“Still spot on as ever, aren’t you?” The Shadow Death person in the sealed space shook his head, but no pity could be seen on his face.

  “Isn’t this exactly what you lot expected? Best if Ethereal’s unity would take a blow, but even if your plan fails, the human puppet matter will still be exposed to the continent and Ethereal will face its pressure, while you will use that chaos to your advantage.”


  “In fact, it doesn’t matter to you if it gets chaotic or not. You just don’t want Ethereal to focus too much on you,” Bai Xiaofei commented. Despite having no idea what was happening outside, he was familiar enough with Shadow Death to guess their purpose.

  “Mhm, you are smart, but hey, smart people often don’t live long!” The Shadow Death person sneered as his eyes glinted sharply.

  “Threatening me? You really don’t have to. You are born with your brain, so you can only blame my parents for giving me such a smart head. But if you’re reminding me, then I thank you. And by the way, I will also remind you of something.” Bai Xiaofei stood up and met the assassin’s sharp gaze, his face serious and his voice cold. “Shadow Death doesn’t have much longer!”


  “Whatever you say. One day, you will know how terrifying Shadow Death truly is.” The assassin burst out laughing before slowly disappearing in front of Bai Xiaofei. Gone with him was the space that had been sealing them both.

  Bai Xiaofei was greeted with a tragic scene the moment he emerged. In fact, he had been in the auction hall all this time, only isolated in a separate space.

  “Where have you been?!”


  Tan Xin immediately came running over, followed by Shi Kui, Yan Ran’er, and Ni Xue, all with strange expressions on their faces.

  “I was trapped. We’ll talk about it later. There are more important matters now!” Bai Xiao replied before rushing toward Ling Yue, who was still immersed in grief, and said, “Now is not the time to mourn. If we really do nothing and just watch as Ethereal loses its vitality, their sacrifice would be in vain.”


  Seeing the soldiers who remained in their kneeling position, Bai Xiaofei roughly understood what had just happened.

  “Do you know how… inappropriate your words are?” Ling Yue looked up with a wry smile and a resolute expression that obviously displayed he was no longer held back by his grief.

  “Inappropriate doesn’t mean wrong. Moreover, you don’t have time to bother with that now, do you?” Bai Xiaofei replied indifferently.

  Ling Yue briefed him on the situation, “The remaining human puppets in the capital are being cleaned up. I just got reports from Ling Ming that despite the large number of casualties, the situation has fortunately been brought under control. Ling Fan has also sealed off the city and everyone is waiting for my order.”


  Bai Xiaofei listened quietly before giving his own judgment. “Sealing off the city is unnecessary. Without any surprise, what just happened in the capital has already been spread. You know better than me how to deal with that.”


  Ling Yue let out a long sigh and muttered, “Recording Eyeballs, huh? I really didn’t think there’d be a day Ethereal would be put in such a passive situation because of those little things. Brother Bai, can I ask you a favor?” He cast a sincere look at Bai Xiaofei.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve promised to deal with the human puppet matter. You go handle your things. When the time you truly need it comes, I’ll appear in front of you with the result,” said Bai Xiaofei solemnly. This time, Shadow Death had really ruffled his feathers. “But in the meantime, I need His Royal Highness Ling Hai to work with me.”


  In the face of Bai Xiaofei’s only request, Ling Yue had no reason to refuse. After all, the Puppetsmith Holy Mountain would want some quiet time after this incident, being the focus of the continent’s condemnation!

  “I will tell Ling Hai to find you, and I will also cooperate with you the best I can. In fact, this event may not be entirely a bad thing. At least, it gives me a justifiable reason to raise my blade at the Holy Puppetsmith Mountain!” There was a rare ruthlessness in Ling Hai’s voice. He just wanted to find that puppetsmith and chop them into ten thousand pieces!

  “Then let us wait for good news from each other,” Bai Xiaofei left this sentence and walked out, quickly followed by Shi Kui’s group.

  That evening, none of the capital’s higher-ups were idle. Under Ling Yue’s command, the whole capital operated with the highest efficiency.

  Early the next morning, Ling Yue issued a series of orders as the new emperor of Ethereal!

  First, to build a hero monument engraved with the names of those who had died during the tragedy, and let it stand tall at the Central Square of the imperial city forever.

