"Liang Xing? What brings you here?" A flicker of surprise crossed Ye Jingyu’s face upon seeing the man, but he rose from his seat and spoke.

"Nephew Liang Xing pays his respects to Second Uncle!" Liang Xing bowed respectfully to Ye Jingyu before standing up from the ground. He then recounted everything his father had asked him to relay to Ye Jingyu.

"Big Brother means this is a conspiracy to divert attention? A massive conspiracy?" After hearing Liang Xing's words, Ye Jingyu muttered, perhaps to himself, perhaps speaking to Liang Xing.

"Mmm..." Liang Xing nodded. He had always placed absolute faith in Liang Xiaoke’s words.

"But even if it's a diversion, must it be this obvious? If it's truly so overt, wouldn't everyone know?" Ye Jingyu voiced his doubts. If their guess was right—that the Five Great Immortal Saints were merely masking something—they wouldn't need to deploy the Yuan Ling; a few well-timed wars would suffice to throw the Celestial Realm into chaos.

Liang Xing also paused, shaking his head plainly, indicating he didn't know the details. He was only the messenger; complex strategizing was not his strong suit.

"Heh, never mind, never mind. These are just my own musings. Perhaps those figures up high have simply gone mad? Go back and tell your father that I will accept every single gift he sent me, without exception!" A faint smile touched Ye Jingyu's lips.

"Mmm..." Liang Xing nodded respectfully.

"I had intended to keep you here for a few more days, but this is a time fraught with trouble. Here is some intelligence I acquired regarding the Earth Alliance; take this and return quickly, won't you?" Seeing Liang Xing’s respectful demeanor, Ye Jingyu offered a gentle smile, yet a sharp pang struck his heart. If his child with Ling'er hadn't died, the child would be older than Liang Xing now.

Liang Xing was unaware of Ye Jingyu's inner turmoil. He understood the current situation, bowed to Ye Jingyu once more, and took his leave. However, as he departed, his gaze inadvertently flickered toward Xue Ling, who had been standing quietly by Ye Jingyu’s side.

Ye Jingyu noticed all of this, and a faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth. This Liang Xing was quite different from his father! That scoundrel Liang Xiaoke, the moment he saw a beautiful woman, would start drooling and immediately move to hit on her, regardless of anything else. But this young man, despite clearly admiring the beauty, restrained himself, only daring a quick, shy glance as he was leaving. Ye Jingyu couldn't fathom how that rascal Liang Xiaoke had sired such a son.

As for whether the two would ever end up together, Ye Jingyu didn't give it a second thought. That was between them; it had nothing to do with him, and he certainly wouldn't meddle in their affections.

After Liang Xing left, Ye Jingyu sank into deep contemplation. The intelligence from Liang Xiaoke indicated that the Celestial Alliance’s million-strong army was not, as the Earth Alliance reported, directly invading their territory. Instead, they were positioned to guard the periphery of the Savage Forest—meaning their mission was to prevent the demons from entering the forest.

Were they searching for something within the Savage Forest? But the forest was vast, and its border lines stretched impossibly long. How could a mere million troops possibly secure it? Still, the intelligence suggested that while guarding the forest border, the Celestial Alliance had devised numerous plans to attack Earth Alliance cities, the clear objective being to distract the demons and keep their attention away from the Savage Forest.

What exactly was hidden within the Savage Forest? Ye Jingyu's curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

Carefully reviewing the other bits of information Liang Xiaoke had shared—specifically the marching routes of the Celestial Alliance's other legions—a strange smile instantly appeared on Ye Jingyu’s face. His standing within the Earth Alliance wasn't high enough, so the secrets he acquired might be trivial to Liang Xiaoke. But Liang Xiaoke was one of the Ten Great Heaven Sovereigns in the Celestial Alliance; the intelligence he procured would undoubtedly be top-secret.

With such assets, achieving great merits and establishing himself would be effortless, wouldn't it? He summoned the four Demon Lords—Kuang, Yue, Wu, and Yan—and commanded the entire army to prepare for immediate mobilization. He decided to deliver the Celestial Alliance forces a truly devastating blow.

Everything unfolded exactly as Liang Xiaoke had predicted. After passing through the Celestial Realm's Savage Forest, the Celestial Alliance troops did not immediately attack Earth Alliance cities. Instead, they dispersed into smaller garrisons, with only a small contingent, led by their legion commanders, making sporadic raids on Earth Alliance settlements. However, the demons, already well-prepared, were not easily overcome in direct assault. Nevertheless, the demons living outside the city walls were utterly annihilated by the Celestial Alliance forces.

The nine great sovereign cities of the Earth Alliance, along with their seven peak Experts of the Cosmos Tier, were now rushing toward the front lines upon receiving the news. But the Earth Alliance territory was immense; the major cities were separated by tens of thousands of miles. Even at maximum speed, it would take a significant time for the Seven Evils to arrive, let alone reorganize the main armies. It would take at least a month before they could all reach the border. Consequently, for that month, Savage City would bear the brunt of all pressure from the Celestial Alliance.

To avoid arousing suspicion from the Earth Alliance, the Celestial Alliance deployed so many troops and attacked the cities with such fierce dedication that Savage City, one of the nine great metropolises, was currently enduring an assault from over three hundred thousand troops.

If Yuan hadn't arrived first, if Mu hadn't made Savage City impregnable, and if Ye Jingyu’s Blood Demon Legion hadn't been so ferociously effective, Savage City might well have fallen already.

At this moment, Ye Jingyu, Yuan, Mu, and other high-ranking officials stood atop the walls of Savage City, gazing out at the tens of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers treading upon the clouds ahead. Except for Ye Jingyu, the expression on everyone else’s face was grim.

In terms of individual combat strength, these Heavenly Soldiers were no match for the Demon Soldiers. However, the Heavenly Soldiers were deploying various grand military formations, leveraging the power of these arrays to eliminate nearly one hundred thousand of Savage City's soldiers while suffering losses of only ten thousand themselves.

Currently, around Savage City remained over three hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals. The commander of this legion was none other than Xuanmiao Daoist, one of the Ten Great Heaven Sovereigns of the Celestial Alliance. Unless Yuan personally intervened, few could match this Xuanmiao Daoist. Of course, if Ye Jingyu were willing to unleash his full power, killing him would pose no problem—but would he choose to do so?

"My Lord, they are too arrogant! Please allow this subordinate to lead troops out and challenge this formation again..." Seeing everyone's brows tightly furrowed with no apparent solution for the three hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers, Ye Jingyu, sensing the time was right, suddenly stepped forward, executing a clasped-fist salute to Yuan.

"Hmm?" Yuan was taken aback, clearly not expecting Ye Jingyu to volunteer for battle at this juncture. "Very well, I entrust this matter to General Jing. If General Jing can successfully break this formation, the position of City Lord of Blazing Flame City shall be yours!"

Upon hearing the title of City Lord of Blazing Flame City, Ye Jingyu’s eyes immediately lit up. He already commanded an army; what he needed most now was a territory of his own. Only with his own domain could he forge his own power. He had been strategizing how to acquire land, and now the opportunity was presented—how could he not be excited?

"Thank you, My Lord..." A faint smile graced Ye Jingyu's lips as he leaped onto Ni Bo's back and ascended into the sky...

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