Someone's here (?)

As Qi Fei pondered how to help Little Ma complete the transformation of his Internal Qi attributes, a subtle sensation suddenly washed over him, as if someone were spying on him.

This gaze seemed to originate from outside the military camp.

"Heh, daring to spy on a military camp without permission; you've got some nerve."

Qi Fei's Divine Will immediately surged along the direction of the gaze to investigate.

However, he discovered nothing.

"As expected."

Qi Fei was not surprised by this.

After all, for someone bold enough to spy on a military camp, such concealment methods were well within his expectations.

Consequently, Qi Fei immediately drove his will to conduct a more meticulous search, simultaneously expanding the scope of his investigation to every corner surrounding the camp.

The several military generals remaining in the camp all sensed Qi Fei's power.

Guan Yu and the others grew solemn, immediately gathering the soldiers who were still training to prepare for Qi Fei to mobilize the main army.

For Qi Fei to exert his power to this extent, the opponent must not be underestimated.

It would be safer to surround them with the army.

On the other side, Qi Fei, having expanded his search radius, still had nothing to show for it.

"Interesting."

Qi Fei raised an eyebrow.

He immediately summoned a messenger, preparing to mobilize the army directly.

This kind of concealment ability did not seem like something an ordinary general could achieve; could it be one of those Immortals, those manifestations of Internal Qi?

That's right, the God Three World also had Immortals.

They disperse into energy and gather into form, possessing a very "immortal" flavor.

However, after Chen Xi and his peers researched them, they discovered that Immortals were actually just a mass of conscious Internal Qi at the Internal Qi Separation level.

Their combat effectiveness was not even as high as a general at the Internal Qi Separation level.

They fell from grace, from immortal to mortal, in an instant.

The Marquis of Huaiyin inside the Heirloom Seal of the Realm was in this very form.

However, the essence of the Marquis of Huaiyin was slightly stronger than that of an Immortal.

An Immortal is a new consciousness born after a person practices certain techniques and dies (it is the same person, but they have lost all memories of the past).

In essence, they are just an Internal Qi collection device and an alarm clock.

Once the Heaven and Earth Essence in the outside world recovers to a certain level and the body of the person in the coffin has been nurtured, the Immortal will return directly to the coffin.

Then, the person who died can lift the coffin lid and live a second life.

The Marquis of Huaiyin, however, still possessed his past memories and consciousness; he was simply targeted by the Heavens and forced into slumber.

Once unification is achieved and the Han Dynasty's national destiny is abundant, he can be awakened directly.

This is a much simpler method of resurrection than that of the Immortals.

However, regardless of the method of resurrection, it is not permitted by the Heavens of the God Three World, so once one appears, they are heavily targeted by the Heavens.

The complex resurrection methods of the Immortals are designed specifically to evade this scrutiny.

Those resurrected in this way are, in a sense, viewed as having usurped the identity of the Immortal who was already alive.

The Marquis of Huaiyin's path has no way to evade this, so he can only hide under the protection of the national destiny.

Of course, while some study resurrection, others do not want them to be resurrected.

For example, the Legalist School.

The Legalist School believes that life is life and death is death; you cannot say that you want to live after you have died—that is against the rules.

Thus, after the Marquis of Huaiyin crawled out of the Heirloom Seal, the obsession-remnant of Lord Shang used Immortal Yinghuo (Lord of Martial Peace), whose memory had partially recovered, to set a trap and report this group of people attempting to "smuggle" themselves back to life to the Heavens.

After the report, the obsession-remnant of Lord Shang was finished on the spot, and then it was the turn of Lord of Martial Peace and the other Immortals.

Lord of Martial Peace relied on the fact that the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin System to hide inside the Heirloom Seal and live with the Marquis of Huaiyin.

The rest, pressured by the threats of the Heavens, could only let their bodies lie in coffins playing dead while they continued to operate under the identities of Immortals.

Whenever he saw this, Qi Fei couldn't help but admire the Legalist School.

They were ruthless to others and even more ruthless to themselves; no wonder this group could always stir up trouble.

However, if it were an Immortal, there would be no reason to spy on the military camp.

Even if they were protecting a warlord to gain national destiny, they wouldn't protect them to the point of spying on a military camp.

It is not yet the late stage of the novel, and the Immortals haven't had the chance to lose their minds to arrogance yet; at this point, they can still even be called wise men.

Or could it be that they are spies from other warlords, possessing some special talent?

Yet, there was no logical reason for this talent to evade a God Boundary Breaker.

Why on earth was that?

Just as Qi Fei pondered this, his orders had already spread throughout the entire military camp.

