175 Sect Leader Fang's Wisdom

Ed stared at Yuki's veiled figure. He felt a complicated mix of emotions, but mostly just a desire to control her. A red gleam sparked in his eyes as he took several steps towards her. On the outside, he appeared fine, but internally, his thoughts were a jumbled mess. 'Mine! Mine! She's all mine and no one else can touch her!'

[Get ahold of yourself.] Blue Ed calmly interrupted.

[Disgusting.] Silvery-red Ed scoffed.

[Eh, I think things will work out though?] Reddish-blue Ed smiled.

'Shut up!' Reddish-black Ed shouted in his head. 'This is something that we should've done a long time ago!' He grinned as he reached his hand for Yuki's veil. Just seeing her wear the red wedding clothes angered and displeased him. "You shouldn't wear this." He commanded as he ripped the veil off her head.

As Ed finally looked at Yuki's beautiful face, his eyes widened in pure shock. His heart rate rapidly sped up, causing his face to flush red. His hands trembled as his expression darkened. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" He angrily yelled while grabbing the woman by the throat.

The woman beneath the veil was not Yuki. She looked similar and had near-identical proportions, but the face was slightly different. She could easily pass as a sister and maybe even a twin, but she definitely wasn't Yuki!

The woman struggled to breathe as she clawed at Ed's hand around her neck. Her face was turning red due to the lack of air.

"Why not let her speak?" Dupe interrupted.

Ed turned his glare towards Dupe, causing him to slightly shrink back in his chair. Right now, Ed's face was more terrifying than it had ever been. Not even his anger over his loss to President Walker or Ochre's death matched his current feelings. 'This is all a sham! Do they think I'm a fool?! Is Dupe in on it?!' His eyes shook back-and-forth as his purple shadow spread from his back and arched up over the thrones, covering all three of them inside. He released his grip on the fake's neck, causing her to coughingly gasp for air. "Speak! Where is Yuki!"

The woman trembled in fear as she looked up at the madman in front of her. She shook her head quickly while scrunching back in her chair. "I don't know." She whispered.

A shadow tentacle sprawled towards her and wrapped around her neck. "Then who are you?" He asked. "And when did you replace the real Yuki?"

The woman gulped in fear. "I... I'm just a commoner. I was told that I looked like the Sect Leader's granddaughter, and they'd pay my family a lot to be her stand-in. I've been here for over four months."

"Four months?!" Ed's entire body trembled. 'She's never been here! Hell, I was still in prison six months ago!' Madness flashed in his eyes as the tentacle began constricting around her neck, corroding her skin.

"That's enough!" Dupe shouted as he rose his hand towards the girl, creating a white light barrier around her and pushing Ed's shadow back.

Ed glared at Dupe again and didn't hesitate as he shot his purple shadow towards him. A bright flash appeared as a white barrier protected Dupe from the shadow's attack.

"I see." Ed nodded. "So, you've been focusing on the paths of light?" He activated his chimera form, covering his body in scales. His clawed hand reached forward and gripped the light barrier, causing cracks to spread over it. "Do you think that'll be enough?"

"Calm down." Dupe calmly replied. "You know as well as I do that killing me won't do anything. This is just a clone."

"Speak!" Ed commanded. "Why are you here with her?! What's your game?!"

Dupe smiled. "I naturally came to watch the show. You know I just can't miss something so interesting."

"That's it?" Ed skeptically questioned.

"Of course not." He shook his head. "I've acquired some news recently, and I needed to inform you. However, I couldn't find you anywhere on the battlefield, so I came here instead. After all, I knew you'd be coming for Yuki eventually." He laughed. "I was pretty shocked when I discovered the fake Yuki as well."

"What's the news?" Ed asked as he retracted his shadow.

Dupe released his barrier while still smiling. "Your personality really has taken a turn for the worse ever since your soul shattered."

Ed's eyes narrowed. No one should know about his soul being shattered, as it had just happened recently. In fact, he himself didn't know what had happened until just a few hours ago when he was at the Light Tiger Sect's headquarters.

