Chapter 2232: Everything Has Changed, Nothing Has Changed

"Look at how Between Between Between Beijia always operates—wherever it intervenes, things mostly descend into chaos, and people don't end up living well. Occasionally, one or two places turn out decent, but that's not due to its governance." He paused. "And as long as the local situation remains unstable, Mouguo still has a chance to make a comeback. Just wait—time will prove everything."

When the two great powers launched fierce wars and when the Imperial Flowing Broth erupted frequently, the Cangyan state seized this rare opportunity to develop steadily, and time passed bit by bit.

Between Between Between Beijia spent two years eliminating Mouguo's "followers" and dealing a heavy blow to the Lingshan forces.

This step was driven by unanimous effort from top to bottom in Between Between Between Beijia, so progress was swift. The demons require consuming nightmare energy, and Between Between Between Beijia itself does not wish for the Lingshan forces to grow stronger with the revival of spiritual energy, so it must strike first.

After removing these insignificant opponents, what to do with the resulting vacuum? Between Between Between Beijia certainly would not directly occupy or send people to govern properly, but instead adopted its usual method:

Supporting local minorities so they would be more obedient to it.

This tactic, He Lingchuan had long grown accustomed to in the Panlong World—Between Between Between Beijia, to counterbalance Panlongcheng, killed the old ruler of Xiluo State and installed the most foundation-less second prince, who indeed obeyed it completely, dragging the entire Xiluo State into an irreversible abyss until its destruction!

History always repeats itself in a boring cycle.

Between Between Between Beijia does this for two reasons: first, it doesn't want to waste extra effort, after all, these places are too scattered. If they were all made into exclaves, what administrative cost would that entail?

Second, these regions have long been turbulent, making it easy to steadily contribute nightmare energy to the demons.

Between Between Between Beijia itself desires lasting peace and must continually satisfy the demons' needs, striving to develop new nightmare energy pools.

These places have indeed been chaotic for a long time, with constant fighting and brawling day after day.

Until several years later, the Mou-Between Between Between Beijia war settled into the routine of an old ox pulling a broken cart—both sides had exhausted their passion, sat in silence, and only occasionally stirred to make a few gestures.

Mouguo stabilized its economy, thereby securing its position.

At this point, it extended its influence again, re-infiltrating those regions.

The last time it failed to control its subordinates, they either died, surrendered, or descended into chaos, causing its prestige to plummet severely.

So it came quietly, sincerely offering money and special weapons:

Want some? With money and weapons, you can fight them!

No?

Then I'll go find the next one.

Someone will always want it, looking out for the sake of money.

The face of money has always been significant.

Spiritual energy continued to revive, and the world remained turbulent. Yet observant people would notice that after years of upheaval, the human realm still stood as a tripartite balance among Between Between Between Beijia, Mouguo, and Cangyan—none diminished.

Other minor powers, such as Shen State, which gradually grew while Between Between Between Beijia was distracted in the west, and allies who renewed their alliance with Mouguo, were scattered like stars and chess pieces around these three major blocs.

The main pattern of human affairs returned to the dynamic balance of several years prior.

At first glance, it seems nothing has changed, yet everything has changed.

￥￥￥￥￥

When the first snow of the year drifted down upon the wasteland, Panlongcheng finally issued the order:

March to Xiluo!

As Zhong Shengguang had previously predicted, this battle holds great significance for the Panlong people and will inevitably be fought.

Moreover, at this time Between Between Between Beijia's attention is focused on the east, temporarily easing its pressure on Panlongcheng.

Panlongcheng frequently receives news from the east: the Xin family of the Shahe River basin rapidly integrated the Lingshan forces, resisting Between Between Between Beijia's attacks while expanding their territory and training troops, rising at a pace even faster than Panlongcheng's.

Xin Yi has also been away for a long time, doing quite well back home.

In Between Between Between Beijia's view, this is an even more conspicuous target.

Bully you, and you should just endure it honestly—but you actually dared to fight back? Then who else should I beat if not you?

So Between Between Between Beijia unceremoniously launched a strong crackdown on it.

This development aligns remarkably with what He Lingchuan knows of history—on the true timeline, the Shahe Xin family indeed rose during this period and indeed suffered Between Between Between Beijia's strong suppression.

Perhaps precisely for this reason, Lingshan seeks to divert Between Between Between Beijia's attention from the Xin family, to create more opportunities and space for its development.

Could this be one of the main reasons why Qianhuan True Person betrayed Panlongcheng?

But unlike in history, the returning Xin Yi maintains contact with Zhong Shengguang, so Panlongcheng clearly understands the situation east of Between Between Between Beijia.

Simply standing by and letting Between Between Between Beijia destroy the Xin family would bring no benefit to Panlongcheng.

Thus Panlongcheng chose to act now, also to coordinate east and west with the Xin family—relieving their pressure while simultaneously pinning Between Between Between Beijia's flanks, making it difficult for them, i. e., the so-called "left hand strained, right hand exhausted."

Previously, Between Between Between Beijia constantly made Panlongcheng unhappy; now Panlongcheng grows stronger day by day and begins to make Between Between Between Beijia unhappy as well.

As for Zhong Shengguang and the Red General, the major battle behind them is also unavoidable—they will eventually have to face it!

The time has come.

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……

Xiluo, by the shores of the Spirit Lake.

Once the Spirit Realm, now a battlefield of carnage.

Coincidentally, this is exactly the Spirit Lake that He Chunha's family passed through when they moved from Heishuicheng to Ducheng to take office—back then, they even fought a battle against defeated soldiers and bandits fleeing the front lines.

However, that battle scene pales in comparison to what is happening now.

By the clear, limpid lakeside, two armies are locked in combat. The terrain here is naturally narrow, now packed shoulder to shoulder with people; even the aerial demon beasts looking down cannot see the ground's color.

Half a month ago, the Red General, Tiger Wing General, and Nanke General led a force of one hundred thousand troops into the Xiluo realm!

After several months of cautious observation, Panlongcheng finally announced its entry into the war.

And upon arrival, it came with overwhelming momentum—after a long-distance raid, it needed no rest, but directly lunged at one faction in the western border of Xiluo.

The combat capability of the local warlord forces was originally worlds apart from the Panlong army, and after fighting for several months themselves, they were already exhausted.

From the outskirts to the heartland of Xiluo, the Panlong army took only seven hours to penetrate the enemy's core, with Nanke General beheading an enemy commander from horseback!

Within the Xiluo realm, four factions were reduced to one—in just ten hours!

At this speed, the Red General remains dissatisfied, because when the Great Wind Army stormed the palace of Jingjun State, it took only one night from start to finish.

The Panlong army then spent ten hours regrouping—resting, eating, feeding the horses—before pointing their swords at the next target.

According to Panlongcheng's standard tactics, they would certainly have split into four or five columns to sweep through the entire Xiluo region with the force of autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves. But under Zhong Shengguang's instructions, the Tiger Wing General and the Red General remained together, forming the central army, while the other commanders deployed their troops separately.

This made their advance steady, but the pace slowed somewhat.

Thus, the forces within the Xiluo region still had time to react, and Between Between Between Beijia also had time to dispatch troops!