Upon the lofty city walls of Yinge City, the moon was obscured, and the wind bitingly cold.

The heavy, layered clouds seemed on the verge of collapse.

A tall figure wearing a mask suddenly appeared behind Zhu Weiwo. A raspy voice sounded from beneath the mask: “You wish to go to the Yong Country battlefield?”

The successive Grand Chiefs of the Zhuang Country’s Bureau of Punishments were always required to wear a cast iron mask, never showing their true faces, to demonstrate their impartiality.

Zhu Weiwo did not turn around, still gazing at the Mo Country, hidden in the darkness opposite Yinge City.

“I see no meaning in my remaining here.”

“His Majesty is undertaking an unprecedented gamble,” the Grand Chief said, his hands clasped behind his back, also looking into the distance. “We must consider not only victory but also defeat. That is the meaning of your remaining here.”

Zhu Weiwo shook his head. “The brilliance of a dying ember is not born from its fear of burning.”

The dignified Grand Chief of the Bureau of Punishments, one of the top five most powerful figures in the entire Zhuang Country. He would not have believed that a disciple of the National Academy would dare to question his words. But if that disciple was Zhu Weiwo, it seemed only natural.

This was, after all, an exceedingly arrogant, exceedingly flamboyant genius.

“You are already brilliant enough, sharp enough.”

The Grand Chief said meaningfully, “Zhu Weiwo, Prime Minister Du believes you are capable of shouldering the future of the Zhuang Country. I, too, believe this. But before that…”

“You must learn to conceal your edge.”

Zhu Weiwo pursed his lips, remaining silent.

And in the distant night sky, a figure was rapidly flying towards Yinge City.

The wind that blew through Yinge City might also have blown through Xin’an.

In the deserted streets of Xin’an City, the battle continued.

Clawing branches, as if reliving a past scene.

That day, it was at the Zhuang Country’s City Dao Academy when Jiang Wang was attacked by the White Bone Path’s disciples. Dong A stood up for his disciple, directly using this self-created Dao technique, leaving those two demonic cultivators with nowhere to hide. He instantly killed one and forced the other to flee.

The Jade Cage could be said to have opened Jiang Wang’s yearning for wood-element Dao techniques, and it was a landscape he would never forget on his journey.

The Dao technique was still that Dao technique, the person was still that person.

But Jiang Wang had changed from an observer to an adversary.

He had once been sheltered by this Dao technique; now he was being locked down by this Dao technique.

Life was like a massive joke.

Times changed, and so did circumstances.

The Jade Cage covered the long street, the Two Realms Ruler braced against the moonlight.

Jiang Wang’s sword could not advance an inch before that iron ruler. The Jade Cage repelled all other elemental forces, and the Sea of Flame Flowers was extinguished as soon as it spread out.

As for the control of wood-elemental power, he was now far inferior to Dong A.

Dong A was the most skilled at controlling subtle elemental forces.

In the past, Jiang Wang’s cultivation was slow, hindered before the Foundation Establishment stage. It was Dong A who taught him the Elemental Control Mantra, allowing him to quickly complete his Foundation Establishment without being stuck before the Zhou Tian Star Array for too long.

But at this moment, Jiang Wang only felt anger.

All his emotions, all his hatred, were contained in this Sword of Yearning. Dong A clearly knew why he had come, yet dared to question him… whether he was right!

Did becoming the Deputy Prime Minister of Zhuang Country represent correctness? Did wielding the Two Realms Ruler, which punished evil and judged sin, equate to justice itself?

Jiang Wang hated Dong A for being an accomplice, for disregarding the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in the Maple Forest Region. And he was enraged that… Dong A seemed to have never taken this matter to heart, as if he didn’t think he had done anything wrong!

The Dao source was burning furiously.

His right hand held Chang Xiangsi. His left hand pressed back, with extreme determination, pressing out a ball of gray-white, decayed light.

The Decaying Wood Art at the Inner Mansion Realm!

