Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Sun Shijin handed the letter to Cheng Yunsu, Wu Caicai, and the others beside him as he spoke.

Everyone immediately understood that the next step—withstanding the Lion Flame counterattack—would be crucial. The Lion Flame King would undoubtedly adopt a stance of taking them all down with him.

The Lion Flame Kingdom would have to capture the entire Dragon Flame Academy and use its members as bargaining chips against the advancing Lu Chao.

But that absolutely could not be allowed to happen...

Otherwise, while the operation might not be a complete failure, the Dragon Flame Academy itself could easily be annihilated.

Luo Wendeng would be the one to formulate the plan for the upcoming battle...

He was the most talented practitioner of the Soldier Dao in the entire Dragon Flame Academy, second only to Lu Chao. His own mastery of the Soldier Dao was formidable; he had served as the Commander of the support unit during the assassination attempt on Lu Hanyan.

After all, Luo Wendeng was a descendant of the Azure Flame Martial Dao Sect and possessed a natural talent for it.

...

「In the Lion Flame Palace...」

The Lion Flame King summoned his ministers for a council, and among them, of course, was Dean Lion.

The Lion Flame King, a seemingly ordinary middle-aged man, held a letter with trembling hands. He then slammed it against the new Lion Flame Commander and roared, ”Worthless! You’re all worthless... The Fake Lu Chao outside is a fake!”

As soon as he spoke, question marks might as well have appeared above everyone’s heads.

’What does he mean the Fake Lu Chao is a fake? We know the Fake Lu Chao is a fake. The real Lu Chao died long ago.’

Dean Lion spoke up directly. ”Your Majesty, has your anger muddled your mind? The Fake Lu Chao is, of course, a fake.”

The words had barely left his mouth when the Lion Flame King shot up from his throne, rushed down toward Dean Lion, and... SLAP! He struck him with a heavy backhand.

He screamed frantically, ”What I mean is, the ’Fake Lu Chao’ outside is *also* a fake! The real Fake Lu Chao never came to Lion Flame City! He went to intercept and annihilate the forces from Fox Flame and Leopard Flame!”

”Right now, we can’t contact the Fox Flame reinforcements. They’re completely gone!”

”And the Leopard Flame forces were annihilated on the Lion Far Plain... According to a report from an escaped Leopard Flame scout, the Fake Lu Chao led the forces of Sky Cliff and Liyan, disguised themselves as the Fox Flame army, and caught them completely by surprise!”

”Do you understand what this means?”

As his tirade continued, all the Lion Flame ministers were left dumbfounded.

Slowly, one by one, their faces turned deathly pale. A flurry of muttering began, all expressing the same core realization: the reinforcements from the two Flame Countries weren’t coming. They’d already been annihilated by the Fake Lu Chao.

Combined with the recent chaos throughout the Lion Flame Kingdom, did this mean the Lion Flame Royal Capital had become an isolated island?

”What do we do now? Tell me, what do we do?”

And so...

The entire Lion Flame Palace erupted with everyone talking at once. Some argued for holding out and waiting for support from Tiger Flame and the others. Some suggested immediately recalling the troops stationed at the Great Wu Empire’s border to return for a rescue.

However, both proposals were rejected. There simply wasn’t enough time.

Then, some suggested...

...contacting the Saint Bone Zheng Family and having them dispatch a large number of powerful experts. With enough experts, they could surely break through the army, strike directly at the core members of the Dragon Flame Academy, and cut off the head of the snake...

But this was also rejected. Again, there wasn’t enough time.

More importantly, the Saint Bone Zheng Family was currently tied down in the Dragon Flame Kingdom. Where would they find any experts to spare?

Others suggested defending Lion Flame City to the death. Wouldn’t that buy enough time?

But could they hold it?

”Damn it, is the name ’Lu Chao’ destined to be our nightmare?”

”If it weren’t for the Great Wu Lu Chao, we wouldn’t have lost so many of our experts. We wouldn’t be this weak... and we wouldn’t be in this mess because of this Fake Lu Chao.”

Someone couldn’t help but start cursing. It was all the fault of those two Lu Chaos.

