Chapter 573.2. Prince Xu Sanshi

“Third senior brother, good luck with your work here.” Huo Yuhao hugged Xu Sanshi and gave him a pat on the back.

Xu Sanshi sighed before saying, “I never expected something like this to happen. I’ll pen a letter right away and get my family members and my mother to come here. I really hope my mother won’t do something foolish after seeing…”

As he spoke, he became even more depressed, After all, the royal family of the Dou Ling Empire was his family! Now that they had been wiped out, how could he not be depressed?

“Yuhao, I’ll settle things over here. Even though I don’t have much experience in governing an empire, I’ll do my best to make sure everything stays stable. I’ll need your help to take care of matters at the Academy, as well as the Dou Ling Empire troops at the front line. The Dou Ling Empire cannot afford to take another hit like this.”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Third senior brother, try your best to stabilize things here as soon as possible. It would also be good if you could start on the reconstruction of the palace immediately. I will try to delay your army’s return while you settle these things. The war has only just begun, and I have no idea what the future will hold for all of us. However, regardless of how things might turn out, we will all do our best to defend our land against the Sun Moon Empire.”

After bidding goodbye to Xu Sanshi and the other people from Dou Ling Empire, Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong flew back to Shrek City overnight.

Reality proved Huo Yuhao’s prediction correct. Of course, it was not entirely his own prediction when Ju Zi had already informed him personally. Even though she had not lied to him about her plan, Huo Yuhao took a little too long to fully grasp her plan.

While the two of them were flying across the night sky, Huo Yuhao revealed a solemn expression, while Tang Wutong could not help but frown.

Yes, the war had only just begun. The Sun Moon Empire’s army was still at Shrek City. Now, the entire continent was becoming increasingly chaotic. The Sun Moon Empire had undeniably gotten the upper hand. If things were to continue this way, no one could be sure when they would suddenly launch an all-out attack on them.

This time around, even though they had managed to take out what was equivalent to a beast-ranked soul engineer legion, the entire royal family of the Dou Ling Empire had been wiped out. This meant that internal problems within the Dou Ling Empire would start to surface, and the Dou Ling Empire’s fighting power would definitely decrease.

The next target for the Sun Moon Empire would definitely not be Dou Ling Empire. They would go for the Star Luo Empire. Once the Star Luo Empire was out of the picture, taking down Dou Ling Empire would be a piece of cake. It seemed like Huo Yuhao would have no choice but to fight alongside that man.

When he thought about this, Huo Yuhao could not help but reveal an awkward expression.

After going through so much, the hatred in his heart was a lot less intense than before. This was especially true after seeing what had happened to Ju Zi. She had given up on too many things because of the hatred in her heart. Even though she was now the War God Empress, she was not leading a blissful life!

Perhaps, the right time for Huo Yuhao to settle his relationship with that man was coming soon.

As this thought surfaced in his mind, Huo Yuhao could not help but feel a little apprehensive about meeting him again. He was not very willing to face that man—the person whom he had once hated unconditionally but had now started to gain some respect from Huo Yuhao.

By the time Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong returned to Shrek City, it was almost dawn. Shrek City was very quiet, but the belligerence in the air was palpable.

After Shrek City was rebuilt, it was a lot larger than before. It was almost as big as the entire Radiant City. Right now, Shrek City was housing hundreds of thousands of troops, which were elite troops from the Star Luo and Dou Ling empires. They seemed to be ready to decide victory once and for all with the Sun Moon Empire’s army. Of course, the remaining troops of the Heavenly Soul Empire were also within Shrek City.

The current Heavenly Soul Empire army had about seventy thousand people. Even though they had lost a lot of their elite troops, those who were able to survive were truly the cream of the crop from the Heavenly Soul Empire. In fact, some of the survivors were members of the Body Sect.

However, the fact was that both the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Body Sect had already been destroyed by the Sun Moon Empire. They were now a long way from what they were in the past. Whenever Huo Yuhao thought about Princess Wei Na’s pale face and soulless eyes, he could not help but sigh. Wars were truly cruel things.

After flying straight into the academy and across Sea God’s Lake, they landed on Sea God’s Island. There was no time for them to rest. After all, every new piece of information could decide the outcome of the war.

Even though Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong were already Titled Douluo, they would still feel tired like normal people. However, now was definitely not the time for them to catch up on any form of rest.

Both of them sped into the Sea God’s Pavilion. As usual, Huo Yuhao prayed before the Golden Tree before stepping into the pavilion.

They did not try to conceal their auras, and their arrival awakened the Elders from their meditation.

Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong stood silently as they waited in the hall.

Tang Wutong squeezed Huo Yuhao’s hand and whispered, “Yuhao, be careful with your words later. Don’t mess it up.”

