653: Chapter 653 There's a pretty girl!

Bai Wanqing fell silent.

Bai Shanshan fell silent.

Chu Niubi also fell silent.

It was true...

If the people from the Nine Great Forces were allowed to enter the secular world and the cities, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Those Cultivators wouldn't care about the common people, nor would they care about accidentally injuring the innocent.

In their eyes, ordinary people were like ants; they wouldn't feel any heartache no matter how many died.

The only thing they had to fear was the power of the state, and that was all...

But Ye Chen was different.

He was the Chief Instructor of the Dragon Group, a man who protected his home and country.

He couldn't let ordinary people be implicated because of his affairs.

Therefore, he chose to place the battlefield outside Kunlun.

In that sparsely populated place.

Chu Niubi's eyes suddenly turned red, and his voice choked up a bit.

"Master, you... you are always thinking of others."

"I, Chu Niubi, will follow you for the rest of my life!"

Ye Chen smiled, his face as calm as a light breeze.

"It's not that I'm thinking of others; I'm just afraid of trouble."

"If we fight in the city, I'd have to pay for damaged public property, take responsibility for the injured, and write reports for the dead."

"What a hassle."

"It's better to fight outside. After the fight, I can just pat my butt and leave. Much simpler."

Bai Wanqing: "..."

Bai Shanshan: "..."

Chu Niubi: "..."

Good heavens.

So you're not doing it for the safety of the people, but to save yourself some trouble?

But they all knew that while Ye Chen spoke lightly, what he truly felt in his heart was different.

This man had always been like this.

Saying the most indifferent words with his mouth, while carrying the most people in his heart.

Chu Niubi took a deep breath and puffed out his chest.

"Master, then I should definitely go with you!"

Ye Chen glanced at him. "What are you going for?"

Chu Niubi had a serious face. "I'm going to cheer you on!"

Ye Chen: "..."

Bai Shanshan couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Cheer him on? Are you going to be a cheerleader?"

Chu Niubi's face turned red, and he scratched his head.

"I... My cultivation isn't high enough, so I'd just be a burden if I went."

"But I can support Master in spirit!"

Ye Chen shook his head, caught between laughter and tears.

"Alright, stop being silly."

"All of you stay in the capital and do what you need to do."

"I can go by myself."

Bai Wanqing opened her mouth as if to say something, but ultimately swallowed it back down.

She knew that once Ye Chen made a decision, no one could change it.

Consequently...

In the end, she only whispered, "Then you... must be careful."

Ye Chen nodded and then made a phone call to Xuanyuan Huo.

A few seconds later.

The call connected.

Xuanyuan Huo's excited voice followed: "Good lad, are you planning to hollow out the Kunlun Ruins one by one? You've captured another batch of people?"

"They brought it on themselves, I couldn't help it!" Ye Chen said with a look of grievance, appearing quite helpless.

Xuanyuan Huo was amused. "Come off it. If you didn't cause trouble all the time, would they bother coming to find you?"

Ye Chen: "???"

Good heavens!

How did I become a troublemaker?

However.

Before he could speak.

Xuanyuan Huo asked again, "Are you calling me about the Nine Great Forces joining hands?"

Yan Huifeng had already told him about this matter.

And now...

Everyone who had appeared at the banquet at that time had been ordered not to leak even a whisper of the news.

So.

The news was currently under lockdown.

Ye Chen said with a grin, "He who knows me is the Old Man!"

"Stop being glib," Xuanyuan Huo said irritably. "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

Ye Chen took a deep breath. "I want to do some 'law enforcement fishing'."

Xuanyuan Huo was stunned.

Ye Chen continued, "Have the troops at the defense line withdrawn."

"Huh?"

Xuanyuan Huo was completely bewildered. "Are you sure you're not joking with me?"

One must know.

There were over three thousand soldiers at the defense line.

While they weren't top experts, none of them were ordinary people either.

Most importantly.

Nuclear bombs were stationed within the camp to serve as a deterrent against the forces within the Kunlun Ruins.

Now.

Ye Chen actually wanted everyone to withdraw?

This...

What was he playing at?

He then snapped out of it and asked, "What are you trying to do!?"

Ye Chen said nonchalantly, "Since they want to come down the mountain to kill me, I surely have to prepare a gift and a surprise for them, don't I?"

"You're truly insane, kid," Xuanyuan Huo couldn't help but ask. "You realize that's several major forces."

"Old Man, don't try to persuade me." Ye Chen raised an eyebrow. "Just tell me, can it be done? If it can, this wave could even raise Dragon Country's international status to a higher level."

He wasn't speaking nonsense.

Every country was wary of the Kunlun Ruins' existence but was unable to do anything about it.

