Chapter 3089

They accepted divine edicts, allowing the Heavenly Palace to secretly conceal divine incarnations within their nation. Fan Shuang, on a mission to the Xuanyi Kingdom, inadvertently discovered that the Qi Kingdom hid divine incarnations, but that was merely an isolated case; the Lingxu have cast their nets worldwide. They fundamentally do not fear the War Alliance discovering them, for the scope is simply too vast.

Every place devoted to the gods will, and only will, descend two or three, three or five heavenly demons.

Currently, no one can accurately tally the total number of heavenly demons that descended that day, but conservative estimates place them in the several thousands and above. If a stronghold only receives a few heavenly demons, the number of strongholds the Lingxu Holy Sovereign can establish in the mortal realm would be in the hundreds or even thousands!

Once the descended heavenly demons gain control of their new bodies, they will take the heavenly god's retinue at the stronghold as their military core and begin expanding upward and outward. Initially, they may only control a few towns, but the power of heavenly demons is a crushing existence for numerous weak elemental forces and small nations without immortals seated in command.

In just a few days, they can kill or control regional leaders. For example, the ruler and ministers of the Qi Kingdom surrendered at the first sign of wind, offering no resistance at all.

The intelligence specifically noted that the first wave of offensives by the heavenly demons after descending to the mortal realm primarily targeted small countries and regions outside the War Alliance, with some immortal sects also included.

War flames engulfed the entire world, leaving mortals unable to find even an inch of pure land.

Xia Liejie set down the intelligence report, feeling deeply moved.

No matter how he previously advised, the ruler of the Qi Kingdom consistently refused to join the War Alliance, merely wishing to maneuver between the heavenly demons and the War Alliance. Xia Liejie clearly understood his thinking: the Qi Kingdom would be best served by preserving itself until the initial signs of the human-divine war appeared, then throwing its lot with the stronger side, thus securing an invincible position.

They absolutely do not wish to join the losing side.

Many other small countries and forces in this world share the same mindset as the Qi Kingdom.

Anyway, when the sky collapses, there will be tall people to prop it up.

Now the sky has indeed collapsed, and only then did everyone suddenly realize that the mud and stone torrent descending from the collapsed sky cannot drown the tall people, yet it drowns these short people one after another!

If they had united early with the tall people, enjoying their support, would they not have avoided death?

But in this world, there are very few "ifs."

Xia Liejie had early anticipated that the descent of heavenly demons would be a great calamity, but he did not expect the Lingxu Holy Sovereign to open with such a grand gesture!

As soon as the heavenly demons descended, their targets were not entirely the War Alliance, whose fists were clenched tightest; instead, they first launched an attack on the entire world.

Has the Lingxu Holy Sovereign gone mad? Right from the start, they opposed the entire world, utterly refusing to play the games of winning over, dividing, and suppressing. This leaves countless small countries that hold licenses and await sale utterly at a loss.

Most terrifyingly, the heavenly demons have precisely grasped the psychology of human nations. Just as in the past three thousand years, although they have not descended, they could use human nature to cause the Spirit Mountain to shed flowers and flow with water.

Should the Qi King regret it now? These occupied small countries should also regret it, shouldn't they?

Xia Liejie feels heavy-hearted.

He was pondering when the palace attendants outside suddenly came to report:

"Your Majesty summons you!"

It is now Xia Liejie's turn to audience with the Shen King.

He waits here, seeing batches of people entering and exiting the Shen King's study change one after another, and now it is finally his turn.

This renowned founding monarch is already nearing sixty, yet his appearance remains like that of a thirty-year-old, his eyes bright and spirited, not a single silver hair at his temples, evidently his cultivation is accomplished, and he possesses the art of preserving his visage.

However, He Chunhua's eyes are also filled with bloodshot veins, clearly he has had no time to rest properly these past few days.

The world has already undergone drastic change; as a heroic monarch of an age, he must naturally steer the Shen Kingdom like a great ship, carefully navigating the waves.

