The king was still alive together with around ten of his deathsworn. All their faces were ugly as Xue Wei reached out his hand and beckoned the Devouring Qi Azure Dragon to return to him.
As soon as it came back to him, he dispersed it and took the Azure Dragon Spirit back into his dantian once more.
He felt invigorated, filled to the brim with energy. Although he knew that this energy did not belong to him yet, he could feel it pulsating within his body, waiting for him to refine it.
The remaining experts posed no threat to him. Even if they were to flee, he could catch them all with the aid of Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou.
So far no one had tried to flee, but it was not because they were not scared. It was because the massacre in front of them had happened so fast that they had been incapable of processing it, and thus they ended up becoming severely shocked and scared when Xue Wei’s rampage came to a halt.
Panic grew in their hearts and quickly many of them turned tail and ran, but Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi caught up to their meager dregs one after another and executed them easily before they could get anywhere.
The deathsworn did not flee. They were surrounding the king and had their weapons drawn. Xue Wei looked at them and pondered.
These deathsworn had nothing to do with Tie Haolong's death, so allowing them to live should not be a problem. If he killed every single Heavenly Warrior in the Heping Kingdom, it would be quite problematic for them in the future. Although he did not care about the Heping Kingdom, he cared about a few people who lived there. Amongst these were Luo Zhirou, Mu Shen and Manager Su.
Xue Wei wanted his revenge, but it did not sit well with him to do something that dirty.
"Why don't you order your deathsworn to stand down?" Xue Wei finally decided to speak to the king, stunning him and making him tremble with fear.
"The deathsworn had nothing to do with Tie Haolong's death, and since your son will become the next king, don't you think that it would be better to let them work for him, rather than killing them now for nothing?"
Xue Wei tried to reason with the king. He truly felt that this was for the better. However, when he saw the ugly expression on the king’s face, he knew that his words fell to deaf ears.
"Deathsworn, attack him and cover for me as I flee!" he yelled out. The deathsworn had sworn to follow their king's order regardless of content, and thus they rushed at Xue Wei despite knowing full well that death was waiting at the end of that road.
The king had forgotten everything about Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou. These two were like wolves waiting to pounce at any person who tried to weasel their way out, which meant that even if the deathsworn threw themselves at Xue Wei, they had no way of actually creating an opening for him.
Without thinking about this, the king turned and ran. He ran as fast as he could, but how could his speed possibly rival that of Hei Gou?
In less than a second, his head had been separated from his body and he collapsed, plummeting from the skies.
Xue Wei looked at the two surviving deathsworn who were staring at their dead ruler with dim eyes. Xue Wei did not press the attack.
"Stop the battle now," he said. "There will be a new king soon, and he will be in need of new deathsworn. If you wish to be free men and no longer deathsworn, then why don't you become Primordial Beast Hunters? This is a profession that the Kingdom of Heping truly needs now."
Hearing that Xue Wei was being considerate, the two deathsworn did not know whether to laugh or to cry. The reason the Heping Kingdom needed Primordial Beast Hunters – was it not because of Xue Wei and his massacre?
Still, the two deathsworn had lost their master and nodded their heads. They had followed their master's every order until the end, and now that he was dead, they had regained their freedom. As to what they choose to do in the future, it had nothing to do with Xue Wei.
"We will not thank you," one of the deathsworn said silently as he looked at Xue Wei. "We have lost all our brothers to your attacks. Even our master died at your friend's hands."
"This is something that we cannot easily overlook, but considering that you are letting us keep our lives,it is only fair that we make sure that their legacy is upheld. That the widows and fatherless children will be looked after now that their men and fathers will never return."
Xue Wei nodded his head. "I know. Tell them all that if they ever wish to seek vengeance, then I will always be waiting for them. Just as I was entitled to my revenge for my brother, they too have the right to seek revenge for their parents and lovers."
The deathsworn were shocked when they heard this, but they quickly nodded their heads. "We will tell them that they died because they killed Tie Haolong, the brother of the Crimson Devil, a ferocious Primordial Beast that rose to prominence in the Kingdom of Heping. I am sure that one day they will find you if they truly wish to do so."
"They will have to work hard, or else they will just be throwing away their lives," Xue Wei added. The two deathsworn agreed. They too had forgotten every idea of revenge for their brothers and their master. They simply did not have the strength to take revenge. And it seemed Xue Wei’s meteoric rise was only now beginning.
The children would have even less of a chance, considering that they were all much younger and that they hailed from the Heping Kingdom. To overcome the Heavenly Warrior rank, one needed much more luck and resources. A backwater kingdom might be able to once in a millennium produce an Ordinary Knight, but that was usually the limit.
