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After finding out that Zi Yue and the others had escaped, Chen Qing actually started to make plans. He knew that this group of people, whether they could threaten Lyuzhou or not, would eventually come to seek him out.

Zi Yue and her group were dangerous but also very powerful. If used well, they could actually be a medium to test an idea.

"Since Lady Ziyue is willing to work with Princess Bai Yu, what’s your stance on the Ancient Worm?" Chen Qing suddenly asked.

At these words, Bai Yu was stunned. She never expected Chen Qing to suddenly bring up this topic. What was he trying to do? Create conflict on the spot?

"What do you mean by that, Lord Chen?" Bai Yu asked with a frown.

Chen Qing did not look at her but instead turned to Zi Yue, wanting to know her position.

According to the intelligence provided by Wang Ye, Zi Yue had existed for an ancient period of time, probably related to the Sorcerer Dynasty of old.

Although she appeared human on the outside, in truth, she was no longer considered human.

To be strict, her gap with experimental demons like the Ancient Worm wasn’t wide.

Zi Yue looked calmly at Chen Qing, quickly grasping his intention: "You want to understand my position?"

"Yes..." Chen Qing nodded, "The Ancient Worm is dangerous, a carelessness and it could corrupt the world. I believe Senior knows, given their capabilities, a lack of vigilance might turn the entire world into hell. Such beings seem not to concern you, Lady Ziyue."

Bai Yu’s face turned dark, but she remained silent, a trace of curiosity even flickered in her eyes.

Indeed, she found it strange that her kind, which should have been the least acceptable to humans, had several willing collaborators, especially Zi Yue, who hadn’t even made a pact of sorcery with her, seeming not at all worried about the threat she might pose to the Human Race in the future.

"Risk?" Zi Yue chuckled, "I thought Lord Chen knew some truths. Do you really think that humanity has survived until now because it’s strong? Or because it’s excellent?"

Chen Qing frowned; in fact, he also found it unreasonable. According to his calculations, the survival of the Human Race was purely coincidental, but such coincidences shouldn’t have continued for a thousand years. At first, he had thought it was good luck, but now something seemed very off.

To say that the King of Qin had changed the iteration, preventing a crisis from occurring, but knowing the history, he was very clear that the King of Qin... only lived a century in this world. So, how had the Human Race endured the previous nine hundred years?

Why hadn’t the ancient calamity occurred?

Or was it that... it had actually occurred, but for some reason... it had been resealed?

"Was it arranged?" Chen Qing squinted, voicing a suspicion he had harbored all along!

"It seems that Lord Chen does know a bit..." Zi Yue sneered, "If you’re aware it was arranged, then you should understand, the Ancient Worm... can’t destroy the Human Race..."

"I see..." Chen Qing nodded.

"Now can Lord Chen say why you kept us here? Do you have some additional plans?"

Chen Qing nodded: "This core sanctum, in the history of the Dragon Palace, is called Dragon Gate. It’s not just a scholarly hall of the four seas alliance but also where creatures with the Dragon Clan’s bloodline undergo the process to ’Leap through the Dragon Gate’."

"Leaping through the Dragon Gate?" Zi Yue said with a cold laugh after hearing this, "Carp turning into dragons, such beautiful legends. But I assume the stories here are not as pretty as in the dramas, right?"

"Certainly not..." Chen Qing said somberly, "This is a test site!"

A test site?

Bai Yu’s eyes flickered, and Murong Yunji’s gaze also flashed with a peculiar light.

"As expected..." Zi Yue nodded, "Use beautiful rumors to attract powerful beings with Dragon Blood, select them layer by layer, but in reality, it’s for the purpose of crafting weapons, correct?"

Chen Qing looked at her, Zi Yue’s background seemed to be that of a sorcerous weapon, so her current attitude was of great importance.

"I think I get the gist of what you mean, Lord Chen. You want to obtain some sort of weapon from here? Or perhaps the method to craft weapons?"

"That’s right..." Chen Qing nodded.

"Why not let them know?"

"Their power is too strong; the last thing they should get their hands on is the method for crafting weapons."

"You’re quite the strategist," Bai Yu said, looking at Chen Qing. "You mean we’re the easy targets, and even if we acquired the method for weapon crafting, it would be useless, right?"

