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"Daddy, do you know what that thing is?"

Under the night sky, Chen Qing’s boat circled the waters of the myriad Flood Dragons, measuring from a distance, anchoring the approximate position of the entrance, and making preparations.

Hearing Ghost Doll asking this, Chen Qing pondered for a moment and also sat down to rest for a while.

After all, being near the dragon with its terrifying aura, even though it couldn’t attack him from its domain, the pressure was immense, and the strain was substantial...

"Are you asking about that thing in Lyuzhou?"

"Yeah..." Ghost Doll nodded: "I’ve never heard of a creature that can drive people mad on their own."

"This has to do with its traits..." Chen Qing said with a smile: "You demons, like the Ghost Generals, once you invade the human world, do so with sheer force, causing a great commotion.

Not all demons in this world have the overwhelming power you were born with.

Many use their characteristics to invade the world in convoluted ways, like the Thousand-Faced Fox and Mister Hua Pi, who erode the Human Race from within with strange and special methods. "

"The reason you don’t encounter them is that these entities instinctively avoid violent demons because against you, their special abilities are useless before they fully develop.

Demons are sensitive to each other and can easily be detected, so naturally, the moment they hear of your invasion, they stay as far away as possible. "

"So that’s how it is..." Ghost Doll nodded and then asked, "Is the monster invading our Lyuzhou troublesome?"

"Quite troublesome..." Chen Qing said smilingly: "That thing can trigger negative emotions in people, particularly effective on ordinary people. If it faces individuals with life levels above ordinary, it needs to find their emotional weaknesses and meet specific level requirements in itself."

"According to that guy Wei Gongcheng, the creature killed a child from the Murong Family and then used the panic to spread negative emotions. If one is not careful, the entirety of Lyuzhou City could fall into madness, and once people start to go crazy, they’re no different from wild beasts."

"Then...is it really okay for you not to return, Daddy?"

"That depends on Wei Gongcheng’s abilities.

" Chen Qing let out a sigh: "Wei Gongcheng suspects that Shen Qi has already met with disaster, and that Zi Yue, based on previous information from Heiyun, wouldn’t easily take action due to the technique’s heavy load.

Therefore, this probe should only be a light touch.

With Wei Gongcheng in his home turf of the underworld, he has strong capabilities.

If he can use his abilities well to resolve this crisis, even capture that monster alive, there’s a big chance of that happening. But he has to find the source first."

"The source?"

"The source of the spread of fear..." Chen Qing recounted the process of creating this thing, speaking slowly: "Its spread of negative emotions is not done at random.

It has to infuse its own power into it, like injecting a toxin, starting from a few key media.

The media, as the spread of fear intensifies, also grow in strength, and then those few media select others to expand the spread further! "

"This..." Ghost Doll was taken aback, thinking it sounded a bit like...

"It sounds a bit like the Way of the Gods, doesn’t it?"

Ghost Doll nodded repeatedly. Wasn’t the Way of the Gods just like that?

The main god transmits the power of faith downward, and the fighters who evolve faster below would receive more power of faith in return.

The main god’s power would grow, as would the power it transmits, and the specifically nurtured fighters would possess the ability to transmit the power of faith just like the main god.

"This is what we call the matryoshka design..."

"Matryoshka?" Ghost Doll said, puzzled.

"Ahem, technical jargon, don’t worry if you don’t understand..." As Chen Qing thought back to the experience of designing the Heart Demon, it seemed... the original plan only had ten demons, which were three heavenly demons, three earthly demons, and then the four masters.

The boss, for some reason, argued that a Feng Shui master predicted that twelve was his destiny number and that ten was an unlucky number.

The original ten demons were also the first version’s main attraction for their eerie presence, crucial to whether the game could become a major hit.

In the end, the whimsical boss decided to add two more demons on the spot, advertising the first version with the slogan of the Demon Dynasty featuring twelve demons.

When Chen Qing’s team heard the news of the sudden overtime, they wailed in despair.

Even Chen Qing himself, despite being a notorious workaholic, was in a terrible mood when he learned of the last-minute overtime, knowing he could have been resting.

Consequently, the design for the Heart Demon and the last Paper Folding Master ended up being somewhat casual.

While it sounded intriguing, among these two demons, one was purely functional and posed little threat to the players and could be overcome without much trouble. The other’s ability sounded intimidating but had a rather obvious weakness.

