Wang Chen had sacrificed his life while providing support to Shan He.
The remains of Wang Chen were not found during the lulls in the war when both sides were clearing the battlefield. His body had been intertwined with countless others, making it impossible to recover his complete remains.
Xu Qing silently looked into the distance. The world was dark and red light flickered from time to time along with deafening explosions.
In that direction was another war front in the western war zone. It was also the place where the army of the Yinghuang Province was guarding.
The captain was there, and so was Ancestor Xue Lianzi.
"I hope they're fine." Xu Qing mumbled inwardly.
He couldn't transmit his voice through the jade slip. This was restricted in the battlefield and only battle reports could be transmitted.
Suppression and silence were the rhythm of this battlefield.
The time to rest and reorganize was very short.
As the order to act arrived, Kong Xianglong got up and wordlessly headed straight for the war puppet that was covered in broken flesh and blood.
This was already the seventh puppet they had exchanged in these seven days.
Shan He carefully put the wine flask away and walked over as well.
Xu Qing silently stood up and boarded the puppet with the hundreds of cultivators gathered in the surroundings. He then sat cross-legged inside.
As his cultivation base spread out, the puppet's entire body instantly trembled. It slowly emitted a pressure and walked toward the battlefield.
As it moved, a lot of minced meat scattered down from the gaps between the puppet's joints. There were flesh and blood of the harvesters but most of them were of the Holy Wave Race cultivators.
After they fell on the ground, they were crushed again by the war puppets walking over from behind.
Xu Qing was in charge of the left hand of the war puppet he was in, controlling its destructive power.
Xu Qing, who was inside the war puppet, was in charge of the left hand, which possessed the power of destruction. He sat cross-legged within it, gazing at the approaching battlefield through the protective barrier on the surface. Unconsciously, he had acquired a numbness in his expression, just like many others, due to the relentless nature of the war.
When he passed by the abandoned puppet mountains, Xu Qing saw that there were no longer any living people there.
The body of the crippled old man who had once told him to come back alive lay amidst a pile of abandoned puppet remains, surrounded by a purplish-black aura, evidence of being consumed by the anomalous substances.
Xu Qing had seen too many such corpses in the Nanhuang Continent.
For a battlefield with millions of combatants, the death of one person often goes unnoticed by anyone other than their fellow squad members and the recording officials.
He died silently.
Xu Qing remained silent. At the next instant, the puppet he was in rushed out of the golden net and gathered together with tens of thousands of identical puppets to form an army that charged over.
Time flowed by.
On the dusk of the tenth day, the Palace Master returned.
His appearance caused the morale of the human race in Fenghai County to clearly rise. Everyone's eyes seemed to have some glimmer.
As for this regular battle, with the return of the Palace Master, the Holy Wave Race chose to rest and recuperate, and there was a break.
During this time, both sides would send small teams to the battlefield to retrieve the intact bodies of their own forces as much as possible. While there might be occasional clashes during these retrieval tasks, the instinctual choice for both sides was to avoid unnecessary confrontation.
Xu Qing also left Kong Xianglong's team as he was recalled to the main tent by the Palace Master.
When he saw the Palace Master again, he didn't see any injuries on him. In fact, his eyes revealed a dense fire of life, and the baleful aura on his body was even stronger.
This didn't make sense.
The battle between the Palace Master and the Red Spirit Monarch had lasted for so long. It was impossible for him to not suffer any injuries.
Xu Qing looked at the Palace Master and hesitated for a moment. He then gently told him the information he had found in the Morning Glow Province. At the same time, he took out the Palace Master's token and handed it over with both hands.
The Palace Master took it. After taking a look, he threw it to Xu Qing.
"There are a total of two such tokens. Take this one. Perhaps it can provide you with the strength to protect yourself in the future. Even if a new county governor arrives and the token loses all its authority, I have bestowed upon it the power to activate the Taboo magic treasure once, and that cannot be revoked."
"Palace Master…" Xu Qing looked at the old man in front of him as waves of emotions rose in his mind.
"You've gained some grasp of the battlefield, right?" The Palace Master interrupted Xu Qing. He looked at Xu Qing with a solemn expression while sighing inwardly.
He thought very highly of Xu Qing. Originally, he was prepared to pay attention to him for a long time and nurture him well, allowing him to eventually become one of the successors. However, the arrival of war changed everything.
There wasn't enough time.
"I already have some understanding." Xu Qing lowered his head and spoke softly.
"Next, record my orders as the edict bearer!" The Palace Master's gaze landed outside the large tent as he calmly spoke.
Xu Qing immediately took out the recording jade slip.
"Order the Sixth and Seventh Corps to retreat by 5,000 kilometers and set up camp at the fifth defense line."
"Order the armies of the Yinghuang Province and Quzhao Province to retreat 19,000 kilometers and station themselves in the Eternal Rain Mountain Range."
"Order the Fourth and Fifth Corps to retreat by 35,000 kilometers and set up camp at the border of the Yutian Province."
"Order the Prison Department to disperse throughout the Linlan Province and eliminate all the black-clothed guards. They must clear the route to Yutian Province."
"Order the Yutian Province to activate the large-scale teleportation array at all times from this moment on!"
"Send a secret order to the First Corps to head to the Yutian and the Qiling Province, inspect the burning of the earth fire, and speed up the evacuation of the mortals in both provinces."
When Xu Qing heard these orders, he lifted his head and looked at the Palace Master.
"Palace Master, if we do this, only the Sword Holding Palace and the Second and Third Corps will be left here."
The Palace Master closed his eyes and calmly spoke.
"Pass the orders!"
Xu Qing lowered his head and retreated. Just as he was about to walk out of the large tent, he couldn't help but speak softly.
