In a shrine, Nan Yi bowed deeply in front of the tablet, then inserted an incense stick into the censer in front of him, bowing solemnly three times.

"Son, wait for me to avenge my father for you; wife, wait for me to avenge our child for you," Nan Yi said calmly, but the flames of hatred burned in his bright eyes.

As Nan Yi had just said, he was paying respects to his deceased wife and son who had very recently died.

His son, who had just gone to Xiao Bai City a few days ago to compete with Wang Xiaole, ultimately ended up defeated and killed by Nan Yifei!

Nan Yifei had only been married once, and his wife had passed away early. When she was alive, she had only left Nan Yi with one son.

Out of love for his wife, Nan Yi doted on his son a lot; thus, Nan Yifei grew up in abundance, living a life even better than that of princes from most countries.

In such an environment, Nan Yifei gradually transformed from a spoiled young master into a thoroughly rotten one.

Engaging in all sorts of harmful and murderous acts, Nan Yifei became the epitome of evil and a model villain; unlike his well-respected father, he lived as the perfect symbol of hatred and disdain in others' eyes.

Nan Yi was well aware of all the illegal activities his son engaged in and had always tried to manage them; however, his way of "managing" involved settling the aftermath, specifically dealing with the families of the victims, wiping out individuals, and eradicating entire clans.

With a father like that, it was hard for Nan Yifei to learn any better.

Thus, he strayed further off the right path and eventually slipped and fell off a cliff, meeting a tragic end.

While Wang Xiaole believed he had acted reasonably by not letting Nan Yifei die without a proper burial, Nan Yi did not see it that way.

The enmity from killing one's own son was irreconcilable.

Since the thugs returned and reported the death of the young master to Nan Yi, revealing the identity of the killer at the moment, the Nan family was destined to engage in an endless revenge war against the wandering swordsman.

Although the Nan family could mobilize tens of thousands of private troops, Nan Yi knew it well:

Relying solely on these forces would not be enough for vengeance!

With insufficient strength, seeking external help was imperative.

Thus, Nan Yi sent his subordinates to deliver letters to the emperors of Dibiles and Sero.

He hoped to persuade the two powerful nations to assist with a substantial sum of money.

If the Nan family could persuade the two empires to send troops, they would inevitably be able to mobilize the followers of these great nations as well.

During the era of Kingdom, a grand war could muster tens of thousands of troops; in the Empire era today, with the involvement of the great nations, amassing over twenty thousand soldiers would be a simple matter.

If all went well, a vast army far exceeding the "Seven Nations Alliance" would be established under Nan Yi's command.

Unfortunately, the messenger who returned brought bad news to Nan Yi:

"I couldn't enter Dibiles Palace. The guards at the gate said the Empress was ill and couldn't handle political affairs at the moment, let alone see any visitors," he reported.

Lestier had personally been on the battlefield last year, single-handedly infiltrating the enemy camp and causing havoc, creating a legendary tale of defeating an entire army by himself.

If a woman like her was rumored to be unwell, Nan Yi would never believe it. Given her physical constitution, Nan Yi was certain that even when he breathed his last, Dibiles' Empress would still be standing strong.

The so-called news of her illness was merely a false message, a way for Dibiles to indirectly refuse the Nan family.

Lestier would not send troops, Dibiles did not lack money, yet they valued the lives of their soldiers greatly; Lestier would not resort to selling off their own troops for wealth.

With one empire's Empress refusing, Dibiles' position became clear.

Out of time-saving necessity, Nan Yi instructed his subordinate, "There's no need to continue reporting. Since Dibiles won't send troops, Sero will do the same."

Nan Yifei understood clearly:

When one empire didn't act, the other wouldn't either. And when both major powers took a stand, the smaller kingdoms following them would not be eager to commit troops.

It was only natural. After all, if the big players were not proactive, how could the smaller ones be?

If the smaller kingdoms responded actively to the Nan family, they would not only end up as subordinate states in the future but perhaps even have their ancestral tombs desecrated.

Considering their survival needs, these nations could only provide verbal support to the Nan family, while allowing actions that led to casualties on the enemy's side.

This kind of verbal support not only cost them nothing but also allowed them to watch the show elegantly and politely. Why wouldn't they do so?

Today, the majority of nations under the leadership of the two empires were sitting in the audience with popcorn, waiting to quietly watch the explosive drama unfold.

