Chapter 696: Kneel!

Chapter 696: Kneel!"Haha, I can feel it already—an immense, boundless power! I'm merging together with the very world itself... is this the power of the king of the realm?"

The eighth prince roared in laughter, causing the crown prince to become more and more agitated.

The ninth prince didn't know how to stop the eighth prince by this point, either. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Ren Kunjing narrowed his eyes. "No matter who you are, once the eighth prince is crowned, we'll have won."

One of the Jinghun shouted, "Wouldn't it have been better for you to hide out in who-knows-where? And yet you came right back here to die! I really don't understand how some people think. We've made more preparations for the success of our plan than you could ever hope to overcome."

Just as the Jinghun thought that they had grasped victory, the eighth prince's body suddenly began to expand.

"What's going on? What's happening to me?" The eighth prince's body ballooned, as though massive tumors had begun growing out of his body.

Even the Jinghun around the stage had no idea what was happening.

"Hold on, hold on! I don't want to become the king of the realm anymore!" The eighth prince began to shriek in an attempt to stop the ceremony, but it was already too late.

Now that the ceremony was in progress, there was no stopping it.

The eighth prince's body grew larger and larger, like a squirming meatball, as the rainbow heart continued pouring energy into his body.

Finally, as the eighth prince's body grew past a critical threshold, it exploded, scattering bits of blood and flesh all over, as though he were a rotten watermelon.

The jade seal fell to the ground.

Everyone stared at the stage with shock and horror. The jade seal, dyed red with blood, gave off an eerie, otherworldly light, as though it had been cursed.

Zhang Lie sighed. "As expected."

When Ren Kunjing came to his senses, he gasped, "A trap left behind by the king of the realm!"

The crown prince, who seemed to have thought of something, suddenly raised his head to the skies and laughed.

Ren Kunjing frowned, dissatisfaction evident on his face. "What are you laughing at?"

The crown prince laughed again. "At your stupidity."

"What do you know?"

The crown prince countered, "Do you know why princes must learn to cultivate?"

One of the Jinghuns hedged, "Isn't it to allow the princes to protect themselves better?"

"It's to be able to handle the strength afforded the king of the realm," the ninth prince murmured in realization, surprising both Ren Kunjing and the crown prince.

The crown prince nodded. "Father told me about this once. The king of the realm is peerless, but assimilating this strength into your body requires that you be strong in your own right as well."

Ren Kunjing's face turned pale. He knew where the Jinghun had gone wrong now—and, given the faces the Jinghun were making, so did the rest of them.

The crown prince laughed even more wildly. "What a joke, what a joke! You Jinghun allowed the eighth prince to do whatever he wanted in order to make him easier to control, but you also caused him to give up on his cultivation.

"Weren't you all confident in your plan? That you would succeed even if the eighth prince was so weak he couldn't even kill a chicken? But none of you realized that a weak piece of trash like him wouldn't be able to absorb the realm's power, did you? Haha!"

Ren Kunjing's abashed expression quickly dissipated. "So what if we've lost the eighth prince? He was nothing but a piece of trash—and we have two other princes right here!"

His words jolted the other Jinghun out of their reverie. "Indeed, the eighth prince was a piece of trash! We laid down all the groundwork for this lad to take the throne, but he couldn't accomplish even that much."

Ren Kunjing immediately changed his target to the two remaining princes. "Crown prince, ninth prince, are either of you interested in becoming the king of the realm? All you need to do is step up onto the stage and pick up the jade seal. There's no need for any more fighting—everything's right here for you."

The crown prince's eyes widened. He hesitated.

The ninth prince sneered. "You killed our father and destroyed our world. Even if we wanted to become the king of the realm, we wouldn't sully ourselves with what you've done."

Ren Kunjing shook his head. "Ninth prince, you're nothing more than a child—of course there are principles you wouldn't understand. Crown prince, you, on the other hand..."

The ninth prince turned to his eldest brother. "Brother, we can't be tempted by these demons! Could you really be satisfied to be one of the Jinghun's mindless puppets?"

Rainbow light, tinted blood-red, continued to emanate from the jade seal lying in the center of the stage.

The crown prince stepped forward unconsciously, as if compelled by an otherworldly force.

However, just as the crown prince stepped forward, Zhang Lie firmly placed one hand on his shoulder and met his gaze. His eyes shone with a rainbow gleam.

Now that the king of the realm was dead, the protection that the king had placed on the princes had dissipated, and they were no longer immune to Zhang Lie's hypnotism.

As the crown prince's eyes glowed rainbow, he snorted and called out, "You surely jest. I, the crown prince of the scalemen, will serve no puppetmasters like you!"

Ren Kunjing sighed. "What a pity. I didn't want to go to any extra trouble, but now it seems like I'll have to use force. Which prince should I target, I wonder?"

Ren Kunjing glanced at the two princes as though they were two comparable appliances he wanted to purchase.

Finally, his eyes landed on the ninth prince. "As irresolute as the crown prince might be, he's an adult, and he'll be harder to control once he becomes king. You, on the other hand, ninth prince—your age is just right. And if we corrupt him too much by accident, well, there'll still be the crown prince left."

Formless energy emanated from Ren Kunjing, making the ninth prince feel as though a black storm were approaching him. Ren Kunjing's eyes looked like a black viper that was wrapping itself around his body. The ninth prince trembled, but he didn't take a step back.

Zhang Lie strode forward and shielded the ninth prince, breaking Ren Kunjing's display of force in an instant.

Ren Kunjing frowned. "There's nothing to gain from going against us Jinghun, fighter."

"Is that so? You, street rats who have to hide from the public eye, think you're strong enough to command me? All of you, kneel!"

With a shout, Zhang Lie's body swirled with rainbow fog.

The eyes of the Jinghun who were staring at Zhang Lie all glowed rainbow. Following his command, they knelt.

Ren Kunjing's mind froze for a moment, but he broke the compulsion by sheer force of will. As he glanced around and saw his companions succumbing to Zhang Lie, he cried out, "What have you done?!"