Prelude

"You lost," Chen Yu said with a smile, sitting in the wilderness playing chess with Li Bingxi. "Your chess style is just like your personality—unwilling to take risks or make mistakes. I heard you have a famous theory: a hundred flawless moves equal the final victory. It sounds reasonable at first, but being too cautious in life isn't good either."

Chen Yu was still wearing his plain white clothes. Beside the chessboard, a Green Ox was dozing off, with two bamboo baskets full on its back, containing a total of 32 Painting Scroll.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, but the two men sat calmly in the Group Army's forward base, playing Go.

The next moment, a light Xiao Yu began to fall outside, accompanied by rumbling thunder.

The Awakening of Insects has arrived.

Li Bingxi slowly raised his eyes to look at Chen Yu: "You're well prepared, aren't you? That's the shadow of the Qing family; it's not shameful to show strategic respect."

"Senior, it's time to make a move," Chen Yu suddenly said.

"It's not time yet," Li Bingxi replied.

At this moment, a middle-aged man who had been waiting nearby suddenly said, "Our Qing family has shown sufficient sincerity. Please set off as soon as possible. They are currently trapped in the mountains and unable to break out, making this the perfect time to ambush and kill them."

"What's the rush?" Li Bingxi said calmly, "I don't see any sincerity from you. Those who want to fight don't dare to come to the battlefield themselves, but instead send a mere advisor like you. Where is the fighting spirit of the Kyung Clan from years ago? I'm not in a hurry. Anyway, I'm not the one with no way out. Besides, you can't represent the Kyung Clan. If you want to represent them, become the head of the family first."

Li Bingxi glanced sideways at his advisors. "You should be thinking about how to satisfy us. After all, only our intervention can save your lives."

Beneath the calm exterior of that aide, veins were throbbing rapidly.

Now, some members of the Qing family have already Pledge of Allegiance, and have lost a considerable number of men, while also forging a deadly feud with the Shadow.

However, after seeing the Pledge of Allegiance, Li Bingxi was no longer in a hurry, and seemed to be waiting for a better offer.

He knew that once he received this Pledge of Allegiance, he would have certain people under his control.

If he and Chen Yu were to suddenly withdraw now, those who wanted to disturb Ning Xiu's tomb, and those who dispatched troops to besiege Qing Chen, would probably all have to bear the wrath of the Qing family's shadow and intelligence system.

That's politics for you; it's full of people who go back on their word. They only care about maximizing their own interests. As for integrity... can you even exchange it for money?

However, the advisor to the Qing family quickly calmed down, realizing that he could have imagined what was happening before it even occurred.

He looked at Chen Yu and asked, "How can the two of you make a move?"

Chen Yu smiled and waved his hand, "Don't look at me, look at this senior. He even gave up cultivation, focusing all his energy on becoming a politician, so he calls the shots."

Li Bingxi said, "Your nanorobot development project in the north in cooperation with Kamishiro must be stopped. In addition, the high-energy nuclear research laboratory and power plant on the Spring Thunder River in the north are all controlled by the few people behind you, and these must also be transferred to Kashima. The natural gas field outside City 24 must also be transferred to Kashima."

The aide pondered for a moment, "This matter is too important; I must report it upstairs."

Li Bingxi laughed, "All these things combined are nothing compared to life. Hurry up and go, while Shadow is still unconscious and Qing Chen is trapped in the mountains and can't escape. Consider the price I'm offering."

The Kashima Family has always lagged behind other families in certain technologies and has also been lacking in energy.

They had been allied with Kamishiro, hoping to extract something from him, but Kamishiro was very cunning and didn't let them get any benefits.

The reason why Li Bingxi is risking his life to make this move is that he genuinely feels that the Shadow has few trump cards left and only needs to observe further before taking action.

On the other hand, he also needed to secure a future for Kashima. The family had to master certain core technologies so that they wouldn't be controlled by others and could no longer rely on Kamishiro.

This is what Li Bingxi wanted.

While killing Shadow and Qing Chen was certainly partly for Li Bingxi's own safety, it was also driven more by self-interest and ambition.

The Qing family's advisors left and reported to their superiors via encrypted phone.

Li Bingxi looked at Chen Yu: "It seems very unusual that you didn't make any demands on the Qing family."

Chen Yu smiled and said, "I was just worried that Shadow might threaten your safety, so I asked you to join forces because I genuinely care about you."

