Another World: The Failed Magician

A week had passed since the death of Prince Zhao Qushan of Zhennan.

Emperor Zhao Huai of the Eastern Dragon Empire has resumed his rule.

According to the original plan, all families that followed Zhao Qushan should have been executed.

However, due to the sheer number of people involved, it was ultimately decided to execute the head of the family and his key personnel, and to require each family to hand over a large amount of wealth.

Zhao Huai's move dealt a heavy blow to the powerful families of the Eastern Dragon Empire.

Subsequently, many of the officials who had been dismissed by Zhao Quan were re-employed.

Zhao Quan's reforms were immediately abolished. To quell the public's anger, Zhao Quan was imprisoned. Zhao Qushan announced that he would be executed a month later and that the second prince, Zhao Yu, would succeed him as crown prince.

Following this rebellion, a large number of official positions in the imperial court became vacant.

Zhao Huai quickly promoted a large number of his trusted confidants from among the local officials to these positions.

Zhao Huai also implemented his own reform plan.

Compared to Zhao Quan's previous plan, this plan appears quite conservative. If Zhao Quan's previous reforms were like tearing off the roof, then this reform can be described as merely puncturing one or two windows.

After the devastating reforms implemented by Crown Prince Zhao Quan, no one in the court dared to oppose the reforms Zhao Huai was carrying out.

After several months of turmoil, the Eastern Dragon Empire is gradually returning to normal.

……

At this moment, on the deck of a magic-powered steamship bound for the Loca Federation.

Lu Xuan was holding a newspaper from the Loca Federation. After reading it, he realized he had read all the recent events that had occurred in the Eastern Dragon Empire.

Lu Xuan turned around and glanced at a boy standing next to him.

The boy had black hair and black eyes, and wore a black coat and a white top hat. Although the hat covered some parts of his face, his handsome features were still visible.

"Didn't the newspaper say you were going to be executed in a month?"

Lu Xuan pointed to a passage in the newspaper and said.

"Well... after all, my previous reforms were indeed too much, and I have to give those powerful families an explanation. So my father announced to the public that I had been thrown into the dungeon, and in a few days he should announce that I died of illness in the dungeon."

“Those powerful families aren’t fools. Do you think they’ll believe what your father is doing?”

"Whether they believe it or not is irrelevant, because if their power weren't so great, they would have been doomed this time. Father has already given them a way out, so they wouldn't dare to do anything. Besides, I lost my position as crown prince and passed it on to my second brother. If they're smart, they won't dwell on this matter anymore."

"Indeed, regardless of the circumstances, your death has been officially declared, which means you are not qualified to inherit the throne. You should use this energy to plan which prince to support, since according to my intelligence, Zhao Huai shouldn't last much longer. The peace in the Eastern Dragon Empire is only temporary. Speaking of which, I also want to ask you something. After all, you were once the crown prince, who do you think has the best chance of inheriting the throne?"

Zhao Quan smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Well... how should I put it? I feel that my second brother, eldest sister, third brother, and fifth brother all have a chance. If I had to say who has a better chance, it would probably be my second brother, who just inherited the position of crown prince."

"Isn't what you said the same as saying nothing at all?"

"That's because you insisted on asking me, and I really don't know! After all, I've been in the Loca Federation for several years, as you know."

"Too!"

"Hey! Don't make that face, it makes me look useless."

Although he said that, Lu Xuan's face still showed a disappointed expression.

"Oh."

"You... sigh, never mind. Speaking of Lu Xuan..."

"What are you doing?"

"I feel you've changed a lot recently."

"Have it?"

"Yes, compared to the previous Loca Federation, you seem much better now when I met you."

"It's all your imagination."

Just as Zhao Quan was about to retort, he happened to follow the gaze and look at Lu Xuan.

He noticed that although Lu Xuan was talking to him, his eyes were still fixed on the two girls on the other side of the deck.

No, to be more precise, it should be one of the girls dressed in pure white martial arts attire.

Li Mengyu and Luo Yun were standing on another part of the deck, chatting and laughing happily.

Seeing the scene before him, Zhao Quan revealed a somewhat intriguing smile.

"I think I can guess why you've become like this."

Just as Zhao Quan was laughing somewhat unrestrainedly, a water elemental suddenly appeared behind him.

He punched him.

The punch wasn't very powerful, but it was just enough to knock Zhao Quan to the ground without hurting him.

"You...you have no sportsmanship."

"cut!"

Zhao Quan got up and pounced on Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan didn't react in time and was tackled to the ground.

The two of them started playing around on the deck like children.

Seeing this, Li Mengyu was about to go over, but was stopped by Luo Yun.

Li Mengyu looked at Luo Yun with a puzzled expression.

Luo Yun explained, "A lot has happened lately. They need a chance to relax. Don't worry, they have a good relationship, nothing will go wrong. Don't worry about them. I heard that the restaurant on this cruise ship has a lot of specialties from the Loka Federation. How about we go together?"

Upon hearing the word "delicious food," Li Mengyu still shifted her gaze away from Lu Xuan.

He happily exclaimed, "Okay!"

"Let's go then."

The two walked hand in hand, chatting and laughing, towards the ship's restaurant.

After joking around with Zhao Quan for a while, Lu Xuan simply lay down on the deck.

The two watched the seagulls flying overhead and fell silent.

"I said, have you contacted your teacher?"

"I haven't figured out how to tell my teacher yet. After all, when I left, I thought this trip would be my last. So I didn't say goodbye to him because I was afraid he would be sad."

"This has made me a little afraid to face him right now."

“Uh… I don’t think this is the time to worry about that. Think about it, you’ve already been sentenced to death in name. If you don’t contact your teacher, what kind of identity do you think you’ll have to pass through the checkpoint at the port of the Loca Federation?”

