Chapter 52

"General, please partake in these dishes. They are all from my home province. To show my utmost sincerity, I even cooked several of them myself!" Gong Mochan said with a smile, forcing one that remained as resilient as ever. Regardless of her hidden agenda, every word she spoke was the absolute truth.

Whether the fault lay with Andao County or Huang Haidong, both sides had their own justifications. However, Xu Maochan remained convinced that there were deeper, hidden circumstances behind the matter.

"Your Ladyship, this humble servant has brought your daily necessities per His Majesty's decree. Why have you eaten so little? If you lose weight, His Majesty will blame us servants." Eunuch Li glanced at the barely touched meal on the table, letting out a gentle sigh of worry.

Indeed, ever since Qin Yan's reincarnation in this lifetime, many things had changed precisely because of his rebirth.

To ensure he grew powerful enough, ever since ascending the throne and clearing the name of the sovereign, he had never once slacked off in his cultivation of the arcane arts from dawn till dusk.

Yet those fluttering red ribbons all across the sky... What exactly were they pinning their hopes on, and why could they rustle so confidently in the wind?

Faced with Xia Jia's sudden change in demeanor, Liu Feng felt exceedingly unaccustomed. He awkwardly picked up his cup, took a sip, and explained the details to the others.

The so-called Way of Enchantment was to control a person's body and mind through allure and charm. Once this innate talent was cultivated to its absolute limit, even a Sword Saint could be entranced and ultimately used to serve another.

With a single downward palm, lasting merely a breath, the white-robed Western Venerable dissolved into a boundless rain of blood, drizzling down relentlessly into the vast sea.

The black off-road vehicle passed through the cedar forest in the suburbs of Jinghua City, wound through countless turns in the mountainous region, and finally came to a halt before the gates of a secluded base.

An octagonal defensive barrier simultaneously deployed in front of the mecha. Countless particle light cannon beams blasted against the field. As the particle energy dissipated, those attacks were deflected in all directions by the defensive barrier and gradually neutralized, leaving the mecha entirely unharmed.

Among the Hundred Schools of Thought, whether it was the Legalists, Mohists, Strategists, School of Diplomacy, or the School of Names, their doctrines had all at various points aided single states or multiple states in growing powerful.

Therefore, as long as they were given time, once the volume of ether continuously extracted by the ether furnace ramped up, they would become increasingly difficult to defeat.

Three voluptuous, curvaceous figures tightly embraced one another, their fluffy, oversized tails striving to conceal their bodies. Yet the coverage remained only half-complete, inadvertently heightening the allure instead.

Imbued with majesty and vast as an abyss, containing the rotation of suns, moons, and stars within, his voice was calm yet carried the weight of divine authority. He truly suspected that if the other party spoke a fraction louder, it could blast him to death.

In this way, Lu Heng would save a vast amount of time, allowing him to concentrate all his strength on the battle against the Thunder Demons.

Spring snow and black mist—he had long since guessed that these were the powers of gods and demons. Although sorcery and arcane arts could likewise control the weather and summon wind and rain, only gods and demons could possibly restrict his power over space and time. Coupled with his identity as the Chosen One, this was something only gods and demons could know.

Hearing Lu Wubing's voice, Qin Xiao snapped back to her senses. Gazing at Lu Wubing, who was now propped up against the head of the bed, she put on a carefree expression and smiled, saying, "It's nothing. It's just that now that Eldest Sister has returned, I can no longer be considered completely alone in the world. Perhaps I'm just happy!"

"That's more like it. When certain canine-like creatures don't even dare to accept a challenge, I don't even want to spare them another word," Shita taunted Ao with a sarcastic edge.

Secondly, creatures likely to possess pointed ears were demi-humans, such as half-foxes or half-cats, but their ears tended to be furry and lacked the texture of human ears.

Moreover, her face radiated joy and happiness, making her look far more vibrant and radiant than the plainly dressed Lanxi. Eldest Sister-in-law was utterly convinced that Lanxi had intentionally dolled herself up in a seductive manner to vie for the young master's favor, breeding an even deeper sense of disdain in her heart.

She would never have acted like this in the past, but the scene she had just witnessed—and the madness of Jinse that followed—filled Hua Shangxue with terror. She feared that if she failed to prevent this prophecy, she would lose Yu Mixing.

Summary of the next chapter: Cao Cao's faction—Cao Ang and the strategist Guo Jia—has arrived. Together, they deliberate on a strategy to deal with the Daluma Kingdom, ultimately adopting Guo Jia's proposal.

Setting aside what would happen to Zhang Tie once he was discovered by Yan Rou, let us return to Fan Lie, who intended to take a desperate gamble by infiltrating the military to seize control of the armed forces.

"Mother, Mother..." Seeing Hua Shangxue suddenly fall into a trance, A Li anxiously called out several times, pulling her thoughts back to reality.

The second stratagem: Understanding the Sovereign's Mind. Although the sovereign's mind is unfathomable and divine majesty is inviolable, one must consider that a monarch is also a creature of flesh and blood with normal human emotions and desires. One must excel at reading facial expressions and discerning intent from tone, thereby knowing oneself and the enemy to emerge victorious in every battle. Illustrated on the page were diagrams of various facial expressions of a man.

[Note 1]: Liang County, whose former site is present-day Ruzhou City in Henan Province. Established when Qin unified China, it fell under the jurisdiction of Sanchuan Commandery. During the Eastern Han dynasty, it was governed by Henan尹 (Governor of Henan). Emperor Taizu of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, integrated Liang County into Ruzhou. The former site of Xincheng County is in present-day Gaobeidian City, Henan Province. The former site of Luhun County is present-day Song County. Established during the Han dynasty, it belonged to Hongnong Commandery.

Li Mu remained motionless, letting the tribulation take its course. He was entirely capable of preventing his inner demon from breaking away to become an independent entity, yet he did not lift a finger. This was because the inner demon knew that the moment Li Mu intervened, all his schemes and hard-won autonomy would vanish into thin air. Yet Li Mu was gambling on a shred of lingering benevolence deep within his own heart.

"That's right, only god-tier beings can cross through, but let me tell you, the god-tier divine gales of the boundless East Sea are actually only a few dozen miles wide. If a god-tier expert is willing, they can still protect one or two people across!" Lao Bing explained.

The result was not the look of sheer terror he had expected, but rather the gaze one might reserve for absolute trash.

Pressing downward with a sharp click, the mechanism was triggered, and Kong Baihe casually tossed the orb away.

Fang Qi was unconscious, his right arm blackened and swollen to nearly twice its normal size, while Yu Mengdie had collapsed directly across his body, unmoving.

A golden pillar of light stood between heaven and earth like a celestial ladder connecting the mortal realm to the firmament, clearly visible within a radius of a thousand miles.

"You two..." Dai Ziyuan was just about to throw a fierce temper tantrum—killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, so these mischievous kids would understand that while their teacher looked young, she was not someone to be trifled with. However, the moment her gaze shifted to Meng Xinghui's face, she froze instantly.