Chapter 2217: Three-Front Main Attack

Although Liu Yang received the information, he went out this time with a fresh addition of twenty thousand soldiers, all of whom had been trained by Pei Yong for a while, and he paid little heed to this ragtag crowd.

He not only did not avoid them, but led his men to meet them head‑on, using no tactics at all—just a straight‑forward charge—intending to seize some Martial Cultivator strongmen.

However, overconfident troops are bound to lose!

When Liu Yang engaged this ragtag unit, he immediately realized he had misjudged their combat power.

Each of them fought with unparalleled bravery; although their coordination was lacking, both in momentum and strength they were far superior to his men.

Moreover, they discovered that the enemy also had a Ninth Layer Summit elite, so they immediately ordered their soldiers to hold the line while he withdrew all the Martial Cultivators.

As a result, all twenty thousand soldiers were annihilated, and Liu Yang fled toward Qiming City with the Soul Cultivators and Martial Cultivators beside him.

But halfway there, they encountered a fake Ye Liuyun who forced them back onto the battlefield to continue fighting.

Fortunately, Liu Yang sensed something amiss and used a Slave Seal to communicate with Ye Liuyun, who, far away in Qiming City, noticed the anomaly.

"You've been duped! It's an impostor! Run, scatter and run, the one pretending to be me is very powerful!"

Ye Liuyun immediately used the Slave Seal to inform Liu Yang.

But after Liu Yang realized he'd been tricked, his arrogant vigor surged again, and he instantly rallied all the Soul Cultivators to launch a Spiritual Soul Attack against the fake Ye Liuyun.

He didn't believe that, even with more than fifty Soul Cultivators, he couldn't handle a single Martial Cultivator.

Yet that Martial Cultivator wielded a Defense Spiritual Soul Attack Artifact; although the Defense Artifact was eventually breached, he wiped out almost half of the Soul Cultivators Liu Yang had brought with just a few strikes.

Although he was ultimately forced into submission by Liu Yang and his group, Liu Yang still suffered heavy losses.

Moreover, at that moment a small squad of higher‑realm enemy soldiers pursued from behind, giving them a relentless chase.

When Liu Yang finally escaped back to Qiming City, only three Soul Cultivators remained with him; even the Ninth Layer Summit Martial Cultivator that Ye Liuyun had assigned to him died in the intercepting pursuit.

This was also the worst defeat Ye Liuyun had suffered since entering the Central Region—a twenty‑thousand‑strong force led by a strongman was completely wiped out, yielding only a single captive.

But the captive's value turned out to be very high.

He is the famed 'Thousand Faces'.

Moreover, Ye Liuyun confirmed that the Leader of the sixty‑thousand enemy troops is 'Tiger Head.'

Among those sixty thousand troops, there are also two Guardians of the Nation Warriors and five hundred Imperial Guard mixed in.

Ye Liuyun carefully questioned Liu Yang about the battle and found that Tiger Head did not act personally this time; he only sent a Leader and soldiers to chase Liu Yang, otherwise they might not have returned.

Ye Liuyun immediately notified Mo Shaowen: "Withdraw at once! Let the main army return on its own; you, the Martial Cultivator strongmen and those Soul Cultivators, all disperse and run back!"

He thought that 'Tiger Head' had not concentrated forces against Liu Yang, perhaps sending elite troops to hide and deal with Mo Shaowen instead.

Mo Shaowen immediately carried out Ye Liuyun's command and issued orders.

As a result, just as they began to retreat, they were attacked and pursued by strong enemies.

Ye Liuyun's guess was correct: 'Tiger Head' feigned east while striking west, diverting all the strongest forces against Mo Shaowen.

Fortunately, Ye Liuyun reacted quickly, and Mo Shaowen dispersed his men a step ahead.

Thus, in the end, only a dozen‑plus Soul Cultivators in Mo Shaowen's group were caught up in the chase; the other strongmen all managed to escape back safely.

But the twenty‑thousand troops were all slaughtered by the Imperial Guard led by 'Tiger Head.'

