My skills have mutated again!

Chapter 457 Xia Lin, A Man of Unyielding Revenge

More than ten days later, on a planet called Qiyun Star in Wang Yanhong's territory, Xia Lin met the Fifth Prince, Wang Yanlin.

The location is the Deep Royal Palace on Qiyun Star.

The palace was vast, comparable to a city. The owner of the palace was named Li Shen, who was once the prime minister of Wang Yanhong's court. After retiring, he was granted the title of prince, but it was not hereditary.

Today, Wang Yanlin and Li Shen are the ones who have come to welcome Xia Lin.

In the hall, Li Shen personally served tea and water, and while attending to his needs, he explained the current situation.

"His Majesty has really messed things up... He's giving up being a proper emperor to become a monk, what a terrible thing to do!"

Xia Lin took a sip of tea, completely oblivious to being the instigator.

The "Your Majesty" that Li Shen mentioned was naturally Wang Yanhong.

As a level twelve military lord, Wang Yanhong has a wealthy family and a vast territory, ruling over countless dimensions. He has long since established himself as a king, and of course, he is qualified to be called His Majesty.

After pouring the tea, Li Shen returned to his seat and said, "Now that His Majesty has become a monk, we have lost our leader."

Without a leader, people's hearts will fall apart.

Wang Yanhong's court has been embroiled in infighting for the past two days, leaving him with no interest in other government affairs.

While no one in any of the various regions is likely to rebel, unrest among the people is inevitable.

The security problem has erupted and is escalating.

This is already a sign of the collapse of order.

In short, every leader of an army is the sum of a power.

When the leader is gone, things will naturally fall into chaos.

It's hard to say how chaotic it will be—it could range from minor security issues to major regime changes.

"Yesterday, the court submitted a memorial to the Supreme Kingdom, requesting that the country be incorporated into the Supreme Kingdom and that the Supreme Kingdom oversee its affairs. Now that the Fifth Prince has come here, it is likely that the Supreme Kingdom has already given a reply."

Wang Yanhong's power is different from that of other independent military leaders, after all, he has a father who is a six-pillar military leader.

Now that he has become a monk, from any perspective, the King of Kings will step forward, either to persuade Wang Yanhong to return, or at the very least to take over Wang Yanhong's territory, to prevent war and widespread suffering in this region.

In short, Li Shen remains optimistic about the future—knowing less has its advantages.

Wang Yanlin just smiled and didn't say anything, but instead asked Li Shen this question.

"Is the power of the military commander within you beginning to decline?"

Li Shen gave a wry smile and nodded: "It has begun... The decline is not obvious, but there is indeed a trend."

After Li Shen finished speaking, Wang Yanlin waved his hand and said, "Alright, I understand the general situation. You can go out now."

Li Shen obeyed and left, leaving only Xia Lin and Wang Yanlin in the room.

Only after the soundproofing array reactivated did Wang Yanlin turn to look at Xia Lin and say with a wry smile, "Brother, your move was too ruthless."

Turning the emperor into a monk was, in Wang Yanlin's view, indeed a rather cruel act.

Xia Lin didn't take it seriously, but listened as Wang Yanlin sighed and said more.

"The normal procedure should have been for my father to take over Lao Ba's territory."

"But as you know, my father is no longer here."

Xia Lin: "Isn't the Faceless One still around?"

Wang Yanlin shook his head: "Faceless is ultimately not my father... He can simulate my father's appearance, but he can't simulate my father's essence."

To put it bluntly, it's good for putting on a show to scare people; it can even fool most of the King of Kings' subordinates.

However, when it comes to crucial matters, some require the King of Kings to transfer authority in advance, while others cannot be done under any circumstances.

"As for the territory, it involves the foundation of the Lord of Ten Thousand Armies, which the Faceless One cannot manipulate."

"So now, we have no choice but to go through unconventional procedures."

At this moment, Wang Yanlin acted as a mouth double, telling Xia Lin about the decisions made by Faceless, Mr. Zhuge, and others.

"The general direction is to not issue orders without a face, and to completely disappear. It's an implicit agreement that the remaining brothers will divide up Lao Ba's territory."

Since the meat is all rotten in their own pot anyway, even if Old Wang made this decision himself, it won't attract any doubts or questions from the outside world.

"As for the rest, we brothers will each rely on our own abilities to see who can take over this territory."

"Mr. Zhuge said the best outcome would be for me to take control and increase my strength, so that the situation would be under control and we would have more cards to play. But my brothers are no pushovers, especially my second brother..."

After saying that, he looked at Xia Lin with a knowing look on his face.

Wang Yanlin lacked confidence and was not sure of himself, which was one of the reasons he sought Xia Lin's help.

Xia Lin had no reason to refuse.

"But how can I help you?"

Xia Lin doesn't refuse to help, but she has no idea how to help.

