Within the capital of the Qin Dynasty, inside the grand Human Emperor's Hall of the imperial palace, Lin Qian looked at the resplendent golden throne, and with a helpless smile, turned to the three elders beside him: "I imagined many possibilities, but I never thought it would turn out like this."
Lin Qian felt utterly surprised, and how could the three elders—Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang—not feel the same?
The current Human Emperor, Qin Lingtian, and the former Human Emperor, Qin Batian, had not come out to face the challenge. The treasures within the royal treasury of the capital had been emptied, and the imperial relatives were nowhere to be found.
All these signs clearly presented Lin Qian with one undeniable fact.
The Qin Emperor had fled!
Once he confirmed this possibility, Lin Qian was stunned for quite some time. He truly had not expected that both the new and old Qin Emperors would choose to run away.
At first, Lin Qian found it hard to believe, but the empty treasury and the absence of the royal family all pointed to this undeniable reality.
Not only Lin Qian, but even the other southern region forces who came to observe were dumbfounded when they learned that Qin Lingtian and his entourage had escaped.
Meanwhile, in a forest outside the Qin Dynasty's territory, a group of people was resting in a mountain valley.
This group was none other than the fleeing members of the Qin royal family, with Qin Lingtian among them, gazing toward the direction of the Qin Dynasty.
Qin Lingtian's face was dark, his fists clenched so tightly that they turned white, and his eyes were filled with a burning rage of hatred.
At this moment, Qin Batian, with his white hair, approached and gently patted his shoulder: "Don't be impatient. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future, but for now, we must avoid the sharp edge."
"The strength of the Huaxia Empire's army far exceeded our expectations. With the current Qin Dynasty's regular army, the Eight Directions Army, and the Qin Imperial Guard, we are no match for them. We have to admit that."
"Moreover, the strength of those three individuals is far beyond our expectations."
As he spoke, a trace of dread appeared in Qin Batian's eyes.
Not only him, but even Qin Lingtian, recalling his previous encounter with the three elders, showed a look of lingering fear on his face. If he hadn't used a talisman to accelerate his escape in time, he might not have survived.
"Those three, they hid their strength really well. In the entire southern region, I doubt there are more than a handful of people who can compare to them," Qin Lingtian said viciously.
The three people they spoke of were naturally Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang.
Initially, the father and son had believed there was nothing special about the three elders. Qin Lingtian had even arrogantly thought that he could kill them all by himself.
But in reality, after facing them in battle, Qin Lingtian was horrified to discover that even with his significant increase in strength from his journey to the central region, he was no match for any one of the three elders.
Moreover, when the three joined forces to attack him, they launched a thunderous offensive. Even with the soul weapon he obtained in the central region, he could barely defend himself. In the end, he had no choice but to use a life-saving talisman to flee.
After returning to the capital, he sent the Qin Imperial Guard to battle the Huaxia Empire's army because he noticed that no awakened experts intervened in the Huaxia Empire's battles.
In fact, Qin Lingtian had confidence in his Qin Imperial Guard. However, the result of the battle shattered his confidence completely.
The entire Qin Dynasty was almost entirely conquered, and the terrifying strength of the three elders loomed over him like three towering mountains, suffocating him.
In the end, it was Qin Lingtian's father, the previous Qin Emperor, who decided to leave, preserve their strength, and head to the central region. They would wait for the right moment to return and reclaim their territory and seek revenge.
At their current strength, they were no match for the Huaxia Empire or the three elders.
Although this decision was extremely humiliating, Qin Lingtian still chose to follow his father's advice.
A true man must be able to bend and stretch. Qin Lingtian believed that when they returned from the central region, it would be the day the Huaxia Empire was destroyed.
Meanwhile, in the Qin Dynasty's capital, Lin Qian couldn't help but sigh. Despite having scouting beasts and fast winds deployed everywhere in the Qin Dynasty, the enemy still managed to escape.
However, upon seeing the damaged teleportation array, Lin Qian understood how they had fled.
Qin Lingtian and his group must have used the teleportation array to escape and then had someone they trusted destroy the array.
Scholars from the Ministry of Engineering analyzed the remnants of soul energy and the extent of the scorch marks, estimating that the escape occurred about half a month ago.
The teleportation array had been completely destroyed, making it impossible to know which direction they had teleported to, making it difficult to track them.
Conquering the remaining territory of the Qin Dynasty was only a matter of time, and the news that their Qin Emperor had fled without a fight would undoubtedly shock the remaining territories of the Qin Dynasty.
Just as Lin Qian had predicted, within a month, the entire Qin Dynasty's territory was completely conquered, and this ancient dynasty collapsed in such a manner.
Who could have imagined that the Huaxia Empire would possess such terrifying strength, rendering all the city formations of the Qin Dynasty ineffective?
After returning to the southern region, Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang remained very low-key, so the outside world had little understanding of their true strength.
It wasn't until the Qin Dynasty completely fell that nearby southern region forces couldn't resist the temptation to take a share of the spoils, including one of the top forces in the southern region, the Battle King's Hall.
To everyone's surprise, the master of the Battle King's Hall, one of the top ten experts of the southern region, was defeated by Yang Guixiang alone, coughing up blood and retreating with serious injuries.
Moreover, the actions of the three elders that followed shocked the entire southern region even more.
They took the initiative to challenge the top ten experts of the southern region, and aside from the seriously injured Battle King, the remaining nine were all defeated.
The terrifying strength displayed by the three elders left the disciples of the three forces dumbfounded. They had never imagined that their three ancestors could be so powerful.
The attitude of the three elders was also clear. The Qin Dynasty was primarily conquered by the Huaxia Empire, and the Wei Kingdom and the Autumn Kingdom were the same.
Therefore, how to handle the forty-nine states of the Qin Dynasty, the Wei Kingdom, and the Autumn Kingdom was entirely up to Lin Qian. Anyone who dared to voice their opinions would face no mercy from the three elders.
The stance of the three elders sparked widespread discussion throughout the southern region. Many were filled with curiosity about this mysterious Huaxia Empire and speculated about Lin Qian's background, wondering what kind of person could command such loyalty from the three elders.
Not only were people from other southern region forces puzzled, but even the three forces themselves were confused.
The three elders did not explain anything, nor did they need to. In their eyes, Lin Qian was their young master, and everything would be centered around him. They even considered directly integrating the three forces into the Huaxia Empire.
When Lin Qian learned of the three elders' thoughts, he quickly stopped them. The three forces had already established their own order and way of life. Suddenly merging them into the Huaxia Empire would not be a good thing.
At this time, there were also some who were deeply concerned—those from the Temple of Fate!