Human, Artifact, Human: The Grand Design

Du Chen was swept away by the Life Tree’s vines, coiled into a pitch-black cave, and sealed within a fully enclosed, vine-woven space. Avril, leaping into pursuit, caught up to the vines and struggled to pull them free. Yet, how could her mere tenth-rank battle qi possibly shake the Life Tree, one of the Five Great Primeval Forces? The vines merely unfurled slightly, then enshrouded Avril within the sealed space as well.

The Life Tree had long witnessed Du Chen’s Precious Lotus Scripture, so it was prepared this time, covering Du Chen entirely with its branches and leaves, leaving only his face exposed, preventing him from unleashing the Precious Lotus Scripture. Even Fifth Brother was tightly bound.

Du Chen glanced at Avril, whose situation was much like his own, and forced a wry smile. “Sha, I never thought that among my subordinates without a Spiritual Contract, you would be the most loyal! Though, your voice just now sounded like a woman’s.”

Avril offered a faint smile. “So you’ve already forgotten my voice…” Her serene tone carried a hint of self-mockery. “To be entwined in life and share a grave in death! Perhaps this is a rather fitting end, wouldn’t you agree?”

Du Chen stared at Avril. “You are…”

Avril turned her head, avoiding Du Chen’s gaze. “Forget it, perhaps you’ve even forgotten my name…”

The Life Tree moved with extreme speed. In the short span of their conversation, it seemed to have arrived somewhere, and it bellowed, “Guards! Escort Francis to the highest-level cell! Be sure to use plenty of shackles, and the surroundings must be completely sealed—this man possesses the Art of Artifact Annihilation, as well as strange miniature arcane artifacts. Though severely wounded, we cannot afford to be careless!”

With that, the Life Tree opened the sealed space, but the vines remained tightly wrapped around Du Chen’s entire body. It was then that Du Chen could see clearly: this was a prison resembling the inside of a honeycomb. The entire three-dimensional space was filled with dense, countless cells, and he was forced into the lowest one. The moving jailers were all dressed in standard Scarlet Army attire: flat-topped black helmets and red robes.

The Life Tree tossed Du Chen into the cell, but the vines did not withdraw. The jailers also shackled him, vines and all. Only then did the Life Tree let out a cold chuckle. “Done. Let your Supreme One deal with him upon his return. As for this Sha, she’s easy to handle; do with her as you please… My task is complete; I should be going!”

The jailers, however, blocked the Life Tree, which, having shed its vines, now resembled a small sapling in human form. “Your Excellency may leave, but please surrender the three items in your possession!”

“What? I can’t even reclaim a few old friends?” A pair of eyes suddenly opened on the Life Tree’s trunk! “I am a guest invited by your Supreme One! Who dares to stop me?!”

A jailer chuckled. “We dare not argue with you, nor dare we quarrel… But you are currently within the Battle God Prison, and without our permission, you cannot leave. So, please wait in the guest quarters, Your Excellency, until our Supreme One returns to discuss matters further!”

“You… Hmph, fine, I’ll go to the guest quarters!” She casually tossed Avril into a cell next to Du Chen’s, swept a cold glance at the jailers, and departed in a huff.

Du Chen’s heart stirred. The Battle God Prison—was this the Battle God Prison Phil mentioned?

Alas, Du Chen was firmly trapped, unable to move any part of his body except his face. Even knowing this was the prison for gods, he was helpless. He strained his eyeballs to survey the sealed cell, then sent a Divine Sense message: “Dus, can you still move?”

Fifth Brother’s voice came back, carefree. “The vines are wrapped too tightly; I can’t crawl… And the power of the Arcane Artifacts comes from you. You’re severely wounded, so the brothers’ power has also diminished. There’s no way to break through the Life Tree’s seal…” After a brief pause, Dus added, “However, I can still emit Holy Light to help heal you, but whether you can recover before that Supreme One returns, I, Fifth Brother, cannot say!”

Silence fell upon the cell, until after about ten minutes, two muffled thuds came from the adjacent cell, as if someone was tapping on the thin metal wall. “Are we going to die?” Avril’s voice drifted over, muffled by the metal, barely discernible. “I’m Avril. Do you still remember that name?”

