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"Your Highness, Jun’er... he’s willing to eat now."

In the ship’s cabin, the head of the Fei Family respectfully spoke from behind the Princess Royale, quietly reporting the outcome after Chen Qing had left.

"Useless creature!" Siao Mingyue scoffed coldly, "He’s grown so big yet needs someone ten years his junior to lecture him, all the years of studying have gone to the dogs!"

The Family Head followed behind, smiling silently. He said nothing more, because he could feel that at this moment, his wife was in an unusually good mood.

He didn’t even realize when the corners of his mouth had curved up into a smile.

As they were speaking, a distant ship approached. On the deck stood Chen Qing, followed by Shen Yiyun of the Shen Family, as well as the controlled Old Liu!

"Your Highness..." From afar, Chen Qing paid his respects.

They were about to arrive at Nanming Prefecture, and soon, the junior would activate the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley and close all passages of the Nanming Prefecture, but for those zombies that had already landed, the junior would no longer be able to interfere.

The Princess Royale nodded, as long as she could obtain exclusive access rights, she had plenty of ways to deal with the zombies that had come ashore. She could even spend more time trying to take over the bodies of Elder Shen’s high-ranking associates.

The prerequisite was that Chen Qing could pull it off.

At that moment, Shen Yiyun closed his eyes, focusing his entire being on the Insect Sorcery Technique on his body. Old Liu’s face began to show signs of struggle!

"The Shen Family is indeed extraordinary..." the Princess Royale mused, "That old ancestor spent many years, and he truly managed to develop a technique capable of controlling Ancient Worms. If he had been given more time, it’s likely there wouldn’t be this catastrophe in Jiangnan."

"Indeed..." Fifth Elder Shen’s ethereal voice followed, "Your Human Race has immense potential.

The previous Sect Leader of the Shen family, despite lacking much information, was able to develop the Insect Sorcery through the Dragon Transformation Technique.

One must admit, the reason the Human Race has stood strong on this land for so many years, and still tenaciously survives, is truly commendable! "

The Princess Royale smiled faintly, a familiar voice echoing in her mind.

Why do we consider demons fearsome?

Humans are the scariest of all. Given some time and information, humans will remain atop the food chain on this land.

"Let’s begin..." the Princess Royale said to Chen Qing with a smile.

Chen Qing returned the gesture, and Old Liu trembled, his eyes showing longing as he looked towards the location of Fifth Elder Shen for the first time!

But Fifth Elder Shen did not look back at him again.

"Fifth Brother..."

Fifth Elder Shen was taken aback, touching his chest with a frown, "The emotions of your Human Race truly are strange. Clearly, Old Liu should know very well that I would never help him, yet he still cries out to me for aid. And even though I’ve already decided to give up on Old Liu, my heart still feels some discomfort. "

"These things, I fear, are the key useless emotions that prevent your Human Race from growing strong."

"That may not be the case..." the Princess Royale said with a laugh, "Perhaps it is these very things that make the Human Race more terrifying than demons!"

Fifth Elder Shen was startled, then remained thoughtful, touching his chest.

Chen Qing couldn’t care less about discussing life with a creature that was neither human nor inhuman. With hands forming seals, the entire mist began to stir, and then, a majestic Spiritual Power appeared across the river surface!

"This lad... he can actually activate the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley!" Fifth Elder Shen still found it incredible, even at this moment.

"Didn’t you say that all those ancient people who could drive the Heavenly Mirror Valley have died?"

"No mistake..." Fifth Elder Shen nodded, "The Ancient Sorcerers who guarded the Dragon Palace from ancient times all died due to the invasion of their original forms, and we are certain there were no survivors!"

"If there were no survivors, how does this lad know so many secrets of the Dragon Palace? And how can he drive the ancient Array you mentioned? Could he be a descendant of those people?"

"That I do not know..." Fifth Elder Shen shook his head, "But if he were a descendant, a family with such a long legacy should be well-known in the world."

The Princess Royale also frowned at these words. There are hidden Sorcerer Families, but a formidable character like Chen Qing, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, doesn’t make sense.

A descendant of a family that has survived for tens of thousands of years certainly should not be so obscure.

Moreover, the legacy he inherited was related to a place as ancient as the Dragon Palace.

Meanwhile, Chen Qing, enveloped by the tremendous Spiritual Power, floated in midair, shrouded in thick fog. Whether it was the Princess Royale, the Fifth Elder Shen below, or Shen Yiyun controlling Old Liu, at this moment they could no longer see Chen Qing.

What they couldn’t see was the scene that Chen Qing could.

It was a group of spirits, having been locked in the Array for years, their appearance had faded away, leaving only some deep-rooted obsessions.

Chen Qing didn’t know how the Ancient Worm’s head was structured; why did it think that such an intelligent Array would be a dead thing?

In fact, the Array had always been alive, because it had always been controlled by something living.

Only without a body.

