In Dahuan Xundu, several eunuchs in King Huan's bedroom bowed their heads and walked hurriedly through the winding corridor. When they stepped over the threshold, they could see exquisitely shaped cranes, stoves, tripods and other objects in the hall. The finely carved screens and the hall complemented each other, looking solemn and gorgeous.
However, before he even stepped into the inner hall of the palace, he saw groups of palace maids and eunuchs running outside, shouting and crying.
"The king collapsed!"
"The King is dead!"
"The king took the longevity elixir offered by the great witch, and then..."
Suddenly, he saw that the things in the hands of several eunuchs at the back all fell to the ground, and everyone fell to their knees, crying loudly.
Inside the bedroom, a white-haired emperor wearing a black crown and robe was lying on the red silk cloth on the ground, holding a jade box tightly in his hand.
However, his face was blue and black, and he even had sharp fangs and teeth. He did not look like a human at all. He was like a reincarnated evil spirit or a fierce ghost. This hideous and terrifying sight scared everyone in the palace so much that no one dared to approach.
Groups of armored guards poured in from outside and quickly surrounded the entire palace. Soon the entire palace was under martial law, and the entire Dahuan Dynasty became restless.
Inside the witch priest temple, on the high-built star-picking platform, the great witch priest Dan Jia was observing the stars. Groups of witch priests surrounded him, and a large astronomical instrument on the platform was spinning rapidly.
The shaman priests were in charge of all sacrificial ceremonies throughout the country, and were also responsible for compiling the calendar, observing the stars and calculating Dahuan's destiny.
However, when they were recording the star map and recording the celestial tracks, they suddenly discovered that a star had fallen from the sky.
At the same time, a strong wind suddenly blew up in the sky and the clouds changed color.
"The Emperor's Star has fallen!" The Great Shaman Danjia had a blank expression on his face. He had witnessed this kind of scene once before.
The Dahuan royal family is not born with the blood of gods and demons, and their lifespan is no different from that of ordinary people. Even with the help of elixirs, their lifespan is only at most fifty or sixty years, and at most eighty or ninety years.
Many kings were already over fifty years old when they ascended the throne. Even an extremely noble emperor who held the world in his hands could not escape death. Emperors of all dynasties tried to find ways to prolong their lives and practiced cultivation themselves.
However, the emperor has many affairs to attend to, is in charge of the world, and enjoys wealth and glory. He does not experience all kinds of hardships and dangers like the founding ruler, and his will is not firm, so even if he practices, his cultivation is not high.
Therefore, most of the kings of Huan in history have set their sights on external objects. Among them, the method of integrating the blood of gods and demons is frequently mentioned by the Great Huan Shaman. By integrating the blood of gods and demons and possessing the blood of gods and demons, one can extend one's lifespan by hundreds of years in one fell swoop. However, this method is extremely dangerous. Only those with a firm will and a determination to do whatever it takes would dare to use this method.
Moreover, the older he gets, the lower the chance of successfully fusing the blood of gods and demons. When the emperor was young, he would not use such a life-threatening method to prolong his life. In his old age, he could not use it even if he wanted to.
Until a hundred years ago, the method of refining the longevity elixir that was passed down from the fairy mountains overseas was to refine the longevity fruit grown in the ruins of the Immortal Kingdom. One elixir could extend a person's life by ten years.
The King of Dahuan immediately ordered the witch priest to find the longevity fruit from the overseas wanderer, refine the longevity pill, and extend his own life.
But later it was discovered that if one consumes too much of this longevity elixir, one will turn into an evil ghost or a vicious creature.
Legend has it that the fruit is made from the flesh and blood of the immortals, which is why it has such miraculous effects. However, it contains the curse of the immortals, so it can turn people into evil spirits.
Once the disadvantages of such things were discovered, the priests mentioned them to King Huan. However, people were in their old age and were about to die, so they did not care about so many things.
The previous King Huan, Chongkang, lived to be 121 years old because of the use of longevity elixirs. He reigned for 114 years and suppressed the turbulent situation of the entire Great Huan Dynasty for such a long time. In the end, he died suddenly in an extremely horrific and terrifying way.
The eighth King Huan was the grandson of Chongkang. He was already seventy years old when he ascended the throne and was in very old health. He had taken longevity pills to prolong his life twice when he was seriously ill.
The great witch priest Danjia looked at the sky and the Dahuan Xundu that had been passed down for more than two hundred years: "A great disaster is coming!"
Pan State was a vassal state granted by Dahuan. At first, it was just a viscount, and later it was granted the title of earl. In recent years, it was even promoted to duke. The Duke of Pan State in this area is nearly 40 years old, in the prime of life, and Pan State also has a strong military force.
At this moment, Duke Pan Guo was walking excitedly in the palace, holding a secret letter on silk that had been sent from a thousand miles away: "God help me! Announce to the world and contact all the princes that the great witch priest Danjia poisoned two generations of kings and harbored evil intentions to bring chaos to the world!"