This crushing defeat is far from over.

'Tiger Head' led his sixty‑thousand army to sweep across the Northern Region, recapturing the northern cities one by one.

Moreover, his army expanded rapidly, soon reaching a strength of one hundred and fifty thousand.

At the same time, the Western Region Guard stationed at Crossing Soul Mountain also began striking at the rebellious Martial Cultivators in the West; those who did not surrender were annihilated outright, with decisive action.

The Western army's expansion was also swift, quickly adding another fifty thousand troops.

Ye Liuyun also gathered the numerous Leaders to devise a counter‑strategy.

"I suggest we strike the North first."

"Tiger Head" and five hundred Imperial Guard are already within the Northern army.

"And the Western defenders are merely suppressing some rebel forces, not launching a direct attack against us."

Yu Xiaofeng proposed.

"I suspect 'Tiger Head' is Yuan Hao!"

Ye Liuyun speculated.

Song An analyzed: "If Tiger Head and Yuan Hao are the same person, his core strength still lies in the Western Region.

The Western Region's power should be stronger than the North."

"Zhongxing Wangchao still has forty thousand Imperial Guard; we must also retain sufficient defensive forces!"

Yu Xiaofeng added.

The group debated for ages, and no matter how they calculated, the troops were insufficient.

"Transfer the hundred‑thousand garrison from Mu Qing City in the Eastern Region's Boundless Sea to guard Qiming City."

Liang Xue and others, with their defensive forces, stationed inside Qiming City to assist its defense.

The Southern Region Guard's hundred‑thousand troops from the Boundless Sea were also transferred, under Pei Yong's command, to replace Yu Xiaofeng in holding the garrison city.

All the defensive equipment originally was allocated to them.

These two hundred thousand troops serve as our defensive force.

Qiong Qi helped set up the Defense Array.

Xiao Yunfang led a hundred‑thousand army forward toward Royal City, advancing steadily without overreaching.

Qiong Qi, Liu Yang, and Mo Shaowen, with the remaining Soul Cultivators, assisted Xiao Yunfang.

Yu Xiaofeng's main force of one hundred thousand marched to attack the West.

Let 'Thousand Faces' shapeshift into my likeness to confuse the enemy.

The four thousand Imperial Guard elites I captured last time will be divided between Yu Xiaofeng and Xiao Yunfang.

I will lead the spear‑troop, along with He Lian Xiu's hundred‑thousand army, personally to the North.

They aren't trying to confuse us, are they?

We also confuse them.

Let them guess which direction our offensive will take!

The three armies will attack simultaneously.

Everyone must prepare to fight it out to the end.

If any problem arises, I will also bring the Sharp Dagger Team and rush over immediately.

That means the three armies are all offensive directions, right?

Yu Xiaofeng confirmed.

Exactly! They're all offensive!

Ye Liuyun confirmed.

Everyone fell silent, contemplating the aftermath of this battle.

The three armies attacking simultaneously can indeed confuse the Zhongxing Wangchao dynasty, leaving them unable to defend against all.

But this battle also means they're putting everything on the line.

Moreover, it is destined that at least one army will suffer heavy losses.

If they misjudge the enemy's strength, they could lose everything.

What's there to fear? Even if we lose, the Zhongxing Wangchao dynasty will see our strength and thereafter dare not scheme against our eastern territories.

If we win, the Zhongxing Wangchao dynasty will be one step closer to collapse.

Ye Liuyun comforted everyone, lest they feel too much pressure.

What if the three armies concentrate their attack on the Royal City?

Song An asked.

It's also an all‑or‑nothing gamble! The Royal City is defended by tens of thousands of Imperial Guard troops; when the time comes, we will be the attackers and our losses will be greater.

If we cannot seize the Royal City immediately, we will be caught in a pincer attack from its western and northern armies.

Ye Liuyun explained.

In the end, everyone reached a consensus and decided to prepare for battle according to Ye Liuyun's plan.