As the drums sounded, every soldier remaining in the camp was mobilized, with the exception of Ma Chao and Cai Yang, who were still adjusting to one another.

Under the influence of military orders and formations, the soldiers' wills were unified by Qi Fei, and dense Cloud Qi appeared in the sky.

At this moment, Qi Fei couldn't be bothered to consider what the opponent's ability might be.

Regardless of the ability, it would be impossible to maintain its original state under the coverage of Cloud Qi.

Moreover, without the interference of enemy Cloud Qi, their own power could be unleashed to its maximum; that fellow spying on the camp was a dead man.

"Then let's start with a scan of the will."

Qi Fei directly drew upon the will of the entire army.

The next moment, the army's will scanned the camp and the space for over ten miles around it.

Ground, sky, water, and even underground—Qi Fei sifted through it all.

Yet, he still found no trace of the intruder.

"That's strange."

Qi Fei crouched on the platform, beginning to doubt his own reality.

He could not understand it.

If this were some other setting, failing to find someone might be excusable, but this was the God Three World, a place where a regular army was greater than all monsters and demons.

I have mobilized the entire army, activated the Cloud Qi, and channeled the collective will of all my troops.

An ordinary Boundary Breaker wouldn't even be worthy of such a targeted response.

Why couldn't I find a mere thief spying on the camp?

"And of all times, Zilong is on leave now, sigh."

Qi Fei let out a sigh.

In order to complete the agricultural colony project, Zhao Yun had practically run across the entirety of Mount Tai by himself.

He might not know every single person in Mount Tai, but he generally had an impression of them.

If he were to take the White Horse and run a lap, he might have found some clues.

What a pity.

"Mengqi, take these two hundred cavalrymen and ride a lap outside the camp to see if there are any suspicious individuals."

Qi Fei had no choice but to entrust the task to Ma Chao, who also leaned toward speed.

"This general obeys."

Ma Chao led his men and horses and charged straight out.

Qi Fei continued to mobilize the army's will to search.

However, even after Ma Chao had circled the perimeter three times, Qi Fei still had nothing to show for it.

"Something is wrong."

If they couldn't find anything outside, then there was only one possibility left.

"Everyone, take a headcount. If there are any anomalies, report to me immediately."

Qi Fei's order spread through the entire army at once.

A short while later, the headcount was finished, and there were no anomalies.

"As I thought—"

Qi Fei's expression was grave.

I fear those things from the Chu State have come over.

"Stand down from alert, recall Ma Chao to camp."

While withdrawing the troops, Qi Fei closely monitored the fluctuations in the army's will and the Cloud Qi in the sky.

He attempted to find a problematic target within them.

However, he still found nothing.

This couldn't help but make Qi Fei feel a bit suspicious.

Was he being neurotic, or were this thing's methods far beyond his imagination?

After arranging the soldiers, Second Master and the others hurried over.

"Zihong, who was the one who intruded just now? Did you gain anything?"

"No gains. I'm even starting to doubt if my senses were wrong and if, in fact, no one was spying at all."

Qi Fei shook his head and said.

In reality, he had already made some speculations, but he could not speak of them now.

"This is impossible."

Guan Yu directly denied this viewpoint.

"I also do not believe that Zihong would misperceive, it seems this thief's methods are extraordinarily formidable."

Cai Yang also followed up by expressing his opinion.

Internal Qi Separation is already sensitive enough to gazes, let alone a God Boundary Breaker.

The possibility of Qi Fei's perception being wrong was lower than the possibility of them simultaneously breaking through the three systems of Essence, Qi, and Spirit right here on the spot.

"Possessing such methods, then what is his purpose in spying on the military camp?"

Hua Xiong rarely used his brain.

Of course, because the Xiliang people had been tempering their muscles for a long time, his limit was only this much.

"Perhaps he was attracted by the Edict of Recruiting the Virtuous and wants to see our true strength?"

Top-tier strategist Zhang Fei made his entrance.

Unfortunately, in the absence of intelligence, even the speculation of a top-tier strategist was not very accurate.

Just at this moment, Ma Chao returned.

Accompanying him were Liu Bei and a strange general.

This man had two short halberds on his back, carried a long bow, and had a precious sword and quiver at his waist, looking quite formidable.

"Greetings to Lord Xuande/My Lord."

Everyone hurriedly offered their greetings.

"No need for formalities. Zihong, has something happened?"

Liu Bei hurriedly stepped forward to help Qi Fei up.

"Yes, Lord Xuande, the matter I have been worrying about has occurred."

Qi Fei said with a serious expression.

"Is it the matter you mentioned to Zichuan last time?"

Liu Bei asked.