”Lu Chao led the Dragon Flame Academy into the Hundred Countries. The only thing we can do now is capture the entire Dragon Flame Academy before they surround us. Then, we can use them as hostages to negotiate with the Fake Lu Chao.”

It was unclear who made the suggestion.

The entire Lion Flame Palace fell silent. A sharp glint flashed in the Lion Flame King’s eyes before he slammed his hand down, making his decision.

Just then, someone else spoke up. ”Your Majesty, what about using the hostages from the Small Kingdoms...”

Before he could finish, a Lion Flame expert shot the idea down...

”Don’t be reckless! If the hostages from the Small Kingdoms die...”

”...the Fake Lu Chao will surely raze Lion Flame City to give the Small Kingdoms an answer. When that happens, I’m afraid none of us will make it out alive.”

At these words, the Lion Flame King’s expression flickered with uncertainty.

He sank back into his throne. ”In this battle, if we can capture the Dragon Flame Academy before the Fake Lu Chao arrives, all will be well... If we cannot, then we will release the hostages when he arrives to ensure the Lion Flame Kingdom’s survival.”

At this, the Lion Flame King closed his eyes, utterly exhausted.

But then he suddenly shot to his feet. ”Dean Lion, I order you now! Take our best experts, sneak out of the city... and assassinate the Fake Lu Chao.”

The moment he said this, everyone in the court stared wide-eyed.

One after another, they praised the king’s brilliance. As long as the Fake Lu Chao was dead, there would be nothing to fear.

And so, the Lion Flame Kingdom’s counterattack began...

”Kill!”

Terrifying battle cries erupted outside the Lion Flame Royal Capital...

The Lion Flame Kingdom fought with desperate abandon to capture the Dragon Flame Academy, while the Academy’s members fought a retreating battle, determined to stall the kingdom’s frenzied assault for two days at all costs.

「One day later」

Cheng Yunsu suddenly sought out Sun Shijin...

”Elder Sun, logically, Dean Lion is the strongest expert in the Lion Flame Kingdom. He should be the one coming to deal with you.”

”But he hasn’t appeared. I’m afraid Lu Chao is in danger.”

Hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Sun Shijin’s eyes. He quickly sent out a message by carrier pigeon.

...

Meanwhile, Lu Chao’s forces were advancing at full speed.

Along the way, they wiped out numerous Lion Flame relief forces, and troops from several of the Small Kingdoms joined their ranks.

Just then, Lu Chao received Sun Shijin’s message, and a subtle flicker crossed his eyes.

”Senior Sister Sky Cliff, Liyan Commander, we’ve already taken down three Flame Country commanders... Now, a new ’big fish’ is on its way. Our next target is the Dean of the Beast Flame Inner Courtyard.”

At his words, the eyes of Sky Cliff Chi Yun and the Liyan Commander glinted, but they weren’t particularly surprised.

They had already discussed this possibility...

Assassination by powerful experts was a common occurrence in the wars of the Heavenly Destiny World. Whenever one side was losing, they would send their strongest fighters on a desperate mission to assassinate the enemy commander...

History was filled with examples of battles whose tides were turned by such actions.

And this time, the one coming to assassinate Lu Chao would be the Dean of the Beast Flame Inner Courtyard: Dean Lion.

”Let’s move. We’ll proceed with the plan we already prepared.”

Lu Chao spoke again. Acknowledging the order, Chi Yun and the Liyan Commander began making arrangements.

None of them were a match for Dean Lion on their own. The strongest among them, the dean of Liyan Academy, had only just reached the True Fate First Layer. The gap between his power and Dean Lion’s was considerable.

Therefore, to kill such a powerful expert, they had to work together and lay a trap.

In the blink of an eye, night fell...

The army led by Lu Chao entered a city within the Lion Flame Kingdom. Although the city had its own Lion Flame Guards, they were utterly useless and the city was swiftly conquered by Lu Chao’s forces.

Everyone entered the city, rested for a short while, and had a meal.

Finally, they all departed from the city through a different gate...

In the city, the owner of a small shop walked out. ”Sigh... these chaotic times. You even rob my little mask shop... But if you’re going to rob me, why do you still pay? How am I supposed to curse you now?”