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"You’re making such a big move as soon as you return?"

Tian Heng silently observed Chen Qing.

Chen Qing’s return made him feel both happy and somewhat lost.

The military strength of the Western Sea Army was growing stronger by the day, with ambitions to surpass the War God Army in Jiangnan.

As the migration to the islands of the Western Sea gradually took place, more and more people began to worship him as the Western Sea God.

He controlled the Western Sea City, the Western Sea Ocean, and the nations of the Western Sea, and nearly all the promises Chen Qing had made to him were about to be fulfilled.

But with those promises fulfilled, the power in Jiangnan now belonged to him, high in status and influence.

If Chen Qing had not returned, he would have been the one to preside over the grand scheme of things... By birthright and power, he was unquestionably the one!

In fact, he was very curious about how Chen Qing would handle the situation upon his return. How would he resolve the conflict between the Dragon Palace and the Western Sea Army? How would he appease the War God Army? How would he divert the newly promoted War God Weichi Feihong?

Most importantly was the Dragon Palace Academy—how would its resources now be allocated?

He hadn’t done anything, yet he was pulling the entire force to mobilize the north as soon as he arrived?

What was he thinking?

"Does Your Majesty have any understanding of the internal forces in the north?" The one asking was Shen San. Normally, no one would ask such a question, but Chen Qing was different. Ever since they got to know him, there seemed to be nothing that he didn’t know about.

"I know some..."

As expected!

Everyone somehow guessed that he would respond this way.

"Behind those giant serpents in the north is the Celestial Serpent Palace.

Ever since its inception, there have been three forces balancing each other out—White Element, Green Marsh, and Black Sorcerer.

These three forces were originally three forms that the Serpent Demons of the Celestial Serpent Palace reached at the pinnacle of their evolution.

However, they later evolved into three distinct powers.

When facing external enemies, the three would unite to fight, but internally they were always wary of each other. "

"What are the differences between these three forces?" asked Shen Qi, who was most interested in researching ancient forces.

"The difference lies in their species. When Serpent Demons evolve to their limits and reach Transcendence, they become like Mother Earth—enormous in size, yet cumbersome and lacking Divine Skills, essentially just a Giant Serpent. However, there’s no way forward from there.

Their bodies continue to grow, to the point where their internal organs can’t keep up with their physical strength, and they eventually starve to death.

That’s why many of Mother Earth’s kind are mostly in hibernation. "

"But over billions of years, some Mother Earth discovered a method to continue their evolution, giving rise to three distinct schools of thought, and ascending beyond this world, that’s how the Celestial Serpent Palace came to be."

"Among those three schools of thought, the one you’ve seen most in the historical documents of the Celestial Dragon Palace is the Black Sorcerer school.

In fact, its origins also come from the Human Race.

Many ages ago, the giant serpents were worshipped by humans.

During human sacrifices, the blood used to spoil during transit.

Hence, Black Sorcerers devised a method for blood sacrifices, using a Technique to solidify the blood and turn it into crystal stones for offerings—the earliest form of Blood Magic Sorcery. "

"This unintentional process led some smart Mother Earth to find a breakthrough for themselves. Ultimately, these giant serpents used blood refinement on their bodies, compacting their enormous physical forms and compressing their Qi and blood limitlessly. They brutally used the expanding property of their serpent bodies to continue evolving. As they continued to compress, their blood even solidified into numerous crystals. The operation of their entire bodies didn’t rely on internal organs for digestion but instead directly used Blood Magic Sorcery to nourish every corner of their bodies with powerful vital blood. "

"This peculiar method could only be used by serpent species capable of infinite bodily expansion.

Those who refined themselves to the extreme gained unprecedented control over their physical forms, and could fly in the sky with muscle power alone—hence the origin of the Flying Python title.

Breaking the limits of their flesh, Flying Pythons could even hunt beyond the skies once they grew to a certain strength, afterward growing bigger and stronger.

