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Everyone in the great hall knew something was about to start!

But no one knew what would happen, and no one knew what to do at that moment...

The Four Holy Guard around them all bowed their heads, their thick armor’s pair upon pair of originally lifeless eyes began to flicker with a terrifying crimson glow, but for some reason, they all deliberately looked towards the ground, as if enduring something!

"Your Majesty..."

Shen Qi unconsciously took a step closer to Chen Qing, the chill up his spine making him huddle up.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he felt as if he had been targeted by something, and not just one thing—many things were eyeing him, the kind of malice that wanted to devour him completely, making his scalp tingle.

The other students from Jiangnan Academy also instinctively moved closer to Chen Qing, each one of them pale-faced, evidently feeling the same way as Shen Qi.

Chen Qing looked around, forcefully suppressing his discomfort because he also felt it—that sense someone wanted to take over everything he had, as if wanting to strip his flesh clean, truly causing his scalp to tingle.

He had a rough idea of what these things were.

Ancient Demons possessed terrifying parasitic abilities, but after all, they were a parasitic species, unable to grow independently.

They highly relied on hosts, so even during the powerful era of the Ancient Demonic Dynasty, they needed to domesticate other strong species for their offspring to grow.

Why did they feel as if they would be swallowed whole?

Because that’s exactly what the other party wanted to do. Everyone in the hall, including the Dragon Vein Sorcerers, were currently the best hosts!

The worst here were sorcerers fused with the strong species from the Dragon Palace, possessing both family Technique inheritance and Dragon Palace bloodline, making them excellent vessels even for the common Blood Demons.

At most, they were a bit aged, a bit weakened in physique, but... these issues could be resolved.

Chen Qing glanced at the so-called Four Holy Guard, guessing something.

These Four Holy Guard must be artificially created bodies, fully compatible with the attributes of the Four Saints, and such artificial bodies must have the best hardware.

If they could harbor Ancient Demons directly, that would be somewhat invincible.

The innate weakness of Ancient Demons is the need for strong creatures to host them early on, which is a passive attribute.

If they could create their own hosts, they would probably have swept across the world long ago with the abilities and numbers of Ancient Demons.

But they didn’t, which means... these Four Holy Guard were flawed.

Chen Qing took advantage of the chaos to observe the Four Holy Guard stiffly standing in place, those fellows burying their heads, seemingly not wanting their gaze to be exposed.

But it was already obvious, with a bit of attention, one could see those terrifying crimson eyes.

What were they avoiding?

"Your Highness, the situation looks grim..." Chen Baifeng furrowed his brow and sent a telepathic message, his expression dark.

He originally thought that if their side won in the trials, it should disrupt the enemy’s plans, but now it seemed that was not the case.

"Lord Chen... stay calm..." Chen Qing telepathically consoled, "The opponent won’t make a move so quickly, there must be a catalyst, and if I’m not wrong, they will still try to entice you."

"Entice?" Chen Baifeng was startled, a bit slow to react.

Why would they want to entice?

"If I’m not mistaken, they will tempt you with longevity and stronger bodies. Lord Chen, please think immediately, among your Southern Sea lineage, which families won’t be enticed, and which ones would be easily enticed, and give me a list right away. We’re pressed for time!"

"This..." Chen Baifeng was momentarily stunned before hurriedly replying, "Could Your Highness clarify a bit more? What can they offer? I need to judge based on the situation."

This old fox... presumably including himself in his considerations?

Chen Qing’s lips curled slightly. Time was of the essence, and he planned not to conceal anything.

Chen Baifeng and the others were Dragon Vein Sorcerers, and while their comprehensive abilities might not be up to par right now, if combined with the Spatial Techniques from his academy, they could unleash Techniques with astonishing destructive power, becoming a formidable breakout force at that moment.

"If my guess is correct, their condition should be these Four Holy Guard?"

"Four Holy Guard?" Chen Baifeng frowned, "What allure could they have? These Four Holy Guard clearly can’t be truly controlled, so what use are they?"

"Control is possible..." Chen Qing spoke softly, "These Four Holy Guard possess bodies closest to the Four Great Elements; you must have noticed it as well, haven’t you?"

Chen Baifeng nodded; he had certainly seen it.

These Four Holy Guard had the purest Elemental Daoist bodies.

If taken back and trained with the family’s techniques, they might produce extremely powerful Sorcerer puppets.

Moreover, their constitution was essentially Transcendent, top-tier Warrior standard, and there were no issues with dual cultivation of magic and martial arts.

The practicality of the trained product would not be low.

"What if I said, these bodies could be used on yourselves?"

"Eh... What did you say?" Chen Baifeng was stunned.

"It operates on the same principle as the Dragon Palace’s Dragon Transformation Technique, except this time it’s not the bloodline being transformed but a perfect Daoist body. You understand what I mean, right?"

"Hiss..." Despite being somewhat prepared, Chen Baifeng gasped in shock at these words!

Could it be true?

If this news were released now, wouldn’t the entire Sorcerers’ Realm go mad?

Who currently held sway over the Sorcerers’ Realm?

The elderly!

They were all old-timers, at least a hundred or even more than two hundred years old. Yet, the Southern Sea’s resources were predominantly in the hands of the youth.

Why was that?

The reason was quite simple... Even if the older generation succeeded in Dragon Transformation, the potency of the bloodline would be severely diminished.

For instance, a Thousand-Legged Dragon’s lifespan is a hundred thousand years; a Human Sorcerer’s is three hundred.

What would the lifespan be if a two hundred-year-old Human Sorcerer transformed into a Thousand-Legged Dragon?

Many people might subconsciously think it would be a hundred thousand years, but it’s not...

Lifespan is proportional. If you’re already old, even a successful Dragon Transformation would only result in an old Thousand-Legged Dragon; how could it possibly have a hundred thousand years of life? At most... it would be thirty thousand years.

Furthermore, aging organs and vital essence would still severely impact the bloodline, greatly reducing potential.

This was also the reason the high-quality Dragon Transformation resources of the Southern Sea were given to exceptional young people.

Did the older generation not want better for themselves?

It’s not that... it was because doing so would allow other families willing to make room for the youth to completely surpass and even crush them.

That’s the reason why the youth could rise; otherwise, why would the old generation, who held absolute power and sway, pass on the resources to the youth?

But what if... the older generation could become young again?

Chen Baifeng’s hands shook involuntarily...

"Your Highness means to say, we can use the bodies of these Four Holy Guard?" Chen Baifeng felt the notion absurd. How could this be used? Could the soul be grafted onto them?

"Highly likely... yes..." Chen Qing sighed.

Watching Chen Baifeng’s excited manner, he knew just how tempting this was.

But what else... was more alluring to these old men than regaining a young body?

He couldn’t keep this to himself, nor could he hide it, because, in a little while, the Ancient Demon behind the scenes would likely use these things to tempt everyone themselves.

"But there is a price..." Chen Qing saw that his eyes were turning as red as those of the Ancient Demons and quickly warned, "Lord Chen wouldn’t think it’s for nothing, right?"

"What price?" Chen Baifeng was an experienced man, soon regaining his composure, immediately realizing, "Symbiosis?"

Chen Qing smiled and nodded. Conversing with a smart person was indeed effortless.

At this point, the entire purpose of the Heavenly Master Mansion’s trial was clear, as was the other party’s objective.

The other party gathered the leaders of powerful factions for two reasons: one... to covertly undermine all factions’ foundations, and the other... to attempt symbiosis with some of the most outstanding individuals in the world, allowing the Ancient Demon Clan to stand openly before the people!