What the hell is this mechanism?
Chen Qing was completely dumbfounded upon hearing this. NPCs respawning? Holy crap, what kind of ancient system is that?
Since the game became AI-enabled, there haven't been any NPCs that can be refreshed anymore, okay?
Besides, Ziyue is a player, so what's going on? Can she save her game?
This is an online game!
Chen Qing finally understood why Ziyue had said it was a big problem.
Ziyue likely harbors a great secret, and the Celestial Master's invitation this time is probably aimed at uncovering that secret.
Was it a coincidence or intentional that they chose a time when a major battle was imminent?
Chen Qing's expression was unpredictable.
Ziyue glanced at Chen Qing and whispered, "With a great battle imminent, you absolutely cannot afford to get hurt. The Emperor's Yin Army has already crossed the border and will soon be at various borders. If something happens to you, he might turn around and target you, since you possess more resources and pose a greater threat."
Chen Qing remained silent. Theoretically, he should stay in charge and not get involved in this matter easily. However, he had a feeling that if he let Ziyue fend for herself, she might miss something very important.
After thinking for a long time, Chen Qing finally shook his head. "I'll go with you."
"Hmm?" Ziyue looked at Chen Qing with a puzzled expression, then smiled and said, "You can't bear to part with me?"
"I just feel that they deliberately chose this time because they don't want me to go," Chen Qing laughed. "It can't hurt if you go even if others don't want to."
Ziyue: "."
--
" Celestial Master Decree "
In the South Sea, Chen Baifeng and other families of sorcerers also received this news, and everyone was obviously extremely curious about this suddenly appearing Celestial Master Decree.
After the Dragon Palace incident, the sorcerer families, led by the Chen Household family, formed a large sorcerer Alliance, controlled the resources of the South Sea Dragon Palace, reached certain agreements with the South Sea Dragon King, and were quietly developing their own Warlock Dynasty.
With the situation tense and the imperial court clearly intending to send troops, war is imminent. At this time, the Celestial Master Mansion, which has been quiet and indifferent to worldly affairs, has suddenly caused such a disturbance, making it hard not to suspect its motives.
"What does Lord Chen think the Celestial Master Mansion intend to do?"
Inside the main hall, the heads of several aristocratic families were gathered together. Chen Baifeng was very different from when he first met Chen Qing. Now Dragon Transformation, his face was covered with white dragon scales. Although he maintained a human form, he could hardly be called a human anymore.
In fact, the family head sitting at the head of the table in the entire hall was basically Dragon Transformation.
The South Sea Dragon Palace is not as conservative about Dragon Transformation as the West Sea. The West Sea Dragon King has not yet compromised with Chen Qing, and the two sides are at an impasse, so there are not as many resources for Dragon Transformation. After all, many formations in various places need to be broken by Chen Qing and his group to be unsealed, unlike the South Sea, which is open to cooperation, so the progress of Dragon Transformation is naturally very fast.
The dragons treat all humans who have been assimilated as one of their own. Nowadays, it's difficult for the higher-ups in the South Sea to distinguish whether the power belongs to the humans or the dragons.
"I don't know," Chen Baifeng shook his head and said, "The affairs of the Celestial Master Mansion are all family secrets passed down orally, there are no records at all. Perhaps our ancestors would know more, but..."
The heads of the other families fell silent upon hearing this. During the Dragon Palace incident, most of their ancestors died there to protect Chen Baifeng and the others. The elders who are enjoying the benefits in this generation are not young, with the oldest being over two hundred years old. However, the events at the Celestial Master Mansion are still too distant for them, so distant that they all think it's just a story.
"Our Chen Household, along with other major families, were originally vassal families of the Dragon Palace. Logically speaking, we shouldn't have had anything to do with the Warlock Dynasty back then. However, those people and events involved in this matter were completely wiped clean, and the elders of the family all regarded this kind of information as taboo. Even after I succeeded as the head of the family, the previous head of the family didn't reveal anything to me. As for the Celestial Master Mansion, I really don't know anything about it."
