That was an animal hide page. There were countless symbols drawn into the page. They didn’t seem exactly like words, but they weren’t exactly not.

“You can communicate with the barbarian tribes?” The white-robed man asked with astonishment.

The barbarian tribes were precisely called ‘barbarian’ because they lived just like wild beasts. But they had their own crude culture and language.

These ugly symbols were precisely the barbarian tribes’ script. Many people had seen that script before, but they had no idea how to read them. It was completely unexpected for the fourth prince to be able to.

“One’s full effort must be invested into achieving one’s goals for there to be a profit.

“Ever since I was young, I could see through my own destiny. At that time, I had already started gathering the bargaining chips that would change my destiny.

“I sent countless people to the barbarian tribes to try joining them, but they only treated those people as food. However, there are always exceptions in this world. One person was actually accepted into the barbarian tribes. Then, I started to gradually gain a connection to the barbarian tribes’ power.

“While fulfilling our missions, my mother and I also raised our own power. To tell the truth, three years ago, I already possessed the power to help you seize the Phoenix Cry Empire without the slightest drop of blood, but that wouldn’t have brought me even the slightest benefits.”

The white-robed man nodded. “Continue.”

“So, in order to handle Long Tianxiao, I purposely stopped supplying him reinforcements. I also secretly drew the poor people in the vicinity towards Long Tianxiao’s army. I raised Long Tianxiao’s prestige in secret, letting everyone think he was a god who would protect them. I know what kind of person Long Tianxiao is. He definitely wouldn’t sacrifice the lives of those commoners.” The fourth prince indifferently raised his teacup and took a sip.

“Chu Xia, you really are talented.” That was the first time the white-robed man praised the fourth prince.

The fourth prince’s move had been exceptionally brilliant. He had used the lives of the ordinary commoners to effortlessly lock Long Tianxiao in place.

Most importantly, that was a ploy without a solution. Even if Long Tianxiao understood it, he was helpless. He was unable to ignore the lives of millions of commoners.

Such a simple scheme had kept Long Tianxiao permanently locked at the border. Even the white-robed man felt a bit of admiration.

“Unfortunately, those barbarian tribes truly did cause me extreme disappointment. I secretly sent them so much assistance in terms of food and supplies, but they are still only just able to fight on the same level as Long Tianxiao. So, they ended up in a permanent battle of attrition. Well, I suppose that is all that can be expected from those uncivilized barbarians.” The fourth prince shook his head.

The white-robed man pondered for a moment before asking, “Tell me, where is Long Chen?”

“He should already be dead. If my calculations are correct, his head should be en route back to the capital. That Long Chen really is an oddity. But I’m not someone who likes the unexpected, so I sent Marquis Ying over. I trust that you know Marquis Ying’s power.”

The white-robed man’s expression changed slightly. “I know of him. His cultivation base can count as not bad. But using him to handle a small Qi Condensation ant is making a bit too big of a fuss for a minor nuisance.”

The fourth prince’s expression didn’t change. But hearing what he said, it seemed that even the Tendon Transformation realm Marquis Ying wasn’t anything to him.

From that, it could be seen that this young man whose age didn’t seem that different from his own had to possess an extremely terrifying strength. The fourth prince’s guard went up even higher.

“Haha, I’ve already said I’m a cautious person. I won’t do anything I’m not sure of. It’s just like how I used Long Chen to kill that idiot Xia Changfeng this time.”

The white-robed man nodded. “You really are much better than Xia Changfeng. I can overlook Xia Changfeng’s death and also accomplish your wish. However, if you end up being worse than Xia Changfeng, I can tell you very clearly that even your own death will become something you are unable to control.”

The white-robed man’s gentle manner of speaking became dark, and an ominous aura filled the air.

The fourth prince ignored his threat. “Don’t worry; I’ve endured patiently for many years just for this chance. I treasure this opportunity even more than you.”

“Then good. With Long Chen dead now, I need to know what your plan is for later.”

Although he didn’t underestimate Long Chen, in front of a Tendon Transformation expert, Long Chen would definitely not have even the slightest chance of surviving.

“Ying Zhao will bring his head back to the capital as well as a recording of Long Chen killing Xia Changfeng. Then, I will need you to communicate with the Grand Xia and get them to send out their elite army to surround the capital. At that time, I will call Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu back here. The Grand Xia will demand us to hand over the murderer, and in order for both empires to stay friends, I can offer up every person in the Long household in a justifiable manner. In fact, I can kill all of them at a suitable time,” explained the fourth prince.

“What do you mean by a suitable time? And furthermore, when you say ‘them’, it seems you aren’t just talking about the Long household?” asked the white-robed man lightly.

