Left waiting for Leng Shi, Lin Qing instead received a copy of the Linyang Daily. He stared at it for a moment before tossing it onto the table, frowning, "What a stroke of luck!"
Exhaling lightly, Lin Qing turned to Shen Yu and asked, "General Shen, is Yunyao really as formidable as the newspaper claims?"
"There must be some exaggeration, like 'one sword strike that startles gods and ghosts'—those are likely fabrications," Shen Yu replied. "However, Miao Buqi did indeed die by his hand."
Lin Qing nodded. He only wanted a confirmation, and he knew in his heart that this was likely true.
As a general leading an army, he had access to extensive intelligence. A few days ago, the Qinglan Sword Sect suddenly announced its closure, which corroborated the fact that the Qinglan Sword Saint was likely defeated by this Yunyao.
Moreover.
Lin Qing also knew that the Heavenly Demon, after awakening his supernatural powers, was a completely different person. Those bizarre supernatural powers were unpredictable, making it understandable that the Sword Saint was defeated.
But thinking about the fact that the opponent now had another grandmaster comparable to the Qinglan Sword Saint, Lin Qing felt a headache coming on. By his calculations, Leng Shi's side had at least six Heavenly Demons!
The confidence brought by his 300,000-strong army was suddenly replaced by a sense of helplessness. Why didn't they have any powerful Heavenly Demons on their side?
The first defeat had a huge impact on morale.
Lin Qing looked at Shen Yu again, "General Shen, if Yunyao attacks, can your supernatural powers handle him?"
"With 30,000 archers, I fear no one in a direct confrontation," Shen Yu said, but then he looked at Lin Qing, "Marshal, however, my personal combat ability is lacking. I request that you assign at least one grandmaster to protect me from assassination attempts by Leng Shi's men."
Lin Qing nodded, "Sect Leader Dou, you will protect General Shen."
"Marshal, if Yunyao attacks, I fear I alone cannot protect General Shen," Grandmaster Dou Xiu said, looking troubled.
Yunyao's combat power was terrifying; in the first battle, he had already killed three grandmasters. Facing such combat power, Dou Xiu felt powerless.
Reaching the level of a grandmaster was not easy, and he was here to gather resources for his sect, not to throw his life away.
Grandmasters generally had little loyalty to the court.
Without his sect, he could still live freely, but without his life, he would have nothing.
Lin Qing then looked at another grandmaster, Shi Ji.
Shi Ji remained silent.
Lin Qing sighed inwardly. When had it come to this, where even an army of 300,000 was at a loss?
"Does anyone have a good strategy to repel the enemy?" Lin Qing asked, trying to lift everyone's spirits.
"Marshal, I believe we should quickly march to Linyang, cutting off Leng Shi's retreat," a deputy general stood up. "Leng Shi fled from Linyang City because he feared being trapped by our 300,000-strong army. Therefore, we should advance step by step, gradually eating away at Leng Shi's territory, forcing him into a decisive battle with us. We have the advantage; why engage in a battle of Heavenly Demons with him?" Ṟ�
"Leng Shi has at least six Heavenly Demons with him. If he continues to wreak havoc in Chongming Kingdom, what should we do?" Lin Qing asked. War was like this: posing questions step by step, discussing them, and then arriving at the optimal solution.
"Leave it to the court," another deputy general stood up, glancing at Shen Yu. "Both prime ministers are Heavenly Demons; they won't let Leng Shi continue to grow unchecked..."
As more supernatural powers of the Alien Star warriors were revealed, the myth of celestial battles had long been disbelieved. People preferred to believe that all Alien Star warriors were Demon Heads.
One military order after another was issued methodically.
The upheaval in the capital made Lin Qing realize that this war, involving Heavenly Demons, would be entirely different from previous ones, and he naturally chose a defensive stance.
Moreover.
A few days ago, Chu Kingdom's 300,000-strong army had also marched towards Chongming Kingdom, ready to invade at any moment. Chu Kingdom had not been purged of Heavenly Demons by Shi Pingchuan, so it was likely that their army had Heavenly Demons among them.
This time, Chongming Kingdom was truly in turmoil.
...
"Shi Pingchuan is dead, what a useless fool!"
Du Ge's intelligence arrived almost simultaneously with Lin Qing's. He snorted disdainfully, full of sarcasm. Possessing the prime minister's body at the start, forcing so many Alien Star warriors to flee, only to end up like this—utterly disgraceful.
Zhang Yizhi felt a wave of relief. Fortunately, he had distanced himself from Shi Pingchuan in time; otherwise, he wouldn't have escaped this time.
Pei Ma'er's displayed combat power was terrifying.
"I always knew Shi Pingchuan had a short life span. I thought he would die at the hands of the Demon Star, but he ended up dying at Pei Ma'er's hands. Life is unpredictable," the imperial teacher sighed, then looked at Du Ge, "Imperial Teacher, the internal strife in Chongming Kingdom is greatly beneficial to us. Lin Qing will be in a difficult position, proving that destiny is on our side."
"Destiny has always been on our side," Du Ge smiled, waving the intelligence report in his hand. "Pei Ma'er fought six grandmasters and the third-ranked Shi Pingchuan alone and still won. His combat power is no less than Yunyao's. What do you think his keyword is? Strategy can't have such combat power..."
Zhang Yizhi shook his head, "I can't tell."
"Could it be chaos?" Du Ge connected all the events. The keyword often associated with him popped into his mind.
From the beginning, when Gu Shiming sought his help to disrupt Chongming Kingdom, to Pei Ma'er switching sides to serve the Emperor of Chongming, every step of his plan had been to make Chongming Kingdom more chaotic. And chaos was precisely a keyword with formidable combat power.
The key point was, if Pei Ma'er's keyword was indeed chaos, then all the Alien Star warriors in Chongming Kingdom were actually helping to enhance his attributes.
This could also explain why he inexplicably surpassed Shi Pingchuan to become the second-ranked.
No matter how powerful Shi Pingchuan's keyword was, he couldn't defeat someone ranked higher and with stronger attributes tied to the chaos keyword.
In the history of Qi Yuan Star, chaos was one of the most powerful keywords. Whether in the Simulation Field or the Alien Star Battlefield, once exposed, it would be targeted by everyone.
After all.
This keyword became more powerful the longer it lasted.
"Very likely," Gao Ming glanced at Du Ge, frowning slightly, "Du Ge, if Pei Ma'er's keyword is indeed chaos, without a keyword like calm to counter it, even I might not be able to take him down."
"Exactly!" Ge Zong agreed, "Chaos is too strong; no one can remain rational in the face of chaos."
"That old woman who countered our skills is dead. Otherwise, her skills might have been able to counter chaos," Xiang Li said.
"She was Pei Ma'er's person to begin with. Did you expect her to turn around and deal with Pei Ma'er?" Ge Zong rolled his eyes at him, "Maybe Pei Ma'er let her die on purpose."