“Dad, do you mean…” said Lan Guang, aghast.

　　The father breathed out a long sigh and said, “Tomorrow is Lady Xiang’s birthday. Get someone to prepare and send a generous gift into the palace.”

　　Lan Guang seemed to have understood. Lady Xiang was Qin Yue’s birth mother.

　　A trace of a smile suddenly appeared on Lan Hong’s face as he muttered to himself, “It looks like the Li Family is going to suppress us for the many years to come. But, haven’t they suffered enough by being cast aside after their services were no longer needed?”

　　…

　　Two men were drinking in a floating restaurant anchored on Qinhuai River, with a dozen beautifully dressed girls sitting around them and acting coyly to pleasure them.

　　The man on the left was clad in martial attire and looked handsome. He had two girls in his arms, and was rubbing their soft spots with his hands. “We should thank that Li Yunxiao,” he laughed. “After what he has done, those scholars who claimed themselves to be talented and romantic all scrammed back to their hometowns, leaving the best beauties here for us to choose.”

　　The man on the right had a scar on his face. With a look of disdain in his eyes, he said, “I can’t believe those weak and pedantic scholars had the courage to provoke the Li Family. They asked for it. And that old fogy Kong…Although he claimed to be aloof from politics and material pursuits, he was eventually used by the elder prince and got himself killed.”

　　“Well, whatever happened in the court has nothing to do with us.” The handsome man chuckled. “Blinded by profits, Gao Feng is assisting the elder prince while Bai Mou is willing to stand behind the younger prince because of love. In my opinion, Luo Yunshang, you and I are living a better life, free and easy. And this life is even better now without those disgusting scholars fighting with us for the girls.”

　　The other man laughed, then both of them toasted and downed the wine in their glasses. Soon, their hands were already down between the girls’ legs, filling the room with rapid rasps and seductive moans.

　　Suddenly, they trembled as Xiao Qingwang’s voice exploded in the sky, shaking the floating restaurant and throwing the girls off their feet. Tall waves swept across the surface of the river as if a storm was coming.

　　Both men exchanged a glance in horror, then looked up at the sky together. In the next instant, the dozens of beauties in the restaurant found that both men had vanished, and saw only a heap of gold coins on the table. While cheering, the girls threw themselves at the gold.

　　…

　　Qin Yang and Gao Feng were the first to arrive. Looking at Xiao Qingwang, whose face was cold and serious, Gao Feng felt his heart race. He walked before the platform and cupped his fist as he offered his greeting.

　　“The commander of the first unit of the State Guardians, Gao Feng, offers greetings, my lord!”

　　The elder prince glanced coldly at the crowd, then walked to the other end of the platform where he sat down comfortably while looking at the army of broken soldiers with a scornful look on his face.

　　“The commander of the second unit of the State Guardians, Wang Suguan, offers greetings, my lord!”

　　“The commander of the fifth unit of the State Guardians, Xiao Chen, offers greetings, my lord!”

　　Two voices drifted over at the same time, and when the crowd turned to them, two men had already landed beneath the muster roll platform. They were none other than the two middle-aged men enjoying their time in the floating restaurant just now.

　　Meanwhile, Luo Yunshang and Bai Mou, who were sitting to the left of the platform, rose to their feet and walked over, standing next to them.

　　“The commander of the third unit of the State Guardians, Bai Mou, offers greetings, my lord!”

　　“The commander of the fourth unit of the State Guardians, Luo Yunshang, offers greetings, my lord!”

　　With the arrival of the five commanders, many State Guardians began to pour over from all directions, forming ranks behind them. Soon, over a hundred men had gathered beneath the platform.

　　The student army was very excited as they watched their heroes appear one after another, and they felt their blood begin to boil.

　　Xiao Qingwang raised his eyes. His sleeves fluttered as a gust of wind blew against his face, and wherever his gaze went, no one dared to look him back in the eyes. “A State Guardian’s duty is to protect the state until his heart stops beating!” he said coldly. “The army of Baizhan is invading our state, and His Majesty has decreed the Central Army to the rescue. But until now, only some three thousand men are here. Therefore…”

　　There was a hint of a sneer on Qin Yang’s face as he thought to himself, ‘Therefore what? Therefore, you are asking these State Guardians to fight the war? With only a hundred of them? Hah! Even if they are all Martial Masters, they would be useless in the face of an army with over a hundred thousand soldiers!’

　　Suddenly, Xiao Qingwang’s eyes shone with fierce killing intent as he cried out, “Therefore all of the one hundred and twenty-four generals of the Central Army have disobeyed the imperial edict, a crime that earns them their death! I want you to capture them and bring them here, where they will be executed!”

　　That instantly startled everyone. Qin Yang jumped up from his chair and growled, “How dare you, Xiao Qingwang! Who gave you the right to kill the generals of the Central Army?”

　　Xiao Qingwang turned to look at Qin Yang, his gaze stabbing right through the prince like a sharp blade. The latter shuddered in response and felt a chill rush up into his head.

　　Staring at him, Xiao Qingwang said in a cold voice, “As one of the generals of the Central Army and the prince, Qin Yang had taken the lead in disobeying the imperial edict. His action had placed the state at risk, and that makes him the arch-criminal!” He paused for a moment as a towering killing intent exploded out of him. “Somebody, take down Qin Yang and put him in captivity. We shall execute him together with the one hundred and twenty-four men later and offer their blood to the banners!”

