Zhou Huai's words were not a hastily made-up excuse to reject Zhao Qingcang.

He genuinely believes this, and this speculation is by no means unfounded.

"Marshal, Elder Chen." Zhou Huai stepped forward, his eyes scanning the crowd with keen insight: "Actually, before this, I received a crucial piece of intelligence that perfectly confirmed my conjecture."

"What intelligence?" Zhao Qingcang asked, his expression showing that he was listening attentively.

He now has considerable faith in Zhou Huai.

Without the other person, I wouldn't have had a chance to be resurrected.

Zhou Huai said in a deep voice, "Back then on the battlefield in Tokyo, before I killed that Sakura Country sword saint, Wada Hirayama, he revealed a very important piece of information to me before he died."

"He told me that after the exploration of the ruins of the Castrandis Islands, the person who actually killed Principal Lin Zhu was not him. It was a mysterious man named Mr. Duan from the Dawn Guild!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding area fell silent.

Chen Huaishuo and Wei Liao stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with shock.

Zhao Qingcang turned his head and gave Lin Zhu a look that sought confirmation.

Lin Zhu frowned, recalling her memories before her death.

After a moment, she said with lingering fear, "Zhou Huai is right."

"I did not die at the hands of Wada Hirayama at that time."

"Instead, when he entrusted Wada Hirayama and the powerful figures from South Korea with the life-sustaining pendulum, he encountered a powerful force."

Although Lin Zhu's voice was calm, anyone could hear the tremor hidden in her tone: "The opponent's strength far surpasses mine. I didn't even see the opponent's face before I completely lost consciousness and died at his hands."

Who is Lin Zhu?

That was the vice-principal of the highest institution of learning in the Great Xia Dynasty, a top-tier SS-level expert!

To leave her no chance to fight back, and to kill her instantly without even seeing her enemy's face, what terrifying strength would that require?

"If the mysterious person who instantly killed Principal Lin was Mr. Duan from the Dawn Guild..."

"His professional rank must be at least SSS level or higher!"

At that moment, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

Another SSS-level?

There has always been a consensus among leaders of countries around the world: apart from the terrifying being in the Free Federation who is high above and is known as the "true god on earth," there is no other SSS-level being!

But now, right under the noses of their Great Xia, the infamous Dawn Guild, hidden in the shadows, actually harbors an SSS-level peerless expert?!

"The foundation of this Dawn Guild... is even deeper and more terrifying than anyone expected!" Chen Huaishuo muttered to himself.

Zhao Qingcang didn't speak, but gritted his teeth, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

He had realized the seriousness of the problem.

"What exactly is this Dawn Guild up to?"

"They clearly snatched the Pendulum of Life from Lin Zhu with the absolute power of that SSS-level expert, so why didn't they keep it for themselves? Instead, they handed the Pendulum over to Kujo Hiroharu of the Sakura Country?"

In response to Marshal Zhao's question, Zhou Huai quickly replied, "Marshal, this is also a question I've been pondering."

"However, after personally using the Pendulum of Life and experiencing firsthand the rules that devour life energy, I finally have some clues."

Zhou Huai pointed at the pendulum, his gaze piercing: "Just as I said, this thing is a collector. That Mr. Duan needs the Life Pendulum to obtain more life energy!"

"Do you think what would have happened if Mr. Duan hadn't given the pendulum to Kujo Hiroharu, but instead Principal Lin had taken it back to our Great Xia?"

Zhou Huai answered his own question with certainty: "If the higher-ups of our Great Xia knew about the terrifying side effects of the Pendulum of Life, they would absolutely not use it to revive a top expert, but would instead permanently seal him away."

"In this way, Mr. Duan's plan to collect life energy has completely fallen through."

Zhou Huai sneered: "That's why he personally snatched the pendulum and then deliberately handed this tempting artifact to Kujo Hiroharu."

"Because Kujo Hiroharu is a heartless madman with an extremely inflated ambition. In order to resurrect their Kujo family's legendary SSS-class ancestor, let alone hundreds of thousands, even tens of millions of ordinary people's lives are not worth mentioning in his eyes!"

"This Mr. Duan is using someone else to do his dirty work! He's using Kujo Hiroji to help them complete this inhumane and massive sacrifice!"

Hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

What a vicious scheme! What terrifying forbearance!

In order to achieve their goals, they actually treated millions of lives in a country as pawns on the chessboard!

"Moreover, I have direct evidence to support this."

Zhou Huai continued, recalling the scene in the ruins of Ise Grand Shrine: "When Kujo Hiroharu initiated the sacrificial ceremony in Tokyo and forcibly extracted the life force of all the common people in the city, I led my clones to break into the ancient ruins inside Ise Grand Shrine."

"There, we encountered two SS-rank professionals from the Dawn Guild who fiercely resisted us, trying to protect Kujou Naruya's resurrection ritual ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ from being disrupted."

"However, after Kujou Naruya was successfully resurrected, those two guys from the Dawn Guild did not stay to join forces with the newly awakened Kujou Naruya to kill us. Instead, they left the ruins without hesitation!"

"This is the best proof!"

"The Dawn Guild, or rather, that Mr. Duan, doesn't care at all who Kujo Hiroharu is trying to revive."

"What they wanted from beginning to end was only one thing—to ensure the complete operation of the sacrificial ritual and, through Kujo Hiroharu, obtain that unimaginably vast life energy!"

A cold wind howled.

The more Chen Huaishuo listened, the more his scalp tingled and his mind went blank. He couldn't help but step forward and ask urgently, "But... Zhou Huai, what exactly is the purpose of this Dawn Guild, or rather, that unfathomably powerful Mr. Duan, in going to such lengths to collect such a massive amount of life energy?!"

Everyone turned their heads at the same time, their gazes unanimously focusing on Zhou Huai, subconsciously seeking a final answer from this young man who could always see through all conspiracies.

However, this time, Zhou Huai could only give a helpless bitter smile when he saw the expectant looks on everyone's faces.

“Old Chen, you overestimate me.” Zhou Huai shook his head. “Regarding this question, I currently know very little about the Dawn Guild’s background, so I cannot give a definite answer at all.”

However, he squinted, his gaze unfathomable.

"Although there is no evidence, I have a feeling."

"The ultimate purpose hidden behind this... is very likely related to those ancient awakened ones who have recently appeared in various places."