Wang Yanlin had no idea what to do either. After hesitating for a while, he finally said, "Anyway, Mr. Zhuge told me to find you. I don't know what's going on."

Xia Lin thought about it and decided not to dwell on it anymore.

The companion shadow has been grinding attributes in the Dark Dao Integration Domain. After advancing to level twelve, Xia Lin's power will only grow stronger over time.

Anyway, I'm going to stay wherever I am, so being with Wang Yanlin isn't a bad thing. I might as well treat it as a vacation.

Thinking of this, Xia Lin's curiosity was piqued, and he asked.

"Speaking of which, what is the process for the annexation of territories between your military leaders?"

Wang Yanlin explained in detail, and Xia Lin quickly understood.

……

The annexation of an unlimited territory by a military leader is equivalent to war between two countries.

In normal warfare, let's not even talk about it—if you kill someone, their territory and everything else will naturally be yours.

Given Wang Yanhong's current situation, it's clear that the normal procedures cannot be followed.

"The only option is peaceful annexation."

Wang Yanlin said, "I just asked Li Shen if his military power was beginning to decline, and he said yes, which means that there is a basis for peaceful annexation."

"Because this means that Lao Ba's mind is no longer on his country and his career as a military leader."

One of the doctrines of the Lord of Armies is: Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.

Their kingdom is the foundation of their power, but not their plaything.

When a military leader betrays his country and his subordinates, the country and his subordinates will also betray him.

Wang Yanlin continued, "With this premise, the next step should be to dominate public opinion, unite people's hearts, and use the shift in people's hearts to complete the transfer of the dragon's energy and the handover of territory."

"The process involved is quite complicated. Military wars are usually fought openly and directly, because there are too many things to consider in a peaceful annexation."

Wang Yanlin then gave a comprehensive account from politics, law, psychology, religion and so on, which made Xia Lin feel as if she were in a dream, and her spirits were greatly weakened.

But I did understand the gist of it.

"So to put it bluntly, this round of competition between you seven brothers for Lao Ba's territory mainly boils down to who can win people's hearts, who can win over more of Wang Yanhong's subordinates, and who can successfully succeed to the throne."

Wang Yanlin wanted to say yes or no, and then launch into a long-winded speech, but seeing Xia Lin's dejected expression, he thought for a moment and nodded: "More or less."

Xia Lin fell into thought.

Until one moment, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he looked up at Wang Yanlin again.

"If that's the logic, then I think I can do you a big favor and even easily decide the outcome of this game."

Wang Yanlin's face lit up with joy. He was about to say that Xia Lin was awesome and Mr. Zhuge was awesome, but then he saw Xia Lin slowly frowning, thinking as he looked him up and down.

Xia Lin's appearance startled Wang Yanlin.

"Let me tell you, cross-dressing is really not a hobby. I don't have that hobby in real life..."

Xia Lin: ? ? ?
What do you think about all day, you cross-dressing guy?!
His face twitched, and he said speechlessly, "No, I don't have that hobby... I was just thinking about this question."

After saying this, Xia Lin leaned back in the pearwood chair, adopting a lazy and relaxed posture, and slowly asked Wang Yanlin.

"If, hypothetically speaking, I could not only help you in this round, but I could even help you win over the hearts of your other brothers' subordinates through peaceful evolution... Would you be willing to do that?"

Wang Yanlin was completely stunned this time.

He thought to himself, "Does Xia Lin really have such great abilities?"

But out of politeness, he didn't say it outright. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly: "If you really have that ability, what's wrong with me hitching a ride?"

Xia Lin smirked: "So you agreed? I'll help you win over the hearts of your other brothers, and you'll turn them into rulers of a fallen kingdom?"

Wang Yanlin nodded again: "If you can go to this extent, what else can't I agree to?"

As soon as he said this, Xia Lin immediately reached out his hand.

"Let's go big then!"

The Wang family's eight sons were once divided into three groups: the eldest and third sons, the second, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth sons, and the sixth son.

Now, the fifth brother, Wang Yanlin, is independent, and his conflict with Xia Lin has been resolved, turning enemies into friends.

However, Xia Lin has not yet settled the scores with the other Wang family members.

The key point is that pure and innocent Wang Laoqi.

He thought he was hiding his true intentions well, but in reality, Xia Lin had already seen through his little schemes in the Dark Dimension!
And then there's Wang Lao Er. His murderous intent towards Xia Lin and his greed for the Spirit World Book after capturing the hungry were all too obvious. If Xia Lin hadn't reacted quickly, he definitely wouldn't have escaped Wang Lao Er's grasp!
It's only natural that Xia Lin would get involved with these two!
As for the rest, their relationships were so-so, and their grudges were shallow, so Xia Lin didn't feel any psychological burden in dealing with them.

