133. News from the South

Xun Chen entered Yecheng once more to conduct peace negotiations, refuting Cao Xin's three proposed conditions one by one.

First, they could renounce the imperial title, have the puppet Emperor Liu Pi abdicate, and nullify all officials of Jizhou, but they firmly refused to send a hostage to Xuchang.

Second, ceding Qingzhou was going much too far; Lord Yuan refused to accept it.

Third, Lord Yuan agreed to gift two hundred thousand shi of grain and provisions, along with other valuables, to Cao's army.

"General Cao, what do you think?" Xun Chen asked, holding his teacup.

Yet this was far from the end of it. The parasitic worms lodged within Qin Zhen'er and Shen Zhuo grew larger as the years passed, inflicting increasingly severe damage on their bodies. Consequently, Qin Zhen'er had to subsist entirely on tonic medicines, while Shen Zhuo's physical condition deteriorated by the day.

Therefore, he now relied primarily on this newly learned method to observe spiritual energy targets. As the spacecraft left the torrent of spiritual energy and descended toward the Ash Star, it carried a massive reserve of spiritual energy within. When it plunged downward at an extremely high velocity, it inevitably drew upon the inner force particles within his dark domain, triggering a sensory response in him.

The old fellow knew all too well what the fragmentation of this meteor would entail, and immediately attempted every trick in his book to stabilize the meteor.

Since they absorbed far more than was newly generated, the five streams of true qi became even thinner, nearly making Liu Fei spit blood from sheer anger.

In the scorching heat of summer, it had been a long time since there was such a refreshing breeze. Yet if this refreshing coolness endangered Gu Qingming's life, she would rather go without it.

Now, Liu Fei had burst in halfway and was stirring up trouble desperately, driving them into a dead end. If they failed to respond, even recovering the costs of research, production, and publicity would be questionable, let alone using this new drug as a catalyst to push the company public and cause its stock prices to soar.

Meanwhile, far away, Huan Gou and Ya Zi seemed to hear Pulao's murmuring whisper just then. The moment before, they had been fighting fiercely; the next second, their figures vanished entirely. Pulao wiped his hands clean, casually discarded the blood-stained handkerchief onto the ground, and disappeared without a trace as well.

This was the first time the two of them had been separated since they met: one remained within the palace, while the other stayed outside; one went to attend to the supreme Son of Heaven high above, while the other went to serve the delicate and noble future Empress of the State.

At that exact split second, Boyizi, Fuyun Nuan's spiritual consciousness seemed to vanish into thin air, though that period was brief, and Fuyun Nuan's spiritual aura reappeared once more.

Although the Azure Dragon Palace was somewhat cold in winter, it was at least shielded from the terrifying, saber-like gales outside. The envoys had already prepared several braziers of burning charcoal for them, and a comfortable, soothing warmth circulated throughout the entire room.

Moreover, the three people walking over were boss-level figures within the Huaxia region of the Immortal Alliance Financial Group. Aside from the mysterious Liu Qinmin, they held the highest status.

The four progenitors had originally set out to attack Jiang Jichen, but they now found themselves caught in a pincer attack between Jiang Jichen's front and rear blade techniques.

After merely a moment, a succession of weeping and shouting echoed from outside the dungeon, as if venting pent-up emotions.

The giant black-armored insect was gripped by profound shock. It was startled not only by the myriad avatars Cheng Feng had just transformed into, but even more by the instantaneous drain of energy from within its own body... Just a moment ago, it had sensed a bizarre energy descend upon it, and subsequently, three to four tenths of the energy within its body had vanished inexplicably for no apparent reason.

Furthermore, at that very moment, the surrounding subordinates of Li Zixiao were gazing at them with undisguised contempt. Yes, pure contempt—contempt for their lack of rules and discipline. A comparison between the two sides revealed the difference instantly.

One had to bear in mind that among the grain prices established by the Xuzhou government at this time, under normal circumstances, the price of sweet potatoes was merely one-sixth or one-seventh of that of rice and flour.

With their leading general fleeing in such a manner, the morale of the Ming soldiers along the western section of the wall plummeted drastically and their ranks fell into complete disarray. This provided the Qing troops with an opening to rapidly rout the Ming forces and essentially take control of the entire western sector of the ramparts.

Several sorrowful and indignant cries rang out. Lowering his head, Li Yang realized that the quadruplets—the so-called Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Yellow Dragon Guards—were now rushing toward him with grief-stricken faces, while four distinct colored lights began to glow across the surfaces of their bodies.