Du Chen stared intently at the wall, but couldn’t see the woman opposite. He understood, he finally understood. No wonder Sha was willing to die with him; no wonder she, the Thornwood Valley Master, would so wholeheartedly assist him…

“Of course I remember…”

“Thank you for remembering my name!” Avril fell silent for a moment on the other side. “Before I die, I want to ask you one last question: in your heart… what is my standing? Now, at this point, can you give me an honest answer?”

What was Avril’s standing? This girl who had loved him bitterly for nearly six years, who was now accompanying him to his death, and who only wanted a single word from him before she died?

Du Chen’s lips trembled slightly, and he gave a bitter internal laugh. To be honest, any man encountering such a girl would be moved; to say otherwise would be a lie. But being moved wasn’t the same as…

Du Chen truly didn’t know what to say. After a long moment, he finally uttered, “You are a woman I will remember in my heart for a lifetime!”

“That word from you makes it all worthwhile!” Avril smiled serenely, then asked, “And on behalf of my friend Annie, what is her standing in your heart?”

This time, Du Chen answered quickly, “An old classmate!”

“Just an old classmate?” Avril suddenly cried. “Do you know why Annie could inherit the Batuk Family? Because she thoroughly grasped the gambling prowess passed down by Marshal Batuk! And do you know how she grasped gambling prowess? Annie… she was thinking of you, she was in love with you!”

Du Chen was dumbfounded, speechless!

Avril sighed sadly. “I’m dying, Francis. I just want to tell you one thing on Annie’s behalf: in your next life, don’t break so many women’s hearts!”

Were those words from Annie, or from Avril herself? Du Chen’s mind reeled, and he blurted out, “Annie represents the Five Families of Fallen Gods in the military. I’ll make you a promise: if we can get out…”

“What if we get out? Hehe, life and death separation, truly a tragedy of the human world!”

*Creak*, the cell door opened, and Arthur strolled in, smiling at Du Chen, whose face was the only part visible. At this moment, Arthur was noble, elegant, his demeanor ethereal, almost divine. Especially his eyes, brimming with profound wisdom, he no longer resembled the aloof Crown Prince Reno, but rather a sage who had seen through the ways of the world! “I just finished a long conversation with the Life Tree, and only now have time to see you. Let’s reintroduce ourselves. You can call me Arthur, or you can call me the Supreme One of the Scarlet Army…”

Du Chen was greatly startled, and gritted his teeth. “Excellent! Arthur, you truly are beyond my expectations!”

Arthur tilted his head and smiled. “Actually, I’m not entirely Arthur. The true Arthur was gravely wounded and died during his great battle with Bonis. However, I subsequently took over his body and gained some of his memories. And the person you saw when you infiltrated Reno’s palace last time… that was me!” He gently spread his arms, as if embracing Du Chen. “I had Margaret impersonate Xue Ji and marry Arthur. The purpose was to capture you alive and bring you back to the Scarlet Army’s lair tonight! Our plan was very successful, wasn’t it? Your affection for Xue Ji led you right into my trap!”

“Indeed, a clever tactic!” Du Chen curled his lip into a smile. Anxiety and fear were useless now, so he spoke frankly. “What do you want? Say it. Since you have Arthur’s memories, you are also my brother. Come, let a brother die with his eyes closed!”

Arthur smiled faintly. “I will let you die with your eyes closed, but right now I’m more concerned about something else. I know you possess many treasures from Du Chen’s Divine Cult, and I plan to conduct an experiment on you. I’m worried these treasures might cause some trouble for the experiment, so… for the final step of my experiment, and so you suffer less before you die, Francis, willingly hand over all your Precious Lotus Scripture!”

Du Chen rolled his eyes. There was no need to pretend anymore; his rogue-like demeanor was fully exposed. “Do you take me for an idiot, or are you an idiot yourself? If I hand over my things, you can indeed use me for your experiment without worry, but wouldn’t I die even faster?”

Arthur showed no anger. “But if you don’t hand them over, someone else will die even faster than you!” *Clap clap*, he clapped his hands. “Guards, go kill the woman in the next cell!”

Du Chen pouted. “I knew you had that trick up your sleeve. Fine, you’re ruthless enough! Open a crack for me so I can pass things out!” At the same time, Du Chen urgently sent a Divine Sense message: “Dus, stop healing me! Escape while you have the chance!”

