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"Hmm?"

In the Jiangnan District, Bai Feng, who had been hibernating in Daqing Mountain, suddenly looked up, staring intently towards the southeast!

"What’s wrong, little Feng Feng?"

Little Mink, who was by her side, tugged at her feathers, asking curiously.

Bai Feng didn’t answer, but was instead filled with horror. "How is that possible? He shouldn’t be able to come out."

Being part of the same entity, she could naturally sense the other’s presence, and it was unmistakably bold and brash in its diffusion.

At the Transcendent ranks, the Dragon King level is a hurdle, comparable to the peak of transcendency in players’ level terms. With the current state of Spiritual Energy, such beings simply cannot make an appearance.

This is also a game protection mechanism; otherwise, weaker players wouldn’t stand a chance.

Yet, that guy’s aura was exceptionally dazzling near the Capital City.

What exactly happened?

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"Emergency military intelligence, open the gate!"

At the city gate, the Imperial Army Leader shouted with a furrowed brow.

Seeing the unmoving gates, he actually breathed a sigh of relief.

As a member of the Imperial Army, they most feared incidents occurring.

Generally, Imperial Army soldiers were essentially being paid to retire; throughout history, whenever the Imperial Army was mobilized, it was never a good sign—for them, it was certainly not good news.

It was either a rebellion or a suppression of bandits.

The Imperial Army only followed military orders.

In the case of rebellion, whether successful or not, it wouldn’t be favorable for the Imperial Army.

If the rebellion succeeded, the Emperor would be wary of the current officials within the Imperial Army and would try to marginalize them.

If it failed, it was even worse; involved in the conspiracy, regardless of awareness, they would have to suffer punishments.

Even if the Emperor was generous and only executed the ringleaders, these high-ranking officers couldn’t avoid being labeled as having rebelled.

It would be nearly impossible to rise in rank in the future.

And if the Emperor were the least bit vindictive, even wiping out their entire families was possible.

If it’s not a rebellion... it’s actually more troublesome!

Only something terrifying could justify mobilizing the Imperial Army to suppress bandits.

Such circumstances hadn’t arisen in the twenty years of the Great Jin.

Several dukes within the Capital City were top-level experts, and if even they couldn’t resolve the issue, it meant that human lives were needed to fill the gap.

For an officer like him, neither high nor low in rank, he could very well be cannon fodder.

If he could avoid trouble by being unable to enter the city, it might not be such a bad thing, after all.

But his hopes were dashed quickly. The city gate creaked open to reveal a man clad in a military uniform, who shouted in a fluster, "Quick, enter the city immediately, assemble in the Southeast District!"

It was Lord Xinye!

The officer’s heart chilled. Seeing Lord Xinye’s anxious and disheveled appearance, and the location being the Southeast rather than the Imperial Palace, it was highly likely... the second scenario had come to pass.

Ah... he had just reached the prime of his life, with a promising future—was he really to meet his end tonight?

Carrying an unsettled heart, he could only shout sternly, "Form ranks... follow my lead!"

Within the ranks, many of the seasoned soldiers shared the officer’s thoughts, their expressions becoming exceedingly solemn.

While the officer was a commanding officer and might have a chance to escape disaster, ordinary veterans like them, when facing high-level creatures, might truly become nothing more than sacrificial fodder.

However, the new recruits appeared eager and excited.

After the large armory entered the city, they quickly observed other Imperial Army forces arriving from different gates. Counting silently, the officers realized that nearly ten thousand Imperial Army soldiers from all four gates were present—almost the entire force!

"Senior... what could it be?"

The officer quietly asked the Martial Spirit residing within him.

"I don’t know..." The malicious spirit that normally treated him harshly and frequently called him a waste was much gentler this time, "Be careful.

I just saw the Ghost Temple emitting a surge of gloomy air, all the resentment being released.

It seems the Ghost Temple has been violated, and whatever has done it is no small threat.

Try to avoid direct confrontation, find an opportunity to feign death or run away. "

Heroes indeed think alike...

The officer thought to himself.

In this manner, the impressive procession of the Imperial Army, led personally by the Duke of Ying, quickly arrived at the Southeast Ghost Temple and surrounded it.

"Marquis Qing, come out immediately!"

Outside the Ghost Temple, neither the Duke of Yan nor the Duke of Ying dared to come closer, hiding behind the mass of soldiers, they yelled towards the interior of the Ghost Temple.

At that moment, both dukes were filled with confusion, for such a significant rebellion would logically be carefully planned. At the very least, they should have bribed the gate guards to momentarily hold back the Imperial Army, right?

But what happened? They had allowed the Imperial Army to enter unopposed. What were they thinking?