The fourth prince laughed, “Speaking with a smart person really does save energy. You’re correct. Before I execute the people from the Long household, I will have the barbarian tribes attack Long Tianxiao’s station at the same time. At that time, I will send news of his family being executed. In the face of the barbarian tribes’ invasion and with the lives of countless commoners on the line, he definitely won’t bring his whole army back to the capital. According to my understanding of him, he will leave his entire army back there to guard and come back to the capital alone to rescue his family. Hehe, at that time, Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu will join hands to kill him without a problem. Furthermore, we’ll even have an honorable reason for doing so, so it won’t cause any huge ripples. As for ‘them’, I naturally mean those people who aren’t suitable to be near me. Long Chen has received the crown prince’s ‘support’ in killing Xia Changfeng. One of his close guards will testify to that. At that time, we just have to gather a bit of ‘evidence’. In order for the two great empires to remain allies, even the crown prince can be used as a sacrifice. And as for his henchmen, although they didn’t directly participate, they are definitely extremely suspicious. In order to maintain the empires’ friendship, it’s best to just also sacrifice them as well.”

The white-robed man stared at the fourth prince for a great deal of time before sighing, “What profound scheming. In that way, the entire Phoenix Cry Empire will easily land in your hands. Chu Xia, you really are a genius.”

“Many thanks for the praise. But you don’t have to worry; my Spirit Root is completely ordinary and I’m unable to walk the cultivation path. I don’t possess the slightest threat to you,” said the fourth prince.

The white-robed man smiled slightly. He had already secretly examined the fourth prince’s body and found that his talent truly was extremely ordinary.

Towards such an intelligent and deeply scheming person, he had to be a bit more careful. He definitely didn’t want to unwittingly fall into someone else’s trap.

If the fourth prince was an extremely talented person in terms of cultivation, then he would definitely possess an extremely great threat to him. Who knew whether or not the fourth prince would end up using even him to step into even higher realms.

Now all his misgivings were dispelled. The fourth prince was incapable of cultivating to a high level. All he cared about was the secular world’s power. It was just like he had said; both of them needed each other.

Gently raising his teacup, the white-robed man smiled. “Excellent, Xia Changfeng’s death truly is a good thing. I hope we can happily cooperate.”

The fourth prince also raised his teacup. The two of them toasted and drained their cups in one gulp.

The white-robed man suddenly thought of a matter. “Doesn’t Xia Changfeng have a little sister? Is she still in the imperial palace?”

A bit of disgust appeared on the fourth prince’s face. “Yes, that idiot woman was left behind by Xia Changfeng in order to control us.”

“You didn’t want to kill her?”

“Well, she is a Pill Adept and has a particular status. I got her two handsome, strong men to wait on her. She’s busy with them and won’t bring any big trouble to us.”

The white-robed man nodded. That Xia Baichi truly was a complete idiot. He relaxed knowing that the fourth prince had handled her.

As for the death of her brother, she definitely wouldn’t care about that. They had never had any familial love to speak of. As long as nothing bad happened to her, she wouldn’t care.

Furthermore, Xia Changfeng was killed by Long Chen. Even if she did feel some hatred, that hatred would land on Long Chen.

“Right, brother Luo, I have something I want to ask your help for.” After the two of them had reached a common understanding, the fourth prince directly switched to calling him brother.

“Speak.”

“You also know that in order for me to control Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu, they have been promised that once this matter is accomplished, they will get half of the empire. Back then when I promised them, I was fine with it since I didn’t have any hope of obtaining the empire. So being generous with them also didn’t cause me any pain. But now all of Phoenix Cry is about to land into my hands. How can I allow others to control my land? So…”

“You want me to help you bring them under your control?”

“Pretty much. I hope brother Luo can teach me how to make them listen to me obediently and also not have them form any thoughts of rebellion,” said the fourth prince carefully.

The white-robed man laughed. “Chu Xia, ah, Chu Xia. You are ruthless. You really are willing to do anything to achieve your goals. Ok, I promise you that once this matter is finished, I’ll teach you a technique that will let you make those two into your slaves.”

Hearing that, the fourth prince was overjoyed. Now everything was going according to his plans. With the final part of the plan about to be finished, Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu had become his greatest problem.

Back then, he had promised to give them control of half the empire. That was equivalent to them being local emperors.

That was how Marquis Ying and Marquis Wu had been coaxed by the fourth prince’s carrot and stick persuasions to secretly form an agreement. But only the three of them had known about it.

Now the fourth prince had obtained an opportunity to free himself from that. He naturally was unwilling to have others control his empire. The white-robed man’s promise meant that he no longer needed to be worried about that.

Although the fourth prince didn’t have a complete understanding of the white-robed man, he knew his origin was definitely shocking and beyond his imagination.

So he needed to rely on him. As long as he had the white-robed man’s support, whether it was the Phoenix Cry Empire or the Grand Xia Empire, he would be able to have whatever he wanted.

Now everything was prepared. They only needed one last thing. Once Marquis Ying came back, the final phase of the plan could commence. However, what they didn’t know was that in this world, there was always one thing that never went away. Those were called mishaps.