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"The army is the key to the negotiations?"

"Yes..."

On the way, the Emperor needs to remain stationed in the Capital City, while accompanying Zhang Zhengyuan is the Emperor’s elder sister—a King Level expert nearly equal to the Emperor in status!

"The Taoist Sect requires an army to control puppets in order to establish their first wave of Dharma Protection Army, but later on..."

"What happens later?"

"Every time, the Taoist Sect develops new techniques. I can’t predict exactly how they will utilize them, but the first wave of the Dharma Protection Army is inevitable. As long as we stabilize that army, we can negotiate with the Taoist Sect."

"Stabilize that army?"

"Do you...have any concerns?" Zhang Zhengyuan asked curiously as he looked at the other person.

The records indicate that the Siao Family seems to have absolute control over the Ghost King Army, right?

Even if some generals awaken their memories from a past life due to the activation by the Buddha Kingdom, it shouldn’t be possible for them to control all the soldiers in a short time, should it?

"There are a few..." The other person’s elegant brows knitted tightly; for some reason, a sense of unease began to rise in her heart.

The composition of the Ghost King Army isn’t significantly affected by the Buddha Kingdom. Each soldier coexists with a Ghost Spirit, including the generals. Even if a general awakens some past-life memories and desires betrayal, the Ghost Spirit within his body might not necessarily agree.

It’s not that simple. If we move quickly, there’s a good chance we can stabilize the army’s morale.

But for some reason, once Zhang Zhengyuan mentioned stabilizing the army to negotiate with the Taoist Sect, an uneasy feeling began growing in her mind.

"What exactly do you mean?" Zhang Zhengyuan hesitated and asked curiously.

"When it comes to stabilizing morale, there is someone...who might be able to do it, perhaps even better than me."

"Huh?" Zhang Zhengyuan was taken aback. "Who is that?"

"The King of Qin!"

"Wait...wasn’t he already excluded from the power circle?" Zhang Zhengyuan was caught off guard.

The King of Qin had previously been misunderstood to be a prime figure. His progress had been under scrutiny all along, and his ultimate fate was well-known—betrayed by the noble families and falling right before unifying the world.

"That was a meticulous plan, but in reality, all the noble families were acting in great peril. At the time, the King of Qin had immense prestige. This prestige...do you know what it means?"

Zhang Zhengyuan, who had climbed up from the bottom ranks of the military, instantly grasped the significance behind her words.

A military leader’s prestige flows from top to bottom.

Especially when the leader’s reputation is molded to the point of near faith, it becomes exceedingly difficult for the subordinates to rebel against him.

Of course...this requires a leader to possess unmatched charisma—prestige that borders on the divine.

Few people in the history of the Central Federation have been able to achieve this.

During the reign of Han Wu, Huo Qubing, and during the Great Tang, Li Shimin, or Yue Fei of the Southern Song—instances where individual rebellions or even groups of high-ranking generals rebelled were rare because their prestige deeply affected the lower ranks.

Everyone viewed the leader as a figure to worship; if your superior suddenly commanded you to betray the leader, would you comply?

Few would comply. Most would refuse...

"Are you implying...this army of yours...still has many who are loyal to the King of Qin?"

"Yes..." Though she didn’t want to admit it, the Siao Family’s behind-the-scenes Family Head still nodded reluctantly.

"The truth of the King of Qin’s death was never shared with the lower ranks.

Even though it’s been years and many of those soldiers now understand what happened, the King of Qin’s momentum has faded.

They’ve moved on with their lives; the Emperor’s younger brother unified the realm, and they received appropriate rewards.

The King of Qin’s forces collapsed swiftly back then, so things didn’t escalate. "

"However...at least seventy percent of the Flying Dragon Army’s Colonels and Lieutenants were originally direct subordinates of the King of Qin!"

"What the—!" Zhang Zhengyuan was stunned. "Then—why didn’t the King of Qin ever leverage such loyalty?"

"Who would follow him?" She rolled her eyes. "The momentum was gone; many generals’ families were near the Capital City. Even if you had immense charisma back in the day, would anyone rally behind you after twenty years? That’s impossible."

"True enough...but what about now?"

"The probability is still low...but my concern is..."

"That he’s already established contact with the Taoist Sect?"

"You’re smart, aren’t you..."

-------------------------------------------------

"You’re quick to arrive..."

Ziyue reappeared in front of Chen Qing, and Chen Qing immediately smiled, but the smile quickly faded as she brought several pieces of bad news.

"There isn’t as much Bai Yu as you thought."

"Didn’t Wei Gongcheng say you brought a lot of it?"

"I did bring quite a bit, but at the time, the situation was urgent. For the army’s safety, I had already teleported most of the Bai Yu and army ahead. How could I have anticipated this outcome later?"

"Where did the army go?" Chen Qing asked, astonished.

"In such circumstances, who would dare leave a clear coordinate marker? Of course, it was sent via random teleportation..."

Chen Qing: "....."

"Even worse, the King of Qin likely knows the location of that army."

"What the—!" Chen Qing hid his face in his hands. "Could your news get any worse?"

"The Warrior Army has very high faith and won’t easily betray. When formed into battle formations, the King of Qin can’t do much with them."

"Being loyal doesn’t mean being immune to manipulation. Do you know what the King of Qin is plotting?" Chen Qing asked solemnly.

"I’ve got some guesses...." Ziyue lowered her voice and said, "The Guard Commander has the Taoist Sect’s influence behind him. The King of Qin has temporarily partnered with me to eliminate the Guard Commander, but I suspect...he plans to collaborate with the Taoist Sect independently."

"The Taoist Sect...." Chen Qing’s eyes lit up.

"What are you thinking?"

"I’m realizing a loophole..." Chen Qing mused incessantly. "For a while now, I’ve been curious: Why did the King of Qin choose the Eastern Sea of all places? After all, the Eastern Sea is the most challenging area to gather soldiers. Unless he plans to rely entirely on the East Sea Water Demons, the population there doesn’t hold much value for him.

Now that you’ve mentioned the Taoist Sect, my long-standing doubts are starting to clear up. "

"It’s the same as what I was thinking..." Ziyue said quietly. "The humans in the Eastern Sea...there’s something wrong, isn’t there?"

Chen Qing nodded. He had experienced the Mister Hua Pi incident, and while transforming the entire Eastern Sea population into puppets seemed exaggerated, considering the force behind it, it all began to make sense.

"If the King of Qin wants to work with the Taoist Sect, he must possess a qualification to act as their protector. During the Taoist Sect’s revival, their weakest moment is in the first two waves.

From Old Liu, I’ve learned something about the Taoist Sect’s history.

In previous Eras, the Taoist Sect would completely hide, waiting for the major resurgence of Spiritual Energy before emerging by using high-level Daoist Immortals to control vast numbers of puppets.

However, in doing so, they could only secure limited resources.

If they wish to revive earlier, they must have an army for protection! "

"That’s what I think too. But where would the King of Qin get an army?" Ziyue frowned. "Even if he wants our army to help protect, would the troops follow him?"

"He looks exactly like me. What’s stopping him from pretending to be me?"

Ziyue: "......."

"It wouldn’t last long, though, would it?" Ziyue chuckled. "The Warrior Army’s commanders would quickly catch on, wouldn’t they?"

After all, battle consumes the Power of Faith. If the fake Chen Qing couldn’t generate it, suspicion would arise.

"He only needs to deceive them for a short time because he already has his own army!"

"His own army...."

"For someone who almost unified the world back in the day, do you really think he doesn’t have some footing of his own?"