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"Daddy, why have you been frowning since just now?"

Chen Qing’s ship had already left Jiangnan, heading toward the thick fog that enveloped the West Sea at this time.

This corridor wasn’t Princess Royale’s domain, and without the merchants of Jiangnan, the dense fog was deadly quiet, not a single sound to be heard, not even seagulls or fish were visible.

"It’s too quiet..."

"Uh... is it?" Ghost Doll paused, not quite sure what to say.

Back on the Path of Yin and Yang, powerful demons often occupied a territory, empty of other creatures for miles around.

Like him, without any backing and merely relying on his own strength, he was actually quite accustomed to the silence around him.

But this sea was indeed abnormal. With his perception, he could sense the movements of living creatures within ten miles, yet along the way, there had been absolutely nothing in the water...

Chen Qing looked ahead, "So this is what first-hand experience feels like. As expected... games and life are two different things."

He actually knew the reason. The Dragon Palace was about to open, and the reason there were no fish in this sea area was that they all sensed danger. Even the weakest water insect knew that something terrifying was going to emerge, but the humans on shore had no perception of it.

This world, it’s really not friendly to humans at all.

"Daddy..." Ghost Doll frowned and glanced at the somewhat dilapidated military ship behind them: "Is that woman really no problem?"

He always felt that the woman had ill intentions, but along the way, she indeed did not seem to be plotting to take action...

"There’s a problem..." Chen Qing said indifferently.

"A problem?"

"Yes... I only realized it after encountering her.

" Chen Qing gazed into the mist ahead, "I had been wondering, Bai Yu has always been proactive from past experiences, never the type to wait passively for death. After taking over Third Elder Shen’s body, she made no move. She watched as Jiangnan grew stronger and as Princess Royale and Elder Shen divided the West Sea. Was she not afraid there’d be no soup left for her at the end? "

"You see, although the Ancient Worm siblings share the same origin, their relationship with each other is deadly. Even if she hides now, if Elder Shen or Fifth Elder Shen become more powerful in the future, they will naturally go after her, the kind she can’t escape from..."

"Oh... that does sound like she shouldn’t be silent..." Ghost Doll slumped his head, his cute face furrowed.

He wasn’t one who liked to think. Even though he was already over a thousand years old, that was also to be expected. If he were good at using his brain, how could he have ended up sealed for so many years?

"Now that I think about it, she must have had plans in place for a long time. What she wants to swallow has always been Jiangnan... "

"Ah?" Ghost Doll suddenly stood up, his eyes fierce, "I’ll kill her!!"

"Not so fast..." Chen Qing shook his head and looked at Ghost Doll with a bit of helplessness. The little guy was too impulsive, truth be told, not quite suitable to be a War God. Fortunately, he sealed the Thunder Department Combat God back then. The requirements of the Thunder Department for fighters were the highest, akin to special forces standards. In the future, Ghost Doll’s subordinates from the Thunder Department could be used as a spearhead unit. As for the main force on the frontline, he’d have to select from the other three departments.

Wind, Thunder, Earth, Fire—four departments.

Now two department heads had been decided, Xu Hu was a good military strategist, more suitable for defense and accumulation.

Ghost Doll was not good at leading, only fit to lead subordinates with high combat talents like the spear of a battlefield.

Now they lacked a commander who could fight well, someone like the ancient generals Lan Yu and Han Xin, capable of overseeing large battlefields!

Both the Wind Department and the Fire Department were more suited for offensive maneuvers, but Chen Qing hadn’t encountered better candidates. Now that his power had established a foundation, he had to be exceptionally cautious when it came to the positions of the main gods.

"Daddy, according to what you said, that woman harbors ill intentions. By following you all this time, does she have some sort of plot?"

"There must be arrangements in Jiangnan..." Chen Qing sighed, "If I’m not mistaken, Bai Yu lied to me from the beginning, she wasn’t acting alone. That last Ancient Worm that has yet to appear must have been in contact with her all along, and chances are it’s an acquaintance within our forces."

"An acquaintance?" Ghost Doll’s face paled, "Daddy, who do you think it is?"

"Those who entered my divine system couldn’t possibly hide from me. And if they haven’t entered the divine system but can pose a threat in my territory, and hold a high position, guess who it might be?"

Ghost Doll looked down, he didn’t enjoy thinking, but that didn’t mean he was foolish. There had always been one very special existence in Jiangnan.

"I’ve always suspected Mu Hongqing," Chen Qing sighed, "The Ancient Worms mostly like to use magicians as mediums. Mu Hongqing is the Academic Commissioner of Jiangnan, holds a special status, and possesses extraordinary connections, making him the least likely to be discovered hidden within various powers. But when he went directly to Capital City for his family and then disappeared, I abandoned that suspicion. Because at a critical moment, he didn’t use Chen Ying’s identity to get close to me, instead heading straight for Capital City, indicating that his persona had never changed, always the pitiful man trying to save his loved ones. "

Although it might still be the case that he never managed to save them in the end.

"So it’s only her left?"

"She’s the only one who fits the criteria.

.." Chen Qing narrowed his eyes, "Her identity is cunning, seemingly an outsider, but in fact, she has always been closely involved with the Shen Family for many years, orbiting around them.

And her own situation makes it easy for others to overlook her.

