Chapter 903: Chaos

Although this tall female Heavenly Demon had skin that was a bit... ginger-yellow, and her facial features were a bit too large compared to a human's, combined with her petite face she looked like a toad spirit; however, if one mentally corrected these things to look like a normal human, one could actually piece together her original appearance.

Isn't this... Yun Xiyan, Big Sister Yun?

Tang Zhao smiled slightly; this tearful, whimpering appearance of Yun Xiyan didn't have a shadow of her true self at all, and her accent in the Heavenly Demon Common Language was also very authentic.

It seems this bold-tempered sister has learned real things at the Research Institute and has also been tempered in the Heavenly Demon Realm; she is already a good actor who can control her performance at will. Moreover, listening to her introduction, she even managed to reach the position of a Personal Guard beside Priest Hutian. This is a very critical position; she has truly grown.

However, if Tang Zhao and the others hadn't arrived in time, Yun Xiyan's reconnaissance trip would have ended there. Even if there were no threat to her life, she would have had to retreat and leave. In such a chaotic situation, the role that ordinary soldiers or ordinary spies can play is actually very limited.

Although Tang Zhao recognized her, he remained calm and gave no hints. They were on two different lines that did not intersect; Yun Xiyan didn't even know that Tang Zhao was her supreme superior. Although Tang Zhao could be said to be in overall charge of the entire enemy-behind-enemy-lines operation, unnecessary communication would increase the risk.

After Yun Xiyan's intentionally disjointed account, Tang Zhao and Priest Haotian finally figured out the general process of events—

Priest Hutian had broken with Wanshendian more than two years ago. As a direct anti-Evil God faction and an indirect pro-Human faction, Hutian's stance was very niche, and he didn't have many friends. As soon as he left Wanshendian, Wanshendian declared him a traitor, and Hutian took the opportunity to assemble a team, acting like a rebel army, already on the verge of civil war. Although this was mainly decided by Songtian, it was a fact that Haotian, as the first High Priest, did not stand on his side.

Therefore, their relationship had been poor for these past few years. It wasn't until now, after the Wanshen Assembly, that Haotian raised the banner against the Evil God, and Hutian gradually leaned toward this side, but he still retained some vigilance and did not lead his team to defect, but instead set up camp right next to them, which could be considered an alliance.

Haotian knew the situation was dire and had been lowering his posture to invite Hutian; this time, he had also entrusted the main camp to him while taking the opportunity to go to the Shenmu. Priest Hutian could also feel the sincerity, so he had been leading his team toward Wan Shen Gu for several days. If everything had gone smoothly along the way, he should have even visited Wan Shen Gu in person and sat in command inside with the Holy Maiden.

Yun Xiyan had already infiltrated Hutian's side and become part of the Personal Guard Army, so she had been following Hutian's main tent throughout this journey and had also arrived at a location two hours' ride away from Wan Shen Gu to set up camp.

But tonight, a sudden change occurred.

Just after nightfall, a group of stragglers broke into the camp, claiming to be messengers from Wan Shen Gu, saying that the Evil God's forces had invaded Wan Shen Gu and asking Hutian to go to the rescue.

Hutian hurried out to look, and sure enough, there was already a faint glow of fire over at Wan Shen Gu, which turned into a sky-high blaze in just a moment, with faint sounds of thunder. Hutian immediately prepared to go to the rescue, so he took the lead to go and air-drop into the rescue, while ordering the army to set off in an orderly fashion to support him from behind.

This was originally the correct decision, because the gods had fallen, the stars were without light, and the night in the Heavenly Demon Realm was particularly dark. Even though individual Heavenly Demons were not weak, the army relied on discipline, and marching at night carried considerable danger. Hutian intended to leave first, and as long as the army arrived at a normal speed, it would be in time to provide support. If he won, the army would intercept the fleeing Evil God's forces; if he failed to win, he would take the Holy Maiden and important personnel and flee to the army for safety.

Who would have thought that after Hutian separated from the team, just as the camp had finished packing up and was about to set off, the Evil God's forces suddenly attacked from the flank, severely damaging Hutian's camp with the force of a bamboo being split, scattering the army in one go, and then conducting a split-and-encircle maneuver.

That was all Yun Xiyan could explain clearly. She didn't know what happened afterward; in any case, she had muddled through a breakout with a small squad, was caught up to by others, fought again, was defeated, and retreated—in short, she was in a very sorry state until she was saved by Haotian.

Upon hearing this, Haotian exchanged a glance with Tang Zhao and thought to himself: This is a trap set by them! It seems that although there are many lunatics in the Evil God Camp, they are not all fools; they also know how to use troops, and their coordination is very tacit. One must not treat them as simple cultist lunatics.

Tang Zhao was also secretly surprised to hear this: the fighting of this cult was not commanded by him. In fact, after he "subdued" the Evil God, except for a few decisions on major strategies, he hadn't really managed it much; this was all the remaining subjective consciousness of the Evil God and the spontaneous operation of the Evil God Camp.

In fact, the Evil God Camp now has a million believers gathered on Tian Jiang Dao alone. Since it hasn't fallen into chaos, it must have formed an order. Besides simple fanatical lunatics, the Evil God Camp also has capable people among the lunatics, as well as normal Heavenly Demons who aren't crazy but are just trying to save their lives or are opportunists. These elites have already cobbled together a set of effective organizational structures, and the new High Priest, Chentian, is also quite capable, even surpassing Songtian. Even if Tang Zhao didn't let the Evil God reappear to directly strengthen the Evil God's army, their combat power is still very strong.

