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What... what just happened?

Apart from the Emperor on the dragon throne, with an inexplicable smile, no one knew... what just happened.

Suddenly, it was that kind of very sudden, the woman who had been overwhelmingly powerful, as if she would destroy everything in the next second, just disappeared so suddenly...

No trace was left behind; if not for the blood and flesh conspicuously splattered on the Golden Dragon Pillar, it would have been tempting to believe that everything just now was an illusion!

Everyone was bewildered, and so was Ali.

A word that hadn’t been used in a while and that buried memories surfaced in her mind...

Fuck!!!

What’s going on here?

In an instant, Ali’s back was soaked with cold sweat. Are you kidding me?

Wasn’t it agreed that all I had to do was stand there and grin like an idiot?

Girl, you can’t just play like this, right? At least tell me what happened before you disappear?

Now what am I supposed to do?

Should I admit defeat?

In the hall, everyone was utterly confused, including Wutu Gu, the kneeling Second Prince, with a face full of shock. How could that almost unsurmountable person just disappear into thin air?

The only one who didn’t seem surprised was the Emperor seated on the dragon throne.

What should I do? What should I do?

Ali’s mind raced. Ao Zhen was the very reason they, a group of twenty, dared to make a foray into the Capital City. Her sudden and mysterious disappearance meant that the thing in the Imperial Palace was even more formidable than they had anticipated!

What to do now?

Should I signal Shen Qi to come rescue me?

She didn’t think it was likely. Though there were still two Yaksha generals, they were nothing compared to Ao Zhen—like the difference between heaven and earth. If Ao Zhen had met with disaster, what could they do upon arriving?

Damn, think, think, what should I do? Otherwise, I might be the next one to disappear... Eh?

Suddenly, Ali felt something wasn’t right.

Why didn’t they make me disappear?

I am Chen Qing, the other party shouldn’t have seen through my disguise. If they had the power to crush us completely, why didn’t they suppress us outright from the start? What’s the point of all this spectacle?

Having lived an entire great cycle here, Ali understood a principle a long time ago: if one has absolute power, there’s no need for schemes. Where there are schemes, it means there’s not enough power!!

Suddenly, years of experience helped her calm down gradually...

"Doesn’t the King of Qin want to say something?" The Emperor said with a smile, looking at Ali.

"What does Your Majesty want me to say?" Ali looked up. Despite having lost much of her memory after countless rebirths as a fox spirit, her instinct for acting had never left her. Frankly, even Chen Qing himself would have to bow down to her in this respect.

"You think there’s nothing worth saying?"

"Since Your Majesty has already chosen the path, this humble subject truly has nothing to say."

The Emperor fell silent upon hearing this, quietly observing Chen Qing and realizing that she seemed truly unfazed.

This is... indeed different from what was expected.

The West Sea had the participation of a True Dragon, and even before Ming Xue arrived from Jiangnan, there had already been a plan here, something designed to suppress their strongest warrior and then watch Chen Qing’s reaction!

The plan was quite successful; the woman was far too conspicuous and was easily ensnared. However, Chen Qing’s attitude was puzzling, as if... she saw right through their ruse from the get-go.

This made him somewhat uncomfortable.

This person was just like the former King of Qin, who seemed to understand everything, including his later calculations over life and death, and seemed to have foreseen it all. From beginning to end, his look never changed, always serene as if he could see through everything!

"Has Your Majesty really thought it through?" Ali looked earnestly at the Emperor. "Do you know who you are collaborating with?"

"I, of course, know!" In an instant, the Emperor lost his composure, his tone clearly emotional: "They are people just like you!!"

Ali’s heart skipped a beat, but she remained composed on the surface, maintaining her indifferent expression and nodding slightly: "Actually, it’s not quite the same..."

"It is the same!" The Emperor stood up: "It’s only different in your and that King of Qin’s eyes. You think that their rule over the world is a disaster, but in our eyes, you are the same. You and those creatures are all the same, there’s no difference!!"

"Is that so?" Ali looked at him.

Was this the reasoning behind his earlier betrayal?

For some reason, the Emperor felt a sting when met with Ali’s gaze, his smile turning ferocious.

"Do you think I’m wrong?" the Emperor asked, looking at her.

"I don’t know if you were one of them back then, but if you were, you should remember some things from that time.

Remember someone preaching daily about coexistence between humans and demons, creating a new golden age for the Human Race. Was that really the case?"

"You all remember, don’t you? When your kind couldn’t resist the bloodlust of demons, devouring the hearts and livers of my Human Race’s soldiers, even when there were soldiers fighting on the front lines, only to come back and find their families secretly killed by your people?"

Ali: "...."

"How did that advocate for humans and demons living together handle it?" scoffed the Emperor. "Was it with impartiality? Were humans and demons treated as equals? Not at all, right? It was just a few feeble scoldings, and the desperate soldiers who were sent to die unexplained on the battelfield!"

