Another World: The Failed Magician

One month later.

Inside an ordinary house within the Eastern Dragon Empire's imperial palace, everyone was sitting around a round table.

The person sitting in the main seat is none other than Zhao Quan, the current crown prince of the Eastern Dragon Empire.

The others were the young officials Zhao Quan had brought with him to oversee the reforms.

These young officials now looked listless. Their eyes revealed helplessness and exhaustion. They were no longer the energetic figures they had been two months ago.

Zhao Quan was not surprised by this situation; in fact, he said that the current situation was better than he had expected.

Zhao Quan looked at one of them and said, "Zhang Tao, give a report on the progress over the past two months."

Zhang Tao stood up. He looked at the worried faces of the crowd, then at the result in his hand, and hesitated to speak.

"Speak up. I believe that everyone is capable enough to face the outcome without hesitation," Zhao Quan said, looking at Zhang Tao, who seemed a little hesitant.

After taking a deep breath, Zhang Tao stood up and said, "Our reform process over the past two months has been very unsuccessful. Apart from a very small number of regions that are heavily influenced by the Loca Federation, our reforms have not been implemented at all in other regions."

"The vast majority of officials, after receiving the task of reform, pay lip service to it, and even fewer regions can truly implement the reform regulations."

"In the vast majority of regions, both officials and the public are very resistant to reform. Several prefects have already refused to implement the reform orders we have issued."

"There are also some reform regulations that we copied from the Loca Federation, which are completely unsuitable for the current situation of the Empire. Instead, they have backfired, causing more people to oppose the reforms."

"The promotion of newspapers in the Eastern Dragon Empire has also been very unsuccessful. Apart from a few areas where newspapers have been slowly rolled out, there has been virtually no progress in most other places. Therefore, the use of newspapers to spread our ideas has also been very slow."

"So, in general, our reforms over the past two months have yielded very few real results. On the contrary, the voices of opposition are growing louder and louder. Many regions have expressed their support for Prince Zhennan, and this trend is continuing to expand."

"There are many more details, but I won't go into them. The information is right here, so everyone can take a look."

After saying this, Zhang Tao distributed the materials to everyone.

The crowd's expressions were already grim after hearing Zhang Tao's words, but when they actually saw the data, all they felt was despair. What Zhang Tao said was already conservative enough; the reality was far more brutal.

If things continue this way, the reforms will inevitably fail within a month.

This idea almost popped into everyone's mind.

After confirming that everyone had read the information, Zhao Quan spoke up: "I believe everyone understands the situation. Failure was inevitable. I hope everyone can face this result calmly."

Upon hearing Zhao Quan's words, everyone's expressions turned to surprise.

Before anyone could react, Zhao Quan continued, "To be honest, I had already anticipated this situation. The traditional family forces and the conservative factions like the martial arts sects are far too powerful here. It's impossible to shake them now. So I actually guessed that the reforms would end up like this."

After hearing these words, everyone fell silent.

"Since you already guessed it, why did you still do it? What about all the hard work we've put in over the past two months?" a young official finally couldn't help but ask Zhao Quan.

Faced with the official's questioning, Zhao Quan calmly replied, "As an old human empire, the Eastern Dragon Empire has deeply entrenched conservative forces, making it impossible to carry out a successful reform in just two months. However, if the Eastern Dragon Empire wants to change, someone has to take the lead. If we want to change the people's minds, someone also has to take the lead. So even if we know that the outcome is a dead end, we must still go."

After hearing this, everyone lowered their heads, and a sense of loss and sadness filled the room.

Zhao Quan looked at the crowd in front of him and said with a smile, "Alright! Actually, the result isn't that bad. At least you've done better than I expected. I initially thought the newspaper wouldn't be able to get off the ground at all, but I didn't expect it to have gotten off the ground so far. That's great."

"Pack your things in the next two days. Two days later, someone will escort you out of the Eastern Dragon Empire. Go hide outside for a while."

"What do you mean!" everyone asked in surprise.