But then Arthur spoke coldly, “I can open a crack for you, but don’t forget, I possess Arthur’s memories. I know you have a doppelganger, and I also know the intricacies of your Arcane Artifacts… Don’t try any tricks. Life Tree, open the crack for him yourself and meticulously check each item: shields, lamps, sand, doppelgangers, Precious Lotus Scripture… Report immediately if even one is missing!”

Watching all the Arcane Artifacts from Arthur’s memory being handed over, Arthur smiled. “Life Tree, imprison these items separately! As for Francis… wait a moment, someone will come to make the final preparations before your experiment. I guarantee, that person will surprise you greatly!”

Even Dus was confiscated. Du Chen could only smile bitterly, but immediately his mind began working, calculating if there was any way to escape.

At that moment, a bitter laugh came from the next cell. “I’m sorry, I was restrained just now, only able to watch them use me to threaten you… I’m sorry, I never wanted to bother you in my life, but I never expected that at the moment of death…”

Du Chen listened, and the more he heard, the more something felt wrong. Avril’s voice carried a hint of resolute despair. When Avril said, “From now on, I won’t cause you any more trouble,” Du Chen’s heart tightened, and he yelled, “Don’t kill yourself! It has nothing to do with you! My mother and Xue Ji are also in the Scarlet Army’s hands…”

*Thud*, a sound of a body collapsing came from the next cell.

Then Du Chen’s cell iron door opened, and a person softly said, “Don’t worry, I was afraid the child would kill herself, so I just knocked her out.”

Du Chen let out a long sigh of relief, but when he saw who it was, he was indeed greatly surprised, just as Arthur had said!

***

Du Chen was deeply trapped in the Scarlet Army’s Battle God Prison, while Arthur, the Supreme One of the Scarlet Army, eager to conduct his experiment, had rushed back to see Du Chen, leaving the broader situation to Leiming and the remaining four Venerables.

Just now, an unexpected change had occurred. Battles had simultaneously erupted on all sides. After seeing Philia appear in the prison, the human army dared not press forward, but instead retreated in an organized manner towards Lionheart King City. However, on the vast mountain battlefield, one unit charged like mad towards the Fiendkind army’s main formation!

At this time, a battle report was delivered to Dud on the city wall. “Marshal, the Fiendkind are launching a full-scale assault on all fortresses, and are threatening our front-line soldiers with Madam Philia. Our main forces have now retreated to the vicinity of Lionheart King City according to your Military Edict, but… but Einz, Commander of the allied forces, openly defied orders and led his troops to rescue Madam Philia!”

Dud let out a heavy snort. Defying orders in battle was a grave military offense. Arges was too reckless! He urgently commanded, “Immediately activate Adams’s ambush to plug the gap in the defensive line left by Arges’s rash advance!”

On the battlefield, one wrong move affected the whole. Arges’s impulsive action had torn a huge gap in the organized human allied forces’ front, presenting a massive vulnerability to the Fiendkind army. Although Adams promptly led his troops to fill the gap, the main Fiendkind forces had already reached the vicinity of Lionheart King City!

Leiming simultaneously dispatched men to intercept Arges’s troops and shouted, “Dud, Philia is here, and our five Venerables of the Scarlet Army are all here. Your Divine Emperor Francis has also been captured by our Supreme One… Surrender the Tear Source and open the city gates, or else I will kill Philia first, then bombard Lionheart King City with the combined might of all five Venerables!”

Dud’s grip on his halberd tightened suddenly. His Majesty was captured?!

At this moment, Liana also arrived on the city wall and urgently said, “Tyr said Francis went to Mount Wanliu, but just now, Mount Wanliu was rocked by cataclysmic events; no one knows what truly happened, but Francis has indeed gone missing, and Crown Prince Arthur is also gone!”

The two supreme military commanders of the allied forces exchanged glances, both smiling bitterly…

What to do? Philia was held captive at the front lines, the Divine Emperor was missing, and the Scarlet Army was pressing in… Most critically, with Philia trapped, no one could act freely!

