"Demon Empress, long time no see."
"Oh my, what wind blew you, the council chairman, all the way here?"
"Have you considered it?"
The Demon Empress watched Qian Gu Fenfeng quietly, then suddenly gave a sinister laugh. "Hahahahaha, is this the loving father our Federation so reveres? You actually want me to unleash slaughter in Star Dou, with the Blood River Array at its core?"
"Hahahaha, what of it? I am Sun Moon's loving father, but not Star Dou's guardian deity." Qian Gu Fenfeng spoke with righteous conviction. "Precisely because you do not understand what I do, you are the Demon Empress, and can only ever be the Demon Empress."
"I accept your proposal!"
"Good. Then here's to a pleasant partnership."
"Notify every branch of the Spirit Pagoda. Convene an online meeting."
"This plan will also require some help from the Spirit Pagoda over on the Star Luo Continent."
On the surface, the Star Luo Continent was entirely peaceful. Its cities bustled, traffic flowed along the main roads, and Monster Academy continued teaching as usual. The imperial court handled state affairs according to routine, and the border defenses had issued no warning of a formidable enemy pressing in from the sea. Everyone believed disaster lay far across the ocean and would never descend upon this land.
Yet the seeds of destruction had long since quietly taken root and sprouted within the continent.
Over several months, wave after wave of Holy Spirit Cult members assumed new identities, becoming traveling merchants, mercenaries, down-and-out Soul Masters, and household advisers, silently infiltrating every corner of the Star Luo Empire.
They stirred up no open unrest and suppressed every trace of their evil soul auras, hiding among the common folk, in noble mansions, and even within military camps and academies. Like venomous insects lying dormant, they quietly awaited the order for the all-out assault.
Deep mountain valleys, abandoned castles, underground caverns-secret bases were quietly established, one after another.
There were no massive warships, no vast armies arrayed outside the cities. The Evil Soul Masters were gathering in secret beneath this land's flesh.
The Demon Empress did not come in person. The Ghost Emperor and the Underworld Emperor took command in a hidden lair deep within the continent.
The foundations of the Blood River God-Slaying Array were dismantled into countless components and, concealed among caravan freight, shipped separately to the Star Luo Empire's major core cities and densely populated towns, where they were buried underground.
Invisible blood-colored patterns slowly spread beneath the soil. At a single signal, they would join into one vast array of slaughter, harvesting the souls of hundreds of millions of living beings.
Sporadic disappearances occasionally occurred within the cities, with commoners vanishing without explanation. After investigating several times, the authorities merely attributed them to roaming criminals and never connected them to the Holy Spirit Cult.
The scattered secret reports received by the empire's leadership were also quietly suppressed by traitors lurking in the imperial court, sinking like stones into the sea.
Monster Academy likewise harbored infiltrators. They secretly probed the true strength of the academy's powerhouses and recorded their distribution, preparing to seize the opportunity to pin down the Star Luo Empire's very strongest combatants the instant war broke out.
Ordinary dawns and dusks continued to alternate, and the lights of the markets shone as brilliantly as ever. Passersby chatted and laughed, soldiers patrolled the cities, and students cultivated. The multitude remained wholly unaware that a world-destroying net had already been woven beneath their feet.
There were no war drums, no beacon smoke. The crisis lay hidden beneath the skin of a prosperous age.
The gale was still gathering in silence. Once that single signal set everything off, the entire Star Luo Continent would instantly plunge into a purgatory of blood and death.
The Qian Gu ancestral residence.
Beneath the warm lights, Qian Gu Fenfeng rested his head on Qian Chenyue's lap while Leng Yaozhu sat beside him, feeding him grapes one by one.
"Fenfeng, won't the continent condemn us for working with the Holy Spirit Cult? After all, whenever Evil Soul Masters strike, corpses litter the wilderness..."
"We're merely borrowing one force to strike another."
"My mind is made up. These are merely necessary sacrifices in the course of achieving our great undertaking of unification..."
Before you continue