For Yan Congke and Duan Hong, following Meng Zhao had already become inevitable.
Whether Meng Zhao murdered and set fires or raised an army in rebellion, there was no way for them to cut themselves loose from him. Besides, they had no desire to do so.
After all, he had lived three lives. In his previous life, he too had been a figure of towering ambition, seeking to dominate the Divine Continent and ascend to the pinnacle as the Nine-Nine Supreme.
Though Meng Zhao lacked the family background of his previous life in this life, as well as the aid of the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror, he had risen swiftly, and his foundations were by no means weak.
He led Duan Hong and Yan Congke on a stroll along the Mysterious Abyss, appropriately revealing some of his arrangements.
Within Hebei Province, Meng Zhao had long since used certain favors from Hong Minghui to weave an extremely covert network of connections.
From great clans and aristocratic families, martial sects, down to peddlers and common laborers, he had people everywhere.
Five years were not five months. With both kindness and authority at work, there were still few things Meng Zhao set his mind to that he could not accomplish.
Thus, at first glance, Meng Zhao appeared to be nothing more than a somewhat capable local strongman, still tucked away in the countryside.
Yet in truth, through one crucial chess piece after another, Meng Zhao had long extended his network across the vast Hebei Province. At the same time, he had treated the entire realm as a chessboard, placing his pieces. Some had succeeded, some had not, but all of them formed part of his foundations.
On the Divine Continent, his starting point had been high, but so had the difficulty. Its waters ran