Even with the elite of the Ghost Army called to the northern front, not all the Imperial Army were ineffectual. Ten thousand Transcendent Imperial Soldiers, in this day and age, no creature could withstand against them.

Could it... just be an accident?

While pondering this... the doors of the Ghost Temple suddenly opened.

"Form a line!!" Duke of Ying hurriedly shouted.

All the Imperial Army quickly raised their shields and formed a defensive square formation, ready for anything.

But after the doors opened, they saw nothing; they only felt as if a cold wind had breezed past.

Even though there was a sense of unknown dread rising in their hearts, there was indeed no one at the door.

The leaders of the Imperial Army all wore puzzled expressions, then turned back to look at their superiors.

After all, the Ghost Temple was a place of importance and not to be entered lightly.

If there was nothing there, whether it was appropriate for such a large number of soldiers to barge in had to be decided by those above.

After all, they couldn’t possibly take the blame for everything, could they?

But as they turned around, the leaders immediately felt a chill in their blood!

They saw that atop the huge Dragon Colt, whether it was the Duke of Ying or the Duke of Yan, or even the other supervising Marquises, had now become headless corpses.

Sitting on their horses, blood gushed from their necks like fountains.

Hiss!!

The leaders were so shocked they almost cried out!

What was happening?

The Duke of Yan and the Duke of Ying were Ghost General level powerhouses, and their possessed Martial Spirits were said to be at the Ghost General level. To put it in the words of their Martial Spirits, they were at the peak of martial power in the current world, the apex of all beings.

And yet, such individuals had their heads plucked off so easily...?

The key issue was that there was no noise whatsoever.

An army of ten thousand, under the watchful eyes of many, what kind of demonic technique was this?

The mortal minds of the leaders completely failed to comprehend it; they only felt a biting cold all over, their will to fight thoroughly dissipated.

As they stiffly turned back, they saw that at the doorway, several figures had appeared at some unknown time.

Leading them... was none other than the High Priest from the Southeast Temple, and behind him stood a young man in purple. At the feet of the young man lay several heads, neatly arranged in front of him. Upon closer inspection, weren’t those the heads of the Duke of Ying and others?

"The Duke of Ying and the Duke of Yan took advantage of the Emperor’s absence to join in rebellion. They have now been executed!"

The voice of the High Priest resonated like a great bell. Although he was alone, his presence overwhelmed everyone because of the deaths of people like the Duke of Ying!

"I believe you all are loyal subjects, brought into the city on military orders, unaware of the rebellion. I now represent His Majesty in pardoning you for the offense of trespassing. Withdraw immediately from the city, and I shall not pursue the matter further. No record of your names will appear under the scribe’s pen.

Withdraw from the city today and you shall remain untarnished members of the Imperial Army.

Should you persist in your delusions..."

With that, the Priest stomped on the Duke of Yan’s head, crushing it: "These traitors is what awaits you!"

The visual shock of a duke’s head being smashed like a watermelon sent the soldiers into panic. A dozen or so leaders of the Imperial Army exchanged glances and, without hesitation, dismounted to kneel!

"Thank you for your leniency, sir, we were truly unaware. We will now lead our troops out of the city and beg for your forgiveness!"

As the leaders dismounted and knelt, what other words could the rest of the soldiers possibly say? They hastily followed suit and knelt down. In an instant, the tens of thousands of the Imperial Army, the strongest defense force of the Capital City, were so easily conquered.

The black-clad High Priest in front of the Ghost Temple maintained his composure, but inside he sighed with relief.

He thought to himself: Lord Mu Ye really did calculate it precisely!

Within the city were several dukes and more than a dozen marquises, all with Ghost General level Martial Spirits. They also had the status to use the Yin Land for cultivation and had at least reached the level where they could exert fifty percent of their power!

With such capabilities, even without the Imperial Army, they would have a hard time taking over the other two temples, because even the mighty King Chu Jiang couldn’t leave his temple.

In normal circumstances, there would not have been the slightest chance of victory.

However, it was different when everyone was concentrated here.

King Chu Jiang could not leave the Ghost Temple because only there was the Spiritual Energy dense enough for such a being to breathe normally. But if everyone was gathered not far from the temple, it would be a different story.

That lord only needed a moment, but if they were close enough, that moment was all he needed to kill every duke and marquis inside the Capital City!

In other words, if the Duke of Ying and company had been a bit more cautious and not so eager to surround the place, in reality, they would have had no issues at all. They could only have retreated to the Path of Yin and Yang to make new plans.

But unfortunately... Lord Mu Ye had calculated every aspect of human nature!