier Six Magic Beast Crystal Cores that Ling Xiao had brought back from the Penzes Swamp were all used up. Not a single one remained...

Although they currently had income from the Beauty Pills, Ling Xiao still took out one hundred Tier Five Crystal Cores and gave them to Yisha, telling her and Huangpu Yue to auction them off and begin preparations to build the city!

Ling Xiao was now growing more and more accustomed to the life of a Lord.

He wanted to build his territory into something even greater. Ling Xiao even had an ambition to develop this southern port city into a metropolis more prosperous than the Imperial Capital itself!

He left behind enough Beauty Pills for three months of auctions and entrusted the mansion to Ye Zi, Uncle Fu, and the others.

Before his departure, he spoke privately with each member of his core group, assigning them various tasks. He also left behind the Tongluo Pills he had refined from Crystal Cores, giving them to Ling Wu. The loyalty of the Lightning Legion’s private soldiers was already very high, and now, as a Marquis, Ling Xiao was permitted to have five thousand private soldiers!

Therefore, increasing the overall strength of his troops had become imperative.

After arranging everything, Ling Xiao waved farewell to the crowd. With only Tiger by his side, he and Song Mingyue boarded a large ship and set off for the Sea Domain Song Family!

Looking back at the crowd on the shore, who now looked as small as ants, Ling Xiao could still, with his keen eyesight, make out their figures standing there. A sudden reluctance to leave welled up in his heart. ’The bonds of the mortal world are truly moving,’ he thought. ’Rest assured, I will grow stronger as quickly as I can to protect you all... and keep you safe for a lifetime!’ (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log on to www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, supporting the author and legitimate reading!)