Chapter 42 Balance
We were careless! Jiao Pingbo actually had such a formidable scout under his command!
The elders of the Lich Clan were ashen-faced. One of the reasons they agreed to let the Tenth Elder participate was to ensure the integrity of his memories.
Secondly, according to the intelligence they obtained, Jiao Pingbo favored rapid-fire troops and had few intelligent subordinates.
But in this battle, they discovered that Jiao Pingbo was not as brainless as the intelligence report had described.
She initially remained inactive for more than half a year. After the battle, she pretended to be defeated and retreated, then sent out scouts to eliminate their spies.
She has such a meticulous mind!
The elders of the Lich Clan grew angrier the more they thought about it. They wished they could immediately go to the Heavenly Mandate Palace in Central Continent and chop that old fish head, who had accepted bribes but provided false information, into mincemeat.
Jiao Pingbo, whose story had been endlessly exaggerated and fabricated by the Lich Clan, was silently cleaning his gun in the rear camp.
She truly didn't intend to go back this time, not because she was forced to sign a pledge of death for defeat before she came, but because this life against her will and this long, endless war made her feel exhausted.
Before she arrived, she dismissed the soldiers, leaving behind only a group of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people who were on the verge of death.
She secretly raised her claws and questioned the heavens, asking why, as a cultivator of all races, she had lived her life like a slave kept by the Temple of War God.
For the sake of her clan, she had no choice but to obey orders to kill demons in all directions. She killed countless demon heads, and even her own three heads were reduced to one.
Why?
Why are the cultivators of all races so weak despite their vast numbers?
Why didn't they have the power to resist?
Before she set off on this expedition, her mortal enemy came to mock her, saying that no matter how hard she had cultivated for many years or how many battles she had achieved, it was all in vain compared to his freedom as he groveled at the feet of the God of Destiny Palace.
Now, with a single word from his master, she, the noble dragon prince far away in the Temple of the God of War, could never return.
"Ha, what a foolish little fish!" Jiao Pingbo sneered inwardly. That stupid fish actually thought he had finally won.
Both being slaves kept by the heavenly palaces, he himself was condemned to a life of no return, yet that fool actually thought he was going to win. How pathetic!
The Heavenly Mandate Palace monitors all races, but only because it does not want the cultivators of all races to become powerful. Any slight sign of such power will be singled out and eliminated.
But she was just an ordinary dragon that had already lost two heads; she wasn't even a true dragon. How could she be considered a threat?
Jiao Pingbo thought to herself that the God Lord of the Heavenly Destiny Palace probably saw something in the mirror and treated her the same way he had killed the Phoenix Dragon in the past.
Thinking of this, she was overjoyed. If it were true, how fortunate she would be.
She prayed for a response from heaven, hoping that the world would give her an answer before she died.
She snarled in her heart, "You must match the predictions of the Heavenly Fate Palace, you damned Heaven! Otherwise, you're too weak and only fit to be a slave to the Heavenly Fate Palace!"
With a resolute heart, Jiao Pingbo sped all the way to the desolate sea city.
As soon as they landed, these low-quality soldiers began to give out.
Therefore, Jiao Pingbo had to abandon her usual marching methods and let the army stay and rest in place; it wasn't until recently that she received the order to send troops out that she reluctantly sent a team to fight a battle.
Jiao Pingbo's cultivation has reached the Demon Emperor realm, so cultivation in the lower realm is meaningless to her. What has she been doing all this time?
She was secretly searching for that possible opportunity.
For the past six months, Jiao Pingbo had searched every inch of Danzhou but found nothing; it wasn't until the orders from the Temple of War were urgent that she headed to the camp.
At this moment, she looked at the sea chart of the desolate sea and grinned incessantly. She thought to herself that her years of obedience to the Temple of War God had indeed enslaved her heart, and she had become accustomed to the fact that wherever the God Lord's sword pointed, that was her enemy.
Pshaw, no, that's not right!
She actually searched for him in Danzhou for half a year without thinking!
No, this is so wrong!
Her opportunity lies in this vast sea!
The next day, Jiao Pingbo hurriedly mustered her troops and personally led a reconnaissance team. Her deputy general, who had followed her for many years, quickly dissuaded her, saying, "Your Majesty, you must not!"
