Lawful Tyrant

Chapter 376 Leave it to me
"I am dead?"

Marquis Xinglian was taken aback, looking at Lin Qing with disbelief: "It's just a regional war. No matter how fierce the fighting is, it shouldn't be enough to cause the fall of an eternal being, right?"

It wasn't that he was arrogant, but rather that regional wars were unlikely to cause the fall of eternal beings; it was usually the higher chaotic beings who perished.

After all, the eternal beings are responsible for guarding the most important holy star and rarely participate in the battle.

Although his own strength is not far from that of a peak Eternal expert, as long as he guards the Holy Star, with the blessing of the Holy Star's origin, his strength will not be far from that of a peak Eternal expert. Moreover, he also has the Devouring Flame Python, which is close to a peak Eternal expert, joining forces!
The strongest of the eternal beings in the participating states is not even a peak eternal being, so how could they possibly kill him?
"According to the intelligence, the Marquis was killed because the Marquis of Jueyuan personally led his army to invade Zhongzhuan Star, and the Marquis tried to stop him," Lin Qing said.

"Marquis Jueyuan?" Marquis Xinglian frowned and said, "I always act with the Devouring Flame Python and leave a clone behind to guard the Holy Star. Marquis Jueyuan is even weaker than the Devouring Flame Python, how could he possibly kill me?"

Lin Qing shook his head and said, "The Marquis was killed by three Eternal Realm experts whose strength was comparable to that of the Devouring Flame Python."

"What? Three Eternal Realm experts comparable to the Devouring Flame Python?"

Xinglian Hou felt even more incredulous, "This... how is this possible? Of the dozen or so Eternal Powerhouses who participated in this regional war, apart from me and the Devouring Flame Python working together, the strongest one is Jueyuan Hou."

“They are outsiders,” Lin Qing said. “These three Eternal Realm experts are soldiers under the command of Marquis Jueyuan. They have no fiefdoms or titles and claim to be reclusive experts living in the Frozen Empire. Therefore, they can join either side.”

According to the rules of territorial warfare—

Other states that are not involved in the war are eternally excluded from interference, and even those below the eternal realm are subject to quantity restrictions when participating in the war.

These three individuals claimed to be reclusive powerhouses from the remote state of Jueyuan, without any fiefdoms or titles, nor affiliated with any faction. However, after investigation, it was confirmed that they were indeed qualified to participate in the war.

There are some reclusive eternal powerhouses in the King Realm who are unwilling to join any faction, have not been granted titles or fiefs, and do not care about the benefits of titles. They simply wander aimlessly, living as reclusive powerhouses.

Such individuals are eligible to participate in the war simply by living in seclusion in a certain state before the war begins.

"A reclusive, powerful figure?"

Xinglian Hou felt it was absurd, "What are these three reclusive experts, each with strength comparable to the Devouring Flame Python, trying to gain by joining Jueyuan Hou's ranks?"

"They were looking for an opportunity to deal with me." Lin Qing looked at Xing Lianhou and said, "Xing Lianhou was probably killed by these three while protecting me."

His future intelligence records—

[...Three eternal powerhouses, disguised and hidden within the expeditionary force under the command of Marquis Jueyuan, claiming to be reclusive experts, joined forces to invade the Star Refining Continent. However, when Marquis Xinglian intervened to dissuade them, they didn't hesitate to kill him. One temporarily sealed the Devouring Flame Python, while the other two instantly killed Marquis Xinglian...]

"This……"

Xinglian Hou murmured, "However, now that you know this information, the future has already changed, hasn't it..."

“Things have changed.” Lin Qing nodded slightly and said, “But you must understand, my lord, that this is an open conspiracy by the enemy. The outcome of this war in the state is no longer important.”

"Not important?" Marquis Xinglian was taken aback.

"Based on future intelligence, this regional war will eventually become the fuse for the war between the divine kingdoms."

Lin Qing looked at Xing Lianhou and said, "The divine kingdom war that will sweep across the entire King Realm will break out in the Frozen Empire and even in this Xing Lian State. Does the outcome of the state war still matter?"

Xinglian Hou's heart trembled, and he looked at Lin Qing in disbelief: "The Divine Kingdom War? Why didn't I receive any news about it..."

"Given the intelligence that the future is approaching, such a catastrophe of war cannot be concealed at all. The high command of the Frozen Empire must already know about it."

Lin Qing shook her head slightly, "Moreover, all the countries must already know this, and they are probably already preparing for a full-scale war. Does the outcome of just one regional war really matter?"

When foresight is readily available, intelligence in war becomes less important; what truly determines victory or defeat is actual combat strength!

Marquis Xinglian paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "That's true... In the war of the divine kingdoms, many eternal beings will perish. What does the death of just one person matter? But if I knew this, it would only create more variables in the future and increase the war effort. It would be better to let Xinglian Province proceed according to its original future trajectory, which would also make deployment easier..."

Lin shook her head slightly, without saying anything more.

