Chapter 1426 - 36: North and South, North and South
"Besides Great Ape Mountain, I actually have some concerns."
Before Xie Xuanyi finished speaking.
"Are you worried they went to Li Kingdom?"
Chen Jingxuan had already guessed his companion’s thoughts.
The world is only so big.
Since the shadow has hidden in the [Ruins] for so many years, then this plan to suppress the Primordial Immortal Hall must have undergone a series of meticulous planning.
The shadow that left [Ruins] back then was probably not the only one...
Some went to the Demon Country, others naturally fled to the Human Race.
Great Chu has already begun to prepare.
The hand of the Book Tower, after all, can only reach so far, and Chen Jingxuan has no right to interfere with matters outside the Great Chu border.
"Yes."
Xie Xuanyi said gravely, "I am worried that Li Kingdom over there... might be corrupted by the shadow."
In terms of national power.
The Da Li Dynasty is no match for Great Chu.
In recent years, the royal power struggle and the decline of the Buddhist sect... have exhausted much of Li Kingdom’s Qi fortune. Though there are some formidable Great Divine Ability Users, they simply can’t compare to Great Chu. These "shadows" are definitely not low-intellect beings; they know how to occupy and control the Primordial Immortal Hall, hide their aura, and there must be a "mastermind" controlling everything behind the scenes.
If they are to take root among the Human Race, the best place would certainly be Li Kingdom, rather than Chu Country.
"The battle of Phoenix Seal City dragged on for a whole year."
Chen Jingxuan rubbed his brow and sighed lightly, "The Northern Five States and the Southern Four States have already started fighting, but both sides have pulled away to start a ’tug-of-war’... The Crown Prince desperately wants to determine the outcome, but those noble families behind Qian State seem to have their own plans."
The Crown Prince rallied a large force, northward-bound, determined to decide life and death at Phoenix Seal City in Wu State.
Initially.
It was naturally met with overwhelming support!
Qian State, Sheng Zhou, Yun Province, Bian State... Southern Four States shared prosperity and loss together. All major families, imperial kin, and dignitaries provided massive support, and within a month, an army of 200,000 was preliminarily assembled, with 100,000 elite soldiers from Qian State pressing north, and another 100,000 gathered from Sheng Zhou, Bian State, and Yun Province. An additional 100,000 were still being consolidated. The Crown Prince declared he had 300,000 Iron Cavalry, a number not at all exaggerated, yet only 100,000 of them actually launched the first wave of fierce attacks on Wu State.
Qian State Iron Cavalry encountered strong resistance on the south bank of Prayer Water River in Wu State.
Under Chen Chong’s command, the Yuanzhou Iron Cavalry, with 60,000, resisted 100,000 for three months at Prayer Water River. The anticipated reinforcements from the three-state allied forces were forcibly cut off by Yu State Iron Cavalry, trapped in bitter battle along the central axis line "Xuan Nian Mountain" between North and South Da Li.
The anticipated "Phoenix Seal City decisive battle" never came.
Across two battlefields, a solid 100 days of intense killing ensued. Relying on advantageous terrain, Yu State and Yuan Province, combining forces of two states, ten thousand Iron Cavalry, managed to withstand the impact of twenty thousand Iron Cavalry. After retreating from Xuan Nian Mountain, Han Li personally led the Chongzhou Iron Cavalry south, borrowed the path through North State, and took control of the central axis battle. Since then, the "Northern vs. Southern conflict" within Da Li completely changed its course. The combat power of the Northern Five States Iron Cavalry far exceeded the expectations of the Southern State dignitaries, despite having numerical advantage, better equipment, better logistics, but the 200,000 army couldn’t reach Phoenix Seal City promptly, and the Crown Prince tried everything to accomplish "Destroying Buddha," but this last grasp turned out to be exceptionally difficult.
After the previous series of backstabs.
The forces from Qian State had lost all advantages.
One Strike Sect cultivators joined the Prayer Water River battle, Luo Lie and Luo Hai appeared together, the father and son clashed with the Li Kingdom Royal Family’s two Protectors...
The battle was extremely brutal.
After this fight.
Luo Lie and Luo Hai never appeared again.
As for those two Li Kingdom Royal Family tributors who intended to single-handedly change the battlefield’s course, they also vanished silently.
The battle at Prayer Water River was still a direct Iron Cavalry confrontation between two armies.
This battle was led personally by the Crown Prince, intended to boost morale, yet unexpectedly, it had the opposite effect.
As they say, strike while the iron’s hot, but with the second it wanes, with the third it exhausts.
The army ideating a decisive battle at Phoenix Seal City couldn’t even pass the first Heavenly Barrier at Prayer Water River.
What is there left to fight in a decisive battle?
All at once.
Southern State dignitaries began to waver in their battle intent, subsequent "100,000 reinforcements" continuously lost contact.
Each party shirked away, some began to prepare escape routes, others privately contacted the Ninth Prince fighting at the Prayer Water River front line, hoping to switch sides.
Not long after, Nalan Xuance in Qian State killed another batch of dignitaries to assert military authority, demonstrating legitimacy, yet unfortunately... the momentum had begun leaning, irreversibly. Thus this much-anticipated decisive battle slowly turned into a prolonged bitter struggle, a bloody battle.
For an entire year, Qian State Iron Cavalry just crossed Prayer Water River, this long-awaited "Phoenix Seal City decisive battle" by both sides, dragged on for a whole year before starting to unfold.
"These are important updates from Li Kingdom over the past year."
Chen Jingxuan also took out a Divine Soul Bamboo Scroll.
Xie Xuanyi perused it.
He actually wasn’t very concerned about Li Kingdom’s war.
For a simple reason.
During his Divine Travel, he had already experienced it once.
Given time, location, and harmony, now the Ninth Prince has gained all, this battle already has no suspense at all... Whether it’s the decisive battle at Phoenix Seal City or at Qianzhou Imperial City, the final outcome is predestined. The Ninth Prince will defeat the Crown Prince, ascend to the throne, and be crowned Emperor, this ending will undoubtedly appear in the Future Illumination, it’s only a matter of time.
Nevertheless, this entire year’s "bitter struggle" was outside Xie Xuanyi’s expectations.
This differs from the development he saw during his Divine Travel...
History has undergone subtle yet significant shifts.