Chapter 1982: Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act

But He Lingchuan ordered him to coordinate and devise plans for the central reserve forces of all armies in Duo City, acting flexibly as needed. So far, Du Shan has performed very well.

It's almost too good.

He Lingchuan walked back to the sand table overlooking Mian City: "Who is garrisoning Mian City?"

Tao Ran immediately replied: "It's my subordinate Tushan Fang, who has served in the Black Armor Army for one year and seven months, brave and skilled in battle. I sent him to Mian City to train the local militia and organize resistance. Guo Bai Yu's forces are advancing aggressively, and Mian City has sent several urgent pleas for help."

"We must rush to join the allied forces; we cannot go to Mian City." He Lingchuan pondered, "Let Wanqi Liang lead his troops to reinforce. He fought well at Songbopo, the battle should be ending soon, and Dong Rui is temporarily with his army."

Tao Ran glanced at the sand table—Songbopo is far from Mian City, and even after Wanqi Liang finishes his battle and rushes over, it will take considerable time.

But there's no choice—He Lingchuan's mobile forces are few, and every unit is already engaged in saturated combat.

He instructed Tao Ran: "Send a message to Mian City, telling them to hold the city and await reinforcements."

"Yes!"

Tao Ran understood that this meant holding Mian City at all costs, no retreat allowed!

No matter the cost, they must hold! Behind these few words, how many sacrifices will there be?

But Mian City is not the only region needing relief.

Scanning the sand table, colorful flags crisscross in complex patterns, revealing that the invasion of the Dragon God's territory by the Flash Gold warlords is raging fiercely, some areas already swallowed by the enemy, yet many more regions under the Dragon God's jurisdiction still resist stubbornly.

These areas mostly rely only on local garrisons. Naturally, their strength is inferior to the Black Armor Army, and even less than that of local warlords' troops.

He Lingchuan's directive for them is clear and singular:

Hold on, hold until reinforcements arrive, or hold until the Great Drill concludes!

Although the Black Armor Army is already exerting full effort, rushing everywhere to rescue, reality is harsh.

During this transitional phase, most cities on this sand table cannot expect relief—they must rely solely on themselves.

After the meeting dispersed, He Lingchuan was about to leave the council hall, but having just stepped over the threshold, he retracted his foot, turned back, and wrote two secret letters at the desk.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror clearly saw the contents of the letters and couldn't help but ask:

"Ah ya, what if Mian City cannot hold? What if these regions on the sand table all cannot hold?"

If the Dragon God's territory is swiftly devoured, the gains of the first stage of the Dragon God War will suffer major losses. Most importantly, the Dragon God's reputation and prestige will also suffer a major blow.

This will cast a heavy shadow over the outcome of the second stage.

The balance of war is exceedingly delicate—you never know at which point it will suddenly tip, possibly just a single opportunity, a moment of contention, an event, and then the tide turns irreversibly, beyond human power to reverse.

"If they cannot hold, they will fall back into poverty, back into turmoil, back into despair, from then on eternally plunging into the Avici Hell, just as they have for the past thousand years!" He Lingchuan continued writing, "After all, I am only one person. If they wish to preserve the hard-won happiness, they must struggle themselves!"

"I will guide them, I will fight for them, I will still give my all for them. But in the end, the only ones who can truly save Flash Gold are the Flash Gold people themselves!" His voice calm and firm, "This most difficult time, they must awaken to resist, to endure on their own!"

"As long as they endure, endure until the second stage of the Dragon God War, the Dragon God Army will surely come, they will surely find life in desperation!"

He Lingchuan rolled the note into a sheep intestine; trained avian demons can store this intestine in their crop, avoiding the risk of dropping or exposing it.

"You know I've traveled many places—why did I ultimately choose the Flash Gold Plains to launch the Dragon God War, instead of the Peng Kingdom's vicinity or other regions?"

The world is vast, with many, many more places.

"Because, here, the people may not necessarily have light in their eyes, but there is still wildfire in their hearts." He Lingchuan softly said, "The Flash Gold Plains have never lacked heroes—only they themselves do not know it nor care."

This is what he witnessed firsthand after coming to inspect the Flash Gold Plains, and it has since become the basis for his actions.

"To make them believe in me, I must first believe in them, believe in the potential hidden in this land and in human hearts." This period has also been difficult for him to endure.

This is the period of greatest helplessness for the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, describable in four characters as "Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act"—if passed, one soars to heaven; if not, one plunges straight into the abyss.

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor wishes to successfully endure this period, and must rely on the people of Flash Gold.

After saying this, he summoned two avian demons:

"One letter to be sent to Wanqi Liang's army, for Dong Rui."

"This one, for Zhu Xiuer."

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Huashi Ji is a small town, famous for the blue stone grand canyon in its suburbs. The cliffs and boulders here commonly show deep blue and light blue hues, occasionally with crystal purple or light red; from afar, it looks as if a palette has been overturned.

Unfortunately, this place is too far from the Yao Kingdom; otherwise, nobles fond of strange stones would likely have them quarried and transported home to decorate their courtyards.

The allied forces' meeting is held in this town. Pailiu Wang specially declared that he had obtained crucial intelligence, cannot be sent by message, only discussed in person, thus earnestly inviting six allied army leaders to attend.

According to the leader summit, each person's retinue may not exceed two hundred, and their respective armies must wait ten li away.

The rules are clearly defined, beneficial to all.

This small town has a population of just over one thousand; the newly arrived allied forces are especially conspicuous—this is also one of the reasons for choosing Huashi Ji as the meeting site.

Another reason is that it lies on the border between Pailiu and Pei Kingdoms.

This conference is held in the government office, surrounded by seven or eight formations: some forbid escape techniques, some reinforce defense, some sound intrusion alarms—emphasizing flawless integrity, such that even a butterfly flying near would be ground to powder.

But on the way here, Boss Situ He's temples throbbed incessantly, making him feel uneasy, as if something had happened.

He took his seat at the venue; Pailiu Wang had not yet arrived, and the Pei Kingdom's ruler approached with fresh gossip:

"Pailiu Wang has finally made up his mind to ban Yangshan within his domain."

He has always been a steadfast ally of the Boss Situ family.

Boss Situ He shook his head, lightly exhaled a breath, and was not surprised.

Pailiu Wang had long harbored this intention, but two months ago, after hesitating and halting several garrisons, the Yangshan Merchant Guild's headquarters sent an inquiry expressing "serious concern," and Pailiu Wang, being of two minds, did not continue further.

But this time, he is truly resolute.

A few days prior, his first order against Yangshan was to shut down all Yangshan Merchant Guild branches within Pailiu's territory—close shops, seize goods, detain personnel!

Before this incident, the Yangshan Merchant Guild handled transportation and trade of important goods across regions; in some towns and villages, even nearly thirty percent of the population's livelihood was directly or indirectly tied to Yangshan.

After Pailiu issued this ban, civilians were all dazed and confused.