"What exactly happened?" Xiang Tianyu's face turned extremely grim as he instantly lost all his men.
Those who came along were all trusted confidants cultivated over many years. Even the sorcerers were family sorcerers who were closest to the Xiang Family. If these people could gain benefits in the Dragon Palace, they would all become his powerful allies!
"You're asking me?" Yaksha quickly swam the two to higher ground. "I'm the one who should be asking you. What exactly did you bring in? That thing possessing the Thousand-Footed Dragon is no ordinary creature."
Possession?
"Heh," Yaksha sneered, "Or did you think that even Thousand-Footed Dragon would enter a period of weakness after Dragon Transformation, and be able to hide in the sand with its strength, let alone launch such an active attack?"
Yaksha could see clearly that in the brain of the Thousand-Footed Dragon, there was a piece of rotting flesh that controlled the location of the nerve center. Moreover, the rotting flesh extended from the brain to the whole body, with thin, sharp spikes stimulating the hidden acupoints all over the body.
The acupoints on a dragon's body are kept secret. Even for a low-level dragon species like the Thousand-Footed Dragon, this information is kept as confidential as possible. This thing, which can give a weakened Thousand-Footed Dragon such vitality, clearly demonstrates a great understanding of the dragon's body. What is its origin?
Has another ancient force invaded the Dragon Palace?
The thought of this made the Yaksha's face turn extremely ugly, especially since it happened at this particular moment!
Judging from the behavior of these humans, they were probably not deliberately brought in, but rather manipulated. Who could it be?
"The period of weakness?" Xiang Tianyu sneered, "As expected, I knew you were being so attentive; you really did have ulterior motives towards us. The period of weakness—are you planning to use this time to sacrifice our flesh and blood after our Dragon Transformation to our true master?"
The Yaksha remained silent for a few moments before finally saying in a low voice, "There was indeed a scheme involved, but you are not at a disadvantage. It is difficult for the dragon race to reproduce. As long as you can successfully transform into dragons, the Dragon Palace will not take your lives unless absolutely necessary. The Blood Guard have a secret technique that can temporarily drain your essence and blood, but you can recover afterwards. Once the Dragon Palace reopens, our promise to you will still be valid."
"Still effective?" Xiang Tianyu sneered inwardly.
He'd be a fool to believe that. Maybe, as the other party said, it's just a temporary drain, and they'll spare your life, but it's definitely not to keep their promise. Rather, it's to seize your power in the human world. They'll drain you and then coerce and entice you to transfer your power. That's probably the key!
"I'm very curious." Xiang Tianyu chose not to expose him, after all, in the current situation, the two sides are at least on the same side for the time being.
"Why don't you just activate the Dragon Transformation artifacts? The Dragon Palace has plenty of Dragon Transformation artifacts, right? Aside from what we intruders need, you could just activate those dormant Dragon Transformation artifacts and collect the essence blood that the higher-ups of the Dragon Palace need, wouldn't that work too?"
"No." Yaksha sighed and shook his head.
"Why?"
"Isn't it all because of those scoundrels?"
"Those?" Xiang Tianyu frowned, then suddenly realized, "You mean, those half-human, half-flyfly monsters at the entrance?"
"You are indeed a clever human," Yaksha said in a low voice. " The Dragon Transformation process cannot be interrupted. Those monsters outside have been driven mad by the torment. When they see a creature undergoing Dragon Transformation, most of them will rush at it recklessly, even if they don't immediately Fusion, they will simply destroy it. We have seen this situation before. We cannot waste these Dragon Transformation creatures!"
"I see." Xiang Tianyu immediately understood. Directly activating it would likely be destroyed by those already twisted monsters, so it was better to leave it for them. After all, as long as the Dragon Transformation was successful, they could still become ready-made flesh and blood.
Thinking about it that way, those guys are really pathetic.
So many years of waiting, so many years of torment, giving up wealth and honor, a house full of children and grandchildren, coming here to wait so long, only to be schemed into becoming someone's flesh and blood supply, it's truly tragic.
Thinking about it this way Xiang Tianyu suddenly felt a strange sadness.
Is humanity truly so miserable in this world?
What the elite aristocracy pursues is, in the eyes of others, a joke.
"So what do we do now?"
