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As his memories and what he’d just learned overlapped, Ye Zichen’s eyes widened with undisguised disbelief.

Given his understanding of her, it was hard to imagine Stranger was really her!

“You thought of it too?” Xuan Ji noticed Ye Zichen’s expression and laughed.

“A god race woman who’s mastered the dao of space? I’ve only met one such person,” said Ye Zichen.

“Me too.” Xuan Ji smiled and nodded.

“It really is her!” Ye Zichen’s expression changed, turning solemn. Based on Xuan Ji’s tone, they really were thinking of the same person. But if it really was her, why on earth was she on their side?

More importantly, she’d actually obtained Great Emperor Chao Feng’s trust.

“I can’t see through the implications of this either. Why did she suddenly join our side in rebelling against the God Emperor? I don’t know, but if Chao Feng thinks her worthy of our trust, we shouldn’t consider her an enemy.” Xuan Ji’s words seemed to drill right into Ye Zichen’s head. He nodded. Regardless of her goals, they’d have to take things step by step.

Even as Ye Zichen was incomparably conflicted, Yang Jian and the Great Sage were arguing non-stop.

Time passed, and they soon neared the end of the tunnel.

Although no one expressed their anxiety en route, they were naturally worried, especially after finding out just who “Stranger” most likely was. To their surprise, they encountered no obstacles, and the tunnel was unimaginably stable.

“We’re here.” As they neared the exit, Xuan Ji came to a sudden stop. The rest of the reinforcements paused with her. Ye Zichen’s eyes flashed with confusion. Quite some time later, he saw her turn around, her gaze heavy. “You have to mentally prepare yourself.”

These words were obviously directed at Ye Zichen, who felt a sudden surge of foreboding. His brows knit together, and he solemnly nodded.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan had always lived in quiet elegance. Their territory had always been an endless mountain range. In stark contrast with the Northern Kingdom’s vibrant cities and row upon row of buildings, the foxes lived in old-fashioned estates in ancient mountain forests.

Their rear mountain had a towering, ancient tree. It was one of the symbols of their clan. You could see it, albeit faintly, even from ten thousand miles away. But now….

There was no trace of it. The gate emblazoned with the name “Nine-tails” had crumbled, too. As far as the eye could see, the once proud, ancient forests had been leveled. All that remained was wreckage and devastation.

There had obviously been a battle here. Beside the fallen tree lay several fox-clan warriors.

“The foxes’ divine guards.” Xuan Ji landed beside a warrior. When she saw the jade emblem at his waist, her tone grew heavy.

The foxes’ divine guards were their top elites. Every member had displayed shocking talent from a young age. Furthermore, each represented an incredible expenditure of resources, which were used to speed up their breakthroughs.

Even the weakest of the divine guards was a Divine General-level figure.

Why did the nine-tailed foxes have such a lofty position in the Yao Realm? The main reason was, of course, Su Qingyan’s nigh absolute and imposing strength. However, it didn’t pay to look down on the Divine Guards, either.

A faction comprised entirely of Divine General-level figures was enough to put heavy pressure on any other clan.

But now, this fox divine guard…..

If you put your hand toward his face, you’d discover no sign of breathing. He had clearly been dead for quite some time.

“He’s been dead for almost four hours now.” The speaker was an elegant middle-aged man from the Hermits Palace. Ye Zichen had only recently learned that he was the vice palace head.

He nimbly turned the guard over and examined him before announcing his time of death.

For him to have become the vice palace head, his medical skills were naturally extraordinary. He wouldn’t have said “four hours” without a good reason.

Four hours!

That meant that the demon-yao army had broken through the foxes’ defenses at least four hours ago. Although four hours didn’t sound like a particularly long time, it was more than long enough.

Ye Zichen felt a wave of pain emanating from his chest. His sense of foreboding was growing stronger and stronger.

Naturally, seeing a single corpse didn’t mean much. The demon-yao army had prepared their invasion in advance. It was natural that the foxes would suffer casualties as they defended themselves.

No, what really concerned him was this: it was too quiet!

Between now and when he’d first gone through the mountain gate, he hadn’t heard even the slightest sound of fighting.

This silence was oppressive, suffocating. Remember, this was the front lines of an invasion!

The foxes couldn’t possibly have been persuaded to surrender, so they must have stubbornly defended. If the demons and hostile yao were dead set on invading, they’d undoubtedly launched a powerful offensive. The sounds of their conflict should have been loud enough to hear from miles away, but now…

The mountain was so quiet, Ye Zichen could clearly hear each and every breath he took.

Did this seem like an invasion?

Could it be the dragons, vermillion birds, and other Sacred Beast Clans had rushed over and that the enemy couldn’t hold them off? Had the demons retreated before Ye Zichen’s group arrived?

That didn’t seem likely at all!

The Fox Empress had been through countless battles big and small. Her judgment on such key matters was definitely nothing to sneeze at!

Since she’d requested additional support, that meant she knew that not even the other Sacred Beast Clans’ reinforcements would be anywhere near enough to turn the tide.

She wouldn’t have asked for help in the chat group otherwise!

Ye Zichen had considered that the attack on the fox clans was just a ruse, that the enemies’ real goal had always been crossing the River Styx. He’d wondered if “Stranger” hadn’t helped them reinforce the foxes, even going so far as to create a spatial tunnel just to prevent them from encountering the enemies’ main forces.

But that no longer seemed possible.

The yao-demon army was a force not even the combined might of the Sacred Beast Clans could overpower. Could the Upheaval Alliance and Profound Pavilion overpower them? Of course not! The very idea was a joke!

Countless possibilities popped into his head, but he rejected them all. There was only one possibility left.

“Enter the mountain!” Ye Zichen gnashed his teeth and led his people through the ruined gate. The further down the path they went, the heavier their hearts.

The path was covered with fox clansmen corpses, as well as the bodies of their reinforcements.

Naturally, there were demon and enemy yao corpses mixed in too, but…

Not very many.

What made them even angrier was that among the corpses were quite a few foxes so young, they’d yet to even take on human form. Their eyes were wide with terror as they lay in pools of their own blood, or alternatively, in their mothers’ lifeless embraces.

The ancient trees were snapped, and the mountains had collapsed. The devastation of battle increased in intensity the further they went, and they found more and more corpses.

Ye Zichen clenched his fists and led his forces forward. Xuan Ji’s brows were tightly knit, but she nevertheless followed him. The physicians of the Hermits Palace surveyed their surroundings in silent mourning.

Ye Zichen looked over the corpses littering the ground and breathed in the stench of fresh blood. His eyes were growing increasingly bloodshot.

But he was still hopeful, hopeful that….

“You’re here! I’ve been waiting an awful long time.”

Instantly, a single sentence extinguished his hopes!