Chapter 33

The ten thousand prisoners who had arrived in the North long ago were unconditionally released by Xisa shortly after Solo, who had only just arrived to join them, had reached the camp. None were left behind. No one questioned this decision, for they knew these prisoners would return to the Divine Peak Kingdom carrying the plague sown by Solo’s dark magic, becoming reapers of life.

"Pfft." Ten thousand miles away, inside Black Wind Mountain, a magic altar stood tall on the summit of Heaven Mother Peak. Yuan Hong sat alone on it, with thirty-six demon kings seated in a ring around him.

"Alright, that’s your special-supply cigarette. I’ll go all out for it," Xiao Han promised casually, pouring a glass of wine for Old Zheng.

"Brother Policy!" Cui Mingzhu ran out from the room, pounced on Zhao Zhengce, and then clung to his leg, refusing to let go.

While the various troop types were going through their shakedown period, the propaganda offensive of the Jie Sect never ceased. They depicted the Ksitigarbha’s Dark Buddhist Land encroaching upon the ocean as an act of heinous evil—nothing less than Buddhism’s aggression against Taoism. With the banner of the Saints held high, the Ksitigarbha’s followers now found themselves besieged on all sides, with no path to heaven and no door to earth.

Of course, it was impossible for these six MBAs to train such a large number of officials and cadres; no one had that much energy, and there wasn't enough time. Thus, the most outstanding students from the first phase were selected to serve as instructors for the second phase, and so on, implementing a pyramid-style teaching method.

Ye Tian was slightly stunned. He recalled that he had indeed spent quite a long time in that forest earlier, but at the time, the situation had been urgent, and his mind had been focused on his late-night snack, so he naturally hadn't paid attention to the time.

Zhuang Wanzhao had already received the intelligence: Chiyou had long since moved away from Jade Capital Mountain and gone to Shouyang Peak, using it as his base. Jade Capital Mountain was simply too conspicuous, located at the center of the world, making it very easy to attract unwanted attention.

Xisa had never seen such a polarizing sword technique, nor a killing blow that could reorganize its momentum in an instant. Before he could react, his brain was buzzing from a sonic shockwave, and he saw a cold blade stabbing toward his heart. Instinctively, in that life-or-death moment, he did not retreat but advanced, lunging forward with a side-step while thrusting his own sword.

Years ago, Minglingzi had led the remnants of the Jiuli army, carrying with him many treasures left behind by Chiyou. Knowing these items could not be brought into the light, he had gone his own way as soon as he reached the Southern Border. He did not flee to hoard the treasures; rather, he chose a place to live in seclusion, waiting to emerge and offer his support the moment an opportunity arose to restore the Jiuli.

Arriving at the bedside, Chen Yi examined Gang Tie’s injuries. He saw that one of his eyes was open while the other was closed, and an oxygen tube was inserted into his nose. It was unclear whether he was in a coma or conscious.

Whenever he used this reasoning to persuade himself, Chen Yi felt uneasy instead. He felt he was the type to burn bridges—someone who only knew how to take advantage when things were good, but would hide far away when things went bad, refusing to save those in danger.

The wind blew, carrying away large swathes of gray-black smoke. For some reason, Feng Yan suddenly trembled violently. Unsteady, he nearly collapsed, but he gritted his teeth and flashed a hundred meters away into the woods on the river embankment, where he finally slumped into the thicket.

He had not expected that after enjoying only half a year of peace, he would be targeted by the Wolf Squad, and that such a terrifying person would be sent to deal with him.

Dai Dong was curious; he couldn't understand why Uncle Wang had reacted that way. Could it be that the wine couldn't be drunk?

Now, they had to do everything in their power to handle the situation. Regardless of anything else, what had happened had already happened, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Seeing Wu Zhenhai walk over, the rest of the Immortal Martial Empire’s men gathered around in unison. In an instant, they had Ye Xingchen and Qin Shouheng’s group trapped in the middle, their faces filled with mocking expressions.

After practicing for the better part of the night, Hao Yu ended his deep meditation because he realized that no matter how hard he practiced, he could no longer improve. He had sensed the barrier of his own realm, and while breaking through it seemed simple, it was also difficult. At the very least, Hao Yu did not believe he could break through this barrier in a short time.

"Please, take me with you! As long as you can get me out of here, I will work like an ox or a horse to repay you." Dujuan knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to Li Youcai.

The door opened, and Shen Xinyi looked at Gu Yi with impatience. Gu Yi didn't say a word; he pushed past Shen Xinyi and walked inside. Shen Xinyi wanted him to leave, but Gu Yi simply changed his shoes and walked straight in. Shen Xinyi didn't know what to say—he was simply a scoundrel.

"Taking LZ City is the established strategic direction of the Great Leader. This time, we will discuss this topic." Xie Ping picked up his water cup and let the others continue to speak.

With an equally resentful tone, Liu Xuetang ripped off his mask and shouted almost nose-to-nose: "Those 109 Miao infants! The children are innocent; they are blameless!" This powerful counter-attack left Old Wei completely speechless.

"You idiot! Where did Master say this place was?" Yan Yulei almost slapped the piece of paper onto Chen Yulou’s face.

He had not expected the Shadow to be so deranged, treating human life like grass, and to have no bottom line, going so far as to use Silver-tier strength to slaughter Bronze-tier opponents. It was truly shameless.

"Brother Ming, the Ice Rain Archmage has been cultivating here for many years. He must have known that the Dean of the Tianxuan Academy was returning, so he must have guessed we would come," Long Quan said.

The scene here was now completely different from yesterday. Tens of thousands of demon warriors gathered here, arranged in various formations surrounding the magic array in the plain. Everyone was fully prepared and ready to strike.

"My goodness," Ji Fa felt a churn in his heart. He hadn't expected to run into this "acquaintance" here.

The cold wind raged, roaring as it snaked into the carriage from all sides, and in an instant, the air inside grew even colder. The pitch-black night sky seemed to blend into vast pools of thick ink, peeling away layer by layer, yet still revealing no end.

It had been a while since they had met. He wondered how the person was doing. It was time to pay a formal visit. After all, things were different now.

The rumors that the second young master was involved with his sister-in-law had reached everyone in the Yan family, but they had never expected the second young master to be so deeply devoted that he would commit suicide at the prime of his career.

He would even plan and wait, biding his time, intending to marry Qiao Ximin to annex the Qiao family and strengthen the Han family, only to replace them later.

Xi Jianye went upstairs, returned to her room, and threw herself onto the bed. She was so tired; she just wanted to sleep.