At this moment, Li Hongjiu's mutation was rapid, his skin red like a boiled shrimp, and the blood within his body was boiling like it was on fire. Only he knew the extent of the pain he was enduring.

"Centurion, how are you...so hot." Someone touched him and recoiled with a startled cry.

Even a fool could tell that Li Hongjiu had been tricked.

Ming Chaofeng, who was staring at the mirror image, directly took the communication magic artifact handled by his subordinates and personally sent a message to the token over there, inquiring about the situation.

Aware of the token messaging, Li Hongjiu was instantly rendered powerless and too distracted, he directly took out the token and tossed it to a cultivator with higher cultivation than him, an expert in the Earth Immortal Great Success realm, specifically arranged by his senior brother to assist him.

A man with a melancholic gaze, named Gao Lian.

Gao Lian received the token and, upon seeing the message on it, quickly reported the incident.

Ming Chaofeng promptly issued a stern warning: the most dangerous thing right now isn't just Li Hongjiu, it's all of you!

Gao Lian suddenly woke up to the fact that targeting Li Hongjiu could imply they might be attacked, too. He looked around at the chaotic mess of companions rallying around Li Hongjiu and realized that if the enemy was to strike now, they would definitely panic, being caught off guard.

Immediately, he shouted for vigilance, and everyone was snapped out of their reverie.

Ming Chaofeng's face was extremely grave as he stared at the mirror image. Based on the information just gathered, Li Hongjiu's predicament wasn't due to carelessness. He had been extremely cautious earlier. When the severely injured woman appeared, he neither approached nor touched her. It was only after everyone determined that the injured woman was too hurt to retaliate that he started inspecting her.

He only let his guard down after personally confirming there was no threat, yet he was ambushed under seemingly impossible circumstances.

From the moment the woman shouted for help, claiming she had a hidden token, every step of the way, the ambush against Li Hongjiu had been meticulously calculated.

Everyone felt Li Hongjiu's instinctive spell casting to defend himself, yet the inconspicuous drop of dew was able to merge into Li Hongjiu's defenses. Ming Chaofeng didn't understand what it was. He first examined the distribution of personnel in the area and then swiftly gathered troops to rush in to support. He couldn't let his junior brother suffer without assistance, as he wouldn't be able to account for it to the Sect later.

Now, the biggest problem for him is that once all personnel sign up for battle, there's no option to renege. The Command Center here can only command, and no one is allowed to enter the battlefield to participate.

At this moment, the Heavenly Mirror images of all major teams had almost abandoned other forms of observation, with the footage focused almost entirely on Li Hongjiu.

There's no other choice. Firstly, Li Hongjiu is one of the individuals deserving the most attention. Secondly, each side has conspicuous surveillance agents stationed by the various teams and in the mirror image of the West Ox Team's screen, the scene of Li Hongjiu falling for the trap appeared. Hence, all sides there were definitely sending the messages back to their respective sides in real-time.

Li Hongjiu was the figure each team had instructed their elites to avoid confronting directly, no one had expected Li Hongjiu to be caught so quickly, completely exceeding everyone's expectations.

Seeing Li Hongjiu turning completely red, East Victory Commander Wei Mo smiled and said to the people beside him, "We had our eyes on him before the incident, no need to think; it must have been a long-planned vicious scheme by West Niu."

Heavenly Court Team Commander Manxi also smiled and said similar words to Mulan Jin, "For them to manage to trap Li Hongjiu, that's no easy feat. It seems Niu Qian put a lot of thought into the plan, even deploying Death Warriors. But it's a good thing, one major threat eliminated for our Heavenly Court Team."

Mulan Jin frowned and said, "That woman might not be a Death Warrior."

Manxi exclaimed in curiosity, "Willing to hear the Commander's insights."

Upon hearing this, everyone around turned their gaze toward Mulan Jin, as their conversation was not transmitted in sound and was audible to nearby people.

Mulan Jin asked, "Previously, West Niu's spy report said that they saw that dying woman point with her finger and a drop of brilliant dew at Li Hongjiu's chest. How could a dying woman have any power to attack? The report also mentioned it was just a light finger point. If I'm not mistaken, that drop of brilliant dew should be 'Demon Dew', enabling easy breach of defense."

"Demon Dew?" Manxi was shocked upon hearing this, "Niu Qian actually went to such lengths?"

Others were also stunned, as to many, this was something of legend.

Mulan Jin said, "I once dealt with a case involving someone injured by 'Demon Dew', and the condition was like Li Hongjiu's, completely red all over. Right now, Li Hongjiu's insides probably feel like they're boiling. The so-called 'Demon Dew' is collected from the spirit of ten thousand demons, refined from their sorrows and joys. This is the most bizarre aspect of this item. Those who know it exist, and those who don't know it don't.

Let me put it this way: If this 'Demon Dew' is planted into your body unbeknownst to a Commander, it won't have any impact on the Commander. It can remain dormant indefinitely, and mana won't detect its presence. If the Commander becomes aware they have this foreign object inside them and their thoughts begin repelling it slightly, the poison will immediately activate. Once it activates, it's incurable; if you can't withstand it, you'll burst and die; if you withstand it, you'll turn into a mindless monster."

Manxi was astonished, exclaiming, "There's such a story behind the Demon Dew?"