According to the design, the Heart Demon couldn’t act directly but only through temptation by granting others power.

Every time it instigated chaos, it had to painstakingly select its media, which would carry its power to influence others.

The better the effect of the influence, the stronger the media would become.

Eventually, the media could independently establish new media on the outside.

This way, one would pass to two, two to many, and under successful conditions, it could plunge a city or even a country into panic and chaos quickly.

However, the solution was easy: just find those media and disable them, and the monster’s ability would be rendered unusable. Conversely, one could locate the Heart Demon’s hiding place through the media and then... completely eliminate the source!

It was arguably the easiest to overcome among the twelve eerie demons.

Chen Qing sighed. Yet, the easiest to overcome was in relation to himself and some advanced players. He was unsure if Wei Gongcheng would grasp his meaning?

All along, Wei Gongcheng gave him the impression of someone capable of shouldering major responsibilities.

Now was the time to test that. If Wei Gongcheng couldn’t handle this matter, Chen Qing had a backup plan to prevent Jiangnan from falling outright.

But if Wei Gongcheng could handle it, many things in the future could then be entrusted to him with peace of mind.

After all... in the future, when facing those awakened ones, fighting on multiple fronts would be inevitable. His main gods under him must be capable of standing on their own!

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"The source, huh..."

As Wei Gongcheng watched the scene in the Mirror Jade, he narrowed his eyes, pondering the meaning behind Chen Qing’s two words.

The information the monarch had transmitted was scarce, yet it absolutely held the key to breaking the situation. By revolving around the monarch’s information, they would surely find a way to deal with that monster.

Quickly, Wei Gongcheng stared into the Mirror Jade for nearly two hours, and finally, amidst the hustle and bustle of various characters, he identified a key figure.

"Zoom in on that area..." Wei Gongcheng pointed in a certain direction.

"Yes..." Chen Ying used a technique to magnify the illusion within the Mirror Jade, and soon, the blurry figures revealed two that seemed familiar.

"Why is it so blurry?"

"This is newly developed; its effectiveness still needs improvement. To achieve clarity as if on the scene, it will take some more time."

Wei Gongcheng nodded at the explanation: "Judging from their garments, it’s definitely these two.

They are the most active, having visited the tavern’s main hall in twenty or thirty places in just two hours, even stepping out once.

.." Wei Gongcheng pointed at the image: "The hall is already crowded, and those who make it to the front rarely leave their spots.

Their erratic movements surely mean trouble. Do you recognize them?"

"I do..." Chen Ying nodded: "People of the Shen Family from the Capital City, two cousins of Shen Xue.

Poor at mathematics, just like Shen Yu, they both inherited decent talents but were forcefully shoved into the team by the Family Head of the Shen Family.

Obviously, the Shen Family would rather our academy take such descendants in. "

"Nepotism?" Wei Gongcheng understood immediately.

"Pretty much that idea..."

"The Shen Family? People like this?" Wei Gongcheng fell into thought; something was off.

The foundation of the Shen Family should be clean, a third-rate Sorcerer Family of the Capital City, definitely lacking such capability, especially when the chaos was caused by two unremarkable members.

If one were to say the Shen Family had been secretly nurturing two such strangely talented members, harboring such cunning... it seemed unlikely...

Based on Shen Yuan’s description, the Family Head of the Shen Family was short-sighted, with the narrow heart of a person born out of wedlock.

Looking at it this way, it must be an external force!

Wei Gongcheng then remembered the initial warning from Shen Qi, the abomination that latched onto Shen Xue...

The demonic being attached to Shen Xue, the abnormal behavior of the Shen siblings, the tragic demise of Murong, the spread of fear, they all seemed to connect!

Especially Murong’s tragic death!

Certainly, the demon could hide in the shadows, waiting to wreak havoc after the Dragon Palace opened, yet it chose to make a move at this time.

Why?

What made it so impatient?

Murong...

"Shall we break the ice encapsulating those two fellows from the Shen Family?" Chen Ying asked.

"No rush..." Wei Gongcheng shook his head: "Where did those kids from the Northern Wolf Country go?"

"They don’t seem to be in the tavern."

"Find them!" Wei Gongcheng spoke urgently: "We must make clear why that creature decided to kill Murong first!"