"It means exactly what it says. There's no such thing as a reform failure without a price to pay. So, in order to prevent you from dying like this, we have no choice but to arrange for you to go to other countries to hide. After you go to other countries, you must take good care of yourselves. After all, the future of Donglong still needs you." Zhao Quan spoke in a very gentle tone, as if he were talking about a very ordinary matter.

"And what about you?" an official asked.

"I! I still have some things to take care of. I should go to the Loca Federation after I finish these things, and I will contact you again then."

“But…” A young official clearly wanted to say something more, but another official patted him on the shoulder, interrupting him and shaking his head.

"Alright! That's all for today." As Zhao Quan finished speaking, everyone in the room slowly stood up, took one last reluctant look at the somewhat simple room, and then walked out with heavy steps.

Zhao Quan watched them leave one by one, and only slowly sat down after the last person left.

At that moment, someone pushed open the door and walked in.

"Uncle Zhao, how are things going?" Zhao Quan asked.

"Your Highness, everything has been arranged. We can arrange for these people to leave the Eastern Dragon Empire and go to other countries within the next two days."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Quan nodded and said, "Uncle Zhao, you're so reliable. You've arranged everything so quickly."

After hearing this, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before asking, "Your Highness, it seems you only instructed that their tools for leaving be prepared; you seem to have forgotten about your own."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Quan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Uncle Zhao, you should be able to sense it, right? Right now, the area outside the palace is full of spies from other forces, including my royal uncle's men."

"So I can't leave. As long as I stay, they won't dare to transfer people away easily. In other words, as long as I'm here, Zhang Tao and the others are at least safe."

Looking at Zhao Quan's calm and collected demeanor, the middle-aged man remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I will protect your Crown Prince. As long as you remain in this palace, those people will not be able to harm you in the slightest."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Uncle Zhao."

"His Highness the Crown Prince has said that this is all within my duty."

After speaking, the middle-aged man left the room.

Zhao Quan had just sat down when there was a knock on the door.

"Please come in."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door was kicked open, and a flash of sword light appeared. A long sword was now stuck in the ground next to Zhao Quan.

At this moment, a tall girl with long purple hair appeared in front of Zhao Quan. The girl didn't say anything, but stroked her cute little face and stared at Zhao Quan with "fierce" eyes.

Although Zhao Quan found the girl's expression very cute, that's just how it is.

But Zhao Quan seemed very flustered at this moment, and looked at the girl nervously and said, "Luo Yun, it's been a long time! I didn't expect you to have grown so tall in just a few years."

"How many years?" Luo Yun asked.

"What?" Zhao Quan was a little confused and didn't quite understand what the girl meant.

"I'm asking if you know exactly how many years it's been since we last met?" Luo Yun asked, somewhat angrily.

“I know, we haven’t seen each other for six years since I went to the Loca Federation.”

"You know we haven't seen each other for six years, so why haven't you come to see me even once in the two months since you came back? If Uncle Zhao hadn't let me in, I wouldn't have seen you at all!" Luo Yun glared at Zhao Quan.

"Uncle Zhao, this doesn't make sense. Why would you do something like this?" Zhao Quan muttered under his breath.

"What did you say? You haven't answered my question yet."

Zhao Quan's first reaction was to explain something, but when he saw the girl's reddened eyes, he said, "I'm sorry!"

After hearing this, Luo Yun remained silent for a moment, then sheathed the longsword she had stuck in the ground. She lowered her head and gently rubbed her eyes. She didn't want Zhao Quan to see her in this embarrassing state.

She gently patted her face, then looked up at the room and said with a smile, "You're still as strange as ever. Why would you stay in this small room instead of the luxurious East Palace?"

Zhao Quan felt a pang of unease when he saw the smiling girl.

Zhao Quan felt that he had never wronged anyone in his life, except for the girl in front of him.

Seeing Zhao Quan's guilty expression, Luo Yun placed her hands on his face and kept kneading his cheeks, pretending to be angry as she said, "What's wrong? Are you unhappy to see me? You're wearing such a sour face."

