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"It’s true I never expected to be pushed to such dire straits..."

In Capital City now, half the sky is shrouded in a heavy, gloomy Yin energy, starkly contrasting the other half, and the only thing capable of causing such a massive Yin reaction would be someone at the level of the Ghost King, King Chu Jiang.

Yet at this moment, this legendary ruler of the underworld looked even more wretched than imaginable.

Wei Gongxing guessed correctly, those ancient demons had indeed reached their limit!

That night, Wei Gongxing suddenly committed suicide, which forcefully sent Mu Ye back to the Path of Yin and Yang during the critical moment of taking over the Northern Temple where no retreat was possible, and the defensive forces inside the Ghost Temple turned out to be much tougher than expected.

Originally, according to their expectations, the Southeast Ghost Temple, as the first branch temple, should have had the most stringent defenses outside Capital City.

Hence, the plan was to coordinate with King Chu Jiang to capture it first. They thought attacking the Northern Temple would be just a warm-up, but it turned out to be a near-death experience!

It was nearly a total annihilation.

Victory was won and the temple was captured, but all the new soldiers possessed by ancient demons lost control!

Driven to the brink, and without Mu Ye’s on-the-spot command, they all went into a frenzy, unaware that they had reached their limits.

This was also the weakness of ancient demons, especially in battle when they unthinkingly release a great amount of essence blood to enhance their power.

But once at the limit, the core spirit inside the host body can’t withstand it, transforming into a beast driven by slaughter, and it even targets their own kind!

To preserve this power, he had no choice but to intervene that night personally, leading all the ancient demons to the Southeast Temple for separate sealing.

The spiritual energy of the Southeast Ghost Temple was barely enough to allow him to move, and using such intricate power to seal all the ancient demons had a great toll on his body.

For the first time, King Chu Jiang felt a hint of unease.

"Something feels off..." The voice came from that body, which belonged to none other than Sparrow Bee, the Lone Wolf player who once cornered Chen Qing in the enchantments of the Southern Barbarians’ lands.

"It is off..." King Chu Jiang sighed, "The force left to guard the Northern Temple and the intelligence we obtained don’t quite match. Now that we’ve lost control of the ancient demons, storming the Ghost Temple of Capital City seems very difficult."

"We have to try..." Sparrow Bee murmured, "When night falls, can your subordinates regain control of their bodies?"

"Some of them should be able to... You’re not unaware of the power of the ancient demons.

Once successful symbiosis has occurred, it influences the spirit.

Regaining control of the flesh is no easy feat.

Thankfully, they are all juvenile and have been modified during the Sorcerer Dynasty era, so at least half of the strength can be restored. "

"Half..." Sparrow Bee clenched his teeth, "If we only manage to recover half, it seems we’ll have to intervene ourselves to take down the temple within the Imperial Palace."

"Having come this far, we have no choice but to take action. How long can your body last?"

If high spiritual energy techniques need to be deployed in a low spiritual energy environment, the strain on the body is immense.

Sparrow Bee is a Ghost King level powerhouse, even potentially surpassing King Xiang in overall strength.

However, when it comes to physical endurance, he might not be able to compete with King Xiang of the past who, after being plotted against, single-handedly slaughtered a Transcendent army of one hundred thousand in the human realm over the course of two hours, astounding everyone.

And it was because of that event that many Yin Spirits believed the strongest among the four Ghost Kings had to be King Xiang!

Such freaks of nature like King Xiang were rare. Although Sparrow Bee was strong, he estimated that two hours would be his limit. If any high-intensity techniques such as godspeed were used, this duration would need to be reduced even further.

As expected, the response came in a second, "If I don’t use godspeed, I can last about two hours when charging into Yin Land. If I do use godspeed, at most a quarter of an hour!"

"Hmm... is that so?" King Chu Jiang rubbed his fingers, looking in the direction of the Imperial Palace with a deep gaze. He did have some secret techniques that could allow the other to hold on for longer, but... if used, his own risk would greatly increase...

"Have you caught that Wei character on Mu Ye’s side yet?" Sparrow Bee asked irritably.

King Chu Jiang shook his head, "This isn’t Jiangnan, where after people die they enter the Path of Yin and Yang under certain rules.

In such an expansive place, searching for one person is extremely difficult.

Who knows, by now he might have already been devoured by Evil Spirits, but we must prepare for the worst.. . Hmm?"

While speaking, King Chu Jiang felt a sinking feeling in his heart as he looked toward the north.

"What’s wrong?"

"Someone... has gone to the Northern Temple!"

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"It’s exactly as you described!"

After much hesitation, Siao Ping and the others finally mustered the courage to visit the Northern Temple, only to be confronted with a gruesome scene that, to their relief, confirmed their expectations.

The guards of the Northern Temple had all been killed, but the enemy had not left anyone behind, which was exactly what Wei Gongxing had predicted—the battle at the Northern Temple seemed to have pushed the opponents to their limit...

"Hmm... If that’s the case, then there’s still a chance," Liu Yu nodded as he glanced at the protected Wei Gongxing, mentally commending the Wei Family for producing such an outstanding individual after Wei Gongcheng.

The Wei Family certainly had good fortune.

It was just a pity... the Wei Family wasted their treasure by not utilizing it, ultimately benefitting strangers instead.

"So, what do we do next?" asked Siao Ping, somewhat excitedly.

If they could successfully quell the rebellion, and having so many lords perish while he contributed greatly, wouldn’t his nobility title be promoted another level without any objections?

"According to the intelligence, those monsters prefer to devour their own kind first. If they’ve already finished fighting amongst themselves, then at least one should have remained. But now, there’s nothing left, which leads me to guess... it could be another situation!"

"Do you mean they’ve been controlled?" Liu Yu asked with a smile.

"Hmm..." Wei Gongxing nodded. "With King Chu Jiang’s reputation, it’s unlikely he would completely collapse under such circumstances. I think it’s highly probable that he used some method to temporarily control those out-of-control soldiers, and is now just waiting for nightfall.

When the Ghost Spirits grow stronger, they’ll reclaim their flesh and capture the last Ghost Temple in one fell swoop. "

"After capturing the three Ghost Temples, according to their original plan, they’d be able to control the tens of thousands of ghost troops under His Majesty’s command, right?"

Upon hearing this, Siao Ping took a deep breath and said, "They can’t completely control them, as many Yin Spirits are loyal to King Xiang and would rather scatter than compromise.

But those are in the minority. Once they occupy the three Ghost Temples, at least the greater part of His Majesty’s troops will defect! "

"So it seems we can’t wait until nightfall..." Wei Gongxing said.

"You mean we should attack now?" asked Siao Ping, with rising excitement.

If he could take down the rebels in one go, his merit would be undeniable—even a lordship wouldn’t be out of the question!

"No..." Wei Gongxing shook his head. "The enemy must be prepared; attacking rashly now would most likely lead to death."

"I..." Siao Ping was suddenly at a loss for words: "To stay there is to wait for death, to attack is also to die; we might as well surrender."

"What I mean is... we cannot attack rashly," Wei Gongxing frowned, then looked at Liu Yu, "Lord Duke of Song."

"Just call me Mister Liu; I am no longer a lord," said Liu Yu with a smile.

"Alright, Mister Liu, I have an idea. Do you think it could be done?"

"Let’s hear it."

Wei Gongxing leaned in and whispered his plan. Liu Yu’s eyes lit up, and looking at this young man not even in his twenties, he couldn’t help but internally praise: The old man from the Weichi Clan wasn’t exaggerating—this kid... indeed has the makings of a commander!