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Looking back now, Chen Qing had calculated every step so precisely!

Old Qi felt an immense admiration in his heart...

The reason why even he hadn’t expected that they would be used as bait was that this barrier absolutely isolated their aura and sight. Under normal circumstances, they were absolutely safe, and even the Princess Royale wouldn’t have been able to find them.

But the Princess Royale did find them, just like a wild beast relying solely on instinct, unreasonably, she found them. What’s more exaggerated was that Chen Qing had predicted it!

He had wagered that the Princess Royale was powerful enough to find them.

The younger generation really is formidable indeed!

One is formidable, but the other is even more so...

Now, with himself as the bait and the Princess Royale trapped inside the barrier, what would Chen Qing do?

This was what Old Qi was very curious about, yet he hadn’t expected it would be like this...

Is it this move?

Chen Qing had actually discussed this move with his second brother.

When he first heard about it, he declared that Chen Qing’s ability to travel back in time definitely didn’t rely on his own strength, and secondly, it certainly had significant risks and drawbacks.

Being caught up in it now, Old Qi felt this even more acutely.

Chen Qing had used time-reversal on him, and although he did not understand the principle, he could clearly feel that his body had grown significantly weaker; a third of his spiritual power had disappeared into thin air!

Sensing this, Old Qi could roughly gauge Chen Qing’s limit.

If he wasn’t mistaken, Chen Qing’s technique could be used a maximum of three times, each time with increasing risk!

"This technique of yours, it can’t be used often, can it?"

Being a top-tier clever individual himself, Old Qi was quick to react. Naturally, the Princess, adept in schemes, would realize this too. After a brief moment of shock, she looked around and with a half-smile aimed at Chen Qing, she inquired.

"How did Your Highness arrive at this speculation?" Chen Qing asked with a smile, not betraying any emotion.

"Because if you had such an ability, there’d be no need to separate Shen Yinian and myself. You could just keep reviving your troops, and no matter how strong I am, facing an army that keeps reviving would be a dead end. The fact you didn’t act this way shows that you can’t do it!"

Chen Qing: "....."

Siao Mingyue gave a slight smile and looked outside, "If you can’t do that for the entire army and can only do it on a small scale, then even without splitting me and Shen Yinian, and with the cooperation of that strong Silver Armored Youth, you could have taken down both of us together.

This indicates you can’t do that, you’re only using this method to bluff and buy time! "

Chen Qing stared at her, stunned for a good while before letting out a bitter laugh.

You really can’t underestimate NPCs... Oh, but she’s not an NPC, is she? She’s one of the top figures who’s survived in the world he designed, the Demonic World. On what basis could he underestimate her?

"Then why doesn’t the Princess Royale just take action?" Chen Qing said with a smile, "Continue to fight, test my limits, why don’t you?"

Princess Chang glanced outside and shook her head, replying, "I can’t afford such a risk; I can’t afford to lose Shen Yinian!"

As a top Martial Artist, she could tell just how strong that person chasing Shen Yi was.

Facing that enemy head-on, she wasn’t confident she’d definitely win.

Given her knowledge of Fifth Elder Shen, even though his techniques were the hardest to be approached and killed by a Martial Artist, it wouldn’t keep him at bay for long.

How many times could she kill Chen Qing here?

How many times he could hold out was something she didn’t know; the unknown was indeed unknown. She couldn’t afford to gamble on this!

"Let me out, and we’ll call a truce. State your terms!" Princess Chang spoke quickly, "Within ten breaths, propose conditions that will satisfy us both!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing didn’t mince words. This was the moment he was waiting for, and he directly said, "Establish a non-aggression pact and never invade Jiangnan!"

"Are you joking?" Princess Chang chuckled. "Where else can I go if not Jiangnan right now?"

"I could lend you Nanming Prefecture for a year. Within a year, you must move out, and you cannot invade Jiangnan!"

"Lend it to me?" Princess Chang looked at Chen Qing, "Boy, you really want to carve up Jiangnan for yourself, huh?"

"Isn’t this the pie you drew for me, Auntie?

" Chen Qing replied with a smile, "You just said that if I submit, I will be a lord of Jiangnan in the future. So now it’s the same effect: a year is enough time for Auntie to resolve the battle with the West Sea, right?

If Auntie wins, your son-in-law will behave and be a compliant lord of Jiangnan, will that not suffice? "

Princess Chang burst into laughter, clapping her hands, "Lord of Jiangnan... very good, very good." She then swiftly changed her tone, "So how will you lend Nanming Prefecture to me, my dear son-in-law? Right now, I’m actually struggling with how to conquer the Nanming household!"

"I’ll close all the active zombie passageways in Nanming Prefecture for Auntie and then open a separate one just for you, how about that?"

"Can you do it?" Princess Chang’s eyes held danger.

