Chapter 1503: Fearless Because of Ignorance

Seeing this, the Second Prince was quite satisfied.

He had known for a very long time that the throne was not his, but his elder brother's. If it were merely due to inferior talent or wisdom, he might have accepted it. But he was clearly not lacking in either, even excelling in both. Was he destined never to be emperor simply because his mother was not the empress?

He resented this, but he knew the Demon Emperor would never pass the throne to him. "If you won't give it to me, I'll take it myself."

Thus, a very long time ago, he volunteered to train in the military. Battles with the human race were frequent, and humans held the advantage, making military service extremely dangerous with a very high casualty rate. Even powerful nobles in the royal court, let alone princes, were unwilling to let their children join the army. Yet, he went without hesitation and grew to become one of the Demon Race's Four Great Generals.

Even so, his imperial father never truly acknowledged him, only seeing him as a sharp blade for the Crown Prince to wield—a tool to conquer new territories under the Crown Prince's command once he ascended the throne. Understanding this, he took advantage of his time leading troops away from the capital to extensively recruit various masters. Other masters aside, there were four Grandmasters.

Duan Tianqiu, despite his high cultivation, was the easiest of the four to win over. The Night Elves had a mortal enmity with the Elf Race. With the Elf Race now one of the three great royal families in the imperial court, representing the official power, the Night Elves naturally represented the 'dark' side. The Night Elves wished to change this, and their only hope lay in a shift in imperial power, a complete reshuffling of authority. Thus, they quickly reached an agreement.

Sixth Uncle wasn't too difficult either. He valued longevity and, having only recently joined the Elder Council, hadn't forgotten the allure of the mortal world like those old fossils. Therefore, appealing to his interests made persuading him a straightforward matter.

Blacktooth Shatterfang had been desperate back then, and since his original wife was also from the Blacktooth clan, recruiting him initially wasn't hard due to this connection. The real difficulty, however, arose after recruitment: the reason he was reviled by everyone was his need to consume sentient beings—not ordinary animals, but those with cultivation, whether human or demon. If he didn't eat a human for a day, he would turn hostile and become unrecognizable. There was likely no one in the world who could afford to keep him. Fortunately, leading troops offered more operational flexibility. For instance, human captives or military prisoners facing court-martial could be used. If those weren't enough, he could find a secluded village, pretend to be humans or fierce beasts rampaging, pillage it completely, and use the villagers to fill Blacktooth Shatterfang's stomach.

Mr. Bat, however, was the most troublesome. Even among the Blood Race, he was a notorious figure. He had once taken many disciples, enslaving them to capture masters far and wide for him to devour. To this end, he even established a complicated assessment system: the top three performing disciples would receive generous rewards, those in the middle received neither reward nor punishment, but the disciple with the worst performance each year faced a tragic end, having their essence and blood completely drained by him. Thus, this group of disciples worked desperately, with no one wanting to be the unfortunate last one. Intense internal strife and competition raged among the disciples. While some had contemplated resistance or escape, none had succeeded; instead, their fates were even more tragic, left in a state where they could neither live nor die. Over several decades, it was said that only one disciple successfully escaped—a figure known as Daoist Mosquito, a demonic entity feared by both the Demon Race and humans. Given how powerful even one disciple was, it was clear just how formidable their master was.

However, Mr. Bat's perverse actions eventually became unbearable for his apprentices. They united with Mr. Bat's external enemies and successfully overthrew his rule. That battle was extremely brutal; nearly all the disciples were killed or wounded, and Mr. Bat escaped gravely injured. The Second Prince had coincidentally saved him. Of course, the Prince knew that such a demonic figure would never feel gratitude for being saved, so he never boasted of his deed. Instead, he bound Mr. Bat through mutual interest. Previously, Mr. Bat relied on enslaved disciples to find victims. Now, with the Second Prince's resources far exceeding what he had before, Mr. Bat was naturally content to remain.

