Qin Huai’s Bold Plan

“I had foreseen the possibility of demons returning and harming humans, so I set up this system to protect those youngsters and give them a chance to grow,” the emperor explained. “But what I didn’t anticipate was that instead of making a comeback, the demons blended with us and just took over our territories.” He shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Alright, off you go! Don’t let my last moments go to waste!” the emperor waved them off.

As images of attractive, long legs began to ripple on the water’s surface, Qin Huai stared at the emperor’s increasingly transparent body, lost for words.

“Ding! You have collected a [Kun Peng Seed (Fragment) x500], [Kun Peng Seed (528/2,000)]!”

Qin Huai then grabbed Hua Yanli and Yun Qi, and they vanished from the bronze realm.

…

At the Thunderbolt Gang, the headquarters of the original Blood Poison Gang, Hua Yanli and Yun Qi chatted animatedly. Behind them, a fierce-looking attendant carrying a large bag entered the top floor of the flower boat.

“What’s our next move?” Hua Yanli and Yun Qi turned to Qin Huai.

“I plan to bring together all the forces we can,” Qin Huai said quietly.

“You mean…”

“Those prodigies from the bronze realm can be trusted,” Qin Huai told them. “If we bring those prodigies here and show them this corpse, they’ll understand.” “But most of them have been imprisoned by their sects. They claim it’s to prove their innocence,” Yun Qi pointed out, worried. He was part of a sect in the inner city, though not one of the five great ones. However, he had numerous connections and knew the status of some of the prodigies.

“For example, if I weren’t this powerful, they’d probably have locked me up too,” Yun Qi continued. “I’m even the son of the White Cloud sect master. The only reason Hua Yanli and I have our freedom is because he’s the last future king in the outer city and I’m the second-in-command of the Thunderbolt Gang. No one can detain us.”

“Should we rob a sect?” Hua Yanli suggested boldly.

“Are you out of your mind? The inner city sects aren’t like those in the outer city. They have plenty of formidable experts,” Yun Qi replied, shaking his head.

“But aren’t the three of us as strong as three visceral prefecture realm experts?” Hua Yanli laughed. “We might not be able to kill them, but we can surely kidnap people.”

Yun Qi fell silent at that. Their contrasting personalities, shaped by their backgrounds, were evident.

“We’ll start with the smaller sects,” Qin Huai suggested. “Brother Yun, find out about the major sects and see if there are any elite members who can move around freely.” Now, they had to rely on Yun Qi to gather information.

“Leave it to me!” Yun Qi agreed.

…

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Qin Huai secluded himself within the Thunderbolt Gang, using the divine power book of a thousand creations daily to reflect on and learn from his experiences over the past few months. He had reached the second-level visceral prefecture realm, which meant he had amassed the power needed to unlock the second palace.

The wealth of experiences he had, especially the impact of Tang Ying’s death, caused his experience pool to skyrocket. In two months, he had gathered enough power to unlock the second palace. He now just needed a suitable spirit item to advance to the next level.

Tang Ying’s death sent shockwaves in Qingzhou. The bronze sinkhole was completely leveled and even excavated three feet down by numerous Qingzhou guards, but they found nothing. The so-called bronze artifact turned into ashes when exposed to sunlight and disappeared within a few hours. Qin Huai had gone to watch the extensive process, and watching the bronze sinkhole disappear filled his heart with profound sadness. Along the way, he used the wind breath technique to eliminate several unfamiliar faces who participated in this. He later found out they were all demons of the ancient Kun Peng clan and managed to collect dozens of Kun Peng fragments.

Meanwhile, Yun Qi had been making progress too. Over the past two months, he had recruited several experts he had encountered multiple times in the bronze realm. However, some of the recruits had tasted a bitter defeat by Qin Huai, which made the latter question Yun Qi’s standards for finding people.

One day, atop the flower boat, the three of them sat together, overlooking the river.

“We’ve got twelve people onboard now, all of them experts with four full patterns,” Yun Qi reported. “I also got in touch with Fang Huo from Lion Spirit Mountain. That guy is tough. Apparently, he’s had several clashes with the elders who wanted to lock him up, but he managed to settle things.”

He appeared at a loss as he added, “I’ve heard that guy is in the shattering realm. I’m not sure if my message will reach him,” he admitted, a trace of nervousness in his voice. He had used a letter as a means of communicating, boldly delivering his message directly into the heart of potential disaster.

There was no alternative as contacting Fang Huo directly was impossible. Even the people at Lion Spirit Mountain, including those close to Fang Huo, couldn’t be fully trusted. So in the end, he was left with no choice but to make this risky move.

Thump, thump, thump…

As they were discussing, they heard the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs. Even though Hua Yanli barked out an order for the person to stop unless they had important news, the footsteps continued. Qin Huai quickly put on his bamboo hat, but relaxed when the figure finally appeared.

“Brother Zhou!” Fang Huo’s cheerful face greeted them.

“Brother Fang!” Qin Huai sighed in relief.

The two embraced tightly.

“Brother Fang, you’ve broken through?” Hua Yanli asked.

“Yes,” Fang Huo nodded. His aura felt even stronger than before.

“How did Brother Fang manage to get in?” Hua Yanli questioned.

“Well, that rascal Yun Qi challenged me earlier, so I showed up today!” Fang Huo replied. His meaning was clear.

After hearing a brief summary of Qin Huai and the others’ plan, he looked excited and banged the table. “This matter is easy. Brother Zhou, you’ll be my assistant. I’ll challenge the geniuses from the five major sects, then you and I will take the chance to talk to them.”