Liana’s eyes darted, and she shouted down to the city: “Leiming, Bonis is dying! If you dare, fire a volley! But the Tear Source is somewhere within our army, and if you accidentally destroy it, hmph, you’ll have to clean up the mess of the Undead Army losing control after Bonis’s death!”

Leiming chuckled, “You’re a clever girl. Even if we are wary of the Tear Source and dare not fire a volley, we still have Philia. We might be wary of the Tear Source, but we won’t be wary of her!”

Liana scoffed, “To surrender the city for one person—do you think if we did such a thing, the high-ranking officials of the Alliance within the royal city would tolerate us and allow us to continue commanding the army?!” Saying this, she cast a glance at Dud.

Dud raised his halberd. “Generals outside the capital prioritize battle! All troops, heed my command! Disregard Madam Philia, and kill the enemy with full force!”

With their hostage in hand, if they followed all of the Scarlet Army’s instructions, everything would be ruined. At this moment, they could only harden their hearts and take a gamble.

Leiming sneered, “You are quite decisive!” With that, Leiming entered the warm carriage in the central army’s left flank, which was where Bonis was located! He asked, “Seventh, what’s the situation?”

“The Undead Army has begun besieging Lionheart King City. The humans are contracting their defenses, with only Arges’s unit gradually approaching Philia’s cell! Eldest Brother, Philia seems useless; should we kill her immediately?”

“No, Philia has not truly lost her coercive power. Even if the entire human high command were to abandon Philia, Steve, Liana, Fire Phoenix, and other close associates of Francis would still be personally concerned for Philia. Keeping her still has some use! However, Seventh, Arges is truly annoying. Take your men and deal with him!”

Leiming then conferred with the other Venerables. “My brothers, the Supreme One’s final experiment has begun…” He paused, looking at their joyful expressions. “The Supreme One commands us to attack the city ourselves! Brothers, let us conquer Lionheart King City as a celebration to welcome the Supreme One’s return to the mortal realm!”

One Venerable frowned. “Eldest Brother, besieging the city isn’t easy! That girl was right; Bonis is dying. Even if we could recreate a Bonis using Battle Qi Inheritance and replication methods, it would only be a copy with Bonis’s memories and temperament, not Bonis himself with the ability to control the Tear Source… So we cannot use an all-out volley to attack the city! Furthermore, Philia can only coerce a few individuals, not the entire human high command. If pushed too far, those high-ranking officials in the royal city might even defy military orders and abandon Philia!”

Leiming nodded. “What you say makes sense. Philia can only coerce a few people. The key to the overall situation still lies with the Tear Source. As long as we acquire the Tear Source, with no more worries, everything will be easy! Bonis, didn’t you say that the woman behind the Lionheart King was your ‘Number One’ pawn? Find a way to contact her and tell her to control the Lionheart King to act as an inside agent!”

Bonis, whose breath was as thin as gossamer, heard mention of that woman and, in a flash of lucidity, opened his eyes.

As mentioned before, Bonis himself didn’t know who ‘Number One’ of the Eminence Project was, and this was no idle boast. In fact, after Lans Island sank, it was that mysterious woman who actively contacted Bonis, requesting to cooperate with him. The terms of the deal were that the woman would become ‘Number One’ of the Eminence Project, but Bonis had to surrender his Military Arts Cartography, which was comparable to Divine Emperor Prince’s alchemy-based ‘Weapons Clandestine Circles’!

Although their cooperation had been pleasant over the years, and the return of the Violet-Bloods to the Three Continents was also thanks to that woman, Bonis never knew her true identity. After defecting to the Scarlet Army, Bonis kept his guard up. He didn’t reveal all his secrets to the Scarlet Army, only speaking seven parts truth and leaving three parts fabrication, with the aim of leaving room for maneuver should the Fiendkind ever turn hostile towards the Scarlet Army! Regarding the woman, he merely said that she was a spy cultivated by the Fiendkind, and apart from having learned Bonis’s secret Primordial Military Branch and mastering alchemy, there was nothing particularly remarkable about her!

This was merely Bonis’s shrewd calculation for the Fiendkind, but it directly led to one consequence—the Scarlet Army only considered that woman a pure Fiendkind spy, believing everything she did in Reno was at Bonis’s instruction. Thus, they didn’t investigate further, nor did they list her as a key suspicious person!

