Chapter 1012: A Time Bomb – Not Involved

Alarms blare across the land!
Ever since Happy took the lead in starting the war by destroying two branch halls in succession, plunging the entire Yipin Hall into unease and anger, Meng Yun’s mood had become extremely poor.
In the battle at Longmen Town, the 2,000 elite troops led by Huang Sha were completely annihilated. The aggressive actions of Xifeng Tower and Yidi also shattered the last glimmer of hope in her heart—she had originally planned to use posts on forums and Yipin Hall’s influence to buy time, waiting for the Wild Wolves to intervene in the Central Plains and for the Evil Emperor to arrive.
Unfortunately!
Baixiaosheng seemed to have keenly sensed something from the Evil Emperor’s attempt to hide his presence; otherwise, Yidi and Meiying wouldn’t have reached an agreement so quickly, nor would Happy have joined in, marching from Nanjing to over 200 miles away from the capital in just one day.
“Hall Master.”
The group entered the council hall of Yipin Hall’s main hall in an orderly line.
Half a minute later,
twelve senior experts of Yipin Hall stood in two rows before Meng Yun, silent and still. The first person on the left was Monk Thick Eyebrows, his expression solemn, yet none of them showed signs of worry or anxiety.
“Are everyone here? Good.” Meng Yun took a deep breath, assumed her dignified posture, and sat down at the top seat as the Hall Master. “I believe everyone already knows that this time, Yipin Hall has reached a critical moment…”
“…” The twelve elders stood motionless, not making a sound and their expressions remaining unchanged.
“Originally, I wanted to wait until the Evil Emperor returned to the Central Plains and joined forces with me to fully control the entire martial world there before revealing Yipin Hall’s ultimate trump card… But it seems that if we don’t act now, that woman Meiying will ally with Yidi and directly attack Yipin Hall’s main hall!”
“It won’t take long to travel from Longmen Town to the capital. Meiying has already begun mobilizing her troops… You all…”
At this point, Meng Yun gently stroked the smooth dragon head on her seat, a cold cruelty emerging in her eyes. “…It’s time to act! Do your best!!”
As soon as these last words were spoken, Monk Thick Eyebrows and the others remained silent, as if having received their final orders. They turned around and left the council hall one after another.
As the group left silently, Meng Yun stared at the majestic foundation stone of Yipin Hall outside the hall for a long time before slowly closing her eyes!
……
The capital was in a state of panic!
Yipin Hall’s main hall! From within to outside, tens of thousands of troops had almost blocked the streets and taverns within miles around!

Small groups of Yipin Hall’s disciples could be seen wandering through the streets of the city.
However…
Xifeng Tower clearly had mobilized all of the capital’s forces—nearly a hundred thousand troops spread across the city, with more arriving continuously from nearby cities!
The capital was gradually escalating into a silent confrontation between these two superpowers, with a palpable sense of tension everywhere.
The entire city resembled a giant powder keg, ready to ignite and explode at any moment!
Yipin Hall’s people were holding back, gradually retreating near their headquarters…
But Xifeng Tower seemed to have lost patience, with hundreds of thousands of troops slowly closing in from all directions on Yipin Hall’s headquarters!
At the same time, many local gangs also arrived in the area around Yipin Hall’s headquarters.
Inside the tavern, over a dozen tables were packed with people, each holding weapons.
“…Boss Li!”
“Ha, Brother Yuan, you’re here early!”
“Not early, just arrived.”
As a group of distinguished martial artists entered, the people there lit up, and the tavern quickly became lively…
“Brother Ma, Brother Xiao, it’s rare to see you—how have you been?”
“Haha! Thanks to fate!”
“Waiter! Add a stool to our table!”
“Sure! Please wait a moment.”
Players who passed by and wanted to rest were terrified by the crowded scene and turned to leave.
No wonder—normally, it’s rare to see gang leaders in such a small tavern, but now there seemed to be plenty of them. Anyone picked out in the tavern was a boss or vice-boss, with golden badges shining brightly.
“Yipin Hall is in big trouble this time.”
“Just Xifeng Tower, along with Emperor One and the two top experts, Happy, is enough to overwhelm Yipin Hall. Who would have thought so many others would join in…” In a corner of the tavern, a few players who had arrived early quietly drank while excitedly whispering to each other:
“What do you mean ‘join in’? These gang leaders are all well-known among the capital’s eighteen major gangs. Eight of them have already united… Yipin Hall is doomed this time…”
“Mm, I heard that too.”
“Of the capital’s eighteen major gangs, aside from Xifeng Tower and Yipin Hall, almost every one has established over fifty branches in the Central Plains, and each of them is stronger than the Five Poisons Sect!”

