Chapter 1506: Chapter 1604: Unyielding Crown Prince

Nobody expected that the Nine Countries would suddenly descend into utter chaos.

It began with Yuan Country, where several key cities on the northern grasslands were overrun by the Demon Clan’s army. The Demon Beast race surged in from the north, occupying vast stretches of grassland. More than four hundred thousand troops of Yuan Country, stationed in the grasslands, engaged in a terribly fierce slaughter with the Demon Beast race.

Speaking of these four hundred thousand troops of Yuan Country, their situation was indeed difficult. While the court and political circles of Yuan Country were embroiled in an intense struggle over the throne among several Princes, this army resolutely stood guard on the grasslands, halting the advance of the Demon Beast race.

If these four hundred thousand soldiers had retreated from the grasslands, no one would have said a word. However, they did not leave, and the army was commanded by a powerful Prince, the late Yuan Emperor’s cousin.

This Prince led the four hundred thousand-strong army in combat against the Demon Beast race on the grasslands, where lives were lost at every moment, for over ten days.

In just half a month’s time, the four hundred thousand were reduced to less than one hundred thousand, ultimately unable to withstand the pressure, and retreated from the grasslands.

With that, the entire northern grasslands were once again occupied by the Demon Beast race.

Yuan Country’s loss of the grasslands amounted to the loss of nearly a third of its territory, sending shock waves through the state. Many advised the feuding Princes to cease their internal struggles and to unite against the onslaught of the Demon Beast race–the most pressing matter at hand.

In the end, these Princes of Yuan Country were not mediocre; after losing the northern grasslands, they realized that if they continued to fight over the throne, the Demon Beast race might advance further into the heartlands of Yuan Country.

So, an unspoken agreement was reached among the Princes. Until the turmoil in the grasslands was pacified, the question of throne succession would be set aside, to be decided after the unrest had ended.

Of course, the Princes were well aware that this chaos in the grasslands, though sudden and adding to Yuan Country’s troubles, was also an opportunity for them. Whoever performed best and shined brightest during this turmoil would have an advantage in the struggle for the throne.

To put it bluntly, this unrest in the grasslands gave the Princes a chance to demonstrate their capabilities, but for Yuan Country as a whole, it was indeed a disaster.

Yuan Country was plagued by the chaos of the Demon Beast race, while Tang Country and Qing Nation were hardly faring any better.

After the battle in the Extreme North Icefield concluded, the Qin Emperor returned to Qing Nation. After briefly dealing with some affairs, he handed over state affairs to the Crown Prince to manage and chose to enter seclusion himself.

Following the Qin Emperor’s seclusion, the various Pill Alliance branches scattered across Qing Nation unexpectedly began to have frictions with Qing Nation.

It was impossible for there to be no friction whatsoever between the Pill Alliance and the Upper Three Countries, as they are fundamentally different powers with overlapping influences invariably leading to conflicts.

But the branches of the Pill Alliance within Qing Nation had always been rather compliant and managed to coexist fairly harmoniously with the nation, scarcely encountering any friction.

Yet now, all four branches of the Pill Alliance there had developed conflicts with Qing Nation, ranging from minor to significant.

The first to do so was the Pill Alliance branch within the capital city of Qing Nation, also the country’s largest branch, with many of the Pill Alliance’s senior members stationed there year-round.

The source of the conflict was peculiar–the offspring of an official from Qing Nation had purchased a batch of Pills from the Pill Alliance. After taking them, they exhibited symptoms of poisoning, and it was not just one or two; rather, many exhibited the same symptoms.

These Pills were taken by the official’s offspring to gift others, all children of government officials with significant status in Qing Nation.

Now there was serious trouble; many officials’ offspring had taken these Pills and all were poisoned.

The moment this happened, the parents of these officials’ offspring were naturally extremely angry with the Pill Alliance, and they went to dispute with their various branches, demanding an explanation.

The people of the Pill Alliance were also completely confused; they had checked this batch of Pills repeatedly and it shouldn’t have had any issues, but the poisoning of so many officials’ offspring couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

Thus, under the supervision of several high-level Pill Alliance members, a thorough investigation was conducted on this batch of Pills.

Of course, the investigation turned up significant problems.

As a result, the branch of the Pill Alliance found itself in an indefensible position, as the Pills they had refined themselves had problems, which left no room for excuses, whatever they said.

Several high-level executives of the branch had to go from door to door, making formal apologies, and they also felt a fire burning in their hearts, resulting in them severely scolding the Pill Refiners of the branch.

It was thought that this would be the end of it, but unexpectedly, during the Pill Alliance branch’s next purchase of medicinal materials, they encountered difficulties from Qing Nation officials, who not only raised the prices to more than three times higher than before but also delivered materials of significantly worse quality than in the past.

The high-level Pill Alliance members were almost bending over backwards in frustration, it was obvious from the get-go that the Qing Nation officials were intentionally targeting them over the previous Pills poisoning incident.

Consequently, relations between the Pill Alliance and Qing Nation deteriorated, with both sides holding grudges against each other.

Finally, the conflict blew up when a Pill Refiner was killed in the streets by a Qing Nation Martial Artist, leading to the Pill Alliance formally confronting Qing Nation about this behavior.

At that time, the Qin Emperor was in seclusion, and all affairs were being managed by the Crown Prince.

This Qing Nation Crown Prince was not just any character; he was definitely poised to be the next Qin Emperor, and while the other Princes were all quite outstanding in their own right, they paled in comparison to the Crown Prince.

Known for his firmness, the Qing Nation Crown Prince had once been sent to the frontier for training during friction between Qing Nation and Tang Country, where he often led the Qing Nation army in challenging Tang Country’s border, even once declaring his ambition to cross into Tang Country’s territory one day.

When the high-level members of the Pill Alliance went to see the Crown Prince to demand an explanation, the attitude of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was shocking.

He outright threw a memorial at the face of the Pill Alliance executive and had the royal exponents oust this Pill Alliance high-level member on the spot.

“Pill Alliance has violated our Qing Nation’s laws, from today onwards, any Pill Refiner registered with the Pill Alliance is forbidden to set foot in the capital, and all Pill Refiners from the Pill Alliance currently within the capital are to be detained and held.”

This was a decree directly issued by the Qing Nation Crown Prince, catching the Pill Alliance completely off-guard as he took a hardline stance; he was essentially tearing off any pretense of respect, and ready to have a complete fall out with the Pill Alliance.

This order resulted in the Pill Refiners of the Pill Alliance becoming extremely hostile towards Qing Nation, and conflicts between the Pill Refiners and Martial Artists erupted not only in the Qing Nation’s capital but across its territories.

In such a situation, the price of Pills in Qing Nation kept rising, because the Pill Alliance refused to supply Pills to Qing Nation, leading to a severe shortage.

For Martial Artists, Pills are a very important aspect of cultivation, and without them, Qing Nation would inevitably find itself in a great predicament.

ps: Here’s the first update, and don’t laugh at me, I just got out of bed… if it weren’t for not being able to hold it any longer, I could probably have stayed in bed until 12 noon.