“I shall go then…” Yin Ji fled in disarray, her face flushed crimson.
Because she saw aggression in Lanling’s gaze filled with wickedness, and felt that if she stayed any longer it would be dangerous.
Even after running very far, her heart still pounded like thunder, her breathing grew difficult, and her entire body burned.
Khan Xieli walked in. The castle, which had originally seemed spacious and massive, suddenly felt somewhat cramped.
The Chiyan Tribe had led a coalition army of over twenty thousand centaurs to besiege the Xie Li Tribe, demanding that Lanling and Khan Xieli arrive within five days to confront him.
“The Chiyan Tribe, that tribe which believes in the Sea Demon Fire God?” Lanling said.
Regarding the Chiyan Tribe, he did indeed know a little, because this tribe had also been one of his chosen targets at the time. But in the end he had chosen the Xie Li Tribe, because all aspects were suitable, especially since Xie Li II had gone missing and Lanling knew his whereabouts.
“Yes.” Khan Xieli said angrily, “That foolish Khan Chiyan simply does not know that you are the only god of the centaurs. He feels that I obeyed the commands of a Near-Human, that I have defiled the noble bloodline of the centaurs, and might even enrage the so-called Sea Demon Fire God, bringing punishment down upon the centaurs. Therefore, he has united over a dozen centaur tribes within the domain to besiege my Xie Li Tribe together.”
Over twenty thousand centaurs was an extremely powerful fighting force.
At this time, those left in the Xie Li Tribe were mostly the old and weak, merely a few hundred young and vigorous centaur warriors. They certainly could not withstand the attack of over twenty thousand centaur warriors.
“Master, you are the only god of us centaurs. Our Xie Li Tribe is willing to pay any price to prove this, even the price of tribal annihilation.” Khan Xieli said resolutely, “With but a single command from you, I shall lead all the Xie Li Tribe warriors to fight the Chiyan coalition of twenty thousand to the bitter end. With your blessing upon us, we shall certainly be victorious.”
Lanling closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
Without doubt, this was Naishu’s scheme, using centaurs to fight centaurs.
Firstly, the Xie Li Tribe must be saved.
All the centaurs of the Xie Li Tribe viewed Lanling as the Moon Demon God. But if they encountered annihilation and Lanling still did not allow Khan Xieli to send people to save them, this would inevitably chill people’s hearts. It would cause their faith to waver, and consequently cause their loyalty to Lanling to waver.
The Xie Li Tribe must be saved, but he could not take the six thousand centaurs away.
Currently, the Flame Demon Tribe had three hundred thousand Raksha captives, all relying on the six thousand centaur army to keep in check. Once the centaur army left, with merely the twenty to thirty thousand troops in Lanling’s hands, it would be very difficult to keep these three hundred thousand captives under control.
Moreover, if the six thousand centaur army went to save the Xie Li Tribe and left the Flame Demon Tribe, once Naishu learned of this, he could at any time bring a cavalry of the fastest speed to launch a sneak attack on the Flame Demon Tribe. The numbers need not be large, merely twenty to thirty thousand cavalry would suffice. He need not annihilate the Flame Demon Tribe in one blow, merely launching sneak attacks day and night without cease would be enough to keep the Flame Demon Tribe constantly on the run, with no heart for construction, and might even cause the three hundred thousand Raksha captives to rise up in rebellion.
Most crucially, even if the six thousand centaur army went to save the Xie Li Tribe, they might not necessarily be able to save it.
Six thousand against over twenty thousand was basically certain defeat.
Moreover, every centaur tribe was precious to Lanling. He truly could not bear to lose over ten thousand centaurs in this civil war.
In the future, when sweeping across the world, these centaurs would all be his main cavalry force.
“Xie Li, I have a pair of eyes that can see thousands of li away, that can see thousands of years into the past.” Lanling said, “I must now communicate with this pair of eyes. You wait by the side. Within half an hour, I shall give you an answer.”
“Yes, great Moon Demon God!” Khan Xieli knelt on the ground just like this, closing his eyes.
Lanling closed his eyes and summoned, “Mirror Demon King!”
“My master.” The Mirror Demon King said.
“What method is there to deceive the Chiyan Tribe?” Lanling said.
“Master, first allow me to correct one of your concepts.” The Mirror Demon King said, “You did not deceive the Xie Li Tribe. You are indeed their god. Removing the so-called myths and legends, centaurs were originally ordinary wild horses, but possessed powerful demon blood within their bodies, so they transformed into centaurs. The demon blood within them was bestowed by His Majesty the Demon Emperor.”
This returned to another point of entanglement.
The Mirror Demon King always believed that Lanling was the Demon God Monarch, the master who had once left his shadow upon this mirror.
“Then, what weakness does the Chiyan Tribe have?” Lanling asked, “I can turn centaurs into horses. My blood can cause centaurs to transform, allowing them to instantly recover no matter how gravely injured. Can this intimidate them?”
