Tie Buqun led the way through the narrow underground tunnel that zig-zagged like a maze. Chen Wentian and Mei Qiaofeng followed behind closely, staying silent and keeping their spiritual auras to a minimum.

Beast God City had protective arrays and formations against underground attacks. Some of these were set up by Immortal Tempest Badger Qiu Chuyi while others were set up by Tie Buqun himself. Those that he created in the past were ripped up and redone after the Snake Lord fell but these were done in a rush and had many weaknesses. Tie Buqun took advantage of this and manage to dig a tunnel undetected up the entire mountain. The power of an immortal with digging power was indeed fearsome given the circumstances…

They quickly arrived at the end which then directly led into the basement of a large restaurant and hotel. The control plate’s beacon was powerful but Chen Wentian did not want to risk activating it underground and have it not reach the beast kings.

“You two ready?” Chen Wentian asked, “There is no turning back once we step through here.”

“Yes!”

“Shut up and do it!”

Chen Wentian nodded. “Okay, this is the start of the war!”

The three of them burst through and quickly locked down the basement. Mei Qiaofeng used her snake charm to confuse and distract the workers there while Tie Buqun monitored the surroundings and the outside for enemy immortals.

This left Chen Wentian free to concentrate on the most important task. He drew an inscription array on the ground and placed down three chunks of precious orange spiritual crystal. Once that was ready, he sat down in the middle and called upon the Legacy of Moonlight. Jasmine’s Lunar Blessing flowed out of him and fed into the middle of the circular plate. All it took was a bit of true nine-tailed fox aura and then…

The control plate glowed bright, like a spectacular miniature moon. It quickly sucked up the energy stored within and from Chen Wentian and the spiritual crystals. The light increased in intensity until it was blindingly bright… until it finally exploded!

A strange, inexplicable wave of force left the room at an unimaginable speed. It expanded outward, encompassing everything and everyone. It took over the entire city, then the surrounding countryside, and eventually leaving the entire province altogether.

To an ordinary mortal, they would not have felt anything and merely continued about their day. To a Spirit Lord, the wave was like a gentle breeze that brought a smile to their faces. Even Spirit Kings could not figure out what it was as it only felt like a minor fluctuation in the ambient spiritual energy.

Chen Wentian stood back up and put away the control plate. “It’s done, let’s go to the next phase.”

Zhiyue Lingdan promised that no Spirit King would be able to figure out the source of the beacon unless they were the beast kings but Chen Wentian did not want to wait and see if that was true. The next phase was for them to relocate to three different areas of the city and wait there.

The other two knew what to do. Mei Qiaofeng used another enchantment art to knock the servant under her control unconscious before stepping into the tunnel. Tie Buqun entered last and collapse the tunnel behind them to delay any pursuers.

They then separated and headed off into three different tunnels.

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Thousands of kilometers away in the Glittering Forest, the three beast kings were in the middle of a long and serious meeting. Queen Sundew, King Huo Tu, and the martial monkey king were in a circular clearing, each flanked by their lieutenants. They included the gray bladed mantis, the fat Huo Ping, and the hulking steel-furred gorilla.

All three were in agreement with regard to attacking the city. The additional lure of Jasmine made it a good opportunity to settle old scores with the humans. However, there were several matters to negotiate including how much of their forces to commit to attacking the city and who would get the most rewards.

Queen Sundew’s armies were positioned to directly counter the Beast God Sanctum so it made the most sense for them to lead the attack. King Huo Tu had the northern front while the martial monkey had the south. If they both pulled forces from there, the humans would be able to regain lost ground. Yet Queen Sundew was obviously unwilling to sacrifice its own forces for not much benefit.

Indeed, it seemed the lewd monkey king would stand to gain the most. Logically, if they were to capture Jasmine alive, they would want to get the most out of her without immediately killing her. Only the monkey king had the innate ability to mate with a female and absorb some of that divine power for himself.

King Huo Tu preferred amphibians obviously and Queen Sundew only wanted males. They could only benefit from her flesh and were unwilling to let the monkey king have its way with her for an extended period of time.

They were still in heated discussion when the energy pulse from the beacon swept over the forest.

It set off something within them and all three clutched their heads at the same time as if in agony. The sensation was only momentary and once it passed, they all turned to look in the direction of Beast God City.

“What… did you feel that?” King Huo Tu asked, “It’s the emergency beacon!”

“The fox is in danger!” The monkey king cried out. “That’s not allowed, she’s ours!!”

The beacon was linked to their mind and soul from when they were first enslaved. Although they had long since broken the slave bond, the imprint and the desire to save their master was still there. Only now, they wanted to save her so that they could kill her themselves!

“Let’s go!” Queen Sundew shrieked and shot into the air. “We have to go now before it’s too late! We can’t let the humans have her!”

The other two kings immediately followed and so did their subordinates.

“Little Gray!”

“Mama, your instruction?”

“Command all our forces to launch a general offensive on the Giant Stone Forest!”

“All?”

“Everything! And tell your brothers to follow me to the city!”

“Yes, mama!”

The three beast kings were all in a panic and not completely clear-headed. This was the effect of the emergency beacon; its command and influence were absolute. If under the original slave bond, they would gladly go through hell and sacrifice their lives to protect Jasmine. Now, they were still being subconsciously compelled into urgent action without the opportunity to think through everything.

King Huo Tu and the monkey king followed Queen Sundew’s lead and also commanded their forces to launch overwhelming assaults on the other provinces. Both also commanded their underlings to immediately gather all of their Spirit Lords and head toward Beast God City.

The three Spirit Lords veered off in different directions while the three kings flew in formation directly westward. Their spiritual energy erupted and they shot forward at full speed.

They were ready for battle; they were ready for slaughter. They were all vicious beasts to begin, beasts that did not shy away from a life-or-death battle with the humans. While the timing was awkward, they didn’t care. They had three Spirit Kings to the humans two. Defeat was not an option…

This war… they were going to win!

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