Chapter 628

Even as the enemies on both the left and right were being harvested, the fact that they remained completely unscathed despite the driver’s violent swaying was a testament to the skill of Master Lin Cheng, an eighth-rank blacksmith. He was truly formidable.

After charging out of the cavalry line, the ten blade-chariots turned around and slaughtered their way back into the cavalry formation from the rear.

In one go, they had almost entirely buried the Holy Kingdom’s remaining cavalry on the battlefield. The few survivors were pale-faced and filled with terror.

They could never have imagined that the Empire’s chariots would be so powerful; just by getting slightly close, they had instantly claimed the lives of both the warhorses and the riders.

The moment they first met, they had considered the power of the chariots, but they had assumed they were merely equipped with blades on the sides. They thought that even if they couldn't bypass them, they would only lose their horses and not face any threat to the soldiers on their backs.

Of course, the die was cast. Looking at the dismembered corpses of their companions scattered everywhere, the remaining soldiers were on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"They aren't human... they're demons!"

"What do we do now?"

"Run! Run away! We have to report this to the General!"

The Holy Kingdom’s remaining cavalry began to flee in panic. Lord Xuan Lord Xuan Wuji had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by.

"The entire army, pursue the victory! Recall the blade-chariots, cavalry units, lead the charge!"

"Yes!"

Toot, toot, toot...

The Evernight Legion and the Thunder Shadow Legion moved out rapidly. The enemy had already collapsed, and they would not let this chance go.

If they could capture the enemy general, they would no longer have to fear the subsequent coalition forces!

"Brothers, follow me and kill!"

The horn of the charge had sounded. The Holy Kingdom’s forces, originally the aggressors, scattered like birds and beasts in an instant.

Continue fighting? Are you kidding me!

The cavalry was nearly wiped out, and the archer and Class Mage regiments had suffered varying degrees of severe damage. The army had already been heavily battered at Colin Fortress! Now, the higher-ups had issued an order that was practically a suicide mission!

The cavalry was furious, the archers were furious, and even the most noble mages were furious.

They were not lowly spearmen or shield-bearers. If they had known beforehand that the Imperial army possessed such powerful war machines, they would never have rashly come here to die.

"A war without suspense. I really am a genius... ending the war so easily."

Standing on a high mountain with Li Chang'an and the others, looking down at the battlefield where the outcome was already decided, Lin Cheng bragged to himself.

Coming out for a change of pace had its benefits; one had to relax occasionally.

"Are you going back?" Li Chang'an caught the underlying meaning in Lin Cheng's tone.

Since the battle was locked in, there was no point in staying here any longer. She suddenly seemed to understand Lin Cheng's mindset.

After all, Lin Cheng was that kind of busy person—someone who didn't enjoy material life for the sake of his research.

Such a person would be considered an academic talent in the modern world, and she admired him for it.

"Yeah, next, Ji Xia will assist Lord Lord Xuan in securing victory for the Empire..." Lin Cheng agreed without a second thought.

That had been his plan from the beginning, unless the Imperial army encountered an unimaginably devastating blow, but now it seemed that was unlikely to happen.

"As for me... I still have the improved magic crystal internal combustion engine that the Second Brother wants, and I need to build an assembly line based on it to mass-produce magic crystal internal combustion engines and other things."

However, to achieve intelligent automated production, he still had to create an artificial intelligence. Fortunately, he had the knowledge for that, too; it would just take some time.

"It's amazing that you can come up with all this. Your sys..." Li Chang'an was truly shocked. Just as she was about to say something, she covered her mouth in time.

That was a secret between them, and naturally, she couldn't let others know.

"It's alright. Actually, most of the time it only teaches me knowledge rather than helping me directly." Li Chang'an nodded, understanding who he meant by 'it'.

This was for the best. If it were directly bestowed, it would mean the other party could also take it back. Conversely, knowledge could not be taken away.

........ .. 0

"If you want to learn, I can teach you... I just don't know if you can handle it."

"Forget it, I'm a daughter of nobility!" Li Chang'an shook her head decisively.

She couldn't stand the dull and tedious day-after-day forging.

"When Lord Lord Xuan returns, I'll mention it to him..."

"Mm, let's go back together. My task is already complete."

Once she returned this time, Li Chang'an intended to put in a good word for him before her Imperial Father; perhaps the situation of the Tute family would recover... Plus, with the status of an eighth-rank blacksmith, Lin Cheng’s identity was fully worthy of her.

A stranger in a strange land, missing one's family all the more on festive days.

Having finally found a relative in a foreign land, Li Chang'an didn't want to miss out like this.

"Good!"

Lin Cheng agreed readily.

Yet he did not know that he was gradually planting the seeds of love in An'an's heart.

From a young age, An'an had been very independent in the Imperial Palace. Beyond that, she was cautious, always prepared for danger in times of peace, and had countered many people who wanted to kill her. If she hadn't relied on her own wisdom and means, she probably wouldn't have survived until now.

Because ever since her mother, the Empress, died, she had lost her final pillar of support. In the vast imperial palace, without a faction behind her, how could those concubines who did have such support tolerate the existence of a princess born of a secondary consort?

