Chapter 1240 The Second Prince
"There are no grudges or any relations.h.i.+ps between us," w.a.n.g Wei said, not giving the Ruthless King time to respond and gain control of the conversation. "I need a new force to end the situation outside, and the Lawless Zone was the best place to ama.s.s power."
The Ruthless King squinted. "So, you"re…"
"That"s right," w.a.n.g Wei nodded. "How about this? If you join me peacefully, I promise to ally with you, and once we achieve our goals, we can go our separate ways."
"That is not happening," the Ruthless King replied decisively.
"I figured as much," w.a.n.g Wei sighed. "I guess I now understand why you"re in this situation."
"You don"t know anything about me, so don"t pretend like you do."
"I don"t, but it"s not hard to deduce," w.a.n.g Wei continued casually. "You"re probably from a top dynasty with Paragons. However, they died during the Ultimate Taboo or the clean-up afterward. Despite these circ.u.mstances, your dynasty should still have existed, even if they had to live in embarra.s.sment.
"Unfortunately, your ego and pride hurt the entire nation. You probably did something that provoked these parasites, or they tried to use you in one of their ploys, and your pride made you bluntly refuse them, causing one of them to annihilate your dynasty. "In the end, you had to run with your tail between your legs, living in this place in exile as a shadow of your former glory. That should be the gist of it. Did I miss anything? I should be off in some of the small details."
The Ruthless King looked at him, his killing intent almost palpable.
"The odd thing is it seems you haven"t learned anything from that experience," w.a.n.g Wei continued. "Your ancestors must be rolling in their graves in Limbo. I a.s.sume you did not come to this place simply to hide from the parasites but also to hide from the consequences of your actions.
"After all, once your ancestors are revived, they will definitely dethrone you and may even directly execute you. This restricted place is your best chance at surviving their wrath."
"You have a sharp tongue," the Ruthless King commented, secretly clenching his fist. "It"s a shame you used to spew nonsense."
w.a.n.g Wei ignored his feeble comeback, his gaze focusing on the legion behind him. "It seems you"re not completely useless. Your men"s spirit and morals have not wavered the slightest with my words. So, your forte is military training? It"s probably how you became the successor in your generation despite your terrible personality and unsuitable mindset for a ruler."
w.a.n.g Wei then turned to the princes behind the Ruthless King. "Your father"s fate is sealed. If any of you can control his legion, I will be more than happy to work with you instead of him. If you wish to exercise filial piety, I can even spare his life as long as you promise to control him properly."
"Stop talking nonsense," yelled the First Prince. "You"re stupid if you think we will betray our own father."
"I see," w.a.n.g Wei replied with a hidden smirk. His focus was on the second prince, the eye with the Double Pupil. Although the latter nodded in agreement, w.a.n.g Wei detected his hesitation.
"What a shame," w.a.n.g Wei sighed. "Anyway, where are my people?" The Flesh and Poison Demons were captured, and he wanted to know their whereabouts.
"They are safely kept by me," the Ruthless King quickly replied, feeling he finally had some sense of control over the situation. "However, I don"t know how —"
"I won"t negotiate anything with you regarding their safety," w.a.n.g Wei cut him off. "If you keep them alive, I promise not to touch your family lineage. Although you"ll be gone, you can take comfort in the fact your lineage remains and might one day keep their status as emperors."
By this point, veins were popping on the Ruthless King"s neck. "This is not how things are going to proceed. Do you understand me?"
"Do you not understand your situation?" w.a.n.g Wei reb.u.t.ted. "Do you think you can win in this situation?"
"I have experienced millions of battles, and one thing I"ve learned is that there is always a way — no matter how dire the situation," the Ruthless King sneered. w.a.n.g Wei sighed, slightly exasperated.
"Do you think you"re the only one accomplished in military tactics?" w.a.n.g Wei asked. "In your current situation, the only way out is to draw long enough against us until the Hidden Master hears of this disturbance and comes to put an end. Sadly for you, his presence will not change the situation."
