Mingchengzi said, "Earlier, this humble one merely harbored a suspicion and could not be certain. But having heard what Xuanji just shared, I now understand what Emperor Wenguang truly intends."
He raised his head and said apologetically, "Xuanji, at present, I am unable to speak plainly of this matter. It is not that I am unwilling, but rather that if my conjecture holds true, speaking of it now would instead aid Emperor Wenguang. There is only one thing I can say: Emperor Wenguang has a grand scheme, and at this very moment, he should still be within Youdu!"
Chen Chuan's gaze shifted slightly. Connecting this with certain circumstances Mingchengzi had shared earlier, he could roughly guess Emperor Wenguang's intention.
After considering it, he asked, "Gaogong, can this scheme be stopped?"
Mingchengzi shook his head and said with remorse, "Had this humble one been vigilant earlier, there might have been a chance. Now, I fear it is already too late."
Chen Chuan gave an acknowledging hum. He did not need to know the exact details; knowing that Emperor Wenguang was very likely still in Youdu was enough.
He said to Mingchengzi, "Gaogong, there is no need for regret. As sovereign, the resources and hidden trump cards Emperor Wenguang commands are sufficient to sustain whatever he undertakes. Without foreknowledge, preventing it is exceedingly difficult. Even if he truly achieves his objective, will things really unfold as he wishes? Not necessarily."
When Chen Chuan put it this way, Mingchengzi considered it and could not help but nod. He was not on his own anymore; he had established a connection with the Great Shun government. The national power of Great Shun far exceeded that of the former imperial household. Certain matters that felt monumental to him were nothing of significance in the eyes of Great Shun.
Thinking along these lines, he felt his spirits lift somewhat, and his attitude toward Chen Chuan subtly shifted once more. Previously, he had regarded himself merely as a collaborator, but now he was contemplating what would come after the destruction of the former imperial household. With the external calamity looming near, he needed to secure a retreat for himself, and from their interactions over this period, the man before him was an excellent choice.
With that thought, he said with renewed deference, "What Xuanji says is very true. It was narrow-minded of me. Shortly, this humble one will cooperate with all my strength and follow Xuanji's lead."
Mu Xiaoren glanced at him, his previous intentions to deal with him subsiding slightly, though he would still keep an eye on the man.
As they spoke, the three entered the convergence zone and hurried back, returning to Youdu before nightfall.
At this moment, the assault on Youdu was still ongoing, but compared to when they had left, substantial progress had been made.
A vast swath of the thick, dense black mist that previously hung over Youdu had been sheared away, looking remarkably thin now.
This also allowed the city of Youdu below to be observed. Under the continuous bombardment of the rear artillery and the steady, rhythmic strikes of over a dozen Dongxuan View cultivators, this city capable of housing tens of millions of people had already been reduced to a battered wreck, its field reactions turning sluggish and ponderous.
Even so, it felt as though it could not be completely breached within a day or two.
The moment Chen Chuan returned, the avatar he had left behind transformed into a streak of purple light and entered his body. At the same time, he transmitted a message to everyone announcing his return. Once the news spread, the crowd's morale surged visibly.
Chen Chuan's track record spoke for itself; every time he acted, his indisputable strength commanded absolute conviction from everyone.
If he was present, he undoubtedly served as an anchor of certainty. As long as Chen Chuan was there, everyone felt that their side was bound to win.
Thus, with his return, everyone could unleash their full strength without reservations.
After observing the battlefield and seeing no major issues, Chen Chuan had Mu Xiaoren and Mingchengzi go rest, while he proceeded to a heavily protected airship in the rear.
Upon his arrival, the guard unit stationed there immediately saluted him. "Commander!"
Chen Chuan returned the salute and stepped into the cabin. The space here was vast. Of the five active conscious entities used to deduce ritual variations, three were housed here.
Wen Mingzhong stood to the side. Upon his head, he wore a cage-like boundary credential that enveloped his entire upper body. His mind was linked with the active conscious entities, constantly correcting deviations.
Chen Chuan did not disturb him. Gesturing to the assistant nearby not to alert him, he walked over to a chair on the side and sat down to wait.
About twenty minutes later, Wen Mingzhong emerged from that focused state.
He was visibly exhausted. His hands trembling slightly, he fumbled for a medicinal pill, swallowed it down, and his spirits rallied a little.
At this moment, he also noticed Chen Chuan nearby. Uncoupling the connecting cables from his head, he turned and walked over, greeting, "Commander."
Chen Chuan asked, "Mr. Wen, how is the situation?"
Wen Mingzhong tapped his boundary credential and transmitted a segment of data over.
Chen Chuan soon saw that the information regarding the Youdu ritual on his boundary credential updated rapidly.
He saw two shifting red lines appear on it, extending directly from outside Youdu into the city, reaching all the way to the most critical hub of the ritual, while a third line was currently extending, its origin lying at the same place.
Once all three lines converged, they would neatly cleave the ritual covering Youdu into three portions.
