"Disappeared?"
At the post station of the Court of State Ceremonial, the two Yaksha generals were furious when they saw that only A Li had returned. Upon hearing A Li's account, they nearly went berserk, their violent aura almost tearing apart the barrier set up by Shen Qi!
Several warriors from the West Sea frowned and quickly stepped forward to protect A Li, but the pressure they faced truly made them tremble with fear.
Especially the two leading lieutenants, whose strength had increased by leaps and bounds in just six months under Tian Heng's biased faith support, had already entered the Transcendent. They were originally thought to be able to contend with the so-called Dragon Palace soldiers of the West Sea, but now it seems the Dragon Palace people have held their own.
Looking back now, it seems that what their boss warned them about was right.
Don't provoke those things from the Dragon Palace. Don't think you can challenge them just because they are few in number. You can be wary of them, but don't start any trouble. Because if a real fight breaks out, all of us combined wouldn't be able to win.
Previously, they all felt that their superior was too cautious, after all, the head of the Tian Household family had always been known for his steady and reliable style on the battlefield.
It now seems that it wasn't that my boss was being overly cautious, but rather that this was simply the case.
Judging from the imposing presence these two Yaksha exuded, even all of Tian Heng's trusted men combined wouldn't be a match for them!
"Calm down!"
Just when the situation was about to collapse, Shen Qi finally stepped forward.
The two Yaksha paused slightly. In the Dragon Palace, the human sorcerers and the people of the Dragon Palace had a relatively high degree of intimacy. Unlike the Sea God Army, who were vying for faith, the sorcerers in Jiangnan who were studying the secrets of the Dragon Palace respected the people of the Dragon Palace very much in order to master the knowledge as soon as possible. Moreover, the products they researched were given priority to the needs of the Dragon Palace.
For example, the Dragon Palace currently needs a large number of Blood Essence Stone to revive its companions, and more than 80% of the warlock members are researching Blood Warlock techniques and actively using conscripted blood essence to refine high-quality items.
With the sorcerers involved, neither the Battle God Army nor the Sea God Army could refuse, and every day soldiers contributed high-quality blood essence for the sorcerers to use as research materials.
This is also why the Dragon Palace forces have been able to hold back for the time being and have not completely broken ties with the West Sea Army.
Only when the overall quality of the West Sea Army becomes stronger can it contribute more essence blood to make Blood Essence Stone. Otherwise, relying solely on their few revived Yaksha and aquatic soldiers, even if they drained all their blood, it wouldn't be enough.
Among the blood sorcerers' research, Seventh Master Shen is a representative. His latest development, the Baiyu Blood Essence Stone, is extremely efficient. In just half a year, he has already revived ten Yaksha for the West Sea Dragon Palace. Even now, Ao Zhen of the West Sea treats Shen Qi with great respect. Now that he has spoken up, it will at least have some effect.
"Mr. Shen Qi!" The leader of the Yaksha suppressed his raging anger. "We cannot accept this fox's explanation."
"What can we do if we can't accept it?" Shen Qi sighed. "You all know her level. Her direct combat ability is no match for even a proper warrior. In that situation, it was already extremely difficult for her to bluff the enemy and safely deliver the message."
To be honest, he really admired the fox demon's ability to adapt to the situation. He himself probably wouldn't have been able to handle it so well. This fox truly lived up to its reputation as an actor from a thousand years ago; its acting skills were superb.
"Does the master mean we should just watch our prince die like this?" The two Yaksha spoke with hostility.
"Of course not." Shen Qi shook his head. "Just as A Li analyzed, although the other party's methods were strange, making Princess Ao Zhen disappear in an instant, they definitely don't have the ability to easily suppress Princess Ao Zhen. If they had that ability, they wouldn't need to conduct so many tests."
"The current situation is that we don't know their background, and they don't know ours either. They orchestrated Ao Zhen's disappearance as a test of our reaction, but in reality, I suspect that His Ao Zhen is still out of danger. They must have paid a considerable price to take His Ao Zhen away."
Upon hearing that Princess Ao Zhen was not in mortal danger, the two Yaksha calmed down somewhat.
"So, Mr. Shen Qi, what do you think we should do now?"
Shen Qi smiled wryly upon hearing this; this was the most troublesome point.
The next step, probing, is extremely crucial. One slip-up could expose their entire strength, and once that's known, not only will their group in the capital be in danger, but the Southern Capital will likely be in jeopardy.
This is really dangerous!
