After that, we began the meeting. The two people from the Spirit Hall looked at me with curiosity about how I convinced the Spirit Douluo to join, but they didn't press the issue after sensing that I wouldn't answer.
"Well, we've gathered to explain the plan to deal with Tang Hao, but Ning Rongrong and I will be abstaining from the ةinterference so we don't hinder you there," I said.
"There's no need to develop a strategy to defeat him directly. We're three against one, and he's injured," Jiang Jun said.
"Please don't underestimate Tang Hao's strength. Don't forget what he did to the previous Pope," the two from Spirit Hall looked down a bit embarrassed, as this incident is considered a stain on the history of the Spirit Hall.
Uchiha Enlil continued, "So you should adopt a strategy from the start. As I mentioned in the last confrontation with him, I sacrificed my eyes to escape, but he also suffered significant losses by detonating eight spirit rings, so his previous injuries might be worse now."
Everyone looked at me with admiration and a bit of fear, and their perspective toward me changed.
I ignored it and continued explaining, "The Serpent Spear will infiltrate Shrek Academy and capture Tang Hao's son, Tang San, which will force Tang Hao to attack you. Make sure not to harm Tang San, as his safety will be used as leverage against Tang Hao and prevent him from escaping. As for the spoils from spirit bones and so on, you can share them among yourselves."
The Spirit Douluo looked at me in surprise, thinking he wouldn't get anything due to the agreement about the divine herbs.
"Well, that's all. You can leave now. Ning Rongrong and I will go to the forest to train, and we might need a few months to come out. So after we finish, don't look for us when we're out; we'll let you know later."
I left them to discuss among themselves and went to my room to rest, as I was exhausted from traveling and escaping from Tang Hao. It had been a long time since I had a proper rest. When I sat on the bed, I opened the door and saw Ning Rongrong enter. I asked her what was going on.
"Didn't you say you would talk to me later? Did you forget?"
"Oh, sorry. If it's about the divine herbs, don't worry. When we were in Soto City, I asked you to go to the Sun Forest because there's a place that can speed up the growth rate, and I wanted to give you the divine herbs to benefit from them there."
"So you deceived my grandfather with a gift you intended to give me in the end?" I asked after thinking for a while.
"Are you sad?" she asked with a smile.
"No, and thank you for the gift. I know it's worth more than just sending someone to defeat Tang Hao, especially with two people," she said gratefully.
"Go to sleep; tomorrow, we'll go to the place I told you about." I told her as I began to feel I would fall asleep at any moment from exhaustion.
"Okay, good night," said Ning Rongrong, noticing my fatigue.
The next morning
Ning Rongrong and I went alone to the Sunset Forest. On the way, we encountered some beasts. I used an illusion to make them ignore us, and we continued on our path. Finally, we reached a specific cave and entered it, with Ning Rongrong following me from behind.
After walking for a while, we finally reached the end of the cave, where there was an exit leading us to the Fire and Ice Spring. I had grown fond of this tunnel in recent years and used it occasionally.
Then I turned around and saw Ning Rongrong looking around in surprise and confusion.
"Come on, this is the place I told you about. It has large amounts of spiritual power. You can absorb the beautiful silk tulip flowers and grow them here at double the speed with half the effort. Don't worry, no one comes here except for one person, Poison Douluo. I think you know him.
If he comes, just tell him I brought you; it won't cause you any trouble."
"What? Why would Poison Douluo come here?" she asked in surprise.
"This place originally belonged to him, but I traded with him for ownership of this place. He comes here occasionally because I haven't completed the trade yet. Now that you mention it, I should finish that trade."
"Okay, as you said, go train here, and I'll be busy outside. I'll come back after a few months to take you, okay?"
"Okay, brother, don't be late." She said, deliberately ignoring the question about the type of trade.
Then I left the place and headed towards the capital of the Tiandu Empire.
In Tiandu City, I wandered around the city a bit and then went to the prince's palace. The guards recognized me and allowed me to enter since I am known in the capital as a friend of the prince.