"Less of a threat, at least not a significant one in the short term, and furthermore..." Chen Qing turned to Bai Yu, "I don’t know how much power you’ve hidden in the shadows, but it’s a fact you lack resources.

Relying on that corner of the mists, the bit of energy you have, even if you reached the heavens, you could at most cultivate one or two purebloods right now, or possibly. .. only Weichi Feihong!"

Bai Yu: "....."

"As for Senior Murong..." Chen Qing spoke indifferently, "You’ve hidden yourselves well enough, but in this world, everything has its pros and cons. If you wish to stay hidden, you cannot grow stronger. That’s the rule. The fact that not a single person from the Shen Family could guess your identity means that over the years, you haven’t had the chance to develop your followers.

Otherwise, with Shen Qi’s capability and intelligence, he wouldn’t be without the slightest doubt about you. "

"Therefore... you few seniors are mere shells. You may be powerful by yourselves but... you have no foundation. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be scheming so desperately to seize the junior’s foundation."

All three remained silent as they watched Chen Qing, with Princess Bai Yu and Murong Yunji’s eyes clearly filled with danger. This Chen Qing... had almost completely figured them out, which was not a good thing!

"Interesting..." Zi Yue smiled, "If that’s the case, why should we cooperate with you?"

"You also said the method of crafting weapons would be most useless in our hands. So why should we take risks with you? By asking us to stay, you want us to participate in some dangerous affairs, don’t you? What can we gain from it?"

"Origin..."

"Origin?"

"The Ancient Worm was born in this very palace." Chen Qing looked at Bai Yu, "Don’t you want to know how you came into being?"

Bai Yu: "..."

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

"You were just convinced by that?"

Within the decaying palace, in the vacuum of wind, the deeper they went, the darker it became. Chen Qing walked at the very front while Princess Bai Yu and the others followed at a distance.

The one speaking was a Straw Man hidden in Zi Yue’s clothing, its voice filled with resignation.

It had never anticipated that Chen Qing could persuade the two individuals with just a few words. How had it never noticed before that these two were so easily convinced?

Zi Yue, however, remained silent. As a former Magician’s weapon, she understood their feelings. She too had once sought the meaning of her existence, and that quest had spanned a thousand years!

Until she met that ’Pie-in-the-Sky King’...

Of course, her decision not to stop them from cooperating with Chen Qing was not out of mere empathy but rather due to her interest in the biological weapons Chen Qing had spoken of.

Chen Qing was right; without a foundation, even if they mastered a method of creating biological weapons, they wouldn’t pose a threat in the short term, but that didn’t mean it was meaningless.

If they could dominate Lyuzhou, the method of creating biological weapons would be highly significant.

She was aware that the folks in the Dragon Palace were once the most adept at creating monsters. Arrays, vapor, all the demons with Dragon Blood were the capital of the Dragon Palace.

If they could master some of these, they would have a better chance of withstanding those horrors later on...

In the darkness, the group moved in silence. The Straw Man grumbled a few times, ignored by all. After cursing to itself, it too fell silent, and they all continued to follow Chen Qing, journeying deeper into the abyss.

The interior of the palace felt like an endless abyss. Although they had only walked for less than a quarter of an hour, it felt as though they had been walking for a century.

Princess Bai Yu was considered patient, having been suppressed in the Array for ten thousand years, facing nothing but the cold seawater and endless darkness. But for some reason, she found the depths of the Dragon Palace’s abyss somewhat unbearable.

Unable to hold back, she asked, "How much longer do we have to walk?"

"We’re close..." Chen Qing, who led the way, had a strange look in his eyes.

The abyss of the Dragon Palace... was different from before. He remembered disliking the original design of the palace’s abyss and later planning to revise this section with a colleague.

They had discussed it for a long time and came up with a version, but it was put off due to other matters and wasn’t updated in time.

The boss was eager to release the game, and under time constraints, he too postponed the update, planning to refine it with his colleague before providing an update to this section.

He... shouldn’t have updated it yet. In the original map, the Core Laboratory of the Dragon Palace was within an underground palace.

This dark abyss they were passing through... was planned content!

An utterly absurd feeling suddenly bubbled up in Chen Qing’s heart...

Could it be that after traversing to this world, it was still being continuously updated?