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Do all the Ghost Temples in the Southern Wilderness belong to one power?

Chen Qing, of course, would not believe it. If that old dragon lady in the Capital City could spread her influence so wide, then it was he who would have been strung up and beaten that day in the Capital City!

The Ghost Domain is a major force and, as a front-runner with an overwhelming early-military advantage, whose momentum far surpasses that of the Celestial Serpent Palace, why does it often get extinguished so quickly in the second version?

Why does the Ghost Domain cease to matter in the later stages of the version?

The reason is simple: the Ghost Domain is severely fragmented.

The Path of Yin and Yang, the cycle of life and death, is naturally coveted by all major forces, and for this reason, all places can be united, but the Ghost Domain cannot; behind the four great Ghost Kings are backers, all top forces.

The King Xiang, born of that old dragon lady in the Capital City, was an outlier.

In the original story, King Gui Xiang, with his superb talent, later came to the fore, defeating the other three kings and nearly uniting the Central Plains; he became the favorite boss among players in the second version!

In many servers, there were even many players who would swear allegiance to King Xiang, attempting to salvage the final glory of the Ghost Domain.

In this world, King Xiang’s talent was clearly valued by the guild players, who sent a certain lady to replace the old dragon lady, seducing the emperor and giving birth to King Xiang.

Whether King Xiang is still the same one from before, Chen Qing does not know, but Chen Qing knows that in the current situation, within the Ghost Domain’s forces, King Xiang is definitely being targeted.

With such a vast territory in the Southern Wilderness, it was already impressive that the Capital City could pave the way in Wutu Country, so how could it possibly spread across the entire Southern Wilderness so quickly?

And if the initial investment was in Wutu Country, wouldn’t it be better to let Wutu Country unite the Southern Wilderness? Aren’t they worried about political disagreements by spreading Ghost Temples across the other countries of the Southern Wilderness without unification first?

And would the other forces within the Ghost Domain simply watch as King Xiang’s lineage thrived so smoothly in the Southern Wilderness?

Chen Qing, of course, wouldn’t believe it.

A more plausible scenario is that after Wutu Country had taken the lead, the other forces within the Ghost Domain quickly tempted the emperors of the other nations of the Southern Wilderness, and then each set up their own Ghost Temples, accumulating the military forces of the living world first, in preparation for what was to come.

This point could be seen from the eventual dispatch of troops from the Southern Wilderness to occupy the Central Plains: if the Ghost Temples in the Southern Wilderness were all arranged by that old dragon lady, then they should be under the control of the Siao Family.

Would they need to fight a preliminary battle with the Imperial Court’s army?

Wouldn’t it be better to directly occupy the Southeast and threaten Jiangnan and Tiandu?

Only in a fragmented situation would Wutu Country have to join the alliance force to occupy the Central Plains, ensuring that at least Wutu Country itself could secure a larger share of the Central Plains’ destiny.

Therefore, Chen Qing concluded that the forces of the Ghost Domain within the Southern Wilderness were definitely not united; perhaps all four families were involved.

From his inquiries, he learned that Azland had joined the game later, but the speed of constructing Ghost Temples was the fastest, which made Chen Qing speculate.

As a designer, he naturally knew Ghost Temples couldn’t just be built at will; they required coordination from the Path of Yin and Yang.

Given Azland’s terrain and destiny, the construction speed should theoretically be the slowest, but that wasn’t the case.

In just three months, they built more than fifty Ghost Temples, blessing three thousand armored soldiers, and in the shortest time caught up with the scale of the other nations.

In the eyes of other countries, it might be seen as Azland’s ruler forcing a rapid militarization at the expense of popular sentiment, but Chen Qing knew better.

To build so quickly in Azland in such a short time, the forces of the Ghost Domain on the Path of Yin and Yang side must have used special methods, and a certain price must have been paid.

Why pay a price to expand so urgently?

One hardly needs to think to know that it must be because the backing power of Azland was slow in laying out its strategy!

All four Ghost Kings are mutually hostile, so if they’re behind, they would certainly choose to absorb the forces of the other Ghost Kings given the chance. Block it? How could they...

It was precisely because he knew that the forces of the Ghost Domain behind Azland would endorse a betrayal that he had sent Weichi Feihu there, predicting that this time, Weichi Feihu had at least an 80% chance of convincing the other side.

As for them plotting against himself after agreeing?

The likelihood is almost nonexistent...