The Evil God has never been a hands-on leader. Apart from eating and squandering Divine Power, it just gives orders and delegates power to those below. This has actually made the Evil God Camp run well; after all, most gods have no administrative ability, and it is good for everyone that they manage fewer miscellaneous affairs.

This time, Tang Zhao transferred Haotian away and then gave the Evil God the news. The Evil God Camp immediately moved, faithfully executing the orders, and the action was very decisive and orderly, which shows that the Evil God cult as a normal organization is already very powerful.

Fortunately... fortunately, Tang Zhao had already seized the initiative beforehand, otherwise, how could he be so relaxed now, and even dare to watch the joke of the Heavenly Demon world?

Before Tang Zhao could sigh to himself, Haotian was already very anxious and said, "So Hutian is already at Wan Shen Gu? Is Hutian not in your main force?"

Yun Xiyan said with a mournful face, "Not only is the High Priest not there, but it's not even certain if there is a main force left."

Haotian said, "In that case, go to Wan Shen Gu." He was speaking to Tang Zhao, certainly not to Yun Xiyan.

Yun Xiyan's heart stirred, and she said, "High Priest, are you not going to care about us anymore?" As she said this, the remaining Heavenly Demons of Hutian's camp looked over, all with expressions of expectation and nervousness.

Haotian couldn't help but feel irritable. In his heart, of course, the Holy Maiden and his own team were important; what did these small fries under Hutian matter? Just let them disperse. Whether they can break out of the encirclement naturally depends on fate; could it be that he has to take care of them for a lifetime just because he saved them once?

However, just as he was about to drive them away, he glanced at Taixiong and couldn't help but hesitate: Hutian and Taixiong were both considered his allies. If he were too cold to the allies of Hutian's camp, would Taixiong also have misgivings?

Taixiong saw his gaze come over, made an "I understand" expression, and said, "Go ahead, Priest Haotian. I will protect this place and try to preserve as much strength as possible for Priest Hutian."

Haotian was actually not willing in his heart; he wanted Taixiong to go with him to provide a fallback, but since Taixiong had said so, he naturally couldn't stop him, and instead nodded and said, "I trouble you, Taixiong."

There was no time to lose, and Haotian immediately went to support Wan Shen Gu.

Tang Zhao turned back and said to Yun Xiyan, "You are very good, very nice."

How could Yun Xiyan know that Tang Zhao was praising her personally? She only thought that the other party favored her Heavenly Demon identity, so she put on a performative smile, then immediately entered her role and said loudly, "Are you Taixiong?"

Tang Zhao said, "It is I."

Yun Xiyan's eyes shone, and she said, "It really is you. I have long heard of your great name. In the Shenjie, you fought the Evil God alone and were the last fortress. I also heard that you are very kind and generous, and very loving toward believers and the people of the Lingjie. Was it you who saved us just now?"

Tang Zhao found it a bit curious. He knew Yun Xiyan's identity as a spy, so he knew the other party definitely didn't admire him sincerely. Was this enthusiasm because she had received some instructions from the rear? Actually, it was Haotian who had acted just now, but Tang Zhao played along and said, "A mere trifle, not worth mentioning."

Tang Zhao guessed correctly. Yun Xiyan and these behind-enemy-lines workers had indeed received some instructions, instructing them to promote Taixiong as much as possible, which could allow more Heavenly Demons to convert to Taixiong. However, it was not explicitly stated that Taixiong was one of their own, and Yun Xiyan didn't think much of it, just faithfully executing the mission. She immediately shouted, "Comrades, no need to be afraid now, Taixiong has come to save us!"

The Heavenly Demons were indeed very drawn to Taixiong, because this was indeed the strongest True God in the current camp. Although Priest Hutian had always wanted to break free from the shackles of the gods, his ideas were too advanced, and even few of his confidants accepted them, let alone these ordinary Heavenly Demons. They immediately cheered, shouting "Long live Taixiong!"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Pick out your own people. Stand on my side."

Yun Xiyan followed orders and called out her teammates, and the rest were naturally those from the Evil God's side.

Although the Evil God was also considered to be in Tang Zhao's hands, he wouldn't take care of "his own people." With a slight flick of his finger, those Evil God believers immediately turned into flames.

The Heavenly Demons immediately cheered.

Yun Xiyan was very shocked to see this move, but then she thought: This is a god; isn't it normal for his strength to be powerful? And I don't have to deal with it; there are superiors to handle it. She then said with great admiration, "Emperor, as soon as you make a move, the Evil God is reduced to ashes!"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "It is not me making a move, but you making a move."

Yun Xiyan said "Ah?" and thought to herself: If we could beat him, we would have already.

Tang Zhao lightly pointed his finger into the void, and Yun Xiyan only felt her whole body heat up, with a thin layer of flame rising on her body.

Previously, the flames on the Evil God's believers had burned them to nothing, but Yun Xiyan was unharmed while carrying the flames. She felt her whole body filled with power and seemed to be even stronger; she couldn't wait to find a force that was stronger than her original self to practice with.

Tang Zhao's expression was solemn as he said, "You are all warriors of the god, and you should be invincible! I bestow my blessing upon you here, granting you supreme power. Brave warriors, fight for me!"