From the current situation, the Nan family had no hope of receiving external assistance on the continent.

What about the Northern and Southern continents?

The northern part of the continent was currently a wasteland with abundant trees and wildlife but lacking human presence.

While other parts of the continent were beginning to establish nations, the northern lands still functioned as a semi-primitive society, headed by chieftains.

The North continent was no longer an option, leaving only the South continent;

This place was more intriguing as there was no human habitation, and the races holding ownership were dragons and sea creatures.

This meant Nan Yi had no choice but to seek help from external tribal forces.

The sea creatures, as the name suggests, mainly inhabited the sea, occasionally coming ashore with very limited interaction with humans;

But the problem was that the combat capabilities of sea creatures could only be fully utilized in water.

Taking into account these factors, Nan Yi abandoned seeking help from sea creatures and shifted his focus to the dragons.

Naturally, Nan Yi understood there was hardly any emotional connection between dragons and humans;

To persuade the dragons, the Nan family had to offer something tangible.

Dragons valued treasures greatly, which was closely related to their innate love for shiny things, and this was where the Nan family's entry point lay.

Sweet words or emotional talks would not move the dragons, but presenting actual gold, silver, and jewels might.

Moreover, Nan Yi did not overlook the proud nature of dragons.

He believed that most dragons would not be easily swayed by material possessions to the point of abandoning their dignity.

Most would be hard to persuade, which meant a few could be.

Nan Yi set his sights on the exiles among the dragons.

The so-called "exile dragons" were those expelled from their homelands by their kin due to committing crimes.

The exiles had no fixed place to stay and struggled to guarantee even three meals a day, teetering on the edge of survival for a long time; the prolonged struggle for survival had caused them to lose their moral compass, and they would do almost anything.

This character trait made Nan Yi value them greatly.

While most dragons maintained their inherent pride, caring deeply about honor and dignity, these exiles, after years of impoverished living conditions, struggled to maintain their sense of dignity, if they even had any left.

Once suitable targets were identified, action was taken.

It must be noted that Nan Yi's actions did not start recently.

On the day he learned about his son's death and decided to put everything into revenge, he had already instructed his subordinates to make contact.

The actions of the exiled dragons were swift.

Utilizing their ability for flight, they arrived at Nan Yi's residence within a matter of days.

On this day, after Nan Yi had finished offering incense to his son and deceased wife, the household servants came to inform him that the guests he had been expecting arrived.

Upon entering the reception hall, Nan Yi saw the exiled dragons.

They stood tall and strong, exuding power visible both inside and out.

But all these were just general characteristics; the most unmistakable feature was the scales covering patches of skin on their faces.

Nan Yi could see several exiled dragons with these distinct dragon scale markings on their faces, the undeniable hallmark of their dragon heritage.

Why did the exiled dragons resemble humans so much?

It was due to the shape-shifting abilities of the dragon race.

Among dragons, those who could transform from dragons into human forms were undoubtedly skilled individuals.

However, not all experts were equal.

The exiled dragons, like the ones present, who couldn't fully transform into human forms and retained some dragon traits, were only considered first-rate experts.

Those who could freely transform into human forms without a trace of flaw belonged to the top-tier experts among the dragons.

Nan Yi was somewhat disappointed because after surveying the exiled dragons before him, he found that not a single one of them was in a completely human form;

This signified that none of them included the pinnacle of dragon combat strength.

This was not surprising; if the exiled dragons had included the strongest forces of the dragon race, they would not have ended up in such dire circumstances where they had no home to return to.

As a precaution, Nan Yi assessed their power levels and consequently concluded that out of the twelve dragons, six were at the city-toppling level, five were near city-toppling, and the leader was Nation-Toppling.

Not bad, Nan Yi thought that by recruiting them to serve as combat forces, they could still be somewhat effective.

Following that, Nan Yi negotiated with the exiled dragons and reached an agreement on a price acceptable to both parties, thus officially securing their assistance.

With his helpers in place, Nan Yi's next step was to undertake the mission.

Through the widespread Nan family intelligence network, he learned that his son's murderer was currently in Heishi City, not far from the Nan family's core area.

The reason Heishi City was situated close to the Nan family was that when the chairman was alive, he had conducted numerous trades with the Nan family in secret.

Before the disaster-leading meeting was dismantled, both sides had supported each other.