In those days, the Ancient Worm used its unique infectious properties to invade the guardianship of the Dragon Palace, almost causing the ancient sorcerers who’d guarded the Dragon Palace since time immemorial to be wiped out in a single moment.

But this was normal; a biohazard of that caliber, placed in ancient times, indeed constituted a crushing blow.

In haste, that group of ancient sorcerers used the Array surrounding the Dragon Palace as a medium to eternally seal the Ancient Worm because they knew how destructive it was.

And then, due to the unique infectious power of the Ancient Worm, all the ancient sorcerers abandoned their physical bodies, choosing instead to use the Array to lock away their spiritual bodies so that they could control the Array via these spiritual bodies and thus engage in a battle of wits and courage with this heaven-defying creature over countless millennia.

After all, it’s not artificial intelligence; how could the Array be so intelligent if there were no one controlling it?

"You really did it..."

In the mist, several indistinct and unformed spiritual bodies were looking at Chen Qing, feeling the sixth Ancient Worm that Chen Qing had sacrificed, and the voices carried a hint of satisfaction.

"For many years, many have come to the Array, but you are the only one who wasn’t tempted and truly managed to kill them!"

Chen Qing bowed slightly, "If it weren’t for the seniors’ unyielding perseverance over innumerable years, I wouldn’t have faced such a weakened Ancient Worm."

It was like when the game first launched; no player dared to astral project after falling into the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley.

Because by the logic common among magicians, to astral project in the presence of powerful forces was to court death.

Back then, no player in hundreds of servers had ever attempted it, and to Chen Qing’s surprise, after so many long years in the game world, still no one had tried it.

It seems the conservative faction will always be the biggest stumbling block for the Human Race...

Chen Qing chuckled and continued, "According to our agreement, seniors, shouldn’t you grant me part of the rights to the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley now?"

"What rights do you want?"

"Passage rights!" Chen Qing said earnestly, "I need the ability to forcibly close and open certain passages."

All the spiritual bodies fell silent, and after a long while, one of them spoke, "Why do you want those rights? The barrier’s power is weakening, and with those rights, you can’t fend off the Ancient Worms for long. Why not seek more powerful destructive rights?"

"Because it’s useless..." Chen Qing smiled, "If your ancient Array could have harmed the Ancient Worms, you would have done it yourselves long ago. The reason you haven’t managed to over so many years is because you can’t.

As for inheriting the Array’s legacy, I don’t have the time or energy to study it.

I believe those I train will create stronger Arrays than the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley in the future.

What you have will wait for the future generations to surpass you! "

"You sound very confident."

"But if you want the inheritance, you still need to completely resolve the crisis with the Ancient Worms!"

"I understand..." Chen Qing nodded, "Only by proving that the Human Race can eliminate this Ancient Worm will you feel at ease, confident enough... to let us face even more terrifying things within the Dragon Palace."

"You do know a lot, junior, but we remember that year when not one of our descendants escaped. The attack by the Ancient Worms was so sudden that, to be safe, we didn’t dare to let a single living person out, including ourselves!"

Chen Qing bowed respectfully; this group of ancient sorcerers had sacrificed all their kin for the safety of the Human Race. He had designed this storyline, but whether or not it was for the sake of the plot, their sacrifice was real.

In this world, they were... the martyrs of the Human Race!

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

As the wails of Fifth Elder Shen gradually subsided, massive waves of spiritual power poured into Nan Ming from where Chen Qing was, causing the entire perimeter of Nanming Prefecture to shake like an earthquake.

The Princess Royale marveled at this mighty force of nature, "Truly impressive.

This array comes from the ancient sorcerers.

If our Human Race can control this force, how powerful must those from the past have been?

And those who forced them into extinction, how formidable must you be?

The King of Qin was right; the ancient.. . must not be tampered with!"

"Since Your Highness understands this, why then do you choose to walk this path?" Chen Qing’s voice came from above.

"Because human ambition is unstoppable!" The Princess Royale replied with a laugh, looking up, "No matter how much it is resisted, people will always venture onto this forbidden path in the future. Since that’s the case, I might as well seize the initiative. As long as I’m ahead of everyone else, I can stop them all! "

Chen Qing laughed, "Then Your Highness must work hard. Please remember, in Nanming Prefecture, you have only one year!"

"You as well..." The Princess Royale looked towards Chen Qing, curious. He knew so many secrets and could control the Array, but he still gave her a year. Did he not realize that the zombies in her control would only grow stronger while the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley he relied on would only weaken?

Or did he believe that in a year’s time, he could contend with her?

An interesting young man indeed.

Shen Yiyun, who had just given up her greatest trump card to Chen Qing, also looked on with a hint of confusion.

One year...

After today, this young man would truly become the lord of Jiangnan.

At the very least, for the year agreed upon with the Princess Royale.

Now, having achieved control over Jiangnan, what would this young man turn Jiangnan into in just one year?