178: Key Plan

On the way back on the 'Breaker', the atmosphere was a bit strange.

Wei Zheng, Li Qingxuan, and the Royal Ancestor—three people, six eyes—were scanning Li Dong back and forth like searchlights.

'I say, can you stop looking at me like that? I don't have flowers growing on me.' Li Dong felt uncomfortable being watched; he was looking down, studying the warm, jade-like 'divinity core'.

'Flowers? This is way weirder than growing flowers.' Wei Zheng rubbed his temples, looking like he had suffered a major loss of Origin Qi. 'I still haven't figured out how you... how you ate the God Lord's power? And leveled up in the process? Is this reasonable? It's not reasonable!'

The Royal Ancestor was more open-minded. In his turbid old eyes was a nearly fanatical desire for research: 'Nothing is unreasonable. When a 'vessel' has the desire to devour and understands how to utilize the rules better than its 'master', then turning the tables is inevitable.'

His words made Wei Zheng and Li Qingxuan's hearts skip a beat.

Why did this phrasing make Li Dong sound like the real villain?

'Old Ancestor is right,' Li Dong suddenly looked up, tossing the 'divinity core' in his hand as if weighing an ordinary stone. 'Since I can turn the tables once, I can do it a second time, a third time.'

He looked at the three of them, his tone as calm as if he were talking about tomorrow's weather.

'I have a plan.'

Wei Zheng's eyelids twitched; his intuition told him this plan absolutely wouldn't be good.

'Since I have become the 'key' that can parse this 'divinity core', and this thing is a hot commodity in the eyes of countless people...' Li Dong paused, stating his thoughts word by word, 'Then why not just release the news.'

'What?' Li Qingxuan was the first who couldn't hold back.

'Turn Jing City into a hunting ground.' There was no ripple in Li Dong's words, as if he were stating a predetermined fact. 'A hunting ground with the 'divinity core' and me, this 'key', as bait. Let everyone who covets the God Lord's power—whether they are his enemies or the treacherous lackeys under his command—come to Jing City.'

A deathly silence filled the camp.

Wei Zheng's mouth was open in an 'O' shape, unable to close for a long time.

He's crazy, this kid is absolutely crazy! Everyone else hides things, afraid of being found by enemies, but he's doing the opposite—opening a live stream, telling all the robbers in the world, 'I have treasure at home, come quickly'?

'Let them fight, let them snatch, let them... kill each other.' Li Dong's words continued. 'The God Lord's forces are deeply rooted; if we go to eradicate them one by one, it will be time-consuming and labor-intensive, and we are likely to face a backlash. It's better to let them jump out themselves and fight like dogs on our home turf in Jing City.'

He looked at Wei Zheng: 'What do we lack the most right now? Time. The Jing City Dragon Vein needs time to recover, and Great Xia needs time to catch its breath. Using a controlled chaos to buy a precious strategic window is the only way to break the deadlock right now.'

After he finished speaking, even the Royal Ancestor fell silent.

This wasn't just daring; it was using the entire Jing City and himself as a bet to pry open a chess game they couldn't even imagine.

'I agree.' The first to speak was actually Li Qingxuan.

The shock on her face was gone, replaced by a sense of determination. She looked at Li Dong, her voice soft but firm: 'Great Xia has no way back. Instead of passively waiting for the next destruction that might arrive at any time, it's better to take the initiative and set the battlefield where we want it.'

Wei Zheng looked at Your Highness, then at Li Dong, and finally let out a long sigh, as if he had accepted his fate.

'I've finally figured it out; you two are more capable of causing trouble than each other. Fine, fine, I'll join you in this madness. This old man will bet his life on this with you!'

The Royal Ancestor let out a low laugh: 'Interesting, truly interesting. Turning Jing City into the eye of the storm, luring thousands of hungry wolves into the trap... Fine, let's do it!'

The moment they reached a consensus, the pitch-black mark on Li Dong's forehead suddenly burned hot.

A familiar, furious will crossed the Void Realm, but this time, mixed with the anger was a trace of cold shock and... calculation?

[You think you can get rid of me this way? Stupid vessel... You haven't opened a path to survival; you've opened the door to Hell!]

The God Lord's will didn't strike directly as it had before; instead, in Li Dong's perception, it turned into countless invisible threads, spreading out in all directions.

Li Dong 'saw' that in the distant Western Continent, in an ancient temple covered by yellow sand, a sleeping stone statue opened its eyes. In an island tribe deep in the South Sea, a high priest conducting a bloody sacrifice suddenly received a new 'divine oracle'.

Even within the Great Xia Dynasty, some reclusive Righteous Path Sects, or lurking Demonic Path giants, all had a vague but tempting message appear in their minds—a 'key' that could open the god's treasury had appeared in Jing City.

'This guy... is raising the stakes for me.' Li Dong muttered to himself.

The God Lord not only didn't stop it but actively spread the news of the 'key,' attracting more and more complex forces. It wanted to make this hunt even more chaotic, chaotic enough to tear Li Dong, the 'key' himself, into pieces.

Before Wei Zheng and Li Qingxuan could digest this turn of events, Li Dong made another move.

He held the purified Remnant Soul of the Dark Scorpion in his palm, and a sliver of his consciousness sank into it.

In his black crystal stone space, this remnant soul transmitted a clearer image—at the Shadow Council's high-level meeting, not everyone was fanatical about the God Lord. One faction was more concerned with how to use the 'key' to break free from the God Lord's control and obtain true 'immortality,' rather than becoming the God Lord's Puppet.

'Interesting, the Shadow Council's attitude toward the 'key' is actually divided.' Li Dong's mouth curled slightly.

He looked at Wei Zheng: 'Lord Wei, can your intelligence network in Jing City find a few peripheral members of the Shadow Council? They don't need high status; just able to pass a message is fine.'

Wei Zheng was stunned, then immediately reacted: 'You want to... turn them?'

'No, it's giving them a multiple-choice question.' Li Dong said, 'Tell them the key is in my hands, but the key can open more than just the God Lord's door. Whether they want to continue being dogs or want to be human, let them choose for themselves.'

A war of intelligence and human hearts had already begun quietly before the real slaughter arrived.

The news spread in circles like a stone thrown into a lake.

The atmosphere in Jing City changed overnight.

During the day, the common people were still rebuilding their homes, but there was an inexplicable tension in the air. The garrison on the city walls changed shifts more frequently, their eyes scanning everyone entering and leaving the city gates sharply. Those Sect forces that had originally been lurking in Jing City became unusually quiet, as if it were the dead silence before a storm.

In the dark, countless gazes—some greedy, some curious, some wary—were cast upon this imperial capital that had just experienced a catastrophe, from every corner of Great Xia, and even from overseas.

The storm was gathering.

And in the underground secret chamber of the Demon Suppression Division, Li Dong sat cross-legged.

The moment he completely perfected the entire 'key Plan' in his mind, he suddenly felt a tremor from the depths of the earth beneath his feet, extremely faint but carrying endless longing.

It was the Jing City Dragon Vein that had fallen into a deep sleep.

It seemed to have sensed this upcoming, crisis-filled 'feast' and foresaw from it its own... chance for revival.