On one side is a tsunami, on the other a great whirlpool; not capsizing is exceedingly difficult.

He writes swiftly with his brush, attending to two matters at once:

"Xia Liejie, how wonderful it would be if you had come earlier to assist me? A fine bird chooses its tree to roost; you should not have waited until the last moment."

Xia Liejie gave a wry smile: "Your Majesty's wise words. Alas, I cannot leave my homeland, and unwilling to give up, I cannot bear to depart."

"Have you resolved yourself now?"

"I have."

He Chunhua smiled, setting down his brush: "The Qi King most likely regrets it. Had he known earlier, he should have sought aid from the Shen Kingdom."

"The heavenly demons sent an ultimatum to the Qi Kingdom: if the Qi King surrenders, he may keep his throne; if he dares to resist or seek foreign aid, then they will slaughter the capital." Xia Liejie could not help but rub his forehead, "The Qi King has always harbored侥幸, hoping that after surrendering he could preserve the Qi Kingdom."

"He thought that by uttering a single word 'surrender,' this matter would pass lightly, the Qi Kingdom would be preserved, and he would not face the axe?" The Shen King gave a light sneer, utterly undisguised in his contempt for the Qi Kingdom's short-sightedness, "Surrender is merely the beginning of suffering. He never once considered why the heavenly demons sought out the Qi Kingdom."

Xia Liejie still spoke a fair word: "No one knew beforehand of the Lingxu Holy Sovereign's plan."

"These past seven days, everywhere in the mortal realm has been a dance of demons." He Chunhua wished to test him, "You think, what will the heavenly demons do next? Will they turn their spearhead toward the Shen Kingdom?"

It is this latter sentence that lies at the heart of He Chunhua's longstanding concern.

The Shen Kingdom lies too close to the Bekka, and is also a major treaty state of the War Alliance. Though the War Alliance temporarily holds the advantage in the Bekka War, will the Lingxu Holy Sovereign's next step make the Shen Kingdom the primary target of attack?

When Xia Liejie earlier examined the intelligence, he had carefully considered this very question:

"I think, for now, they will not."

"Why?"

"For every country and region the heavenly demons occupy, they frantically scavenge grain and wealth, conscript soldiers, needing both money and men. Judging by this posture, they intend to expand the war's scale, rolling the snowball ever larger." Xia Liejie reasoned inversely, "Conversely, before the snowball has grown large, they may not necessarily wish to clash head-on with the Shen Kingdom. Around the Shen Kingdom there are still several medium powers, such as the Bai Yuan Plateau and the Mu Kingdom, etc. I think the heavenly demons should first target them. Just as when the heavenly demons first descended, they did not go to clash with the War Alliance's territory, but first invaded and occupied small countries. They wish to first knead the soft persimmons, saving the hard bones for last to gnaw."

Please remember: ivХ. О德小. 說網、

"No wonder you, having traveled to the Lingxu Grand Academy, your vision surpasses that of many strategists beside me." He Chunhua nodded, "You are well acquainted with the multiple countries west of the Shen Kingdom, so I appoint you as the Inspector of Beibei, to have you monitor the turmoil west and north of the Shen Kingdom. The Mu Kingdom has already sought aid from the Shen Kingdom; for the subsequent liaison matters, you shall handle them."

"Yes!"

After Xia Liejie withdrew, He Chunhua rubbed his face, then activated his divine power to contact the Nine Abysses Great Emperor several thousand li away.

Since the war began, his nerves have been taut, he has not slept a single sound sleep, truly somewhat fatigued.

Moreover, he clearly knows that such days have only just begun.

Soon, several illusory figures appeared in the study, not only the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, but also the Red Yan King Seeing Fushan Yue, the Mu Emperor Wuhuan Old Ancestor, and several commanders stationed by the War Alliance in various places.

Everyone is in their respective positions, each fulfilling their duties, and they will convene a meeting using the Spirit-Connecting Rock.

He Chunhua spoke first: "How is the battle situation today?"

Within the War Alliance, communication must be maintained daily.