The Demon Lords

Chapter 1068: Chapter 257: Curtain Rises!

Overall, aside from the situation with Qin Yueyue being somewhat evenly matched, on the other two fronts, the victory is already inclined.

"Unfair," Mr. Chen said.

He felt that the duel was very unfair. Mr. Chen was an honest man, and what he thought in his heart, he actually said it out loud.

Zheng Fan spoke:

"Even if it were on the battlefield, Wutong County resisting the whole Chu State would be a similar situation."

Upon hearing this, the Swordmaster couldn’t help but say, "Young Mr. Su has such insights, it’s a bit surprising to me."

Zheng Fan smiled.

The Swordmaster took another sip of the fruit juice from his gourd and said, "Actually, the situation is settled; everyone is just going through the motions."

These were false words, words pretending to smooth things over for the outsider, but Lord Zheng did not expose it.

The duel between Xiong Tingshan and the Regent Prince hasn’t started yet, but the situation is already apparent on that side.

The Fifth Prince smiled bitterly:

"Fourth Brother truly deserves to be the Regent of Chu, with masters gathered under his command."

"Compared to this, it’s indeed I who has taken advantage of you, Fourth Brother."

As the highest ruler of Chu State, naturally, there would be many masters willing to serve him. In this aspect, Xiong Tingshan, relying solely on Wutong County as his support, is completely unmatched.

Xiong Tingshan lowered his posture and said, "Fourth Brother, shall we still fight?"

The Regent Prince spread out his arms, rolled up his sleeves, revealing the Fire Phoenix mark.

The mark began to glow, followed by a fiery phantom appearing behind the Regent Prince.

Lord Zheng’s eyes opened wide immediately, because this scene gave Lord Zheng an extremely familiar feeling; it was also the first time he saw someone else in this world who could manipulate the soul for personal use, besides himself.

Mo Wan is a soul, so the Regent Prince is essentially following the same path as himself.

Xiong Tingshan, seeing this, said:

"So, bloodlines do indeed have ranks and classes."

Royal offspring can obtain Fire Phoenix’s essence blood into their bodies and then attract demonic beasts from the Great Swamp to follow them. Xiong Liqing’s Green Python came about in this manner; it is already considered a high-quality demonic beast. After all, since Duke of Chu began expanding, not only have the Shanyue people been declining, but also the demonic beasts within the Great Swamp.

This is akin to the theory that as human activities expand, wild animals’ habitats continue to shrink over time.

However, what the Regent Prince attracts is not a demonic beast, but a... spirit.

It’s the so-called soul of the demonic beast; when the demonic beast dies, its soul doesn’t perish, thus becoming a spirit. Demonic beasts that can give birth to spirits are by no means simple, and spirits appearing without dissipating is much harder, illustrating the preciousness of spirits.

Lord Zheng was already contemplating in his heart whether the Regent Prince, by absorbing the spirit into his body, would end up like him, as if his body was hollowed out, only able to lay bedridden like a corpse?

The Regent Prince shook his head and said, "It’s just luck. Oh, today, I’ve brought one of Master Yao’s disciples here, just to let him serve as a witness."

"Fourth Brother indeed arranges things very meticulously."

Lord Zheng finally understood why the Regent Prince wanted to bring him along. Therefore, his current role is like a journalist responsible for taking photos and writing reports when the leader goes out for a snow-sweeping.

So, everything was arranged?

The Swordmaster seemed to guess what Zheng Fan was thinking and directly said, "If there really was a fight to happen, it would have started long ago. Among the princes, those who need to raise armies have raised them, those who need to ascend the throne have done so, and what needs to be done has been done.

Here, the King hasn’t chosen to ascend the throne, and there, the Fifth Prince hasn’t chosen to raise an army, actually..."

"Is it to give both sides a way out?" Zheng Fan said.

The Swordmaster nodded and said, "A very good analogy."

"Then there’s no need to worry," Lord Zheng said.

"Worry?"

Lord Zheng affirmed: "As a Qian person, I genuinely hope the Regent Prince doesn’t encounter any mishaps right now."

Currently, the situation is the Qian and Chu alliance opposing Yan State. If something happens to the Regent Prince of Chu State, causing Chu to once again become scattered, it is definitely not what Qian people hope to see.

Although Zhong Tianlang is currently causing quite a stir on the border, that’s because Yan State’s two elite cavalry units are not stationed in Yinlang County.

If Greater Yan were to assemble its elite northern expedition and southern pacification units like it did when borrowing passage south through Qian State, the situation would be completely different. Even if Zhong Tianlang still has courage, his father Zhong Wenhao would definitely not agree to let him throw away the cavalry force that Qian has painstakingly accumulated.

Of course, from Lord Zheng’s perspective, he would rather the Regent Prince die right here. Previously, he did hold such expectations in his heart, but knowing that there is indeed a tacit understanding between the Regent Prince and the Fifth Prince leaves him somewhat disappointed.

Yet this is very natural; all Eastern major countries are not just full of literary scholars and warriors in Yan State, but filled with drunken fools in other countries.

"It’s still necessary to be concerned," the Swordmaster said, placing out a row of wooden swords he had carved last night and this morning. "The throne is too alluring, and people’s thoughts often sway easily.

The Regent Prince is indeed betting for the sake of Chu State’s National Destiny. Actually, the Regent Prince is already winning completely; even if he mobilized large troops, he could quell Wutong County."

The reason he is willing to bet is to hopefully avoid this internal strife for Chu State.

It’s known that for the throne, examples of brothers and father-son turning against each other are countless. Who dares to be frank, and at the same time, who dares to guarantee that while being frank themselves, the other party won’t change?