It doesn't matter what the lord is.

.....Lied?"

Lid looked over there, and after only half a second of thinking, he realized that it was Xihe's voice. Xihe was indeed imprisoned here!

Lid nodded to Alayya, and Alayya said:

"The young master's throat was blocked by that woman just now, and he can't speak for the time being..." Xihe sighed and said:

"I'm sorry, it's my fault that I didn't send the letter. I arrived in the capital and found the person who sent the letter, but she had moved away. In order to investigate further, I found out where she moved to and walked north. Suddenly, I felt that something I couldn't see was following me... I wanted to send the letter through the Wanli Voice Transmission to remind you to be careful, but it didn't work."

Xihe's voice was not loud, but also full of fatigue. It was conceivable that she must have suffered a lot when she was imprisoned here alone. Not to mention, the guards outside were all above the tenth level, and the prison was completely isolated from the outside. It was unrealistic to expect to escape from prison or be rescued by people outside. This desperate atmosphere could easily drive people crazy.

Xihe said softly:

"Were you captured? During this time I was in the Dragon Prison, I occasionally heard some news. The Dragons don't seem to have given up attacking humans, and they are colluding with the Abyss Church. Now that you are here, the situation in the Eternal Heaven Kingdom is not optimistic."

Lid gestured to Alaiya, and Alaiya told Xihe about how they went to Xiqin to rob the execution ground and were threatened by the dragon clan. Anyway, the Abyss Church must have synchronized these things with the dragon clan, so it was not a secret, and it didn't matter if the guards heard it.

After Xihe heard this, he was obviously mixed with joy and sorrow. The good news was that although Lide had come with the Dragon Clan, Xiaohei, Xiaobai, Merlin and others were still staying in Yongtian Kingdom to guard against the Dragon Clan and the Abyss Church as much as possible. The worrying thing was that the army of [Potian] was now stationed in Wanze territory and could not directly participate.

"If I had known I would leave the tiger talisman behind before I left..."

Xihe sighed, leaned against the wall, and said to Lid behind the wall: "I don't know what will happen to us and Yongtian Kingdom in the future."

34. The trio returning to Xiqin

Li De couldn't speak, so he couldn't talk to Xihe.

The dragon guards outside sealed off the prison tightly. They were the elite of the dragon clan, and their realms were not low. There were several tenth-level dragon guards inside. Although Lid was sure that he could assassinate them when his body recovered, this behavior was meaningless. There were too many dragons guarding him, and he would still be caught.

Alaiya looked at her young master with concern and leaned carefully against Lid.

When Li De decided to come to the Dragon Clan, she guessed that the young master might be in danger, but she did not dissuade Li De. Her thoughts were always simple: at worst, she and the young master would die together, as long as the young master's wish could be fulfilled, she didn't care about her choice.

Holding the sword, Alayya continued to flush her meridians and nourish her sword energy. The crisis in the outside world weighed on her shoulders like a mountain, urging Alayya to become stronger every second.

Lid was silently thinking about the order that the Dragon King gave to Dongli.

Not allowing the Abyss Church to meet with him alone means that the Dragon King is also on guard against the Abyss Church. It also means that the Dragon Clan is not the active party in the cooperation with the Abyss Church. The Abyss Church may bypass the Dragon Clan and reach a deal with Lid alone, which the Dragon King does not want to see, and it also indirectly shows that the Dragon King is actually feeling insecure.

Lid didn't have much information, but from the details, he could guess a lot of things--

The Dragon Clan and the Abyss Church planned a blood sacrifice ceremony. This was information that Xiaobai had obtained at the cost of his life. Lide was not unfamiliar with the term blood sacrifice ceremony. The last time he heard of it was in Lingwu, when the Abyss Church sacrificed a large number of Lingwu people in an attempt to help Clenus resurrect.

Since this is another blood sacrifice, it is very likely that they are planning to resurrect something again.

From the information that Lid had accessed, all the twelve pillars of Kungu were alive and well except for Clenus, so the thing to be resurrected was likely related to the dragon clan. And from the attitude of the dragon clan, the guy to be resurrected should be very important to them, but they could not carry out this plan alone.

But what Lid couldn't understand was, if it was a blood sacrifice, why did they have to capture him?

Are you thinking that the blood sacrifice ceremony is too boring, and you must have someone standing by to give thunderous applause? Isn't this just idle talk?

Li De thought about it and felt that it was difficult to infer more from the existing information, so he began to take a nap to recover his strength. He was not in a hurry, because he felt that the existing layout was ready to start working, and he just had to wait quietly for the next stage to come.

……

Western Qin territory.

Xiao Hei, Merlin, and Gang Ding were wearing hoods, and although they were standing on a busy rural road, no one noticed them. Merlin's illusion might be exposed, but the territory of Xi Qin was so large that there couldn't be people who could expose him everywhere, and most areas were still safe.

