Chapter 169

The fox maiden Qing Ling met with Mengying, the Dwarf Queen, Sixth Rank Winnie, and several Holy Maidens to discuss strategic countermeasures.

As for the chieftains of the Xiong Zu and the Elk Clan, they could never enter this circle.

After the fox maiden Qing Ling made her decision, she would simply inform them—they were only responsible for execution.

"The total number of warriors participating in this battle is forty thousand: fifteen thousand centaurs, ten thousand foxes, five thousand cats, two thousand bears, and eight thousand elk warriors."

The fox maiden Qing Ling recited the compiled numbers.

After speaking, she turned to the Dwarf Queen Eve: "Queen, the defense of the city is entrusted to you; five thousand cat warriors will assist you in holding the walls."

Dwarf Queen Eve nodded.

Miraculous City was their stronghold, equivalent to the Flame Lord's divine city; entrusting such a vital task to the dwarves caused them little objection.

Dwarves were inherently warlike, especially after their recognition of the Flame Lord had risen, each eager to fight for him.

Their combat strength was also formidable.

Yet their value in forging weapons was even greater.

"Holy Maiden, rest assured—if anyone dares lay hands on Miraculous City, they will learn the dwarves' might."

Eve said.

"Mm!"

The fox maiden Qing Ling then turned to Mengying and Winnie.

"Aunt Winnie, you are tasked with holding back the Old Lion King; Sister Mengying will deal with the enemy's possible mysterious High Priest; once Sister Mengying eliminates the foe, she will come to aid you!"

Winnie nodded.

The group discussed numerous details, accounting for every possible scenario.

For instance, other clans might seize the opportunity to ambush Miraculous City.

For instance, the Shizu Society might seek allies.

But the fox maiden Qing Ling had countermeasures for all of them.

The next morning, on the grand square of Miraculous City, forty thousand warriors stood in perfect formation.

After Qing Ling delivered a brief speech, the forty thousand warriors marched out of Miraculous City in a vast column.

At the very front of the formation marched two thousand Xiong Zu warriors.

These two thousand Xiong Zu warriors were all massive specimens; each bear warrior was larger than a lion warrior, weighing over a thousand jin, and with their armor, nearly a ton apiece!

As the two thousand Xiong Zu warriors marched, the ground trembled!

These Xiong Zu warriors, during their days in Miraculous City, had finally been able to eat their fill every day.

Their appetites were enormous.

Each Xiong Zu warrior consumed dozens of jin of potatoes daily.

On the Miraculous Wasteland, potatoes were no longer the only crop—there were now many other vegetables.

Moreover, under Lin Yan's guidance, the fox maiden Qing Ling had begun preparing to breed poultry.

Yet in the Beast Kingdom, the poultry Lin Yan had known before his transmigration were rare; Qing Ling had thus found some wild chickens and begun large-scale farming.

In short, potatoes were the staple, served in abundance.

For beastfolk, beyond a few great clans, eating their fill every day was a luxury!

The rest were condiments, with only small daily rations.

Behind the bears came the centaur warriors, divided into two squads—one in front, one in back—to prevent surprises.

Additionally, Qing Ling's scouts circled the entire army like tentacles, monitoring every direction for dozens of li around!

These scouts were not a single group, but successive waves; if any wave failed to return and report within the designated time, another wave would immediately be dispatched to investigate.

This was to prevent ambushes during the march.

Yet after witnessing Miraculous City's overwhelming strength, aside from the Shizu Society and one or two great clans, no other clan dared ambush such a powerful army.

Many clans had only a few thousand warriors total; the larger ones barely exceeded ten thousand—were they sending their people to die?

The third echelon consisted of fox and cat warriors: five thousand fox archers and five thousand regular fox warriors.

These five thousand regular warriors served to protect the archers.

The newly joined elk warriors brought up the rear.

The elk warriors were not strong in combat, but their running speed was excellent; their role was to deliver the final blow when the enemy army neared collapse.

The movements of Miraculous City were quickly noticed by observant beastfolk tribes.

After that great defeat, the Old Lion King raged for a full day, then—having long neglected affairs and focused only on breeding—finally "emerged from seclusion," beginning to rally troops.

It had no choice but to emerge.

Its Grand General was dead.

Its War Minister had been slapped to death by it.

Aldington was also dead.

In short, the Old Lion King now had no capable personnel left except itself.

The Shizu Society's population was too large.

Just two days later, the Old Lion King assembled a lion army of seventy thousand.

Yet although this lion army was numerous, only thirty thousand were former elites.

Of these twenty thousand, several thousand had fled back from the Miraculous Wasteland!

The remaining forty thousand were newly recruited young lions.

These lions, never having seen battle, possessed physical conditioning no worse than the previous lion warriors.

What they lacked was combat experience.

And weaponry and equipment.

In the Battle of the Sacred Wasteland, the weapons and armor of the fallen Lion Clan warriors were all the accumulated treasures of many years of the Lion Clan.

The beastmen kingdoms generally lack weapons and armor; for the Lion Clan, as the "royal family," to fully equip their tens of thousands of troops was already quite difficult.

Now, those Lion Clan warriors left all their weapons and armor behind on the Sacred Wasteland.

The iron weapons were recovered by the City of Miracles and then remelted.

The leather armor was burned outright.

Even the few thousand warriors who escaped back were stripped of their helmets and armor, and had thrown away their weapons entirely to flee faster.

Thus, in this Lion Clan army of seventy thousand, more than half of the Lion Clan warriors wore only very simple armor.

Many of these armors were made by the Lion Clan warriors themselves.

The Old Lion King opened the "national treasury" and issued each Lion Clan warrior an iron weapon.

Then the Old Lion King went to a temple deep within the Lion Clan's Wang Cheng.

When he emerged, his face bore a touch more confidence!

"You think a ragtag army can defeat us? Hmph, naive. I will make you understand that the Lion Clan's depth is not something you fools can shake!"

The Old Lion King said coldly.

"Issue orders: march. We will defeat them in the Azure Lake Woods!"

The Old Lion King gave the order.

The Azure Lake Woods are not far from the grassland where Prince Bert perished!

The Old Lion King had no intention of defending Wang Cheng.

The Lion Clan's Wang Cheng is far less fortified than the City of Miracles.

Moreover, the Lion Clan is not skilled in city defense.

What the Lion Clan excels at is open-field battle!