Seeing Lin Qian's gaze fixed on him, Yue Liqun couldn't help but shiver. He didn't know why, but whenever Lin Qian looked at him like that, a sense of fear crept over him.
Yue Liqun wasn't aware that, after the training he had undergone, Lin Qian's imposing presence had left a deep impression on him. It would be strange if he didn't feel fear when facing his emperor.
"Yue Liqun, I recall you mentioned before that the aura around the Blackhorn King was black mixed with a hint of red. Is that correct?" Lin Qian asked, his tone serious as he stared at Yue Liqun.
Yue Liqun nodded firmly at Lin Qian's question. "Yes, the aura around the Blackhorn King was indeed like that—black interspersed with red... No, actually, it seemed more like red with traces of black mixed in."
Yue Liqun's confirmation made Lin Qian's expression darken as he gazed into the distance. "Could it be the Blackblood Clan, or worse, the Blackblood Royal Clan?"
"The Blackblood Clan?"
The term Lin Qian mentioned caused the five others to look at each other in surprise. In the Ancient Forest World, they only knew of five races. When did another group, the Blackblood Clan or Blackblood Royal Clan, come into the picture?
While the five of them were unfamiliar with the Blackblood Clan, Yaonie, on the other hand, knew exactly what Lin Qian was talking about. The emperor had faced such enemies before, and the entire Hua Xia Empire was well aware of it.
"I understand now, it's highly likely," Lin Qian thought to himself, before looking at Yue Liqun. "Can you contact the Reverse King Palace right now and get information immediately?"
"I can!" Yue Liqun replied with certainty when Lin Qian asked.
Upon receiving the confirmation, Lin Qian urged him, "Contact them quickly and ask if the brutal Blackhorn soldiers exhibit any signs of a red aura, or a red aura with traces of black when they act violently."
"Of course, exclude those whose personalities are naturally cruel," Lin Qian added, his thoughts drifting back to Shen Yi.
He suspected that the Blackhorns were naturally inclined towards violence, much like Shen Yi, who had a twisted personality and enjoyed the brutal slaughter of children.
Initially, after dealing with Shen Yi, Lin Qian assumed the Blackhorns were inherently cruel and violent. He believed that a straightforward extermination campaign would suffice.
However, after interacting with Yue Liqun, Lin Qian learned from him that the Blackhorns were not all inherently bad.
If the Blackhorns were truly a ruthless and violent race, how could they have coexisted peacefully with the other four races for so long?
Based on the reconnaissance reports, Lin Qian had already noticed that most Blackhorns didn't seem as barbaric as he had imagined.
He even observed some Blackhorns secretly passing food to imprisoned humans, ensuring they had enough to eat.
Otherwise, given the grueling tasks they were forced to perform, they would have collapsed from exhaustion.
Yue Liqun quickly went to contact the Reverse King Palace, while Lin Qian hovered silently in mid-air, gazing ahead.
Since the Blackhorns weren't as savage as he had initially thought, there was no need to carry out his original plan of wiping them out completely.
Such indiscriminate slaughter was something Lin Qian wasn't willing to do.
Not long after, Yue Liqun returned with news from the Reverse King Palace. He turned to Lin Qian, his face full of shock. "Your Majesty, it's just as you suspected. The violent Blackhorn soldiers do indeed emit a red aura, and some even have traces of black mixed in."
At this point, Yue Liqun's face had gone pale. If he still didn't understand that all this was connected to the Blackhorn King, he would have to be a fool.
The detail about the Blackhorn King's aura being a mix of red and black was something Yue Liqun had only mentioned when he was first reporting to Lin Qian. He hadn't spoken of it to anyone else before.
And the strange thing was, throughout all these years of the Blackhorn army attacking the Four Territories, there had been no sign of that red aura.
So Yue Liqun had never noticed anything peculiar about it.
The four elders standing nearby had also quietly taken in all this information. Wang Qiongxing was the first to speak up. "Your Majesty, are you suggesting that the Blackhorn King and the Blackhorn soldiers have undergone some kind of transformation, which has led to their cruel and violent behavior?"
"And the Blackblood Clan you mentioned, could they be the key to all this?"
Lin Qian nodded silently and then proceeded to explain to the five of them what the Blackblood Clan was.
After hearing Lin Qian's explanation, the five of them turned pale as they began to grasp the situation.
Based on Lin Qian's theory, the real Blackhorn King was probably dead, and the current Blackhorn King was a "Blood Puppet" created by the Blackblood Clan.
Moreover, it was likely that the entire Blackhorn army had been affected by this transformation. The red aura mixed with black was evidence of this.
However, something puzzled Lin Qian. According to the information Yue Liqun had provided and his own observations of the Blackhorn soldiers in the city ahead, they didn't seem to have turned into Blood Puppets yet, but they were already incredibly brutal.
In the past, the Blackhorn soldiers that had continuously attacked the Four Territories were equally savage, but they hadn't displayed that red aura either.
From Lin Qian's understanding, the Blackhorns would only turn violent after being influenced by the Blackblood Clan, which would transform them into Blood Puppets.
At this moment, Lin Qian felt his thoughts becoming muddled, unable to make sense of everything happening.
The situation was becoming increasingly complicated.
"Let's first take over the Blackhorn city ahead and capture a few Blackhorn soldiers. Then we can figure out exactly what's going on," Lin Qian said, calming himself as he flew forward once more, with the others following closely behind.
Before long, the massive mountain city of the Blackhorns appeared clearly in their view. Gazing at the familiar cityscape, Yue Liqun couldn't help but sigh deeply.
The towering mountain city was protected by a dazzling array of formations that shimmered across the mountain's surface, guarding the entire city.
The reconnaissance beasts, being no more than ordinary creatures, had easily slipped in.
Based on the reconnaissance beasts' reports, the outskirts of the mountain city were heavily guarded by Blackhorn soldiers. Any disturbance would quickly alert them, prompting an immediate counterattack.
Once they had the mountain city in sight, Lin Qian descended to the ground, using the dense forest to conceal himself.
"Your Majesty, are we really going to attack the city with just the few of us?" Yue Liqun asked eagerly as he looked at the mountain city in the distance. "With our combined strength, we should have no problem taking the city."
"There's no need. Yaonie alone will suffice," Lin Qian shook his head, giving Yaonie a slight nod of approval.
Receiving Lin Qian's order, Yaonie knelt briefly before standing up and moving forward.
"Your Majesty, is he really going to take on the city by himself?" He Baili exclaimed in shock as he watched Yaonie head toward the city alone. "Sending one person is practically a death sentence!"
"You are now citizens of the Hua Xia Empire, so it's important for you to witness the way the Hua Xia Empire fights. There's much to learn from it," Lin Qian said calmly, not bothered by their alarm, as he continued to watch the scene unfold.