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The eight Dukes of the Capital City had four who had already submitted to the Ghost Temple.

"The Weichi and Hong Families are unwilling to worship at the Ghost Temple. Duke of Wei’s lineage is far from the Capital City, and Duke of Qin’s lineage is almost extinct, leaving the remaining four Dukes as the most powerful figures in the Capital City today. Who do you think is our internal spy?"

Wei Gongxing, now endowed with a Martial Spirit, had not yet had the chance to become familiar with his new body when he faced this deadly test.

Having boarded two pirate ships in one day, Wei Gongxing could only lament his especially good luck today, especially when leaving home, his four older cousins, the Wei Family’s designated next Family Head Wei Gongyu, looked at him as if they wanted to flay him alive...

"The four major Dukes now each have different responsibilities, Duke Zhao is the commander of the Martial Spirit Army, currently leading His Majesty’s three hundred thousand strongest troops to campaign in the north, impossible to be your spy—if he were, perhaps you wouldn’t have needed to make such a hurried entrance, for the sky here would have changed the second day after His Majesty’s departure. "

"Among the remaining Dukes, Duke Shen of Yu Kingdom is the new Minister of War, responsible for logistics and mobility, which although powerful, has little influence over the Capital City’s situation.

The only two with significant impact are Duke Ying, who controls the Imperial Army, and Duke Yan, who is in charge of the temple’s armed forces. "

"Hmm... Continue..." said the other party, well-pleased.

"If I’m not mistaken, your internal spy should be Duke Yan!"

"Why do you say that?" asked the other with an amused interest.

"The Imperial Army has too much initiative. If Duke Ying were your spy, you should’ve made arrangements early on, allowing a not-so-famous but exceptionally powerful Evil Spirit to quietly infest the Imperial Army and then, at the right moment, preferably just before the next opening of the Ghost Temple, launch a sudden attack and take the Capital City with lightning speed, instead of openly arriving with such a formidable person as yourself, drawing attention and startling the snake. "

"Interesting, so assuming your idea is accurate and Duke Yan is our spy, what is the significance of my high-profile arrival?"

"To divert attention!"

"Oh?"

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"Divert attention?"

Elsewhere, Weichi Peng, who had been quietly observing the situation outside the Capital City with Duke Liu Yu of Song, was slightly startled, "How so?"

In the past, he wasn’t too keen on using his brain—not that he was dull, but rather his naturally strong talents meant that in many situations he could simply power through.

However, after interacting more with the likes of Wang Ye and Chen Qing, he began to change and tried to think more, realizing that the world was vast, and that over-reliance on martial force was often not a good thing.

"It’s too high-profile," Liu Yu said with a laugh: "Their approach is one of cunning strategy, first drawing away the highly esteemed King Xiang and the Emperor, then relocating the large army, planning to catch us off guard.

Such a scheme should be as covert as possible, aiming for a decisive strike.

.. Yet, a high-profile appearance like the current one can only indicate one thing. "

"What?"

"That even with three hundred thousand of the Ghost Army relocated from the Capital City, those folks are not confident they can take the Capital City head-on, even if only ten thousand of the Imperial Army remains here!"

"I see..." Weichi Peng had an epiphany and quickly bowed, "I am enlightened."

"There’s no need for modesty, young Duke..." Liu Yu said with a smile: "You’re merely temporarily set back by the current situation. With your talent, your future prospects are boundless."

"Hey... in this era, my modest talents are hardly worth mentioning. If I don’t strive to catch up, I’m afraid any junior will look down on me, hahaha..."

Liu Yu glanced at the other party and nodded slightly. Weichi Peng, once so arrogant, had grown up quite a bit after his defeat in Jiangnan. People, after all, need to face setbacks to grow.

"If I’m not mistaken, because they have been cautious enough before, that power behind the scenes definitely wouldn’t dare to let a large number of their own people enter the mortal realm under King Xiang’s watchful eye.