Mulan Jin: "I only found out when I was investigating the case back then."

With this, Manxi and the others immediately understood the meaning behind his previous words. The severely injured woman probably didn't know that something had been planted inside her, otherwise the poison would have already taken effect. But this woman could use the Demon Dew to launch a surprise attack when near Li Hongjiu, indicating she must have known about it.

After pondering for a moment, Manxi pondered, "So, that woman might be under someone else's control." Then he waved his sleeve, saying, "Regardless, since West Niu has brought this thing in, one means there could be two. Inform our main leaders, that any injured individuals should be killed without mercy to avoid following in Li Hongjiu's footsteps."

"Yes." A group of those controlling magic artifacts received the order to execute.

Mulan Jin also pulled out the Mother-child Talisman from his sleeve, issuing the same warning to Han Bao and Shi Chun, only stating to be on guard against the terrible thing brought in by West Niu.

He didn't tell Shi Chun about what happened to Li Hongjiu because he knew Shi Chun and Li Hongjiu were so-called friends. Although he suspected their friendship might be superficial, he still wanted to guard against Shi Chun doing something rash out of impulse.

Manxi suddenly turned back to face Mulan Jin, squinting slightly, "Commander, others might be worried about their treasures falling into the hands of others when fighting to the death in such a place, but Li Hongjiu is different. Not only is he highly skilled, but he's also the prized pupil of Qu Wuming. Yanbao Sect is the fourth great sect in the Artifact Refining World. For Li Hongjiu's protection, they might go all out, don't you think he might have some treasure to outshine others?"

With his eyes on the Mountain River Map, Mulan Jin slowly said, "I'm afraid you're not the only ones with such thoughts."

Manxi suddenly turned his head to see that the light spots around Li Hongjiu's location seemed to have thickened. He immediately gave an urgent order to gather forces to join in.

After arranging these deployments, Manxi's gaze returned to the Mirror Image, finding that Li Hongjiu had already been moved by his comrades, flying swiftly within the Wind Scale, still in a flushed state, his fingers pressed to his chest, eyes closed and silent.

He sneered, "I wonder if this beloved treasure of Yanbao Sect will not withstand it and die, or turn into a monster."

Mulan Jin's slightly puzzled voice rang from behind him, "Something's not right."

Manxi turned back and asked, "What's not right?"

Mulan Jin hesitated, "With the Demon Dew, life and death change in a moment, but he's holding on longer than usual… perhaps our knowledge of this item is too limited."

Not only did he feel that the time being held on was too long, but Du Wulang, leading a group following behind Shi Chun's party, felt the same, noting that the commander clearly said that shortly after being hit, Li Hongjiu would be done for. Given the anomaly, he had to report the situation once more.

So, the Mirror Image of the West Ox Team once again returned to focus on Li Hongjiu, and Niu Qian saw this with a face of confusion, feeling it didn't match what he knew. But it was also his first time seeing the effects of Demon Dew, unclear of the situation.

Regarding Li Hongjiu, the seniors had given explicit instructions to proceed with great caution, advising against reckless action without absolute certainty. The seniors even mentioned that even with his cultivation at Heavenly Immortal Realm, he might not be Li Hongjiu's match, as Li Hongjiu had already killed several Heavenly Immortal experts of West Ox, which was why he was given the Demon Dew to calculate against him.

Now, Li Hongjiu's situation left him hesitant…

In the Nanshan Team Command Center, Ming Chaofeng anxiously watched the Mirror Image, noticing the encirclement aimed at Li Hongjiu was gradually taking shape on the Mountain River Map, feeling that the first large-scale battle of the Battle of Great Pardon was on the verge of erupting centered around Li Hongjiu.

He couldn't figure out what trick Li Hongjiu had fallen for nor how to resolve it, so he had already sent people out of the Demon Realm to seek help from the Royal Court and Sect.

The Xun Gate, though sealed against any entry and exit, didn't include those reporting battle conditions. Ming Chaofeng made use of public resources for private purposes as well.

After waiting for quite a while, the ones reporting outside finally returned, flying onto the high platform, softly reporting, "The Right Minister said, based on the reported situation, Li Hongjiu should have been hit by 'Demon Dew.'"

"What?" Ming Chaofeng lost his voice, having heard of this too. Legend says this poison has no cure, he never thought someone would go to such lengths to deal with Li Hongjiu. Yet, he didn't lose all hope: "Did the Right Minister mention any means to save him?"

The man hesitated, shaking his head, "The Right Minister said there are very few who can refine the Demon Dew, though none can cure it, it's different for them. The Right Minister said there is no method in the world that cannot be resolved, it's just whether anyone knows it. The Right Minister said the method to refine Demon Dew was created by a former Demon Realm supreme, who should be capable of curing it. However, that supreme seemed to be from the same era as the Demon Ancestor who opened the Demon Realm, long buried in the dust of history."

Isn't this still unsolvable? Ming Chaofeng's heart sank with remorse; he regretted getting his junior brother involved in this. Now it seemed the sect was also consumed with ambition, pushing their future hope into this mess—why seek such trouble?

The person added, "The message has already been urgently conveyed to Yanbao Sect, your sect said they would immediately notify us if a solution was found."

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