"Only once..." Chen Qing answered honestly, "and it will come at a great cost!"

"What cost?"

"The life of Old Liu!"

Princess Chang was taken aback and then stared intently at Chen Qing...

"What do you think, Aunt?"

"Good!"

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

A quarter of an hour later, the two armies ceased fighting.

Princess Chang, with a gravely injured Fifth Elder Shen, retreated to the coast. Both sides had world-class magicians, and the establishment of an array pact meant no one could cheat.

However, both Chen Qing’s side and Princess Chang’s magicians were utterly puzzled by this truce.

"Your Highness, are we truly falling back?" Fifth Elder Shen clearly found it hard to accept.

"What else can we do?" Siao Mingyue glared at him, "If I had been trapped in there for over thirty breaths, could you have held on?"

Fifth Elder Shen fell silent. The sudden appearance of the Silver Armored Youth was extremely formidable.

Not only was he skilled and immensely strong, but he also wielded the power of lightning, which was the bane of his kind, seemingly encountering his nemesis.

Thirty breaths... His Highness might have overestimated him!

"I can’t afford to lose you, can’t take the risk, we can only accept his terms. We lost the moment I was lured into that array."

Hearing this, Fifth Elder Shen hung his head and took a serious look at Chen Qing in the distance, committing his face to memory.

Since his creation, it was the first time he had taken such a fall at the hands of a human. The plans he had agonized over had become, at least in part, a bridal gown for someone else. This youngster, he would remember him!

"They mentioned sacrificing Old Liu could open an individual passage and could also close the channel that once belonged to Nanming Prefecture. Is that true?"

"It’s true..." Fifth Elder Shen nodded, "According to what I remember, when Nine Heavens Mirror was initially arrayed, to encourage later generations to slay us, there was such a reward.

Using any one of our brothers for the sacrifice would grant partial control over Nine Heavens Mirror.

But, this secret... those who knew should have all died off back then. "

"Is that so?" Princess Chang looked at Fifth Elder Shen with a smirk, "Then if we sacrifice all of you, could we gain complete control over Nine Heavens Mirror?"

"Yes..." Fifth Elder Shen nodded.

"Interesting, hahaha, truly interesting..." Princess Chang glanced at Chen Qing bowing in the distance and laughed, "I’m getting more and more curious about that young fellow’s origins!"

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

"We’re just letting them go?" Shen Qi asked as he watched Princess Chang leave in the distance.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing rolled his eyes, "Would you prefer to invite them to dinner?"

Shen Qi looked at Chen Qing, "I always feel like, if you had pushed a little longer just now, there was a chance to annihilate them completely. Once Brother Five dies, his army of living corpses could have been taken over by his second-in-command in an instant, and our power would have been unprecedentedly strong. With just Princess Chang alone, no matter how tough she is, we could have worn her down alive, couldn’t we? "

"Um..." Chen Qing looked at him strangely, "I hadn’t realized Seventh Master was so optimistic?"

Seventh Master Shen: "...."

"With Seventh Master’s intelligence, can’t you see that my ability can’t last long?" Chen Qing sighed.

"I see, but... the risk is worth it!" Seventh Master Shen insisted.

"It’s not worth it..." Chen Qing shook his head, "This technique is called Mirror Folding. It’s not a time-space regression as you think but uses arrays to refract a future, creating an illusion of future reincarnation for all of you. It’s complete hypnotism.

Since the refracted images are formed from our own energy, Princess Chang might not have killed any of us, but she destroyed the energy in our bodies.

This method consumes a vast amount of power, and just two more times would completely deplete our energy, and then. .."

"Then what?" Seventh Master Shen frowned.

Indeed, just as he had suspected, this method had significant side effects.

"Then it’s grave..." Chen Qing said with a bitter smile, "Once our energy is entirely depleted, our souls will cease to exist, and you won’t even have the chance to enter the underworld!"

Seventh Master Shen: "....."

"This array wasn’t designed to confuse others in the first place, but originally, it was used in Nine Heavens Mirror to make the Ancient Worms fight and kill each other.

Because if Ancient Worms truly fought and devoured each other, one would grow stronger by absorbing the other, and this technique was to make them fight without being able to supplement themselves, only to consume their own existence. .."

"I see," Seventh Master Shen suddenly understood, "can this Mirror Folding only be used in Nine Heavens Mirror?"

"It was supposed to be so," Chen Qing nodded, "but the Shen Family’s arrays are derived from Nine Heavens Mirror, which also includes the Mirror Folding technique. This is why I dared set this plot."

"But Princess Chang doesn’t know... we could have asked for more conditions."

"Princess Chang would have guessed," Chen Qing shook his head, "Don’t underestimate your Fifth Brother. He has a card up his sleeve that could have flipped the table. If he played that card, we would all have died here!"