Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Lu Dingtian roared at the sky, clutching his chest so hard he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

”Those who have it in for me will soon spread even worse rumors, saying a dead man scared me into a total rout.”

”AHHHHHHH!”

Lu Hanyang watched his roaring father, not daring to speak. He had never seen his father so enraged.

Such a brilliant plan, completely ruined by an impostor.

「Half a day later...」

Lu Dingtian and his son rushed to Fierce Tiger Pass, then continued forward to rendezvous with the routed Great Wu soldiers. But even when he acted personally, he couldn’t stem the tide of the rout. He had no choice but to return to Fierce Tiger Pass and defend it at all costs.

At least they had occupied Fierce Tiger Pass, so they couldn’t be considered completely defeated. After all, Fierce Tiger Pass belonged to Tiger Flame.

Inside Fierce Tiger Pass...

Lu Hanyan, covered in dust and grime, met with Lu Dingtian. Her hair was a mess as she said, ”On the way back, I captured a junior commander. He said the plot to impersonate that worthless wretch was orchestrated by Fan Jinhua.”

At her words, Lu Dingtian’s voice turned frigid...

”Fan Jinhua? The latest intelligence says he is Fan Changcun’s grandson, a descendant of the Azure Flame Sect.”

”Good, good, good. I, Lu Dingtian, swear I will destroy their Azure Flame Sect, root and stem. I’ll make every last one of them die a miserable death.”

And just like that, it was confirmed that Fan Jinhua was the one behind the treacherous scheme.

The junior commander from the Hundred Countries that Lu Hanyan captured had, of course, also mentioned that another young man had impersonated Lu Chao, but they hadn’t asked for his name. In Lu Hanyan’s eyes, this was just some nobody who was good at acting...

’He must be another descendant of the Azure Flame Sect, no doubt about it.’

Of course, this nobody had to die and leave no trace. His impersonation was too good; he couldn’t be allowed to live.

...

In the Yinzhou Mountains, Cheng Yunsu and the others were still waiting anxiously.

Several days had passed, and they still didn’t know the outcome.

At that moment... RUSTLE! RUSTLE! RUSTLE!

A sound rustled from within the forest. Luo Wendeng immediately growled, ”Who’s there? Come out.”

The words had barely left his mouth when a big-bearded figure rushed out of the woods.

Seeing him, the group exclaimed in delight, ”Uncle Fan...”

The newcomer was none other than Fan Jinhua.

Two thousand people swarmed around him, and Yu Xiaoping hurriedly asked about the situation.

Fan Jinhua broke into a wide, brilliant smile and took out six Royal Decrees. He then recounted what had happened at Sword Tooth City.

Hearing his account, Yu Xiaoping couldn’t help but murmur, ”So Brother Lu’s terrifying mask really *is* terrifying.”

’Back then, I thought the mask could only scare common folk.’

But in the end, it had terrified the entire army of the Great Wu Empire, and that one scare had decided everything.

”Brother Lu Chao is simply incredible.”

Luo Wendeng couldn’t stop sighing with admiration. As he gazed at the six Royal Decrees, his eyes filled with a trembling excitement.

’He actually did it. Lu Chao really secured a place for us to live.’

The excitement of the two thousand was beyond words. They knelt heavily before the remains of their elders who had died in failed assassination attempts, murmuring to them that they finally had a place to live, that they were finally free.

One by one, tears streamed down their faces...

Yu Xiaoping and Tan An cried their eyes out. Although they had obtained a home, their fathers and elders were no longer around to enjoy it.

”At least they are not buried in foreign lands,” Cheng Chuming comforted them.

After consoling the group, he quickly looked for his daughter, Cheng Yunsu.

He saw his daughter at the edge of the crowd, gazing out of the mountains, waiting quietly.

At that moment...

Fan Jinhua walked over and said, ”Young Madam Lu, don’t worry. Little Brother Lu will be fine. He won’t get into trouble that easily.”

As he said this, he couldn’t help but marvel internally. ’Is everyone named Lu Chao this formidable?’

Cheng Yunsu smiled and replied, ”I know, but he was caught between two opposing armies. I wonder if he was injured.”

Hearing this, Fan Jinhua was at a loss for words.

’Most people caught between two armies would be afraid of dying. But all she cared about was whether her husband had been injured.’

Just then, Lu Chao’s voice rang out from the woods, ”Xiao Su’er, I’m fine! Not a single scratch on me.”

The moment his voice rang out, even before his figure appeared, a brilliant smile blossomed on Cheng Yunsu’s face...

At the same time, Fan Jinhua was thrilled. Luo Wendeng and the two thousand others all raised their heads and moved toward the sound of Lu Chao’s voice.

As Lu Chao emerged...

Luo Wendeng, Tan An, and Yu Xiaoping all fell to their knees with a heavy THUD at almost the exact same moment.

At the same time... THUD. THUD. THUD.

The two thousand Descendants of Azure Flame also knelt, one after another.

Fan Jinhua’s expression turned incredibly solemn in an instant. He stepped back before Luo Wendeng and the others, also kneeling heavily.

Then, Fan Jinhua spoke, his voice heavy with emotion, ”Thank you, Little Brother Lu, for securing a place for us, the Descendants of Azure Flame, to live.”

The two thousand spoke as one, ”Brother Lu, please accept this bow from all of us.”

The Descendants of Azure Flame, without hesitation, kowtowed heavily to Lu Chao...

In response, Lu Chao quickly said, ”Everyone, please rise. This all began because Master Fan helped my wife and me.”

The moment he finished speaking...

Fan Jinhua gave a wry smile. ”Little Brother Lu, all I did was give you a little help...”

”A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring,” Lu Chao cut in seriously.

In truth, given what Lu Chao had done for them, no number of kowtows would have been excessive, but Lu Chao was not fond of such displays.

He believed in treating those who were sincere to him with sincerity in return. It was as simple as that.

”Besides, our new home is not as secure as you think. This is far from over. There are still great hidden dangers,” Lu Chao said, his tone shifting.

At his words, the excited crowd snapped their heads up, their eyes fixed on Lu Chao.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Chao continued...

”Although we have six Royal Decrees in hand, it would be all too easy for the Six Great Flame Countries to make things difficult for us.”

”They have countless ways to deal with us.”

”If they can’t move against us openly, they’ll do it from the shadows. They could hire assassins, use bandits, or even have a smaller country attack us.”

”This is no time for complacency. We have to keep fighting with everything we have.”

With every word from Lu Chao, the crowd’s excitement was doused as if by buckets of ice-cold water, and they descended back into panic.

’That’s right. Lu Chao had forced the Six Great Flame Kings to issue Royal Decrees. How could they possibly let it go so easily?’

”Brother Lu, what should we do now?” Tan An asked, still kneeling, completely at a loss.

All eyes turned to Lu Chao...

Lu Chao replied gravely, ”Your families are all within the territories of the Six Great Flame Countries. They are hostages. This is the hardest problem to solve.”

The crowd swallowed hard.

If not for their families, they could have gone anywhere.

”Right now, you cannot go home. And you cannot separate.”

”Splitting up among the different Flame Countries is out of the question. It would be too dangerous.”

Lu Chao continued explaining the simple logic: if they scattered, they would be picked off one by one.

Just then, Cheng Chuming couldn’t help but ask, ”Lu Chao, then what’s the use of getting the six Royal Decrees?”

”Father-in-law, of course they’re useful. Extremely useful.”

Lu Chao chuckled softly. ”Now that we have the Royal Decrees, we can invite a heavyweight figure to guarantee they won’t be torn up by anyone and to ensure they are enforced as intended.”