On the other side of Yaodu, in the residential area of the high-ranking officials and nobles of Feilongya, chaos had already erupted.

Sheng Yuan-yao kicked away a Longyan family guard who was trying to stop her, and a group of Daqian soldiers, like hungry wolves, charged into the Yaozu prime minister’s mansion.

This act was an unprecedented feat in the history of both nations. Historians studying this period a thousand years later could not understand how the Daqian envoy could be so arrogant in Yaodu.

However, this event was recorded in the historical records of both sides. When corroborated, it seemed undeniably true…

The truth was simply that all parties were strategically positioning their forces against each other, and no one on either side noticed that there was an army available here—an army that was not only usable but also absolutely incapable of “colluding with the enemy.”

After the homes of Long Yun and Long Lie were raided and Chen Yu was successfully found in Long Yun’s house and handed over to A Nuo, Sheng Yuan-yao, clutching a stack of Long Lie’s unrequited love letters to their empress, gleefully enjoyed the firsthand gossip. Then, without further ado, she marched straight to Prime Minister Longyan’s house.

Longyan himself was still besieging Longya, and his home only had some guards and retainers. How could they possibly stop Sheng Yuan-yao and a group of seasoned Daqian generals who had seen battle?

By the time the Security Bureau arrived, sweating profusely, to intervene, the prime minister’s mansion had already been torn down. The treasures that the Daqian diplomatic mission carted out of the prime minister’s house, box after box, dazzled the people of Yaodu.

Not only that, there were also some letters.

Although Longyan and the Holy Mountain communicated using magic artifacts, the hidden agents of various tribes did not possess such capabilities, and many had to rely on written correspondence. As an important means of controlling various parties afterwards, these would naturally not be casually destroyed. With the raid, everything was exposed.

Sheng Yuan-yao unfolded a letter and read aloud: “Since the Dragon Emperor is injured, our tribe will rise in three days. We hope the Prime Minister will delay the Dragon Emperor’s resources. It would be best if you could provide details on the movements of the Dragon Tribe’s army. Please convey to the Holy Buddha that our Peng Tribe will forever be a part of the Garuda Department.”

“On the Jia-shen day, ten tribes will raise beacons simultaneously. Since the demoness is injured, she will be powerless.”

The entire street fell silent, and the soldiers and civilians of Yaodu were stunned.

“Zhen will raise Daqian… er…” Sheng Yuan-yao hesitated, ultimately not reading it aloud in public, and somewhat awkwardly put away this letter from Gu Zhan-ting.

The Daqian soldiers all turned their heads away.

The Daqian Emperor colluding with the Yaoyu Prime Minister and instigating a rebellion among various Yaoyu tribes seemed perfectly fine from Daqian’s perspective. But what were they doing now? It felt a little strange.

However, speaking of it, the Dragon Emperor was truly powerful. With an internal spy holding a high position as prime minister, another internal spy among her own generals, widespread rebellion flags outside, and Daqian to the south eyeing her covetously… In such circumstances, she still managed to quell the rebellion within ten years and recover from her injuries.

It was only because of this situation that she lost a hundred li of border territory, which became the source of the Huo family’s achievements… Looking at it this way, the Huo family’s achievements were entirely opportunistic. The Dragon Emperor simply had no time for them, and she even had an internal spy collaborating.

If she had paid attention, she would have simply taken it back.

Was General Sheng going to compete for a man with such a being?

“Never mind,” Sheng Yuan-yao never imagined others were sympathizing with her, and was in high spirits. “Stuff these spoils of war into rings, and hand the letters to Xiao Liang. This is too deep for us Daqian people to get involved. Let’s go!”

From the letters, it appeared that quite a few tribes were colluding with the prime minister. Besides those who had been suppressed in the past decade, there were also many hidden ones. Most of these were tribes who had been misled by “Buddhist teachings” and were crippled, or some tribes where Pu Du’s illegitimate children had seized high positions.

The situation here was very complicated, and Sheng Yuan-yao, using the excuse that they might be killed, directly led her group to leave the capital.

In fact, once they left, they would not return… At this time, Long Qing-huang had no time to deal with them. As long as they left Yaodu, dispersed, and disguised themselves, no one would be able to find this diplomatic mission, and they would safely return to their country before long.

As for those letters, they were left as a final good deed for the Dragon Emperor. How the Dragon Emperor chose to act upon receiving the letters was her decision.

Lu Xing-zhou had even arranged for their retreat. Surely there wouldn’t be any trouble from the Holy Mountain side, right?

Looking at the Holy Mountain, trouble had indeed arisen.