Huo Yuhao naturally understood what she meant as he nodded.

It did not take too long before the Elders of the Sea God’s Pavilion started to come down the staircase. After seeing how disheveled they looked, the Elders revealed a look of surprise. They had thought that both Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong were still in Tang Sect. Elder Xuan had given an alternative explanation for their absence from the conference for the past few days. He had told them that Huo Yuhao had chosen to stay in the Tang Sect to consolidate his currently unstable powers after making his breakthrough.

When Elder Xuan saw the frustration written on Huo Yuhao’s face, he was already able to make an educated guess as to what had probably happened. He gradually headed over to his seat as he waved towards Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong. “Yuhao, Wutong, take a seat.”

However, Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “I am sorry, Elder Xuan. I don’t think I can get myself to sit down. I would prefer to stand.”

Elder Xuan took a deep breath as a light flashed in his eyes. He saw the determined the look in Huo Yuhao’s eyes.

He nodded and said, “Okay then. I believe both of you must have something to say. If not, you would not have come here to wake us up with your spiritual auras before dawn.”

Huo Yuhao nodded before bowing before the Elders with Tang Wutong. After straightening his back, he said, “I have just returned from the Dou Ling Empire with Wutong.”

“The Dou Ling Empire?” After hearing what he had said, the Elders present could not help but gasp in surprise.

Elder Song couldn’t help but ask, “What were you doing in Dou Ling Empire?”

Huo Yuhao closed his eyes as a look of pain formed on his face. “I went to Dou Ling Empire to witness the death of their entire royal family.”

“What?” After hearing his words, everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief. Even Elder Xuan lost his composure as he stood up and glared at Huo Yuhao. “Yuhao, you must take responsibility for your words!”

Yuhao complained, “Responsibility? Sure, I can take responsibility for everything. However, no matter how responsible I am, can I resurrect the thousands of lives of the royal family who have perished? Just a while ago, Dou Ling City was attacked by two beast-ranked soul engineer legions dispatched by the Sun Moon Empire. The capital of the Dou Ling Empire was bombed by a Class 9 stationary soul cannon shell. The entire palace was reduced to rubble, and no one from the royal family was found alive after the explosion. This was because the entire royal family was attending a gathering in the palace. Hence, no one was spared from the explosion. By the time I arrived, the entire city was already enshrouded in smoke.”

Following which, he elaborated on how he had brought his peers from Tang Sect to the Dou Ling Empire, and how he had guessed the method of operation the Sun Moon Empire had planned to take. Afterward, he moved on to share what had happened at the palace, as well as how he handled the two soul engineer legions.

Huo Yuhao spoke with an unnaturally low voice. The pain and desperation in his voice were obvious.

“No matter how many Sun Moon Empire soul engineers I kill, I can never reverse what has happened to the royal family! The Sun Moon Empire has employed methods which are extremely vicious, and it has already calculated how Dou Ling Empire will crumble because of this attack. In the meantime, the elite troops from the Dou Ling Empire are waiting for an improbable battle within our city walls.”

A heavy silence fell upon the hall in the Sea God’s Pavilion. Following which, the Elders’ breathing became more intense.

In their eyes, it was unimaginable that the palace of the Dou King Empire would be attacked.

Elder Zhuang couldn’t help but ask angrily, “What was the army stationed in the Dou Ling Empire doing? How could they not know when two entire soul engineer legions infiltrated their land?”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “Even if it was the Star Luo Empire, the outcome would not have been much different. The Sun Moon Empire definitely has a technological advantage which grants them the ability to sneak a few hundred soul engineers in without being detected. After all, all the empires have an incredibly long border. The main problem is that the elite troops from the Dou Ling Empire were not present. They had all been dispatched to reinforce Shrek City. The Sun Moon Empire struck them when the capital was at its most vulnerable state. Otherwise, would they have fallen so easily?”

One of the Elders apparently took Huo Yuhao’s words very personally as he said coldly, “In that case, are you blaming us for this unfortunate event? Are you blaming us for not listening to your suggestion? Do you expect us to give up on defending Shrek City? Do you think they would stop sending reinforcements if we told them to do so?”

Huo Yuhao went silent. Of course, he knew he could not blame the Elders for this tragedy. Everyone present here had the Academy’s interest at heart.

He shook his head and apologized, “I am sorry for losing control of my emotions earlier. I just can’t forget the image of the palace turning into ruins before my eyes. I am really sorry. I don’t think I am suitable to remain as a member of the Sea God’s Pavilion anymore. I hereby request that the Elders remove my appointment.”

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao pulled Tang Wutong backward as they bowed politely before the Elders before turning around to leave.

“Stop!” Elder Song exclaimed furiously as he called out to Huo Yuhao.