Chapter 2

"Your Highness, quickly hand over the Taicang National Order! We will select a wise successor from the royal family to take over as the ruler of Taicang!"

"Given the current internal and external troubles, we can no longer allow you to delay. After deposing you as the crown prince, the dark dungeon will be your final resting place!"

"I believe the spirit of the late king would also support our actions!"

"..."

Ji Xia helplessly looked at the agitated ministers, some of whom were still sobbing in grief.

He was at a loss for words regarding the original owner of this body, with memories of the previous self's miserable past flooding his mind.

"This crown prince must have been kicked to death, and it could be said he died a fitting death."

"But what about me? This mess is too big to handle."

Ji Xia pondered the memories in his mind while thinking of ways to break the deadlock.

However, the memories in his mind were all rather unkind scenes.

"No wonder these people hate the crown prince so much. In a country where the people, officials, and royal family are united in strengthening the nation, how could such a strange crown prince be raised? It's quite baffling."

Another official, seeing Ji Xia fall silent again, stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, don't keep up the pretense. We have searched your palace and found no trace of the Taicang National Order. I respect your royal blood and do not wish to torture you."

He paused, pointing to a figure beside him, and said, "But I cannot guarantee that others will be as courteous to you!"

Ji Xia followed the official's gaze and saw a person dressed entirely in black, with only their eyes visible.

"How could I have completely missed such a strange person?"

Ji Xia was puzzled and was about to take a closer look at the black-clad person when his gaze involuntarily met the person's eyes.

Suddenly, Ji Xia's mind spun, as if he had fallen into an infinitely twisted quagmire, instantly overwhelming his thoughts!

"Your Highness, where have you hidden the Taicang National Order?"

The black-clad person spoke, their voice hoarse, like a saw blade in the throat, making one's skin crawl.

Ji Xia's eyes were vacant, the words echoing in his mind, and the black-clad person's figure loomed large, towering over him.

Just as Ji Xia's consciousness began to fade and he was about to give in, a beam of golden light shot out from his mind, instantly dispelling the voices!

Ji Xia's mind cleared, and he was astonished to see a massive tree in his mind, radiating with brilliant light!

The divine tree was entirely deep black, with thick branches and leaves that shimmered like gold, its canopy lush and mysterious.

Ji Xia stared at the giant tree, speechless; he had never seen such a massive tree!

Looking into the distance, the tree stretched from the ground to the sky, its branches and leaves layering in a strange but not unsettling manner.

It even added a sense of mystery and solemnity.

On the first layer of the trunk, Ji Xia clearly saw a large black egg and a glowing silver fruit.

As for the higher layers of the trunk, they were shrouded in mist, making it hard for Ji Xia to see clearly.

Suddenly, a beam of light flashed from the divine tree, illuminating the mist on the upper layers of the trunk. When the light faded, the mist returned.

Ji Xia caught a glimpse of the things revealed on the upper layers of the trunk in that brief moment.

They were enormous stars.

The oceans, lands, and geographical features were all present, and clouds flowed slowly over the planets, looking incredibly mysterious!

"Are they models?" Ji Xia's consciousness was stunned, still finding it hard to believe.

"What if the upper layers really hang real planets? How could such a strange divine tree exist in my mind?"

He tried to approach the divine tree, and in a moment, he was standing before it. The massive divine tree, which should have been unreachable, allowed Ji Xia to touch the black egg by simply raising his hand.

Instantly, a strange consciousness from the egg entered Ji Xia's mind.

[Divine Artifact Origin: Netherworld

Divine Artifact Name: Yinbing Nest

Information 1: Yinbing Nest: The most common barracks for Yinbing in the Netherworld, housing a thousand Yinbing and three Yinjiang.

Information 2: Yinbing: The weakest Yinbing in the Netherworld, responsible for escorting unconscious souls.

Information 3: Yinjiang: The commander of the Yinbing.]

