Chapter 2: The Sacrificial Pawn

In the palace of the Heaven Dou Empire, Emperor Xue Ye sat at the head of the palace, saying nothing.

Bibi Dong sat beside him, her eyes full of gloom.

"Emperor Xue Ye, what is the meaning of this? Why did you give the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass you promised to me to someone else?"

Emperor Xue Ye responded leisurely, "Your Eminence, don't be anxious. There was a misunderstanding. My subordinates were unaware that I had privately decided to give the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass to the Spirit Hall. Coincidentally, the Qin family made a contribution, so it was awarded to them. Now, it's late. Tomorrow, I will send someone to retrieve the grass from the Qin family with equivalent treasures and then personally deliver it to the Spirit Hall. How does that sound?"

Listening to Emperor Xue Ye, Bibi Dong's expression softened slightly.

However, before she could respond, a faint voice echoed in her mind, and her expression instantly changed.

She stood up abruptly and coldly said, "Emperor Xue Ye, what a brilliant scheme. The Spirit Hall will remember this loss."

With that, Bibi Dong disappeared from the spot.

Emperor Xue Ye remained seated, the smile on his face replaced by a solemn expression.

"I hope Ning Fengzhi can handle this matter well. The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass must not fall into the hands of the Spirit Hall!"

...

At the Qin residence.

The Qin family was now littered with corpses, and blood flowed like a river.

The strongest member of the Qin family was merely a Spirit King, unable to withstand the assault of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Before the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, the Qin family was effortlessly destroyed.

Under Ning Fengzhi's orders, a disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan cut open the abdomen of the Qin family head, finally retrieving the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.

Ning Fengzhi gazed at the disgusting pile of mucus that the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass had become, his eyes filled with gloom.

"Damn thing, you actually ate the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. How dare you touch it!"

"Clan leader, should we dismember this old thing? How dare they touch our belongings!"

The disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan immediately suggested.

Ning Fengzhi hesitated for a moment.

"Forget it, the Spirit Hall has already received the news and will likely arrive soon. We need to leave. We can't let the Spirit Hall catch us red-handed."

"As expected, the spies of the Spirit Hall are everywhere. We acted swiftly, which is already commendable!"

Bone Douluo stood beside him, offering some consolation.

"Let's go back and see if there's still any way to salvage this!"

Ning Fengzhi sighed as he looked at the deformed Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.

"It seems there's a survivor in the Qin family."

Bone Douluo's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Forget it, he's just a small fry without an awakened martial spirit. Even if we don't kill him, the Spirit Hall won't spare him. We need to leave quickly. If we're caught by the Spirit Hall, it will be difficult to explain."

Less than half an hour after the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan left, over a dozen black figures descended from the sky.

Leading them was the Supreme Pontiff of the Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong, flanked by Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.

Chrysanthemum Douluo looked at the devastation before them, full of regret.

"We're still too late. The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass is likely already in the hands of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan."

Hearing this, Bibi Dong felt extremely frustrated. She had thought obtaining the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass from the Heaven Dou Empire would be a sure thing.

But in the end, she was fooled by that old fox, Xue Ye.

"No wonder he has ruled the Heaven Dou Empire for decades. Truly formidable. I'll remember this loss!"

"Your Eminence, there seems to be one survivor in the Qin family."

Chrysanthemum Douluo suddenly spoke.

"Kill him. We can't leave any witnesses. If we had caught Ning Fengzhi here, it wouldn't matter. But now that he's escaped, if this person speaks against us, the Spirit Hall will suffer a double loss!"

"Yes, Your Eminence!"

In the hearts of the Spirit Hall members, there was no distinction between men, women, or children, only enemies and interests.

But suddenly, Bibi Dong spoke up.

"Wait, don't kill him. Bring him back to the Spirit Hall. This boy has something special!"

...

Qin Hua hid under his bed, trembling.

Just now, the sound of slaughter outside and the thick smell of blood in the air were all stimulating his nerves.

No matter what, he was a young man from a peaceful era who had never even killed a chicken. In this life, he had been a pampered young master for several years.

His intuition told him that his guess was correct, and something terrible had happened to the Qin family.

Just then, a terrifying aura suddenly locked onto Qin Hua, making all the hair on his body stand up.

Fortunately, the terrifying aura didn't last long before it disappeared.

Qin Hua collapsed to the ground as if his strength had been drained, his body soaked in cold sweat. He didn't know what level that aura belonged to, but it was certainly terrifying. Just the aura alone nearly took his life.

After a long time, the outside fell silent.

So Qin Hua decided to go out and take a look.

But just as he emerged from under the bed, a figure rushed in from the door at lightning speed. Qin Hua had no time to react before everything went black, and he fainted.

...

The next day, news of the Qin family's extermination spread throughout the Heaven Dou Empire.

Many people discussed the matter.

Emperor Xue Ye was furious and immediately ordered a thorough investigation to find the culprits.

The Qin family was a pillar of the Heaven Dou Empire. Just yesterday, he had bestowed a reward upon them, and today they were slaughtered by villains. This was a blatant disregard for the Heaven Dou Empire and for him, Emperor Xue Ye!

Emperor Xue Ye promised to gather all the remains of the Qin family and bury them beside the imperial mausoleum.

In his words:

"The Qin family has contributed so much to the Heaven Dou Empire. My failure to protect them is my fault. After my death, I will repay the Qin family properly!"

This imperial gesture further won the hearts of the people for Emperor Xue Ye.

But the truth was known to only a few. Whether the Heaven Dou Empire could uncover the truth was a definite no.

This was just a small trick by Emperor Xue Ye. To him, the Qin family was insignificant to the Heaven Dou Empire. Using them to protect the precious Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass was a worthy sacrifice. So, the Qin family was ruthlessly abandoned.