The reason he sneaked into Wangjiang City and forcefully obtained the Decaying Wood Art from the Wangjiang City Dao Academy was to deal with Dong A in the future. It was only because of the sudden changes in the situation that this battle was brought forward to tonight.

Even if he had paid the price of exchanging two Dao techniques, he could not deny the fact that he had taken it by trickery. That was why he felt ashamed when facing Fu Baosong.

That was not something he would have done.

Only his hatred for Dong A had overwhelmed his personal morality.

He wanted to kill Dong A, so much that he was going insane!

The Decaying Wood Art was undoubtedly the nemesis of wood-elemental Dao techniques, one of the gifts he had meticulously prepared for Dong A. Tonight, it would ignite Dong A’s funeral.

The gray-white light exploded in the air, like swallows returning to the forest, pouncing on the rapidly approaching Jade Cage, deeply entangling with it.

Thus, branches and leaves decayed, thus, trees rotted, and the air emitted a sickening, putrid odor.

The gray-white, decaying light quickly expelled the vibrant green, and.

The Jade Cage that covered the long street decayed, withered, collapsed, and disappeared in a single breath, as if it had never appeared.

The Decaying Wood Art instantly cleared Dong A’s control over the wood-elemental power in this area.

Jiang Wang seized the opportunity, completing the “invasion” of these wood elements.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a crown of thorns flashed on his head, and his left hand flipped back, a new Dao incantation already formed.

Five Qi Binding Tiger!

The power of the Dao technique was pulling, and under the blessing of the crown of thorns, it began to activate the five Qi in Dong A’s body.

But through the power of the Dao technique, he clearly felt that Dong A’s body was like a towering tree, firmly rooted in the earth, and the five Qi in his body could not be shaken at all.

Jiang Wang’s Five Qi Binding Tiger was like being trapped in a swamp, unable to restrain Dong A even for a moment.

And Dong A slapped back!

A ferocious green serpent roared out, crashing into the black chains that emerged from the void, directly sending them flying. The chains of imprisonment flipped nimbly, binding it, tightening it directly, and breaking it into Dao yuan.

But another green serpent rushed over, knocking it away again.

Repeatedly, as many as nine times, Jiang Wang’s chains of imprisonment were directly knocked out of his perception range and dissipated.

Dong A flipped the Two Realms Ruler, retreating three steps. Each step was three zhang away.

With each step back, a jade tree, carved like emerald, rose from the ground before him.

Retreating three steps, he raised three trees in a row.

These three jade trees formed a Three Talents formation. As soon as they appeared, they suppressed the elemental Qi and locked down the aura, emitting a faint green light.

A strong sense of crisis exploded in his heart.

Dong A’s control over wood-elemental Dao techniques had almost reached a state of perfection. In terms of the mastery of wood-elemental Dao techniques alone, he had surpassed any cultivator in the same realm that Jiang Wang had ever seen.

Jiang Wang had once studied under him, receiving his guidance, knowing that he was strong, but he truly did not know that he was so strong!

The reason why Dong A could become the Deputy Prime Minister of Zhuang Country, and was regarded as Du Ruhui’s successor, was not only because he participated in sacrificing the Maple Forest Region.

However, Jiang Wang had already made the maximum possible guess about Dong A’s strength. He never dared, and would not allow himself to be careless towards Dong A.

The Decaying Wood Art, which had been deduced to the Inner Mansion level, was one of his carefully prepared weapons.

Jiang Wang’s person followed the sword’s incline, his hand enveloped in the Decaying Wood Art, striking out three palms in a row.

He had already passed the jade green tree, and the decaying power of the Decaying Wood Art had already penetrated into the three jade green trees.

This Dao technique was actually Dong A’s trump card Dao technique, which he had never shown to others, called Three Lives Green Trees, which was good at suppressing disobedience and erasing emotions.

Its performance was indeed better than the Jade Cage, and it was not completely occupied by the gray-white color.

But it was also fixed in place, its power suspended.

Jiang Wang once again lunged with his sword to Dong A’s front, facing him head-on.

And behind him…

Crack, crack.

The green trees shattered like glass, falling to the ground in a shower of flowing light.