Ma Mingchun dropped to his knees and wept quietly. He had lost his only son and now, all of his brothers that have accompanied him through life-and-death on the battlefields. They trusted him with their lives but he had failed them.

Back outside the Bingchi, he gave a single command and these men instantly changed allegiance. Today, still one command of his and they were willing to fight the king to the very end.

The first was justifiable since it affected the future of the legion. However, fighting the king was the result of a personal vendetta.

Now, his brothers have died because of him, turned into b.l.o.o.d.y mists. There were no corpses to bury.

Mingchun no longer had the face to see them, ashamed from letting them down and from letting their families down.

“One might be able to survive an act of G.o.d, but not a self-brought calamity.” Li Qiye said insipidly.

“Kill me, kill me if you dare!” The man was full of tears and screamed at Li Qiye; his hair had turned white.

He wanted death since it would be salvation. Living was too painful right now.

“You think I would spare you after reaching this point?” Li Qiye smiled: “Although I do want to see you suffer for a lifetime, I’m not in the mood to wait. No mercy to those who deserve death!”

With that, he raised his finger, showing a gray energy floating by the tip - clearly the evil curse from earlier. He shot it straight for Mingchun’s heart.

“Ah!” The man bellowed; his face twisting with pain. However, he didn’t roll on the ground but stood proudly while suffering.

This pain served as atonement and lessened his guilt.

“Buzz…” The buzzing was quiet but loud enough not to be drowned out by the screams.

His chest ignited into a fire and eventually turned ashen. This began to spread all over his body.

‘Ah!!” The shrill screams continued. Everyone could hear it.

The thing meant to kill Li Qiye had targeted Mingchun instead. His cries still didn’t earn him the sympathy of the crowd. This pain wasn’t much compared to the death of the entire legion.

He was the one who created this curse so why should people feel sorry for him?

“Ah…” Finally, his true fate has been burned completely, resulting in death.

The evil curse burned his body into ashes scattering to the wind. It was as if he had never existed.

The world came to a silent still; all became peaceful with reticent breathing from the crowd for they were astonished and speechless.

Li Qiye gently flicked his finger and a holy light flashed.

“Pop!” The evil curse that had ended Ma Mingchun also became refined and destroyed.

Li Qiye sat back down on his throne; his holy light had dispersed completely. He casually rested his legs on the golden table, as nonchalant as ever.

He became an ordinary-looking person again. No, actually, he was back to being the perverted and useless king, at least in appearance.

However, who would dare look down on him right now. In fact, when people looked up to steal glimpses, they tried to be as quiet as possible as if disturbing him was a great offense.

Jianyao wasn’t surprised at this outcome. Everything has been determined; Ma Mingchun’s resistance was simply futile.

“Anyone else got something to say?” Li Qiye lazily asked.

Given his current lackadaisical and sleepy appearance, no one would believe that this dispirited man was the one who killed Tang Hexiang, Ma Mingchun, and an entire legion. Yes, a useless king fitted his current image much more.

No one dared to utter the word, “no”. Existences like them were insignificant insects. Just one stomp of his would crush them in totality.

“In that case, start kneeling.” Li Qiye glanced at the crowd and said.

This made them exchange glances. Many people actually wanted to kneel, but being the first to do so was a bit embarra.s.sing.

“Long live the king.” Jianyao broke the hesitation by bowing her head, her clear voice comforted the crowd.

Though she got on her knees to kowtow, she was still a perfect fairy, a visual feast.

“Long live the king.” Everyone quickly prostrated to show their submission.

Even Jianyao had shown her allegiance, so why should they bother maintaining their face? They paled in comparison to her prestige and status anyway.

They kneeled with bated breath, waiting for him to make a decision.

Previously during his coronation, some of them have come to the imperial palace to greet him. Of course, they weren’t actually convinced by him and did so out of fear of Sun Lengying and Silver Secret Legion.

This was no longer the case today. This showing of reverence was all due to the king himself.

Furthermore, they trembled with fear, afraid of the king’s fury. This might end with a ma.s.sacre and the end of their sects.

They felt as if they have returned to Lucidity King’s era. No, even worse.

The whole thing felt like a dream. When the king was chased out of his throne, so many people looked down on him, calling him a piece of trash. Today, they prostrated, afraid of invoking his wrath and punishment. This sudden change seemed surreal and unbelievable.

“This is the feeling of being shown disdain.” Li Qiye looked at them and chuckled: “I gave you all a chance to be independent, an era of self-rule, but all of you didn’t cherish it. It looks like your fate is to be ruled by others.”

This was a cruel slap on everyone’s face, causing them to feel hot. Of course, they didn’t show any anger any were actually thanking heaven that the king wasn’t angry.

“Rise, I pardon your crimes.” Li Qiye waved his hand and said.

“Thank you for your benevolence.” The crowd heaved a sigh of relief and realized how much they were sweating during the wait.

That wave of his hand could have made heads roll on the ground. Moreover, they wouldn’t be able to resist at all.

The lack of punishment made the crowd ecstatic. Some on the ground even kowtowed several more times to show their grat.i.tude for this imperial kindness.