The sky above Dragon City was completely silent.
Practically everyone from the outer Immortal Region watched in cold silence as this played out. You could almost feel their contempt.
All of them had received an education in blood. Theyâd witnessed the cruelty of war with their own eyes. If they wanted to retreat, they would never have come here in the first place.
They felt nothing but disdain for those Beast Region clansmen who were scared out of their wits before the battle even started.
Ye Zichen tossed the agitatorâs body to the ground. Ii landed right amongst the terrestrial beast clan soldiers.
The corpse fell to the ground with a thud. The onlookers froze and gulped nervously. When they looked at Ye Zichen, their eyes were filled with newfound, wordless awe.
As for the soldiers of various flying beast clans, after watching Ye Zichen strike like lightning, cutting down one of their own, striking like lightning, they dared not say a word.
They buried their thoughts of escape deep within their hearts.
They wanted to flee in order to protect their lives. However, if they ran, theyâd die at Ye Zichenâs hands before the demons even reached them.
âIt seems no one wants to try their luck?â
His icy gaze scanned the crowd. Everyone whoâd considered deserted lowered their heads as if to hide their guilty consciences. They dared not meet his eyes.
âIf thatâs how it is, buck up and brace yourselves. If anyone else dares desert, donât blame me for being heartless. Of course, youâre welcome to try deserting in the middle of battleâŠ.â
He pointed at his eyes, then at the various beast clans.
âIâll be watching you.â
Heâd intimidated the lot of them. With one last cold snort snort, Ye Zichen returned to the four Sacred Beast clan headsâ side and bowed to Zhuge Hong. The vermillion birds could be considered the leaders of all the flying races. The instigator heâd killed just now was from an aerial clan, so he needed to apologize to Zhuge Hong.
âPlease forgive me, Clan Head Zhuge.â
As he cupped his fists in apology, they could see the blood on his hands.
Zhuge Hong shook her head. âNo harm done,â she said. âIf you hadnât intervened, I would have done so myself.â
Lei Hu let out a hearty laugh. âWhat do you have to apologize for? Our Beast Region has no need for cowards! Emperor Ye, you did the right thing. If you hadnât, the soldiersâ morale would have crumbled. That said, I never would have guessed there really were such cowards among us.â
As he spoke, he looked directly at the terrestrial beast clan troops, his gaze extremely oppressive.
âIâm glad you donât blame me,â said Ye Zichen. He smiled at them, then glowered darkly at Gu Li.
âYouâre quite capable,â he said. âYouâve extended your reach awfully far.â
âBrother Ye, surely youâre mistaken? Youâre the one whoâs truly capable. In but an instant you ruthlessly suppressed that uprising. Iâm impressed.â
Gu Li wasnât particularly surprised by Ye Zichenâs actions. Even if he hadnât intervened, Gu Li knew one of the other clan heads would have stepped in and done the same thing.
Even without thinking, he knew they couldnât possibly have allowed that bunch of cowards to flee.
Doing so would devastate the troopsâ morale.
Although the uprising was snuffed out before it really started, it still had the desired effect. That said, if Ye Zichen had moved just a little slower, the results might have been more interesting.
What a pity.
Black Dragon subconsciously glanced at Gu Li. This guy truly had an endless stream of tricks up his sleeve. Just now, that rabble-rouser was definitely a spy heâd placed in the Beast Region.
When he considered Gu Liâs behavior, Black Dragon worriedâŠ..
Had he planted agents in the demonsâ ranks as well?
On their way here, Gu Li truly had explained a lot to him. Even so, who would dare trust someone like him completely?
For now, Black Dragon could only truly believe about half of it. As for the rest? He could only gamble.
âHmph.â Ye Zichen snorted softly then paid him no further heed. Heâd fought with Gu Li countless times already. This sort of thing was a common occurrence; he was used to it.
Ye Zichen simply looked behind the demons, inwardly estimating the time.
âThey should get here soon.â
Heâd contacted the troops from the Immortal Region, Underworld, and Heavenly Court hours ago. Then, back in the canyon, heâd bought them quite a bit of time with his ambush.
Taking the time into account, they should arrive right about now.
Not far in the distance, Gu Li noticed his searching expression and laughed, âEmperor Ye, are you looking for something?â
âHm?â grunted Ye Zichen.
âHa, Emperor Ye, you actually could have staged this fight near the entrance to the Beast Region, yet you chose not to do that. Rather, you led us straight to your inner sanctum. You even turned the space just outside of Dragon City into our battlefield. If youâre defeated here, youâll truly have no chance whatsoever. Youâre by no means muddle-headed; thereâs no way you havenât thought of that. Ye you chose to come here anyway. Thereâs surely a deeper meaning behind all this?â said Gu Li. He smiled, the light in his eyes suggested heâd long since seen through them.
Ye Zichen seemed utterly unperturbed by Gu Liâs questions.
âThere is, naturally, a deeper meaning,â said Ye Zichen calmly. âYou incited the Flying Serpent Clan to betray us and flee the Beast Region, breaking our grand formation. Weâd have to be truly foolish to stage our main battle on the outskirts of the Beast Region. As for why we led you to our inner sanctumâŠ. Why should I tell you?â
Gu Li lifted his brows, then turned around.
Behind him, he saw countless demons, stretching as far as the eye could see. Below, he saw the groaning blood zombie horde. He cocked his head to the side, then turned to face Ye Zichen.
âLet me guess,â he laughed, âEmperor Ye, youâve arranged for someone to surround us from behind.â
â.......â
âAs for who it is⊠It should be the Underworld, Immortal Region, and Heavenly Court, right?â
Gu Li stretched his neck. When he saw Ye Zichenâs expression, he said, âit seems I got it right.â
âWhat is there to even guess? Anyone could have figured that out.â
Gu Li had seen right through him. Even so, Ye Zichen wasnât worried. Anyone could have deduced something as simple as that. Their biggest concern was that the enemy wouldnât come.
This was, after all, far too easy to see through. They feared Gu Li and the others would be too cautious to fall for it.
âYou came despite knowing there was an ambush? It seems youâre rather confident? Do you want to challenge the entire Three Realms?â
âNo, no, no!â Gu Li waved frantically, âEmperor Ye, you must be joking. No matter how arrogant we were, we wouldnât dare provoke all three realms simultaneously, donât you think?â
âYet you dared come anyway? HaâŠ..â Ye Zicheen sneered, but before he could finish his sentence, he realized that Gu Li was smiling. That, combined with what heâd said earlierâŠ.
He already knew all that. Why had he chosen to come anyway?
Since heâd chosen to come here, heâd surely prepared thoroughly for it.
âYou ought to understand me by now. Iâm extremely cowardly. I came despite knowing about the ambush. Given your understanding of me, tell me..âŠ. Why, exactly, would I do that?â
Instantly, Ye Zichenâs heart sank. His eyes narrowed into slits as he said gravely, âyou did something to them?â
Gu Li smiled back at him, then said leisurely, âthey ought to be in dire straits right about now.â
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