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"What time is it?"

Ali woke up clutching her head, feeling incredibly weak all over, as if she had slept for an eternity.

"Reporting to Your Highness, it’s already noon..."

"Noon?" Ali instantly got up. She remembered it was almost noon before she fell asleep. She couldn’t have slept for just an hour or two, could she?

"How long did I sleep?"

"Your Highness must have been tired; you slept for a full thirteen hours."

"That long?" Ali got up, holding her head, walked down from the bed, not even minding her disheveled clothes, and walked straight to the window.

Behind her, Heiyun followed, tirelessly guarding her, looking at Ali’s stunning figure without a hint of desire, like a servant without wants or needs.

"Where is Dean Chen Ying?" Ali sat by the window, gazing over the entirety of Lyuzhou, sensing the city’s fortune, and felt a little relieved. Lyuzhou was still under control, its fortune was stable, and no major problems had arisen.

This was also why the Ziyue Society felt at ease leaving.

With the Gate Deity under her control, the mountain gods under her control, Chen Ying under her control—Lyuzhou was entirely under her control.

Should anything happen to any of these three, the city’s fortune would fluctuate, and she would detect it immediately.

Besides, the Gate Deity could monitor the city gates in all directions, serving as an extra layer of insurance for her.

"Dean Chen Ying is busy with matters. After Your Highness rested, she went back to her academic duties. It is said to be about the arrangements for new students’ admission."

"Good..." Ali nodded.

Chen Qing laid an excellent foundation; the fortune contained within the Yin Yang Academy accounted for half of Lyuzhou’s, even stronger than that of the Capital City’s Yin Yang Academy.

Therefore, she valued it immensely. Once she swallowed up Jiangnan, she would follow Chen Qing’s strategies to the letter, not changing a single detail.

She would maintain the current atmosphere of the Lyuzhou Academy, keeping Jiangnan’s fortune stable, and continue to produce excellent magicians.

The stronger the force, the higher the likelihood of withstanding those monsters in the future.

"How are things on Wei Gongcheng’s end?"

"All senses closed, he can only wake up at set times, and no one can be an exception to this," Heiyun said respectfully. "Your Highness, rest assured, we have grasped his waking dates through investigation and won’t miss by a minute or a second."

"That’s good..." Ali stood up, feeling like she wanted to go for a walk, but also feeling so sore and weak that she didn’t want to move. She turned to Heiyun and said, "I’m hungry, bring me something to eat."

"Fresh live human?" Heiyun asked respectfully.

"No need..." Ali shook her head. "Just regular food is fine."

"Regular food?" Heiyun was momentarily puzzled, feeling that such words coming from a demon sounded somewhat dissonant.

"Is there a problem?" Ali’s voice grew a bit colder.

Heiyun’s body shuddered, and he quickly bowed. "It was presumptuous of me, Your Highness. I will prepare it right away."

Ali nodded and did not reply but quietly continued to watch the lights outside the window.

Since arriving in Lyuzhou, she had become somewhat infatuated with this feeling, feeling as if... it was very familiar, this sensation of watching thousand of households’ lights from a high vantage point...

In less than a quarter of an hour, Heiyun had brought back food.

The first and second floors of Observing Stars Tower were dining areas.

Although positioned as high-end, they attracted a substantial number of patrons, making the restaurants below extremely popular.

Several discerning business owners had set up early, spending a great deal of money for spots on these floors to operate eateries, making a fortune and cultivating good relationships with the academy scholars—a win on multiple fronts.

The academy scholars often worked on projects until late at night, returning with rumbling stomachs. Therefore, the restaurants at the base of Observing Stars Tower remained open all night, with cooks staying up to prepare food even in the dead of night.

But when Heiyun returned with the food, he saw that Ali had once again fallen asleep at the window. Heiyun’s brow furrowed.

Had the Master exhausted herself?

With this frequency of sleep... but it wasn’t his place to keep prying. In the end, he could only silently place the food aside, using Art Energy to maintain its temperature, waiting for her to wake up to eat.

However, at that moment, Heiyun failed to notice that inside the room, an eye twitched imperceptibly...

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"Seventh Master, why don’t we make a move directly?"

In Lyuzhou, inside Shen Qi’s residence, Wei Gongzhan and a few others who had successfully snuck in with Shen Qi’s protection eagerly asked as they watched the sleeping Thousand-Faced Fox on the screen.

According to Seventh Master’s intelligence, the few troublesome individuals in Daqing Mountain had already left, leaving only the Thousand-Faced Fox. Eliminating her would resolve the crisis in Lyuzhou!

"Because we can’t beat her..." Shen Qi said indifferently.

"Huh? Why not?" Shen Yuan was stunned. "You can make the Thousand-Faced Fox sleep from such a distance..."

Wei Gongzhan also nodded, having just witnessed Shen Qi using the eye in the Thousand-Faced Fox’s room to cast a spell that worked remarkably well. The Thousand-Faced Fox immediately fell into a weakened state, sleeping whole day without being able to stay awake for even a quarter of an hour.