“Each of their troops in the capital numbers over ten thousand! The elite forces combined are twice that of Xifeng Tower and Yipin Hall! When these forces unite, they’re even more terrifying than Xifeng Tower at full strength!”
“This time, they definitely want a share of the action.”
“Of course!”
“Yipin Hall has hundreds of camps and controls resources no less than Xifeng Tower. With such a large piece of the pie, there’s no reason they wouldn’t try to take a bite.”
“It seems the landscape of the Central Plains is about to undergo dramatic changes!”
“…Hmm…”
“However, Yipin Hall has already made quite a profit in the Central Plains over the past five years. It’s a shame they chose to cooperate with the Wild Wolves Organization…”
“That was extremely unwise.”
…
Meanwhile, Bai Xiaosheng’s residence welcomed two guests!
In the pavilion, Fengling, dressed in plain white clothes, stood quietly behind the serene and ethereal Bai Xiaosheng…
In front of them were not only the fully armed, imposing-masked woman, Meiying, but also a figure embodying the elegance and dignity of the jianghu—clad in a purple robe with black edges, his presence like a sword, his face sharp as a blade, his eyes piercing… Standing in the pavilion, he exuded the pressure of a sword drawn and ready to strike, filled with awe-inspiring authority.
Four people, two standing, two sitting.
Each had a completely different demeanor and aura!
Fengling, like an outsider, kept herself apart from the group of three, her cautious expression much like that of a silent junior disciple;
Bai Xiaosheng sipped his tea calmly. Even knowing that turmoil reigned in the capital and something major was about to happen, he remained composed and unperturbed, neither excited nor impatient;
Meiying, with just one order, could have ten thousand Xifeng Tower disciples engage in a bloody battle with Yipin Hall in the capital. It was impossible for her not to be nervous at this moment—she was the only one among the four surrounded by solemnity! Yet it seemed she was waiting for something…
As for the Emperor…
At every moment, the aura he displayed was like a sword capable of destroying everything—sharp and unyielding!
The same was true now.
Even though the enemy ahead was the second-largest force in the Central Plains—Yipin Hall!
“Emperor, Meiying, there’s no time to lose. You’d better act quickly. We don’t have much time left.”
After a few minutes of silence in the pavilion, Bai Xiaosheng fiddled with the horn on the stone table before calmly lifting his eyelids and saying, “You know, it’s already been a day since the Evil Emperor disappeared… From where he vanished to our Central Plains, it takes at most half a month. There’s not much time left for you.”
“…He still hasn’t appeared,” Meiying said, frowning.

Bai Xiaosheng sighed, “Several hours have passed since he went offline. This kind of situation doesn’t usually happen—today is really abnormal!”
“If he still doesn’t show up, it means he’s figured out our plans and doesn’t intend to join. Waiting any longer is pointless. Even if he returns to the game, he might not cooperate with you.”
“Why?”
Although Shadow’s face was covered, his clear, sharp eyes exerted slight pressure on Bai Xiaosheng.
“We didn’t inform him in advance when planning this. He has no obligation to help us attack the First-Class Hall’s headquarters.”
As soon as Bai Xiaosheng finished speaking, another mocking voice came through:
“That’s right. Warriors can be very proud at times!”
“Shadow, your strengths lie in strategy and your influence, while Happy’s strength lies in his combat skills. If you try to outsmart him and provoke him into starting a fight, Xifeng Tower can easily claim all the credit. If it were me, I wouldn’t cooperate with you either… No one likes to feel manipulated.”
The one who dared speak to Shadow in such a tone was undoubtedly the Emperor!
Shadow defended himself somewhat aggrievedly, “…The First-Class Hall is already his enemy. What I’m doing can’t really be called manipulation or exploitation—it’s more like mutual cooperation.”
“Whether it’s exploitation or mutual cooperation… Happy definitely won’t participate in this operation!” Bai Xiaosheng said. “Shadow, with the strong support of the sixteen major gangs in the capital, why wait for Happy? Although Happy is good at taking on the First-Class Hall alone, chaos often leads to many complications, preventing him from achieving the results you expect. Don’t waste more time waiting for him.”
“That’s true.”
The Emperor also agreed with Bai Xiaosheng’s view:
“I know you want to preserve Xifeng Tower’s strength and minimize losses, but sometimes, don’t expect everything to be perfect… There’s nothing perfect in this world!”
Under the persuasion of the Emperor and Bai Xiaosheng, Shadow finally made up his mind:
“Alright, since he doesn’t want to show up, we can’t force him. Let’s carry out the plan!” His tone grew increasingly resolute as he spoke.
“Fengling, follow the Emperor.” Bai Xiaosheng also showed a rare serious expression as he turned to give instructions to Fengling.
The latter nodded in understanding.
The Emperor said nothing either. He glanced at Shadow, then at Bai Xiaosheng and Fengling, nodded, and slowly walked outside the mansion!
“…”
Fengling hurriedly followed closely, not daring to delay.

As the emperor and Wind Bell left, a homing pigeon took off from Bai Xiaosheng’s residence.