"Your Highness, Jun'er is willing to eat now."
Inside the cabin, the head of the Fei Family stood respectfully behind the eldest princess, whispering about the consequences after Chen Qing's departure.
"What a spineless wretch!" Xiao Mingyue sneered. "He's such a grown man, and he still needs someone ten years younger than him to lecture him like this. All those years of studying have gone to waste!"
The head of the family followed behind, smiling without saying a word. He didn't say much because he could sense that his wife was in a rare good mood.
I didn't even realize when a smile crept onto my lips.
As they were talking, a ship approached from a distance. On the deck was Chen Qing, with Shen Yiyun, the Lao'er of the Shen Family, and Shen Yiyun, the Laoliu of the Shen Family, who was being controlled, behind him!
"Your Highness." Chen Qing bowed from afar. They were about to reach Nanming Prefecture. Soon, the junior would activate the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley to close all passages to Nanming Prefecture, but he could not interfere with the living corpses that had already landed.
The eldest princess nodded. As long as she could obtain exclusive access to the passage, she had plenty of ways to deal with the zombies that had already come ashore. She could even spend more time taking over the bodies of Shen Laoda's high-ranking relatives.
The premise is that Chen Qing can do it.
At this moment, Shen Yiyun closed his eyes and focused all his attention on the Insect Spell on his body. Shen Laoliu's face began to show signs of struggle!
" The Shen Family is indeed extraordinary," the eldest princess sighed. "That ancestor spent many years researching and actually developed a technique to control the Ancient Insect. If he had been given more time, this calamity in Jiangnan might not have happened."
"Indeed," Shen Laowu's voice came from behind. "You humans have great potential. The previous head of the Shen Family family, despite lacking a lot of information, was able to research something like Insect Spell through the Art of Dragon Transformation. It has to be said that the human race has truly something to be admired for being able to stand on this land for so many years and survive so tenaciously!"
The princess smiled slightly, and a familiar voice echoed in her mind.
Why do people think demons are scary?
Humans are the most terrifying thing. Given some time and intelligence, humans will still be at the top of the food chain on this land in the future.
"Let's begin," the princess said to Chen Qing with a smile.
Chen Qing returned the greeting, Shen Laoliu trembled all over. Looking at Shen Laowu's seat, a longing appeared in his eyes for the first time!
But Shen Laowu didn't look at the other person again.
Fifth Brother.
Shen Laowu was taken aback, touched his chest, and frowned. "The emotions of you humans are truly strange. With Laoliu's understanding, he should know very well that I would never help him, yet he still asks me for help. And even though I have already decided to give up on Laoliu, I still feel uncomfortable."
"These things are probably the most crucial, useless emotions preventing your human race from becoming powerful."
"That's not necessarily true," the eldest princess laughed. "Perhaps these things are what make humans more terrifying than demons!"
Shen Laowu was taken aback, then touched his chest, seemingly lost in thought.
Chen Qing was too lazy to discuss life with a non-human being. He formed a hand seal, causing a slight ripple in the mist. Then, a vast spiritual energy began to appear on the surface of the river!
"This kid can actually activate the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley!" Even now, Shen Laowu still found it unbelievable.
"Didn't you say that all the ancient people who could control the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley back then are dead?"
"There's no mistake." Shen Laowu nodded. "None of the ancient sorcerers who guarded the Dragon Palace survived the invasion of the original body. We are absolutely certain that there were no survivors back then!"
"Since there were no survivors, how did this kid know so many secrets of the Dragon Palace? And how could he activate this ancient formation you mentioned? Could he be a descendant of those people from back then?"
"I wouldn't know about that," Shen Laowu shook his head. "But if they are descendants, a family that has been passed down for tens of thousands of years should be very famous in the world."
The eldest princess frowned upon hearing this. Ancient sorcerer families were not without secrets, but a powerful figure like Chen Qing, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, was not very illogical.
A family line that can last for thousands of years should indeed not be so obscure.
Moreover, the legacy is passed down from ancient times, such as the Dragon Palace.
On the other side, Chen Qing was already floating in the air by the enormous spiritual power, shrouded in a thick fog. Neither the eldest princess, nor Shen Laowu below, nor Shen Yiyun who controlled Shen Laoliu could see Chen Qing's figure at this moment.
What they couldn't see was the scene that Chen Qing could see at that moment.
They were a group of spirits, whose appearances had been completely altered due to being locked in the formation for many years, leaving only some deep-seated obsessions.
Chen Qing had no idea how the Ancient Insect's head was structured, or why it would assume that such an intelligent magic array could be inanimate.
In fact, the magic circle has always been alive because it has always been controlled by something living.
It's just not the physical body.
Back then, the Ancient Insect, with their unique infectious properties, invaded the Dragon Palace's guardians, nearly wiping out the entire group of ancient sorcerers who were protecting the Dragon Palace with just a single flash of light.
But that's normal. In ancient times, something like Resident Evil would indeed be a game-changer.
In their haste, the ancient sorcerers used the magic array protecting the outer perimeter of the Dragon Palace as a medium to seal the Ancient Insect Ancient Insect forever, because they knew how destructive it was.
