Chapter 456 391: The Plot of the Ten Thousand Races

In fact, Chu Bamboo even suspected that the Old Dragon's state of senile dementia was Z's doing… 'After all, it should be much easier to kill him like this than when he was in his right mind, shouldn't it?'

"But…" Chu Bamboo's brow twitched. 'There are too many holes in this story.'

'In the previous timeline, Z had a hell of a time fighting the dragon. But this time… Logically, Z's power in this timeline should be even weaker than in the last one…'

'Huh?' A realization dawned on Chu Bamboo. 'That's it. This world has the Celestial Court, so Z wasn't fighting alone… It all clicked into place! Everything made sense now.'

"…" Of course, Huo Qiming had no idea what Chu Bamboo was thinking. His expression flickered between light and shadow as he stared intently at Chu Bamboo, completely stumped.

Although he was one of the more thoughtful members of the Dragon Race—he had even been the one to devise and propose the plan to save their progenitor—that was as far as his intellect went.

Huo Qiming originally thought that seeing their progenitor and rescuing him would be the end of it… He never imagined that seeing him was just the first step!

Killing Chu Bamboo would be easy for him—

The Light Divine Techniques were absurdly powerful. If they were outdoors, a moment of distraction might have been enough for Chu Bamboo to vanish without a trace… But they were in a sealed room!

Huo Qiming had no doubt that using Light Transformation consumed an absurd amount of Blessing Power. So, if he just dragged things out a little, Chu Bamboo would definitely be unable to maintain that state.

But he needed Chu Bamboo's help. Even if Chu Bamboo couldn't escape the sealed room with his Light Transformation, Huo Qiming had no way to capture him, either. That meant he could kill him, but not take him alive. And for someone desperate to find a way to save his progenitor, the man before him was precisely someone he could *only* take alive, not kill! He had hit a complete dead end…

'No! There seems to be another way…'

A brilliant Divine Light suddenly bloomed in Huo Qiming's eyes.

Chu Bamboo sighed, a faint golden glow appearing on his body. He gazed at Huo Qiming with a hint of resignation and shrugged. "…Did you really think using that trick on me earlier… actually fooled me?"

'Before, that dragon clearly used this method… No, this dragon probably doesn't even know who Huo Qiming is,' Chu Bamboo considered. 'After all, he probably didn't spend much time in human society! And even if he did, in this timeline, no one should have been able to guess the connection between me and Huo Qiming, except for high-ranking figures like the Heavenly Monarch or acquaintances from Jinghai City—'

'All things considered, this was most likely some kind of psychic Divine Technique that made me see someone I trust…'

'So, the protection Z gave me… can it only defend against possession?' Chu Bamboo fell into deep thought. 'This kind of mental interference… can I only detect it? No… it should also prevent my consciousness from being directly interfered with! But it's clearly not immune to illusory skills and Divine Techniques.'

Huo Qiming: "!!!"

"Alright," Chu Bamboo said in a relaxed tone. "Now, you're going to answer some questions for me… If I'm in a good mood, I might give it a try… and see if I can free this Old Dragon?"

"You…"

"You'd better think carefully. This is your only chance!" Chu Bamboo said, intrigued.

Huo Qiming's expression was uncertain. Finally, he bit his lower lip and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Fine…"

"First, what's your situation? Has God ever hunted you… Where were you hiding before?" Chu Bamboo held up one finger.

Huo Qiming clamped his mouth shut. How could he dare answer that?

'If I tell them, what happens afterward… Will you raid our home base? After all, from the looks of it… even if Chu Bamboo gives his full support, it's not a 100% guarantee that he can save the progenitor!'

"Second," Chu Bamboo held up a second finger, "besides you, which other of the Ten Thousand Races are hostile toward Daqian… Great Chu… Never mind, toward this country beneath our feet!" This was, of course, deliberate on his part…

'He could tell the dragon across from him wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed… so he used a basic psychological trick: first, pose a question the other party could never answer, then follow it with an easier one! That way, when it came to the easier question, he would definitely…'

Huo Qiming breathed a sigh of relief and sold out his allies without hesitation. "I know… I know this one! During the dynastic change, the eighteen tribes of the Northern Barbarian Race said this was a great opportunity to establish a second Da Che… They… they should have already begun their invasion… Oh, right! Backing them are the Qilin Five Divisions!"

"'Qilin… Five Divisions?'" Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes. 'If it were just a mortal army, I would have nothing to fear… If I can suppress the Daqian empire with the flip of my hand, I can certainly crush the Barbarian Race just as easily. But the problem is the Extraordinary Influence behind them.'

"Also, also!" Huo Qiming scratched his head, a look of confusion in his eyes. "There might also be… the White Tiger Kingdom, south of the snow plains?"

"…White Tiger!"

"Yes, the Human Race there… has… White Tiger bloodline!"

Chu Bamboo pondered. He thought of the Bengal White Tiger… 'This whole thing… Okay, it's actually pretty normal!'

Suddenly thinking of something, Chu Bamboo took out his phone. "Hive, retrieve current information from all regions! Also, contact Nuwa… have her look into it on her end as well."

After a brief silence, Hive spoke, its voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation: "Situation confirmed… According to telephone communications from the south, the southwest has been attacked by the Gu Race from the Ten Thousand Mountains! At the same time, the Five Poison Sect in the southwest has also officially begun a rebellion, cooperating with the Gu Race to establish a theocratic Church Country. Their target is Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi!"

"Oh!" Chu Bamboo's brow twitched. 'The Ten Thousand Mountains… that would correspond to Southeast Asia several thousand years ago, right? From the sound of it, that's… Gu Race territory now? And this Gu Race is connected to the Five Poisonous Creatures?'

'And the White Tiger Kingdom from before… since it's south of the snow plains… that must be the South Asia region!'

"Northern Zhenbei Pass! It's on the verge of being breached… After learning of the Daqian Empire's fall, the Yulin Army, which had been transferred north for training, has lost its will to fight! This has directly caused the Northern Garrison Army to be severely shaken… The General of the Northern Garrison is currently being persuaded to surrender by the Northern Barbarian Race… From intercepted phone calls—the Heavenly Monarch wants him to 'ally with the invaders to save the nation'!"

"…Hmph." Chu Bamboo's eye twitched. 'That guy Su Po… He really shouldn't have been born into this world…'

"West… a large number of birds have appeared! They are not afraid of humans… and are even openly attacking civilians in the northwest region! It is projected that… an influence from the Ten Thousand Races will directly intervene."

"Some Cults also have ideas of establishing a Church Country! They have begun to organize and mobilize… However, this does not include the All-Powerful or Hehuan."

"The seafaring Red-Haired Race in the South Seas Region are currently showing no unusual activity… Perhaps they have not yet received the information! Once they do, based on this unit's analysis, there is a greater than seventy percent probability that they will invade the coastal regions!"

Chu Bamboo's brow furrowed, a shadow falling across his eyes. 'The fall of Daqian seems to have stirred up… the ambitions of various factions and the Ten Thousand Races…'

'The Barbarian Race and the White Tiger Kingdom are manageable… Even the Gu Race, who have already invaded… I can suppress them once I have a free hand…'

'But…'

"'The birds in the northwest…'" Chu Bamboo felt a headache coming on. 'What I hate most is this kind of direct intervention from the Ten Thousand Races. It's not that I can't win… As long as I'm willing to throw my power around, like I did to win over the God Worship Sect… there will always be an Orthodoxy that's tempted… And considering the Moisture Teaching, there's a high probability I can get their full support…'

'The chances of winning are high!'

'But the problem is…'