Zhou Shi’s so-called eting was indeed just that—a eting that, within a span of ten minutes or so, rapidly established the positions of appeasent, resource allocation, and authority. Then, to prevent both sides from clashing again, he quickly separated them, allowing Shadow Eaters and people from Mingyuan to be led by different mbers of the Imperial Family to tour Andu.
This pretext, at last, avoided a renewed conflict between the two sides.
"Is this really okay?" A white figure abruptly materialized out of thin air beside Zhou Shi.
The figure was clad in pure white, luxurious armor, with buckles and claws resembling those of ferocious beasts securing the shoulder plates. His face was marked with blood-red patterns, and the center of his forehead bore the blood-red character for "king." His build was robust and powerful, like a humanoid colossal tiger.
This was the second-ranked individual of Jiu Yi, the King Shan Wang Yuehui.
"Mingyuan and Shadow Eaters, both sides are unrestrained, each can check and balance the other—perfect for my use. What’s wrong with that?" Zhou Shi smiled.
"I can understand Shadow Eaters, but although Mingyuan consists of Blind Spot Individuals, their team mbers have relatives at ho, and we could have attracted them with a more amicable approach..." Shan Wang said softly.
"Isn’t Zhou Shuo there?" Zhou Shi laughed, "He has done well, too. If I were to intervene, it would be superfluous. After all, so personal influences are no longer very useful when they’re on ."
"...." Shan Wang fell silent, understanding Zhou Shi’s aning—this was to pave the way for the future of Zhou Shuo.
"The White Star has already begun to mobilize fleets near the third defense line. Based on military assessnts, there are now more than fourteen standard fleets gathered." He changed the subject.
"Who is the supre commander?" Zhou Shi inquired.
"Grelia Rosen, the Third Divine Star General, one of White Emperor’s key aides."
"It’s him...." Zhou Shi exhaled.
He spoke no further, apparently reminiscing about an encounter he had with the person in question.
*
*
*
After leaving the winding palace, Li Chengyi imdiately saw the two Shadow Dragons of Shadow Eater soaring into the sky, ignoring the cries of the princess below, disappearing in a flash, and reappearing in the distant sky the next mont.
Their forms lted into shadows, then shot away like arrows toward the distance.
Clearly, they were not interested in facing Li Chengyi, who had just erged.
"They sure run fast." Xiao Zhong frowned.
"Their strength is indeed impressive. If you encounter them alone, do not engage." Li Chengyi instructed.
"Understood." The others nodded slightly, having seen from the skirmish in the palace that Shadow Eater’s speed and strength were indeed not sothing they could match.
"Then let’s go. I’ll take you for a tour around so of the key sights in Sky City," Prince Zhou Shuo said with a smile, his expression even brighter following Li Chengyi’s swift elimination of Shadow Eater’s Saul in the palace.
Li Chengyi was also happy to take a detailed look around, and also bring back so local specialties for his family.
"Additionally, a bit later, you might start to get busy since aristocrats from various regions will all be keen to invite you. Snowflakes of invitation letters and banquet notes will start flying your way," Zhou Shuo said with a smile.
"Really? Now, that’s sothing I’m looking forward to," Li Chengyi replied with a smile.
"A few days later, after the official conferral of ranks, Mr. Destiny will also have his Town Guard area officially designated. Every Grade Nine needs to have their own area to guard, maintaining stability in the Empire’s territories. So, your highness, you might want to start considering that soon," Zhou Shuo said.
"Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness." Li Chengyi nodded.
He looked in the direction where Shadow Eater departed, realizing that Mingyuan’s people’s strength was no longer on par with the enemies’. Therefore, he would either need to recruit stronger subordinates to protect his family and wealth while he was away,
Or... enhance the strength of Mingyuan’s people.
Li Chengyi didn’t have a plan for enhancent, as after all, life had its limits, and not everyone possessed a path like his Evil Flower.
But after Evil Flower gathers all the Flower Language, the ability to summon buildings it granted might offer so surprises.
Imprints, Evil Flower...
Soon, following Zhou Shuo’s lead on the tour, the group had a rough look around Sky City.
After a fly around in an aircraft, everyone received a number of Royal special supply gift boxes.
Returning to their accommodations with the gift boxes, smiles were on everyone’s faces.
The next day, Emperor Yi, Zhou Shi, held a brief rank-conferral ceremony, bestowing military ranks to Li Chengyi and the other individuals.
Their Town Guard area was the nearby Fengnan Province and the recently self-circulating city of Su Qin.
In the great Yi Country, there were four major self-circulating cities, and Su Qin had long been the military headquarters, crowded with top military experts—a family district of the military.
Now allocated to Li Chengyi, it was obviously ant to separate him from Jiu Yi.
Although Li Chengyi had no idea where Su Qin was, nor ever visited, at least nominally, he was now part of the military.
*
*
*
Dongshan Province, Tong City.
A Jiu Yi-exclusive aircraft was speeding toward Tong City.
The ash-white highways below intertwined and spread out beneath them.
Inside the aircraft, Barton and his team looked at the scenery below, all showing signs of nerve exhaustion.