　　An uproar broke out among the crowd. The order had not only completely stunned everyone, even Li Chunyang, who had been calm all the time, was utterly shocked and opened his eyes in horror. Yunxiao, although slightly surprised as well, was the only one with a hint of a smile on his face as he . silently nodded in approval.

　　In his eyes, Xiao Qingwang was a man with no strings attached. He would kill anyone as he pleased, no matter the man was a peddler, a menial servant, or a noble. It was the nature a martial arts warrior should have. The path of martial arts was eternal but merciless. Every warrior who reached the peak and held sway over the world had his hands covered with blood.

　　Li Chunyang, on the other hand, had been fighting for his state for many years, and the concept of loyalty and patriotism had been deeply rooted in his mind. Because of that, he could never act as freely as Xiao Qingwang, and therefore, his achievements could never be as great as the latter.

　　“You want to kill me? Do you dare to kill me?” Qin Yang’s eyes grew wide, as if he had heard the funniest joke. He was the prince of the state, a noble existence who would succeed to the throne, and Xiao Qingwang was just the courtier. How could a courtier kill his emperor?

　　He felt it absurd, and he could not help but burst into laughter. However, after laughing for a while, he felt a chill run down his back. The way Xiao Qingwang looked at him as if he was already a dead man made him feel like he was trapped in an ice cellar!

　　“Why can’t I kill you?” Xiao Qingwang’s voice was cold and contemptuous. “If Li Chunyang hadn’t fought the enemy and expanded the territory for the state, if I hadn’t defended the state, Tianshui would have long been wiped out, and your family would have been a speck of dust in history. And what are you? I am an eight-stars Martial King. So tell me, who dares to fight against me in the whole Tianshui? I can kill you like a dog!”

　　I can kill you like a dog!

　　The words rang so loud in Qin Yang’s ears that he felt his eardrums almost shatter to pieces and his head continue buzzing. For a moment, he almost collapsed to the ground.

　　Even the five units of the State Guardians were struck dumb, and each of them stood frozen to the spot.

　　It was not until Xiao Qingwang gave an angry roar that everyone woke from their shock. With horror filling their hearts, the State Guardians dispersed into all directions to capture the one hundred and twenty-four generals.

　　Xiao Qingwang, who had been silent for five years, shut himself away from the world and always seemed so kind, had finally returned! And the wrath of the Martial King had shaken the whole state!

　　Gao Feng blended himself with the crowd and hurried away. He was not going to capture any of the generals but run toward the palace. As he had followed Xiao Qingwang for many years, he was very familiar with that killing intent, and he knew the other was serious. If he did nothing, Qin Yang would definitely be dead soon.

　　Right now, the only person who could save Qin Yang was the one in the palace, the emperor of Tianshui, Qin Zheng.

　　No one on the muster roll platform could recover from their shock, including Qin Yue. As he looked at his elder brother, whose status was superior to him, being tied up with ropes like a criminal, he felt lost instead of joyful. For the first time, he questioned himself about his pursuit of the throne.

　　If he did ascend the throne, would he really be above all men, and the emtore world bow to him?

　　If the answer was ‘yes’, then what was happening to his elder brother now? Xiao Qingwang was an eight-stars Martial King, and if he really killed all the princes, could the laws and millions of troops take him down?

　　The answer was obviously a ‘no’.

　　If Xiao Qingwang could kill Qin Yang like a dog, then what about him?

　　Qin Yue could taste the bitterness in his mouth. For the first time, he felt that perhaps his goal was wrong.

　　Under Xiao Qingwang’s imposing manner, the more than two thousand students and three thousand old, weak, and disabled soldiers beneath the platform were extremely excited. They stood neatly in the ranks, with no one daring to breathe loudly or relax. Although there were more than five thousand people, the whole place was as quiet as if there were no one.

　　When all the State Guardians were deployed at the same time, their efficiency was amazing. Soon, one hundred and twenty-four generals were all tied up and brought back before being pressed to the ground. Some of them struggled at first, but when they saw that even Qin Yang had been tied up and hung under the banner, they collapsed to the ground with fear.

　　One hundred and twenty-four men knelt orderly under the platform, and behind each stood a State Guardian, holding them down so that they could not fight back.

　　Xiao Qingwang’s eyes swept across these people as if he were looking at a group of dead pigs. “You must be thinking that the law cannot be enforced when everyone is an offender, do you?” He sneered sarcastically. “You must be thinking that Li Chunyang can’t do anything to you, right? Well, I will now offer your blood to the banner! In your next life, remember that Tianshui will flourish even without you! Don’t take yourself too seriously! You are nothing!”

　　“Kill them all!” He cried out with a wave of his hand, sending a freezing murderous air across the generals’ faces.

　　The one hundred and twenty-four generals were scared out of their wits. They thought Xiao Qingwang was just putting on airs to reduced their arrogance, and he would eventually still have to rely on them to lead the army. They did not expect him to be serious and give the order so decisively. It had exceeded all expectations.

　　“Hold on!”

　　Suddenly, a loud voice came from the distance. At a speed almost akin to flying, Gao Feng ran over to the platform, then knelt down and held up an imperial edict with both hands. He gasped fiercely, and his clothes had already been soaked with sweat.