Become a king right from the start, beginning with receiving rewards from all the heavens.

At this moment, Xia Zhaoyan couldn't help but want to initiate the sacrifice!

He felt like he wanted as many soldiers as Han Xin could command, but after thinking about it, he restrained his desire.

As the system had previously stated, the amount of life force sacrificed each time directly correlates with the amount of reward received.

Given the current slim chance of survival, the rewards obtained after the sacrifice will likely be rather lackluster.

It's easy to imagine that the family that provided the life support was just a small local family, and the strongest among them was only at the peak of the Innate Realm!

"System, what are your standards for collecting the life force of living beings?"

He had wanted to ask this question ever since the system first appeared.

[Returning to the host, only cultivators can provide life force; this is related to the deceased's cultivation level, lifespan, and so on.]

Xia Zhaoyan now desperately wants the Underworld to complete more missions and eliminate more forces.

Because we are currently very short-staffed, but we also know that development cannot be achieved overnight.

...

In Phoenix Fire City, on the northern neighboring state side, the morning mist had not yet dissipated.

However, there were already quite a few pedestrians on the street, but why was the Liu family's gate still not open today?

This made those who came to collect resources want to knock on the door.

At this moment, more than a dozen people were already waiting in the open space in front of the Liu family's house.

They were all managers of the Liu family in various industries in Phoenixfire City, and today was supposed to be the day to receive resources.

"Hiss! Something's not right!" Suddenly, someone's expression changed slightly, their nose twitched, and their voice sounded somewhat trembling.

This statement silenced the others, and at that moment, some people finally realized that something was amiss.

"Oh no, why is there a faint smell of blood?" Someone was so anxious that they couldn't care less anymore. They rushed to the door and pounded on it.

"In my experience, this is definitely the smell of human blood." One of the stewards said, and then leaped onto the wall of the Liu residence.

The next moment, he seemed to see something terrifying.

So frightened was a martial artist at the early stage of the Acquired Realm that he fell off the courtyard wall, looking extremely disheveled.

"What's wrong...?"

"What did you see...?"

"..."

"Oh no! They're all dead!!!" the man said, pointing tremblingly at the Liu residence.

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Finally, the person who knocked on the door punched it, and the door shattered into pieces instantly.

A strong, pungent smell of blood immediately filled the air.

The scene in the courtyard completely shocked the people; there were dead bodies everywhere.

Moreover, looking around, the corpses were mostly incomplete.

"Report...report...report to the authorities..."

...

Representatives from various organizations, including the Imperial Guards, the Six Doors, and local city lords, all came to the Liu residence.

Everyone was shocked by the sight before them; they were not unfamiliar with dead people.

I've seen families wiped out before, but I've never seen anything as horrific as the Liu family.

At this point, many people had already begun preliminary exploration inside.

The Jinyiwei officer who arrived was a deputy centurion, a late-stage Xiantian realm expert, who spoke to a black iron-level constable standing beside him.

"This kind of family annihilation case will most likely end up being swept under the rug. What does Officer Wang think?"

The two are competitors, but also partners, because their organizations are different.

The Six Doors are responsible for all cases in the entire dynasty, and their jurisdiction includes both ordinary cases and cases involving monks.

One of the powers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is to be responsible for investigating cases within the imperial court, primarily those involving cultivators.

The person in charge of a city in the Six Doors is a Black Iron-level constable with a cultivation level from late stage to perfect innate realm, and has five to ten innate realm constables under his command.

Then there were varying numbers of constables below the Innate Realm.

"I agree with you. This scene doesn't seem like a revenge killing, but it doesn't seem like a robbery either."

Just then, their men approached.

"My lord, preliminary investigations indicate that no one was left alive at the Liu residence."

"The cultivation resources in the manor have been basically all collected."

"There are many traces of action by martial artists at the Innate Realm at the scene. It seems that their target was the Liu residence."

This investigation overturned their previous views.

"Commander Wu, if you want to wipe out the Liu family, especially in a one-sided battle, it's impossible to do it with just the Innate Realm."

"It seems there are definitely experts beyond the Innate Realm."

Officer Wang's words plunged everyone's spirits into gloom.

In this small Phoenix Fire City, the peak of the Innate Perfection Realm is already considered the highest level.

Because cultivation resources are scarce here, anyone who breaks through to the Purple Mansion Realm will go to the county city or the prefectural city.

The sudden arrival of a powerful stranger was something the government certainly didn't want to see.

The demise of the Liu family caused a huge upheaval in Phoenixfire City. A family that had dominated Phoenixfire City for two or three hundred years was wiped out overnight.

However, news has spread in the underworld of Phoenix Fire City that someone spent a lot of money to hire an assassin organization to wipe out the Liu family.

At the same time, the name of the Underworld began to circulate in Phoenixfire City.

When Xia Zhaoyan stepped into the Heavenly Punishment Division again, the atmosphere there was noticeably different from before.

"It seems that the Heavenly Punishment Division has not disappointed me during this period."

Compared to his first visit, the Heavenly Punishment Division is now full of vitality, no longer lifeless.

"All of this is the result of the Prince's actions. Everyone can see that the Prince wants to completely change the Heavenly Punishment Division."

"Nobody wants to just coast along. If you really wanted to coast along, why would you stay here?" Mu Wenhan offered a small compliment.

Xia Zhaoyan simply smiled after hearing this, and then went to the main hall.

"Tell me, how's the investigation into Vice Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Justice going these past few days?"

The person sitting on the left at the head of the table is Xia Zhaoyan, and the person on the right is Mu Wenhan.

The lower left corner is another Right Deputy Chief, as well as Hongyang and several other high-ranking officials from the Heavenly Punishment Bureau.

Everyone now knows that Hongyang is actually His Highness's man, but all the higher-ups pretend not to know.

Instead, they deliberately erased some strange traces of Hongyang to reduce the possibility of the court noticing.

Xia Zhaoyan thought he had done everything perfectly, but he underestimated the abilities of an official from the Gaowu Dynasty.

"Your Highness, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice does indeed have some serious problems."

A senior executive below stood up and took out a detailed document.

After carefully reading it, Xia Zhaoyan's eyes revealed a satisfied expression.

"Not bad, it seems the Heavenly Punishment Division hasn't been completely destroyed."

"With this information, I am confident that I can capture this person when I attend court tomorrow."

"It can also help the Heavenly Punishment Bureau regain some resources and power."

This was a promise he made to everyone present.

Only by making them understand that the Heavenly Punishment Division will gradually regain its former power under his leadership can they truly achieve their goals.

Everyone here wants the Heavenly Punishment Bureau to rise; in the Great Xia Dynasty, power means resources.

This concerns my future cultivation progress; it's as important as my life.