  The top three names were the three who sacrificed themselves as the cores of the formation. Their wishes were fulfilled one by one. The little girl’s family received the most generous pension possible. The child of the alcoholic man received the news that her father was a hero. The old lady’s charity was adopted as Ling Yue announced the establishment of a nationwide shelter in his name.

  Second, to close down the Puppetsmith Holy Mountain. Until the human puppet master was resolved, no one was allowed to enter or leave without Ling Yue’s permission. The Puppetsmith Holy Mountain would also stop making puppets for the outside world.

  In fact, Ling Yue had long wanted to implement this policy, but he could imagine the resistance from the puppetsmiths that would be beyond what he could handle. After the auction incident, however, the puppetsmiths had become the victims and their supposed resistance turned into support.

  Third, to take the initiative to inform the outside world of the human puppets and seek help from the other major empires. Ethereal would not reject anyone who was willing to participate in solving this problem!

  Ling Yue was ruthlessly determined. Since he could not stop the trend, he might as well go along and enjoy it!

  There were more than just a few who wanted to cause Ethereal trouble. Whether major empires or big merchant groups, they had been waiting for an opportunity like this. Therefore, their attitude of beating a dog while it was down could be imagined. However, Ling Yue’s third order directly prevented that.

  Want to create trouble for us? The only excuse you have is the human puppet matter. Then, I welcome you to investigate! But since I’m welcoming you in, you have to listen to me, or I’ll have a legitimate reason to deal with you!

  Or do you just want to condemn Ethereal? Sorry, that’s impossible!

  Because there was another order ——

  The fourth order, to declare war on Shadow Death. Make it clear that the chaos in Ethereal was caused by them and that Ethereal would prepare to fight them to the end. In addition, Ethereal would set up a special reward list, and anyone who could take the head of a Shadow Death killer could go to any branch of the Ethereal Merchant Group to claim their reward!

  Never once had Shadow Death expected a day that they’d be made into someone’s scapegoat…


  Once those orders were issued, Ling Yue became busy as a result. Under normal circumstances, the new emperor would need to have some sort of political greetings with the other major empires, but due to the particularity of the throne competition, Ling Yue hadn’t had the energy to.

  However, after the human puppet matter got out, envoys of various countries were sent to Ethereal one after another. How many of them came to look for trouble remained unknown. What Ling Yue had to do was deal with them.

  If he handled it well, it would be an opportunity to create good diplomatic relationships. Otherwise, it might even lead to wars, which was the last thing Ethereal needed at the moment.

  Compared with the other major empires, Ethereal was better at doing business, not fighting. It could absolutely be ranked top regarding wealth, but on the combat effectiveness of the troops, Ethereal even had to be apprehensive toward Moonlight…


  Meanwhile, Bai Xiaofei also acted.

  Since Ling Yue’s policy was applauded, Bai Xiaofei chose the opposite method from the sneaking around previously: He directly gathered the five godsmiths together!

  Now he dared to bet his money that the human puppets came from the hands of at least one of these five people! In terms of quantity and quality, it was obviously not a task that an ordinary senior puppet master could accomplish.

  Seeing the five only godsmiths of the continent in the same setting, Bai Xiaofei got quite an intimate impression of puppetsmiths, one that overturned everything he had imagined.

  The five people sitting in front of him, with their appearances, vividly demonstrated the five vulnerable groups of society: Old, weak, sick, disabled, and widowed!

  Pinocchio was born looking like a child and had gotten countless strange looks for it.

  Nanmo Sheng was a white-haired old man with a long white beard, his trembling appearance making people doubt if he really could handle a forging hammer.

  Heartless Snow looked like a middle-aged person, but he had been coughing since the moment he arrived, even coughing up blood from time to time…


  Thousand Flames had lost his left leg during a failure of puppet-refining, after which he ascended the position of godsmith. However, it was taboo to mention this in front of him…


  Blossom was the only woman among the five. At first glance, she looked like an ordinary madam, so ordinary that one would have a hard time associating her with the phrase ‘puppet-forging.’


  In the face of the five, Bai Xiaofei really didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, there was another person who could speak on this occasion - Ling Hai!

  “Everyone, we have gathered here today to solve a problem. It’s not that we suspect you, but bad things need to be said so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings,” Ling Hai explained. Then, seeing that none of the godsmiths had any intention to trouble him, he looked at Bai Xiaofei. “You can start.”