However, for the Second Prince, retaining Mr. Bat was the most challenging task. Mr. Bat's craving for blood was no less intense than Blacktooth Shatterfang's need for flesh and blood. The critical difference was that Blacktooth Shatterfang consumed everything, effectively destroying the evidence. Mr. Bat, conversely, only consumed blood, not flesh, leaving very obvious traces on his victims. If exposed, this would cause considerable trouble for the Prince, even as a royal. Therefore, each time, the Prince not only had to secretly find targets but also assist with the aftermath, which was truly an ordeal.

These four Grandmasters were indeed formidable, but the cost was too high. Furthermore, while the Demon Emperor was alive, they absolutely dared not make any moves. Sometimes, the Second Prince even doubted if his immense investment in recruiting individuals who wouldn't dare strike against his imperial father was meaningful. Then, as if heaven pitied him, his imperial father met an unexpected end in a secret realm. With only the normally arrogant Crown Prince remaining, there was nothing more to say. It was time to act!

Even so, he had refrained from letting Blacktooth Shatterfang and Mr. Bat intervene until now, knowing that these two notorious demons could easily bring him negative repercussions. But at this point, he had no choice. He had never expected the other side to have three Grandmasters! He knew that the longer he delayed, the more variables would arise, so he decisively ordered the two to act. As for the subsequent repercussions, once he became the Demon Emperor, countless individuals would automatically resolve these troubles for him, without even needing his specific instructions.

Mr. Bat's cultivation was truly formidable; even from this distance, the blood within my body felt a subtle stirring. Seeing many in his army mistakenly injured, the Second Prince remained expressionless. His sole focus now was on whether the little Prince would be captured. For this overarching goal, other minor sacrifices were acceptable. At worst, he would simply increase the compensation for the families of the fallen soldiers afterward; they would surely be grateful then.

At that moment, Mr. Bat had already charged to the palace gate. The Little Demon Empress's confidants and some masters from the Xiao family stepped forward to block him. Who would have thought that with a casual wave of Mr. Bat's hand, a mist of blood erupted from those people, and they were instantly drained into shriveled corpses. At this, masters from the Elf, Demon, and Sea races all recoiled in fear. To keep their retreat open, none of the various races had sent Grandmaster-level experts this time, so no one dared to confront such a terrifying demon head-on. The quickest to flee was Chiwen. Although he was deeply infatuated with the Little Demon Empress's beauty, what good would a beauty's favor be if he was drained into a husk? This left only Zu An and the pale-faced Yu Yanluo beside the Little Demon Empress and her son.

"Ah Zu!" Qiao Xueying worried for her beloved's safety, but the Elf masters behind her held her back tightly, preventing their princess from rushing to her death.

Mr. Bat extended a hand, remotely grabbing at the little Prince, and a terrifying suction immediately emanated. The Little Demon Empress could only desperately circulate her power to barely keep her blood from being drawn out of her body. She wanted to protect her son, but at that moment, her will was strong but her power was lacking.

Fortunately, Zu An was there! Her son was currently shielded behind Zu An. Seeing the man's calm face, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, her heart quickly leaped into her throat again. While Zu An had previously slain Grandmaster Lion Shockwave with a single arrow, it seemed more likely that he had relied on the divine power of the Sun-Shooting Bow. At such close range now, he wouldn't have time to use it. Moreover, he also had to protect both Queen Medusa and the little Prince simultaneously?

Mr. Bat also noticed that this young man seemed unusually calm. He sneered inwardly, "These young people today truly lack discernment. I've been retired from the martial world for so many years; he probably doesn't know how terrifying I am. The ignorant truly are fearless. Once my divine art sucks him in, he'll immediately lose control of his bowels and bladder. Let's see how he'll act cool then. I hate pretty boy types like him. My most valued and beloved disciple, Daoist Mosquito, was led astray by a pretty boy back in the day! The 'prized cabbage' I painstakingly cultivated was snatched away by another 'pig'!"

Rage points from Mr. Bat +999 +999 +999...

Seeing this string of rage points appearing in the background, Zu An was somewhat puzzled. He hadn't provoked Mr. Bat, so why such immense anger? However, the faint boiling sensation in his blood left him no room for hesitation. He immediately unleashed an 'Experience Card' on Mr. Bat!