Ye Chui came up with the slogan “For the Tribe” with great pride. But sadly, no one present grasped its cleverness. As he felt a bit down in secret, the Eldest Prince, the Gale Leader, the Great Warrior, and others entered the flying magic vehicle.
Under Kara’s guidance, they came to the small living room on the second floor for guests. How could any of them have seen a flying magic vehicle like this, something fantastical even in a magic world? Each one stared in astonishment. Not to mention that the most prosperous Divine Citizens’ City in the secret realm had no such thing. Even in the outside world, a flying magic vehicle was an absolute rarity.
The Eldest Prince, one of the empire’s most noble figures, had seen all sorts of luxury items. Now even he could not help but stare in shock. His eyes did not relax for a moment. He looked left and right, like a country bumpkin entering a big city for the first time.
Ye Chui did not rush them. He let them tour the flying magic vehicle’s interior with awe. Then he asked, “Your Highness the Eldest Prince, may I ask what brings you here?”
“Mr Ye Chui, and Thirteenth Prince.” The Eldest Prince came back to his senses. He looked at Ye Chui and Jacob. “I never wished to become emperor in the first place. Now that I know my son is not dead, I will not take part in this Crown War any more.” A helpless sigh showed on his face again. “So, I declare my loyalty to the Thirteenth Prince.”
With those words, Ye Chui received the notice of the Eldest Prince’s submission.
Among the thirteen princes, those now submitting to Ye Chui and Jacob were the Eldest, Second, Fifth, Sixth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Princes, six in total. The Tenth Prince had died by Ye Chui’s hand too. All in all, over half the princes were now in Ye Chui’s grasp.
Only the Third, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Princes remained, five of them. Those five must now be in the Divine Citizens’ City.
If he made those five submit or killed them, the Crown War’s final winner would be decided. Jacob would become the empire’s sole heir to the throne.
Ye Chui smiled at Jacob. Jacob’s face showed disbelief for a moment. As if he never thought he would reach this point. The poor kitchen hand back then now stood so close to the imperial throne.
Ye Chui looked at the Eldest Prince again. “Your submission to us will surely displease the Ninth Prince.”
“He is my son. What he did this time went too far. In his eyes, I this father am perhaps just a pawn for his throne.” The Eldest Prince sighed with deep sadness. “If we enter the Divine Citizens’ City, please leave him to me.”
The Eldest Prince knew Ye Chui must harbour great resentment toward the Ninth Prince. Because of the Ninth Prince’s plot, Ye Chui faced an imperial warrant and suffered the Eldest Prince’s repeated attacks. There was every reason to hate the Ninth Prince. But the Ninth Prince was still his son. By saying this, he perhaps only hoped Ye Chui would not be too cruel to his son. Let him handle the Ninth Prince himself, to ensure his son a slim chance at life.
“Then I will leave it to you when the time comes,” Ye Chui said with a smile. In truth, he did not resent the Ninth Prince much. The time under imperial warrant, travelling everywhere as the Apple Circus, had been quite fun. It hardly counted as a blood feud. The Eldest Prince’s straightforward submission now likely carried intent to atone for his son. Ye Chui backed the Thirteenth Prince. With the tide turning his way, he only wished to save his son’s life in the end.
The Eldest Prince smiled gratefully at Ye Chui. Then he thought of something and said with a laugh, “The Gale Leader has something to give you.”
“Oh?” Ye Chui was stunned. He looked around and saw the Gale Leader, who was now poking about in the flying magic vehicle. He had drilled into a small bathroom on one side. When Ye Chui walked over, he saw the Gale Leader holding a plunger with awe. He asked in surprise, “This must be some artwork, right? I heard upper-class homes in the Divine Citizens’ City are full of all sorts of vases and jars.”
“That is for unclogging the toilet,” Ye Chui said with a straight face. He pulled the Gale Leader out of the bathroom and asked, “His Highness the Eldest Prince said you have something for me?” In truth, he already knew what it was.
“Just now I spoke with the Wind Spirit God. He agrees to let you lead the tribe and hands over the tribe’s treasure to you.” As he spoke, the Gale Tribe Leader took a black cloak from his bosom and gave it to Ye Chui.
The tribal sand people were originally divine citizens. Over three hundred years ago, when the Crown Battlefield closed, the divine citizens split. One part became the tribal sand people. When these sand people left the Divine Citizens’ City, they took three holy relics from it. Those three relics now served as the three great tribes’ holy items. Only the leader could keep a holy relic. They were the Book of Necromancy, the Scythe of Necromancy, and the Cloak of Necromancy.
Ye Chui already had the Book of Necromancy and the Scythe of Necromancy. Now he got the Cloak of Necromancy too. This meant the Gale Tribe formally recognised Ye Chui as their leader. Now the three great tribes merged into one new tribe. For the original Green Bay and Blood Scorpion tribes, Ye Chui as leader made sense. But the Gale Tribe had the most people, fully twenty thousand warriors. Making the Gale Tribe submit to Ye Chui might not sit well with all.
Yet earlier, the Gale Leader had communed with the Wind Spirit God and finally acknowledged Ye Chui as leader.