In this war, the death of Xinglianhou is only a minor matter. What is truly terrifying is that this war will become the fuse for a war between the divine kingdoms.

According to the intelligence obtained from the future, it was the nominal disciple of the Primordial God Emperor, 'Marquis Cangye', who was constantly interfering in the war from the shadows as an outsider. He also wantonly slaughtered eternal beings, causing all parties to get involved, which led to the war of the divine kingdoms that swept across the entire universe of the Kings.

But what good is knowing this?

Stop Lord Cangye?
Even if Marquis Cangye doesn't make a move, other terrifying experts from the Primordial Divine Kingdom will, and even experts from the Myriad Seas Divine Kingdom will. Defending against one or two people is useless, because the goal of the Primordial Divine Kingdom and the Myriad Seas Divine Kingdom is to instigate a war between the divine kingdoms!
Wars within a nation, or even wars between two nations, must at least follow the rules—because these rules are established at a higher level.

But the War of the Gods was a brutal war that swept across the entire Realm of Kings, and there were no rules whatsoever!
Or rather, there is only one rule—

Destroy the enemy as much as possible!
This is the inevitable trend of the times. No matter the outcome of such a small state war, it will eventually trigger a war between the divine kingdoms.

The enemy simply wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate him, the future disciple of the King of Light, thereby weakening the Icebound Empire's fighting strength.

As one of the powerful nations under the Heavenly Light Divine Kingdom, the Frozen Empire will also have an impact on the course of the Divine Kingdom's war.

"What does Your Excellency intend to do now?" Lin Qing asked.

"Intend?"

Marquis Xinglian shook his head with a self-deprecating smile: "It seems that the best option right now is to immediately relinquish the title and become a leisurely, reclusive powerhouse, or even go to the Chaos and stay away from this war."

“Your Highness’s plan is not bad.” Lin Qing nodded slightly, looking at Xing Lianhou with a faint vision of the future in her eyes.

In an instant, he already knew Xinglian Hou's plan.

“It’s a pity…” Star Refining Marquis sighed and said, “My people and my family are still on Star Refining Sacred Star. They can’t survive in the Chaos for long. If I abandon them and escape to the Chaos alone, leaving them to be destroyed by war, what’s the point of my life…”

At this point, he looked at Lin Qing and said, "Mr. Jialin, I have decided to stay and hold out on Star Refining Sacred Star. At least this is the place where I am most confident of surviving. Would you be willing to stay, Mr. Jialin?"

"I stayed?"

Lin Qing looked at Xing Lianhou with some surprise, "Xing Lianhou still wants me to stay? It's because I stayed that there are at least three enemies in this state war who are comparable to the Devouring Flame Python. If I had left, perhaps you wouldn't have been affected so much."

"It is somewhat troublesome."

Star Refining Marquis sighed and said, "But eventually the Divine Kingdom War will break out. This war will sweep across the entire Realm of Kings. Unless you escape into the endless chaos, there is nowhere to hide. Since I have chosen to stay and defend Star Refining Sacred Star, I have to find a way to survive in the all-out war."

He looked at Lin Qing and said, "Although Mr. Jialin's strength is still weak, his background must be extremely powerful. If I can protect Mr. Jialin in the early stages of the war and force the enemy to send out more powerful people and expose more of their trump cards, I think that would be considered a meritorious act, right?"

Lin Qing understood what he meant.

Xinglianhou had always suspected that he was a disciple of the King of Light, clearly believing that he had a powerful background.

In this kind of war where intelligence is almost transparent, the competition comes down to the quantity and quality of combat power, and who has more and better cards to play.

If Marquis Xinglian were to let him leave alone, the enemy would only need to send a small force. However, if he chose to protect him, the enemy would have to pay a greater price and surrender more and more powerful cards. "Does Marquis intend to join the Heavenly Light Divine Kingdom's camp?" Lin Qing asked.

“Yes, I originally planned to join the Heavenly Light Divine Kingdom,” said Xing Lianhou. “I originally wanted to wait a little longer, but now it seems… there’s no time for me to wait. I’ll apply to have it engraved on the Heavenly Light Divine Kingdom’s Eternal Monument in a bit.”

“The Eternal Monument…” Lin Qing nodded slightly.

Those born in the three divine kingdoms are naturally inscribed on the eternal monument of the three divine kingdoms, while outsiders, only those who exist eternally, are qualified to be inscribed on the eternal monument.

Only by having their names inscribed on the Eternal Monument can one be qualified to become a true member of the divine kingdom.

"In that case, we'll have to trouble Marquis Xinglian."

Lin Qing paused for a moment and then said, "Also, my real name is Lin Qing."

"Lin Qing?" Marquis Xinglian nodded slightly.

Although this was the first time he had heard the name, he understood that some high-ranking members of the King Realm might already know it.

"My lord," Lin Qing said, "In this war, you just need to hold the Star Refining Saint Star and don't worry about anything else."

