Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

There were plenty more curses Guan Zanyi was holding back, all of them concerning Lei Zhen’s attempt to take credit.

He desperately wanted to argue that if Fan Jinhua hadn’t failed to assassinate Lu Hanyan, none of this crap would be happening.

But since it was his own source of humiliation, he couldn’t bring himself to say a word.

However, the commanders of the Five Great Flame Countries were staring right at Guan Zanyi. His brow furrowed deeply. ”What are you all looking at me for? You don’t really think Fan Jinhua can pull it off, do you?”

THUD—

The Fox Flame Female General rose to her feet again, a slight smirk playing on her lips. ”Actually, I do think he just might be able to pull it off.”

Guan Zanyi immediately roared, ”Ridiculous! If Fan Jinhua hadn’t failed the assassination—”

Before he could finish, the Fox Flame Female General interrupted with a smile, ”Wasn’t it General Lei Zhen of your Tiger Flame who commanded that assassination?”

At her words, Guan Zanyi clutched his chest. He knew he shouldn’t have brought it up...

’Every last one of them knows I was just trying to take credit for Lei Zhen’s operation, yet they’re all playing along just to mock me.’

’The absolute bastards!’

He had no way to refute it. After all, he was the one who had publicly taken credit in front of all the nations’ envoys.

If he tried to deny it now, he’d be admitting to trying to steal the glory for himself, and he would be held accountable for that.

Just then, the commander of the Lion Flame Kingdom slowly rose. ”I think we should let Fan Jinhua try. Lu Hanyan seems fixated on him; she’s demanded we hand him over several times...”

The commander of the Leopard Flame Kingdom also spoke in a grim tone...

”To break out from under Lu Hanyan’s nose with only two thousand men after a failed assassination.”

”That’s no mere armchair strategist... Oh, right, it was Lei Zhen who led the command.”

The Leopard Flame Commander added the last part with deliberate sarcasm.

But as before, everyone in the room knew the truth. They knew Fan Jinhua was no simple man.

Of course, the one who had actually led the breakout was Lu Chao, but no one knew who he was.

The Wolf Flame Commander said, ”Bring him here. If he fails, we hand him directly over to Lu Hanyan to buy ourselves time for negotiations.”

At his words, a cold glint flashed in the commanders’ eyes as they nodded emphatically.

Since Lu Hanyan was so fixated on him, Fan Jinhua would be of great value even if his plan failed.

Finally, the commander of the Eagle Flame Kingdom looked at Guan Zanyi and asked, ”Where is he?”

Guan Zanyi listened to the others and lowered his head in thought. The idea of bringing Fan Jinhua back only to hand him over was, admittedly, a good one.

He finally nodded in agreement. ”It’s in the letter. I didn’t read it carefully.”

With that, he glanced down at the letter at his feet—the one he had crumpled into a ball and spat on.

In the end, Guan Zanyi didn’t pick it up himself. Instead, he looked at his adjutant.

The adjutant’s mouth twitched.

Fighting back his disgust, the man picked up the letter and smoothed it out.

It contained the current location of Fan Jinhua, Lu Chao, and their group, along with a request for Guan Zanyi’s forces to secretly dispatch men to retrieve them.

In the end, the commanders of the Six Great Flame Countries made their decision and dispatched men to the edge of the Yinzhou Mountain.

Just one day later...

The dispatched men met Lu Chao, Fan Jinhua, and their group, but stated directly, ”We can take five people, at most.”

Lu Chao replied, ”That won’t be necessary. Just the two of us will go to Sword Tooth City.”

The two, of course, were Fan Jinhua and Lu Chao himself.

Youngsters like Luo Wendeng, Tan An, and Yu Xiaoping couldn’t help but step forward in protest.

But they stopped in their tracks. Lu Chao had already given them their instructions.

If his mission failed, they were to live in the Yinzhou Mountain and find a way to rescue their families later.

Success meant the Descendants of Azure Flame would be granted a place to live.

Failure meant they would truly become outlaws, forced to risk everything in a desperate attempt to rescue their families.

If they failed at that, they would be annihilated.

As for Cheng Yunsu, she had wanted to go with them, but Lu Chao refused.

It wasn’t that he lacked confidence, but that if Cheng Yunsu came along, Guan Zanyi could easily use her life to threaten him, stripping him of any bargaining power.

And Cheng Yunsu, of course, had agreed with complete understanding.

And so, with two thousand pairs of eyes watching, Lu Chao and Fan Jinhua were escorted away.

After the two had left, Yu Xiaoping couldn’t help but bite her lip. ”Sister Yunsu, aren’t you worried about Brother Lu?”

”I’m worried, but I have faith...”

Cheng Yunsu said with conviction, ”You should all rest easy, too. There’s about to be a good show, a very, very interesting one.”

Although Lu Chao hadn’t said it outright, Cheng Yunsu knew what her husband planned to do. Her thoughts turned to that frightening mask.

Her fists clenched tightly.

Luo Wendeng, Tan An, and the others looked back toward the remains of their elders.

They silently prayed to the spirits of their ancestors, hoping they would bless Lu Chao and Fan Jinhua and ensure their success. For them, Lu Chao’s mission would determine the very survival of all the Descendants of Azure Flame.

「Another day passed.」

Atop the gate tower of Sword Tooth City, Lu Chao and Fan Jinhua strode into the main hall. All eyes were fixed upon them.

Guan Zanyi remained seated in the Supreme Commander’s chair, his glare spitting fire at the two men.

In the next instant, Guan Zanyi roared, ”Fan Jinhua! And you, nameless brat! Kneel!”

He was trying to put them in their place right from the start, his heart still simmering with extreme fury.

Yet Fan Jinhua didn’t move. Lu Chao didn’t so much as twitch, offering Guan Zanyi nothing more than a cold smile.

BOOM—

Guan Zanyi’s True Qi erupted from his body, crashing down on the two men as he bellowed again, ”I said, kneel!”

At this, Fan Jinhua finally responded, his tone flat.

”Grand General Guan, we are not your subordinates, nor have we committed any crime. On what grounds do you demand we kneel?”

His words fanned the flames of Guan Zanyi’s fury. He opened his mouth to retort...

But Lu Chao cut him off first. ”Lei Zhen commanded our failed assassination, and you yourself absolved us of the ’crime’ of failing to rescue him. It seems you have no reason to punish us, do you?”

He was rubbing salt in Guan Zanyi’s wound, utterly fearless.

Guan Zanyi tried to speak again, but Lu Chao cut him off once more. ”Enough with the nonsense. Do you want to hold Sword Tooth City or not?”

Lu Chao’s attitude toward Guan Zanyi now was completely different from how he’d behaved back in Yinzhou City.

Back then, he had to put on a superficial act to set a trap for Guan Zanyi. Now, the upper hand was his.

It was time for a direct confrontation.

But Guan Zanyi couldn’t stomach such insolence. He roared, ”You—”

Once again, he didn’t get the chance to finish. The commanders of the other Five Great Flame Countries stepped in. Whether Lu Chao and Fan Jinhua knelt was meaningless now; it was more important to hear what plan they had.

They all urged Guan Zanyi to put his personal grievances aside for the moment.

In the end, thinking of the pressing situation, Guan Zanyi could only grit his teeth and allow the two to speak their plan.

But Lu Chao just smiled and said slowly, ”Our plan is one that must be done, not spoken. If I tell you, it won’t be effective.”

”Then how do we execute it?” the commanders asked in unison.

Lu Chao’s eyes narrowed. He asked softly, ”How to execute it? I can’t say for now. I just want to ask all of you one question: why should I help you defend Sword Tooth City?”