"this…"

"You're not going to tell me you didn't think of this, are you?"

"...You know I've been dealing with a lot of things lately, and it's normal that I didn't expect this."

"So the problem has come full circle. How are you going to get over this now?"

“Uh… I think Lu Xuan, as a member of the Frunze Academy, you should have a way to contact the Loca Federation, right?”

"I regret to inform you that the only means of communication we used has been unavailable for a long time. So, I can't help you with that."

"do not want!"

Lu Xuan ignored Zhao Quan, who was howling on the ground, and got up to walk towards the restaurant.

……

Let's rewind to a few days ago.

After losing their Martial King and Archmage, the Winter family's private army in the Carneland region was utterly incapable of resisting the regular army of the Loca Federation led by the Governor. After a few symbolic exchanges, it crumbled instantly.

After confirming that the battlefield situation was settled, the blue-haired boy glanced at the girl.

The girl nodded: "Leave this to me. Brother, you should go and support Dean White."

The boy nodded and then disappeared from the spot in a flash.

Meanwhile, on another battlefield, not a single patch of intact ground remained.

The vast plains were riddled with potholes and pits.

The dragonman Amberley Copper was panting heavily, clutching his chest with his hand.

His scales were mostly broken, and his body was covered in wounds.

He had lost his initial arrogance, and his eyes were filled with fear as he looked at the old man in front of him.

At this point, there were already five corpses beside the old man.

The corpses all had one thing in common: exaggerated wounds on their bodies, as if they had been hit by heavy objects.

"Monster... Monster! No... Impossible! This can't be real."

He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Just a few minutes ago, the six of them were fighting White to a standstill. And as time went on, they could clearly feel White's strength gradually weakening.

However, just when they thought they had found a way to win.

White, who was already somewhat exhausted, suddenly and without warning, burst forth.

He smashed the assassin who was about to launch a sneak attack from behind with a single punch.

Before they could react, they took down all five of them in one go.

Amberley Kopper couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes.

Looking at the old man who resembled the Grim Reaper, his legs went weak. He wanted to run away, but found that he couldn't move an inch.

……

Inside a silver palace.

A figure appeared beneath the silver throne.

"Your Majesty! I don't quite understand. Why send so many troops to the Carnelai region? Although Dean White is known as the number one person under the Holy One, I feel that sending the Dragonman Amberley Koper, plus five Martial King-level troops, is a bit too extravagant. Especially now that the Tianfa group within the Empire has been particularly active lately, we are already struggling to mobilize our manpower."

After saying these words, the men were prepared to be scolded.

But the expected curses did not come.

"Bolton, it's normal for you to have such questions since you haven't experienced what happened before. Now I'm asking you, what do you think of the current strength of the Loca Federation?"

"Objectively speaking, their army should be the strongest on the continent, but they lack top-level combat power. This is also the main reason why they have always focused on defense."

"Your analysis is correct. Although I look down on the country they founded, I have to admit that their army was indeed very strong under that system. But even the strongest army can't defeat one or two Martial Kings. I believe you understand this principle!"

Bolton nodded hastily, because through these few days of contact, he knew that his king was actually quite resistant to the Loca Federation.

"So when it was first created, I united the Inka Empire and the Del Empire with a total of 24 Martial Kings and 7 Archmages. We were prepared to destroy it in one fell swoop."

"Back then, the Locke Federation was not even as good as it is now. They only had five Martial Kings and not even a single Archmage."

Knowing the final outcome, Bolton was filled with doubt.

"Then...then why?"

"You want to ask why it still failed, right?"

After hesitating for a while, Bolton finally nodded.

"Campbell White, a man who appeared out of nowhere, turned the tide of the battle. It was then that I learned he possessed forbidden weapons."

"Weapons ban?" Bolton looked puzzled. He did know and understand many things, but he had never heard of the term "weapons ban."

"In ancient times, the gods enslaved all races. And the human race was the lowest and most insignificant being in that environment."

"But among the human race, there is a group of unknown people who have been studying the mysteries of the human body."

"After a long period of research, they invented a set of physical techniques suitable for humans to cultivate purely. It is said to be a martial art that can reach the limits of human potential. Afterwards, humans, with the help of this martial art, were able to rival even the lowest-ranking gods."

"However, this threatened the gods, who could not accept that a group of ants possessed such power. In the end, under the siege of the gods, this martial art and all those who knew about it were almost completely wiped out. Even so, the gods did not stop there. They placed a terrible curse on this martial art, so that every time someone who practiced this martial art used its power, their life force would rapidly disappear, and it could not be replenished by any other medicine."

"Therefore, this martial art is called forbidden martial art. I originally thought it had disappeared in the long river of history, but I never expected to see this terrifying martial art in White."

"Dozens of Martial Kings couldn't stop White, and I don't even think that was his limit."

"This! How is this kind of power possible?"

"Why would I need to lie to you!"

Bolton hurriedly offered a frantic explanation.

"No...no, Your Majesty, that's not what I meant. If White is so terrifying, why should we provoke him?"

"The reason why martial arts are forbidden is not only due to the curse of the gods. I have found out from the books left by the Silver Dragon Clan that this martial art actually has a fatal flaw. Although it can quickly stimulate human potential, the power gained by it will also disappear rapidly. The strength will drop significantly every year until the person becomes an ordinary person."

"So, Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"Let Amberley Copper test how much strength that old man has left."

"But if that's the case..."

"Those guys from the Knights of Glory are getting more and more audacious. Rather than letting me destroy them with my own hands, I'd rather let them shine a little in their final moments."