Soul Town: Claiming the throne? You've asked my Tian Ce Army, haven't you?

"But every powerful force needs a base, right? The Tang Clan's influence is spread throughout the Great Thousand God Realm, maybe I can..."

"Cao Yanbing, you're not suited to lying..."

Li Moxuan interrupted him, "Tell the truth!"

"I didn't lie, but what I just said wasn't the main reason I did it..."

Cao Yanbing sighed, "Today, an old man from the Tang Clan seemed to know my mother, Tang Xiaoxiao. He told me that if I wanted to know about my mother's background, I should come back to the Tang Clan headquarters with him..."

This sounds a bit like the scene in the original novel where Cao Yanbing is captured and imprisoned in the Hall of Heroes. Could it be that Cao Yanbing, this blockhead, has been tricked?

"Furthermore, I only have two generals available right now, and I can't even use the power of the Flame God of Slaughter. If I stay with everyone, this will probably continue indefinitely."

"Therefore, I want to go and experience things on my own. Perhaps this new world can help me regain the power of the Flame God of Slaughter!"

Li Moxuan originally wanted to persuade Cao Yanbing, but after hearing his words, he swallowed his words back...

He knew that Cao Yanbing was unable to use the power of the generals to activate the Flame Killing God not because he was with everyone.

It was because he was there that those generals were unwilling to help him, since Cao Cao had been defeated by Li Shimin.

Of course, these are all secondary reasons. After all, when Cao Yanbing fought Cao Cao one-on-one, Cao Cao was able to use underhanded tricks to threaten Cao Yanbing with his family, so it's not surprising that Cao Yanbing would ask for outside help.

Moreover, they faced off against the formidable generals of the Tang Dynasty brought by Li Shimin in order to protect Cao Cao, but were utterly defeated. In short, they failed to protect Cao Cao properly...

Cao Yanbing's generals had already made their decision: the victor is king, the loser is villain. Regardless of whether Cao Cao or Cao Yanbing wins, they will wholeheartedly assist him in achieving his hegemony.

Unexpectedly, Cao Yanbing, who ultimately won, lost his ambition to dominate the world and instead became Li Moxuan's General of the Western Expedition, working for him...

Xu Chu and Dian Wei followed Cao Yanbing when he had no ambitions, simply wanting to protect the bloodline of the Great Wei. Therefore, no matter what choice he made, they were still willing to continue serving him.

The other generals were different. They initially followed Cao Yanbing to help the Cao family achieve their hegemony. What difference was there between Cao Yanbing's actions and Song Jiang's acceptance of the imperial amnesty?

If Cao Yanbing wants to regain the loyalty of these generals, he either needs to rekindle his ambition or gain their approval in other ways.

As long as Li Moxuan stays by Cao Yanbing's side, he won't have any opportunities to grow, and therefore these things will be impossible...

Cao Yanbing is an extremely competitive person. To be honest, he can't even beat Freud right now, let alone Liu Yuchan and Sun Zhantian, who are both Martial Gods.

"Okay, I understand..."

Li Moxuan sighed, "Once we find Chi You's body and complete the transaction, you can go do what you want to do!"

"But you're incredibly weak right now, and you're brainless. Freud, Honglian, and Fengzha, the three of you can stay with him! I'll go find the rest..."

Li Moxuan kicked Cao Yanbing's chair, who was in a daze, and said, "Don't die, or I'll take care of Xia Ling for you!"

Cao Yanbing, who was initially somewhat moved, turned pale upon hearing this. "Dream on! No way!"

"..."

Upstairs in the room, Su Xuanwei sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes closed, continuing to try to communicate with the deity within his body.

Although there has been no response, she firmly believes that she is not a god, so she must have a guardian spirit. She believes that as long as she works hard enough, she will get a response sooner or later!

"Do you really want to become a Deity's successor?"

A clear, ethereal voice, neither clearly male nor female, suddenly resounded in Su Xuanwei's mind. She was startled for a moment, then hurriedly asked, "Are you my guardian angel?"

The other party did not answer her, but left a few words: "The Great Thousand Divine Realm is the chessboard of the gods. Becoming a host of gods means becoming a chess piece on the chessboard."