Although the Dragon Tribe warriors believed that His Majesty had made arrangements at Longya and wouldn’t be directly overthrown by Longyan, and thus had few worries, the witchcraft targeting the Dragon Tribe made everyone extremely uncomfortable. Even Long Yun, who was nearby, had no strength to capture them, let alone engage in fierce combat.

The Holy Mountain’s grand formation opened, and countless monks poured out of the temple.

As the Holy Mountain of Yaoyu, although its overall strength could not compare to that of a nation, it was still at the level of a top-tier sect, and it had once contended with Tianyao Holy Land.

If it still possessed its former strength, this battle would be even harder to fight.

Unfortunately, after being defeated by Tianyao Holy Land, the Holy Mountain suffered heavy casualties and had not yet recovered its vitality. Even ancient realms that dared to smuggle themselves in came to fight, and even Si Han dared to stroll around.

This was also why the Holy Mountain secretly caused trouble during Long Qing-huang’s injury over the past decade but couldn’t bring it to the forefront, because their strength was also weak. From this perspective, Long Qing-huang seemed to owe Ye Ting-lan a bow.

At this moment, seeing the vast number of monks, there was actually only one Pu Du, who had just entered the Transcendent Grade, and two or three first-grade old monks. The total number of those above third-grade was not even as many as those above third-grade in the Dragon Tribe’s Imperial Guard.

But at this moment, the Dragon Tribe was afflicted by witchcraft, and their combat power had plummeted!

Pu Du ordered the monks to break through the three hundred imperial guards and then charged forward himself. A golden Buddha seal directly attacked Long Qing-huang’s back, while he sternly shouted, “Long Yun! What are you still dazed about! If you admit defeat now, do you think she can still spare your nine clans later!”

Long Yun, whose rebellion had been publicly exposed and who, in fear of Long Qing-huang’s long-standing might, had lost all will to resist, suddenly looked up. He found that he was unaffected by the witchcraft!

The thought of fighting with his back against the wall resurfaced. What did it matter if he was exposed? Perhaps he could still achieve this feat in one stroke. If the dragons refused to submit, he could at worst become a puppet emperor with the support of the Holy Mountain!

With a roar, Long Yun’s listless figure surged, and his first-grade peak divine dragon punch heavily struck Long Qing-huang’s abdomen.

Long Qing-huang’s eyes revealed clear disappointment.

She had actually softened for a moment, thinking of sparing his nine clans.

With a slight raise of her jade hand, the roaring dragon punch was casually grasped, unable to advance an inch.

At the same time, her long leg spun and kicked backward, slamming into Pu Du’s Buddhist light.

The sound of shattering Buddhist light, almost audible, and the agonizing creak of Long Yun’s fist bones being crushed, echoed.

Pu Du and Long Yun were equally horrified: “How are you unharmed!”

“I am,” Long Qing-huang calmly replied, “Your witchcraft did take effect on Zhen… but regrettably, even if it took effect, Zhen will still kill you.”

“Bang!” Pu Du was sent flying several miles, crashing heavily into the Holy Mountain, collapsing a section of the cliff.

Long Yun’s hand was brutally broken, his screams shaking the heavens.

“Boom!” Dragon might flared around Long Qing-huang, and several old monks attempting a sneak attack spurted blood and fell back.

Within the mountain temple, the light of the formation flashed urgently, and a giant swastika symbol descended from the sky, pressing down above Long Qing-huang.

Pu Du emerged from the collapsed cliff and attacked Long Qing-huang’s back again.

Long Lie and the other fierce generals, their bodies out of sorts, watched helplessly as their Dragon Emperor陛下 displayed great power alone, fighting against many.

Lu Xing-zhou and A Nuo had long since retreated a considerable distance on their pig mounts. Taking out his dragon bone, he secretly cast a spell.

He might not be able to completely dispel the Dragon Tribe’s witchcraft, but he could slightly intervene, allowing stronger individuals like Long Lie to recover some combat power and offer a little help. Additionally, he could completely remove the effect from Long Qing-huang, who was already only mildly affected.

With this, the tide of victory should be set.

A Nuo watched Lu Xing-zhou finish his spell, and seeing that he still didn’t move, she quietly asked, “Shifu?”

Lu Xing-zhou gave an absentminded “En.”

“Didn’t you say this was our time to leave?” A Nuo said, “You said, Long Qing-huang is sure to win, and we don’t need to worry anymore. And at a time like this, Long Qing-huang can’t be distracted, so we should seize this opportunity to leave directly, change our identities, and head south. She won’t be able to find us.”

Lu Xing-zhou whispered, “I’m not sure if Yuan-yao and the diplomatic mission have successfully withdrawn. My heart is uneasy; how can I just leave?”