Bonis caught his breath for a moment, then weakly said, “Alright, alright, I’ll use my secret channels to contact ‘Number One’ and have her act as your inside agent!” He thought to himself, *‘Number One’ is just my collaborator. I’ll send the information, but whether she follows orders is another matter…*

Leiming chuckled, “Excellent! Have ‘Number One’ find a way to get me the Tear Source. Once the Tear Source is in hand, we brothers can confidently bombard Lionheart King City!” He glanced at Bonis, who had once again closed his eyes, and loudly declared, “But my brothers, we cannot solely rely on ‘Number One’; we must also make our own preparations!”

At this moment, the Undead legion was slaughtering Arges’s forces, who had strayed from the main army. On the front lines, Arges himself lacked personal strength, and his military strategy was inferior to the Scarlet Army’s, yet he desperately fought with a fierce determination towards Philia’s cell!

Arges gazed at the cell, simultaneously cutting down Undead and shouting from afar, “Philia, can you hear me?!”

Inside the cell, the bound and suspended Philia slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the situation, her expression drastically changed. “Damn it, Arges, go back! Quickly, go back!”

Arges cut down an Undead and laughed heartily, “Ha, you’re not dead! You truly aren’t dead! Don’t worry, even if you wronged me and gave birth to that bastard Francis, I won’t abandon you. I will definitely rescue you!”

Philia was stunned, then gave a bitter laugh. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept so much from you… But, but I truly didn’t want to involve you in such a perilous matter!” Philia shouted, “Francis is our biological son, there’s absolutely no mistake! Even if he was captured by Margaret for a period and wasn’t with me back then, I… I was afraid Margaret might have tampered with him, so I had his blood checked after bringing him back. He… he truly is our son!”

Arges stubbornly shook his head, glancing at the enemy troops who were approaching the cell due to his charge. “Impossible! Say no more… Vanguard Legion, blast the area around the cell with Sacred Artifact Cannons! Don’t let those damn bastards threaten me with Philia!”

Arges abruptly turned to give orders, but upon seeing the situation, his heart sank. Along the path he had cut, the Sigurd Legion had suffered heavy casualties. The Sacred Artifact Battalion was long shattered, and he was deeply encircled—all other troops had retreated according to Dud’s orders. Who would care about this detached force that had rashly pushed forward?

Philia pleaded, “Leave quickly! It’s still not too late to go!”

Arges ignored her, still intent on fighting. But at that moment, a rain of fire descended around Arges. “Father, given the current situation, you cannot stay here!” Steve led a team practicing Flaying, Tendon-Severing, and Corpse Dissolution, and they had charged over. Others might not care about Arges, but Steve, his biological son, couldn’t abandon him!

On the battlefield, the Flaying personality dominated. Steve reached Arges, completely disregarding his father’s protests, restrained Arges with one hand, and with the other, wielded the Blade, fighting his way back… But while coming was easy, retreating meant facing layer upon layer of enemy forces!

One move affected the whole. When Steve was in danger, Liana could not fail to rescue him. A Military Edict was sent down, and Andy and Fire Phoenix also charged over. A chaotic battle erupted between Lionheart King City and Philia’s cell!

***

Inside the gloomy Battle God Prison, it was not as tumultuous as outside, but rather terrifyingly quiet.

Du Chen looked at the person who entered and exclaimed, “Aunt Sherine?”

Sherine, long missing, looked as she always had: frail, scholarly, and with a heavy chain draped over her left shoulder, very similar to Constantine’s Deed of Ownership shackle… Wait!

Du Chen suddenly remembered something. He had never gotten around to seeing that woman, so the key to seeing her—Constantine—was still inside the Precious Lotus Scripture, which was now imprisoned by the Life Tree!

A flash of inspiration struck Du Chen, and he vaguely conceived a plan.

“Francis…” Sherine smiled bitterly, hesitating for a moment. “Alas, my Master went mad and died by your hand; it was a deserved fate! Auntie has nothing to reproach you for, and Xue Ji has nothing to accuse you of either!”

Du Chen looked at Sherine in confusion. “Auntie, why are you here? Where’s Xue Ji?”

