13 Chapter 13 – The illegitimate son of fallen noble.

The Heaven Dou Empire is a vast empire with lands stretching millions of kilometres from the South of the continent to the north surrounded by forests, mountains and oceans.

It is also one of the two major Empires of the Mainland, the other being Star Luo Empire.

Though both the Empires had massive armies and legions of Spirit Masters under their command they were far less powerful in high-end combat strength than certain influential Clans or powers.

The power structure of the mainland was complicated. The main spheres of influence and authority mostly being - The Top Three Clans, The Two Empires & The Spirit Hall.

The Douluo Continent had never had any major war in the past and ushered in a peaceful era of development. And because the major fractions were more or less equal in strength, they mostly checked over each other's growth. This maintains a subtle balance of power in the continent.

But recently this trend is gradually inclining in the favour of Spirit Hall, whose strength for the last six-seven decades continued to progress rapidly. This left the other influential powers feeling threatened. Major alliances were formed with tactical understandings as a new power rose against Spirit Hall.

Secretive alliances were formed against the Spirit Hall, the prominent forces being both the Empires. The Top Three Sects affiliated themselves with the Heaven Dou Empire whereas The Lower Seven Clans followed the Star Luo Empire.

The general trend of the mainland is very chaotic now. Although it was peaceful but a sense of restlessness and dark undercurrents surged among the major fractions opposing Spirit Hall.

The capability of Spirit Hall to force Clear Sky Clan into hiding single-handedly forced everyone to rethink their capabilities and strategies.

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[Heaven Dou City, Imperial Place...]

In a fairly decorated room inside the Imperial Palace of Heaven Dou Empire, a young & handsome boy could be seen sitting in his study, going through all the reports of the latest news collected from every part of the Empire.

"Clung!.... Clung!"

Suddenly there was a sudden sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Come in."

A middle-aged stalwart-looking man entered the room.

"Greetings your highness, The Crown Prince." The man saluted as he kneeled on one knee.

"Your Highness, there is a message from the Demon Commander Baltai of the 13th Demon Corps from The Devil Battlefield."

"Oh! It's been a while since I've heard any reports from him. What news did he pass this time?"

"Your Highness, he mentioned that in recent weeks the presence of Evil Spirit Masters has increased on the Battlefield. Moreover, the strength of these evil spirit masters is very high."

"Oh...this is bad news. Looks like the Spirit Masters of our empire will have a tough fight!"

Xue Qinghe sighed hearing this news.

"Your Highness, there is another piece of news. It's about a young genius named Shi Xiao, who has successfully defeated many evil spirit masters, thus making a great achievement!"

The man replied while kneeling. His face was downward not daring to look up, afraid of displeasing the Crown Prince.

Hearing the name Shi Xiao, Prince Xue Qinghe suddenly fell into contemplation.

"Shi Xiao..... Shi Xiao. Isn't he the child of the fallen Shi family that was exterminated by Imperial Court in charge of treason three years ago?"

"Yes, Your Highness, The Crown Prince."

"As far as I remember he is the only surviving member of the Shi family, Son of Shi Hao, a former Baron of the Empire from the land of Sisucc..... So he was still capable of surviving on such a cruel battlefield even after 3 years!... Interesting!!"

Xue Qinghe had heard about him a few years ago. She in a sense pitted Shi Xiao, who lost everything including his family at just six years of age. Moreover, he was calculated by others, accused falsely of poisoning the second prince.

Xue Qinghe was Qian Renxue, a Spirit Hall person in disguise who came on a mission, to secretly crippel the Heaven Dou Empire from inside.

She originally had a plan to poison all the three princes and be the only prince, but now it looks like someone took the lead. Moreover, she didn't even know who the conspirators were. This resulted in her postponing the plans to secretly poison Xue Ye, the Emperor of Heaven Dou Empire.

She was very much annoyed by the hidden enemies lurking in the dark and could smell a much greater conspiracy behind all these but she was not afraid.

After all, she was the granddaughter of Qian Daolui and being the Young Master of Spirit Hall, She had two Title Douluos as escorts protecting her secretly.

"By the way what level has he reached now?"

Xue Qinghe asked the person while tapping on the ends of the chair with his fingers.

"Your Highness, according to Commander Baltai he has reached level 21."

Hearing this Xue Qinghe (Qian Renxue) squinted her eyes. She was shocked to hear the little kid reach level 21 just at the age of nine. This is a genius. Even in Spirit Hall, there are not many genius like him.