Ye Chui unfolded the black cloak. He found it looked quite ordinary. The material was unclear. The edges even had small moth holes, making it seem shabby and worn. Ye Chui took the other two necromantic relics from Green and placed them together.
These items came from the gods’ era, the Necromancer, the Headless Horseman. They held great power. The secret realm’s guardian spirits and necromantic spirits existed because of these holy relics.
Ye Chui eyed these items and wondered in his heart if he could awaken the power within them.
As he pondered, Debbie suddenly cried out, “Watch out!”
Ye Chui’s body shook. He saw the three holy relics together in his hand start to glow. He tried by instinct to drop them. But the next moment, darkness fell around his body. When Ye Chui came to, he found himself standing in a barren desert.
Ye Chui hurried to summon his magic book to check where he was. When he opened the magic book’s map, he was surprised to see it still showed the flying magic vehicle’s interior. He could even see Debbie and the others’ figures beside him. But Ye Chui could not see them.
“Am I in some illusion now?” Ye Chui could not help but guess in his heart.
He thought of the [Time Shadow] phenomenon often seen in gods’ ruins. Past scenes condensed in space-time could be glimpsed by chance, like a mirage’s wonder. The secret realm was also a gods’ ruin fragment, a former divine domain. But here they had never seen a [Time Shadow] until now. With the three holy relics united, it pulled Ye Chui straight into this illusory vision.
He suddenly heard hoofbeats. Turning to look, his expression froze in shock.
A horse dragged rolling sand dust and galloped toward him. What surprised Ye Chui most was that the horse had no head. It was a headless horse. A woman in a black cloak rode on it.
If the [Time Shadows] Ye Chui saw in gods’ ruins before were silent 2D images, this one was like a full holographic VR scene. But when Ye Chui tried to move to dodge the horse’s path, he found his body stiff, unable to budge an inch. This viewing experience was poor.
Just then, with a boom, a terrifying bolt of lightning burst from the sky. It struck the charging headless horse at once. That huge thunderbolt was truly fierce. White light drowned Ye Chui’s sight in an instant. It turned the spot where the headless horse stood into a pit burning with magma. Ye Chui looked to the sky. A familiar red figure slowly floated down.
It was a red devil!
The culprit behind the gods’ fall.
“What are you? Why attack me? And how did you get into the divine domain!?” A woman’s voice with odd tone shouted. One could only vaguely make out her meaning.
Ye Chui followed the sound. The headless horse stood not far from him. The thunderbolt just now had not hit her. She dodged to the side in a flash.
The red devil said nothing. Its狰狞 tall body landed on the ground. It stepped toward the headless knight one by one.
“Are you things made by the Demon Emperor?” the headless knight shouted on. But the red devil still showed no reaction.
The headless knight was a beautiful woman with light yellow hair. She wore a cloak and held a huge scythe. But Ye Chui could not help but wonder, why call her a headless knight?
Soon, Ye Chui knew why. Seeing the red devil ready for deadly battle, the headless knight simply reached up with one hand to her head. Then she took her own head off. Yes, as if her head was screwed on and could come off at will. Next, she tossed her head aside, like kicking a football.
That head rolled to Ye Chui’s feet with a rumble.
“I felt Dragon Cub’s aura vanish earlier. Was it you? It was you, right? I raised it too!” The headless knight’s head shouted in anger. Ye Chui thought in his heart that this illusion’s time must be soon after the “Prologue: Dragon’s Fall” event he saw before.
As the headless knight’s head said those words, her headless body moved. That huge scythe was her weapon. At the same time, one hand took a thin booklet from her bosom. When the booklet opened, one necromantic spirit after another got summoned by her. Under her control, they charged at the red devil.
Ye Chui suddenly noticed something.
The headless knight’s three relics: the Scythe of Necromancy could turn undead and souls into necromantic spirits. The Book of Necromancy could hold necromantic spirits. And the Cloak of Necromancy could command necromantic spirits to fight for her!
The battle between the headless knight and the red devil was fierce. The red devil held god-slaying power. The headless knight belonged to the gods’ clan. Her power seemed faintly countered by the red devil. Her body scattered countless times, yet reformed countless times. She summoned one necromantic spirit after another. The necromantic spirit army seemed endless. They attacked the red devil without stop. Ye Chui did not know how long he watched. Even his now vast spirit felt a bit weary.
The weariness came not just from constant exposure to these highly stimulating scenes. It was also because he tried to learn through this battle how to master the necromantic relics’ power!
At last, in one moment, the battle ended.
The red devil let out a hoarse sharp roar. It suddenly rushed at the headless knight’s body. Then sky-filling explosive flames blasted into Ye Chui’s view. As if heaven and earth would shatter in quake.
The red devil chose to perish together with the headless knight at the cost of self-explosion!
“Bloody hell, my body exploded,” the headless knight’s head let out a wail. Then came endless darkness. The devil’s self-explosion cracked the earth. Fissures appeared on the ground. The headless knight’s head thus fell in. Heaven and earth overturned. It got buried. Ye Chui found himself in total darkness. He could only hear the headless knight’s voice, full of reluctance yet some helplessness.
“No way, my head is getting buried again!?”
