After Xu Jing personally witnessed the empire's high-level officials kneeling and pledging loyalty to Wang Chen.
The rage in his chest erupted like a volcano. Endless fury surged into his heart.
Under the assault of rage, crimson blood sprayed from Xu Jing's mouth.
Immediately after, Xu Jing's figure staggered, his expression dazed, his face instantly turning as pale as paper, then his vision darkened, and he plummeted from the sky above Mingdu.
"Your Majesty!!"
"Oh no, His Majesty has fainted from anger!"
Upon seeing Xu Jing faint, two loyal and eunuch-faced attendants immediately flew down and caught Xu Jing as he fell from the sky.
Although the two eunuchs were rootless men, they were utterly loyal to Xu Jing, showing no sign of changing banners due to the shifting situation or turning to kneel and flatter Wang Chen.
The two attendants looked at Xu Jing with faces full of worry, then one took out a spirit pill from a storage soul tool and fed it into Xu Jing's mouth.
The other injected soul power into Xu Jing's body to assist in refining the pill.
The two attendants' expressions were extremely grim; they were inseparable from Xu Jing and well aware of his physical condition.
Xu Jing's origin had been severely damaged during his usurpation of power years ago, and his health had been deteriorating ever since.
He had been relying on medicine to sustain himself, and now, with rage assaulting his heart and greatly harming his body, the situation was not optimistic.
He must rest quietly; otherwise, he might just pass away with one tilt of his head.
While Xu Jing was fainting from anger, Wang Chen and the many ninth-rank soul engineers who had pledged loyalty to him also shifted their gazes toward Xu Jing.
Upon discovering that the emperor had fainted, some ninth-rank soul engineers lowered their heads in embarrassment, clearly feeling ashamed for betraying Xu Jing.
Others had dark expressions, with a hint of killing intent in their eyes.
After all, they had already betrayed Xu Jing and defected to Wang Chen. Naturally, they did not want Xu Jing to live, and they even planned to purge the Sun Moon Empire's royal family entirely.
Otherwise, if something happened in the future and the royal family turned the tables, these betrayers would have no good end.
Wang Chen looked at the unconscious Xu Jing, his deep, star-like, bright eyes showing a slight ripple.
The Xu Jing who once made him cautious and even forced him to accept a marriage alliance or risk his life was now, to him, merely an ant whose life and death were at his whim.
Let him live, and he lives; let him die, and he dies.
This shift in status and position made Wang Chen's mood feel waves of pleasure, like drinking a bottle of ice-cold, happy water on a scorching hot day.
As for Xu Jing and the Sun Moon Empire's royal family, Wang Chen naturally had no worries—they were too weak. He could destroy them with one slap, unable to harm him in the slightest.
As long as he wanted to act, with a sweep of his divine sense, not a single royal relative could escape his palm.
Of course, considering that the Xu family had ruled the Sun Moon Empire for too long and held too much prestige, exterminating them outright would have too great an impact, likely causing chaos throughout the Sun Moon Empire.
So, Wang Chen planned to first subdue the empire's high-level officials and substantially rule the entire Sun Moon Empire.
Then, through the upcoming wars against the Douluo Three Kingdoms and other strategies, he would elevate his own prestige and weaken the Xu family's influence.
By the time he conquered the Star Luo, Heavenly Soul, and Spirit Empires, unifying the world, the black book might fully recover.
Wang Chen's status, power, and prestige would then be at their zenith, unmatched by anyone.
At that time, he would deal with the Xu family as needed—control them with soul contracts where appropriate, and kill those who were disobedient.
If it were just Wang Chen himself, truthfully, dealing with or not dealing with the Xu family was irrelevant; it wouldn't affect him at all.
But Wang Chen had to consider the people of the Wang family and the experts who had pledged to him.
He was destined to ascend to the God Realm in the future, even using the black book to travel to other worlds.
If he didn't handle the Xu family properly and eliminate this hidden danger, the Wang family clansmen might not be able to withstand the Xu family.