Duke Pan walked back and forth and immediately stopped the general beside him: "No! This will force the entire Dahuan to unite. We can't let them unite, but we have to make them chaotic."
"The elixir made by the great witch priest Dan Jia caused two generations of King Huan to die suddenly. We don't need to do anything. All the witch priests in Da Huan will be suspected. The power of the witch priests is too great and has suppressed the royal family. No matter who is in power, they will not be tolerated."
"With the throne vacant, if we give it a push, the entire Dahuan will collapse in an instant!"
The duties of the Chief Shaman Priest were extremely important in Dahuan. He not only managed all the shaman priests in Dahuan, but was also nominally in charge of the incense and sacrifices of the entire Dahuan. In name, all the gods of the earth in Dahuan were under the management of the shaman priest.
This person has almost taken control of most of the cultivators and Shinto forces. In this world dominated by cultivators, it has become almost the most important position in Dahuan and the cornerstone for suppressing Dahuan. However, it is precisely because of this that successive Huan kings are extremely wary of him.
Immediately, dozens of princes and governors across the entire Dahuan Dynasty became restless and communicated frequently with each other.
As for the entire Dahuan, because King Huan died suddenly without leaving any oral instructions or imperial edicts on which of his sons would inherit the throne, King Huan's dozen or so sons and even grandsons all mobilized, and the entire Xundu and the royal capital were filled with smoke of gunpowder.
Rumors were also spreading everywhere in Dahuan, and there were various versions about the cause of King Huan's death. The most widely circulated one was that the two generations of King Huan died suddenly, which was closely related to the great witch priest Danjia and the entire witch priest group.
Afterwards, the position of the Great Shaman Priest Dan Jia was abolished. A few days later, he received an imperial edict signed by six ministers and approved by the harem, which named him the Earl of Dan State and ordered him to lead people to the northwest to establish a country and develop it.
Later, more than a dozen of them used various means to fight for the throne, Xundu and the royal capital, and even resorted to swords and guns. The situation was chaotic, and then several princes were killed, and the others were either imprisoned or fled to other countries.
After the new King Huan ascended the throne, he immediately issued an edict to abolish the title of Duke of Dan, investigated him for the cause of the deaths of two generations of King Huan, and exiled him to the northern wilderness again with another edict.
At the same time, the entire witch-priest system was dismissed. A large number of witch-priests were implicated because of the sudden deaths of two generations of King Huan. Under the guard of thousands of witches of the Black Armor Army and the personal supervision of the Six Ministers, these powerful witch-priests were put on soul-locking chains that pierced their hand and foot bones, and were tortured and sent to the execution platform.
A large number of witches and priests fled, and the witches and priests who had dominated the entire Dahuan for hundreds of years began to decline and withdrew from the stage of history. This was recorded in history books as the disaster of witches and priests.
At this time, the princes of Dahuan who fled to various countries, with the support of the princes, claimed that they were the heirs appointed by the previous King Huan. Then they announced to the world the various actions of the current King Huan in killing and imprisoning his brothers. The princes of various places also refused to recognize King Huan's throne.
More than a dozen princes began to invade Dahuan, and the entire Dahuan was instantly torn apart, and the armies of various countries entered the territory of Dahuan.
Without the witches and priests, even the local gods of the earth began to disobey orders. The entire Dahuan lost its last bit of deterrence and was unable to suppress the princes. More than a dozen major countries, together with some of their vassal tribes, formed a large army.
The flags and armored soldiers raised dust for thousands of miles. Wherever they passed, cities and fiefdoms surrendered one after another. The entire Dahuan was divided and annexed, just like a feast for gluttons.
In the final battle in the royal capital, the entire Black Armor Army was wiped out by the iron hooves of the Pan Kingdom's army.
Duke Pan led a large army into Xundu and occupied this great land. Since the founding of the Huan Dynasty 200 years ago, it has only been expanding without moving the capital. He abandoned the original King Huan and supported his prince Ji to ascend the throne.
In the south, Shao State also occupied a large area of land south of Dahuan, rebuilt a royal palace in Changdi, supported the prince to re-establish the royal capital here, and denounced Pan State as a rebel.
In addition, the Gao Kingdom in the east also supported a King Huan. Three King Huan appeared in the Central Plains of Dongzhou. Because of the disputes over territory and borders between the Shao Kingdom, Pan Kingdom and Gao Kingdom, each supported a King Huan and sent troops to fight against each other.
Wars were frequent and troops were everywhere.
At this time, Fang Xiu, dressed in brown, rode a horse into the land. The road was littered with starving corpses. Thousands of miles of fertile fields were all barren and overgrown with weeds. The most prosperous place for the entire human race became desolate and withered because of this war.
Traces of magical bombardment could be seen on the city walls, and the city gate was burned black by the sorcerers' magical powers. The army had already left, leaving only a few soldiers from the Pan Kingdom stationed in the city.
Fang Xiu led his horse into the city. The city was no longer prosperous. Only one in ten people remained. Either they died in the war or they had already escaped.