After listening to Chen Qing’s rough explanation, both Tian Heng and Ao Zhen looked at Chen Qing with surprise, especially Ao Zhen.

Always shrouded in mystery, how could Chen Qing understand the situation so clearly?

"Could Your Majesty possibly guess who is behind Azland?" Ao Zhen suddenly became curious and asked. She wanted to know just how many secrets this human truly knew.

"Most likely... it’s King Chu Jiang."

"King Chu Jiang?" Tian Heng looked at Chen Qing curiously. As a mortal, he had no knowledge of the so-called Ghost Domain. Now that he had the chance to hear about these ancient forces from the conversation between Ao Zhen and Chen Qing, he was naturally curious.

"Among the four great Ghost Kings, the enmity between King Chu Jiang and King Xiang is the deepest..." Chen Qing narrowed his eyes, "That wouldn’t be wrong, would it?"

Ao Zhen was taken aback and nodded slightly. She had read the ancient histories of the Dragon Palace and knew some ancient records. Back then, King Chu Jiang occupied the entire south, yet never expected to be utterly defeated by a wild seed rising from a border region!

Seeing Ao Zhen nod, Chen Qing slightly relaxed. It seemed history hadn’t changed too much. But that was also to be expected. If history didn’t change, it would be best for the players to control.

In fact, he had also guessed that history probably hadn’t changed, otherwise, when he went to the Path of Yin and Yang, he wouldn’t have seen King Chu Jiang guarding beside King Xiang Tomb.

Guarding someone’s grave like that, if it wasn’t out of vigilance, what else could it be? Overeating?

"King Chu Jiang has always been vigilant against King Xiang. He has probably been strategizing in the Capital City all this time, trying to prevent King Xiang’s rebirth.

He didn’t anticipate that the other side would establish their doctrine in the Southern Wilderness, a place devoid of the Central Plain’s destiny.

It’s very difficult to open a pathway there; at least a union of two kings is needed.

In other words, King Xiang’s forces have already succeeded in forming an alliance with a certain Ghost King. "

"King Chu Jiang is the least likely to ally with King Xiang, so he should be the last to get the news. Considering Azland’s hasty establishment of a Ghost Temple, it looks very much like someone who has just received the news and is rushing to claim territory but finds there’s hardly any land left to claim.

King Chu Jiang is the most probable suspect. "

"I see!" Ao Zhen nodded upon hearing this. "Your Majesty’s analysis is indeed thorough."

Tian Heng, on the other hand, listened with only a partial understanding, keeping these things in mind. In the past, he didn’t dare to think about such matters, but now he knew that as he followed Chen Qing, it wouldn’t be long before he’d be up against those legendary ancient figures!

"Go and prepare. We attack tonight!"

"We’re attacking tonight?" Tian Heng was startled for a moment, feeling a bit distressed. There were still four days left, and starting the siege now, three days ahead of the planned schedule, would mean even greater losses if they were to continue the siege consecutively.

"We certainly can’t wait until the reinforcements are about to arrive before launching the siege, can we?" Chen Qing gave him a look. "Without sufficient pressure, why would others take a desperate gamble and choose to use the second blessing when reinforcements are nearly here?"

Tian Heng sighed, understanding the rationale. "Mercy does not command soldiers," some losses are necessary!

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

"Do you think Chen Qing can take down Tiannan Pass?"

Inside Azland’s Ghost Temple, a diminutive figure in the heart of Azland’s central Ghost Temple was discussing Chen Qing, who was a thousand miles away, with a small, elderly man.

If Chen Qing were here, he would surely shudder, for the young man speaking was the same solitary adventurer player who had once forced him and Tianji to flee for their lives: Sparrow Bee!

"Since he has come to cooperate, naturally he can." The small, elderly man smiled. "He is indeed not simple. I knew he wasn’t ordinary from the beginning, but I never thought he’d be so formidable, to actually have a chance at shaking the ones above."

The small, elderly man was indeed the one Chen Qing had most feared: King Chu Jiang!

"Have a chance at shaking those above?" Sparrow Bee narrowed his eyes slightly. "Really or not, don’t you trick me..."

"When have I ever tricked you?" King Chu Jiang gave him a look!

"If it wasn’t for your trickery back then, would I have been sealed for so many years?"

"Had it not been for me back then, you would have been dead long ago!" King Chu Jiang looked at him coldly. "Do you really think... they can’t kill players?"