CHAPTER 389: CHAPTER 381: UNDERCOVER!

"The situation in the Dragon Palace is quite interesting..."

Inside the Imperial Study, the Empress sat lazily across from the Emperor. Unusually, there was no union of joy between them, only the laying of a game of chess.

Oddly enough, what they were discussing was the current situation within the Dragon Palace.

At this moment, the four powers were still uncertain about life and death within the Dragon Palace. Even those waiting outside did not know the latest news, yet these two, thousands of miles away, had a clear understanding of the intricacies within the Dragon Palace!

"Using a large spatial formation to breed a batch of terrifying creatures that can survive on low-quality blood as nourishment, and maintaining them until now to serve as a supply of vital blood for revival, is indeed a clever method..." The Emperor assessed with curiosity, "I doubt any other ancient forces possess such techniques, do they?"

"That’s their specialty..." The Empress chuckled coldly, "The Dragon Palace is too weak, always choosing the conservative approach. Their survival in the ancient era depended on their deep bond with the Human Race, their biological transformation technology, and their formation techniques. Without these, what right would they have to dominate an era? However... they just picked up the scraps, profiting from the decline in Spiritual Energy."

"Decline in Spiritual Energy... profit?" The Emperor frowned, wasn’t this decline in Spiritual Energy the nightmare of ancient times?

If not for the decline of nature’s spiritual energy, why would it be the turn of the Human Race to rule the world today?

"That... you will find out in the future." The Empress said softly with a laugh, then continued, "For now, the revival of the Dragon Palace is even more challenging than imagined. With a bit of luck, many of the arrangements against them might not even be needed."

"Could Chen Qing really prevent those old monsters from making a comeback?" The Emperor squinted his eyes.

"Don’t underestimate that kid." The Empress shook her head, "He has a peculiar background and seems to know quite a few things."

"A Reincarnator, huh..." The Emperor scoffed coldly, "It’s hardly a big secret anymore. Haven’t you seen how the one from the Lu Family was fooled around by Siao Mingxue?"

"An average Reincarnator couldn’t accomplish that..." The Empress spoke gravely, "The Reincarnators of old..." She paused there and did not continue, but instead brought the conversation back to Chen Qing, "That guy is no ordinary reincarnator."

The Reincarnators of old?

A trace of the unknown flickered in the Emperor’s eyes. Just as King of Qin had guessed, the Reincarnators... had already stepped into this world!

"However, I am a bit worried, what kind of crisis could make those grand Dragon Palaces so anxious? Even willing to resort to deception with the Dragon Transformation Object? Didn’t you say, in this era, Transcendent objects should not exist?"

"There shouldn’t be any under normal circumstances..." The Empress laughed, "The decline of Spiritual Energy was both a blessing and a curse for mortals: the blessing was that it spared them from facing the terrifying entities between heaven and earth, but the curse was that it capped the potential of the Human Race."

"Without threats, there’s also a lack of progression. Once ancient times return, the Human Race will be even more powerless than before!"

"But there are always loopholes, such as the Dragon Palace’s exploitation of one, breeding several Biological Weapons near transcendence. However, such methods generally come with a price. Twisting the natural order to create species often works well, but once they’re not controlled correctly, they become a double-edged sword. Chen Qing took advantage of this, risking little for much and, for a short time, obtained the capability to confront the Dragon Palace. Of course, just like the Dragon Palace wanted to use these creatures, your concern is not wrong..."

The Empress looked at the Emperor and continued, "If handled improperly, the experiments of the Celestial Dragon Palace could prove far more troublesome than the Dragon Clan themselves!"

"We can’t gamble the situation on an unknown individual, can we?" The Emperor said with a smile.

"Of course not..." The Empress also smiled, "Rest assured, preparations have already been made through our hidden piece. As long as he can release the Red Lotus Flame, no monster from the Dragon Palace will survive!"

"A hidden piece, you say?"

The Emperor’s move on the chessboard hesitated slightly. His own covert piece, what had the opponent prepared? And he hadn’t leaked any information about the covert piece to the other party, but this individual, nonetheless, had found out about his deeply concealed piece...

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"How is Uncle’s condition?"

In the Beihai location, the Duke’s youngest son asked cautiously the magicians who were helping.

Those magicians, who were performing Dragon Transformation for the first time, were all busy and sweating profusely. The complex energy manipulation didn’t allow them a moment’s distraction, and they could only rudely use their spiritual power to drive away the Duke’s youngest son who was coming too close.

The youngster, separated by an invisible force, suddenly looked anxious.

"Please, young master, stay calm!" said the First Rank warriors responsible for the perimeter security with a wry smile, "Being anxious now is useless. Those magicians are at a point where they cannot even report what is happening inside. Clearly, this is the most critical moment, and it must be a key phase."

"A key phase?" The Duke’s youngest son took a deep breath, "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" a middle-aged warrior nodded, "Not to mention anything else, but I am familiar with Old Du, who is in charge of the Dragon Transformation Ceremony. In the Northern Aristocratic Family, many family heads are not his match in energy manipulation skill. I have never seen him this serious; it must be that the Dragon Transformation Ceremony is more complex than we thought. Old Du is a courteous man; he would never have treated you rudely without good reason."

"Compelled by necessity?" The Duke’s youngest son nodded, and lowered his head. No one noticed the sinister black glint circling in his eyes.

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"Lord Xiang..."

Elsewhere, Xiang Tianyu, who insisted on dividing his forces, faced skepticism from his subordinates before the Dragon Transformation.

"Why must you separate from Lord Bai Sang and the others? Shouldn’t we stick together to minimize risk at a time like this?" Xiang Xiang asked as he frowned, taking advantage of the moment while the magicians were setting up, "The magicians capable of conducting such a fate-determining ceremony as Dragon Transformation are few, and the ones we got... aren’t top-notch..."

"You know enough to talk about ’quality’?"

"Lord, as harsh as it sounds, it’s the truth..."

"Actually, it might not necessarily be a bad thing..."

"Ah?" His subordinate looked puzzled, "Why would you say that, my lord?"

"Those Yakshas outside have impure intentions. I suspect their temporary compromise is a sham, and they surely have ulterior motives. Dividing our forces also aims to avoid being completely wiped out in one fell swoop. Of course, more importantly, it’s about guarding against certain individuals."

"Guarding against?" the subordinate frowned, "Guard against whom?"

"As tradition has it, when the Duke is at war, the youngest son goes to Capital City for the Royal Family’s education, which in fact, is a hostage situation."

The subordinate nodded, curious yet, isn’t it the same for all the aristocratic families? They all have hostages in Capital City, just as it has always been. But before the Duke of Wei’s rebellion, weren’t all those hostages successfully taken back?

"I always felt that the Duke’s retrieval of the hostages went too smoothly!" Xiang Tianyu shook his head, "When the Duke of Wei was determined to return to the North to support the king, in order to gain the support of the Northern Aristocratic Family, he almost took all the young sons of these families back with him."

"However, as I said, it all went too smoothly. I have never believed that the Siao Family’s scion was completely controlled by a demon. And if the Emperor still controlled the overall situation in Capital City, then there must be a problem with the hostages the Duke of Wei brought back."

"Uh... my lord, are you referring to... the Second Son?"

"It’s just a speculation," Xiang Tianyu spoke in a lowered voice, "I’ve always felt that the Imperial Palace does not worry about the Dragon Palace’s affairs as they should, which seems odd. It’s not impossible for someone with the skills of the Siao Family to brainwash the hostages and turn them into pawns in secret... I hope it’s just my wild guess..."