Wen Mingzhong said, "Commander, we have currently identified two routes leading inside, and we are now attempting to locate the third. At the latest, we will succeed by tomorrow morning."
Chen Chuan had originally thought it might take another few days, not expecting progress to be this fast. He said, "Mr. Wen, highly efficient. Thank you for your hard work."
Wen Mingzhong was quite frank, saying, "Without the Dongxuan experts' rotational assaults, even with the secret diagram Commander provided, I wouldn't have been able to identify them so quickly.
"Furthermore, it is due to their own vulnerabilities. Looking at the schematics, there are many spots where relics can be placed. In my personal deduction, this esoteric ritual incorporates quite a few Grade 1 and Grade 2 relics. When initially laid down, it was designed to withstand a siege by over a dozen Dongxuan martial artists for more than half a month.
"If their personnel were fully staffed and capable of operating it at full capacity, holding us off for these past few days would indeed pose no problem.
"However, during our offensive, we discovered that at least twenty percent or more of the ritual arrays have either not engaged or failed to take effect, depriving them of nearly a third of their defensive strength. This has had a massive impact on the whole system.
"My personal conjecture is that this stems from the ritual going without proper maintenance for a long time, coupled with a lack of sufficient ritualists."
Chen Chuan nodded. He deemed this situation completely normal. These esoteric rituals were originally laid down by the Fulong Faction, involving vast amounts of profound ritual knowledge, and likely contained hidden backup contingencies known only to themselves to serve as checks and balances.
Minor patch-ups might be fine, but if certain sections suffered comprehensive deficiencies or malfunctions, making up for them would be no simple matter; excising those portions entirely was the best choice.
In any case, this circumstance worked in their favor.
He glanced at the diagram on his boundary credential. Although Mingchengzi had said it was already too late to stop whatever Emperor Wenguang was doing, moving faster was always better; there was no need to wait for perfection.
Now that two breach routes were already available, he had no need to delay any further. Instructing Wen Mingzhong to continue here, he tapped his boundary credential, transmitting both routes to all martial artists taking part in the assault, directing them to penetrate into the ritual hub and destroy it accordingly.
After issuing the orders, he stepped out of the airship, his body rising from the deck into the high sky. He extended a palm toward Youdu sprawling below at an angle.
Light flickered within his palm as more and more terrifying energy converged there.
Then, an intense beam of light plunged downward, striking squarely above Youdu. In response, the densely layered ritual fields surged toward the point of impact to halt the breach.
With a thunderous crash, the collision of the two forces sent a ring of shockwaves and dust rippling along the entire perimeter of Youdu. Visually, it appeared as though the single strike had hammered the entire city down into the earth.
And the instant the ritual reacted, the Dongxuan View martial artists who had received his orders took action without hesitation. Transforming into streaks of flowing light, they split into groups and rapidly pushed inward along the marked paths.
Their speed was astonishing, shooting like lightning through the gaps where the ritual fields joined.
Wherever they passed, they did not even need to actively strike; masses of ritualists maintaining the esoteric rites along with the city's troops and civilians collapsed directly to the ground. Those closer were mostly scattered into ashes by the expanding fire of spirituality.
Like paper-cutting knives, they swiftly sliced open the esoteric ritual from two directions, converging toward the center.
And at this very position, Great General Yuchi Bin stood guard, an axe in hand.
He was already over three hundred years old, a veteran general who had endured from the middle of the Ding Dynasty down to the present day.
Around the time of the Ding Dynasty's collapse, he had long resigned his post to live in seclusion, seeking to break through to a higher realm deep within the convergence zone. Yet at the critical juncture, he heard that the Ding Dynasty had fallen. Bound by his past oath, he had no choice but to return and salvage the realm. Even so, he had arrived a step too late; upon his return, he found only the imperial household retreating into the convergence zone.
With his seniority, towering prestige, and the deep trust placed in him by successive emperors and the two Yuan clan forebears above, he had been appointed to the post of Great General—it was not because his personal strength was exceedingly formidable.
After failing his attempt to break through, he had given up on certain things. Compared to two hundred years ago, while he had not regressed, neither had he made much progress.
He had always kept the previous emperor's benevolence close to his heart. Even after remaining loyal to the Ding Dynasty for over two hundred years, he still had no intention of breaking his original oath.
At this moment, several spiritual impacts came rushing in from both flanks. With a roar, his body expanded rapidly, transforming into a thirty-zhang-tall demon-god general clad in heavy armor and bearing six horns atop its head.
A dense, deep-brown radiant flame emanated from his body, stoking the defensive power of the ritual field to solidly withstand the incoming spiritual flames.
Yet right at this moment, an alarm flared sharply overhead. A beam of light descended from above—and precisely at this instant, a hairline gap opened in the field due to his clash with the impacts.
Everything aligned with impeccable precision.
In the next instant, an impact of light that virtually enveloped all sight crashed down with a roar!
Chapter 1431