"Ahem." Dupe coughed awkwardly into his hand. "The news is that the Earth Dust Sect should be invading very soon with plans to eliminate the remnant forces of both sides."

"I already knew that." Ed scoffed, as he had deducted such a thing happening a long time ago.

"No." Dupe shook his head. "I meant that I Specifically know who is invading." He held up four fingers. "Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar are invading from the south. Individually, each of these countries is weak, but together, they make a fairly strong force." He lowered three fingers. "Additionally, Mongolia is invading as well. This is the bigger problem."

"Mongolia?" Ed questioned in confusion. As far as he knew, the relations between China and Mongolia were fairly good. Additionally, Mongolia was a weak land-locked country with no significant military. The three southern countries had rough relations at one point or another with China in the past, so they at least made sense, but Mongolia was completely unexpected.

"Right." Dupe nodded. "Together, the three southern countries will invade north and northeast. Mongolia will invade south and southeast, likely invading Beijing due to their close proximity. Apparently, Mongolia has an especially strong esper that calls himself the new Great Khan. He wants to restore the Mongol Empire and is working with Nexus to make it happen."

"Foolish." Ed scoffed. The chances of Mongolia becoming anything except a puppet of Nexus was extremely slim. If this new Great Khan was so great, then he wouldn't be relying so heavily on outside forces.

"Even if he is foolish, he is a force to be reckoned with." Dupe shook his head. "From what I've heard, he's at least comparable to President Walker and Sect Leader Fang. At that level, he really may have what it takes to expand his country. On the other hand, the three southern countries lack an overwhelmingly strong top-level leader, though they have stronger militaries."

Ed rubbed his chin. "If what you said is right, then India will likely jump into the action too. They'll aim to take Tibet and probably won't meet much resistance in doing so."

"Mm." Dupe agreed as he stood up from the throne. "So, what should we do?"

"Hmm..." Ed frowned. 'My relationship with the Purple Origin Sect is pretty bad at this point... There's not much of a reason to help them. Same goes for the remnants of the Seven Sect Alliance... That just leaves the Fire Dragon Sect.' He wasn't sure whether he should bother helping or not. The benefits he could gain from doing so only continued to decline. Truthfully, he didn't really need an alliance that badly. His main goal had only been information on how to cultivate. However, he also disliked the idea of Nexus spreading their influence even farther.

"Forget it." He sighed while shaking his head. "There isn't much we can do to help in such a battle anyways. We'll just assist the Fire Dragon Sect and Purple Origin Sect as much as we can." He turned around. "Follow me. I've got a job for you."

"Sure." Dupe nodded and walked behind him. It seemed he wasn't bothered by their earlier fight. On the contrary, it seemed he had even expected it to have happened.

"Oh, before I forget." Ed turned back around and pointed towards the fake Yuki. A red shadow sprung from his arm and fused into her body.

"AGHHH!" The woman clutched her head as it throbbed in pain. She collapsed unconscious on the throne a short moment later. The red shadow slowly invaded her mind to brainwash her. 'Bai is evil. He forced himself on you. He used you. You're nothing but a plaything in his eyes. You want revenge! You'll get revenge! Tell the others what he's done to you! Tell everyone! And then, stab him in the back! Dig the knife deep and twist it with all your strength.' The message ran on repeat, sinking deep into her mind.

Ed turned around and kept walking, a happy grin covering his face. Dupe remained silent as he chose not to comment on the matter.

...

Exiting the purple barrier, Ed turned towards Dupe. "Flair is waiting on the outskirts of Beijing. We've obtained significant amounts of cultivation resources. Go get the resources from her and spread them to Harmony in America.

Dupe's eyes widened in surprise. "Where did you get the resources?"

"Doesn't matter." Ed shook his head. "Go."

"Alright." Dupe chuckled. While walking away, he waved his hand. "Try to get that personality fixed by the next time we meet."