The Ruthless King"s heart skipped a beat; the enemy was correct. As soon as he saw all these leaders show up, he knew this method was the only way for him and his people to survive.
"Now that we have everything laid up, I"m giving you one last chance — surrender peacefully and spare your people this bloodshed."
"Father, please accept his offer," the second prince thought to himself, despite knowing it would be pointless, giving his father"s pride and stubbornness. He knew how terrifying this group was, especially the Barbarian King and this Empyrean w.a.n.g.
One of his Double Eye abilities is to determine people"s talent. Over the years, he developed his own system to cla.s.sify an individual"s talent: Worthless, Genius, Heaven Chosen — which is further divided into low, middle, and top— and Monstrous. Monster-level talent is the highest tier that someone can be born with, but not the highest level he"s created.
Above that are [Once in a Generation Talent], [Once in an Era Talent], and [Anomalies]. However, to achieve these levels, innate talent is no longer applicable. Cultivators must achieve certain tasks or goals — like breaking the barrier between mortals and Immortals or achieving Nine Supremacy — to go beyond the Monstrous tier. Then, there is the level at the top of this list — the Anomalies.
The second prince did not even know such a level existed until he one day accidentally saw Empress Wu from afar, and his eyes detected a level of talent that he"d never seen in someone else. The prince thought his eyes may have made a mistake for many years until he met the Barbarian King.
The latter was the only person close to the [Anomalous] level, seemingly very closed but missing some other factor. So, he cla.s.sified the Barbarian King as [Pseudo Anomaly]. Today, the second prince met the second true anomalous talent in his life — Empyrean w.a.n.g.
The second prince did not know why these [Anomalies] were so scary, but they have displayed extraordinary powers and accomplishments so far. He knew his father did not stand a chance, even if he convinced himself that talent was not always equal to strength.
…
"The answer is still the same," the Ruthless King said calmly, already regaining his composure. "A man should die standing up, never on his knees."
"Father, your stubbornness has doomed us again," the second prince sighed. "I must do something."
"I can respect your choice and mindset as a cultivator. Of course, you"re very unfit as a ruler and leader," w.a.n.g Wei said. "However, ultimately, my view of you does not matter. Since you"ve chosen, let"s get this over with."
Under w.a.n.g Wei"s order, the Puppet and Ghost Demon summoned their armies. He used his Yin-Yang Dao to summon a symbol underneath these legions floating in the void. Then, the ghosts started to fuse with the puppets, turning their eye sockets into soul flames.
w.a.n.g Wei nodded in satisfaction. With his actions, these powerful puppets now had more soul/spiritual attacks. Additionally, they can transform into a Ghost State, providing them some intangibility. Such a state is also an excellent way to protect their puppet cores.
Then, w.a.n.g Wei proceeded to activate his [Awakening] and summon his 11 fate palaces. He arranged them in a weird shape before they suddenly linked into a magic circle with intricate designs. The palaces released a unique fluctuation that affected the area.
The Empyreans were the first to notice what had happened. They could not summon their creations from their Grandmist World. w.a.n.g Wei knew one of his weaknesses was his young age, which prevented him from even cultivating enough creation lives. As such, he immediately banned them in this battle.
"Be ready," the Ruthless King ordered with an ugly expression, and his legion responded in unison to his command. The two princes suddenly swallowed a pill, and their strength instantly reached the Empyrean Realm. Then, a Qi Luck Dragon from their dynasty manifested in the void before fusing with the three and blessing them.
"Be careful," w.a.n.g Wei strangely warned the group.
"Did you also notice that fleeting gaze?" Mongke asked. "I thought I was overthinking."
"No, it was there," w.a.n.g Wei stated. "You"re familiar with the Hidden Master. Do you think it"s him?"
"It was so fast that I couldn"t tell," Mongke replied. "However, if someone can spy on us without being detected — it would be him."
w.a.n.g Wei groaned softly. "Anyway, prepare for possible interference and maybe even a sneak attack."