Prince Nanchu looked carefully at the crowd passing by and said in a deep voice:

"There are no signs that the monsters in Yuanyang City have spread outward. Just as we suspected, the people in most areas of Xiqin are still normal."

He exhaled a breath. After seeing those human-faced spiders in Yuanyang City, he could gradually detect wisps of black smoke floating in the air. The people of this land were still normal for the time being, but the land itself was like being cursed and was undergoing some irreversible changes.

No one knew what this black aura was, not even the knowledgeable Merlin could identify it.

But both Xiao Hei and Merlin had a bad feeling that if they let Xi Qin continue to change, the situation would be completely out of control. Now that the news of Xi Qin harboring the Abyss Church has spread, the traditional temples have gathered their forces to start investigating, but Xi Qin has also put up a stubborn resistance. Recently, there have been many sectarian conflicts in various parts of Xi Qin.

Xiao Hei, Merlin and Gang Ding took advantage of this opportunity to sneak into the Western Qin territory. While the Abyss Church and the Traditional Temple were fighting each other, they further investigated the secrets buried in the Western Qin territory.

"We still need to go to the vicinity of Yuanyang City. If nothing unexpected happens, this black smoke should be spreading from Yuanyang City, which is the lair of the monsters." Merlin shook the staff in his hand and said to Xiao Hei:

"However, the risk is also great. According to Lid, Tingchao looked in our direction at that time, and he might have let us go on purpose. But if we revisit the place, he might not turn a blind eye. In addition, there are those troublesome monsters who eat human brains and pretend to be living people. We can't speculate with common sense."

Xiao Hei said tentatively:

"We just robbed the execution ground. The Lord of Xiqin probably didn't expect us to come again..." Before he finished speaking, Xiao Hei sighed and said:

"Well, this is not very realistic. The Lord of Xiqin is as meticulous as Xiaobai, so it is impossible that he didn't think of it. Merlin, let me be honest with you. I may not be able to defeat Tingchao head-on, but if we are surrounded and your illusion fails, I can risk my life to fight my way out with you.

Xiao Hei opened his clothes, revealing the curse patterns on his body.

"Although my strength is comparable to that of a ninth-level Perfectionist, I actually have no realm cultivation. I learned Southern Chu witchcraft since I was young, strengthening my strength to the extreme without caring about skills or practicing martial arts. I did not follow the conventional method of improving my realm. The thing I did most from childhood to adulthood was soaking in medicinal baths, or fighting against snakes, scorpions, tigers and leopards, constantly tempering the upper limit of my body. Because my strength is only related to my physical strength."

Xiao Hei paused and said to Merlin:

"We call this [Ten Thousand Enemies] - Defeat ten skills with force, and all methods can defeat them." Merlin nodded and said with a smile:

"I have also done some research on Nanchu witchcraft, but most of it has been lost. I have heard of the name Wanren Di, and I would like to have a good exchange with you if there is a chance..."

Merlin shook his staff again, and walked north with Xiao Hei and Gang Ding:

"We still have to go to Yuanyang City. Lid has risked his life, so we must find out what happened here. I have a vague feeling that although most of the people in Xiqin seem normal, everyone's life span seems to be damaged to varying degrees. It is very likely that the Abyss Church is constantly absorbing their blood and souls.

It's just that the amount of blood soul extracted from each person is not much, so it's hard to detect. We have to find out what the Abyss Church does with these blood souls."

Merlin turned around and looked at Xiao Hei, his smile as reassuring as ever:

"Also, you just reminded me. Ting Chao is a person that will be very troublesome if we fight him head-on, but he is not completely devoted to the Lord of Xi Qin. We can change our strategy this time... We can try to win him over."

35. Sunday without Lid

Not long after Lid left Yongtian Kingdom, the situation in Yongtian Kingdom finally underwent new changes under high pressure.

Although Lid's departure temporarily allowed Yongtian Kingdom to escape the claws of the dragons, anyone with a little common sense knew that this was only a short-lived peace. Let's not talk about whether Lid's life can extinguish the anger of the dragons. Even if the dragons give up attacking humans this year, what about next year?

The dragon tribe's army was blocking the border and could march south at any time, but Yongtian Kingdom was still in chaos. If this continued, they would surely be defeated one by one. Those powerful lords seemed to have a sense of mission urging them to move forward, and the originally clear situation suddenly became more confusing.

First, Nanchu declared war on Xiqin, and Nanchu lord Xiang Muqin led an army of 500,000 to attack Qin. In his words, he would take back everything that belonged to him. That woman was like this, and so was the world.

The impact of Nanchu's declaration of war on Xiqin was huge. First of all, the lords of Xiqin could no longer send troops north to support the capital. If the Abyss Church's affairs had not been exposed, they might have had more room, but now that Nanchu and the Traditional Temple were exerting pressure together, Xiqin had to go all out.