Sherine shook her head helplessly. “Auntie will make a long story short. Although I was expelled from Water’s Embrace Lake back then, an Aqua Cloud Divine Envoy would contact me every so often… But three years ago, Divine Envoy Donna was killed by the Requiem Death Knights and didn’t come to Battle God Isle to find me. Auntie knew something was wrong, so I left you a letter and returned to Water’s Embrace Lake to investigate. Unexpectedly… Auntie stumbled upon a secret meeting between Master Margaret and Leiming of the Scarlet Army. I was captured by my Master and controlled by this shackle!”

Du Chen followed Sherine’s gaze to the chain on her shoulder, and once again, Constantine came to mind!

Sherine continued, “Now, Auntie is forced by this Mystic Artifact to serve the Supreme One, and last night, after Master’s death, I became the Commander of the Puppet Legion… Xue Ji is also controlled by the Water’s Embrace Sword, and is now the second operator of the Puppet Legion!”

“Then, Auntie, you came to me for…”

Sherine was silent for a long while, then finally said, “The Supreme One must have told you that he intends to conduct an experiment on you! The preliminary preparations for the experiment were originally supposed to be done by Master Margaret, but with Master gone, only her disciple can complete it… The Supreme One originally intended to send Xue Ji, but Auntie didn’t want to see Xue Ji, under the Water’s Embrace Sword’s control, do that to you… Alas, so I voluntarily requested to take Xue Ji’s place!”

“You’ve come to send me to my death? Thank you for taking Xue Ji’s place!” A thought flashed through Du Chen’s mind, and he urgently asked, “The experiment must be assisted by Margaret… Damn it, Margaret was Prince’s alchemy assistant back then, so Arthur is… Prince?!”

Sherine smiled bitterly, tacitly confirming Du Chen’s guess. She lowered her head to arrange the experimental apparatus, and after having the vines confining Du Chen open a small gap, she began the pre-experiment procedures such as blood drawing and measurement.

Du Chen asked, “Auntie, can you let me die with understanding? What exactly does Prince want to do?!”

Sherine closed her eyes and was silent for a moment. “The shackle contract doesn’t restrict this, so it seems the Supreme One tacitly allows me to tell you.” She was testing the contract’s limitations. “Francis, you have Adams under you, so you are clearly aware of the symbiotic bloodline between Adams and Brockman, aren’t you?” Du Chen was indeed very aware. But Sherine immediately followed up with, “What then, is the reverse interpretation of this symbiotic bloodline that makes the brothers fight each other?”

Du Chen’s heart stirred, and he urgently said, “From another perspective, the symbiotic bloodline is simply the most powerful Secret Technique for cultivation! If one person advances, the other also advances; it’s like two people helping each other cultivate!”

Sherine nodded. “Although you and Arthur are not twin brothers, Master Margaret also planted the Symbiotic Secret Technique in you. When one of you grows stronger, the other also grows stronger!”

Du Chen wondered, “But Margaret clearly turned us both into cripples…”

“Will you let Auntie finish?” Sherine softly recounted. “The symbiotic bloodline is one thing, but Auntie first needs to tell you something else… Francis, all sacred artifacts in the world come from the Sacred Artifact Furnace. However, each time the Sacred Artifact Furnace creates a sacred artifact, it consumes a Battle God, and that Battle God’s soul becomes the artifact spirit of the sacred artifact! But, after being transformed by the Sacred Artifact Furnace, the artifact spirit loses the Battle God’s memories, becoming merely a tool to control the sacred artifact.”

Du Chen’s heart jolted. This was literally trading human lives for sacred artifacts!

“Only when you understand these two things can Auntie explain everything clearly to you, starting from… Prince!”

Sherine continued, “Before the War of Fallen Gods, Prince was nearing the end of the Battle God’s Path, but he hadn’t reached the ultimate endpoint, thus he couldn’t escape death! The Divine Emperor didn’t want to die, so he conceived a method for eternal life from the Sacred Artifact Furnace—since the Sacred Artifact Furnace could transform a Battle God’s soul into an artifact spirit, allowing it to endure with the sacred artifact, could he not also live forever by transforming into a sacred artifact himself?”

