Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

A cold wind seemed to sweep through the entire Tiger Flame Hall.

The Six Great Flame Kings looked at each other in dismay. Finally, the Tiger Flame King spoke slowly, ”Take Marshal Fan away.”

This was no longer the time to negotiate.

It was time to discuss the annihilation of Fan Jinhua and the other Descendants of Azure Flame.

As Fan Changcun was led away, the Fox Flame King immediately asked, ”What do we do? Li Wumian is in their hands. If we push them too far, they’ll surely kill him.”

”If Li Wumian dies, he dies. He was here to discuss academy matters. We’ll just have to bear the consequences together when the time comes.”

The Lion Flame King spoke slowly, his eyes filled with tyranny and ferocity.

In response, the Wolf Flame King said coldly, ”Then each of our countries will dispatch a contingent of troops and annihilate them directly.”

Taking a deep breath, the Eagle Flame King added, ”That’s right. We absolutely cannot agree to Fan Changcun’s terms. Otherwise, with nothing left to worry about, that old bastard might just kill himself.”

And so, the various Flame Kings were about to finalize their decision...

”A report—”

Another Tiger Flame Official rushed in and said hurriedly, ”Your Majesties, an urgent report from Fierce Tiger Pass!”

Upon hearing this report, the Six Great Flame Kings were stunned.

”Grand General Guan says we must send reinforcements, or he fears they’ll be driven all the way back to Sword Tooth City,” the Tiger Flame Official added, trembling.

A chill ran down the spines of the Flame Kings...

’Dammit! We were about to dispatch troops to annihilate Fan Jinhua, and now you’re telling me Fierce Tiger Pass needs reinforcements?’

”A report—”

Another voice cried out with a report, ”The Night Wind King of the Yefeng Kingdom has suddenly raised an army! He calls himself a disciple of Azure Flame.”

The Six Great Flame Kings shot to their feet again, their eyes glinting murderously.

”A report—”

The sound of yet another report made the Flame Kings’ hearts tremble uncontrollably.

The messenger continued, ”General Zhang Erhan of the Leshui Kingdom launched a surprise attack on Leshui Royal City. He captured the King of Leshui and is now forcing the kingdom’s army to rendezvous with Fan Jinhua’s forces. He also claims... to be a disciple of the Azure Flame Sect.”

The faces of the Six Great Flame Kings turned impossibly grim, their eyes turning bloodshot.

’Fan Changcun... that old bastard. He really hid his cards well.’

’Damn that Fan Jinhua. He always seems so cheerful and straightforward, but it looks like he’s every bit as capable as his grandfather.’

’Let’s wait a little longer. We need to see how the situation develops on all fronts.’

Following the words of the Flame Kings, the plan to dispatch troops and annihilate the Descendants of Azure Flame was temporarily shelved.

They would have to wait and see before deciding whether to agree to Fan Changcun’s terms and execute the six Royal Decrees.

「A few more days passed in the blink of an eye...」

However, all the news the Flame Kings received was bad; there wasn’t a single piece of good news. Several Azure Flame Sect disciples who had been in hiding for forty years had already joined Fan Jinhua, increasing the Azure Flame Sect’s core forces to twenty thousand.

The number of hostage soldiers, meanwhile, had reached one hundred thousand.

Now, an army of one hundred twenty thousand was amassed on the border of the Wolf Flame Kingdom, issuing a warning: ”If the Royal Decrees are not executed, we will invade the Wolf Flame Country.”

「Meanwhile...」

Even with reinforcements, the Great Wu Empire was still on the verge of breaking through Fierce Tiger Pass.

News about the ”Fake Lu Chao” causing chaos throughout the Hundred Countries had reached the Great Wu army, reigniting their previously crushed morale. They believed this Fake Lu Chao was making an enemy of the Hundred Countries, among other things.

Finally, gritting their teeth, the Six Great Flame Kings had no choice but to decide: ”Bring Fan Changcun back up.”

Fan Changcun was brought before the Six Great Flame Kings once more...

The Tiger Flame King suppressed his fury and said, ”We agree. We will immediately bring all the families of the Azure Flame to the old Azure Flame grounds.”

They needed to reinforce Fierce Tiger Pass, but their forces were now too thin.

They had no choice but to agree.

Fan Changcun smiled faintly and stressed heavily, ”Only when everyone from my Azure Flame Sect is safe will we begin to break the seal on the Forbidden Land’s gate.”