It's possible that the Wang family clansmen and other experts who pledged to Wang Chen would suffer retaliation from the Xu family.
At Wang Chen's position, he could no longer think only of himself. If he just patted his ass and left without doing anything, who knows how many people would die?
Wang Chen thought to himself, "Before ascending to the God Realm and leaving Douluo Star, I must resolve all hidden dangers.
Also, the Wang family needs to be properly strengthened, and I should leave some means for the Wang family to deter the continent.
Otherwise, if I take my relatives to ascend to the God Realm, the ordinary Wang family clansmen, without strong protection and lacking strength themselves, will inevitably suffer great misfortune."
Wang Chen glanced at the unconscious Xu Jing twice, swept his divine sense, and saw Xu Jing's condition clearly.
From his physical state, Xu Jing didn't have many days left; at most a year, and he would pass away naturally.
Then, Wang Chen turned his gaze to Kong Deming and several ninth-rank soul engineers from the Sun Moon royal family.
These were the only ones who hadn't yet expressed submission to him.
Wang Chen said calmly, "Teacher, are you going to oppose me?"
The ninth-rank soul engineers who had already submitted to Wang Chen immediately stood behind him and persuaded Kong Deming one after another.
They had all received guidance from Kong Deming, so naturally, they couldn't let him make the wrong choice.
After all, Wang Chen's strength was too terrifying; it was simply not something human power could resist. Going against Wang Chen was purely seeking death.
Ye Yulin said urgently, "Elder Kong, Lord Wang Chen is invincible under heaven, rightfully so. The Sun Moon Empire can only prosper and conquer the world under Lord Wang Chen's rule!"
Luan Feng said, "Elder Kong, you don't bear the Xu surname; the Sun Moon Empire royal family has little relation to you. There's no need to stand on the royal family's side."
Jing Hongchen said, "Elder Kong, I advise you: recognise the situation. Wang Chen is the one chosen by heaven!"
"......"
Facing the words of Wang Chen and the many ninth-rank soul engineers.
The two loyal attendants shielded the unconscious Xu Jing, their faces grave and wary as they looked around.
The two of them felt that no one was a loyal minister; everyone wanted to betray His Majesty.
Kong Deming looked at his disciple Wang Chen and let out a deep sigh.
He knew that the Sun Moon Empire royal family was now at a critical moment of life and death; one wrong move, and the entire clan could be exterminated.
Although from the situation, Wang Chen didn't plan to kill them—otherwise, he wouldn't have used spatial confinement but spatial collapse to crush them.
But just because nothing now didn't mean nothing later.
He knew all too well the cruelty of power struggles. Not to mention, far away, just recently with Xu Jing.
After seizing the throne and taking power, he killed his brother's wife, sons, daughters, and confidants... all of them, leaving none.
Now, with Wang Chen's strength skyrocketing, he sought to overshadow the emperor and command the Sun Moon Empire.
Thus, the Sun Moon Empire royal family had inevitably become a thorn in Wang Chen's side, a needle in his flesh.
What he needed to do now was to use his identity as Wang Chen's teacher to play the emotional card.
And represent the Sun Moon Empire royal family in pledging absolute submission to Wang Chen, fully cooperating with Wang Chen in dominating the Sun Moon and overshadowing the emperor.
In any case, he had to do everything possible to make Wang Chen show mercy, avoid a major purge, and give the royal family a path to survival.
For this, Kong Deming had some confidence. After all, the royal family had no enmity with Wang Chen.
Moreover, Wang Chen had married Princess Xu Tianzhen; everyone was related, so there was room for discussion.
Kong Deming spoke, "Chen'er, I represent the Sun Moon Empire royal family in promising that from now on, the royal family will revere you alone, obey your commands, and follow your orders without question!"
With that, Kong Deming led the several ninth-rank soul engineers with Sun Moon royal blood in bowing to Wang Chen, expressing submission.
At the same time, in the depths of Wang Chen's soul, the black book suddenly trembled, and the damaged parts quickly began to recover...
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