“Of course!” Sherine answered her own question. “But there was one problem—how could he preserve his memories and his former strength during the process of becoming a sacred artifact? Prince was a genius. He developed the secret technique of Battle Qi Transfer and Inheritance, and simultaneously delved into alchemy-based ‘Weapons Clandestine Circles’ to an unprecedented degree. He finally managed to transfer his soul and battle qi to a sacred artifact, but this process was irreversible; once transformed into an artifact, he could not revert to a human!”

Sherine continued, “Prince used this ‘human-to-artifact conversion’ method to transform many of his trusted subordinates into artifacts! But just as Prince was ecstatic and preparing to transform himself into an artifact after his death, Wolf discovered the Art of Artifact Annihilation, and the Godslayer War erupted! Prince absolutely could not allow such a threat to artifacts to exist. Thus, during the War of Fallen Gods, he extensively used artifacts to slaughter the Fallen Gods’ generals, killing both human and Fiendkind generals, anyone who knew the Art of Artifact Annihilation…”

Du Chen interrupted Sherine, “But during the war, many generals died by the hands of their own artifacts, which never left their masters’ hands. How could Prince control them to commit patricide?”

“Artifact spirits are essentially chaotic human souls. Since Prince was the Divine Emperor and possessed extraordinary techniques, it was extremely easy for him to use the opportunity to control the artifacts of his subordinate generals… The three methods of artifact controlling humans were, in fact, Prince first controlling those artifact spirits, then, based on the strength of the artifact spirits, using three different means to deal with those generals!”

Du Chen thought about it, then nodded, signaling that he understood. As for this history, apart from Prince developing the ‘human-to-artifact conversion’ technique, Du Chen had heard the rest multiple times, so he asked Sherine to skip it.

Sherine said, “Years after the War of Fallen Gods concluded, Prince’s life finally ran out. He transformed himself into an artifact, while publicly announcing he had died peacefully of old age. Internally, he had his most trusted subordinates—the nine Venerables of the Scarlet Army—stage a play, a play about a Mystic Artifact mutating and killing its master…”

Du Chen thought to himself, *Damn it, so there’s no such thing as artificial intelligence in this world at all; so-called Mystic Artifacts, intelligent life, are all just transformed humans! Poor Requiem Death Knights are still kept in the dark!*

Sherine said, “But a century after Prince transformed into an artifact, he made a horrifying discovery, something his great intellect had overlooked—humans can cultivate battle qi and continuously strengthen and replenish themselves, but the structure of an artifact simply cannot cultivate! In other words, a Mystic Artifact like the Thunder Cannon, for instance, consumes power with every shot fired. Eventually, the artifact’s power will be completely depleted, and then… Prince would still die!”

Du Chen thought, *A great scientist’s elementary mistake—conservation of energy. An artifact can only release, not replenish. It was bound to cause problems eventually.* “So what method did Prince adopt? He couldn’t possibly just wait to die!”

“He thought of two methods—one was to replenish energy, which is the matter of stealing divine corpses. This was a temporary solution, as divine corpses are rare and cannot perpetually supply the Scarlet Army’s needs…” Sherine’s expression was a little strange, as this was the Scarlet Army’s energy crisis.

“The other was a permanent solution… Prince thought, humans can replenish battle qi through cultivation, while artifacts can only replenish by consuming battle qi from corpses. So, is there a theoretical possibility—when an artifact’s energy is almost depleted, it could revert to human form, cultivate sufficient battle qi in a human body, then transform back into an artifact to enjoy eternal life, and when the artifact’s energy is almost depleted again, it could transform back into a human… Wouldn’t such a cycle eliminate concerns about an energy crisis and grant eternal life?”

Du Chen frowned deeply, thinking, *Prince truly is a genius, a mad genius!*

Sherine continued, “Prince put his human-artifact cycle theory into practice, but the most crucial technical aspect was—how does an artifact revert to a human! To achieve this step, Prince researched a series of Secret Techniques, among them being ‘Symbiotic Inheritance’…”

Sherine spoke many theoretical terms, complex and obscure, but to Du Chen, an artifact reverting to a human involved two steps: first, the soul occupying someone’s body; second, transferring the battle qi from the artifact to the body…

It was that simple!