"When did the War of the Divine Kingdoms break out?" Marquis Xinglian couldn't help but ask.

"According to intelligence, it's still early, at least hundreds of thousands of years from now," Lin Qing said. "All sides will try their best to delay, try to find out the other side's trump cards, and wait for the best opportunity to launch the final battle, but the timing is hard to determine."

Marquis Xinglian nodded slightly.

He also understands this truth.

The war between the divine kingdoms is actually a struggle between the three great divine kingdoms for the origin of the universe.

What is the origin of the universe?

Those are living beings!
The birth of every living being contains a tiny trace of the universe's origin. If a being becomes a void being, it will actively absorb a significant amount of the universe's origin in order to transform.

The higher the level of a being's life, the more cosmic origins they contain within their life!

The universe is constantly giving birth to life, which is also a process of constantly transforming chaotic energy into its origin.

Beings born in the territories of the three major factions are already determined by their faction at birth, so the cosmic essence that dissipates after death will be absorbed by the divine kingdom.

This is also the reason for the constant wars.

but……

If one is killed by beings from other divine kingdoms, the cosmic essence that dissipates after death will flow to those other divine kingdoms.

This is also the essence of the war between the divine kingdoms.

certainly--

If an eternal powerhouse wishes, they can join the ranks of other divine kingdoms simply by inscribing their name on the eternal monument of another divine kingdom.

Therefore, almost all eternal powerhouses need to choose one of the three great divine kingdoms and join its camp.

The three great divine kingdoms are vying for the origin of the universe, and naturally they hope to kill more members of the enemy faction so that more of their own people can survive.

This means that a direct and complete war between the divine kingdoms is impossible. Without sufficient understanding, a full-scale war would only result in heavy casualties. Only by gradually probing and gaining sufficient understanding can losses be minimized.

"Has Your Excellency participated in the Divine Kingdom War?" Lin Qing asked.

“I participated in the Second Divine Kingdom War.” Marquis Xinglian nodded and said, “However, I was lucky at the time. Although Xinglian Sacred Star was attacked and many of my people died, an ultimate being passed by and I escaped the calamity.”

"Oh?" Lin Qing wasn't surprised.

First-magnitude stars contain a great deal of cosmic origin, while sacred stars contain an even greater amount of cosmic origin, but conquering sacred stars is far too difficult.

Star Refining Sacred Star still has a Chaos creature, the Devouring Flame Python, which is a tough nut to crack. Enemy legions with that kind of power would rather choose to occupy other Sacred Stars.

"but……"

Marquis Xinglian suddenly frowned and said, "Before this regional war began, I made a bet with Marquis Jueyuan in front of His Majesty the Ice Emperor. If I lost, I would have to hand over half of the territory of Xinglian Sacred Star to him. If he personally leads his troops to attack Xinglian Province, and I and the Devouring Flame Python guard the Sacred Star, only sending a part of myself to stop Marquis Jueyuan, I'm afraid I..."

He was well aware of the Marquis of Jueyuan's strength.

Even with the blessing of the Holy Star Origin on the Star Refining Holy Star, he was barely on par with his opponent. He had to join forces with the Devouring Flame Python to suppress his opponent.

But if he only sends out one clone, how could he possibly stop Marquis Jueyuan?

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and then said, "Then leave it to me."

"here you are?"

Xing Lianhou was taken aback and said, "Mr. Lin Qing's strength is indeed close to the bottom line of the Eternal level, but compared with a true Eternal powerhouse, I'm afraid he is still..."

He had witnessed Lin Qing's strength, but there was still a considerable gap between him and the Eternal Realm.

As for the Great Extinction of the Illusory World?
The will of a higher chaotic being is beyond the reach of any secret will technique; no amount of will-based magic can be effective against such a terrifying will at the eternal level!
"Don't worry, my lord, it's not me." Lin Qing smiled. "When the time comes, your clone can act freely, and there will be helpers."

"Oh?" Marquis Xinglian suddenly realized. It seemed that Lin Qing was planning to ask someone for help?

"In short, I will do my best to defend this Star Refining Sacred Star," said Star Refining Marquis. "With the combined strength of me and the Devouring Flame Python, we don't need to worry unless an Eternal Peak expert attacks."

"An Eternal Peak expert?" Lin Qing nodded. "The possibility is indeed not high. Even if they come, we should be able to deal with them."

"That's good." Marquis Xinglian relaxed slightly.

He didn't believe that a peak Eternal Realm expert would personally intervene just to deal with Lin Qing, a mere child who hadn't even reached the Eternal Realm yet.

At the peak of eternity, each and every one of them is a renowned and powerful figure!
No matter which peak Eternal Realm expert he faced, even if he joined forces with the Flame Devouring Python, he would be lucky to escape with his life. If two or three peak Eternal Realm experts were to attack, he would certainly die.

but……

Throughout the entire Frozen Empire's 952 states, there are approximately several thousand Eternal beings, but only a dozen or so can be considered peak Eternal powerhouses!

(End of this chapter)