Li Bingxi- hee scoffed.

He knew that Chen Yu had come for revenge, because Chen Yu's father Chen Chuanzhi, had died at the hands of the knights, so Chen Yu wanted to wipe out the Knight Organization.

But this is definitely not Chen Yu's only goal.

Chen Yu changed the subject with a smile, "But don't you find it strange? Where is the head of the Qing family? Such a big thing happened, but the head of the Qing family is acting as if nothing happened. We can't see him making a sound at all."

Li Bingxi sneered, "Shadow has been eroding that old guy's power for the past ten years. I'm afraid that old guy couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to get rid of Shadow as soon as possible by using other people. As for Qing Chen... his son, whom he had painstakingly hidden, was replaced by the Time Walker. If it were me, I would also want to kill him."

Chen Yu smiled but remained silent.

They neither accepted nor refuted this speculation.

"If the Qing family agrees to your conditions, when do you plan to make your move?" Chen Yu asked.

Li Bingxi said, "We'll act when you agree."

"They'll agree soon enough; after all, they have no way out," Chen Yu said. "Then let's prepare for war."

As they spoke, a master each followed behind Chen Yu and Li Bingxi and walked into the mountains.

At this time, another unit arrived in the southern mountains. They rested briefly outside Forbidden Zone No. 002 before plunging into the wilderness.

A direct force belonging to the Shadow was heading south to provide support, but was intercepted by Chen Clan troops who had been waiting on the road. A battle broke out instantly, with neither side holding back.

It was a grand and impressive event.

It's like everyone is sitting at a table playing cards, constantly revealing each other's cards, and only at the very last moment do they know who has the trump card.

On the towering tree in Forbidden Zone No. 002, Ding Dong stood at the edge of the treetop, gazing into the distance.

The trunk of this towering tree is so thick that even a giant like Ding Dong would appear extremely small standing on it.

He saw from the tree that more troops had arrived, and that dark clouds were rolling in the sky, with rain pattering on the huge leaves.

For some reason, Ding Dong was already somewhat certain that these people were there to besiege Qing Chen.

It was these people who blocked his way that prevented Qing Chen from keeping his appointment.

"Ding Dong!"

(Azure Falcon, please fly over and take a look, okay?)

In the treetop, Azure Falcon preened his feathers. "Chirp!"

(Why the hell don't you go?!)

Ding Dong: "Ding Dong!"

(I'm scared!)

Azure Falcon: "Chirp!"

(I'm scared too. Didn't you see there's an air force stationed outside the battlefield? And a demigod is here too. I'm not going.)

Ding Dong hesitated for a long time on the tree, then suddenly turned around and climbed down the trunk.

Azure Falcon paused for a moment, then chirped!

(Are you looking for death?)

"Ding Dong!"

(Mind your own business!)

After landing on the ground with Ding Dong, the giant set off towards the edge of the Forbidden Zone forest. Along the way, he had to be careful not to step on any small animals or insects on the ground, and also to avoid his tall body crashing into trees and damaging bird nests and eggs.

Ding Dong bent down and ran away.

But when he reached the edge of the Forbidden Zone, he suddenly stopped.

He looked at the outside world and hesitated.

Ding Dong has never left this place.

The old folks say it's dangerous outside.

Return countdown: 22:00:00.

2 a. m.

In the mountains and fields, several people suddenly emerged from the ground.

Everyone was breathing heavily, trying to get the fresh air in.

Sun Chuci and Tuanzi collapsed to the ground, as if they had just drowned and been pulled ashore.

Just now, Zard led them underground for three minutes to evade a group of the Group Army searching for them.

To evade the mechanical hounds' sense of smell, they had to go deep underground, and everyone had to hold their breath and endure it.

The more powerful a superhuman is, the stronger their physical functions are, and the more oxygen they need.

So even if a demigod falls into the water without any preparation, their breath-holding time is only 3 to 5 minutes, which is only slightly better than that of a normal person.

Zard looked overjoyed, Qing Chen asked curiously, "What are you so happy about? We're being chased."

Zard looked at everyone and chuckled, "None of you could hold your breath as long as I could! You've lost this match!"

Qing Chen: "..."

What kind of competition is this? Everyone's trying to escape right now, who has the mind to compete with you on who can hold their breath the longest?

At this moment, Zard seemed to realize something. "No, it was Mr. Shadow who won. He doesn't need to breathe now, so I can't beat him."