After speaking, Fan Changcun clenched his aged fists tightly. ’Success, at last.’

...

In a small kingdom on the border of Wolf Flame, Lu Chao, still wearing his mask, was toying with several Heavenly Destiny Bones.

Just as the messages received by the Six Great Flame Kings had stated...

They had now arrived at the border of the Wolf Flame Kingdom, ready at any moment to invade Wolf Flame.

At this moment, Fan Jinhua was by Lu Chao’s side.

Watching Lu Chao toy with the Heavenly Destiny Bones, he asked softly, ”Little Brother Lu, are you thinking about obtaining a more powerful Heavenly Destiny Bone as a replacement fusion for Young Madam Lu?”

These few Heavenly Destiny Bones were all recent spoils of war, all of them at the Heavenly Bone Level.

Cheng Yunsu’s was a Beast Bone replacement, and it was Lu Chao who had fused it for her.

Therefore, Fan Jinhua thought Lu Chao was collecting suitable Heavenly Bones for his wife, intending to upgrade and modify the one Cheng Yunsu had.

Lu Chao shook his head gently and sighed, ”A Beast Bone replacement is not a long-term solution, after all.”

His Martial Dao was still at the Postnatal Ninth Layer, nearing the threshold of the Innate realm.

For Cheng Yunsu to recover completely, she still needed the Star Fire Sparrow Bone from within that Bone Inner World...

As for why Lu Chao was currently toying with a few Heavenly Bones...

The truth was, Lu Chao couldn’t devour any more. He had recently devoured a third Heavenly Bone into his Bone Inner World, but he had already reached the limit of the Postnatal Realm and could not swallow a fourth.

In other words, his Bone Inner World now contained three foreign Heavenly Bones...

Lu Yan’s Wolf Fang Bone, the one from the Demon Beast Splitting Wind Wolf King, and a third one obtained from some Small Kingdom.

Now, even with new Heavenly Bones in his possession, he could only stare at them.

Fan Jinhua didn’t know any of this and simply fell silent. Cheng Yunsu’s problem was too difficult to solve.

Finally, Fan Jinhua changed the subject. ”Little Brother Lu, what are your plans after we get to Dragon Flame?”

Although he had a straightforward personality, he also understood that once the Descendants of Azure Flame were completely settled, Lu Chao would definitely take Cheng Yunsu and set off on a different path. That path would likely be a search for the Fire Sparrow Bone that could truly restore Cheng Yunsu.

”We’ll see when the time comes,” Lu Chao said softly.

He was already with Cheng Yunsu and had also unexpectedly become the Sect Leader of the Azure Flame Martial Dao Sect.

The next step was to grow stronger through Cultivation.

He had to quickly reach a realm powerful enough to take revenge on Lu Dingtian and his three children, powerful enough to reclaim the three Heavenly Destiny Saint Bones.

Lu Chao then muttered to himself, ”Dragon Flame... perhaps it’s a good destination.”

The Dragon Flame Kingdom was vast and far from the Great Wu Empire. He could perhaps accumulate power slowly in Dragon Flame.

Shaking his head, Lu Chao stopped thinking about it.

He said in a low voice, ”Let’s finish the task at hand first. If I’m not mistaken, the Six Great Flame Kings are about to agree.”

Fan Jinhua’s spirits lifted, his eyes filled with anticipation...

Not long after, they received news that the Six Great Flame Kings had begun sending the families of the Descendants of the Azure Flame Sect to the old Azure Flame grounds.

”Very good, Master Fan... Now, give the order. We march to the ruins of the old Azure Flame Sect grounds.”

At Lu Chao’s words, Fan Jinhua immediately issued the command, and the army set out for the old grounds of the Azure Flame Sect.

After meeting up with the several Azure Flame Sect disciples who had been living under aliases, Lu Chao basically stopped giving orders himself. Instead, he had Fan Jinhua relay them for him. Lu Chao could no longer afford to be too conspicuous.

Otherwise, if word got out that he possessed the Life-taking Bone, the various Flame Kings, and even Dragon Flame, would have an excuse to wipe out the Descendants of the Azure Flame Sect.

This was also one of the reasons Lu Chao had to wear a mask.

Once the Descendants of Azure Flame had a place to settle down, he would have to leave temporarily, so it was best not to show his face if he could help it.

It was enough that Luo Wendeng, Tan An, and the other two thousand men recognized him.