Caught off guard, Ali nearly snapped back that he was talking nonsense, but for some reason, sudden memories surfaced, causing a sharp pain in her head and leaving her too stiff to utter a word.

"He has never fulfilled his words, and since he can’t ensure universal harmony, what difference would it make if he were the Emperor or if I were?

" The Emperor looked at everyone and said, "At least with me in this position, I can guarantee that those with power are at least from the Human Race, my own kin.

What can he guarantee? The power and influence of his kind? "

At this moment, all the noble families silently stood before the Emperor, and everyone looked resolutely at Chen Qing.

Ali understood at once, even if they were given countless cycles of reincarnation, they would still betray the King of Qin!

Perhaps the King of Qin was right, the path he initially chose... was wrong.

This applied not only to the NPCs of this world but also to his own kind.

He couldn’t bring himself to execute his own kind for the sake of an NPC, and therefore, could never become the most just figure in everyone’s heart. And since justice couldn’t be ensured, there could be no coexistence between humans and demons!

So that’s how it is... it’s like this...

His group of people, they were always... outsiders.

But what does that have to do with me? I can’t return to my original world anyway, and I can hardly remember much about that world. Instead of lamenting this, I better think about how to get out of this great hall alive.

"What Your Majesty has said is indeed not bad..."

"Hmm?" The Emperor was taken aback. He had wanted to have such a debate with the King of Qin for many years. Whether Chen Qing was the King of Qin, he wasn’t sure. No one knew what happened inside the black mysterious ice that sealed everything during the last battle of the West Sea. But that woman had told him that the power was the King of Qin’s.

Is Chen Qing the King of Qin?

He didn’t know, but he was sure that even if Chen Qing wasn’t the King of Qin, he must be closely related to him.

And now... the other party said what he said was right?

A stone weighing on his heart for twenty years seemed to loosen a bit.

"Do you think what I said is right?" The Emperor stared intently at the other party. This was the most moving thing he had heard today.

"Indeed, you spoke correctly..." Ali squinted her eyes, she knew that no matter how steadfast the betrayers seemed, deep down, they all hoped for recognition.

The recognition of someone suspected to be the King of Qin was more important than that of anyone else.

So this cold-hearted ruler also had a psychological weakness...

"Humans and demons are indeed incapable of coexisting!" Ali nodded in response.

"Hahaha!" The man on the dragon throne suddenly laughed heartily, his smile not the least bit gloomy this time, filled with sheer pleasure.

"Don’t you have a way to make demons into gods? Yet you say this? Do your gods also eat people?"

"Whether they eat people or not doesn’t change the fundamental contradiction between humans and demons." Ali smiled. "Demons become gods, humans worshippers. But when humans rise to the pinnacle, can demons forever remain gods?"

"Hahaha!"

The Emperor laughed loudly again, "I thought you didn’t understand this point!"

"Your humble servant certainly understands."

"Then what do you plan to do?"

"That will be your servant’s concern." Ali looked up at Wutu Gu, who was completely clueless, and said, "You just said your Southern Barbarians fight for women based solely on who is the strongest, right?"

"So what?" Wutu Gu bit out, "Are you going to have that woman fight for you over a woman?"

"I shall fight for my own wife," said Ali with a smile.

Listening to this, Siao Mingxue’s eyes showed no sign of being moved, chillingly indifferent.

Wutu Gu became vigilant at once. From this moment, he no longer dared to underestimate the person in front of him.

"Let’s set a date," Ali said nonchalantly, "You say how many days, and it shall be so. I will give you time to prepare, and your patron behind you as well!"

Wutu Gu: "...."

"Is the King of Qin certain?" The Emperor looked at the other party somberly.

"A king’s word is bond," Ali finished with a bow, not saying more, and then turned around to walk away directly.

"Is the King of Qin not taking his followers with him?" The Emperor’s voice rang out again quietly.

Ali’s heart skipped a beat, and she forcefully suppressed the urge to run, clearly aware that if she fled now, she would be smashed to pieces, and as the other party represented the Ghost Domain forces, she could end up sealed like the King of Qin’s soul!

"I will..."

Without looking back, the Scholar’s voice was indifferent: "On the appointed day, I will take my wife and my men and leave safely."

"Good!" The Emperor clapped his hands and laughed, "Your Majesty looks forward to it!"

The courtiers all breathed a sigh of relief; the woman next to Chen Qing had made such a frightening move just now, they feared Chen Qing would cause even greater trouble. If he started a fight with the Emperor here, they didn’t even know if they should help.

Fortunately... there was still time to prepare!

Wutu Gu felt the same; facing off against this Qin King, unfathomable in depth, truly made him a bit apprehensive. He needed to seek guidance from the Divine Temple and acquire greater power.

While everyone else breathed a sigh of relief, only Siao Mingxue did not.

At this moment, her nails were digging fiercely into her flesh beneath her large sleeves!

Because she had noticed, this person... was not Chen Qing!!!