It’s precisely because of this that the Emperor, without any wariness, sent all his elite forces away, even going so far as to accept an invitation to Yundu at this critical time. "

"They have done things in secret, but the drawback of this approach is that they are very limited when they need tangible strength. The opening of the Ghost Temple this time should be their last chance to bring in a large number of key martial forces. With the White Bone King making a high-profile entrance and drawing everyone’s attention, the others involved will not be so conspicuous.

Some fearsome ghosts, as long as they are not too notorious and belong to them, can take this opportunity to possess a large number of mortals en masse, waiting for the opportunity at any time. .."

"Newly arrived Evil Spirits?" Hearing this, Weichi Peng was a bit puzzled, "As far as I know, those so-called Martial Spirits need at least half a year to acclimate after descending into a human body before they can perform at a Transcendent level. Are those who have just arrived today of any use?"

Although he didn’t accept any of that nonsense about Martial Spirits, he knew that those evil spirits needed time to adjust when they first descended.

Only afterwards could they use their formidable spiritual power to stimulate the host’s blood and qi, and then strengthen the body and the internal organs, reaching the threshold of becoming Transcendent.

If they started using extraordinary power immediately, the bodies of those clan descendants couldn’t withstand it at all.

"So this is the key..." Liu Yu said with narrowed eyes, "Whether it’s the Emperor or King Xiang, they probably both know this, which is why they felt there wouldn’t be any issues internally.

For those Yin Spirits from the Path of Yin and Yang to rebel, they need plenty of time and preparation.

Without sufficient bodies, even the most powerful Yin Spirits are useless.

So, the other party must have found a way to solve this problem, like.

.. there is something that can turn an ordinary person into a Transcendent in just a few hours! "

"How could such a thing exist?" Weichi Peng was stunned.

Despite witnessing many miracles since the descent of the ancients, this still seemed too far-fetched, didn’t it?

"Nothing is impossible in this world... it’s much bigger than you imagine!

" Liu Yu sneered, "However, such items should be rare, and they probably come with many restrictions.

Otherwise, why would they need to go through such trouble?

They could create Transcendents at any time and would have unified the world long ago! "

"So what you mean is... tail them?"

"Tonight is the key!" Liu Yu whispered, "Find those who have been turned by the Evil Spirits, follow them, identify the principal behind the scenes—that’s the key to stopping them!"

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"Really won’t inform the Duke of Ying?" Mu Hongqing looked at Patriarch Weichi: "Based on your conjecture, the Duke of Ying is most likely not our enemy. Given the situation now, having command of the largest armed forces, isn’t the Duke of Ying the most likely to change the situation?"

"First, it’s only a probability, not a certainty.

The suspicions regarding the Duke of Ying can’t be entirely dismissed.

Before the situation clears up, it’s not wise to expose ourselves prematurely — keep in mind that to those extraordinary beings, we are as fragile as ants.

Without concrete intelligence, we absolutely can’t act rashly. "

"Wait for intelligence? That’s too passive. What if there’s no intelligence?" Mu Hongqing asked, smiling at the Weichi Clan Head, steady as an old dog.

"If there’s no intelligence, of course we flee—do we stay and wait for death?

" Patriarch Weichi gave him a look, "You from Jiangnan have no support, and our Weichi Residence isn’t what it used to be.

We can only solve crises by leveraging our position.

In such circumstances, we must surely tread on thin ice, for a single misstep could be the end of us all. "

"Relying on your people, are you certain you can obtain intelligence? The Wei Family junior you are most optimistic about has been taken notice of by a significant figure. What if the others can’t extract any information?"

"Wei Gongxing will bring the key intelligence."

"Are you sure?" Mu Hongqing was taken aback.

He was surprised that the other party had such high hopes for Wei Gongxing, asking doubtfully, "Him just being able to protect himself without exposing us is already quite incredible, but how will he transfer the intelligence?

That Martial Spirit is in him—what can he dare to do? "

"That... we’ve already prepared for in advance," the Patriarch Weichi said in a low voice, "Mr. Moo Xian, rest assured and wait— you won’t be waiting long..."