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The competition was set for the third day, and they were to make a move on the evening before the competition!

Shen Qi certainly did not prefer to act on this day, since if the competition was to be held tomorrow, then basically anyone could deduce that he would act today...

But Shen Qi had no choice, because it took a whole day to deal with the intel regarding the father and son of the Chen Family.

As he expected, the Chen Family noticed something was amiss with Chen Qing and decisively sided with the Siao Family, who accepted their allegiance and provided them with some information about traps!

"This is the location mentioned by the father and son of the Chen family.

.." Seventh Master Shen pointed at the map and said, "The location directly points to the Three-Star Temple in Capital City, which is the most prestigious.

It was the Sorcerer Sect that advocated for the celestial, terrestrial, and human stars a thousand years ago during the rebellion against the Demons, the same sect that many noble families pledged allegiance to during the uprising of our Great Jin, essentially the state religion! "

Ali nodded. Back then, the previous dynasty had completely fallen to the Demon Dynasty, and many families of military generals and sorcerers rebelled, joining the sect with the slogan "The Human Race prevails.

" Later, as the reputation of the King of Qin, who was neither righteous in name nor convincing in words, plummeted, this sect also accounted for a significant part of the power.

Although the members of the sect are now mostly concentrated in Tiandu City and rarely appear in public, the Imperial Court still built the most magnificent Taoist temple for the sect, with a statue of the Human Race that stands three Zhang tall—one of the most spectacular sights in Capital City.

The temple was changed to the Ghost Temple, and according to reports, there was considerable opposition from many families at first. But the Emperor was very persistent, regardless of the opposition—he even ignored the objections of his own confidants.

The Zhou, Yang, and Qing families that pledged loyalty to the Royal Family that year were all suppressed and wiped from Capital City, and although they were not publicly executed by decree, everyone knew that it was the hand of the Emperor’s power that acted.

Although those three families were not Duke Families, they were first-rate military families who had followed the Siao Family for a century and had family members serving in the Imperial Army all year round.

Resultantly, this cold-hearted Emperor hesitated not for a moment to erase those three families.

Whether it is from external intelligence or from what Chen Baiye brought over, this temple must be of great importance!

"What does the memory of Chen Baiye say?" Shen Qi asked with a frown, looking at the blueprint.

"The memory coincides with your deductions. The Emperor plans to use the Three-star Taoist Temple as bait, luring you to act and testing your strength!"

"Is that really the case?" Shen Qi looked at the map, his face solemn.

"Are you doubting my ability?" Ali yawned.

"I have no doubts about your abilities, but remember one thing—you... were personally sent to our lord by the Emperor himself."

Ali: "...."

"The Emperor is not like the father and son of the Chen family; he is aware of your existence. With that in mind, do you think he would give real intel to the father and son of the Chen family?"

"Ah..."

"Does Senior Shen Qi believe the Emperor did this deliberately?" Chen Ying asked with a frown.

"It all depends on the calculations..." Shen Qi took a deep breath: "He knows about Ali’s existence, so he must also know that the father and son of the Chen family have come to our side and that their memories will be thoroughly examined. Under such circumstances, whether the information given by the opponent is true or false depends on how they’re calculating. It might be false, intended to lure us away from targeting the Sanxing Temple; it could be true, betting that we would anticipate the possibility of Ali’s exposure. "

"A wheel within a wheel, a loop within a loop; in such a situation, it all comes down to who calculates better."

"I’m getting dizzy from all this." Ali said, exasperated.

Chen Ying frowned, "What should we do then? We don’t have much time left."

It was night already, and the duel between Chen Qing and Wutu Gu was just a few hours away!

"First things first, let’s not rush this.

.." Shen Qi spoke calmly, "We can almost be certain that the most important Ghost Temple must be among the four largest temples in the Capital City. Among them, the Three-Star Temple, although significant, has never been bustling with worshippers. The reason is simple; the temple serves more as a symbol. The King of Qin, in his time, eradicated the common people’s fear of demons, and the significance of this temple has long since faded. The civilians only know that occasionally military men and those from Sorcerer Families go there to pay their respects, but they don’t understand why.

This temple also has a high threshold for worshippers, and judging by the flow of people, it’s rather empty. "

"The temples with the most worshippers are the Guanyin Temple and the Confucian Temple.