Jiao Pingbo looked at this lackey who had long been bought off by the servants of the Temple of War, and said with tears in his eyes, "Times have changed. We can only win this battle, otherwise neither of us will survive."
After that, she refused to say another word, gathered her troops, picked up her guns, and headed out to sea.
She didn't allow music to be played, drums to be sounded, or any sacrificial rites to heaven, which almost made the deputy general send a message to the Temple of War accusing her of treason.
But soon, the deputy general had no chance. Jiao Pingbo used his great magic to inscribe the battle order and hung it on the shore. The order shone in the air for three quarters of an hour before disappearing.
After issuing the order to wage war, Jiao Pingbo led the last remaining veterans into the desolate sea to wander.
The vast ocean was unpredictable, and she wasn't sure how long she could search, but she would be willing to die on the road to finding her.
At first, Jiao Pingbo was determined to search in the water. After she cleared out several sea monsters that blocked her way, wherever she appeared, the sea creatures would retreat rapidly, abandoning their homes.
Seeing this, Jiao Pingbo shook her head. She thought to herself, "This spineless behavior of believing everything she hears is definitely not what I'm looking for."
Since it was difficult to find in the water, they went to the island to search.
As Jiao Pingbo searched, she wondered why the Lich Clan had allowed her to venture deep into the heart of the desolate sea.
Meanwhile, the elder of the Lich Clan was heartbroken as he watched Jiao Pingbo kill the three Sea Demon Kings that he had painstakingly raised and nurtured.
Unable to contain herself any longer, Yi Wu took the lead in plucking out eight of her own fingernails and casting a curse on the old fish-headed man of the Heavenly Fate Palace.
This fish head was spreading false information, telling them that Jiao Pingbo and his soldiers were old and frail, their strength reduced to less than one-tenth, and that they should not take them seriously.
Liar! These fierce warriors who killed three demon kings and are still full of energy, how could they possibly be less than one in ten alive!
Old Fish Head made them underestimate their opponents, resulting in the loss of four skilled fighters.
Those people will all suffer the same fate!
After the curse was successfully cast, the lich elders of the lich race were in a better mood and began to reflect on their actions.
They had always refused to submit to the heavenly palaces, so the Golden Cauldron Palace, Guangyang Palace, and War God Palace frequently sent large armies to attack them.
Many cultivators of all races are greedy, and the gods of the Heavenly Palace are even more greedy. In the end, they obtained the secret protection of the War God Temple at the cost of a spirit crystal vein, becoming a race that did not need to submit and still retained its autonomy. Other god lords naturally could not stand it and pointed out that the War God Temple was abusing its power.
The Temple of War would often make a show of recruiting soldiers and generals to garrison the Desolate Sea City; sometimes they would even send a demon king to fight a battle, while secretly sending advance notice.
They had lived peacefully together for many years, but this time, a major mishap occurred.
The liches were unwilling to fight when they heard that the demon king was leading the army.
But the old fish-headed man from the Heavenly Mandate Palace had a kind face and spoke softly, making the group of liches feel that Jiao Pingbo was just a shell.
If they can crack this, they'll become famous!
And Guangyang Palace and Jinding Palace will no longer covet this small piece of land and sea, so the remaining three veins of the Lich lineage can be hidden away.
——————
The inaction of the Lich Clan allowed Jiao Pingbo to wander the seas for five months, traversing all 360 surrounding islands without engaging in any direct conflict with the Lich Clan.
Normally, even if a military order had been issued, having detailed information on these 360 islands would have made the higher-ups treat the matter leniently.
But this time, Jiao Pingbo refused to accept it. She couldn't find her opportunity, and this new nautical chart was unlikely to see the light of day.
If she finds it, then this nautical chart will be one of her many gifts to her.
"Unfortunately, none of the 360 islands seem to have any promising talents," Jiao Pingbo thought regretfully.
She transformed into her true form and wandered the sea, one claw gripping a nautical chart inscribed with runes, the other clutching the message from the Heavenly Palace that instructed her to expedite the cleansing of the Lich Clan. She gazed at the setting sun, filled with melancholy.
As the sun sets, the birds on the horizon are about to return to their nests.
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