At that time, because of the Ancient Insect's unique infectious power, all the ancient sorcerers abandoned their physical bodies and chose to lock their spiritual bodies with magic arrays. In this way, they could control the magic arrays through their spiritual bodies and thus fight against this Ancient Insect with its heaven-defying power for tens of thousands of years.
After all, it's not artificial intelligence. If no one were controlling it, how could the magic circle be so intelligent?
You did manage to do it.
In the mist, several blurry, shapeless spirits looked at Chen Qing and sensed the sixth Ancient Insect that Chen Qing had sacrificed, their voices carrying a hint of relief.
"Many people have come into the magic circle over the years, but you are the only one who has not been tempted and has truly been able to kill them!"
Chen Qing bowed slightly. "If it weren't for the unwavering dedication of all you seniors over countless years, I wouldn't have been able to wait for such a weakened Ancient Insect."
Just like when the game was first launched, not a single player dared to use their soul to leave their body after falling into the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley.
According to the sorcerer's common sense logic, when encountering something powerful, losing one's mind is tantamount to courting death.
Back then, not a single player on hundreds of servers had tried it, and Chen Qing never expected that, in the game world, after so many years, not a single person would be willing to give it a try.
It seems that conservatives will always be the most troublesome stumbling block for the human race.
Chen Qing chuckled and shook his head, continuing, "According to the agreement, shouldn't you seniors give me a portion of the authority over Nine Heavens Mirror Valley?"
What permissions do you need?
"Passage permissions!" Chen Qing said seriously, "I need the permission to forcibly close all channels and open certain channels."
All the spirits remained silent for a long while before one of them spoke up, "Why do you need this authority? The barrier's power is getting weaker and weaker. With this authority, you won't be able to hold off those Ancient Insect for long. Why not try to get a more powerful destructive authority?"
"Because it's useless," Chen Qing laughed. "If your ancient formation could kill the Ancient Insect, you would have made it yourselves long ago. The reason you haven't been able to for so many years is because you can't do it. As for the inheritance of the formation, I don't have the time or energy to study it. I believe that the people I train will create formations stronger than those of the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley in the future. Your things are just waiting for future generations to surpass you!"
You sound very confident.
"However, if you want to pass on the legacy, you must completely resolve the Ancient Insect crisis!"
"I understand," Chen Qing nodded. "Only by proving that the human race can defeat this Ancient Insect can you be at ease and let us face the even more terrifying things in the Dragon Palace."
"You know a lot, younger generation, but we remember, none of our descendants managed to escape back then. After all, the Ancient Insect attack was too sudden, and to be on the safe side, we dared not release a single living person, including ourselves!"
Chen Qing bowed respectfully. These ancient sorcerers sacrificed all their relatives for the safety of humanity. This part of the plot was his own design, but whether or not it was necessary for the plot, their sacrifice was real.
In this world, they are the martyrs of humanity!
As Shen Laoliu's wails gradually subsided, massive streams of spiritual energy poured into Nanming from where Chen Qing was, causing tremors that shook the entire outer perimeter of Nanming Prefecture as if an earthquake had struck.
The eldest princess marveled at the immense power of heaven and earth. "Truly astounding! This formation comes from ancient sorcerers. If our human race can control this power, how powerful were they in the past? And how powerful were you, who once forced them to extinction? King of Qin was right, the ancient times are untouchable!"
"Since Your Highness understands this principle, why do you still choose this path?" Chen Qing's voice came from above.
"Because human ambition is unstoppable!" The eldest princess looked up and smiled, "No matter how we try to stop them, someone will inevitably walk this forbidden path in the future. Since that's the case, I can only seize the initiative. As long as I'm at the forefront, I can stop everyone else!"
Chen Qing smiled, "Then Your Highness must work hard. Your Highness, please remember, in Nanming Prefecture, you only have one year!"
"You too." The eldest princess looked at Chen Qing, somewhat curious. Chen Qing knew so many secrets and could control the magic array, yet he was still willing to give her a year. Didn't he know that the living corpses under his control would only grow stronger, while the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley he could rely on would only grow weaker?
Or is he confident that he can rival me a year from now?
Interesting young people.
At this moment, Shen Yiyun, who had revealed her biggest trump card to Chen Qing, also had a hint of confusion in her eyes.
One year.
After today, this kid will be the true ruler of Jiangnan.
At least for the next year, as agreed upon with the eldest princess, that will remain the case.
Now that he has successfully taken control of Jiangnan, what will this kid do to Jiangnan in just one year?
My God! Three thousand monthly votes in one go! Are you all being unethical, launching surprise attacks at the end of the month? Mofang was counting on my fingers and only had enough drafts prepared for that. Ugh, I'm doomed!
Caught completely off guard, I'll have to repay the extra 1,000 monthly votes at the beginning of the month. Besides the extra chapter on the Number Three, Mofang 'll also be releasing an extra chapter as interest.
I'll release the prepared drafts at the end of this month, on the 31st. That's all. Thank you again for your monthly votes!