“Yes!” The Mirror Demon King said, “But they would view this as a symbol of evil, and become even more hostile. They would not associate you with a god.”
Lanling nodded, understanding this point.
He could turn centaurs into horses, and Khan Xieli viewed this as divine. But the Chiyan Tribe would view it as hostile.
They were all centaurs. This seemed abnormal, but was actually normal.
Because the Xie Li Tribe believed that they were originally horses, and had become noble and powerful centaurs because the Moon Demon God bestowed its bloodline upon them.
While the Chiyan Tribe was exactly the opposite. They felt that they were originally powerful undersea human-faced beasts, but the undersea world was about to be destroyed. It was the Sea Demon Fire God that bestowed upon them half a horse’s body, boiling the seawater dry, allowing them to return to land to live, saving their civilisation.
Therefore, what the centaurs of the Xie Li Tribe feared most was becoming a horse in their next life, rather than a centaur.
But the Chiyan Tribe was not worried about this in the slightest. Though in their tribe, two-thirds of each generation of offspring were born as horses, they felt that because half of them was horse, giving birth to ordinary warhorses was very normal. And their souls were still undersea human-faced beasts, so for generation after generation they would be centaurs, with no need for groundless fears.
One believed horses came first, then humans. So they feared becoming horses.
One believed humans came first, then horses. So their understanding was completely opposite.
Lanling said, “If I wish to make the Chiyan Tribe believe that I am their Sea Demon Fire God, what must I accomplish.”
He did not speak of changing the Chiyan Tribe’s faith. This was impossible. A faith they had upheld for thousands or tens of thousands of years could not be changed.
The Mirror Demon King said, “The first, turn an undersea human-faced beast into a centaur.”
Lanling said, “That is impossible!”
“Yes, that is impossible!” The Mirror Demon King said, “Because perhaps there simply are no undersea human-faced beasts. This is entirely something they fabricated. All centaurs are because powerful wild horses possessed powerful demon blood within them, and thus transformed into centaurs.”
The Mirror Demon King said, “The second, boil the seawater dry.”
“Damn…” Lanling said.
The first method was impossible. The second was even more a fool’s dream.
The Mirror Demon King said, “To become their Sea Demon Fire God, you must accomplish these two miracles. There is no third method.”
It was precisely because these two miracles were so damned difficult that Lanling had chosen the Xie Li Tribe at that time, rather than the equally powerful Chiyan Tribe.
“So that means it is impossible to conquer the Chiyan Tribe, and only battle remains?” Lanling said.
“Not necessarily…” The Mirror Demon King said with an evil smile.
Lanling said, “What method is there?”
The Mirror Demon King said, “Because the centaurs of the Chiyan lineage believe in the Sea Demon Fire God, and feel that their homeland is at the bottom of the sea, they are very close to the ocean. Therefore, they chose to settle near an inland sea lake.”
“Chiyan Sea?” Lanling said.
The Chiyan Sea was beside the Chiyan Tribe, a typical inland sea lake, roughly a hundred li in diameter.
The water within the Chiyan Sea was indeed seawater, presumably connected to the Eastern Sea through an underground water system.
The Mirror Demon King said, “You need only boil the water of the Chiyan Sea dry, and you will shake the entire Chiyan Tribe, making them view you as a god.”
Lanling was speechless.
Boiling dry the hundred-li diameter Chiyan Sea was still a fool’s dream.
With this ability, he could directly destroy Naishu and the Black Devil Banner army. Why would he need to deceive the Chiyan Tribe?
The Mirror Demon King said, “In fact, the water of the Chiyan Sea can possibly be boiled dry.”
Lanling was startled. How was this possible? This was already the ability to destroy heaven and earth, to move mountains and fill seas.
The Mirror Demon King said, “Beneath the hundred-li Chiyan Sea is a massive volcano, but it is currently asleep. And this giant pit of the Chiyan Sea was hollowed out by a volcanic eruption in that year. Moreover, when the volcano erupted, it was accompanied by a massive earthquake that tore the earth apart, causing the water of the Eastern Sea to pour backwards into this pit, forming the Chiyan Sea.”
So that was how it was.
The Mirror Demon King said, “As long as you awaken the massive volcano beneath the Chiyan Sea, you can boil the Chiyan Sea water dry. At that time, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering volcanic eruption, the entire Chiyan Sea water instantly vanishing, will certainly bring heaven-shaking shock to all the centaurs of the Chiyan Tribe. They will certainly view you as the Sea Demon Fire God.”
This was certain.
This was completely the power of heaven and earth, completely an ability that only a god could possess. It could absolutely conquer the Chiyan Tribe in an instant.
At that time, not only would the crisis of the Xie Li Tribe be smoothly resolved, but the Chiyan Tribe could also be subdued, and your centaur army would increase by several thousand or ten thousand.
At that time, the centaur army in Lanling’s hands might exceed twenty thousand.
This fighting force was completely heaven-defying.
With twenty thousand centaur troops, Lanling was completely confident in fighting the Black Devil Banner’s million-strong army.
