A large number of Ancient Awakened Ones had also appeared within Great Xia.

You must know that before Kujo Naruya's sacrificial ritual took place, such incidents of ancient souls usurping host bodies had only occurred sporadically.

With Great Xia possessing a vast territory and a population of several billion, the Great Xia Military Department had gone to great lengths, yet the number of out-of-control individuals they managed to capture was merely one or two.

But what about now?

Just in Sakura Country, a tiny patch of land that had just been ravaged by war and sacrifice, a full twenty-one Ancient Remnant Clan members had popped up one after another in the short span of a single day!

This abnormal explosive growth was by no means a coincidence.

Zhou Huai quickly reined in his thoughts, stringing all the clues together into a clear logical chain.

"The beginning of this explosive growth is most likely that sacrificial ritual by Kujo Naruya!"

Zhou Huai swallowed hard.

That ritual drained the life energy of a full ten million people.

Although a small fraction of Sakura Country citizens managed to survive by luck, this was merely a superficial phenomenon.

Once the life Origin is crudely extracted, it is absolutely impossible to be made up for by conventional means.

Before long, this small fraction of surviving people would also die one after another due to the complete exhaustion of their vitality.

And such massive life energy, gathered and overflowed through Divine Artifacts such as the Pendulum of Life, cast a catalytic rain on a global scale.

It was from the very moment this sacrificial ritual was completed that the Ancient Awakened Ones hidden in every corner of the world began to show a terrifying exponential increase in their numbers!

"I can't wait any longer; I must go see Zhao Qingcang."

Zhou Huai made a prompt and decisive decision.

He stood up and coldly instructed Natsume Rinku, who was standing by on standby: "Watch over those Ancient Remnant Clan members in the basement."

"As you command, Master." Natsume Rinku lowered her head respectfully.

Half an hour later.

Zhou Huai manipulated the body of Insect Emperor Caesar and descended into the temporary camp stationed by the Great Xia Military Department outside Tokyo.

The camp was heavily guarded, and the faces of the coming and going soldiers all bore the fatigue after a major battle and the sternness of victory.

When they saw that black-robed figure appear, all the soldiers stopped in their tracks and lowered their heads.

"Lord Ever-changing Star Lord!"

The guarding officer immediately stepped forward to salute.

"Take me to see Marshal Zhao." Caesar said in a low voice.

Unimpeded all the way, Caesar was led into the largest command tent in the center of the camp.

As soon as he lifted the tent flap, he saw Zhao Qingcang, who had returned to his Peak and looked youthful, standing in front of a huge military map, frowning with an ugly expression.

Hearing the movement, Zhao Qingcang turned his head.

The moment he saw Caesar appear, this God of War of Great Xia whose expression remained unchanged even if Mount Tai collapsed before him saw his tense shoulders visibly sag as he let out a long sigh of relief.

He skipped over the matter of Sakura Country's post-war interest distribution and did not mention Caesar's control over the Divine Dynasty.

He didn't even care that there were still several staff officers present around, and strode directly forward.

"You've finally shown up." Zhao Qingcang looked into Caesar's eyes hidden under the hood and lowered his voice, "I just received top-secret news from back home."

Zhao Qingcang paused and stared at him: "That courtyard of yours in Donghai City has been razed to the ground. Not only that, on the Gobi Desert dozens of kilometers outside Donghai City, the military's reconnaissance aircraft also discovered traces of top-tier powerhouses having a fierce battle!"

Saying this, Zhao Qingcang swallowed hard.

"My first thought was that something went wrong with your true body, and I even thought—" Zhao Qingcang patted Caesar on the shoulder, "Now that you can still manipulate a Avatar to come see me, it means your true body should be fine, right? What on earth happened in Donghai City?"

Listening to Zhao Qingcang's head-on barrage of questions, the overflowing worry in his tone had not a shred of pretense.

Zhou Huai couldn't help feeling a warmth in his heart.

In this cruel world, besides the loyal Uncle Fu and Ye Xi, Zhao Qingcang could be considered one of the few superiors who truly cared about him.

Since the other party was so frank, Zhou Huai had no intention of continuing to hide things.

"My true body was indeed attacked." Caesar spoke straightforwardly.

"Who did it?!" Zhao Qingcang's expression sank.

"Dawnbreaker Guild." Zhou Huai stared into Zhao Qingcang's eyes: "That Mr. Duan who has always been hidden behind the scenes came to find me in person. We had a fight outside Donghai City."

"What?!"

Zhao Qingcang widened his eyes, and his expression turned extremely ugly.

"The leader of the Dawnbreaker Guild? How could he know the exact location of your true body?" Zhao Qingcang's breathing turned a bit rapid, and a series of questions blurted out, "Just what is this Mr. Duan's strength like?"

"Very powerful."

Zhou Huai manipulated Caesar and shook his head: "Without the slightest exaggeration, he is the strongest Professional among all the ones I have ever encountered. Without exception."

Hearing this evaluation, Zhao Qingcang was secretly shocked.

"This Mr. Duan..." Zhao Qingcang asked tentatively, "Could he be even stronger than Kujo Naruya right after his resurrection?"

"He is stronger than Kujo Naruya by I don't know how many times."

Zhou Huai nodded heavily, directly shattering the last trace of wishful thinking in Zhao Qingcang's heart.

"In that encounter in the Gobi Desert, my Avatar had no ability to resist in front of him whatsoever." Zhou Huai took a deep breath and recounted that tragic one-sided massacre, "Earth-element, fire, Space-type—he can use multiple Law powers as he pleases. Even the Divine Artifact Heaven-Suppressing Seal has no effect on him,"

"Those SS-rank and even SSS-rank Avatars of mine were wiped out almost entirely by him as if he were slaughtering chickens and dogs."

Zhao Qingcang only felt his brain go blank.

Who was Zhou Huai? That was the Great Xia Guardian God of War who could powerfully slay even SSS-rank super-tier deities!

The trump cards he held in his hands, whether it was an Forbidden Spell Mage or a Thunder Swordsman, casually pulling out any single one would be enough to suppress a nation.

Yet such a terrifying power sufficient to sweep across the world, in front of that Mr. Duan, actually had no resistance whatsoever?!

Just what level of Professional was the other party?

"Since your Avatars were wiped out entirely..." Zhao Qingcang swallowed hard and looked at Caesar, "Then how did your true body survive?"

"I also luckily relied on feigning death to barely fool him and escape a calamity."

Zhao Qingcang fell silent.

Being able to force a peerless monstrous talent like Zhou Huai to rely on self-detonating a substitute to fake his death and seek survival, the terror of that Mr. Duan had far exceeded the intelligence understanding of the Great Xia Military Department.

"This matter must never be leaked. From now on, Ever-changing Star Lord is a dead man on the surface. Your true body's identity must be completely hidden!" Zhao Qingcang made his decision, and then he asked, "He went to such great lengths to come kill you—what on earth is it for?"

"To eliminate variables."