Chapter 2025: Qingyang's Predicament

Dongye Jun finished reading quickly, pondered briefly, then said: "The Naron family is actually very good at seizing opportunities. Five years ago, Piguo encountered a rare flood, corpses floated for hundreds of li, not just cattle and sheep. Yundong Five Cities immediately organized large quantities of medicinal herbs to sell to Piguo, and indeed, epidemics spread quickly after the disaster. The medicinal herbs Yundong sold there increased fivefold in price yet still could not meet demand."

"Piguo should even thank them, otherwise more people would have died."

"Who says no? Our monarch personally thanked them." Dongye Jun gave a wry laugh, steering back to the topic, "Naron He is very shrewd; perhaps he wants to take this opportunity to establish contact with you, to test your waters. After all, one does not strike a smiling face, so you also cannot well brandish your blade against him."

Yundong and the Black Armor Army once fought side by side—how could the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor possibly feel justified in turning on them overnight?

Just like He Lingchuan and Boss Situ He, Yang Shan and the allied forces—having ties and mutual interests—so the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor wanting to subdue the allied forces is not as straightforward as attacking other places; he still has to contrive excuses and fabricate reasons.

Did Naron He perceive this point, hence wanting to add an extra layer of insurance for himself?

He Lingchuan fell silent, pondering.

The reason the Dragon God War's transitional phase is so hard to fight is not only because of hard nuts like Bai Tan to crack, but also because of the thorny moral issue posed by Yundong Five Cities that needs handling.

Trying to subdue such a vast plain truly presents myriad problems—complex, concrete, often things he never even imagined.

"Do you plan to meet with him?"

He Lingchuan laughed: "What does meeting matter?"

Leave the difficult problem to the end, it's still a difficult problem. Better to try to loosen it now. As a well-known old fogey, Naron He has the willingness to proactively contact the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor—this is a good thing.

……

Yaodu, You Lake Cottage.

The flower tea at hand went from steaming hot to ice cold, yet Qingyang hadn't taken a single sip.

Before her lay two pieces of intelligence, few words but great matter.

One read: Heavy Martial defeated, Chixia clan leader committed suicide, the entire Chixia tribe surrendered to Nine Abyss.

The other's content was even simpler: Guo Bai Yu defeated, divine descent failed to capture Dong Rui.

Just these two lines, Qingyang pressed her temples and stared for about half an hour, uttering not a word.

The news of the Pearl Glazure King's failed capture of Boss Situ He and the allied forces being exploited by Nine Abyss had already reached her several days prior; she immediately ordered Chixia to prepare.

Alas, still too hasty.

The death of Heavy Martial is truly regrettable.

Now the problem facing Qingyang is very real:

Next, how should we deal with He Xia?

Earlier, the Heavenly Palace had courted the Flash Gold powerhouses to oppose the Dragon God; initially, they indeed stirred up great turmoil on the Flash Gold Plains, battle after battle erupting, the Dragon God's rule teetering.

But that was only the initial phase.

Later progress was unsatisfactory; resistance in the Dragon God's territory was unprecedentedly fierce, and the Flash Gold powerhouses' plundering was not going smoothly.

Qingyang had studied several battles in detail. Those defending soldiers and civilians had nothing special about them—the city walls were not particularly strong, the troops were not veteran elites—but somehow, the Flash Gold powerhouses just could not take them.

Moreover, several cities, after being captured, rebelled again and snatched themselves back.

Just looking at the battle reports, one really cannot see anything special; they only say the city soldiers and civilians resisted with exceptional ferocity.

How fierce could this resistance possibly be? Qingyang could only attribute it to clueless pecking, after all, the capabilities of these Flash Gold powerhouses themselves were not high either.

The Dragon God's great army was still drilling intensely, while the battles on the Flash Gold Plains had turned out this way, far from achieving the effect she wanted; then once the Dragon God's great army officially emerges, can Yaoguo and Bai Tan prevail against them?

Thinking of this, Qingyang felt a headache coming on.

Standing beside her, the captain of the Qing Guard, Yuan Xuan, heard the palace master squeeze out a few words from between her teeth:

"A bunch of good-for-nothings!"

The detailed battle report of the Chixia War had not yet been delivered; she very much wanted to know how He Xia broke through the "Flesh and Blood Fortress" she had given to Heavy Martial and the Jin Du ghost spawn.

The "Flesh and Blood Fortress" must be activated using the brain core of a devourer; Qing Palace also only had one such artifact. After deep consideration, she still gave it to Heavy Martial.

Because she knew that the devoutly god-fearing Chixia and the devoutly her-fearing Heavy Martial would certainly face the threat of the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor.

If this treasure were kept until the war between Yaoguo and Nine Abyss, He Xia would certainly heighten his vigilance, reducing its effectiveness by at least several folds.

But giving it to Heavy Martial was different.

Given He Xia's abilities, he might not even take Chixia seriously at that time, making him prone to the fault of underestimating the enemy; moreover, he likes to lead from the front, so he would very likely step into the trap of the Flesh and Blood Fortress.

From a win-rate perspective, letting Heavy Martial use the Flesh and Blood Fortress would actually be more likely to succeed.

To be safe, she also asked the Jin Du ghost mother to send out several ghost spawn.

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The Jin Du ghost mother is a very special heavenly deity; she does not need to descend personally, as long as she impregnates a human mother, she can let the "godson" be born in the human world through borrowed womb, and the duration is very short.

It is a pity that this litter did not produce any devourers. But the Jin Du ghost spawn and the Flesh and Blood Fortress are a natural perfect match; if used properly, they can even handle tens of thousands of troops.

And Qingyang still quite approves of Heavy Martial's military talent.

So, how exactly did Heavy Martial lose?

Alas, whenever she faces He Xia, few things go as she wishes. This guy, born to be her nemesis?

The defeats of the allied forces and Chixia have cast a deep shadow over her plans.

If this continues, the day when the Dragon God army launches a full-scale invasion of Yaoguo is not far off.

Even with her hundred stratagems, at this moment she also feels somewhat short of breath.

Originally, she had made multiple plans. After the Pearl Glazure King took control of the allied forces, together with Chixia and Bai Tan they launched an attack on the Dragon God's territory, and adding the numerous Flash Gold powerhouses from the south and north, He Xia and the Black Armor Army would either be flustered and disheveled or suffer heavy losses to their vitality; most importantly, they would shatter the false pretense that the Dragon God is omnipotent and invincible, after which civilian support for him would not be so strong.

Humans always admire strength; once they discover the "Dragon God" is not strong enough, reverence and affection immediately diminish.

How mighty Miao Zhantian was on the Flash Gold Plains back then—how long after his fall did it take? The Miao Zhantian temples on the Flash Gold Plains were almost all smashed to pieces.

Moreover, she had also applied to the Demon Emperor and heavenly deities for aid.

Logically, it should have taken effect by now.

But the fact is, there has been no movement for a long time!

She believes the Demon Emperor has already taken action, so it can only be that side dragging its feet, not sending troops, perhaps to gain more bargaining chips.

Bai Tan indeed also sent troops, occupying several places in the Dragon God's territory. But seeing that the allied forces were gone and reinforcements had not arrived, he also gave up and stopped fighting.

The pressure on Jiuyou suddenly lessened.

This is bad, very bad for her and for Bai Tan.

She needs to think of another way.

At that moment, another Qingwei entered on tiptoe, not daring to disturb her thoughts, and only gently handed a slip of paper to Yuan Xuan before retreating silently.

Yuan Xuan glanced at it and placed the slip before Qingyang, saying softly: "This is a secret report sent from beside Nan Ronghe. Palace Master, please take a look."