"Daddy, why have you been looking so gloomy since earlier?"
Chen Qing's ship had already sailed out of Jiangnan and headed towards the West Sea, which was shrouded in thick fog. This passage did not belong to the Princess's passage, and there were no merchants from Jiangnan. The entire fog was quiet, without a sound, and not even seagulls or fish could be seen.
"It's too quiet."
"Uh, really?" The Ghost Child was stunned for a moment, but didn't know what to say. Back in the Yin-Yang Road, powerful ghosts often occupied a place where no other demons or ghosts dared to approach within a hundred miles. As a demon like him who had no power but was simply powerful in his own right, he was actually quite used to the quiet around him.
However, this sea was indeed somewhat abnormal. With his perception, he could sense the movements of creatures within a ten-mile radius, yet he hadn't seen anything in the water along the way.
Chen Qing gazed ahead. "So this is what it feels like to experience it firsthand. Games and real life are definitely two different things."
He actually knew the reason. The Dragon Palace was about to open, and the reason there were no fish in this sea area was because they all sensed the danger. Even the weakest water insects knew that something terrifying was about to emerge, but the humans on the shore had no sense of it at all.
This world is really not friendly to human beings at all.
"Father," the Ghost Child frowned, glancing at the somewhat dilapidated warship behind them, "Is that woman really alright?"
He always felt that the woman had ill intentions, but she certainly didn't seem to intend to make a move along the way.
"There's a problem," Chen Qing said calmly.
"Is there a problem?"
"Yeah, I only realized it after I met her." Chen Qing gazed at the mist ahead and said, "I was thinking before that, based on her past experiences, Baiyu is the most proactive person, definitely not someone who passively waits to die. After taking Shen Laosan's body, she didn't make a single move, just watched Jiangnan grow stronger and watched the Princess and Shen Laoda divide the West Sea. Isn't she afraid of not getting any of the benefits later?"
"You have to understand, although the Ancient Insect brothers share the same roots, their relationship is one of life and death. Even if she hides now, when Shen Laoda or Shen Laowu become powerful, they will naturally come looking for her again, without even trying to escape."
"Oh, that does sound like there shouldn't be no movement." The Ghost Child dragged its head, its cute face scrunched up.
He wasn't a person who liked to think, even though he was actually over a thousand years old. But then again, if he had used his brain more, he wouldn't have ended up being sealed away for so many years.
"Looking back now, she must have planned this all along; what she wanted to seize was Jiangnan."
"Huh?" The Ghost Child immediately stood up, his eyes flashing with ferocity. "I'll kill her!!"
"No rush." Chen Qing shook his head, looking at Ghost Child with some helplessness. This little guy is impatient and, to be honest, not very suitable to be a Battle God. Fortunately, he was appointed as the Battle Thunder Division Battle God. The Thunder Division has the highest requirements for its fighters, which are at the level of special forces. In the future, the Thunder Division fighters under Ghost Child can be used as the spearhead force. As for the main force on the front line, they will have to be selected from the other three departments.
Of the four divisions of Wind, Thunder, Earth, and Fire, the Principal God of two divisions have now been determined. Xu Hu is a commander who is good at training troops and is more suitable for maintaining the status quo and accumulating strength. Ghost Child is not good at commanding troops and is only suitable for leading subordinates with high combat talent as the spearhead on the battlefield. What is still lacking is a commander who is good at fighting and can lead large-scale battles, similar to Lan Yu or Han Xin in ancient times!
Both the Wind Division and Fire Division are well-suited for taking the initiative, but Chen Qing hasn't found anyone better to fill the position. Now that his forces have some foundation, he needs to be even more cautious about the position of the Principal God.
"Daddy, according to what you said, that woman has ulterior motives. She's been following you all this time. Is there some kind of conspiracy?"
"There must be some scheme in Jiangnan," Chen Qing sighed. "If I'm not mistaken, Baiyu lied to me back then. She wasn't fighting alone. That last Ancient Insect that never appeared must have been in contact with her all along, and it's highly likely that it's someone we know."
"An acquaintance?" The Ghost Child's face paled. "Who does Daddy think it is?"
"Anyone who joins my pantheon cannot hide anything from me. But who is it that, if not a member of my pantheon, yet poses a threat in my territory and holds a high position?"
The Ghost Child lowered its head. It didn't like to think, but that didn't mean it was stupid. There was always a very special existence in Jiangnan.
"I used to suspect it was Mu Hongqing," Chen Qing sighed. "Most Ancient Insect prefer to use sorcerers as a medium. Mu Hongqing is the educational commissioner of Jiangnan, a special position with extraordinary connections. He's the least likely to be discovered among the various forces. But he went directly to the capital for his family and then disappeared. That dispelled my suspicion. Because at the crucial moment, instead of taking advantage of Chen Ying's identity to get close to me, he went to the capital first. This means his persona hasn't changed; he's always been that pitiful person trying to save his loved ones."
Although it's possible that in the end, they still couldn't be saved.
"So, it's just her then?"
"Only she meets the criteria." Chen Qing squinted. "Her identity is ingenious. She seems like an outsider, but she's actually right next to the Shen Family and has been involved with the Shen Family for years. Moreover, her own situation is easily overlooked. Many people subconsciously regard her as a martial artist, but in reality, she's a top-tier wind mage!"