The weakening of the support from Western Qin has increased the pressure on the royal family. If the Lingwu lord had not slowed down his offensive and deployed troops to guard against the dragon clan, the royal family would have had to move the capital south. But even if the Lingwu lord had no plans to attack the royal family for the time being, many ministers of the royal family also proposed the idea of ​​moving the capital.

Many ministers have even begun to secretly transfer their property to the south.

The reason for doing so is simple. The land actually controlled by the royal family spans the Tianjiang River. Although the iron cavalry of Lingwu is sharp, it can only reach the north of the river at most. To go south, the navy is needed. Although the royal navy is also inferior to that of Nanchu, it has been built for so many years and can still be used. If they can lock the Tianjiang River, they still have a chance to survive.

In any case, the royal family is now in decline and its appeal has further declined.

At this time, new changes naturally occurred.

Yunyang announced its alliance with the rebels, and large tracts of land in the west and south of Yongtian Kingdom were instantly freed from the control of the old aristocratic system.

Many people believed that it was the pressure from many territories on Yunyang that directly led to Yunyang's "rebellion". However, only Yunyang's own people knew that Yunyang had a lot of cooperation with the rebels, and at least in terms of "re-formulating the wealth distribution strategy", the two sides had the same goal.

"From today on, we are going to do one thing and only one thing." He Yue sat at the head of the council chamber and said to his colleagues present:

"We will concentrate all our forces to expand. We estimate that within two months, we will conquer four more territories, compress Yunhai's living space to the south, and confront Wanze to the north. By then, the frontal battlefields between Xiqin and Nanchu will almost be over. While the rebels are heading north, we will open up a strategic road to the west between us. The western and southern parts of Yongtian Kingdom will basically be under our control."

Although Lid is no longer in Yunyang, Yunyang is still running smoothly.

As long as He Yue, Fang Shisan, Shuang and others were still there, Yunyang would not be in chaos. But the previous coalition's westward expedition also sounded a warning to Yunyang: although Yunyang had gotten rid of its past poverty and became stronger, it was still somewhat unable to cope with the pressure brought by multiple territories at the same time.

The reasons are very simple. The first is that we started too late and do not have enough financial resources. The second is that the long-term layout has not yet reached the point of harvest.

But after Lid went to the Dragon Clan, He Yue decided to temporarily change his strategy:

"The reason why we need to fight quickly is because we want to gain the right to speak for Yongtian Kingdom as soon as possible. This is also the purpose of cooperating with Huang Yan.

We can't help Lid for now.

We are busy, but we should believe that Lid can come back. We can't make the same mistake twice. If a similar situation occurs next time

We have to save Reed."

Fang Shisan said:

It won't be a problem to conquer Zhaoxin's territory within half a month. In fact, the only factor that restricts our external expansion now is the number of firearms. The recent battles have been smooth, but the consumption of gunpowder is also very high. We basically combine firearms with magic and adopt a fast attack strategy. This style of play cannot be delayed.

If attacking Tiancheng territory is a tough fight that will not bring any benefit, then attacking Zhaoxin and other territories will be profitable.

If implemented properly, it is entirely possible to support the war with war. Whether it is food, soldiers, or armor, they can all be replenished from war - except firearms. He Yue said:

"I plan to expand sixteen armament factories and transfer relevant talents from research institutes and universities to support them. This can also be considered as an early internship for them. The relevant equipment had already been produced when Lid was still here, but we are short of factory buildings and technicians. With the Giant Infrastructure Team here, the factory buildings should be delivered within a week, and the effect of increased production should be seen within half a month."

This is when we can see the excellence of Yunyang's system.

During the Yuxi City phase, Yuxi Academy had already reserved a large number of talents for Lide to take over Yunyang. Nearly ten months ago, Lide took over the entire Yunyang area, and the academy immediately expanded its enrollment and began to prepare for the future. Now, after ten months of cramming education, although the students in the academy lack experience, their knowledge and insights far exceed those of their peers. Strictly speaking, asking them to support the production of firearms is a waste of talent.

It can be said that when He Yue makes the decision to concentrate on military development, Yunyang will become a very powerful war machine.

Of course, there is a price to pay for doing so, such as overdrawing talent reserves, consuming a large amount of subsidies that should have been distributed to the new territories, entering an emergency wartime state, and people's lives will be affected to some extent... But for Yunyang now, these are things that can be ignored for the time being.

Now that it's a winner-takes-all situation, we must do our best to win.

Even if Reed were here, he would definitely do the same.

"There are some advantages to cooperating with the rebels... They have more spies than we thought, and can help us obtain a lot of intelligence. We can transfer our own secret service back to Yunyang, and we must keep a closer eye on the arms factory. The sudden increase in manpower there may lead to leaks."