Many automatically take her for a martial artist, but in reality, she is a top Wind Sorcerer! "

"Is that right..." Ghost Doll’s expression became a bit dull, and a hint of inexplicable sourness flashed deep in his eyes.

Poor little guy, so small in stature, yet that thing below isn’t small at all, quite dishonest... Could it be that he’s intentionally using the appearance of a child to get close to women and then...

No way!!

That detestable woman, all those various temptations back then, turned out... to actually be an insect?

"At the beginning, I asked her to help rescue Thousand-Faced Fox and design Zi Yue. Now that I think about it, I’m afraid at that time, they might have been in cahoots!"

"Hmm?" Ghost Doll blinked in surprise, "Is that so?"

"Hmm..." Chen Qing nodded, "That Zi Yue.

.. collapsed too timely. At that moment, I also felt it was a bit too smooth.

After all, that guy had a great reputation as the top magician of Great Jin.

I remember Shen Qi telling me that Zi Yue once forced the Heavenly Master of Yundu not to leave Yundu lightly.

Such an existence was trapped so easily at the time; now that I think about it, it indeed seems abnormal. "

The plan was risky at the time, and I had other contingencies in place, but I didn’t expect it to go that smoothly. Afterward, the other party behaved for a whole two years, so I didn’t think much of it. But now it seems...

"Then, Father, since that’s the case, shall we return?"

"We won’t return..."

"Ah?" Ghost Doll was stunned; Father looked so serious, and yet we’re not going back?

"Going back would actually be useless..."

"Useless?"

"You know my situation the best," Chen Qing said with a helpless wry smile. "Do you think I’m very strong now?"

"Of course, Father is strong!" Ghost Doll hurriedly said, "Now the people of Jiangnan live so well, the army is so powerful, even compared to before... hmm... to that annoying guy King Gui Xiang, it’s almost the same."

"Eh?" Chen Qing was taken aback; this kid, he holds quite a high opinion of me, even thinks I can match King Gui Xiang.

"In terms of power, we barely have some accumulation," Chen Qing nodded.

Nowadays, Jiangnan has a population of a few hundred million, an army of a million, and they all have a bit of combat strength from the War God Army. On the battlefield in a head-on confrontation, I even have confidence in winning seventy-thirty against Princess Royale or Elder Shen!

But the high-end combat power is still lacking...

"Currently, the strongest in our forces are Xuu Hu and those members of the Shen Family; they count as first-rate combat strength of the time. But compared to the top-notch ones, they still lack something. Just like when Princess Royale entered Nanyang, if we fought head-on, all the members of the Shen Family would have died at that woman’s hands back then.

Although Xuu Hu now has combat strength almost like Weichi Peng, compared to an existence like Zi Yue, he is still one level lower. "

"Father, what about me?" Ghost Doll asked anxiously.

"You have more important things to do..." Chen Qing shook his head. Ghost Doll was strong, especially after sealing the Thunder Department War God. In terms of frontal combat strength, he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the emperor from the Siao Family!

But Ghost Doll’s potential was too great.

The faith of my divine nation was still insufficient to support such a top-tier monster like Ghost Doll as the main deity.

Each activation of Ghost Doll required a vast amount of Blessing Force.

For a power like ours that is still in the accumulation phase, using Ghost Doll even once was too expensive.

The army is now under Xuu Hu’s command, and to transform the Blessing Force, which blesses the entire soldier, into Spiritual Power, in the current circumstances with low spiritual power and the poor overall quality of the populace, sustaining a high-level practitioner like Xuu Hu is already at its limit.

Only when the overall quality improves, can Ghost Doll be completely unrestricted.

Given our current reserves of Blessing Force, we can only activate Ghost Doll twice more. The Dragon Palace is about to open, and I don’t intend to waste it in a clash against Zi Yue and the others.

"Then... shall we just ignore Jiangnan?"

"It’s not about ignoring it; we can’t manage it.

.." Chen Qing sighed, "The reason I wanted to confront Lumings was to establish my authority and give others the illusion that I had reached the pinnacle of this era. Hence, as long as I am in Jiangnan, they wouldn’t dare act rashly, but I was tricked into leaving. If I’m not wrong, not only Zi Yue, but the monster that’s been still in Capital City will likely make a move this time.

If I forcefully return now, I would only force their hand! "

"But you also know..." Chen Qing looked at Ghost Doll, "With characters like them, I can only activate you, but once I do, I won’t be able to gather enough Blessing Force to activate you again for half a year, perfectly missing the Dragon Palace event.

And this opening of the Dragon Palace is pivotal for the fate of Jiangnan.

Your trump card, no matter what, cannot be played now! "

"Then what do we do?" Ghost Doll was stunned.

"There’s no need to panic..." Chen Qing said calmly, "They are making moves now also for the Dragon Palace, so they won’t do too much to Jiangnan. They will just probe me over and over."

"Probe Father?"

"Probe my capabilities..." Chen Qing said as he looked at his arm where a divine seal was flickering, "Look, the probing has begun."

Ghost Doll looked over. The divine seal remote communication consumes a lot of Blessing Force; it could usually transmit only a few words. Unless it’s something major, all deities preferring to contact Chen Qing would rather use their legs to travel.

"Is there a problem?" Ghost Doll immediately followed up with a question.

"Hmm..." Chen Qing nodded, "The child from the Murong Family of Northern Wolf Country... is dead!"