Hearing this, Lin Zhu, who was preparing to launch an even fiercer attack, paused in her movements.

She looked in the direction Zhao Qingcang was pointing and only then realized there were actually outsiders beside them.

Her pretty face, previously covered in frost, instantly flushed red, and she hurriedly withdrew her magic.

The vines wildly dancing across the sky instantly withered, turning into specks of green light that dissipated into the air.

Lin Zhu adjusted her somewhat messy white dress and regained her aloof and dignified demeanor, though she still glared fiercely at Zhao Qingcang as he descended from midair.

Zhao Qingcang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, coughed dryly twice, and was about to step forward to greet Chen Huaishu.

However, when he turned around and his gaze inadvertently swept across the massive object floating in midair that exuded an ancient atmosphere, his footsteps suddenly came to a halt.

Is that... the Pendulum of Life?

Zhao Qingcang's youthful face, which had still held a playful smile, instantly darkened to the extreme. A terrifying majesty belonging to the supreme commander of Great Xia swept out like a storm.

"Old Chen..."

Zhao Qingcang turned his head, his gaze falling on Chen Huaishu.

"Have you gone senile? You actually used the Pendulum of Life to revive us?"

"As the acting commander-in-chief of Great Xia, how could you do such a thing!"

At this moment, Zhao Qingcang's voice bore not the slightest joy of rebirth, but was instead filled with an anger and heartache that was impossible to conceal.

"That beast Kujo Koji sacrificed two to three hundred thousand ordinary civilians just to revive Qinze Taichiro and Kujo Masakage!"

"What rank are Lin Zhu and I? We're both SS-Rank Experts! And we've even been restored to our Peak state!"

"The number of lives required to be sacrificed to revive the two of us is definitely no less than what Sakura Country sacrificed!"

Zhao Qingcang's chest heaved violently as he pointed at Chen Huaishu's nose, his finger trembling: "Tell me! Just how many innocent civilians of Great Xia did you sacrifice? One hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? Or even more?!"

"How is what you did any different from that Kujo Koji, who treats human life like trash?!"

"How can I, Zhao Qingcang, face the ancestors of Great Xia in the future?! How can I have the face to call myself a soldier of Great Xia?!"

Question after question slammed onto the wasteland like heavy hammers.

Even Lin Zhu realized the gravity of the matter at this moment. Her face turned pale as she looked at Chen Huaishu in disbelief.

If their lives were bought with the blood of hundreds of thousands of their compatriots, they would rather remain sleeping beneath the earth!

Facing the marshal's torrent of furious scolding, Chen Huaishu didn't get angry, but instead let out a bitter smile.

This was the marshal of their Great Xia.

He would rather die and have his soul destroyed than harm the common people in the slightest.

"Marshal, please don't be angry yet, hear me out..." Chen Huaishu sighed helplessly.

However, before Chen Huaishu could finish speaking, a calm and gentle voice sounded faintly from the side.

"Marshal Zhao, there is no need to blame Old General Chen."

"Great Xia did not sacrifice a single innocent citizen."

Zhao Qingcang turned his head abruptly, his hawk-like gaze instantly locking onto the person who spoke.

It was a young man with a slightly pale face, yet a calm and composed expression.

He simply stood there quietly, showing not the slightest cowardice even in the face of his SS-Rank pressure.

"The one who truly revived you is actually me."

"You?"

Facing this unfamiliar young man, Zhao Qingcang frowned, his scrutinizing eyes filled with confusion.

However, within just two seconds, he reacted quickly and realized the other person's identity.

"Are you... Ever-changing Star Lord?"

Zhou Huai nodded with a smile and bowed slightly.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself: Zhou Huai from Donghai City. Greetings, Marshal Zhao, Principal Lin Zhu!"

"I sacrificed my Avatars to revive the two of you, causing zero casualties. So, your anger just now was directed at the wrong place."

Hearing Zhou Huai admit it himself, Zhao Qingcang was equally astonished by the power and mystery of Zhou Huai's Avatars.

To even use Avatars to "exploit a bug" with an ancient Divine Artifact that touches upon the Law of Life? Just how absurdly overpowered was this kid's class?!

After a brief moment of shock, wild joy overwhelmed this Great Xia commander.

"Hahaha! Good! Good! Good!"

Zhao Qingcang laughed heartily toward the sky, grabbed Zhou Huai's shoulders, and slapped them heavily. The terrifying force made Zhou Huai grimace in secret.

"I truly didn't misjudge you! You kid are not only a genius, but a lucky star for our Great Xia!"

Zhao Qingcang's eyes grew brighter and brighter as his gaze swept back and forth between Zhou Huai and the Pendulum of Life, a bold and crazy idea quickly forming in his mind.

"Zhou Huai, if that's the case, couldn't we make a list of deceased generals of Great Xia?"

"Think about it: as long as we use your Avatars as sacrifices to revive them all...!"

The more Zhao Qingcang spoke, the more excited he became, earnestly trying to persuade him: "Look at our Great Xia. Surrounded by foreign enemies over the years, our talents have severely withered! How many brilliant predecessors bled their last drop of blood to protect this land!"

"If we could revive those SS-Rank Experts who died in battle, or even the legendary SSS-Rank Experts! With this power, let alone a mere Sakura Country, even the arrogant Freedom Federation wouldn't be a match for us!!"

Listening to Zhao Qingcang's impassioned "grand blueprint," Zhou Huai remained composed on the surface while secretly complaining in his mind.

How did this Marshal Zhao get younger while his cheek got thicker?

Reviving him was one thing, but how did he climb up the ladder and start making demands right away?

Does he really treat my God-level Clone System like a wholesale cabbage market?

Although the System could revive a Avatar after twenty-four hours, each time its Origin of life was drained to turn into ash, the Avatar genuinely had to experience death!

Even a donkey in a commune wouldn't be worked this hard!

However, complaints aside, Zhou Huai reined in his smile.

Looking at the fanatical Zhao Qingcang, he gently shook his head.

"Marshal, it's not that I don't want to revive more of Great Xia's powerful predecessors." Zhou Huai's gaze passed over the crowd and landed on the Pendulum of Life, which was still exuding an ancient aura, his voice lowering.

"It's that when I used the Pendulum of Life just now, I had an ominous premonition."

"An ominous premonition?" Zhao Qingcang's smile froze, his brows furrowing.

Lin Zhu walked over from the side as well, suspicion appearing on her exquisite face: "Zhou Huai, what did you discover?"

"I have a feeling... the function of the Pendulum of Life isn't as simple as just reviving people."

"It is more like... a collector of life energy."

When these words came out, everyone present froze. Wei Liao gasped in cold air even more: "A collector? What do you mean?"

Zhou Huai turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces as he analyzed gravely: "Think carefully about it. Sacrifice and resurrection have never been an equivalent exchange of energy. I felt this particularly clearly when I conducted the ritual just now."

"The massive life Origin generated by sacrificing my three SS-Rank Avatars wasn't completely used up if it was merely to reshape the Marshal's and Principal Lin's bodies and souls. Where did that extra, astronomical amount of life energy go?"

Zhou Huai's eyes turned cold: "It vanished. The instant the resurrection ritual was completed, it was completely devoured by a certain Law deep within the Pendulum of Life, or rather, transmitted to some unknown space that we cannot perceive."

"This isn't simply a Divine Artifact for reviving people. I have a premonition that if we greedily continue to use it and constantly feed life energy into it, something extremely terrifying is very likely to happen."