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances. Even Chen Baifeng, the oldest and most experienced among them, didn't know, so no one else present would know either.
But that invitation...
The invitation was sent by Cloud Capital to announce the selection of the Celestial Master. It indicated that many prominent families were present, and that since they all came from the same lineage, the Celestial Master Mansion was now selecting a new Celestial Master, and they hoped that everyone would come to witness the ceremony.
As members of a former dynasty, every family whose name is on the invitation is eligible to recommend one member to participate in this selection process. Once the Celestial Master is appointed, all sorcerer families in the land will obey his orders.
"What a big face," one of the old sorcerers chuckled. "Do you think all the sorcerer families in the world obey their orders? Do you really think this is still a thousand years ago? The Celestial Master Decree— it's an ancient artifact from so many years ago, and you still bring it up?"
"It's not that simple." Chen Baifeng shook his head solemnly.
"Has Old Chen noticed something?"
As the backbone of the South Sea and the representative of the South Sea Dragon King, the Chen Household is highly respected by all the major families today.
"This invitation suddenly appeared on the bedside table," Chen Baifeng said quietly, looking at the invitation.
"Bedside?" Everyone was taken aback, then their expressions turned grim. "What does this mean? Are you showing off?"
The atmosphere was tense, but everyone's eyes held a sense of apprehension. Chen Baifeng was the first sorcerer to Dragon Transformation, and he was also a member of the South Sea True Dragon Clan. No one present could fathom the extent of his current power. At least for now, three hundred dragons in the South Sea obeyed his commands. With that kind of strength, before the arrival of the ancient times, he would have been an existence that could crush the world.
How did someone manage to quietly place the invitation on his bedside table?
"An assassin?" a black-clad sorcerer asked, frowning.
The crowd's expressions darkened further. They were all sorcerers, and what they hated most were sorcerers who appeared and disappeared unpredictably. That's why they all hated the Lu Household back then, because the Lu Household's lady was the assassin they feared most.
"Not an assassin." Chen Baifeng shook his head, and with a gentle wave of his hand, a crystal appeared in the air, inside which was Chen Baifeng's room.
That's a crystal for recording images developed in Jiangnan. It's very popular now, and noblewomen from various families like to use it to capture their beautiful and youthful moments. As a result, you can see noblewomen carrying this crystal at many tourist attractions.
It's also quite useful for nobles; keeping one in a room allows them to monitor the servants' movements on a daily basis.
As everyone could see clearly, Chen Baifeng's room was originally empty, but in the next instant, a white light flashed by the bedside, and the invitation appeared out of thin air.
"Didn't Lord Chen feel anything at the time?" the man in black couldn't help but ask.
"Yes," Chen Baifeng nodded solemnly. I sensed the fluctuations of magical energy, so I immediately stood up, but I couldn't find a trace of it.
As he spoke, he picked up the invitation. "This invitation contains no magical materials or runes; it's just an ordinary invitation. If the Celestial Master Mansion could deliver this to my bedside so quietly, then perhaps they could send something else as well?"
Everyone: "."
"The meaning of this invitation is very clear!" Chen Baifeng said coldly, "It's both an invitation and a show of force!"
We were all stunned. Cloud Capital actually possessed such power?
If that's the case, why didn't they intervene at all during the Dragon Palace incident?
Does it mean they don't like it?
That's way too exaggerated.
"As for the Xiao Household now," the black-clad sorcerer hesitated before saying, "New information has arrived. They've already deployed troops, and the war is expected to officially begin in the spring. We must also take action. At this juncture, do we really want to create unnecessary complications?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. The South Sea Dragon Palace forces were very receptive to them, but they were struggling to find the resources. They were already having a hard time just raising those three hundred dragons, and the revival of the Dragon Palace's Yaksha forces was even more difficult.
The Dragon Palace has given instructions that the giant pythons in the north are excellent blood essence materials. The blood mage teams are all ready and waiting to seize them when the two sides go to war.
Now, at this critical juncture, some kind of Heavenly Master election has come up.
Is it necessary to participate?