The only thing that could make Qi Fei worry constantly was that.

Hearing Liu Bei's words, except for the two newcomers, everyone else instantly understood what Liu Bei was talking about.

"Yes, if one move is careless in this matter, it will surely cause endless disaster. Therefore, Fei could only inform Lord Xuande; I hope everyone will not take offense."

Qi Fei looked around at the others.

In this matter, guarding against them was even more important than guarding against that ghostly thing.

Zhang Fei and Hua Xiong stared at Qi Fei, their eyes seemingly filled with disbelief.

And Guan Yu seemed to be asking with his eyes, is this matter really that serious?

"Apologies."

Qi Fei could only respond this way.

In fact, if Liu Bei hadn't arrived at the scene, he wouldn't even have wanted to tell Liu Bei.

"Yunchang, Yide, Zijian, this is Taishi Ziyi, a fierce general who just defeated Xuangao within a hundred moves. Why don't you entertain him for me?"

Liu Bei immediately asked.

"As you command."

Guan Yu agreed without the slightest hesitation.

After achieving the God Boundary Breaker realm, not only had he failed to see through Qi Fei, but he felt even more distant from him.

Therefore, under such circumstances, he fully supported Qi Fei's decision.

And since Guan Yu had spoken, Zhang Fei and Hua Xiong exchanged a glance and also agreed.

"Ziyi, today is my fault. Another day, I will certainly apologize to Ziyi in person."

Liu Bei turned again and said to Taishi Ci.

"The matter happened suddenly, how could it be Lord Xuande's fault?"

Taishi Ci was not blind to the situation just now.

With the army being mobilized here, the problem was clearly not a small one.

"Many thanks for your understanding, Ziyi."

Liu Bei bowed and said.

"Second Master, please wait a moment."

Qi Fei sent a voice transmission to Guan Yu.

"If you discover anything, do not study it, or you risk bringing disaster upon your descendants for ten thousand generations."

If anyone among these people were capable of noticing that thing, it would only be Guan Yu, who had also reached the God Boundary Breaker realm.

Therefore, Qi Fei had to warn him personally.

"I understand."

Guan Yu replied via telepathic transmission as well.

Since Qi Fei was being this cautious, he naturally had no intention of acting recklessly.

Shortly after, Guan Yu and the other two left with Taishi Ci, while Cai Yang and Ma Chao were also invited to depart.

Xu Chu, Liu Bei's personal bodyguard, was also ordered by Liu Bei to leave.

"Pass the order to all units: no one is permitted to leave the military camp without my personal inspection."

After seeing them off, Qi Fei immediately issued the command.

"Oh, I almost forgot about this."

Qi Fei reached out and beckoned.

Far away in the Library Pavilion, the Nine Phoenix Sword rose from the ground, instantly breaking the sound barrier before whistling toward Qi Fei.

A few breaths later, the Nine Phoenix Sword descended from the sky, landing perfectly in Qi Fei's palm.

Afterward, Qi Fei took Liu Bei to a different location and, after setting up all necessary defenses, began to explain the Guest Corpse Feast Rite talent and the tragedy that had befallen the Chu State back then.

"So that is how it is; no wonder Zihong is so cautious."

After listening, Liu Bei also realized the severity of the situation.

It was fast and simple to master, and the power it granted was immense—what general wouldn't be tempted upon seeing such a thing?

Not to mention that they hadn't known about the Chu State's fate; even if they had, there would likely be no shortage of people greedy for such power.

"That is exactly why I had to exclude General Guan and the others."

Qi Fei sighed.

If these people thought they could improve it and went off to study this talent, it would be a disaster.

The core of this talent was to cultivate something non-human, and once altered, all its advantages would cease to exist.

Furthermore, during the research process, no one could guarantee that outsiders wouldn't find out.

The manifestation of an Elite Talent required soldiers, and it wasn't something that could be achieved by just one or two people.

If a matter is known by at least three people, can it still be considered a secret?

"Your approach is correct, Zihong."

Liu Bei comforted Qi Fei.

Qi Fei had shared all his worries with him, so he naturally understood Qi Fei's position now.

"By the way, Zihong, how do you intend to find that thing?"

They had gone to such great lengths before and failed to find the culprit; could they really find it later?

"I don't need to go looking for it."

Qi Fei shook his head.

"It was watching me before, likely because of my power, so it will come to find me on its own."

I fear that whatever is coming this time is just like the powers I absorbed before—all drawn here by the gifts of the Supreme God of Destruction.

Therefore, now that the Nine Phoenix Sword has returned, Qi Fei only needs to wait in the military camp.

It, or they, will definitely come.