"For thousands of years, many people have tried to escape the chessboard, but most have failed..."

"Once you become a Deity, if you cannot step out of the chessboard and become the player, you will sooner or later become a discarded piece, powerless and doomed to eternal damnation..."

Su Xuanwei was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by that? What chessboard? What player? What utter ruin?"

Unfortunately, no one responded to her, as if the voice she had just heard was merely her hallucination...

Su Xuanwei tried to communicate with the deity within her body again, but there was no response. However, she was certain that the voice she had just heard was not an illusion.

Those words were a warning to me... Could this be the reason why my brother didn't want me to become a Deity and step into the Great Thousand God Realm?

Su Xuanwei lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. If the Great Thousand God Realm was the chessboard of the gods, then had Mo Xuan and the other Su gods also become pawns of the gods?

If so, then who are they pawns of? Will they ultimately meet their doom?

Thinking of this, Su Xuanwei felt a strange sense of irritation. She climbed out of bed, opened the window, and the cool breeze blew on her, easing her restless mood...

Chapter 327: Neglecting One's Duties

After Li Moxuan returned to his room, Su Xuanwei told him everything she had heard, leaving Li Moxuan somewhat bewildered...

Chessboard... chess pieces...

Li Moxuan recalled Li Shimin's purpose in sending him to the Great Thousand World: he wanted him to become a god, and the divine spark within him seemed to correspond to the divine position that Li Shimin had chosen for him.

But Li Shimin disappeared without a trace after he entered the Great Thousand God Realm, and he didn't even know which god position corresponded to his own godhood...

Su Xuanwei sat on the bed, shaking her head somewhat confusedly. "I heard those words, but I don't know if they're true..."

Li Moxuan, who was leaning against the window, came back to his senses and asked, "Do you still want to become a Deity of the Seat?"

"miss you!"

Su Xuanwei did not hesitate at all; she had already made up her mind before Li Moxuan returned.

"Although one might become a pawn of the gods, if one is not a god-giver, then one doesn't even have the right to enter the game..."

She took a deep breath and said slowly, "Moreover, I still need to find my brother. Perhaps only by becoming a Deity of Destiny can I learn the truth about his disappearance!"

After a pause, seemingly afraid that Li Moxuan would abandon her, Su Xuanwei's gaze fell on him, "I will summon the guardian deity as soon as possible..."

Her concerns were not unfounded. After all, before meeting Jiang Mingxuan, Li Moxuan could only learn about the entire Great Thousand God Realm through her, but now things were different.

Jiang Mingxuan is clearly doing well in the Great Thousand God Realm and knows more than her. If Li Moxuan has any questions, she can go to Jiang Mingxuan, this old fox, for help.

Su Xuanwei was already weak, and after Jiang Mingxuan took her place, she was basically useless and could only be a burden. She wanted to prove her worth as soon as possible...

"No need to rush..."

Li Moxuan could more or less guess what she was thinking, and sat back on his bed. "I'll be parting ways with these companions soon, so you'll be traveling with me!"

"On the road...where to?"

"Red Lotus Forest in the South District..."

Meanwhile, the Tang Clan temporarily established their base.

A group of Tang Clan members dressed in various styles sat together. Not all of them were Divine Beings; some had lost their divine power due to the death of their guardian deity.

These people were unwilling to return to the mundane life of the Great Thousand Human Realm. Some learned to control beasts in combat, while others learned poison techniques to continue taking on missions and assassinating targets.

There were people who didn't participate in the battles but researched weapons to deal with demons and spirit beings within the Tang Sect, as well as ordinary people who did odd jobs.

These people are easy to identify; those who have lost their guardian spirits are all wearing clothing specially made by the Tang Clan.

These ordinary Tang Clan members wore black, close-fitting outfits with cross-collar and right-fastening lapels. The lapels were wide and bright red, embroidered with intertwined floral patterns, and the bodies were decorated with flowing clouds and sword-shaped patterns in silver thread.

The cuffs were also trimmed with red satin, and a wide black belt was tied around the waist with silver buckles in the shape of animal heads. A gilded waist plaque hung from the belt, with the character "Tang" engraved on it.