I entered the palace, and suddenly, the front door opened, and I saw Xian Renxue dressed as the prince rushing towards me and hugging me suddenly.
"Idiot, you worried me. Thank goodness you're okay. You don't know how worried I was when I heard Tang Hao was chasing you."
I felt warmth seeing her worried about me and felt sorrow for her, as it seemed she was worried that I might end up like her father, who was killed by Tang Hao.
"Well, thank you for your concern, but are you sure you can stay in this state?" I asked, smiling slyly.
Suddenly, she realized she was dressed as the prince, and the maids' comments about Enlil's eye injury made her notice that it was covered with an eye patch.
"Oh my god, could it be that the prince..." said one.
"Be quiet, that's impossible," replied another.
"But didn't you notice that he hasn't shown interest in girls in recent years?" said another.
"Yes, that's true," replied the oldest maid.
Suddenly, I heard the prince's voice speaking coldly with a cold smile.
"What are you saying? I can't hear you. Can you speak louder?"
"Prince, we didn't say anything," said one of the maids fearfully.
"Yes, yes, we said that the prince seems concerned about his friend's injury."
"Yes, we admired your dedication."
When I heard their conversation about the friend's injury, I looked at Uchiha Enlil and saw his eyes covered with the eye patch.
She panicked and quickly pulled Enlil into a room that was designated for them only.
"Tell me how you got injured. Can it be treated?"
She asked anxiously as she knew that his fighting spirit was in his eyes, and covering them meant his fighting spirit might have been harmed.
"It's no problem. It's not an injury to my fighting spirit; it's more like a dryness. I used a secret technique to escape from Tang Hao, and the cost was my eyes, but recovery will be difficult," I explained, trying to make it seem unimportant.
"That bastard killed my father and now takes your eyes. I swear I will avenge him," she said angrily.
"But he didn't kill your father," I thought to myself, but I answered.
"Don't worry. When I asked you for help and sent the Serpent Spear, I sent someone of Douluo rank with him."
"Even if they don't kill him, it's enough if they take an arm or two from him," I said confidently.
She didn't ask how I managed to convince Douluo as she didn't care. Her main concern was to get rid of Tang Hao.
"That's deserved. I hope they don't kill him because I want to torture him."
"Okay, let's leave how the empire's plan works." I said, trying to change the subject.
"Most of the ministers are on my side now. I've succeeded in killing all the princes, as I said, and also the princess. Only I am left eligible to inherit the throne. At first, people doubted me and lodged complaints to the emperor, but thanks to the support of the ministers, the people were silenced, and the emperor remained silent because he knows I'm the last person carrying his blood. But he no longer meets or looks at me."
"Well, the emperor's opinion doesn't matter since all the ministers are with you. They know you're the next emperor, and there's no point in opposing you. As for those loyal to the emperor, try to kill them all at once so as not to alert the emperor. Then gather the ministers and force the emperor to abdicate. I don't think he will object since he believes you're his son."
"Okay, thank you for your help. Thanks to you, I got rid of all the spies and got the support of the ministers," she said gratefully, as this work might have taken her years.
"Don't worry, it's easy." I replied with a smile.
"Humph, it's easy for you. Sometimes I feel envious of your eyes," she said enviously.
"Did you forget you're a divine-level fighting spirit? If you're jealous of me, what will others say?" I said with a smile.
Suddenly, Xian Renxue said, "One year."
"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.
"I will be the empress," she said suddenly.
"Alright, you can go now. I want to complete the remaining tasks myself to demonstrate my capability to that woman," she said.
"Understood. I'll leave and return once you've secured the throne," I replied.
I had no concerns about facing difficulties. Over the past four years, I had used the Sharingan illusion to help her eliminate all the spies and rally support from key ministers. I instructed her to remove all the princes, This even included the fourth prince and princess
Thanks to my assistance, she wasn't as close to the princess as depicted in the original narrative, so she felt only a tinge of sadness over her death.