Xue Wei had been able to break through it because of many factors. One of them was because of no lack of resources. He had been poor at the beginning, but slowly he had built up a wealth and stockpile of resources that could be used whenever he needed it.
He also had the ability to make inscriptions and he could create pills. Although he was still not at a level where he could make Rainbow Pills, the ones he could make could assist him slightly.
But all of this was aided by luck. Had he not stopped by the Black Iron Fortress, he would not have been given the mission to get the Seven Star Nightflower and then stumbled upon the legacy of the Moon Prince.
If he had not gone further and further towards the center of the continent, he would not have had the opportunity to cultivate in an environment with a much denser heaven-and-earth essence, which had made it easier for him to break through.
He even had the luck of getting lost in a forest and finding Bai Tianyi. However, you win some you lose some. He had luck, but he was equally unlucky. He was currently the continent’s most wanted person. Both men and beasts had a thing against him. He had no peace of mind anywhere.
But although luck had given him many chances, the reason that he had succeeded was due to his hard work and determination.
He was a very determined man. In fact, it was borderline stubbornness. He was not willing to give up on anything. He would continue until he mastered it completely.
But few would have the same experiences as Xue Wei, so chasing after him might be a suicidal idea. Especially since he had a high natural talent because of the Azure Dragon Blood that flowed in his veins.
Shaking his head, he did not think more about it. He gestured for the surviving two deathsworn to leave and then regrouped with Hei Gou, Lin Xiao and Bai Tianyi.
"Lan gave us a month," he said seriously, while contemplating what to do. He had already finished what he wished to do.
"Do you want to visit those two friends of yours?" Hei Gou asked. "What was their names again... Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu I think?"
"I do want to meet them." Xue Wei nodded, but then a complicated light shone in his eyes, "but I cannot."
"Why not?"
"It is really quite simple," Bai Tianyi explained. "He just killed a majority of the Primordial Beast Hunters in the entire kingdom, alongside the king. If he were to visit them, would it not be the same as telling the world that they are traitors?"
"Not to mention that they might not want to see me anymore," Xue Wei added. "I was a normal human when I knew them, but now the truth ironically shows that I am indeed a beast - if only partly, but that part of me is what they hate."
Hei Gou sighed. It was truly a shame that all it took to divide them was the fact that he was partly Azure Dragon.
"Let us just return to Lan," Xue Wei finally decided. "We can also learn by watching how he makes a transdimensional tunnel."
The others had nothing to say. They had no ties to the Heping Kingdom, so for them it did not matter where they went. Hei Gou could not return to his family either. He was unaware of the fact that Chu Huiyin had visited his family and informed them that he was on a special mission.
With one last glance at the capital of the Kingdom of Heping, Xue Wei turned around. He was momentarily blinded by the sharp sunshine of the setting sun.
The clouds were painted red from the setting sun, and the pungent smell of blood was still heavy in the air. The ground beneath them was littered with corpses. No one had bothered scavenging for storage treasures or other treasures. They were not here to rob them. This was an act of vengeance. Any wealth they would earn from it would feel dirty.
Eventually, the citizens would rush out to rummage through their clothes to get a bit of their wealth. It might even erupt into fighting, but Xue Wei simply did not care.
With this bloody scene imprinted in his mind, a deep sigh escaped Xue Wei’s lips. He suddenly felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"My dear brother Haolong, do you see now? I got rid of the ones who caused your death!" he muttered to the air.
He was aware that this bloody scene was something that Tie Haolong had not wished for – he might even have been against such a devastating way of getting revenge – but Xue Wei had to act according to his beliefs. He could not bring himself to let anyone who had had something to do with Tie Haolong's death go unpunished.
"This is over," Xue Wei said to himself, as he started flying towards the direction where Lan was waiting for them. "All ties between myself and the Heping Kingdom have been cut. In the future, I will no longer find fault with them unless they once more cause problems for me. I hope that they will be able to survive in their own way."
Lin Xiao and the two others could see that Xue Wei was in deep thought. It was clear that he was thinking about what had happened in the past, alongside the sudden lightheadedness he now felt and the feeling of being free of all burdens. This was an experience he had never experienced before, so he was trying hard to grasp it.
Eventually, Xue Wei smiled. "I will let my name resound throughout the entire world. And one day I will end the war between humans and beasts here on this continent. I will make it so that no more people will suffer a fate like yours, brother. This will be your everlasting legacy!" Xue Wei said to nothing in particular, but in his mind he saw the once familiar figure of Tie Haolong smiling at him.