’He’s also not the Chosen One as we predicted,’ Cui Yi added. ’So, here is a question: is that a personal choice, or is there soone more worthy than him?’
The question was crucial for their mission. If it’s the forr, then they will have a better understanding of what kind of person this tiline’s Fate Lord is. If it’s the latter, then that ans there is potentially soone whose mind is even more terrifying than the Fate Lord.
’Were we able to discover the Chosen One?’ Wan Yani asked.
’Sadly, no,’ Cui Yi said. The [History Lock] still blocked most of the information that the parasites could access when possessing these individuals. ’But I did compile a list of possible candidates.’ He transferred the information through divine sense.
[Grand Strategist Qiyuan, Grand Marshall Dugu Baitian, Great Qin Ruler Ying Zheng, and Investigator Lin Fan.]
’The strategist has the wisdom to be chosen, and the other three all have unique auras that separate them from the rest,’ Cui Yi explained.
’Very well. Put them at the top of the watch-list,’ Wan Yani nodded.
’Has their strength been determined?’ White Saber asked.
’Besides Lin Fan, they are all six jewel Primals, but only Ying Zheng has a crown.’
’So weak?’ Wan Yani asked.
’Yes, it appears this tiline, or maybe just this world, has only recently started developing its Saint Foundation. So far, only the woman called Wu Hong has condensed two crowns, and only Wang Wei, Ying Zheng, and the swordsman called Yan Hai have condensed one crown.’
Wan Yani’s eyes lit up. The lack of stamina for the top echelon is a great weakness that they can exploit. She opened her mouth to say sothing when the detection arrays activated. The projection at the center of the eting room showed a new change outside.
First, Wang Wei and Wu Hong started to hunt down the first-stage parasites, followed by the enemy building arrays around their Divine War Post Base. "Are they trying to stop our absorption of souls and destiny?"
"They can try, but such a primitive thod cannot stop us."
"Maybe so, but once their Saint returns and blesses these arrays and weapons, that’s another story."
"I keep forgetting we are only using the lowest level equipnt."
"Commander, what should we do?"
Wan Yani analyzed the situation. Their attack was successful, as they only needed a small number of souls to et the requirents to activate the gate again, and they could ask for reinforcents. However, if they lose their ability to gather souls before reaching the threshold, their situation will imdiately turn sour. But Wan Yani also understood this was a bait. The enemy needed a victory to regain morale.
’What is their confidence?’ she thought. ’Could they be prepared to launch a battle between generals? No, it would be arrogant of them to think they could defeat us this way.’ Wan Yani did not want to rush her decision, but ti was of the essence. As she was about to consult with her council, her expression turned ugly as she looked in the distance.
"Commander?"
"Deploy the troops. We must stop them. Also, send an order to all Primals to prepare for possible combat."
"What happened?" Cui Yi asked.
"The tal Saint just sent news that it may not last long."
"The tal Saint’s strength was reduced to around nine pillars after passing through the gate. Are you telling that Buddha Saint’s strength has already reached 10 pillars?" a strategist asked.
"I don’t know the details, but I can’t ignore the warning," Wan Yani explained.
A new round of fighting began, and Qiyuan’s "tactic" was imdiately detected. The number of flesh soldiers used was not much, but legions after legions of puppets were thrown into the battlefield. Their task was to kill the enemy without regard for their own safety. This cruel battlefield lasted for twenty years.
Everyone thought Qiyuan was lashing out after the previous attack, and even started to question his abilities. In fact, even the Divine War Post began to feel that no brilliant tactic was forthcoming, just the temper tantrum of a military strategist who could not accept a significant defeat. Then, it happened.
The puppets stopped attacking and just stared at their opponents. The eerie silence as these war machines stared at their enemy did not last long before it started. First, it was the Silver Legion. Their mbers began to fall from the sky, dying before hitting the ground. There were no fatal wounds, just death.
But it did not stop there. Soon, the puppets began to fall, and eventually, even the ti boats started falling from the sky. The entire thing was eerie because no one understood what was happening. Well, at least, no one — except for Qiyuan and his War Room — should have known what was happening.
"The Invisible Plague," a strategist from Divine War Post exclaid. "They really are the sa."