After running for so long, they were finally waiting for Yi Country to handle and suppress the pursuing Shadow Dragons; now, according to Jiu Yi’s people, they were being sent to cooperate with investigations to determine the relationship between Star Lake and Shadow Dragons, and why Shadow Dragons had been chasing them so far.
"It’s finally over. True to Yi Country’s reputation—the strongest in Earth-Moon; it’s not just empty talk..." Yang Chengxi said with a laugh.
She had slimd down significantly since the days on the island.
"This ti, we should be able to go ho, right? My mortgage is due soon, and I rely solely on the completion of this mission for my salary," Angeal said helplessly.
"What a ti to worry about a mortgage," Karan comnted dryly.
"Can’t help it; I’m just an ordinary guy looking to settle down in the city. My sister needs money for school... the whole family is counting on ," Angeal sighed.
"Pathetic," Karan scoffed.
"Yeah, you’re so successful; you still haven’t found a boyfriend, much more successful than I am," Angeal agreed with a nod.
"I am investing in myself, preparing for the future to leap across social classes! You wouldn’t understand," Karan retorted disdainfully.
"Heh heh... you said last ti it was for a life of freedom. Now it’s turned into crossing class boundaries?" Angeal said.
"Enough, enough, stop arguing, we’re almost there," Barton interrupted the two. "As soon as we finish the handover, we can go ho. This trip was really, really tough... We took a huge detour around the whole Lan Yang, nearly lost more than half our lives."
The flyer was slowly descending, heading towards the landing pad in Tong City.
So people were already waiting below.
It was obvious that they were inford ahead of ti.
Barton and his companions looked down through the window, but suddenly noticed that three of the people below had pale golden eyes, completely different in deanor from those around them.
"Wait!" Barton suddenly had a bad premonition.
A feeling of danger, as if being targeted by a venomous snake, sent shivers down his spine.
"Who are those people!?" he asked the driver urgently.
The driver said nothing, seemingly too lazy to respond to him.
It’s over!
The group quickly realized the danger; their long ti on the run had honed their senses to be acutely aware of such threats.
The four of them exchanged a glance.
Bang.
Barton kicked the cabin door open and leaped out.
"Run!"
The other three followed suit, quickly jumping out and running away into the distance.
Flas burst out from under their backpacks, propelling them away into the distance.
"Oh? Trying to run?" The expressions of Saul and the two on the landing pad shifted slightly.
The Three-headed Shadow Dragon sprang forth, transforming into shadows and chasing after Barton and the others.
The speed difference between them was too great. In the blink of an eye, the four were overtaken.
"No!!"
Saul waved his hand and released a swath of darkness, engulfing Karan and swallowing him up.
The screams stopped abruptly, and then the sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing could be heard from within the shadows.
"They’re back... my blood..." Saul’s face revealed a look of relief.
Then he turned his attention elsewhere.
Shadow Dragon Faren instantly appeared in front of Angeal, his mouth wide open.
Spurt.
He spat out a mass of sticky shadows that enveloped Angeal, pulling him back in.
In an instant, Angeal shrank into countless shadows and was sucked into his mouth.
On the other side, Ying grasped Yang Chengxi with one hand, her shadows spreading and enveloping him.
"Spare my life!! Don’t! Don’t kill !!" Yang Chengxi scread, his face pale with terror.
He had escaped from the sea to Star Lake, from Star Lake to Yi Country, only to find out that he would be delivered to the Shadow Dragon to be devoured by Yi Country itself!
Despair, an endless tide of despair spread from him.
Pop!
The shadow folded, instantly breaking his body in half.
It then completely engulfed him, flying into Ying’s hand, and rged with her.
"No!!!"
Barton watched in horror as his companions were devoured, killed one by one.
His eyes bloodshot, the whites threaded densely with veins.
He saw the shadow dragon Saul approaching with a cold smile.
At this mont, everything around him seed to slow down.
Ti felt like it had slowed down by a thousandfold, everything around him turning still.
"No....!!!" Barton roared. Karan and Angeal, his long-ti partners and friends, were devoured right in front of him, as easily as if they were snacks.
And now he faced the sa despair and danger.
"The last one... who rged with my blood..." Saul looked at Barton, opening his mouth wide, a dense shadow brewing inside.
If he could retrieve this man, his strength would return to nearly ninety percent of what it once was. Then he could devour massive amounts of shadow on this battlefield and eventually regain his full strength.
At that ti... that bastard called Destiny would surely co knocking to be devoured by him!
Just as he was swiftly closing in on Barton.
Spurt.
Suddenly, while still in midair, Barton twisted, flickered, and vanished from his spot.
Whoosh!
Saul’s strike hit nothing but air, and he quickly turned around, looking towards Barton’s last known location.
"Where did he go!?" he exclaid in shock and rage, "Who?! Who is it?!"
Daring to snatch a person right before his eyes! Such audacity, such strength!
"It’s a Blind Spot!" Faren quickly flew closer, frowning. "That man, he entered a Blind Spot..."
"At a ti like this?!" Saul also sensed the situation, his face contorted with indescribable anger.
"At a ti like this?!"
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