After all.

The forces within the Kunlun Ruins spanned the entire world; once they were eliminated, it would be a crisis for any country.

But if Ye Chen—if any country could intercept a force like the Emperors Gate without losing a single soldier, plus the joint siege of the other eight forces...

Then it would be different; it would completely make the countries of the world wary.

Xuanyuan Huo was silent for a good while before speaking: "You kid... you've really gone mad."

"Then Old Man, will you be mad with me for once?" Ye Chen asked with a smile.

Xuanyuan Huo took a deep breath. "Fine, I agree. I will help you temporarily withdraw the defense line troops."

"Thanks, Old Man. Just you wait to laugh!" Ye Chen smiled slightly.

Xuanyuan Huo shook his head speechlessly. "As long as you don't cause me trouble!"

After saying that.

He hung up directly.

But Chu Niubi and the others on the side had developed quite strange expressions.

Why did it feel like...

Ye Chen was about to stop acting like a human again?

...

One day later.

The Kunlun entrance, the plateau defense line.

This was originally a buffer zone between Dragon Country and the Kunlun Ruins, where an elite troop was stationed year-round, responsible for monitoring movements within the Kunlun Ruins and preventing Cultivators from entering the secular world without permission.

But at this moment, the tents were empty.

There was no one on duty in the watchtowers.

Even the military vehicles that usually patrolled had vanished without a trace.

The wind whistled through the empty camp, swirling up a few withered yellow leaves on the bluestone-paved square.

In the distance, the Kunlun Mountains rose and fell, their snowy peaks gleaming with a piercing white light under the sun.

At this moment.

On a high cliff three miles away from the camp, a dense crowd of people stood.

They were all dressed in black martial arts attire, with Tachis or long swords hanging at their waists. Each person's aura was extremely profound; even the lowest among them was at the Celestial Master Realm.

Leading them was a short and stout Middle-aged Man, wearing a black kimono embroidered with gold patterns. At his waist was a Tachi, its scabbard inlaid with seven gems that shimmered in the sunlight.

His name was Botadono Nyuyie.

The Sect Master of the Emperors Gate, a legendary Nascent Soul expert!

Behind him stood the eight elders of the Emperors Gate, all of whom were at the Late Golden Core Stage, peak strength!

Further back were the representatives sent by the other eight major forces.

The Hehuan Sect, Tianyi Sect, Ghost Sect, Bai family... every force had sent dozens of elites!

Including the people from the Emperors Gate, there were over two thousand people in total.

But for the Emperors Gate, this was a very frustrating operation.

After all.

They were forced to mobilize their entire sect, and even the Sect Master had to make an appearance...

But soon.

These people stopped on the high cliff, their gazes all turning toward the defense line, their facial expressions uniformly suspicious.

"What's going on?"

Botadono Nyuyie's brow furrowed tightly. "Over there at the defense line... why is there no one?"

The bald elder behind him stepped forward and lowered his voice.

"Sect Master, it indeed seems wrong."

"According to intelligence, a reinforced battalion of the Dragon Country should be stationed here, at least three thousand people, and they possess nuclear bombs to prevent Cultivators from breaking through."

"But now..."

He paused and swallowed hard.

"There isn't even a ghost of a shadow. This is too strange!"

Botadono Nyuyie's brow furrowed even tighter.

He had seen it, of course.

It was precisely because he had seen it that he felt something was wrong.

The Dragon Country's army was not for show, and this defense line was not for show either.

Ordinarily, let alone a large-scale descent from the mountain, even if only one or two Cultivators tried to pass through, they would be stopped for questioning.

But now?

Their group of over two thousand people had come out of the Kunlun Ruins in a grand manner, and there hadn't been a single person to block them along the way.

This was too abnormal.

Thinking of this.

Botadono Nyuyie's face darkened.

"Send a scout team down to investigate the situation."

"Remember, do not act rashly."

"This is, after all, Dragon Country's territory. Although we are here to kill, we cannot leave any evidence behind."

"Hai!" The bald elder bowed deeply and turned to wave his hand behind him. "Third squad, move out!"

Over twenty black-clad warriors shouted in unison and swept down from the high cliff like ghosts, vanishing into the rocky terrain in the blink of an eye.

Time passed minute by minute.

After about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, those twenty-odd black-clad warriors returned.

The squad leader at the head was full of excitement as he rushed before Botadono Nyuyie and knelt on one knee.

"Sect Master!"

"The defense line is indeed empty; there isn't even a ghost of a shadow!"

Botadono Nyuyie's brow relaxed slightly, but before he could speak, the squad leader looked up again, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

"However... we found a Flower Girl near the defense line!"