When a mighty Flying Python fully stretches out, it could even encircle the entire Central Plains. "

"Hiss..."

Everyone in the hall couldn’t help but gasp for air. Most of them had become accustomed to the enormity of the Northern Giant Serpents over the days, yet the vastness that could encircle the Central Plains was still too exaggerated.

Chen Qing watched this reaction and said nothing more.

In fact, the really formidable Flying Pythons were even more extravagant, especially those that could hunt and survive in outer space.

Many of them could encircle this world several times over, and there were even some capable of devouring planets.

Such behemoths already held a certain status in the third version of reality.

"How could such a massive creature have confronted the Dragon Palace for so long without destroying this world?" Shen Qi couldn’t help asking.

"It’s because their control over their flesh has reached its limit.

Such gigantic beings can compress their bodies.

Of course, even the most top-tier Giant Serpents cannot reach this place, even at their smallest compression.

Hence, those that can come here are actually not considered the top-tier. "

At this, everyone was stunned. The Dragon Clan’s literature from the Dragon Palace often boasted of slaying some Celestial Serpent Imperial Clan; turns out, they had been fighting the junior generation all this time?

The top-tier couldn’t descend here. Those who could descend had compressed their bodies. So, the history of the Dragon Palace was just self-aggrandizement?

"The Black Sorcerer is the main faction, but their ways prevent the highest echelons from coming here. That’s why other factions gradually evolved later on."

"Why must they come here?" Shen Qi asked curiously. "According to what you said, my Lord, these Celestial Serpents are so powerful they can hunt in outer space. I don’t know what’s out there, but there should be blood offerings to satisfy them, right? Then why did they come to the human realm? Even if we slaughtered every living being and sent it to them, it wouldn’t be enough for a few days’ worth of consumption, would it? "

Faced with this question, Chen Qing couldn’t answer for a moment and could only say, "There are reasons they must return here that they cannot ignore. Let me talk about the other two factions first."

This obvious diversion of the topic revealed a flicker of realization in the astute eyes of the Shen Family members.

Chen Qing saw all their reactions and inwardly sighed.

He liked Shen Qi very much, but he was too clever; the truth about Reincarnators would probably not stay hidden from them much longer.

When that time comes... what will it be like?

Will I... meet the same fate as the King of Qin?

For a moment... Chen Qing felt bewildered.

"Wang Shiyu seeks to cooperate with us, backed by the White Essence faction.

Unlike the Black Sorcerers who endlessly expand their flesh, the White Essence faction discards their original serpent form and focuses on nurturing the spirit body.

Their method is special, and their foundation involves using the powerful lifeblood of their serpent form to nourish the soul, until they cultivate a Sun God! "

"Sun God?" The Shen Family members felt a jolt in their hearts.

"It’s a spirit body that does not fear sunlight!" Chen Qing said somberly to the Shen Family members.

At this moment, all of the Shen Family felt their throats dry up because what Chen Qing described was a fantastical state that all Magicians had been pursuing for countless years.

A spirit body that does not fear sunlight and won’t be pulled back by the Path of Yin and Yang. Isn’t that... immortality?

"Are you thinking, ’Isn’t this just the legendary ascension to immortality by feathering’?"

"From what you’ve explained, my Lord, it seems to be the case..." Shen Qi looked at Chen Qing and said.

"It’s not as wonderful as you think..." Chen Qing shook his head. "The White Essence faction’s method comes with a condition. Once the physical body dies, the spirit becomes a shade, and no matter how strong, it’s over.

So the White Essence faction’s physical body is not entirely discarded but is preserved through various methods.

From time to time, the spirit must return to the physical body, using the power of the spirit to cleanse the flesh anew, trying to prevent it from aging.

But every cleansing exponentially depletes the spirit, and if your spirit cannot continuously grow, someday, you’ll no longer be able to bear the burden. "

"So... neither extreme physical enhancement nor extreme spiritual enhancement is the path to eternal life!"