But the key was, what kind of body to choose? Prince’s original body was already dead, and his Battle Qi Inheritance could not be accepted by just any body. Back then, when Julie imparted twelfth-rank battle qi to Steve, she first inquired about a long list of restrictions. What kind of body could accept the battle qi of a Divine Emperor approaching the end of the Battle God’s Path?!

To find a body suitable for Prince, the Scarlet Army’s method was to cultivate children from a young age, baptizing them with Secret Techniques at birth, guiding their growth towards becoming capable of inheriting Prince’s battle qi in the future…

Back then, when Margaret used Molten Heart to cripple Francis and Arthur, she didn’t actually want them to become idiots. It was a method politely called “True strength is forged through hardship,” or less politely, “Only iron sharpens iron.” The Heaven-Bestowed Hydro-Bodies of these two children were restricted, but on the other hand, if they could progress under such immense pressure, how powerful would their bodies become?! Simultaneously, to ensure the two children grew quickly, Margaret also used the symbiotic bloodline on them, allowing them to achieve twice the result with half the effort!

Of course, these two children were just one pair among a large number of test subjects. If they could never break through their restrictions in their lifetime, the Scarlet Army wouldn’t care; they would just wait for the next batch, while these two could remain idiots for life! However, Prince was very lucky—Arthur and his counterpart succeeded!

After hearing all this, Du Chen gave a strange laugh. “So, you’re saying that Arthur and I were both born for Prince? Now Prince has occupied Arthur’s body, and by following the mutually destructive relationship between Brockman and Adams, he can integrate me, his symbiotic other half, to obtain the most perfect body, completely revert to human form, and be resurrected into the world?!”

Sherine nodded. “That’s exactly how it is. Now Prince’s vast Spiritual Power resides in Arthur, and he possesses Arthur’s incredibly powerful body. As long as he completes the final experiment of integrating you to form a perfect body, and then transfers the battle qi from the artifact into himself, Prince will have completed the ‘human-artifact-human’ cycle experiment and can live eternally! However, Prince’s ambition is no longer limited to eternal life; he believes that the world originally belonged to him, Divine Emperor Prince, and thus reclaiming it is only right and proper. He wants to be the Divine Emperor forever!”

At this point, Sherine also finished the pre-experiment preparations, instructed the vines to re-envelop Du Chen, and smiled bitterly. “Auntie truly has no way to save you! But rest assured, even though Xue Ji is controlled, she is the second in command of the Puppet Legion. Those puppet soldiers are made using my Master’s Secret Technique and can only be commanded by us sisters. Therefore… Xue Ji is useful to Prince and will not be harmed!”

As soon as Sherine left, another cold voice came from outside, “Take Francis to the Laboratory!”

Just as Du Chen was being led into the Laboratory, the battle for Lionheart King City was in full swing. Outside the Moon-Gazing Terrace, the Lionheart King was still sitting on the steps, speaking to that woman, though in reality, he was talking to himself. “Now the army is besieging the city, but don’t worry, I will definitely get you out of here…”

*But why don’t you actually do something? What good is muttering here?! Useless old lion!*

Inside the Laboratory, Sophia, forced to return because the Tear Source had been stolen, cursed under her breath and whispered, “Master, I just received a secret letter from Marshal Bonis. He requests that we act as inside agents, steal the Tear Source, and hand it over to the Scarlet Army.”

The woman was calmly conducting an experiment, not even turning her head. “Sophia, has Bonis truly joined the Scarlet Army?”

Sophia smiled bitterly. “Yes, but the Scarlet Army doesn’t seem to know you’re here, Master. It appears Bonis has concealed some things for you!”

The woman nodded. “Bonis still has some conscience; it wasn’t in vain that I helped him with many things over the years. However… since Bonis has joined the Scarlet Army, he is now my enemy. Sophia, will you and I continue to serve Bonis?”

Sophia hesitated. “Sophia pledges eternal loyalty to Master!”

“Very good! Go, summon the Marshal commanding the Holy Alliance. If he doesn’t come, secretly tell him that the Moon Goddess wants to cooperate with him to kill the Scarlet Army, and that the Moon Goddess, having researched alchemy-based ‘Weapons Clandestine Circles’ and Primordial Military Branch for a thousand years, now has a way to help him turn defeat into victory!”