My Core is the Boss

Time passed swiftly. Qi Yuan and his group emerged from the teleportation array and arrived in Clearwater Village.

Qi Yuan stomped lightly on the ground. At once, a Little Xue spun her way up from beneath the earth.

"Where is Great Venerable Thunder?" he asked.

"Great Venerable Thunder left last night." Little Xue quickly recounted what had happened the day before. She then handed Qi Yuan a storage pouch. "Before he left, he asked me to give this to you."

Inside were Thunder's personal stash.

Qi Yuan glanced at it casually and put it away. "Zhang Feng of Cai Empire, right?"

Zhang Feng was a defected ancient god of the Cai Empire. Venerable Flirt, whom Qi Yuan had killed in Feiwu City, was his brother in law. Zhang Feng had even played a role in the fall of the Jiang Empire, where Venerable Tianbao had resided.

Killing intent flickered in Qi Yuan’s eyes. "It seems my plan has to move up."

The younger twin beside him grew anxious. "My lord, if we make a move against the evil gods of a neighboring state now, it will surely alert the rest."

The other ancient gods thought the same. If anything, this was the time to lie low. Clearwater Village had just emerged from the Ancestral Land with substantial gains. Instead of marching into the enemy's territory, they should be consuming resources to build strength. Living in the fallen zone, being surrounded by the evil gods was just inevitable.

The elder twin said solemnly, "There's no need for my lord to act personally. I will go to the Cai Empire and bring Great Venerable Thunder back."

The younger twin cried out anxiously, "Sister!"

She knew exactly what her sister intended: she wanted to go alone to keep the village hidden from the enemy.

At the same time, the younger twin also knew that Thunder was likely already dead. Going there was tantamount to suicide—or rather, a deliberate sacrifice. Thunder wanted to ease Qi Yuan's conscience and stop him from going himself.

The younger twin said urgently, "My lord, I am willing to go in my sister's stead!"

Qi Yuan smiled at the twin sisters. "Who do you take me for? Some dumb brute? The strongest enemy around here is Zhang Feng, isn't it? His divine spiritual energy is quite valuable. If Old Thunder steals the kill, it'd be such a waste. I'm just expanding my original plan."

They didn't seem to be convinced. The faces of the ancient gods all screamed, “Don't go.” Still, out of respect for Qi Yuan, none of them voiced it.

Qi Yuan couldn't help but grumble inwardly. These NPCs are really hard to fool!

"Enough talk. I don't feel like explaining. I'm the boss. Listen to me. Point the sword at the Cai Empire. Execute Zhang Feng!" Qi Yuan issued the order outright. No one objected. "Move!"

Over twenty figures turned into streaks of light and flew toward the Cai Empire.

Along the way, Wang Wenqi joined them. She wanted to avenge her great-grandfather and her empire.

Unlike in the past, Qi Yuan and his companions made no effort to conceal themselves, brazenly flying toward their destination.

As a result, it didn't take long before the enemy became alerted.

"Who dares?!"

The evil gods stationed in cities released powerful auras to intercept them.

Qi Yuan said coldly, "Kill them."

At once, the elder twin struck. A divine beam flashed across the sky.

The evil god looked on in sheer terror. "How can there be so many?!"

How could so many ancient gods advance so boldly in the fallen zone?! This was suicide!

Furthermore, evil god military camps lay nearby. Each camp housed at least a hundred slumbering new gods, much more powerful than the stationed evil gods. If alerted, they would go on a hunt within a quarter-hour at most. That was precisely why the ancient gods kept their heads low.

However, the stationed evil god would never live to see that. He felt suffocated with regret. Why did he intercept the ancient gods without thinking?

The elder twin unfolded her Divine Domain. Powerless to resist, the evil god died as soon as the divine spiritual energy flooded him.

A domineering evil god died just like that, plain and effortless. The cost was that Qi Yuan's group slowed somewhat.

Qi Yuan frowned. "So many suicidal little bugs."

Indeed, they had already killed three such 'bugs' along the way. Every time they approached a city, its formations would issue warnings, and the evil gods would rush out to block them.

The elder twin said gravely, "My lord, we must finish this quickly and retreat! If the evil god camps surround us, we won't be able to escape!"

Everyone was deeply worried. On top of having over a hundred evil gods, each camp had at least one Great Venerable.

"I know," Qi Yuan replied calmly. "There's just too many roadblocks. It's honestly annoying."

He really wanted to shout, “Princess needs to pee, everyone move aside!” Then, he realized they were flying faster than sound.

Shouting wouldn't work. Unless... Dao Transmission! Qi Yuan froze. Right. Dao Transmission.

He immediately gathered his divine spiritual energy and projected his voice using Dao. "Execute the traitor Zhang Feng. Kill anyone who blocks the way without mercy!"

The evil gods in the cities no longer intervened. Perhaps Qi Yuan's words intimidated them.

After all, Zhang Feng was a Third Step True God. Those daring to kill him must be at least that level. What use was it for these evil gods to block the way? To throw their lives away? Better to wait for the True Gods from the camps.

Thus, with Dao Transmission clearing the path, Qi Yuan and his group rushed toward the Cai Empire.

The cry for Zhang Feng’s execution spread from the Lin Empire to the Jiang Empire, and onward to the Cai Empire.

Countless new gods stared at the streaks of light in the sky, shaken to their core.

Ancient gods in hiding revealed looks of shock.

"Zhang Feng the traitor! Has a righteous god finally come to execute him?"

"Hahaha! Righteous god, go forth!"

They all believed Qi Yuan to be a powerful ancient god driven to desperation, seeking to trade his life for Zhang Feng's.

Zhang Feng’s betrayal had caused the Cai and Jiang Empires to fall under the control of the evil gods, throwing the five neighboring empires into chaos. Which ancient god didn't hate Zhang Feng? Which didn't wish him dead?

Suddenly, a transmission entered Qi Yuan's ears. "Senior, be careful. There is an evil god camp in the capital of Cai Empire."

The voice came swiftly and vanished just as fast. It was clearly an ancient god taking enormous risk to warn him.

Qi Yuan's heart tightened. "An evil god camp...?"

Could it be that Thunder had already stormed the Cai Empire, alarming the True Gods?

The other Ancient Gods stiffened as well.

The elder twin said, "My lord, why don't we split up? My sister and I will go to the Cai Empire, you should leave in secret."

"No need," Qi Yuan said calmly. "If Zhang Feng is alive, I want to see the man. If he is dead, I want to see his corpse! Let's go!"

He was going no matter what.