Previously she did not interfere in affairs of investigation regarding the Second Prince's poisoning and had a vague impression of Shi Xiao but now she was astonished to hear that the kid was such a talent. Even in that place, he could become a rare genius.

Thinking about these she made up her mind to rope him into Spirit Hall.

Though Qian Renxue was shocked in her heart, her face was expressionless. Being an imperial family member & the crown prince, she had learned to control her emotions and not let them be shown on her face.

"Okay, you can disperse."

Hearing this the man bowed and left the room leaving Xue Xinghe leaning on the chair, deep in his thoughts.

"Sure enough of the genius with innate full Spirit Power. Looks like I can recruit him. With the hatred of extermination of his clan, he is bound to be against the Imperial Family.

I can use this as advantage to rope him into Spirit Hall. Xiao family's Dark Demon Crow Martial Spirit is quite unique and will be useful to Spirit Hall.

With Spirit Hall's little favour he is bound to remain loyal. Moreover, he has the potential to reach the level of Super Douluo.

Looks like I need to make preparation to meet him soon."

"Elder Porcupine..."

Xue Qinghe called out.

Suddenly an old man with hair and a white robe appeared before him.

"Yes, Young Miss." replied the old man.

"Elder Porcupine, I've some news to pass on to the Cardinal of the Spirit Hall branch in Heaven Dou City."

"You can count on this old man, Young Miss."

"Okay, trouble you Elder Porcupine," replied Xue Qinghe.

....

[Imperial Chamber, Imperial Mansion]

Emperor Xue Ye received the same news as Xue Qinghe. Moreover, he received the news before Xue Qinghe.

Seeing the letter his eyes frowned. He had a headache when he learnt about the massive gathering of Evil Spirit Cult members on the battlefield.

"What do you think should be done? We can't rashly send our Spirit Masters to the battlefield. We need to preserve our strength for the challenges against Spirit Hall and Star Luo Empire but we can't either ignore the threat of the Evil Spirit Cult.

Though we have a mutual understanding among us, they will not hesitate to tear faces with us and attack us once our strength declines."

Xue Ye asked Xue Xing, his brother who was also the Prince of the Empire. Xue Ye was incompetent as a ruler and spent most of his time playing roleplay with his concubines, leaving the administrative works to Xue Xing.

Hearing Xue Ye's words Xue Xing thought for a while then suggested, "Brother what if we ask Yu Yuanzhen, the Sect Master of Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Clan to send some of his peoples there?"

Hearing this Xue Ye shook his head, not agreeing with his point.

"Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon Clan is just in cooperative relation with the Empire. So they have no obligation to accept our request, moreover, Sect Master Yu Yuanzhen is a strong Title Douluo. So it's very difficult to talk terms with him."

Xue Ye replied with a slight frown on his face.

Xue Xing seeing his brother Xue Ye's frowning face, gloated inwards, having a sly smile on his expressionless face unknown to Xue Ye.

"Brother how about we inform one of the dukes to lead the soldiers of their Duchy to the battlefield," suggested Xue Xing.

Hearing this Xue Ye's bleak eyes had a faint glow. He then asked,

"Among the Six Great Duchy whom should we select to lead the soldiers?"

"I think we should ask the Pendragon Duchy. Their Spirit Masters are all strong and their Martial Spirit is 'White Dragon', a top level beast sprit, almost equalling Blue Electric Tyrant Dragon. So they will have a significant advantage over other Spirit Masters."

"Pendragon huh.... But they don't even have a Duke ever since Gordon died. Moreover, Alan is still young to handle the affairs of the Duchy. So who will lead the soldiers?"

Hearing this Xue Xing replied,

"Brother you should know that Alan is already a Spirit Elder of level 31 just at the age of 15. He is among the rising stars of the Empire and a genius among geniuses.

Moreover, with his White Dragon Spirit, he can leapfrog levels to fight high-level Spirit masters.

Also it's not bad for Alan as he could gain life experience and with his merits bring glory to the Pendragons. His safety is not a concern as we can dispatch a Spirit Emperor, after all, he is your nephew."

Xue Ye who was previously reluctant was now convinced hearing his brother's advice.

"Okay, send the news to Pendragon Duchy to send their soldiers."

....

Tang San was on his way to the Devil Battlefield but he didn't know its location as there was no such location marked on the map.

After walking for half a day, he reached the small town of Notting City. He asked some people and shopkeepers about Demon Battlefield but nobody could answer him.