The moment this consciousness entered Ji Xia's mind, he felt enlightened and understood the purpose of the divine tree.

"Can this divine tree nurture mythological artifacts like the Yinbing Nest?"

He removed his hand from the Yinbing Nest and placed it on the silver fruit beside it.

[Divine Artifact Fruit: Pick the fruit to obtain a divine artifact.]

Ji Xia swallowed hard, gripped the fruit, and pulled it down with force.

The fruit separated from the trunk and fell into Ji Xia's hand. As he was about to examine the divine artifact fruit, it suddenly transformed into a liquid-like substance, elongating and gradually forming a long sword.

The sword had a silver and blue hilt, a silver-white blade engraved with mysterious patterns, and double-edged, gleaming with a cold light.

[Divine Artifact Origin: Danu Clan

Divine Artifact Name: Sword of Vengeance, Sword of Answer, Sword of Soul Stealing —— Fragarach

Fragarach: The sword of light and the sun god in Celtic mythology; if pointed at someone's throat, they must answer and cannot lie; the sword can fly to the enemy and return to the owner after killing.]

Ji Xia perceived the attributes of the sword and was slightly stunned. There were divine artifacts from Western mythology too?

He took a deep breath, and his thoughts became much clearer, though he still didn't understand why the divine tree appeared in his mind.

However, when he touched the Yinbing Nest and the divine artifact fruit, he clearly understood that he could bring these mythological artifacts into the real world whenever he wished!

Just as he was about to return to reality in his mind, the scenes in his mind began to shatter like a glass being hit, piece by piece.

Ji Xia's consciousness returned to his body, and the black-clad person was still staring at him with deep eyes. The ministers were also looking at him, seemingly waiting for him to be completely controlled by the enchantment spell!

"Your Highness, where is the Taicang National Order?" The black-clad person's hoarse voice sounded again, not expecting his enchantment spell to have failed.

Ji Xia was about to speak when a scout rushed in, kneeling and shouting without announcing himself, "A thousand vicious dogs and five thousand hunting troops from the Jougou Kingdom have already set out from the border and will reach Taicheng in at most three hours!"

The crown prince's palace fell silent!

Ji Qianqing frowned, looking around at each minister, "The Jougou Kingdom already knows the news?"

The old man sneered, "General Ji Qianqing, the fall of Taicheng is inevitable. You and the other generals must ensure your safety and wait for the traitor to reveal themselves. Then..."

He finished and turned to the ministers, "Our Taicang Kingdom has struggled between the Jougou and Zhouqing Kingdoms for over two hundred years, and we never thought we would ultimately face the fate of national destruction."

Ji Xia said, "Everyone, I have a plan. Why don't we try it?"

The ministers ignored Ji Xia, kneeling and tears welling in their eyes. Someone shouted, "We toiled for two hundred years, endured hardships for two hundred years, and never thought we would be destroyed by a natural disaster. We refuse to accept this..."

Ji Xia cleared his throat, raising his voice, "Don't be so pessimistic. I have a plan. Listen to me, wise ministers."

The old man straightened up, drew a dagger from his belt, examined it, and shouted, "Pass the order down. Once the city gates of Taicheng are breached, the entire nation must perish. No one must fall into the hands of the Jougou. Death is nothing compared to the Jougou!"

Ji Xia flew into a rage, throwing a stone pillow from the bed to the iron candle stand, which fell with a loud noise, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

"Are you deaf? I said I have a plan! Just trust me..."

"Thud, thud..."

Muffled knocking sounds came from the wall. Ji Qianqing frowned, walked to the wall beside the bed, and with a flash of her sword, cut through the wall.

A beautiful girl, bound and gagged, with tears of despair in her eyes, saw Ji Xia and her despair turned into deep-seated hatred...

Ji Qianqing and the ministers looked at Ji Xia, who had just been so confident.

Ji Xia awkwardly rubbed his nose, ignoring the girl, and said to everyone, "Why are you surrounding me? Move aside."