One for those praying for children, the other a sacred place for scholars from humble backgrounds in pursuit of literature.

Both temples are highly frequented by worshippers who are mostly ordinary folks.

Then there is the Martial Temple. The martial spirit is strong in Great Jin, especially among youths from Martial Families who, upon coming of age, usually go to the north to accumulate military merit.

This is a sizable group. Even vassal families, if they have a bloodline, seldom do not go north for experience.

Family elders and women often pray at the Martial Temple for the safety of their husbands or children. "

As Shen Qi spoke, he began drawing conditions on the charts, "In terms of the flow of people, the Guanyin Temple sees the most, after all, having children is a fundamental desire.

But, the Guanyin Temple is also the least pure with the lowest threshold for worshippers.

In terms of faith, most people come with a wishful mindset.

According to the beliefs of the Jiangnan Divine Path, that would equate to the poorest quality of faith. "

Chen Ying understood this point instantly.

Having spent three years in Jiangnan, she was quite familiar with matters of faith.

Currently in Jiangnan, all kinds of deities were in need of faith—city residents worshipping the Gate Deity, and merchants setting sail offering prayers to the Sea God—all to contribute faith for their own benefits.

The more sincerely they believed, the more power of faith the deities received.

However, the quality of faith varies significantly. The higher the quality of the faith, the rarer and more precious the power of faith was.

This was also why Xuu Hu, the Fighting God, had the fastest increase in strength. Those who believed in him were soldiers, and as the power of these soldiers quickly grew, so did the quality of their faith the next time they prayed.

By comparison, the faith of merchants believing in the Gate Deity and farmers worshipping the Mountain God was significantly inferior in quality.

If the power of faith here in the Capital City worked the same as in the beliefs of Jiangnan’s Divine Path, then.

.. even though the Guanyin Temple had the greatest volume of visitors, the quality would be the lowest. Not only were the people praying for children generally of lesser personal quality, but their loyalty to the faith would also be far less, because many who successfully have children simply return to give thanks and then rarely continue with their devoted prayers.

On the other hand, the Martial Temple, where people pray for safety, is on an entirely different level of loyalty. "

"In our Jiangnan, even though scholar offspring do not possess strength, the quality of their faith is clearly higher than that of ordinary people, and it even rivals some higher-ranking military generals. This likely has to do with destiny. If it’s the same here, then the quality at the Confucian Temple wouldn’t be bad either. "

Shen Qi nodded in approval, then added, "The Three-Star Temple sees the fewest visitors, but those who go there to worship are mostly older military generals and senior magicians, so the quality is extremely high, which doesn’t mean it’s not important.

If it weren’t, the Emperor wouldn’t have made a show of his determination by making an example of several families that had followed the Siao Family for many years by eliminating them. "

"So after all this talk, which one is it?" Ali asked impatiently.

"We split up and destroy them all!" Shen Qi declared resolutely.

"Huh?" At that, Ali, Chen Ying, and the others were all taken aback.

"Senior, didn’t you say we don’t have enough manpower?" Chen Ying asked, puzzled. "Why not concentrate our forces on one location? By dispersing our strength like this, when the time comes..."

"If we concentrate on one place and fall into a trap, we lose everything. Right now, both sides are guessing which it can be. They want to lure us in, and we want to figure out their thinking, but neither side is sure since we both know each other too well—the possibility of outmaneuvering each other exists. So if that’s the case, let’s not guess at all!

" Shen Qi took a deep breath and continued, "They also can’t gauge our true strength, so the place they set the trap will be where they’ve used all their power.

That way, the other three locations will be less guarded. "

"But is it useful to destroy the other three places?" Ali furrowed his brow. "Didn’t you say only one place is the key?"

"The key is one place, but I believe all four temples are crucial!

" Shen Qi whispered, "Each of the four temples has its own characteristics, and if this were in Jiangnan, none of their powers of faith would be small. Since they used special powers to barely restrain Prince Ao Zhen, I suspect that if any one temple were gone, they wouldn’t have enough power to keep Prince Ao Zhen confined! "

"Alright!" The two Yaksha nodded, pronouncing gravely, "Master, just tell us where to strike."

Shen Qi fell silent for a moment, looking at everyone else, who also had solemn expressions. After the analysis just now, it was clear that one of the four places... was a dead end!!