In the War God n''s meeting hall, it was abnormally quiet. Nearly 20 high-ranking elders were gathered together. At this moment, even the female attendants in charge of taking care of them did not dare to breathe out loud. They held trays and stood quietly at the side like puppets.


    The War God n had a total of 22 elders, of which 10 were in charge and 12 were deputy elders. Their purpose was to assist the Patriarch in his work, supervise all the matters in the n, and help the Patriarch resolve his problems. At the same time, they also supervised the Patriarch.


    The Elder Council were Zhan Jiuxiao''s most capable assistants and also kept Zhan Jiuxiao in check.


    A thousand years ago, the Elder Council''s authority and decision-making power in the War God n was above that of the Patriarch. The Patriarch was only a figurehead chosen by the elders. He had to have a good reputation, decent appearance, and talent that far exceeded that of others.


    At that time, the Patriarch waspletely supervised by the Elder Council. The Patriarch was only a profession, not a symbol of status.


    However, with Zhan Jiuxiao''s power, his decisiveness, his domineering personality, and absolute force that could crush all living beings, the power of the Elder Council was gradually deprived. Now, the once mighty Elder Council were just the Patriarch''s henchmen.


    From the moment they were elected as elders, the 22 elders of the Elder Council would temporarily abandon their real names and use the code names of the previous elders. Among them, the 10 elders in charge were called Zhan Yi, Zhan Cing, Zhan Ding, Zhan Gu, and so on.


    As for the 12 deputy elders, they were called Zhan Zi, Zhan Chou, Zhan Yin, Zhan Mao, Zhan Hai, and so on.


    Suddenly, an old man with no eyebrows on his forehead asked, "Are the First Elder and the twelfth elder not here yet?" The person who asked this was the Second Elder, Zhan Yi. Because of hisck of eyebrows, he was secretly called a short-browed ghost by the experts of the cultivation world.


    Upon hearing the Second Elder''s question, the chief guard standing on both sides of the conference hall hurriedly cupped his fists and said, "I''ve already sent someone to inform him."


    "Hmph!" The Second Elder snorted and said, "To be able to enter seclusion in peace after such a big thing happened, he''s quite bold." He was talking about the First Elder.


    The Second Elder and the First Elder were actually biological brothers, but the two of them did not have a good rtionship. When they met, they refused to even say a word to each other and they liked to diss each other behind their backs.


    They were clearly biological brothers, but their rtionship was like that of fire and water.


    However, although the two of them did not have a good rtionship, their appearances were unique. One didn''t have eyebrows, and the other was a bald man. They both left deep impressions on people.


    Hearing the Second Elder scold the First Elder, the other elders did not echo him. They knew very well that even if these two brothers fought, it was still their own business. Once outsiders got involved, the two of them would join forces to attack the outsiders.


    The Second Elder did not expect anyone to respond.


    He suddenly said, "Rey it."


    Upon hearing this, the chief secretary, who had been working for the Elder Council, hurriedly opened the live broadcast content that he had recorded in advance and reyed it.


    The Second Elder couldn''t be bothered to read the contents in front and urged impatiently, "Fast forward." After a pause, he said, "Fast forward… to when the phantom appears."


    "Understood."


    The chief secretary pursed his lips and nodded slightly. Then, he fast forwarded to the scene of Ye Qingyang and all the experts of the Central Continent joining forces to drag the phantom out of the crack space. "Stop, we can watch from here."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Nodding, the chief secretary clicked y and didn''t say anything else.


    The Second Elder and the other nine elders held their breaths as they watched the scene on the live broadcast. When they saw the weak undead slowly condense into a familiar and dignified face with Madam Brulee''s help, the conference room was dead silent.


    "What do you think? Could… could this really be Jiuxiao?" When the Second Elder asked this, he did not sound too surprised. Instead, he had a… feeling that this was the case.


    The people sitting at the table were silent for a moment.


    Ever since Zhan Jiuxiao took control of the War God n, the Elder Council had been reduced to mere henchmen. They had been enved by Zhan Jiuxiao for a thousand years and were already used to Zhan Jiuxiao''s iron-fisted way of doing things. Even if Zhan Jiuxiao twisted one of their heads in public to vent his anger, they would only raise their hands to wipe the blood off their faces and would not dare toin.


    150 years ago, Zhan Jiuxiao had once twisted the head of Fourth Elder Zhan Ding out of anger.


    That day, blood spurted out of Zhan Ding''s neck and sprinkled onto the ceiling and everyone''s faces like a fountain.


    The blood was warm, dark red, and flowing.


    The meeting hall was silent for a moment. Then, the Fifth Elder, who had the worst temper, mmed the table and stood up. He pointed at Zhan Jiuxiao as he scolded him.


    What happened in the end?


    In the end, the Fifth Elder''s head was also twisted off by Zhan Jiuxiao and thrown onto the table like a volleyball.


    Zhan Jiuxiao didn''t feel guilty or afraid after killing two elders. Not only was he not afraid, but he also found the perfect excuse to promote his trusted aides for the positions of the Fourth Elder and Fifth Elder.


    During the appointment ceremony, Zhan Jiuxiao said something that shocked everyone.


    He said, "I can''t dismiss the Elder Council, but I can dismiss the elders. You guys only have one life, but if you guys die, there will always be someone to rece you guys. Don''t try to challenge my bottom line. My bottom line is that if I''m unhappy, nobody else will be either."


    From then on, the Elder Councilpletely became Zhan Jiuxiao''s subordinates and would do wherever Zhan Jiuxiao said. If there were any misshaps, they would always shoulder the me.


    Therefore, after watching that live broadcast and knowing that the Patriarch they had followed for a thousand years was not the real Patriarch, but the great fiendish cultivator Ye Qingchen, no one found it strange.


    They were only thinking: No wonder Jiuxiao changed so much. Turned out that he had long been possessed by a great fiendish cultivator.


    If Jiuxiao had not been possessed by a great fiendish cultivator, if the person in charge of the Divine War n was the real Zhan Jiuxiao, would the Elder Council have declined to this state? Jiuxiao respected elders like them the most.


    The Second Elder suddenlymented, "I still remember that back then, when the demonic cultivator wreaked havoc on the world, Jiuxiao begged the warriors of our n to fight. He kowtowed with every step up the mountain. He was really a sensible child who cared about the people."