The Peerless Emperor

Lin Qian was utterly surprised by the actions of the four elders of the Human Clan; he had pondered many possible forms of recompense they might offer.

For instance, material rewards or perhaps some classical texts, and even considered that they might pay some price to beg him to save other members of the Human Clan.

However, Lin Qian never expected that these four elders from the Ancient Forest World's Human Clan would outright submit to him and make a decision for the entire Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World.

In fact, these four elders indeed had the authority to make decisions on behalf of the others, pledging loyalty to Lin Qian.

The status that the Human Clan holds today, coexisting harmoniously with the other Three Clans, was not only due to their own efforts but also inseparable from these four elders' endeavors.

It was their expertise in Arrays that secured the Human Clan a position amongst the Four Clans.

Thus, within the Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World, the words of these four elders were paramount, absolute.

Once the four elders had spoken, all Lin Qian needed to do was give his nod, and the entire Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World would acknowledge him as their master.

So, would he agree?

"Only a fool would disagree!" Lin Qian said with a smile as he stepped forward to help the four elders up and accepted their allegiance.

Effortlessly, the Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World became subjects of the Huaxia Empire, and moreover, they did so voluntarily, pledging their allegiance; where else could one find such an opportunity?

After helping the four elders up, Lin Qian filled goblets with Spiritual Wine, which they had used after consuming the refining Potion, and gestured to the elders to raise their goblets for a gentle toast.

The crisp, pleasant clink of the goblets sounded.

"I welcome you four to the Huaxia Empire; we will need your strength in many areas in the future," Lin Qian said, raising his goblet to Wang Qiongxing, He Baili, Xu Wuwei, and Fu Deqing, and promptly drained his cup of Spiritual Wine.

The four shared a look, smiles spreading across their faces, and they too drained their goblets of the Spiritual Wine.

After drinking the Spiritual Wine, Lin Qian's face also showed admiration: "For the sake of the Human Clan, you four are truly determined to sacrifice yourselves, directly pledging allegiance to me."

After Lin Qian spoke, guilt flashed across the faces of the four.

Realizing that Lin Qian had given them refining Potion, the elders swiftly decided to acknowledge him as their master, thinking since he was already the master of the entire Ancient Forest World's Human Clan, he probably wouldn't hesitate to offer the refining Potion, right?

In the eyes of the four elders, the entire Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World had a brighter future, and changing to a stronger master was perfectly acceptable.

Although Lin Qian knew the elders' intentions, he felt no anger; the imperial majesty combined with their sworn demonic oaths ensured him of their loyalty without any doubts.

Besides, curing the Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World was originally what Lin Qian intended.

The Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World varied greatly in their consumption of the Spirit Transformation Fruit, making their situation particularly complex, a scenario that was perfect for research, according to Zhuge Ming and Huasheng.

Acquiring so many subjects directly was, in Lin Qian's view, quite satisfactory.

After vowing loyalty to Lin Qian, the four clan elders each left to gather their people in the four directions of east, west, south, and north and subsequently spread the news everywhere.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

At the gathering site where Lin Qian was currently located, the air exploded violently in the half-sky outside; the four elders were swiftly flying away.

"Hahaha, exhilarating!" He Baili roared loudly in midair, clearly overwhelmed with excitement.

Not just him, Wang Qiongxing, Xu Wuwei, and Fu Deqing also bubbled with high spirits, their blood boiling.

After taking Lin Qian's refining potion, their strength had matched their own realms. Their Soul Power was no longer weak and sparse, their Dantians could accommodate more Soul Power, and their spacious meridians allowed the Soul Power to roar and burn freely.

The four of them were now burning their Soul Power without any regard for the consequences, fleeing at full strength in exhilaration—a sensation they had never experienced before.

After the four elder clansmen left, Lin Qian began his cultivation anew. He truly couldn't believe that he would not be able to break through the Awakening Realm.

The other members of the Human Clan took the refining potion without urgency. At the earliest, they would wait until the four elder clansmen had notified the other gathering places of the Human Clan to make preparations.

Immersed in cultivation, Lin Qian had no sense of how much time had passed when he suddenly woke up. His body was completely enveloped by golden Thunder Soul Power, and he burst out toward the outside of the gathering area.

The underground world was fully illuminated by the Sunflame Fruit. Lin Qian's speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, he had crossed the mountain cliff outside the gathering area and reached the other side. Screaming to the front, he shouted, "Stop!"

At this moment, in front of Lin Qian, a young man from the Black Corner Clan, dressed in a black robe with golden edges, wore a face full of arrogance.

And in the air, a child from the Human Clan was captured by Soul Power mid-air, with people crying below.

The captured child was none other than Little Jiang, and the ones crying on the ground were Little Jiang's parents.

Pfft!

When Lin Qian shouted, he also used his Soul Power to strike, reaching for Little Jiang.

Blood splattered as Lin Qian held Little Jiang and fell toward the ground. Just before they hit, he sharply stopped.

At this moment, Little Jiang lay in Lin Qian's arms, barely breathing. His arms had been crushed by that Soul Power earlier, and his legs below the knees had completely vanished.

Lin Qian quickly took out a recovery potion and poured it into Little Jiang. The bleeding from his wounds gradually stopped.

As Little Jiang's breathing stabilized, Lin Qian handed him back to his parents. He stood up and looked around, noticing many of the Four Clans' group had been injured.

Many had died, mostly the children of the Four Clans. Their parents cradled the mangled little bodies, wailing in agony.

If Lin Qian had not used the Reconnaissance Beast to discover the situation here and hurried over, Little Jiang's chances would have been grim.

Lin Qian looked up at the young Black Corner Clan man and asked in a stern voice to a Human Clan man nearby, "What happened?"

"That person claims to be the seventh son of the sixteenth prince of the Black Corner Country. He planned to attack our gathering place and encountered our group. Taking advantage of his overwhelming strength, he tortured these children." The Human Clan man clenched his teeth tightly, glaring above with fury, "He used his presence to restrain us, forcing us to watch helplessly as our children were tortured to death!"

"We wanted to resist, we questioned him why he was doing this!"

"He answered… he actually said he enjoyed it!" The Human Clan man's teeth shattered from the force he used, his mouth full of blood. In his hand was a piece of blood-soaked torn clothing, clearly worn by a Human Clan child, "Because he enjoys it, he wants to torture our children, ah!"

A harrowing scream, accompanied by blood and broken teeth, sprayed from the man's mouth.

At this moment, Lin Qian's expression turned chillingly dark.

——————————

These past few days revisions have regressed, not going smoothly, asking for a leave for one chapter, to straighten out my thoughts.