As for the members of the Deity Guardians, their clothing varied, mostly in an ancient style, and they were covered in armor. These armors were divine garments formed from the divine power of the guardian gods, similar to the spirit garments of the Spirit Masters.

One of the young deities dressed in black looked at the man in his sixties sitting in the main seat.

The man wore a black eye patch, carried an axe on his back, had disheveled hair, a wine flask hanging from his waist, and his face was full of a sense of vicissitude.

"Master, are we really going to bring that kid back to Thousand Machine City?"

The middle-aged man's name was Lin Haiyuan, the head of the Tang Clan's Punishment Hall, and he was in charge of this Tang Clan recruitment.

"That kid knows how to use a Roman nail..."

Lin Haiyuan picked up the wine jug and took a sip. "That's a move only the direct descendants of the Tang Clan know. It's passed down only within the clan, and besides, his mother's name is Tang Xiaoxiao, she's a member of the Tang Clan..."

The Tang Clan member next to him, who was in charge of recording the list, was dumbfounded. "Master...does our Tang Clan have anyone named Tang Xiaoxiao?"

"Have……"

Lin Haiyuan didn't explain much and sent them back to his room.

He got up and walked to the window, gazing at the crescent moon in the sky. He took a deep breath, as if he had returned to that bloody night many years ago...

Back then, the Tang Clan was an organization that struck fear into the hearts of all in the Great Thousand God Realm. As long as the reward was high enough, there was nothing they wouldn't dare to kill.

Of course, the Tang Clan has a rule: they don't kill their own people. In other words, members of the Tang Clan will not be assassinated and will be protected.

This made countless people eager to join the Tang Clan, until one day, they received a big order—to assassinate a world-renowned swordsman.

Having heard that the other party was a top-tier Deity of the Ninth Immortal Realm, the Tang Sect Master at the time did not want to take the job, but he couldn't resist the fact that the other party offered too much.

To ensure the assassination's success, the Tang Clan mobilized all its experts and even hired many members of the Deity Realm to join the attack...

In the midst of the bloodshed, almost all of the Tang Clan's experts were killed or wounded, and even the Tang Clan's leader was seriously injured, though he also severely injured the swordsman.

Although the swordsman possessed extraordinary skill, he was outnumbered and overwhelmed. Under the combined attack, his guardian sword god was critically wounded and on the verge of death. The swordsman was also severely injured and fell off a cliff after being pierced through the chest by a sword.

Everyone thought the swordsman was dead, but a year later, a sword light cleaved through the Tang Clan's Thousand Machine City, and the swordsman returned to seek revenge!

His strength had increased even further; he slaughtered all the Deity beings in the entire Thousand Machine City without even summoning a Guardian God, acting as if he were a god...

However, the other party seemed to have their own principles of conduct. They spared the child, but then slaughtered all the Su Shen people from several important branches of the Tang Clan.

Later, the swordsman cleaved through the Tower of Ascension with a single sword strike, stepped into the upper realm, and successfully ascended to godhood!

Lin Haiyuan had just joined the Tang Clan and reported to Qianji City when he saw the surrounding area turn into a river of blood in an instant, and he was completely terrified.

When that swordsman, who was like a god of death, passed by him, he thought he was about to die.

Fortunately, the swordsman saw that he was just a child and let him go, then headed towards the sect leader's residence.

Even after so many years, Lin Haiyuan still couldn't help but feel fear when he recalled that scene...

However, this also made him clearly remember that when the head of the Punishment Hall who died in front of him told them the rules, he said that in a few days they would hold a full moon celebration for the daughter of the new sect leader.

The new sect leader's daughter is named Tang Xiaoxiao...

Lin Haiyuan sighed. Like everyone else, he thought the entire sect leader's family had been wiped out, but he never expected Tang Xiaoxiao to be alive and even have a son...

Most importantly, her son has two guardian deities. You should know that even the swordsman who successfully ascended to godhood did not have two guardian deities!

If we can bring him into the Tang Sect for training, he might become the first person in the Tang Sect's history to successfully ascend to godhood!

It just so happens that the current leader of the Tang Clan is also Tang Xiaoxiao's cousin, although she's a bit of a ne'er-do-well, always thinking about whitewashing the Tang Clan...