Chapter 578 - 560: Knowing Full Well There’s a Tiger on the Mountain

A lot had happened since the war began. Take the Cyan Cloud Sect’s position, for instance. At first, they leaned toward the Extreme Dao, but in the end, they sided with Lin Jinghao.

A leader needed prestige. While background and personal strength could grant some, that was far from enough. At best, it made you a boss, not a true leader.

A leader inspired followers to believe, to be willing to lay down their lives for a common cause. A boss, on the other hand, relied on threats and bribes—a lesser path.

Jii Wanli had always wanted to be a leader. He had made it his goal for the past decade, deliberately cultivating that kind of atmosphere around himself.

But what was the result?

Leadership was an effortless quality. Wang Meng had it. Mingren had it. Even Lin Jinghao had managed to attract a following. In the end, he was the only one who couldn’t.

’How many people in the Extreme Dao Castle are here for personal gain?’

’The Ghost Sect? The Puppet Sect? The Reincarnation Sect, the Yunxiao Sect?’

’How many of them can be trusted when it truly matters?’

But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that he had misjudged again!

It was a crushing blow to Jii Wanli’s confidence. ’How could Wang Meng possibly turn defeat into victory? How could Mingren’s predictions be so infallible!’

’Could Wang Meng and Mingren’s rivalry just be an act for everyone else?’

Jii Wanli grew suspicious. ’What if those two joined forces?’

A chill instantly shot through Jii Wanli’s heart, and a profound fear took hold. If those two joined forces, it would be something even more terrifying than the Demon Race.

’But would they team up?’

The answer was no.

All signs and intelligence reports indicated that while Wang Meng and Mingren weren’t quite like fire and water, they kept a clear and distinct distance from one another.

The Extreme Dao Hall was anything but quiet. The Cultivators were all whispering amongst themselves. Many Sects had chosen to follow Jii Wanli in hopes of earning merit and securing a better position in the future Star Alliance.

From an overall strategic perspective, the Extreme Dao Castle had certainly made no mistakes, but it had no real achievements to its name either.

If the Demon Race were truly defeated, the position of Master of Star Alliance would never fall to Jii Wanli, no matter how you sliced it.

How could Jii Wanli not overhear such talk? His heart was burning with rage...

Inside the Demon King Hall, the faces of the Four Great Demon Kings were livid.

Chi Huang had lost his usual composure, his face as dark as a storm cloud. The one who had been captured was his sister, who was also the biggest supporter of his claim to the throne.

This was a disgrace—not just for his sister, but for him as well.

If Chi Zhu hadn’t also suffered a major loss, he couldn’t imagine what kind of punishment he would be facing.

The Demon Race had never fought such a humiliating battle since they first emerged from the Abyss.

"Chi Ying, you explain exactly what happened!" Chi Zhu demanded, immediately shifting the blame. He had no intention of letting anyone pin this on him.

In truth, compared to the annihilation of the Cyan Demon Corps, the losses suffered by the Steel Demon Corps were hardly a big deal—especially since he was the Great Demon King.

Despite the devastating losses, Chi Ying remained calm. "Eldest Brother, the fault for this lies with me."

Chi Huang shot to his feet. Although he bore his fifth sister no ill will, he couldn’t help but be enraged by Chi Qing’s capture.

"Fifth Sister, this can’t be explained away with a simple ’it was my mistake’! The mighty Cyan Demon Corps outnumbered the Star Alliance forces several times over. How could it just suddenly collapse!"

Chi Huang demanded, his voice sharp. It was the first time he had ever spoken so harshly to her.

Chi Ying’s expression remained placid. "Third Brother, Sister Chi Qing isn’t dead. We still have a chance. As for this battle, I do bear responsibility. According to our spies, the forces at Burning Castle have swelled by four or five times, with their Cultivator count now exceeding one hundred thousand. That’s one reason for our defeat. More importantly, Sister Chi Qing fell into Wang Meng’s trap. With the commander captured, failure was inevitable."

"Chi Huang, sit down. Don’t just jump to blaming our fifth sister. Let’s get the facts straight first," Chi Zhu said in a low voice. "Little Sister, are you saying it was only natural for us to lose?"

"Eldest Brother, before this battle, I had captured Hu Jing. Wang Meng and his people were at their wits’ end. But an opponent like him is terrifying; you need time to wear him down and make him antsy. Sister Chi Qing, however, wouldn’t listen. She insisted on heading out, and there was nothing I could do. As a result, she walked right into Wang Meng’s ambush. My mistake was in misjudging what type of man he is. When provoked, he doesn’t become reckless. Instead, he becomes even calmer, more ruthless, and more calculating. That was the error I made."

Chi Ying continued, ’Normally, even if someone like that could tolerate such a provocation, they wouldn’t be able to for long, let alone have the presence of mind to set such a trap. That’s why I advocated for dragging things out, to wait until Wang Meng cracked.’

But now it seemed that for every move she made, Wang Meng had a counter. He had deliberately pretended to be losing his mind, even putting on an act with Zhang Xiaojiang to lure Chi Qing in. ’It seems the Star Alliance has a certain degree of intelligence on the internal affairs of the Demon Race.’

Still, Chi Ying had seen Wang Meng’s all-or-nothing resolve. The only thing she hadn’t anticipated was the sudden appearance of several times more Cultivators. Without those unexpected reinforcements, the battle would have ended in mutual destruction at best, and even that would have required the Star Alliance to be lucky.

’You could only call it the will of heaven. But it’s not all bad. Wang Meng has played all his cards.’

"Hu Jing? Isn’t she dead?" Chi Zhe asked, immediately grasping the crucial point.

Chi Ying smiled faintly. "How could we kill someone so important? I was the one who spread the news of her death."

