"What do you mean by that? Are you questioning us?"

Annie Rui’s thick brows knitted together as he frowned impatiently.

"If you have something to say, then say it. Stop talking in circles."

"It doesn’t make sense."

Phield narrowed his eyes.

"The Shadow World Sect hasn’t taken any effective measures to prevent information leaks. Yet all this time, news of the rebellion has never spread beyond Rick Province. Don’t you find that contradictory?"

His voice turned chilling.

"Unless the Shadow World Sect simply isn’t afraid of you reaching Maple Leaf Territory."

Perhaps the rebels had an insider in Maple Leaf Territory.

Or perhaps the Shadow World Sect had already prepared a massive trap.

Either possibility was entirely plausible.

"You’re making a fuss over nothing. We used a secret route. The rebels never noticed us."

Annie Rui remained stubborn. He barely listened before immediately dismissing the idea.

"Fine. Then let’s sign an agreement that benefits both of us."

Too lazy to keep arguing, Phield got straight to the point.

"Because of your invasion, you’ll need to pay for your freedom. In addition, you’ll assist me in future military operations."

"Impossible! Lackey of the devil, ptoo!"

Annie Rui spat directly at him.

Fortunately, Phield reacted quickly and dodged aside.

"That’s disgusting. And you’re supposed to be a noble."

Phield flew into a rage and punched him square in the face, instantly swelling his right eye shut.

"Take this. I’ll beat you into a pig."

"Ow! You’re abusing a prisoner! I’m going to report you to Her Majesty the Empress!"

Clutching his blackened eye, Annie Rui roared furiously.

"If you still want revenge, you’d better listen to my proposal."

Phield took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to kill him.

"Revenge?"

It was as though Annie Rui had heard a sacred password.

He instantly calmed down.

"What revenge?"

"Of course I mean wiping out the rebels and avenging your fiancée, your father, and the rest of your family."

Like a devil making a bargain, Phield produced a magical contract worth fifteen gold coins.

"Sign this. You guide me, and I’ll help you get your revenge. Everybody wins."

"You?"

Annie Rui snorted.

"The rebels’ Divine Chosen aren’t opponents you can handle. I’m not looking down on you. You’ll just be throwing your life away."

His fists tightened involuntarily.

Clearly, he was tempted.

But when he thought about the rebels’ terrifying strength, he sneered dismissively.

"Even your dead brother couldn’t defeat them. What makes you think you can? You’re just someone hiding here trying to survive."

"Very well. Then I’ll give you one more choice."

Phield’s voice turned cold.

"If you don’t agree within three seconds, I’ll personally send you to hell."

"I’ll sign!"

Annie Rui didn’t hesitate for even a moment.

He could genuinely feel Phield’s killing intent.

Even while smiling, the man was deadly serious.

Creeeak.

The prison door groaned harshly from years of neglect.

Forced into signing a humiliating and unequal agreement, Annie Rui walked out of the cell with an unhappy expression.

Watching the magical contract dissolve into streams of light, he let out a helpless sigh.

According to the agreement, all property belonging to Fierce Stallion Domain now belonged to Phield. Annie Rui would also assist Phield’s military operations unconditionally and was forbidden from harming anyone from Nightfall Domain.

In return, Phield would help him kill Richard.

"Phield, what’s your plan?"

Annie Rui’s face hung low with frustration.

"No plan."

Phield spread his hands.

"We’ll take things slowly and gather intelligence first. This isn’t some kind of race."

"Oh, right. Our main enemy is the Shadow World Sect. Corrupted creatures aren’t worth mentioning. They’re all trash."

"You’re that confident?"

Phield was genuinely surprised.

The combat power of corrupted creatures was obvious to anyone. Yet Annie Rui was calling them garbage.

"That’s right."

Annie Rui nodded.

"After the Corruption Catastrophe descended, the sages constructed powerful frontier fortresses to contain the endless tides of undead. Every fortress serving as a critical node contains an underground Holy Nexus, where powerful divine relics specifically designed to counter corruption are stored."

"What?"

Phield’s heart skipped a beat.

A chill ran down his spine.

"Divine relics? Holy Light relics?"

"No."

Annie Rui grinned proudly when he saw Phield’s shocked expression.

"Finally found something you don’t know, huh?"

He continued,

"They are treasures left behind by the Goddess of Life. The artifact is called the Tidebind Lattice of the Surging Realms. It’s installed within eight imperial fortresses. I don’t know all its effects, but my father once explained the important one to me."

He paused dramatically.

"As long as the artifact is activated, everyone within the grand formation’s range receives the purest form of life energy."

Annie Rui chuckled.

"Ordinary people are cured of illness. Knights train faster. But undead, corrupted creatures, and all those abominations?"

His grin widened.

"They get healed."

"Revived."

"And then they immediately die."

He burst into laughter.

"Any corrupted creature below the Fifth Tier can be killed instantly. Even Third-Tier Corrupted Divine Chosen suffer devastating injuries the moment they’re exposed."

Corrupted creatures were already dead.

To them, death and blood were nourishment.

Corruption was the force sustaining their existence.

Once that corruption was purified, only one outcome remained.

Death.

"That’s terrifying."

Cold sweat trickled down Phield’s back.

This information was incredibly important.

Fortunately, he had learned it in advance.

No wonder the nobles hadn’t panicked when corruption first spread across the Empire.

No wonder Agnes always insisted that corrupted creatures stay away from the city walls.

The Empire had been hiding a weapon like this all along.

"What’s so terrifying about it?"

Annie Rui scoffed.

"It only benefits us. If it could stay active permanently, we’d leave it running every single day."

"How large is its area of effect?"

"I have no idea."

Annie Rui shrugged.

"But it definitely can’t reach Starnight City. Otherwise all the corrupted corpses here would’ve been wiped out long ago."

Then he gave Phield a suspicious look.

"Why are you asking that? You sound like someone who’s involved with corrupted creatures."

"Definitely not."

Phield scratched his head awkwardly and immediately changed the subject.

"The room assigned to you is the first stone house in the first row of Starnight City. Very traditional architecture. Great scenery too."

"I don’t want your broken stone house."

Annie Rui was completely ungrateful.

"I want my Fierce Stallion Castle back!"

Thinking about the territory his family had managed for generations, he punched the wall in frustration.

The pain in his heart was unbearable.

"What’s wrong with Starnight City?"

Phield immediately became annoyed.

An outsider had no right to be so picky.

Who knew?

A thousand years from now, this place might be worth hundreds of millions.

He should be grateful.

"Simple."

Phield patted his chest generously.

"I’ll just assign you a Fierce Stallion Territory."

He pulled out a sheet of paper and quickly scribbled down the words "Fierce Stallion Castle."

"Here."

He handed it over.

"Your new address plaque. From today onward, that stone house is officially renamed Fierce Stallion Territory. Congratulations. You’ve reclaimed your land."

"You bastard!"

Annie Rui nearly fainted from rage.

"I protest this unfair treatment!"

He looked so angry that he seemed ready to roll around on the floor.

"You think you’re funny? Because this isn’t funny at all!"

"Pfft."

Tisiana couldn’t hold it in any longer.

She had already been annoyed by Annie Rui for quite some time.

"Actually, that is pretty funny."

Suppressing her laughter, she added,

"We’ve received professional training. Under normal circumstances, we don’t laugh."

PS:I’ve already mapped out the content for Volume 2, so stay tuned! (I expect Volume 2 will be released in about 60 more Chapters.)