Lanling said, “How to boil the Chiyan Sea dry?”
The Mirror Demon King said, “Demon Flame Ruins.”
“Demon Flame Ruins?” Lanling immediately thought of the Dragon Flame Ruins.
Back then, he had obtained the Dragon Flame Crystal in the Blood Shore Lost City.
This was the flame once spat out by the Divine Dragon. Having become a crystal, it still possessed the energy to move mountains and fill seas, powerful beyond compare.
This Dragon Flame Crystal became the energy source for the Blood Shore Lost City, a giant city of ten million people, providing energy for this city for thousands of years.
Finally, the Dragon Flame Crystal’s energy was about to be exhausted. The demon race army invaded this city and destroyed this ancient human giant city.
By the time Lanling entered the Blood Shore Lost City, this city had already been destroyed for tens of thousands of years or more. The energy of this Dragon Flame Crystal was less than one ten-thousandth of what it had been.
But it was this energy of less than one ten-thousandth that boiled the entire Blood Sea dry, condensing countless demon blood and dragon blood into a few millilitres. Finally, this golden dragon blood and golden demon blood entered Lanling’s body, allowing him to be reborn.
The Dragon Flame Crystal was so powerful. The Demon Flame was naturally not weak either. Triggering a sleeping volcano was certainly no problem.
“Where is this Demon Flame Ruins?” Lanling asked.
“The Heavenly Demon Ancient City ruins!” The Mirror Demon King said, “Three thousand nine hundred li from Raksha City. Two thousand one hundred li from the Flame Demon Tribe. I have marked the map in your mind.”
Moments later, a clear map appeared in Lanling’s brain domain.
The Heavenly Demon Ancient City was two thousand one hundred li southwest of the Flame Demon Tribe. Within several hundred li in all directions, it was uninhabited, with only a ten-thousand-metre-high great snow mountain.
“The Heavenly Demon Ancient City is within the belly of this snow mountain.” The Mirror Demon King said.
Lanling said, “How did you know about the Heavenly Demon Ancient City ruins?”
The Mirror Demon King sighed, “Master, do not forget, I have remained in this world for tens of thousands of years.”
Lanling said, “After finding the Demon Flame Ruins, then what?”
The Mirror Demon King said, “The energy of this Demon Flame Ruins has already been completely exhausted, which is why the Heavenly Demon Ancient City died. So what you obtain should be a black crystal, ice-cold. After obtaining the Demon Flame Crystal, use the fastest speed to rush to the bottom of the Chiyan Sea, enter the volcano, and place the Demon Flame Crystal into the volcanic magma. This way, the Demon Flame Crystal will madly devour flame energy. When it devours to the extreme, it will suddenly erupt, thereby triggering this sleeping volcano.”
Khan Chiyan said that Lanling must arrive at the Xie Li Tribe to negotiate with him within five days, or else he would slaughter the Xie Li Tribe to the last person.
That is to say, within these five days, Lanling must enter the Heavenly Demon Ancient City ruins to find the Demon Flame Ruins, then dive beneath the Chiyan Sea, place the Demon Flame Ruins into the volcanic magma, then leave the Chiyan Sea and rush to the Xie Li Tribe to meet with Khan Chiyan.
Time was truly, truly tight.
In these five days, he would have to travel over six or seven thousand li just on the road.
Lanling said, “How long does the Demon Flame Crystal need to devour before it can trigger the volcano?”
The Mirror Demon King said, “I do not know, but… after countless calculations, it should be within ten to twenty days.”
Lanling was speechless. This range was too large.
In fact, the Mirror Demon King’s so-called ten days, twenty days was entirely an instinctive estimate, with no way to calculate.
Its only confidence came from Lanling. He was His Majesty the Demon Emperor. He should be able to handle everything.
However, this was indeed currently the only method.
Lanling opened his eyes.
Khan Xieli also opened his eyes and rose.
“Xie Li, I shall go alone to meet with Chiyan. I will save the Xie Li Tribe, and prove that I am their god, that I am the god of all centaurs. You remain at ease within the Flame Demon Tribe, suppressing the Raksha captives and defending against enemies that might invade at any moment.” Lanling said.
“By your decree, my master.” Khan Xieli said.
He had no anxiety whatsoever, but was instead filled with excitement. He had far more confidence than Lanling, firmly believing that he could conquer the Chiyan Tribe.
Yin Ji was working in her own office, but her heart was in turmoil, unable to calm down no matter what.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.
“Who?” Yin Ji asked.
“Me!” Lanling said.
Yin Ji’s heart beat accelerated. Instinctively, she covered her chest and said, “It is already very late. I must rest. If there is anything, speak of it tomorrow.”
Lanling said, “I must make a long journey. There are some matters I must tell you.”
Another long journey?
Yin Ji stepped forward and opened the door.
Lanling stepped forward, encircled her slender waist, his large hand pressing upon her round, perky posterior, and fiercely kissed and bit towards her rosy little mouth.