"Miss A Li, what day is the duel you and Prince Wutu Gu agreed upon?"
"Hey, let's get this straight first!" A Li suddenly became anxious. "What do you mean by a duel with me? That's a duel with Chen Qing, what does it have to do with me? I'm just here to take the blame, you don't really want me to go and fight, do you?"
Everyone: "."
"Let me tell you, I won't even pretend to go. If you haven't come up with a plan by the appointed day, I'll disguise myself and run away. I absolutely will not risk going to the scene!"
Shen Qi covered his head. "So which day is it?"
Two days later!
"So fast?"
"How long can we put it off?" A Li rolled her eyes at the other person. "Three years from now? I'd like to, but you have to see if it's realistic."
"Three days." Shen Qi rubbed his fingers together, then looked at Chen Ying, who had come with him, and asked, "Which sorcerer families secretly sent us letters today?"
Chen Ying was taken aback, then quickly replied, "Many. Up to the time of the letter from the Xiong Household, more than forty companies have contacted us, all wanting to get together with me and you, Seventh Master."
"Then let's get together!" Shen Qi said in a low voice, "I originally wanted to wait a couple of days, but now if we need to gather information, we can only start with these aristocratic families."
"Will this work?" Chen Ying frowned. "We don't know much about these powerful families. What if they were secretly sent by the Xiao Household to test us?"
"Then let's test each other. We need to offer some bait to get us hooked, right?" Shen Qi sighed. "Right now, we're on the defensive. A Li has fooled them, but that fooling won't last long. If they can't join the battle as promised in two days, then we'll be the ones who die."
Chen Ying paused for a moment, then finally asked, "Which one should we reply to first?"
" The Chen Household!"
" The Chen Household?" Chen Ying was stunned, A Li, who was standing next to her, also frowned.
The Chen Household, the foremost family of sorcerers in the capital, is led by Chen Baifeng, the head of the Chen Household family, who also successfully profited from the Dragon Palace Dragon Palace incident. The Chen Household now effectively controls the South Sea and is cooperating with the court, but the specifics remain unknown.
What agreement did Chen Household have with the imperial court? Is the South Sea Dragon Palace in the hands of the Chen Household family or the imperial court? In the past six months, Jiangnan has not been able to gather any intelligence on it.
Under these circumstances, isn't it too risky to arrange a meeting with the Chen Household?
"Risks are inevitable, but the opportunities are also great," Shen Qi analyzed. "After the Chen Household occupied the South Sea, almost all of their elite members were transferred South Sea. Only the third branch, responsible for foreign affairs, remained. Chen Baiye's talent is average, and his children are almost all outstanding, but two of his grandchildren have been admitted to my Jiangnan Academy. They are the two best-performing members of the Chen Household family in Jiangnan. The benefits of the South Sea will inevitably be shared by many powerful families. It's impossible for the Chen Household to grow strong on its own; they don't have the capacity to absorb them all. They will inevitably have to seek cooperation."
"Since the goal is to seek cooperation, the Chen Household cannot immediately grant the entire clan access to the Dragon Palace's resources. Clearly, the third branch of the family is the one excluded this time. They say they'll stay in the capital, but if they had a choice, would they want to stay in the capital?"
Chen Ying's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but A Li coldly replied, "If you can think of it, the emperor can too. Don't underestimate that guy. I bet ten jugs of Blood Ginseng Wine that he'll guess you'll contact the Chen Household!"
"I have no doubt about that," Shen Qi nodded. "But I don't think the Chen Household will directly side with the Emperor. After all, Senior Ziyue said that the Ghost Domain and the Dragon Palace cannot merge. I'm more inclined to believe that the Chen Household and the royal family are in a cooperative relationship. Since they are in a cooperative relationship, there's an opportunity to take advantage of it. Any cooperation in the world can be broken up; it just depends on who offers more bargaining chips!"
--
"Father!"
On the other side, Chen Baiye, who had just returned home from court, was greeted by his eldest son Chen Qingshan, before he even reached his doorstep.
"Still so impulsive, can't you be a little more composed?" Chen Baiye scolded in a low voice, then followed the other person back to the Chen Household mansion. After dismissing the servants and sealing off the area with a protective barrier, he asked, "What's going on?"
"The delegation from Jiangnan has sent a letter requesting a meeting!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Baiye's expression turned grave. He took a deep breath before saying, "Call your younger siblings here. This matter concerns the future and destiny of all of you. The choice of which path to take is yours to make!"