Chapter 2688: Overwhelmed

Can Baijia's long-range combat really guarantee a steady victory over Cangyan?

Fortunately, Cangyan outright denied it.

As long as it denies, the truth becomes something that cannot be clearly explained.

Upon hearing this, the Frost Leaf State Master of Lingxu City, who had just returned to Lingxu City, also commented:

"Although the Nine Abysses Great Emperor is young in age, his governance and diplomacy are remarkably shrewd."

He has personally experienced just how shrewd.

During this period, a series of events occurred again:

The ruler of Wusong Kingdom hastily sent the Crown Prince and two royal grandsons to Cangyan.

Their reason was also entirely justified: Wusong Kingdom accidentally killed the Bolang King on the battlefield, thus knowing great disaster was imminent, so they sent the royal bloodline to Cangyan to seek refuge. If Wusong Kingdom faced utter destruction, at least a thread of hope would remain.

Upon hearing this news, the nobles of Lingxu City all let out a cold laugh:

Isn't it just entering the court as a hostage? Isn't it just Wusong Kingdom's token of submission?

To this day, no one believes Wusong Kingdom could kill the Bolang King. Cangyan taking Wusong's Crown Prince as a hostage, Wusong Kingdom will from now on insist stubbornly that the Bolang King died by their own hand.

But after the Wusong royal family entrusted their orphans, they indeed had no more rear worries and could focus entirely on facing the impending crisis.

Moreover, several battlefields in the human realm also saw reversals of fortune.

Two years ago, Haixiu Kingdom had already been destroyed by another vassal demon kingdom of Baijia, E'ling Kingdom, its population reduced by two-thirds, now renamed Haixiu Yuan, governed by a puppet regime installed by E'ling Kingdom, paying tribute annually.

But just seven days after Wusong Kingdom slew the Bolang King, the resistance forces in Haixiu Yuan suddenly rose up, overthrowing the puppet regime set up by E'ling Kingdom within a few short days, beheading its leader, and driving all E'ling people out of the territory.

After E'ling Kingdom annexed Haixiu Kingdom, it also seized local industries, of course leaving some personnel to manage them on the ground. Haixiu Yuan then drove them all out and reclaimed the industries.

This naturally displeased E'ling Kingdom, which sent troops to Haixiu Yuan, only to encounter an ambush midway; the enemy forces turned out to be surprisingly strong.

And in the Fish-footed Grass Sea three thousand li away, the great chieftain of the Yingxi Tribe went boating on the river at night for pleasure, only to be beheaded while drinking!

Eyewitnesses all said the assassins must have included immortals, for they rode clouds to come and go, their divine abilities and magical artifacts glowing and flashing, the assassination taking only two brief moments, while the thirty-plus guards around the great chieftain were utterly useless.

On the night the great chieftain died violently, two small neighboring states and three tribes took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the Yingxi Tribe, inflicting heavy casualties.

And as everyone knows, the Yingxi Tribe had long ago submitted to Baijia's vassal demon kingdom Suluo, also receiving its support, these years fiercely suppressing and intimidating surrounding regions, and seizing vast benefits to send to Suluo Kingdom.

The small states it suppressed dared to be angry but not speak out, until this sudden outbreak day.

Such conflicts and rebellions, one after another in the human realm, since Wusong Kingdom slew the Bolang King, have amounted to over twenty more instances.

In terms of their characteristics, first, they basically all occur in regions where Baijia's vassal demon kingdoms are attacking or have already controlled;

second, they are neither too far nor too close to Baijia;

third, the rebel forces are all quite strong—silent until they act, then astonishing when they do.

Just like Wusong Kingdom's resistance against Bolang Kingdom, having previously swallowed endless frustration, when they suddenly rose, their strength greatly increased, and they actually managed to kill the opposing leader.

But this is not a fairy tale world, not where the oppressed people shouting slogans and rallying once can accomplish great deeds.

These victories all require prior meticulous planning, require seizing the opportunity, and most importantly, require powerful warriors.

Baijia, upon deeper investigation, found that behind these endless emerging rebel forces, there is often the shadow of Ling Mountain, Mou Kingdom, or Cangyan!

Sometimes, it is even the result of these three working together, for when Cangyan's army campaigns too far, even if reduced to zero, logistical supply and intelligence support must still come from Mou Kingdom, otherwise it would become like Bolang King's personal campaign—a lone army deep in enemy territory.

Upon further analysis of these densely erupting battle conflicts, beneath the surface, they are all long-term, far-reaching layouts, not something one can just jump into on a whim.

Baijia cannot help but suspect that over the past ten or more years, while Cangyan appeared to hide its light and nurture its obscurity on the surface, behind the scenes it has been doing all these things, solidifying its influence into nails, one after another driven into various places in the human realm.

And Mou Kingdom is much more blunt—unlike Cangyan, which is so cautious, it has dispatched its own troops to certain regions, even leaving Mou Kingdom's armor and weapons unchanged.

This is a blatant declaration to Baijia: It was me, what can you do about it?

Thus, the war between Baijia and Mou Kingdom has become even fiercer.

At the same time, many countries and regions where rebellions frequently erupt have followed Wusong Kingdom's example, sending their leaders' heirs to Mou Kingdom and Cangyan, accompanied by large numbers of people and wealth.

Sending to Mou Kingdom, because it is an old-established great power, capable of directly confronting Baijia.

And sending to Cangyan, because it lies behind Mou Kingdom, geographically safer. Furthermore, as an emerging great power, Cangyan has existed for less than twenty years, its domestic hierarchy not yet solidified, so incoming nobles still have great room to act.

In short, the wars and plundering previously launched by the vassal demon kingdoms in the human realm have now met with concentrated backlash.

This one hasn't even been taught a lesson yet, when another breaks out in new conflict.

Press the gourd, the ladle pops up. The more recklessly they acted before, the more now they are overwhelmed.

With increasing frequency, Baijia's court and populace find it hard not to notice another trait:

The vassal demon kingdoms suffering backlash are all those aligned with Tiangong and devoutly worshipping the Heavenly Gods.

While those supporting Lingxu City and the Demon Emperor, such as Baoshu Kingdom, although they also have overseas territories and garrisons, have had no such incidents, remaining peaceful and calm;

And Chiyan Kingdom still guards the Yangshan Islands, happily trading with Cangyan.

Their personal interests are rarely harmed, so naturally they are lazy to oppose Cangyan. The vassal demon kingdoms supporting the Heavenly Gods envy and resent them; in court, every additional accusation against them, even Chiyan merchants doing business in other vassal demon kingdoms still suffer attacks.

Even with Lingxu City mediating, the relations among these vassal demon kingdoms continue to deteriorate rapidly.

Many vassal demon kingdoms even resent Lingxu City, for although everyone knows the rising rebellions behind the scenes are backed by Cangyan and Mou Kingdom, Lingxu City still has not pierced that layer of window paper.

Despite having issued over ten major sanctions against Cangyan in succession, and also implemented controls on import and export materials, the most important trade routes between Baijia and Cangyan—including the Yangshan Islands—have not been severed.

Both great powers are feigning ignorance while knowing full well, while other countries on the sidelines just watch them perform.

After playing this back-and-forth game several rounds, Cangyan's trade has indeed suffered, after all, Baijia's sanctions are no joke. But the expansion plans of the Tiangong faction vassal demon kingdoms have suffered heavy losses. Originally thought those small states were soft like steamed cake, vassal demon kingdoms' armies advancing without hindrance, now nails are hidden inside, always able to strike the vassal demon kingdoms' local forces from unexpected angles, catching them off guard.