Chi Ying had interrupted Hu Jing’s final attack before she could complete it. A living Hu Jing was far more valuable to her. Spreading the news of her death was just one part of her plan, but it was clear now that the plan had failed.

"My original intention was to provoke Wang Meng. The Burning Castle’s current strength is built entirely on the prestige of Wang Meng and the Holy Hall. If Wang Meng flew into a rage and the Holy Hall Beings acted rashly, our victory would have been easy. I never expected them to remain so calm in their grief and fury. So now we take a step back. Our new goal is to kill Wang Meng, using Hu Jing as bait. At the same time, we can rescue our sister. Once Wang Meng is dead, the very faith that holds the Holy Hall together will evaporate."

"Oh? And you’re sure Wang Meng will come?"

"Heh, he will absolutely come. That’s the fatal flaw of men like him."

Chi Ying smiled. ’When a person is too bound by sentiment and loyalty, it becomes their weakness. He will never abandon Hu Jing.’

"Then let me be the one to face this Wang Meng, one of the four great masters of the Star Alliance!"

Chi Huang declared, his eyes filled with fighting spirit and murderous intent. Killing Wang Meng would accomplish two things for him: he would rescue Chi Qing and expand his own prestige.

Chi Zhu and Chi Zhe frowned, but Chi Ying just smiled. "I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you to make a move, Third Brother. This Wang Meng may well be the strongest of the four great masters, and he may even possess powers we know nothing about."

"Little Sister, don’t go singing his praises while demoralizing our own side," Chi Zhe said. "He’s just one man. Are you saying your Shadow Demons can’t handle a mere Wang Meng?"

"Heh. Second Brother, to deal with Wang Meng *and* rescue Fourth Sister, we’ll need Third Brother and the Shadow Demons to move together to even have a chance. If he knows he can’t win, a man like that will simply flee. We only get one shot at this."

Chi Ying stated, "The Cyan Demon Corps can be rebuilt. As long as we kill Wang Meng, our mission will be a success."

Chi Zhe’s eyes glinted. "I have another idea. We can set the trap on our own territory. While we’re ambushing Wang Meng, we can spread the news that he’s been captured. Then, our main army can press its advantage and attack the Burning Castle at the same time!"

"A brilliant plan, Second Brother. But we should change ’captured’ to ’killed in action.’ A man like Wang Meng would never be taken alive. Only a report of his death would be believable!"

Chi Ying added.

Chi Zhu’s eyes lit up as well. "Excellent! Little Sister, you will have full command of the newly formed corps!"

Chi Ying gave a slight smile. "I would be happy to."

Among his four younger siblings, Chi Zhu trusted Chi Ying the most. Her apparent frailty and youth made her the least threatening to his authority.

Chi Huang calmed down. The annihilation of one corps was nothing. The important thing was to get his sister back.

This Wang Meng was truly something else, to be able to turn defeat into victory under such dire circumstances. Originally, Chi Huang had been most interested in Mingren, but now he found Wang Meng far more intriguing.

By killing Wang Meng, he could solidify his claim to the title of the Demon Race’s number one master. As for who would ultimately sit on the Demon Lord’s throne, that was still undecided.

Two great victories swept away the gloom that had been hanging over the heads of the Small Thousand Realm’s Cultivators. It seemed victory had never been so close.

With Zhang Xiaojiang’s return, the Burning Castle had its pillar of support back. They began reorganizing the troops after the battle.

Despite the news of a great victory, the situation with the Sealing Demon Array in the Pure Land was not good. The Demon Race’s resistance was extraordinarily strong. Far from improving, the Sealing Demon Array was actually deteriorating. If the seal was damaged further, the Demon Race would be able to summon even more terrifying Demons.

The war would take a turn for the worse. When this news reached the Five Great Castles, it completely washed away the joy of their recent victory.

Meanwhile, Chi Zhu and the others who received the same news were overjoyed. This was a victory for their Father-Emperor. As long as they could summon stronger Demons, the cities the Star Alliance depended on would be crushed to dust. ’Let’s see what they’ll use to defend themselves then.’

The sting from their two defeats was quickly replaced by this new turn of events. Chi Zhu’s confidence skyrocketed. This time, however, he restrained himself. With a large army at his command, he was in no hurry. He would first wait and see what moves Chi Ying would make.

The Burning Corps, with the Holy Hall as its core, was in the process of reorganizing. Zhang Xiaojiang was calm; it was a maturity gained over the years. He believed that Wang Meng would definitely return with a Demon King’s head.

His job was to ensure the Demon Race didn’t take a single step into Snow Moon City.

With so many new Cultivators all at once, the reorganization took a considerable amount of time.

Despite the great victory, the Burning Corps maintained an objective view of the situation: the average skill level of these new Cultivators was still considerably lower.

They could fight well when the odds were in their favor, but it would be a different story if they were caught in a bitter struggle.

They had to use this lull in the fighting, while the Demon Race was inactive, to train intensively. It was during this time that a rumor began to spread through the Burning Castle.

The rumor was that the Demon Race demanded Wang Meng arrive at the Demon Capital alone before the end of the month, or he would never see Hu Jing again.

Hu Jing was still alive!

This news sent the Holy Hall into an uproar; it was even more exhilarating than winning the battle.

But their joy was tempered with worry. ’Could this be another trap?’

’Hu Jing’s fate is still unknown. What if it’s a lie?’

The Demon Capital was the Demon Race’s main base of operations in the Slaughter Space and the most terrifying place in this world.

Demanding that Wang Meng go there all by himself—the sheer audacity!

If Wang Meng were in Snow Moon City, there would surely be no shortage of people trying to stop him. But Wang Meng wasn’t there. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian.com to vote. Your support is my greatest motivation.)