"Because that old man is guarding there..." Shen Qi pointed to Heiyun in the camera.

Shen Yuan frowned, "Is that guy really that formidable?"

Wei Gongzhan was also puzzled because he was very familiar with Heiyun, having heard him say that Jiangnan was dangerous, and that each head of the Shen Family in Jiangnan were exceedingly dangerous magicians. Heiyun was no match for any of the Shen Family heads above the eighth rank.

Now why did Shen Qi seem so wary of Heiyun? To the extent of outright saying he couldn’t beat him—could it be that the old man Heiyun was just being modest before?

"That guy is a bit troublesome, but it’s not too bad, had I been alive, it probably wouldn’t have been a big problem,"

"Alive?" Both of their expressions stiffened as they turned to look at Shen Qi.

"Oh... right, you guys don’t know yet..." Shen Qi laughed, "I’m already dead!"

"How could that be?" Both of them were shocked, stepping back instinctively.

"Look at how scared you are," Shen Qi said with amusement. "You’ve spent so much time in Lyuzhou, haven’t you seen plenty of dead people? Doesn’t the Night Traveling God bring back quite a few souls every night? Can you not see them?"

"But... Seventh Master, you..." Shen Yuan looked at him, puzzled; the body in front of him... clearly looked fine.

Shen Qi gave a bitter smile and tore open his clothes, only then did the two see that his skin under the clothes was deathly pale, with an eye-catching wound that pierced through his heart channels, and around his neck, there was an even more horrifying suture.

"I was stitched up by those fellows after I died," Shen Qi touched his neck, "They forcibly locked my soul within my body. The Ziyue Society has quite a few of such sinister arts; even Wei Gongcheng couldn’t see through it back then."

Both of them: "...."

"My current state is very unstable..." Shen Qi sighed, "My body may collapse at any moment, and my spirit could get ejected. In this state, I can’t win against Heiyun, and even if I could, I have no intention of taking action."

"Huh?" Both were stunned, "Why not?"

It was understandable not to take action if he couldn’t win, but why not fight if he could?

"Before, inside the Daqing Mountain barrier, I was constantly monitoring them using the Thousand Eyes Technique. I could tell that Zi Yue places great importance on the Fox Demon," Shen Qi explained as he put his clothes back on. "Although I don’t know why a woman is so obsessed with that Fox Demon, it’s certain that the other party must have a contingency plan for the Fox Demon. If I act rashly, it’s very likely that it would force them to give up the Dragon Palace and come here directly. "

"Right now in Lyuzhou, with Wei Gongcheng controlled, if Zi Yue comes back, we won’t have the slightest chance."

"Then... what do we do?" Wei Gongzhan became anxious all at once.

"We drag it out!"

"Drag it out?" Both were taken aback, chorusing, "What do you mean?"

"Just drag it out..." Shen Qi narrowed his eyes, "With the vast difference between us and the enemy, and unclear intelligence, dragging things out is the best option. I’m controlling the Thousand-Faced Fox with hypnosis; as soon as our lord returns, we can make a move."

"Wait for Lord Chen?"

"Yes..." Shen Qi nodded, "I’ve already informed our lord about the situation through the Thousand Eyes Technique. If he can safely return, this crisis will be resolved!"

"But..." Shen Yuan wanted to ask something but eventually didn’t manage to get it out.

"Are you wondering what if our lord doesn’t make it back?"

Shen Yuan gave an awkward smile, "I’m not trying to be pessimistic, it’s just... those most powerful few have gone to our lord’s location, can our lord deal with them?"

"Whether he can handle it or not, we can’t help him," Shen Qi shook his head, "Just as he entrusted Lyuzhou to us with confidence, we must also trust our lord. If he falls this time, it will prove that this so-called divine nation under heaven was ultimately nothing more than an illusion..."

"An illusion?" Shen Yuan was startled into a daze.

In these two years... life indeed felt like a dream. Yet, if it really were a dream, he would rather... never wake up...

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"This outcome... mm..." Chen Qing stood on the deck, looking at the message transmitted by the eye on his palm, and shook his head with a wry smile.

But still, it’s okay. Given that situation, this result is already quite good...

Chen Qing gazed towards the Dragon Palace.

In the end, it all depended on whether or not he could acquire the most crucial thing from the Dragon Palace.

If not, the divine nation simply could not continue to grow strong.

Just as Shen Qi had said, in the end... it was all nothing more than an illusion.

As he was thinking, Ghost Doll suddenly stood up and looked into the distance.

What Ghost Doll was most vigilant about now was Princess Bai Yu, who had been following not far behind them all this time.

"What’s the matter?" As the ship approached, Chen Qing looked towards the seldom approaching Bai Yu and asked.

"Someone’s coming." Bai Yu spoke gravely, "A very unique presence, it’s a ship from the Imperial Court!"

"Oh?"