"Really?" The Ghost Child's expression was somewhat blank, and a strange, bittersweet look flashed deep in its eyes.
Little guy, you're so small but your thing is so big down there, you're really restless. Are you deliberately using your appearance to get close to women, and then...?
No, that's not true!!
That wretched woman, all that flirting back then, turned out to be just a bug?
"Back then, I asked her to help rescue Thousand-Faced Fox and plot against Ziyue. Now that I think about it, they probably already had a grudge back then!"
"Huh?" The Ghost Child was taken aback. "Really?"
"Hmm," Chen Qing nodded, " Ziyue's downfall was a bit too timely. At the time, I also felt that it went a little too smoothly. After all, that guy has a very big reputation, the number one sorcerer in the Great Jin. I heard Shen Qi say that Ziyue was able to force Celestial Master Zhang of Cloud Capital to not dare to leave Cloud Capital easily. Such an existence was trapped so easily back then. Now that I think about it, it is indeed not very normal."
The plan at the time was risky, and he had other backup plans, but he didn't expect it to go so smoothly. The other party behaved themselves for two whole years afterward, so he didn't think much of it. But now it seems...
"Father, since that's the case, shall we go back?"
"I'm not going back."
"Huh?" The Ghost Child was taken aback. His father had looked so serious, but he wasn't going back?
Going back wouldn't make a difference.
"Useless?"
"You know my true strength best." Chen Qing gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Do you think I'm very strong right now?"
"Of course Father is very strong!" the Ghost Child quickly said, "The people of Jiangnan are living so well now, and the army is so powerful, it's almost as strong as that annoying Ghost King Xiang back then."
"Huh?" Chen Qing was taken aback. This kid actually thought highly of himself, believing he could be better than Ghost King Xiang.
"In terms of influence, we can barely be considered to have accumulated some power." Chen Qing nodded.
Jiangnan now has a population of hundreds of millions and an army of millions, all of whom are fighting Battle God Army. In a direct confrontation on the battlefield, he is even confident that he can achieve a 70/30 chance against the Princess or Shen Laoda's side!
However, their high-end combat capabilities are still somewhat lacking.
"Currently, the most powerful in the force are Xu Hu and the few from the Shen Family. They were already considered top-tier fighters at the time, but they still lack something compared to the absolute best. For example, when the Eldest Princess entered Nanyang, if it were a direct confrontation, the entire Shen Family would have died at that woman's hands. Although Xu Hu has combat strength similar to Yuchi Peng, he is still a level below someone like Ziyue."
"Father, what about me?" the Ghost Child asked anxiously.
"You have more important things to do," Chen Qing shook his head. The Ghost Child is very strong, especially after being appointed as the God of War of the Thunder Division. In terms of direct combat power, he can rival the emperor of the Xiao Household!
However, the potential of the Ghost Child is too great, and the current power and faith of his divine kingdom are not enough to support such a powerful top-level monster Principal God Ghost Child. Each time the Ghost Child is activated, a large amount of Ghost Child Power of Faith is required, which is too expensive for the power that is still in the accumulation period.
Currently, a large portion of the army is under Xu Hu's command, and the Power of Faith needs to be transformed into the Power of Blessing to bless the entire army. Given the current low spiritual power and poor overall quality of the populace, supplying a master of Xu Hu's caliber is already at its limit. Only when the overall quality is improved can the Ghost Child be completely unleashed from its restrictions.
With his current reserves of Power of Faith, he can only activate the Ghost Child twice. The Dragon Palace is about to open, Chen Qing doesn't intend to waste it on fighting against Ziyue and the others.
"So, what about Jiangnan?"
"It's not that I don't care, it's that I can't," Chen Qing sighed. "The reason I wanted to deal with Lu Ming was to establish my authority and give outsiders the illusion that I had reached the pinnacle of the world. So as long as I was in Jiangnan, they wouldn't dare to make a move. But I was tricked into coming here. If I'm not mistaken, not only Ziyue, but that monster in the capital who hasn't made a move yet will probably also take action this time. If I force my way back now, I can only force them to take action!"
"But you also know," Chen Qing said, looking at the Ghost Child, "That against people like them, I can only activate you. But once I activate you, I won't be able to gather enough Power of Faith to activate you again within six months. I'll miss the Dragon Palace perfectly. And this time, the opening of the Dragon Palace is a decisive moment for Jiangnan's fate. You, this trump card, absolutely cannot be used now!"
"What should we do then?" The Ghost Child was stunned.
"Don't panic," Chen Qing said calmly. "Their current actions are all for the Dragon Palace, so they won't make any major moves against Jiangnan. They'll just test me time and time again."
"Testing Father?"
"Testing my abilities." Chen Qing said, looking at his arm, where Divine Seal were flashing. "Look, the test has begun."
The Ghost Child looked over. The Divine Seal a long-distance communication device that consumed a great deal of Power of Faith. It could usually only transmit a few words. Unless it was a major event, all the Principal God would prefer to run to Chen Qing if they wanted to find him.
"Has something happened?" the Ghost Child asked hurriedly.
"Yes," Chen Qing nodded, "That child from the Murong Family of the Northern Wolf Kingdom is dead!"