Xia Lin is always kind to his own people, but he is equally vengeful to his enemies.

"What do you want to do? To what extent are you capable of doing it?"

Seeing Xia Lin's increasingly cold expression, Wang Yanlin felt a chill in his heart and quickly said, "Brother, let's get this straight, don't use your superhuman mutation technique again! It's one thing for Lao Ba to become a monk, and Mr. Zhuge and the others didn't have any objections... but we really can't let things get any worse, and we can't turn all my brothers into monks. If that happens, my mother will explode!"

The Empress could not ignore her own feelings.

In short, Lao Wang has been kind to Xia Lin, which has indeed greatly restricted Xia Lin's room for maneuver at present.

They cannot be killed, they cannot be crippled, and they cannot be turned into LGBT.

The meat should ideally rot in the Wang family's pot. Xia Lin waved his hand and sneered, "Don't worry, my next method is much more awesome than this."

"Listen to me..."

In the secret room, Xia Lin slowly spoke, and soon, Wang Yanlin's exclamation rang out.

"That's okay too!?"

"You can actually do this?!"

"How can this be!"

Xia Lin: "For me, nothing is impossible."

……

Wang Yanhong's territory spans infinite dimensions, with an unusually large area.

However, in any military lord's territory, there is a distinction between primary and secondary—otherwise, there would be no such thing as the "primary world."

"Secondary" refers to the peripheral, barren areas, while "primary" refers to the core, rich areas, including the main world—which can be understood as the difference between the city center and the suburbs.

Depending on their level of wealth, these regions also offered varying degrees of blessing to their military leaders.

What Wang Yanlin and his seven brothers wanted to seize this time was the core area under Wang Yanhong's control!
“Territory in the spatial sense is easy to expand. Which military leader doesn’t have a few space mages who can open up dimensions? But in the military leader’s professional logic, the real territory of the main universe is the highest level, while the dimensional space is the lowest level—just like the virtual Ember Zone instance created by the Ember Zone. No matter how many of these territories you get, you won’t get a very high level of enhancement.”

"On the other hand, my eighth brother's core territory is not only a real territory in the main universe, but it has also been imbued with dragon energy for a long time, and its nature has long been transformed and upgraded... Being able to obtain it through peaceful evolution would be a huge boost for any level twelve military lord."

"For me, it's about one-third."

In addition to the previously mentioned steps of peaceful evolution, Wang Yanlin and Xia Lin launched their operation based on this premise.

But actually, the main force in this round was Wang Yanlin; Xia Lin was just someone who freeloaded.

He followed Wang Yanlin, constantly traveling to various planets and cities, and continuously meeting with Wang Yanhong's court officials and generals.

Whether through open communication or enticement, his methods are highly skilled, living up to the reputation of the son of the Six Pillars.

It wasn't just Wang Yanlin who was taking action; all the other brothers in the Wang family—except for the sixth and eighth brothers—were also involved.

Along the way, Xia Lin and Wang Laowu met other members of the Wang family several times, witnessing several entertaining scenes of outward brotherly affection but inward sarcasm and treachery.

As time went by, the ministers and generals of Wang Yanhong's kingdom all learned of the "King of Kings'" decision—that Wang Yanhong's other brothers would take over the kingdom.

This group had no objection to this—the decision of the Six Pillars was not to be disobeyed.

Undercurrents began to surge, but the situation actually stabilized.

And so, several months passed in the blink of an eye.

Today, the Wang brothers arrived together in Hongcheng—the capital of Wang Yanhong's kingdom.

Led by Wang Lao Er, the eight sons of the Wang family, including Wang Yanhong, gathered with Wang Yanhong's court officials and generals.

There's no need to discuss anything further; this meeting is very likely the day when all parties bare their fangs and reveal their true colors.

……

"The feast has begun."

Stepping off Wang Yanlin's imperial carriage and onto the jade floor of the palace, Xia Lin stretched and said this while looking at the assembled officials.

Wang Yanlin stepped off the dragon carriage a moment later, smiled and looked ahead as if he was about to say something, but quickly suppressed his smile.

"Look over there, at your handiwork..."

Even without Wang Yanlin's reminder, Xia Lin had already seen the victim of the Divine Human Mutation Technique: Wang Yanhong.

Several months have passed, and this person's condition has not improved but has worsened—a single superhuman transformation has left him a superhuman for life...

He is performing a ritual!
The vast Buddha light resembled a giant dragon, reflecting and complementing the dragon's aura.

On the Buddhist altar, Wang Yanhong looked three times fatter, dressed as Maitreya Buddha, and held a flower in his hand.

Eminent monks gathered around, as if guarding the Buddha.

Perhaps sensing Xia Lin's gaze sweeping over him, Wang Yanhong slowly opened his eyes, then smiled at Xia Lin, his former impetuousness and hostility long gone.