Her being alive was simply a thorn in their side. If she could have been a bit more foolish, a bit more like a decorative vase, these people wouldn't have had to rack their brains to scheme against her. But An'an was very clever and possessed an extraordinary eye; she knew what she wanted and what she didn't.

A sense of the big picture was crucial; if she didn't leave herself a way out, she might be killed by someone one day.

The act of having a cloak draped over her that night allowed her to experience a long-lost warmth once again—a warmth that felt like the comforting sensation of her mother holding her when she was a child, safe and cozy.

It made her unable to resist longing for that warmth once more.

On the battlefield, following the all-out counterattack by Lord Xuan Lord Xuan Wuji and Lei Yi, the remnants of the Holy Kingdom were routed like scattered chickens and dogs. Seeing this, the Holy Kingdom's commander-in-chief immediately took the Holy Son and their most important group of mages and personal guards to flee.

With their support in the rear, they would only have the capital to contend with the Imperial Army if they could reorganize their main force.

Those war machines—whether the powerful catapults or the bladed chariots—were their nightmares. Only magic crystal cannons could crush the Imperial Army in one go, and by then, all those weapons and equipment would belong to their Holy Kingdom.

With such sharp weapons, why worry about not being able to truly unify the entire Western Regions!

An hour later, the Evernight Legion and the Thunder Shadow Legion returned one after another. The Holy Kingdom's vanguard had been almost completely crushed by them; the few who remained to flee were not much of a problem. It was a pity the enemy commander was too cowardly—they had run away before they even met.

Temporary meeting tent.

The Third Imperial Prince was the first to offer his suggestion, his face filled with killing intent and the aura of a king, possessing quite a bit of the decisive demeanor of an emperor.

"I believe we should counterattack. Taking advantage of our surging morale and these sharp weapons, we can annihilate the Holy Kingdom's follow-up coalition in one stroke. Only by truly hurting them will they realize that the Empire is not what they imagined it to be a hundred years ago, and it is still not what they can imagine today."

Lei Yi felt this was feasible.

"This is a good proposal. With our current numbers, plus the Divine Might Army secretly aided by the Empire, and those war machines, we might just be able to pull off a counter-strike."

"The Chirpery Kingdom needs time to recuperate. If we don't thoroughly hurt the kingdoms of the Western Regions, they will continue to covet the Chirpery Kingdom."

Lord Xuan Lord Xuan Wuji was also lost in thought. After wiping out the Holy Kingdom's vanguard, Yan Liu's vengeance was only half-fulfilled; the remaining half naturally could not be abandoned.

"We can do it. We still have ten truly mobile magic crystal cannons. We can fight against the enemy's magic crystal cannons too. Whether in terms of equipment or combat power, we have the advantage!"

"The only thing to worry about is the enemy's air force; they are very likely to attack our catapult camp in the rear."

"Indeed."

Lei Yi and the Third Imperial Prince nodded one after another.

The last time they crushed the coalition of Lei Dun and Ta Ji, failing to eliminate the enemy's air force was indeed their oversight.

At the same time, the enemy was too cunning. Knowing they couldn't win, they used magic and giant rocks from high altitude, turning perfectly good sub-dragons into catapult-dragons.

"Set up the strategy and defenses. If there's a chance, take out those sub-dragons first, and then we'll be secure." Speaking of which, sub-dragons were not true dragons; although they had the protection of scales, their defensive power was very limited.

If they could unleash a volley of ten thousand arrows, then it would be the sub-dragon troops who would be worried. However, their current supply of arrows was limited, and they were truly powerless to do so...

"General, Master Lin Cheng requests an audience. He says if there's nothing else, he's going back to Rock Fortress to continue his research."

In the forging room of Lin Cheng's smithy at Rock Fortress, as a golden magic array on the ground gradually expanded, two figures quickly appeared in the center of the array.

They were none other than Lin Cheng and Li Chang'an, who had retreated from the Chirpery Kingdom battlefield.

Opening their eyes, they found themselves in the smithy's forging room. Although Li Chang'an knew in advance it was teleportation magic, she was still very surprised. Lin Cheng could actually bring someone back from such a distant place all by himself; this was not something an ordinary space Class Mage could do.

He had probably reached the level of a seventh-rank space Class Mage.

Li Chang'an's clever brain quickly realized this, and she immediately stepped on Lin Cheng's foot in a fit of pique.

"What are you doing?" Lin Cheng asked, feeling the pain.

Li Chang'an said crossly.

"You said the system taught you forging knowledge, but doesn't it also have the ability to bestow powers upon you?"

For a blacksmith to possess space teleportation capabilities not inferior to a seventh-rank space Class Mage—no matter how she thought about it, it seemed impossible, unless...

Lin Cheng blinked, not really caring; abilities were secondary, knowledge was what mattered.

"Oh, you mean the skills? I suppose they're just system add-ons. If I didn't have some strength, I wouldn't have my current status; I'd probably have been dragged into a dark room by someone long ago to forge tools for them."

"That's true!"

Li Chang'an blushed quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

To be able to climb to the status of an eighth-rank blacksmith without any decent faction behind him—if Lin Cheng were truly an ordinary commoner, how could he have achieved what he had today? He would likely have been secretly snatched away before he even became famous.

— Author's Notes —

· ·······Seeking flowers····· ·····