Chen Dingye said, "It is precisely because of temptation that I must burn these things that tempt me completely while I still have self-control."

His eyes were dark, reflecting the flames consuming the burning parchment scroll.

As if his eyes mirrored the flames, then watched them extinguish.

The Great Khan said, "How foolish."

Chen Dingye said, "Foolish? No matter good or evil, the bottom line is here."

The Great Khan looked at Chen Dingye and said, "I once thought that Emperor Chen, who sacrificed his wife, killed his former friends, and imprisoned the pillars of the state for his ambitions, was a man who would stop at nothing for great matters."

"I didn’t expect he was just a fool bound by the teachings of pedantic scholars!"

Chen Dingye held his wine, smiled faintly, and said, "You say I’m foolish, I can’t refute that. But if you say I’m bound by so-called rules and conscience, then, Great Khan, you have underestimated me."

"What?!"

The Great Khan’s expression changed, suddenly sensing something was amiss.

He felt a slight stagnation in his body, as if some meridians were beginning to transform, turning gradually into a state like metal and rotten wood; his expression changed dramatically as he looked at the wine spilled on the ground, which had a rich aroma.

"?!!!"

Chen Dingye said, "Fei Poison, how is it? Even without drinking, it can still take effect. There is a Blood Pond at the place where Tantai Xianming died, filled with ordinary level Fei Poison. But through secret techniques, tempering condensing, I produced this pot of wine."

The Great Khan shouted angrily, "You drank it too!"

"You!!!"

The Great Khan’s expression suddenly froze.

He realized something.

He had only sensed and smelled the poisonous blood of Fei nearby, and already showed signs of poisoning. But the person before him, truly, calmly and indifferently, drank cup by cup of the deadly poisonous blood.

Fei Poison’s traces spread across Chen Dingye’s face, his pupils slightly clouded, yet he still sat there holding his wine, saying, "Wouldn’t you have fallen into the trap without it?"

"Alliance? Coalition?"

"The Emperor of the Central Plains has the demeanor of an emperor of the Central Plains; how can he be the same as barbarians?"

"Ancestor!!!"

Chen Dingye suddenly shouted, Chen Tianqi, who had been closing his eyes, gripped the long spear in his hand, the legendary Divine Weapon of Chen Baxian, and thrust fiercely, forcing the Great Khan to exert his powers here.

Chen Dingye felt his meridians turning to wood and stone, he gently swirled the Fei Blood wine he had tempered and condensed, sitting upright, swept his sleeve, the dust on the ground beneath the Mountain God Temple dispersed, revealing hidden lines glowing with light.

Formation.

A Killing Formation prepared with superior techniques, triggering earth fire, connecting terrain and earth energy; once activated, it erupts like a volcanic explosion – a terrifying Killing Formation.

Targeted at –

Everyone inside the Mountain God Temple.

The Great Khan, thinking he had seen through Chen Dingye, refused to enter Zhenbei City; yet not wanting to go to Zhenbei City, he fell into the second phase of the plot. When Chen Dingye suggested neither wanted to go to each other’s Central Army, there were few options left.

The Great Khan nearly overturned his chariot when facing Li Guanyi alone in the Northern Border.

Therefore, this time he was much more cautious.

But this time, it was precisely because of caution that he fell into the trap.

Such a normal consideration, even from ancient times to present, countless military strategists would make the same judgment. When both leaders sit together, with their armies of equal strength, it creates a balance.

Even if there are reasons for hostility and battle, an abnormal balance can be maintained; the leaders on both sides are absolutely safe.

But what if –

One side never intended to survive?

Chen Dingye held the wine cup, calmly reciting:

"Without using myself as bait, how would I lure you into the trap?"

The Great Khan’s eyes widened with rage, "You!!!"

"Aren’t you afraid of dying here under this Great Formation?!!"

Chen Dingye said indifferently, "What of it?"

The Great Khan felt his heart boiling with killing intent.

He wanted to strike and kill Chen Dingye, but Chen Tianqi, this old general whose vitality was already dwindling, displayed his full bravery, using the long spear to fiercely hinder the Great Khan like his ancestors did.

Two of the world’s top ten generals engaged in a fierce battle.

Chen Dingye remained calmly seated, his eyes serene.

The world underestimated me.

Despite being poisoned by Fei, the Great Formation in the Mountain God Temple began to circulate and erupt; he swung his sleeve, watching the wine, Fei’s blood poison, of superior quality, which should have emitted a foul stench.

Yet when distilled to the extreme purity.

It carried a sweet, enticing clarity instead.

If only living in disgrace, only exhausting twenty thousand troops in Zhenbei City and dying in the clash against the Central Plains, it would be unworthy of my death.

He raised his wine cup slightly, as if there was still someone before him.

Old grievances of the past, not knowing how to express.

In the end, he simply said:

"Li Wanli, let us drink."

Then he placed the cup to his lips and calmly drank the wine.

The pain swept over him as if cut by a blade.

Chen Dingye calmly said:

"Good wine."

...

Ye Zhongdao and Zhou Xianping, leading the Night Rider Cavalry and Zhou Family Hooked Scythe Spear Cavalry, faced the opposing Iron Futu troops at the foot of the mountain; their faces showed a blend of indescribable turmoil and exhaustion.