Ordinary people had no idea about the existence of such battlefields as these types of news were strictly prohibited from circulation jointly by both Empires & Spirit Hall.

Getting no answer he could only wander around in dismay. Suddenly he remembered something and walked into a nearby restaurant.

It was already noon and he didn't even have lunch. Moreover, it was the best place to gather news and get information according to him.

He then walked into a restaurant for lunch and as well as to gather information.

....

[Demon Battlefield]

Shi Xiao dragged his weary feet along the wilderness, his back draped by the setting sun. Every one of his footsteps was accompanied by the dripping red blood that tricked down the edges of his rusty knives.

He trudged on.

After a while, Shi Xiao stopped to fix the leather star of his bag slung over his shoulder. The bag was filled with decapitated heads, some with their tongues sticking out and others with their blood-dried eyeballs half out of their sockets. These were collected by him as war trophies for military merits.

Shi Xiao looked at the heads indifferently, fixed his bag, and continued forward with his footsteps.

The sight of countless tents and rising white smoke came into Shi Xiao's line of sight. The gigantic makeshift village in the middle of the wilderness was bustling with life.

There were half-naked drunkards with upper bodies plastered with crude tattoos, savages ripping into the morsels of unknown origins, those smirking while sharpening the blade of their stone-made axes, and soldiers forcing fair-faced recruits into their tents.

This anarchic group of soldiers were focused on their own matters at hand. They were spending this evening as usual, even though no one knew if it would be their last.

"The scouts must have come."

"Only that damned Shi Xiao's returned."

The group of humans stopped what they were doing and stared at Shi Xiao, who was silently walking past the tents.

Their gazes were filled with blatant hostility and fear.

"Damned Shi Hao, survived by himself once again."

"That cursed Shi Hao is a symbol of bad luck."

"He is the grim reaper, I say…"

The streets were full of whispers of the crowd, but Shi Hao still walked towards his destination, his face seemingly devoid of any emotions.

He had no reason to give any attention to the murmurings of insects who probably wouldn't even survive tomorrow's battle.

Shi Hao came to a stop in front of a tent that was easily three or four times bigger than the others. The two guards' eyes came to rest on Shi Hao's shoulder bag full of heads, and they hurriedly opened the entrance to the tent.

The tent was decorated with the hides of various soul beasts, and bottles of liquor were lying around everywhere.

"Aaah!"

"Oh, oh, oh!"

The stench of alcohol permeated the room while screams and animal-like moans resounded within the walls of the tent. After looking around with a blank expression, Shi Hao walked towards the giant, bald man sitting on a high chair in the middle of the tent, who was being served by two women on each side.

The bald man's hands dug deep into the thighs and breasts of the women, but the women could only flinch, unable to make even a sound.

The gazes of the two women were fixed on the lifeless figure of a woman at the corner of the tent, and the many women that were struggling against the weight of men pressing down on them.

Shi Xiao overlooked the sad but heated orgy with a lack of interest and stood in front of the bald giant.

*Plop*

Shi Xiao threw the bag down to the floor making a loud noise as heads rolled out of the leather bag.

"More Evil Spirit Cult members are set as the vanguard with other people. All of them are armed and organized. Moreover, their strength is not weak. Each of them has reached level 20 and their commanders are all Spirit King." replied Shi Xiao with no expression on his face.

The two women sitting in Baltai's lap shifted back in fear as the heads dropped right in front of the bald giant's feet.

The giant raised his reddened head displeasingly.

"Fuck. What happened to your men?" asked Baltai the commander in a gruesome voice.

"As you can see, I've had a hard time just saving myself and bringing back a couple of heads and information. So I could bother less saving all of those trashes."

"Or perhaps you've decided to kill them all?"

Shi Xiao frowned hearing commander Baltai's words.

"It was a joke; take it easy. You did good work. Thanks to you we have valuable good intel. But it's really a shame that we lost a few more soldiers. This information will help us greatly in next week's battle."

The bald giant man looked back and forth between the heads and Shi Xiao, revealing his yellow teeth in a crooked smile.

Shi Xiao looked at the giant in silence, observing the sneaky, brutal man whom he knew didn't have an ounce of sincerity in him.

Shi Xiao spoke,

"From the size of their vanguard. It is accurate to say that their main army is at least triple the size of our army. We do not have a good chance of victory."

"With just 'us' that might be true. But that is why 'he' will come here." replied Baltai mysteriously as he gestured with his chin.