Ed shot him a glare before returning his focus to the tasks on hand. He looked around the battlefield to evaluate the current situation.

Casualties on both sides of the battle were extremely high. Of the original 20,000 forces on the Seven Sect Alliance side, only about 10,000 remained. Ed also spotted unfamiliar forces amongst them, so they actually only had 10,000 forces remaining after having gained extra reinforcements during the duration of the war! Over a 50 percent casualty rate was a terrifying prospect.

On the Purple Origin Sect's side, their number of forces had actually increased. However, this was not because casualties were low. It was mainly because the Fire Dragon Sect had switched sides, greatly increasing their numbers. Still, even with the extra forces, they only had about 5,000 forces remaining between the two sects.

Suddenly, a roaring shout echoed in the skies. "GOODBYE DONGFENG!"

Ed looked up to see Sect Master Long's golden fire meteor turn into a sea of flames in the sky. Dongfeng must have missed his opportunity to escape, as he was trapped right in the center of the flames. He covered his body in golden faith energy, increasing his speed even further. However, every time he tried escaping, Sect Master Long would instantly appear in front of him.

'Teleportation through flames?' Ed wondered as he watched.

Dongfeng was at a complete disadvantage as he was forced to face one attack after another, and after several dozen blows, the end finally came. Sect Master Long's fiery fist landed a perfect blow to Dongfeng's head, crushing it. After that, a dozen follow-up blows landed on Dongfeng's body, killing him. Sect Master Long incinerated the body as he retracted his sea of flames. He panted heavily as sweat covered his body. It seemed that he was completely exhausted from the fight. However, there was clearly a pained expression on the man's face. Today, he had lost his son, and then he had killed someone that he originally thought of as a friend. This, in addition to many of his dead sect members, was a devastating blow to Sect Master Long's mental health.

...

At the same time that Sect Master Long finished his fight, Sect Leader Fang was finishing his own. He was still defending himself against Xia's lightning bombardment, and the Li and Wan sisters' rapid attacks.

Suddenly, Chonglin coughed up a heavy amount of blood, and his face turned pale. His powers faltered, causing his elemental clones to disappear and leave him wide open for attack!

Sect Leader Li hesitated on whether to attack or not, fearing it might be a trap. However, Wan and Xia had no such misgivings. It was commonly known that Chonglin had suffered hidden injuries recently, and they were more than thrilled to take advantage of such an opportunity. Wan transformed into a blinding flash of light as she moved in close for the kill. Xia was right on her heels as he appeared to transform into a streak of lightning.

Right as Wan and Xia closed the distance, Chonglin grinned and looked up towards them. He rose his hands towards them while activating his favorite law, mana condensation. Purple mana shot out from his body, creating chains that rapidly attacked Wan and Xia. Dark Fire and Water clones immediately reappeared from his body and attacked both espers!

Shocked, Xia hurriedly tried to shield himself with his tribulation lightning cloud. He even spread golden faith energy over it to increase his defense to the maximum. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. The dark fire and water clones suddenly turned golden as Chonglin seemingly decided to increase their power even further. The two opposing forces tore through Xia, disintegrating him to ash.

Wan didn't fare any better. She also utilized golden faith energy, but it didn't seem to increase her abilities much, likely because her own power was already incredibly strong. Though it took a little longer than Xia, her body was destroyed as well.

A beautiful sight decorated the sky as huge streams of golden faith energy flowed towards Sect Leader Fang and Sect Master Long. They directly absorbed all of the golden faith energy that was left behind by Wan, Xia, and Dongfeng's deaths.

Li was the last remaining sect leader of the Seven Sect Alliance. Her face darkened as she stared at Sect Leader Fang. "Your injury was fake?" She asked.

"Mm." He nodded. "I've been keeping up the act for a long time now." He grinned. "I'm a pretty good actor, right?"

She nodded while sighing. "I surrender." She deactivated her powers, hoping to renegotiate with Sect Leader Fang.