A Nuo said, “You clearly said that even if Sister Yao couldn’t withdraw, Sister Long wouldn’t detain the official diplomatic mission, as it would be meaningless to her.”

Lu Xing-zhou said, “What if?”

A Nuo fell silent. In reality, both of them knew that Long Qing-huang, as an emperor, genuinely would not detain an official diplomatic mission. Even if she did, to force Lu Xing-zhou to return, it would be meaningless. Because what she wanted was Lu Xing-zhou’s willingness to stay, not force.

If his heart wasn’t here, what good would it do to forcibly keep him?

She certainly wouldn’t harm the diplomatic mission, thereby completely alienating Lu Xing-zhou and eliminating any possibility of reconciliation.

So, the diplomatic mission was definitely safe. In fact, Long Qing-huang probably even wished Sheng Yuan-yao would hurry up and leave, and wouldn’t arrange anyone to intercept them.

This was probably the best opportunity to leave; miss this chance and it would never come again.

Lu Xing-zhou had even written a farewell letter and placed it under his pillow… everything had been perfectly anticipated, yet at the last moment, he hesitated. A Nuo, rubbing the pig’s head, didn’t understand.

“My heart is always uneasy,” Lu Xing-zhou whispered. “In this series of logical steps, something that should have been there has not appeared.”

A Nuo asked curiously, “What?”

“That cuckoo, the former Great Priest,” Lu Xing-zhou murmured. “If we don’t figure out where he is, even if Long Qing-huang wins, she might pay a heavy price.”

A Nuo blinked her eyes: “What does Shifu plan to do?”

Lu Xing-zhou’s gaze fell into the depths of the Holy Mountain temple, and he muttered to himself, “There must be something fishy hidden in this mountain… If Long Qing-huang isn’t careful, Pu Du might feign defeat and lure her deeper into the mountain…”

As he was thinking this, the spell he had just cast took effect. Long Qing-huang felt the pressure on her body lighten. She twisted Long Yun’s neck, “crack,” rotating his head 360 degrees.

Long Yun’s eyes bulged, and finally, regret appeared in them: “I… shouldn’t have…”

Long Qing-huang had no time to listen to his confession. With another swing of her divine dragon tail, she kicked the attacking Pu Du away.

Pu Du twisted his body in mid-air and fled towards the mountains.

Long Qing-huang shot after him, in hot pursuit.

“Wait!” Lu Xing-zhou, almost instinctively, stomped his feet in the void. Water and fire energy erupted in mid-air, forming a small mushroom cloud-like explosion in the void.

The powerful propulsion propelled him like lightning, rapidly approaching the location where Long Qing-huang was chasing.

The originally peaceful and benevolent mountains, filled with Buddhist chants, suddenly took on a dark red color, as if the sun had suddenly set and the sunset glow was staining the forest.

Yet, it was early morning.

A gentle breeze brushed past, as if fine rain was falling, landing on the back of Long Qing-huang’s neck.

If she transformed into her true form, that would be the location of her reverse scale.

Long Qing-huang had already sensed it, her body paused, and her palm quickly grabbed backward.

At the same time, Pu Du twisted his body in mid-air and struck back with another punch.

Long Qing-huang didn’t know what she had grabbed; she seemed unable to move for a moment, frozen there, as Pu Du’s Buddhist light already slammed towards her ribs.

Long Qing-huang continued to exert force in her hand, thinking that it was fine to suffer some injuries; at most, she would recuperate for another ten years.

As her thought moved, a figure appeared behind her.

“Bang!”

Taiji Tiangang fully erupted, meeting Pu Du’s Buddhist light.

Third Grade versus Transcendent Grade was like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.

The Buddhist light, blocked by Taiji Tiangang for a moment, still easily dispersed the gang qi and struck Lu Xing-zhou.

Lu Xing-zhou only had time to avoid the vital points but was still struck on the shoulder. The Dragon Subduing Armor glowed brightly, and he was spun halfway around, ending up lying on Long Qing-huang’s back.

At the same time, the light from the Dragon Subduing Armor dissipated, and the precious armor shattered inch by inch. Most of the deflected energy still surged into his body. His dragon body, which had only just begun to be tempered, offered little protection, and the energy surged wildly into his meridians and dantian.

Lu Xing-zhou’s Tai Xu Rotation operated frantically, but even three or four layers of protective divine skills could not offset this huge disparity. In the end, with a “噗” sound, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, staining Long Qing-huang’s reverse scale at the back of her neck.

The three or four layers of deflection happened in an instant. Long Qing-huang didn’t even turn her head, and her lover’s blood had already sprayed all over her.

Long Qing-huang was stunned, and an unprecedented surge of violent murderous intent rose in her dragon eyes: “You… you are seeking death!”