"Beep...I...I'm sorry." Zhao Quan's words were somewhat indistinct because Luo Yun was rubbing his face.

After massaging for a while longer, Luo Yun finally put her hands down.

"Honestly, this shabby palace of yours is such a hassle. I've been outside for days. If it weren't for that stubborn old man Uncle Zhao agreeing, I wouldn't have been able to get in." As she said this, Luo Yun stomped her feet twice in anger.

Zhao Quan was about to say something after hearing this when

Luo Yun extended a slender finger and gently pressed it against Zhao Quan's lips, saying in a joking tone, "I don't want to hear you talk right now. It's not about being sorry, it's just a long lecture, I don't want to hear it. Anyway, I finally got in, so you have to show me around this palace."

Zhao Quan nodded at the girl. When he looked at Luo Yun, his eyes were full of tenderness, but a trace of sadness was revealed deep in his eyes.

……

As time passed, the sun slowly set, and night fell.

Under the cover of night, the Tai Xuan Sect appeared somewhat eerie.

The Tai Xuan Sect today is very different from other times.

The Tai Xuan Sect was usually quiet at night, but now flames raged within. Screams of agony filled the air, and the once-clean roads were now stained with the blood of corpses.

Judging from the clothing of the corpses, most of them were disciples of the other seven major sects, and a small number were disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect.

At this moment, in a corner of the Tai Xuan Sect, a dozen disciples dressed in the robes of the seven major sects were gathered together, surrounded by more than 20 Tai Xuan Sect disciples.

One of the disciples from one of the seven major sects, who was covered in wounds, couldn't help but question, "Why? Why did you do this? Your Tai Xuan Sect isn't the top of the eight major sects. Look at what you've done! You lied and said you were attacked by the Demonic Sect, luring us here to kill you! Don't you have any conscience?"

Upon hearing this, the other Tai Xuan Sect disciples hesitated. At this moment, the leader stepped forward and said, "Don't be misled by them. Today, the other seven sects coveted our Tai Xuan Sect's position as the leader of the eight sects. They joined forces with those demonic cultists to break our sect's protective formation. We are protecting our sect. Let's take action and finish them off."

After speaking, the leading disciple led the disciples of the Qi Yu Tai Xuan Sect to rush towards the disciples of the other seven major sects in the corner.

"Damn it, you hypocritical bastard!" the disciple who had spoken earlier shouted.

The scene shifts to the main hall of the Tai Xuan Sect, which is now a scene of utter devastation, filled with mangled corpses, various human entrails, and copious amounts of blood.

In the vast space, there wasn't a single place to stand.

At this moment, Li Zheng, along with a group of elders from the Tai Xuan Sect and several people dressed in dark black armor, stood amidst the corpses and pools of blood.

In the center of the main hall, seven elderly people were struggling to stay afloat.

Looking at the seven people, Li Zheng coldly said, "Sect leaders, stop struggling. This Soul Severing Formation was specifically developed for Martial Kings. Within this formation, your strength is less than one-tenth of what it used to be. There's no way you can win. Goodness, surrendering will at least give you an easier death."

"Pah! Fine, Li Zheng, you and that Prince of Zhennan are both scoundrels. We've always been on your side, yet you set up this trap and ruthlessly attacked our seven major sects. Are you even human?" a sect leader said angrily.

"Sect Leader Yue, you're wrong about that. Is this the first time you've heard that the martial world is dangerous? If you're not as skilled as others, just obediently wait to die!" Li Zheng said, waving his hand.

The elders of the Tai Xuan Sect and the armored men rushed towards the seven sect leaders who were still struggling to hold on.

Li Zheng's eyes were fixed on the one-sided battle. Faced with the attacks of these martial lions and martial kings, the seven sect leaders could only barely defend, let alone attack.

Li Zheng turned to look at a black box in his hand. The black box was emitting an eerie light. If you looked closely, you could see that the blood in the hall was slowly gathering towards the black box.