Lin Qian's words left Yuan Xiang momentarily stunned, and then he chuckled, "You're too domineering, and your words are far too absolute."
Lin Qian understood Yuan Xiang's lack of comprehension.
In the game from the previous world, Xuanyuan Empire, things were brutal. Losing a battle between players wasn't a big deal.
But if an empire lost, it meant total destruction!
The consequences of a destroyed empire were that you had to start rebuilding from scratch, although any previously researched technologies and skills remained at the levels they had reached and could be used without re-research.
Lin Qian's undefeated legacy in the game was a legend within the Xuanyuan Empire community, and when the game went international, it led to a world championship victory.
This gave Lin Qian supreme confidence that he would undoubtedly win the war against the Xunyin Tribe and the Wuxing Tribe!
He believed in himself and in the Huaxia Empire.
Yuan Xiang's worries about failure seemed entirely unnecessary to Lin Qian.
Night had already fallen in the small world's fourth space, where heavy snow blanketed everything, creating a frozen landscape.
Yet, amidst the ice and snow, there was a region occupied by a palace, bursting with springtime vitality. It was a sharp contrast to the surrounding frozen world, with green waves and blossoming flowers.
Under the same night sky, in one of the palace's courtyards, a young member of the Xunyin Tribe, Duan Duo, stood by a pond, holding a jade cup that emitted spatial fluctuations, clearly a storage soul device.
The young Xunyin Tribesman flicked his fingers over the cup's rim, pulling out a fluffy, lifeless soul beast, which he then tossed into the pond.
As the soul beast hit the water, a tiger-striped fish leapt out, swallowing it whole.
After devouring the soul beast, the fish flipped in mid-air and plunged back into the pond.
Behind the young Xunyin Tribesman, another member of the tribe knelt, reporting to him.
"Young Master, we haven't received the usual report from the Gatekeeper City, and we can't contact Bai Qi either."
Hearing this report, the young Xunyin Tribesman frowned and turned around. "Did you send someone to check it out?"
"I've already sent people from City One to investigate. We should have results soon," the kneeling tribesman replied, causing the young Xunyin Tribesman to nod slowly.
At that moment, a figure suddenly leaped over the wall and appeared before the young Xunyin Tribesman.
This figure was none other than the one-armed Blackblade Fishman—though his true identity was a member of the Wuxing Tribe!
"Baiximing, the Wuxing Tribe's Wulian, who was in charge of Gatekeeper City, has suddenly gone out of contact. Can you reach him?" The Wuxing Tribesman, who had taken over the Blackblade Fishman's body, asked the young Xunyin Tribesman.
Baiximing shook his head and waved the reporting tribesman away. After the tribesman left, he replied, "We've lost contact. There's been no daily report, and we can't reach him. You're not the only one facing this situation."
"This is really strange. Could something have happened in Gatekeeper City? It seems impossible. The Human and Sea Tribes only sent a few hundred people into this small world—surely they couldn't have taken the city?"
"Wuzhan Shuang, anything is possible. Just like the two squads I sent out—they haven't returned either." Baiximing clasped his hands behind his back, staring at the tiger-striped fish swimming in the pond as he spoke calmly to the Wuxing Tribesman before him.
Wuzhan Shuang remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. "Your Xunyin Tribe is faster, so I won't send anyone to investigate. Just let me know when you find out what's going on. My father is busy trying to break the formation protecting the Heart of the World and doesn't have time to deal with this."
"Understood." Baiximing's eyes flashed with a cold light as he looked at the pond. Green energy began to faintly glow in his hand as he clenched the jade cup, crushing it into powder. The distorted spatial fluctuations didn't harm him at all.
"If I find out who's causing this trouble, I'll make sure they can neither live nor die."
Meanwhile, in the Battle Plains of the third space, a Xunyin Tribesman cloaked in green soul power sped toward Gatekeeper City. He had been instructed by his young master to investigate what had happened there.
As he flew through the night, a shadow suddenly leapt up from the darkened grasslands below. A flash of cold light sliced toward his throat.
The sudden figure moved with incredible speed, and before the Xunyin Tribesman could react, he saw his own body continuing to fly forward, propelled by inertia.
In his fading consciousness, he caught a glimpse of a black figure disappearing into the night.
"What... happened?" The Xunyin Tribesman heading to Gatekeeper City died without ever understanding what had transpired.
City One, seeing that the tribesman they had sent hadn't returned after a long time, began to sense that something was wrong. The most powerful Xunyin Tribesman guarding the city decided to send another scout, instructing them to be extremely careful and remain hidden.
At the same time, he reported the situation to Baiximing.
Back in the frozen oasis of the fourth space, Baiximing's expression darkened upon receiving the news.
When City One first reported that their scout hadn't returned, Baiximing had already sensed that something was amiss. By the time the second report came in, four more scouts had vanished without a trace.
It was a joke to think that those four Xunyin Tribesmen, who had gone to investigate Gatekeeper City, would survive an encounter with the Night Shadow. There was no chance of that.
When Baiximing received the news that ten scouts had died, he could no longer hold back his anger. He slammed his palm onto the stone table in front of him, reducing it to powder.
By this point, Baiximing had no doubt that something had gone terribly wrong in Gatekeeper City—someone was disrupting their plans.
Moreover, that someone was likely the one responsible for killing his two squads.
The bad news kept coming. The plan to refine the Human and Sea Tribe geniuses at the fortress in the second space had also failed. Every Xunyin Tribesman hidden in the second space had been killed, except for one who had escaped, bringing back a message.
The survivor claimed that a black-cloaked figure had left a note with just two words on it.
"You fool."
Baiximing was initially confused, but shortly after, City One sent a message that one of their scouts had finally returned—with another note. This one also had two words on it.
"Idiot."
Baiximing quickly pieced the four words together. His rage exploded, and his soul power ravaged the entire courtyard, reducing the tiger-striped fish to sashimi.
"You fool! Idiot!" Baiximing gritted his teeth, spitting out each word with venom. "It's been a long time since anyone dared to provoke me like this!"