Walk along a path, turn a corner, and you'll find yourself at an elegant wooden gate nestled in the bamboo grove.
The sliding door reveals a hidden world inside.
The three courtyards were thus hidden within the Ming Palace, where the most loyal subordinates of successive Demon Lords gathered, plotting to overthrow the rule of the new Demon Lord.
Nan Rongrui and Changyu Lanshan led the way, pushing open the door of the main hall and going inside, with Lu Zhaozhao following behind.
As she stepped into the hall, an arrow shot straight at her, followed by several strangely shaped hidden weapons.
The bamboo sword was drawn, and these things were knocked away one by one.
After taking a few steps back to steady myself, a large hand appeared in front of me again.
Lu Zhaozhao was a little annoyed. She had been here for so long and hadn't even participated in the selection. Instead, she had been forcibly brought to this place, and upon entering, she was subjected to all sorts of tests.
She gathered her inner energy into her palm and clashed head-on with the large palm in front of her.
Both of them were at least at the Nascent Soul stage, and each had their own strengths, making it difficult to determine a winner for the time being. The aftershocks from the collision of their palms caused the surrounding bamboo forest to rustle.
After a long stalemate, a person walked out of the main hall.
He was wearing a mask, obscuring his true face. With his hands behind his back, he spoke in a low voice to one of the men he was fighting: "Huai Jiang, that's enough. Any more noise and we'll attract attention."
Upon hearing this, Huai Jiang, who was in the middle of a fight, reluctantly stopped and retreated behind the person who had spoken.
“Miss Guan Nan, I am Cheng Sang Ji, a member of the Diao Gu clan. The one you just fought was Huai Jiang of the Yu Pei clan.”
Lu Zhaozhao listened to what the person opposite her said, glanced at them, and although she was dissatisfied, she couldn't act wildly on someone else's turf, so she nodded as a greeting.
Several more people came out of the main hall; they were of all shapes and sizes, men and women.
Cheng Sangji continued to introduce them one by one: "Qiehe of the Taifeng tribe, Jieyi of the Jimeng tribe, Tudanxixiang of the Di tribe, Lunan of the Lushu tribe, and Nanrongrui and Changyulanshan, whom you have seen before."
The other seven people stood scattered around. Except for Nan Rongrui, who waved enthusiastically to her, the rest nodded in acknowledgment.
After Cheng Sangji saw that they had greeted him, he continued, "Given Guan Nan's status, there is no need to meet with the subordinate tribes. After all, it is enough for our tribes to know the inside story of this grand plan."
“Wait, are we really going to trust her like this? What if she has ulterior motives?” Jie Yi of the Ji Meng tribe interjected.
Cheng Sangji did not reply on Lu Zhaozhao's behalf, but simply looked at her.
Lu Zhaozhao sighed; this was forcing her to make a response.
He then looked up at the crowd before him and said, "Now that I'm here, even if I wanted to betray you, I'm afraid the Demon Lord wouldn't believe me. Besides, everyone here is gathered here for personal gain; how many of you have truly pure intentions?"
Upon hearing this, Tudan Xixiang of the Di tribe couldn't help but clapp his hands with a smile, only to be glared at fiercely by Jie Yi.
Seeing this, Cheng Sangji stepped forward to take charge: "In that case, the alliance of our nine clans can be considered a formal consensus. Everyone present knows how powerful the Demon Lord is, which is why the elders of your clans had to take such a great risk to have us, the younger generation, form an alliance on your behalf. I hope that in the future, everyone can work together to plan for the future!"
It must be said that the people of the eight clans are all very talented. For example, Cheng Sangji is eloquent and can turn everyone into a group of people in a few words.
Unfortunately, she wasn't a true member of the Nüba clan. I wonder what it will be like when everyone here finds out.
As Lu Zhaozhao thought about it, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. When she saw several people looking at her unhappily, she quickly composed herself.
Cheng Sangji's tone was calm as he asked, "Is there a problem, Miss Guan Nan?"
Lu Zhaozhao replied, "I was thinking, it's a bit of a fantasy that the Demon Lord can restrict each race to only send small teams to Ming Palace City with just one sentence. Although you all have excellent bloodlines and are geniuses of your respective races, it seems a bit far-fetched that you can only talk about rebellion in such a cramped room right now."
"If you're scared, you can just turn around and leave!" Huai Jiang seemed to be an impatient person, and she got a little angry after hearing Lu Zhaozhao's words.
"What, does everyone here have absolute confidence?" Lu Zhaozhao looked around. From the beginning, she could tell that there was no unity among them.
"Alright." Cheng Sangji's tone was slightly stern, calming the restless hearts of those present. He looked at Lu Zhaozhao, a hint of seriousness in his eyes, as if his opinion of her had changed.
"Although there aren't many people from the Eight Clans, Miss Guan Nan, have you forgotten that the Eight Clans still have a foothold in the Ming Palace?"
Lu Zhaozhao pondered for a moment and said, "The Demon Army?"
"Yes!" Cheng Sangjie nodded. "Each of the eight clans has a capable leader who leads a team of demon soldiers to guard the Ming Palace. Working together from the inside and outside, this is our greatest asset."
Lu Zhaozhao nodded in agreement, but still asked, "If that's the case, why do you insist on me joining? The Nuwa tribe doesn't have any soldiers."
This time, Cheng Sangji didn't speak, but Nan Rongrui spoke first.
She said, "Because we need you to do something. This is something only you, as a member of the Nüba clan, can do."
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