"Good day almsgiver."

Xia Lin smiled awkwardly: "Good day, Venerable Monk, good day as well."

The title "high monk" hit Wang Yanhong's sweet spot.

He laughed loudly, and the giant dragon formed by the Buddha's light in the air also bared its fangs and brandished its claws.

“Benefactor, instead of laying down the butcher’s knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot, you should ignore these worldly affairs and enter my Buddhist gate to sever all afflictions.”

Xia Lin: "No, no, no..."

He quickly changed the subject, asking curiously, "What are you doing here, venerable monk?"

Wang Yanhong spoke loudly: "Amitabha, the dragon energy changes with the rise and fall of dynasties. Today, this humble monk is holding this altar to suppress the abnormal movement of the dragon energy and prevent disasters from occurring."

"My Buddha is merciful."

In an instant, golden lotuses sprang up from the ground, and strange phenomena occurred frequently.

It seems he really has become a Buddha...

Xia Lin gave an awkward smile: "Please sit down, I won't bother you any longer."

Wang Yanhong, however, did not give up.

"Please wait, benefactor, as the Buddha said..."

Seeing that Wang Yanhong was about to talk to Xia Lin about Buddhist scriptures, Wang Yanlin quickly stepped forward and inserted himself between the two.

"Eighth brother..."

“Benefactor, my Buddhist name is Bajie.”

"...Master Bajie..."

"Hey."

"Even now, you still haven't changed your mind? You should know that after today, this Hong Kingdom will no longer belong to you."

You can tell from his voice that Wang Yanlin actually feels quite sorry for his younger brother.

He couldn't understand the idea that a great emperor would become a monk, and he was currently trying to persuade Wang Yanhong to change his mind.

It's no wonder that the King of Kings took a liking to this son.

People who value relationships and honors are unlikely to be bad people. It's clear that when Lao Wang raises his children, he values ​​character more than ability.

Wang Yanhong simply sighed and closed his eyes: "Benefactor, you are too attached to appearances."

He was devoted to Buddhism and firmly refused.

Wang Yanlin finally shook his head, no longer trying to persuade him. He simply walked past the Buddhist altar with Xia Lin, step by step ascending the steps toward the main hall of the palace.

As you climb to the top of the steps, the view suddenly opens up before you.

The Tai Chi Platform connecting heaven and earth has been set up.

The statue of the King of Kings is placed at the very top.

The seven dragon-carved chairs were arranged in a circle in seven directions. Combined with the tangible dragon energy and Buddha light in the sky, it immediately gave Xia Lin the feeling of a "supreme meeting of all heavens and myriad worlds".

Meanwhile, some people had already arrived.

Wang Laoliu and Wang Laoqi.

Wang Laoqi's face was gloomy, clearly indicating that he was unhappy and wouldn't even continue acting.

Lao Ba has always been his leader, but now that Wang Yanhong has become a monk, it's a huge loss for Wang Lao Qi.

Xia Lin ignored the kid and instead looked at the sixth brother, Wang Yanqi.

Noticing the gaze, Wang Yanqi looked up and gave Xia Lin a polite smile before continuing to play with the cat in his arms.

He is handsome, and always has a smile on his face, as if he is always happy and enjoying life.

During their eye contact, Xia Lin also noticed that this person's eyes were clear and free of distractions.

Since we're not involved, let's see this through to the end.

'He's quite a remarkable person.'

In discussions about Wang Yanqi's family affairs, no one ever cared about his opinion, and he himself would never make any decisions that he found troublesome.

At the meeting to divide up Wang Laoba's territory, Wang Yanlin insisted that there was no need to worry about Wang Yanqi causing any trouble.

Following Wang Yanlin to a chair, Wang Yanlin sat down, and Xia Lin stood behind him.

Behind Wang Yanqi and Wang Yanxing stood their respective followers—only one follower per person.

After a short wait, the other brothers of the Wang family made their appearance one after another.

Apart from Wang Laosan bowing to Xia Lin, even Wang Laoda, who had previously cooperated with Xia Lin, ignored him.

As everyone took their seats, the sun was high in the sky.

The statue of the King of Kings at the head of the table glowed faintly, and the voice of the King of Kings could be heard from within.

"You are all capable, and you can decide the matter at hand yourselves."

After speaking, the light faded, his consciousness withdrew and he was far away, leaving the area entirely to the eight sons of the Wang family.

The next second, Wang Yanhai spoke loudly.

"If that's what Father Emperor says, then let's get started."

Not far away, Wang Yanshan's gaze turned cold.

With their father absent, the task of overseeing the overall situation should rightfully be handed over to his elder brother, but Wang Yanhai stole the spotlight.

But soon, Wang Yanshan smiled to himself.

It doesn't matter...

Today, I'll show you what Wang Yanshan's methods are all about!
(End of this chapter)