Chapter 941

What is a Sovereign-level?

It means possessing combat power equal to that of a Sage, like the rulers of the Three Imperial Dynasties!

Then Li Chenglong fell into thought.

After a brief pause, he turned to Chancellor Meng Li and said: "In a while, you shall go to Cangwu Mountain on my behalf to visit this Jiang clan patriarch, convey that I harbor no ill will—only a desire to form an alliance. To show sincerity, carefully select several worthy gifts from my imperial treasury, and take the Ninth Imperial Princess along to serve as his tea-pouring maid."

Meng Li bowed and said: "Your Majesty's wisdom ensures that Yuehua shall forge a remarkable bond with the Cangwu Jiang family..."

With that, he silently withdrew, preparing to enter the imperial treasury to select gifts.

As the chancellor departed, a slender official stepped forward, knelt, and bowed: "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

Li Chenglong gave a slight nod: "What is it?"

The official raised his head and said solemnly: "Now, the Daqian Dynasty and the Daqin Dynasty have reignited war. Both nations are mired in chaos, their people suffering. Many cultivators have fled to our Yuehua territory, pleading for us to intervene and end the conflict. What is Your Majesty's will?"

When he finished speaking, the court officials and generals remained expressionless, showing no reaction.

In their eyes, the Nine States had always been nothing but a speck of land.

Even the emergence of a supreme powerhouse like Jiang Daoxuan had not altered their entrenched prejudice.

Li Chenglong clearly thought the same.

He said casually: "Let the Nine States handle their own internal affairs. Yuehua has no need to interfere..."

To him,

as long as these small states obeyed faithfully, always recognizing Yuehua's supremacy and his own authority as Li Chenglong,

it made no difference who ruled the dynasties.

Such petty squabbles were beneath his notice.

Upon hearing this, the official immediately understood how to proceed.

He bowed respectfully and slowly withdrew.

Twenty days later.

As Yuehua remained passive,

the conflict between Daqian and Daqin intensified further!

Every day, countless cultivators perished on the battlefield, their bloody aura rising to the heavens!

And because Daqian was united as one,

the Daqian King had long bound the interests of the imperial court and all noble clans and sects together, keeping them firmly on the same front.

Thus, their battlefield performance was exceptional—strong cultivators emerged frequently, and they nearly dominated Daqin throughout.

In contrast, Daqin

suffered from long-standing animosity between the court and the sects and noble clans, their enmity as irreconcilable as water and fire.

Added to this was the disappearance of the state advisor, Yu Wenfeng,

leaving them unable to suppress the internal clans and sects.

How could they possibly compel these factions to send troops or resources to the front?

Thus, Daqin could only steadily drain its own reserves.

In the end, during this campaign,

Daqin, isolated and unsupported, was driven back step by step by Daqian, utterly routed!

Yet, the troubles plaguing Qin Wang were far from over.

He was stunned to discover that, beyond being unable to mobilize a single soldier from the sects or noble clans, he could not even command the troops of the Nine Prefectures!

All nine prefectural governors—including Ding Xuan, governor of Tiandou Prefecture—chose to feign obedience while withholding troops, refusing to move!

Faced with this behavior, Qin Wang was so enraged he nearly exploded, and in his fury, even executed dozens of eunuchs and palace maids!

And now, within Qin Wang Palace,

seeing his eleventh battle-order plaque ignored and dismissed by the nine governors, Qin Wang flew into a rage!

"Worthless scum! At a time of national crisis, all of you cling to self-preservation—utterly foolish!"

"If Qin falls, do you truly believe you'll still be valued by Daqian?!"

"This fury consumes me!"

Qin Wang's chest heaved as he slammed his hand down, shattering the jade bowl in his grip into fragments!

Seeing this, the court officials and generals all lowered their heads, falling into unanimous silence.

Since Daqian launched its invasion, Qin Wang's temper had grown increasingly volatile.

They had long grown accustomed to it.

A few breaths later,

Qin Wang barely managed to calm himself.

He glanced down at the crowd, his pupils filled with venomous malice:

"These worthless bastards refusing to send troops is one thing—but why has Yanling Prefecture not moved either?"

Of the nine governors who had not sent troops, most ruled inferior prefectures.

Their importance paled beside Yanling Prefecture, an upper-tier prefecture.

Seeing Qin Wang ask, an official stepped forward: "Your Majesty, according to my intelligence, Yanling Prefecture does not wish to withhold troops—it simply cannot."

Qin Wang frowned, suppressing his rage: "What do you mean?"

The official first stole a glance at his lord's expression; seeing no immediate outburst, he dared to speak cautiously:

"According to Yanling's deputy governor, several months ago, Governor Gu Zheng was carried out from the foot of Cangwu Mountain... and after that, he resolved to enter a sealed seclusion."

He has remained sealed ever since, and due to his apparent reluctance to reveal the location of his seclusion, we have been unable to locate him.

Thus, even if the deputy governor wishes to dispatch troops to aid the front, without Governor Gu Zheng's military token, he is powerless to act...

Hearing this, Qin Wang's eyes went wide, the veins on his forehead standing out starkly.

He said through gritted teeth, "Good, good, good — what a fine 'closed-door cultivation'! To avoid contributing effort, he actually came up with such an absurd excuse! I think this Gu Zheng's position as Prefecture Lord has reached its end!"

With the examples of the nine previous Prefecture Lords before him, he clearly no longer believed that Gu Zheng was truly in death-sealed closed-door cultivation.

Instead, he took it for granted that the other side had used this excuse to choose to avoid the battle.

The moment he thought that among the thirty-six prefectures, a full ten Prefecture Lords had chosen to hold their forces and refuse to fight, the fury in Qin Wang's heart burned even more fiercely!

"Damnable! If my Great Qin can weather this tribulation, I will definitely make these bastardly things pay the price!"

Qin Wang clenched both fists so tightly that his fingernails pierced into flesh and blood.

But he, his reason blinded by fury, did not notice any pain at all!