After Shuang finished speaking, He Yue thought for a while and replied:

"Let Bai Ye come back. The armament factory is of utmost importance and needs to be located near Lingyun City, to be looked after by Bai Ye and Skadi, two tenth-level masters.

In order to ensure safety.

Tower, please suspend the recent research on super ancient magic and send some magicians to support the front line. "

Fileta nodded gently. When she knew that Lid had left, she locked herself in the room for a long time, and now she still felt a little absent-minded. Her realm had improved a lot, and she had reached the eighth level of perfection, and was very close to the ninth level.

As for Xiluo, he had reached the ninth level some time ago, and with Shuang's tacit consent, he set out alone to the border of the Dragon Clan. He Yue crossed his fingers and placed them on the table. He did not smile as usual, but said to the Yunyang executives present:

"Two years ago, we were hiding in the west, keeping a low profile. Now we have easily defeated Zhaochen and Tiancheng, which can be regarded as a stunning success. I don't practice martial arts, but I know that there are many geniuses in the world, but only a few can finally achieve enlightenment. Now that Li De is gone, the situation in Yongtian is still changing with each passing day. Now is the real test. Huang Yan said that the entire family of those lords should be buried. I don't agree, but those who forced Li De to go to the dragon clan's territory must pay the price."

He Yue narrowed his eyes, and his knuckles turned slightly white.

Her voice echoed in the council chamber:

"We in Yunyang will pay for this ourselves!"

36. Hell Difficulty Start

In the cold prison outside the Great Wall, Reed was woken up by the cold in the middle of his sleep.

His throat was still bleeding. Dong Li's sword energy was sealed in his body, just like a bunch of sharp blades were buried in his body. His flesh and blood finally recovered a little, but it was immediately damaged again after a slight movement. Nailus's shot had already caused Lid a lot of trouble, and the injuries caused by Dong Li, who was at an unfathomable level, would take forever to recover.

After Reed woke up, he instinctively tried to crawl up by supporting himself on the floor, but after trying several times, he found that his hands were out of control, and then he realized that his arms were broken.

Lid had seen people who had lost an arm on the battlefield. They would tell Lid that the most painful thing was not the loss of an arm, but that their brains did not feel that they had lost an arm. Many times they felt as if their arm was still there, and as long as they had a thought, their hand would rise to grab something on the table. But in fact, it was not there, and this constant illusion was the most tormenting.

Lid did feel irritated, but his willpower was strong, and this strange feeling was quickly suppressed. He had no time to be manic, nor did he have time to slowly recover.

The flying dragon guards outside the door were still chatting with the eldest princess Dong Li. Lide could see that besides the Dragon King,

The dragon clan members are all die-hard fans of Dong Li.

I wish I could support her every day. This is actually normal. The Dragon King has not been involved in government affairs in recent years. Dong Li handles many matters of the Dragon Clan. She is indeed very popular with the Dragon King.

Fulei said that even her subordinates actually prefer Dong Li, and it seems to be true.

Reed squinted his eyes and looked around. On the first night in prison, he had already figured out how to open the prison door by visual inspection.

Compared to the ever-changing door locks that Yongtian Kingdom has developed, the locks used by the Dragon Clan are very old, and it can be seen that they have no production capacity for such precision equipment. Of course, even if Lid figured out how to open the lock, he couldn't use it now. Dongli, that woman, was too cruel. Once his arm was removed, Lid's ability to do things was greatly reduced.

But Lid did not give up. He put his ear against the wall and listened silently. The sound of the winter wind entered his ears, allowing Lid to roughly judge the distance between here and the outside. The dragon prison was similar to the human prison. Lid guessed that it was probably built by a group of human slaves escorted by the dragons in the early years. Fulei's palace was probably also built by humans. After all, dragons can't do such delicate work. It's difficult for them to use tools with their claws.

The only difference is that the dragon clan’s prison has no windows. Perhaps the dragon clan thinks that the guys imprisoned here don’t need windows.

Lid gradually had an escape route in his mind, but he did not intend to implement it, and could not implement it for the time being. But it was useful for Lid to figure this out, and the information outside was very important to him. Lid now attached great importance to all the useful information he could collect.

In the second half of the night, Reed received his first good news.

There was a small commotion from the dragons on duty outside the door. It seemed that a new dragon had arrived. The current guard stopped them: "Stop! No one can get close without the permission of the king and the princess!"

The new dragon also had a strong aura and said in a cold voice:

"The criminal is so important that his safety must be ensured at all costs. I heard that the princess was full of blood when she left the prison, so the king specially ordered us to come and check if the criminal is in danger of life. How dare the princess and her group disobey the king's order?"

The guard in charge was not frightened, but insisted:

"Do you have the king's token?"