"Just avoid it," Yaksha said, squinting. "That guy is forcibly ignoring the weakened state by stimulating the Thousand-Footed Dragon's pressure points. The side effects are significant; his newly Dragon Transformation body can't withstand it. If this continues, he'll suffer a backlash."
"So we'll just watch like this?"
"That's the only way." Yaksha Girl: "Even the lowest-ranking Thousand-Footed Dragon is far more powerful than us, especially now during this period of heightened acupoint stimulation. I might not even be able to withstand a single light. We can only wait for an opportunity, hmm?"
--
The envoys from the North Sea were extremely anxious about the location of the North Sea and kept urging them to hurry.
"Hasn't your Battle God arrived yet? A whole day has passed!"
"Yes, the agreed-upon day for the breakthrough of North Sea City is noon today. If you still refuse to send troops, the one billion people of the North Sea will perish in Shekou!"
"Give me an answer, are you going to do it or not!"
The fighters were momentarily speechless after being confronted. Logically speaking, in their territory, whether or not they were to help, the other party should be begging them. Why would they feel so guilty?
But that's how things are in Jiangnan. From the moment they join the Fighter Army, they are instilled with the importance of saving civilians. A large part of those who join the Fighter Army are former people from the lowest rungs of society. They were saved by the Fighter Army, who seemed to descend from heaven, in the terror of the land filled with man-eating monsters. Having been redeemed, they work extra hard to save their fellow countrymen from the jaws of the living dead!
The bonds between the Fighter Army are built slowly through the act of saving and being saved; many are as close as brothers!
That's why they can understand the hundreds of millions of people in the north who are trapped in the jaws of the terrifying serpent. They've been through the same thing. If it weren't for their lord and the Fighter Army, they might either be those man-eating monsters now, or still living like rats in some cold corner, not knowing when they'll see the light again.
Faced with the anxiety of these people, they couldn't bring themselves to adopt the attitude of "you come begging and I'll give you that attitude." They even had a bit of hope that the general would give the order so that they could save the people of the north just as they had saved their compatriots in the Jiangnan!
In the distance, Xu Hu had already clearly seen the anxious people on the boat.
"A breakthrough at noon? Are you crazy?" Shen Shiyi frowned.
"They're not crazy, they're desperate!" Shen Laosan sighed. "The logistics have probably collapsed, there's not enough food left. Staying there means either becoming food for those giant snakes or starving to death. Rather than that, we might as well take a gamble!"
Xu Hu lowered his head and remained silent, his fists clenched, waiting patiently.
The Lord once said that he would do his best to save his fellow human beings in the face of a terrible future. This was true in Jiangnan, and now the North is facing the same terror.
My lord, can you still turn the tide as before?
"Your Highness, are we really going to gamble on this?" Inside the Northern City, several of the most capable generals from aristocratic families gathered together, looking at their still-unstable prince dressed in armor, their eyes filled with reluctance!
"How long will the city's food supply last?"
"Only enough for ten days!"
"Is it enough to feed the army for ten days, or all of it?"
The generals fell silent.
In chaotic times, the priority is naturally to protect the army. It's already a blessing to give civilians a bowl of thin porridge to keep them alive. With a population of one billion, what more can you expect from a single city supplying them?
Of course, at the final stage, some of the civilians' food rations will definitely be taken back.
"What other choice do we have?" The heir of the Duke of Duke of Wei frowned. "The older generation is unwilling to take risks, but if we don't take risks now, we can only wait to die. I am the heir of the Duke; I cannot sit idly by and wait for death!"
In fact, if he hadn't taken the lead, how could he have rallied the younger generation of generals from the aristocratic families to come along?
Without his leadership, he probably wouldn't be able to command even the soldiers. A few days ago, when facing those terrifying giant snakes, most of the soldiers had already lost their nerve!
"But there's been absolutely no response from Jiangnan!"
"Perhaps our men simply couldn't break through there!" The prince took a breath and said, "This time, even if Jiangnan doesn't send reinforcements, we at least need to get most of our men through before they can truly believe that the north is now in imminent danger!"
"What good would it do to convince them? Would they send troops?"
"Yes!" the prince said decisively. "I've been to Jiangnan, met the Battle God Xu Hu, and seen those Fighter Army. I can sense that their soldiers are different from most armies in the world. They truly take pride in protecting the people of humanity. It is the most perfect army, and they would never stand idly by and watch a billion compatriots die!"
"Gather the troops and set off immediately!!"