"Lock down the base, and order Fan Leiwei to deal with the situation," Wan Yani yelled. Two black arrays — one inside the base and the other above the legions outside — materialized in the sky before raining a beam of light into the legions and workers of the base. Unfortunately, the expected outco did not occur. People kept dying, and war machines never ceased falling from the sky.
Wan Yani stood and teleported to Fan Leiwei’s location, followed by the other two commanders. "Why isn’t it working?" she yelped. Fan Leiwei did not answer him as he was too focused on inscribing runes in the air.
"Answer !"
"Damn it! Isn’t it fucking obvious? It’s not the sa plague."
"Let’s all calm down," Cui Yi said. "We are all on nerves, so just explain to us what the difference is."
Fan Leiwei exhaled to calm down. "The essence is the sa: tiny, living arrays that are so small that even the most soul-gifted Paragon cannot detect and can divide itself and spread. The difference is how they hid themselves.
"The Fate Lord’s plague used a basic Yin-Yang Dao to allow each array to enter an unknown or undetectable state, but this one used a more complex hiding thod. First, there is its ability to mimic life and death. If the plague is a fundantal part of a person’s life, how can it be detected as sothing dangerous?
"Second, it uses the Dao of Origin to hide, well, its origin or source."
"Origin Dao? That’s Qiyuan’s Dao."
"Do you feel smart for stating the obvious?"
"You!" Wan Yani wanted to slap him to death.
"Keep going," Cui Yi intervened.
"I’ve broken through that layer of protection, but there is a second: a probability field. The bastard used Luck Dao to create a statistical anomaly, making it impossible to detect even a single one of these microarrays. But I’ve still bypassed that protection, but even then, what lies on the other side is nothing — no array, no..."
Wan Yani was about to say sothing when Cui Yi stopped her.
"How can I be so stupid? The information stated that Wang Wei’s physical body utilizes [Nothingness]. It makes sense his version of the plague would contain its power." Fan Leiwei continued his work of inscribing runes. A few minutes later, a new array manifested before him, and he activated it. Nurous individuals in the base were revealed to already be infected.
"Good job!" Wan Yani said with a twisted expression. It was challenging to determine whether her anger was due to Fan Leiwei or the current situation, or most likely, both.
"Don’t celebrate yet," Fan Leiwei said. "Three-quarters of all our troops have been infected, and half of them are too deep to be saved."
"Can’t you create a cure?"
"Yes, but it will take a minimum of 10,000 Yuan epoch in true ti." Their base only brought Limit Ti Mansions, which only allows ten tis ti acceleration, and the complexity of this plague requires at least 100,000 Yuan Epoch with the available equipnt.
"That’s too long," Wan Yani comnted. By the ti he has succeeded, how many of their troops will remain? Probably less than a quarter. And with such a small army, there is no way for them to amass the souls needed to activate the gate again.
The base is currently impenetrable, but that’s only because higher-level Saints have not interfered. But as ti passes, if they stay cooped up in the base with no actions, there is no way to know how these beings will behave. And as ti passes, the Infinite Divine Court will judge their expedition a failure and proceed without them.
’No, I can’t accept failure,’ Wan Yani thought as a beautiful visage with a cruel sneer flashed in her mind. He looked at Fan Leiwei with a cold determination: "Prepare for a Grand Sacrifice."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"Do I look mad to you?"
"Commander, is this really necessary?" Cui Yi asked.
"Tell , if most of our troops die now before we can activate the gate. What will happen to us?"
Expedition Failure — that is the worst nightmare of every commander. Typically, it may not be such a big thing, but for the conquest of the Primordial Tiline, no one can accept such a grave mark on their career.
"But, what about your reputation?" Fan Leiwei asked. No one wants to work for any commanders who have used Grand Sacrifice.
"I won’t do it secretly. In fact, I will tell the troops what they are facing. This mission is more important than anything."
"Even so."
"Once this mission is a success, no one can use the sacrifice to fault . On the contrary, I will be known as a hero throughout the court."
"Well, it’s your decision," Fan Leiwei shrugged. Since he had no chance of a marriage alliance with Wan Yani, he didn’t really care what happened to her. "Just make sure to note I had no part in this decision."
"Don’t worry about it," Wan Yani replied. He knew how descendants of Saint Clans operated, so he wasn’t surprised by his response. Soon afterward, all the troops were gathered, and Wan Yani walked to them. So many people had died in this attack, and even now, as she’s prepared to give a grand speech, even more people are dying.
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