Chapter 466: Shoring Up the Collapsing Edifice

Everyone had to present a united front against external threats. Internal strife was forbidden, on pain of death.

But despite this…

「A year later.」

When Xu Lei was eight years old.

Great Kang still faced a massive crisis.

The number of Innate Powerhouses in the world was growing, as were the ranks of Martial Artists below them. Even the number of Grandmasters was on the rise.

Many were ambitious and refused to submit to the rule of Great Kang, establishing their own sects on places like Mount Song. Some Noble Families even quietly severed local ties with the Court.

That very year, a sect called the Iron Armor Sect, led by a dozen Grandmasters, a thousand Innate Powerhouses, and numerous other Martial Artists, rose in rebellion and even fought their way to the walls of the Capital City.

However, Xu Lei’s mother led the grand army to repel them.

But Xu Lei’s mother was injured in the process.

Xu Lei’s second brother was also wounded.

The army under the Royal Family’s command suffered even heavier losses.

“The heavens wish to destroy my Great Kang.”

On this day, Xu Lei’s father, the Emperor of Great Kang, whose hair had grown even whiter over the years, spoke these words. He had been exceedingly diligent, personally handling state affairs day after day. The constant labor and worry had taken a toll, and his health was failing.

Seeing that even the Grand General, Xu Lei’s mother, was injured, and that his armies across the land had been decimated by the various Noble Families and Martial Arts Sects, he was overcome with grief. As he came to visit Xu Lei’s mother and second brother, he let out this mournful cry and collapsed to the ground in despair.

“Father, you can’t collapse!”

Xu Lei’s Thirteenth Sister, holding a long spear, cried out in despair at the sight. “The Grand General has fallen. If you fall too, what are we to do?”

As the two fell silent…

“Your Majesty, the Iron Armor Sect Leader has sent word. They will come again.”

A subordinate came to report, “He says that if the Royal Family wishes to negotiate for peace, they may. But his condition is that Your Majesty send the Grand General to him to become his Lady of the Stronghold.”

Thirteenth Sister was enraged.

“Xiao Shisan, prepare yourself. Take the Grand General, your second brother, Xiao Shiliu, and the others, and leave the Capital City,” the Emperor said. “Find somewhere to live in anonymity and live well.”

“Father!” Thirteenth Sister was stunned.

“I can still fight.” Xu Lei’s mother had woken up, but her injuries were clearly severe.

“Father, I can still fight too.” The second brother struggled to his feet, but he had little combat strength left.

“Great Kang’s final days have come.”

The Emperor gave a bitter smile. “Xiao Shisan, obey the royal command. Take them and go.”

“Father, what about you?” Thirteenth Sister asked.

“I will remain here and die with the Imperial City,” His Majesty the Emperor said. “Great Kang is perishing under my rule. I have failed my ancestors. I can only face death; I am too ashamed to live on in disgrace.”

Xu Lei’s mother, the Second Prince, and the other loyal eunuchs present all began to weep.

But at that very moment.

Eight-year-old Xu Lei walked up to his mother’s sickbed.

“There’s no need to flee just yet.”

Xu Lei said, “Father, your son has something to offer that can solve Great Kang’s urgent crisis.”

Everyone stared at Xu Lei in astonishment.

“Xiao Shiliu, don’t cause trouble. Be a good boy and go with your Thirteenth Sister.”

The Emperor of Great Kang waved his hand dismissively. “Take care of your mother in the future!”

Xu Lei’s mother, the Second Prince, Thirteenth Sister, and the Emperor’s other loyal eunuchs and confidants didn’t take Xu Lei’s words seriously.

After all, Xu Lei was someone with no cultivation talent, a failure in Martial Arts. In this day and age, what could he possibly do?

“Xiao Shiliu, what plan do you have?”

Of course, Xu Lei’s mother still humored him with a question. “In a situation like this, what can be done? Unless an overwhelmingly powerful Martial Arts expert appears, or we can mass-produce Innate Powerhouses in a short time? Have you discovered some incredible Ancient Immortal Martial Arts legacy that would allow us to do that?”

Everyone present looked at Xu Lei with a glimmer of expectation.

But Xu Lei just shook his head. “Mother, I don’t have anything like that, nor have I obtained any Ancient Immortal Martial Secret Collection.”

Hearing his denial, everyone’s faces fell in despair.

“But I do have other things.”

Seeing their expressions, Xu Lei wasted no more words. He directly took out an Explosive Package, lit the fuse, and threw it out. “Watch this.”

Everyone watched him, completely baffled, not understanding what he was doing.

A moment later, the Explosive Package went off with a tremendous BOOM, startling them all.

That’s right. Xu Lei was preparing to offer up the explosives, Machine Guns, cannons, and everything else. He was done hiding them.

‘I’ll protect my family in this life for as long as I can.’

Xu Lei estimated that with these things, the so-called Iron Armor Sect’s forces wouldn’t be able to withstand the assault.

When the cannons, Machine Guns, and Explosive Packages roared, the so-called Grandmasters and Innate Powerhouses would have to fall back.

Even if a Grandmaster didn’t die, they would surely retreat in terror.

Of course, even so, Xu Lei wasn’t certain the Great Kang Dynasty could survive.

He estimated that these firearms could only deal with Grandmasters and Ancient Martial and Immortal Powerhouses of a lower level.

They probably wouldn’t be effective against the Martial Saint powerhouses recorded in the secret texts of Ancient Immortal Martial Arts.

But at least for now, no Martial Saint Level beings had appeared in the world.

By revealing these firearms, Xu Lei could give the Great Kang Royal Family some breathing room.

It remained to be seen if the Great Kang Royal Family could cultivate their own Martial Saint Level powerhouse before the other factions did.

Because Xu Lei no longer had a Spatial Magical Artifact, explosives weren’t particularly useful to him personally.

It wasn’t like before, when he could carry massive quantities of explosives around.

Now, if he tried to lug a huge bag of explosives to blow someone up, he might trick them once, but they would be alert and avoid him afterward.

Besides, carrying that many explosives was very inconvenient.

The Magical Power consumption alone would be significant.

Without a Spatial Magical Artifact, using explosives alone was inconvenient in many ways, and their power was limited.

Only by combining them with political power and large armies of ordinary people could their true might be unleashed.

Since his family in this life was in trouble, Xu Lei decided to lend a hand.

“How is this possible?”

“What’s going on? Doesn’t Xiao Shiliu have no Martial Arts Talent?”

“How can someone with no Martial Arts Talent unleash such an attack?”

“Xiao Shiliu, what in the world is this?”

One by one, the onlookers were shocked, dumbfounded, and found it hard to comprehend. Then, they all turned to look at Xu Lei, a light of hope igniting in their eyes.

“The destructive force I just displayed was naturally not from Martial Arts, nor was it any kind of Extraordinary Skill.”

Seeing their reactions, Xu Lei smiled and said, “This… is actually something I read in a book. It belongs to the power of knowledge!”

Hearing Xu Lei’s final sentence left everyone present even more dumbfounded.