"What kind of thought process do you have?" Qing Chen asked. "Can't you improve your Earth Release technique? Every time you use it, you have to hold your breath. What if you suffocate one time?"

Zard paused for a moment and said, "I think holding your breath is really cool, it's a lot of fun. When I was little, my favorite thing to do was to hold my breath in a basin with Huan Yu."

To everyone's surprise, this guy gave such an answer.

He likes to hold his breath, what the hell?

However, this statement also reveals an important piece of information: Zard and Huan Yu have known each other since they were children!

No wonder these two, one from the Qing family and the other from the Chen family, got mixed up together after transmigrating; they were childhood friends from the Outer World.

Sun Chuci sat in a valley, panting, "There are just too many blockade lines in the south. It feels like the whole mountain is teeming with people. And those bastards have even laid dozens of minefields. They're ruthless."

For almost a whole day, they were constantly running around, and every time they had just rested for a short while, they would be found by soldiers searching all over the mountains and fields.

There are at least four thousand soldiers in these mountains, and they are carrying heavy firepower. Even an A-rank soldier like Zard would have a hard time getting through.

Fortunately, the Shenyou airship had been breached and the Yunting had escaped; otherwise, with phased array radar constantly scanning in the sky, they would have been in even more trouble.

Qing Chen can indeed simulate the radio waves of a phased array radar, but the difficulty of the simulation increases with each additional person in the team.

Now, they can only wage guerrilla warfare, waiting for an opportunity that may appear at any time.

"How about you try waking Mr. Shadow up again, Dean?" Sun Chuci suggested tentatively.

Qing Chen carefully put the shadow down, then leaned close to his ear and said, "Chen Yu is here."

"Li Bingxi is here!"

"Chen Yu said you're no good at fighting!"

As a result, the shadow still didn't react at all.

Qing Chen gave up...

Tuanzi asked cautiously, "What if we can't get out?"

Sun Chuci glanced at her. "Don't say discouraging things."

Tuanzi whispered, "I'm not trying to be discouraging... I mean, even if we can't get out, I won't regret it. How about we let Yang Yang take Mr. Shadow away first, and we can stay here and deal with them?"

Looking at the serene face of the shadow beside him, and thinking of how the other had painstakingly planned everything for him over the past ten years, Qing Chen slowly said, "We will definitely get out. I don't know what he's waiting for right now, but I must make him wait."

"Hey, where's Yang Yang? Is she lost?" Tuanzi asked curiously.

Everyone looked around, but couldn't see Yang Yang anywhere.

However, at that moment, Qing Chen suddenly stood up. "Be careful, someone is coming."

Footsteps could be heard gradually approaching the entrance to the valley.

The voice arrived before the person.

Someone laughed and said, "What kind of behavior is it for the Lord of Daybreak Daylight, the son of the Qing family head, to be fleeing for his life in the wilderness? Wouldn't it be a disgrace to the Qing family if others found out?"

Qing Chen frowned and looked behind him. On the other side, a young man carrying a bamboo basket walked in, with eight Painting Scroll inside.

Both were unfamiliar faces. One was clearly a young master from the Chen family, and his demeanor was remarkably similar to Chen Yu's.

The other one, whose strength and identity were unknown, smiled at Qing Chen and said, "Is that Shadow over there? I never thought that the mighty Shadow would end up in a coma."

"Go or fight?" Zard looked at Qing Chen, and when he turned his head, the little sapling on his head was still swaying.

Qing Chen frowned, picked up his shadow, and said, "Let's go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zard transformed into a cloud of sand that enveloped Qing Chen and the others, dragging them all down into the ground.

But the next moment, the unidentified expert smiled and pressed his hands to the ground.

In an instant, the ground in front of him began to turn red, and huge flames penetrated the ground and burned it. The once good soil suddenly turned into magma!

The magma was burning fiercely underground, trying to block Zard's path.

Qing Chen thought to himself that things were not good. These people knew Zard's abilities, so they specifically chose a fire element Awakened to counter him.

Zard cried out in pain as he led Qing Chen and the others back to the ground. His left hand had been accidentally touched by the lava, and it was now scorched, showing signs of glazing.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Zard yelled in pain.

The earth escape method that had been used so often could no longer be used.

The fire-elemental Awakened chuckled, "You all don't actually think that after we've made our move, we'll allow you to use the same old tricks again, do you?"

There will be another chapter before 11 PM.