Shi Xiao turned his head to look at the area that Baltai was pointing to. The area he pointed was towards the outskirts of the village. No, even further away from the outskirts. He could see tents several times larger than the one he was in.

"Evil Spirit Cult or Evil Spirit Master. They're not even a close match for 'him'. "

"There may be more to it than we just see. We need to be especially wary of the 'blood frenzy' skill of the people that are native to the Karon Valley, who joined the Evil Spirit Cult."

Shi Xiao warned Baltai despite his confidence.

"You worry for nothing. Who cares if their army is three-time ours? 'Those people will take care of all of them. What are you worried about Are you scared? The almighty Shi Xiao? Hahaha!"

The giant laughed in his self-amusement then suddenly stopped his cackling.

"Shi Xiao, I know you do good work without me having concerned. But you do not have to do anything this week. So take good rest. You should take it easy for next week's battle."

"What do you…. mean?" asked Shi Xiao.

"Other than the ones who got themselves killed today, you're the only one who's useful from your company anyways. Give the rest of your men to another company. Right, that damned Zuo Li lost thirty of his men to the enemy a while ago. So, his company could probably need some men."

Shi Xiao observed the bald giant man, still maintaining his silence.

If anyone else had said those words, they would've already been dead on the ground.

But the giant had every right to say those words. After all this bald giant man was Baltai, a commander of the demonic army. He was infamous, heinous and cruel, not fit to be called human.

"What. You do not want to? You just have to last one more year until you complete your 4-year quota and get your freedom. This will likely be your last battle. So, take care of yourself until then. Your bitches will have to find another company after you leave anyways. Might as well send 'em off now. It is good to get things done, is it not?" replied Baltai.

Shi Xiao's forehead creased hearing Baltai's word. Moreover, he could not oppose him. After all he is the commander of the army and much more stronger than him. It's a serious crime in army if one disobeys the orders of the superior.

It didn't make sense for Baltai, who is known for his vicious actions and shamelessness, to care for someone else's well-being. He must have something else planned, though Shi Xiao in his mind.

"Well, by the way according to military decree, you're not allowed to avoid battle unless severely injured… But it seems like you only got away with few minor scratches today as well?"

Baltai scanned Shi Xiao's body, his eyes resembling a snake scanning its prey.

'This bastard… Does he…'

Shi Xiao was inwardly startled, but he tried not to show it.

He had hidden it carefully for so long. Baltai did have good awareness and thinking, unlike his ugly appearance, but he could not possibly know Shi Xiao's secret. No, it didn't really matter even if he did.

Only one month. Only one more month in this filth. Then he would finally taste the freedom that he'd been yearning for.

After four years, he would finally become a free man, free from his title of a traitor.

"So anyways… I want you to be a guard for His Grace over there when he arrives a few days later."

Baltai's eyes looked at the gigantic tent.

Shi Xiao knew that Baltai was referring to him as that being which would supposedly turn the tides of next week's battle.

"He's a damned Duke. Well, not yet at least, but he is going to receive the title officially after this battle. Maybe if you catch his eye, he might just make you a knight of his duchy!"

"...."

Baltai's bullshit didn't even catch his ears.

Baltai had practically sent all his men to die, sending them on a mission to scout the enemy.

But Shi Xiao could only stay curious as to what made Baltai spout this nonsense.

He had no right to decline.

No matter the circumstance, Baltai was the leader of the demonic army, and Shi Xiao had just lost all his experienced subordinates. He was now left with thirty or so inept soldiers that would probably not make it past next week's battle.

And there was no guarantee that they would even listen to his commands, since he would be leaving shortly after this battle.

"So, I just have to guard him?"

"Yeah. Stay by his side the whole time."

Baltai's yellow teeth seemed more chill-inducing today, yet he had no choice but to nod his head and accept calmly.

"Good, good. Then go and report to that tent over there. It will make life easier for you to build up a relationship earlier on. Haha!!"

Shi Xiao stepped out of the tent, barely bothering to register Baltai's words.

"Ah, one more thing. Give my regards to our guardian. I hope he takes good care of the enemy and me in the next battle. Kuhahahaha... Now come here you bitches!"

Following Baltai's bellowing, the tent was once again filled with the cries of animals.

Shi Xiao could do nothing but sigh in the end. He slowly walked toward the big tents, clenching his fist as he thought about his big brother, father and all other family members who were all executed falsely in charge of treason. Finally, his four-year punishment will come to an end. His main goal was to clear the name of his Shi Family.

....

[Next Chapter: Chapter 14 – Teach a lesson]

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