Chapter 141: Twist
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
In the beginning of the new year, Liu Yan from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture attacked Summer Sun Prefecture. In just half a month, he had managed to take down 15 cities and had caused 8 cities to be burning in fire. The casualties rate was very high and the whole of Xia Country was horrified by this!
The Summer Sun Prefecture Armed Forces had lost the battle and the Prefecture master had no choice but to abandon the Prefecture City. He then went to ask for help from the Clear Spring Prefecture, the royal family of the Xia Country or anyone who had the ability to do so.
On the 15th day of the 4th month, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Armed Forces had surrounded the whole of Summer Sun Prefecture City and a big battle started.
It was dawn.
Above the city wall of the Summer Sun Prefecture, there were many cultivators getting up onto the city building to observe the movement of the enemy.
"Zhe! Zhe!"
A scholar who was dressed in green then sighed and said, "Every order will be executed. The soldiers train daily and there is even a special way for them to set up the tents…...They are a group of powerful soldiers indeed!"
"Humph, my Summer Sun Elite Forces is not any inferior to the Secluded Mountain Prefecture. That Old Liu Yan is very experienced in martial arts and there are Mu Li and Xiang Zilong assisting him!"
The Summer Sun Prefecture Master who was beside the scribe was pulling a long face.
The scribe, who had made that comment previously, was the Clear Spring Prefecture Master. Even though both positions were of the same level, the Clear Spring Prefecture Master didn't say anything that was hurting as he had travelled all the way here to help the Summer Sun Prefecture.
"Well said!"
The scribe laughed and didn't refute. "Even though the strength of my armed forces has increased, I only have about 50,000 soldiers and another 20,000 soldiers as reserves. With your ability, Summer Prefecture Master, we will have a chance!"
"I'm not afraid of wars, but Liu Yan doesn't play this war the proper way. He is a spiritual knight and went off many times. What can we do?"
The Summer Sun Prefecture Master sighed.
"If that is the case, why do you still need my help?"
The scribe dressed in green then laughed and continued, "Liu Yan is overboard this time!"
From the way they looked, Liu Yan had actually broken the rules of the protocol between Wu Zong and spiritual knights.
Nevermind if he was insatiable and felt like attacking others. He actually used his role as a spiritual knight to sabotage others and caused others to lose their faces. Hence, there would be a loss of interests. If one would provoke a spiritual knight and that spiritual knight had found ways to attack one's sovereign even though he cannot defeat that one, the actions of the spiritual knight would be considered evil.
Liu Yan was the initiator of this war and hence he deserved a beating.
"The royal family has stated that they fully support our Prefecture in this attack, but they haven't sent any actual help….."
The Summer Sun Prefecture Master gave a cold laugh and said, "Looks like after this war, we will not only have to change the Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master, the royal family will also have to be...Hehe..."
"Indeed….there are many movements from the royal family recently!"
As the scribe heard this, his eyebrows moved as well.
Even though there was chaos in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, the royal family had reached out too much and this was also a problem for those few prefectures. Also, there were a few traces left behind…..
If not for the pressing issue of Liu Yan, the Clear Spring Prefecture Master would have to ask for an explanation from the royal family with another ally already.
In the past, the 3 prefectures had got together to create troubles for the royal family for a few times.
The final outcome was that the royal family could only incur the losses without saying anything and the royal family even lost a king. Hence, the royal family was back into its original position and had to take care of the losses it had incurred.
Even though the situation was different this time, the outcome would still be the same.
The Clear Spring Prefecture Master was very confident of this.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
At that moment, there was a long chirp and a black shadow came from the enemy's side. There was a person on top and the person looked violent and tough. Who else could the person be other than Liu Yan himself?
"Xiao Yunqing, Lan Xiaosheng!"
Seeing that the two prefecture masters were here, Liu Yan felt even more excited and said, "You both are here? Very good! I can just remove you two at one go and there will be no need for the extra effort to remove separately!"
"Old Liu, your words are aggressive!"
Lan Xiaosheng focused on Liu Yan. Even though his mouth was not wide open, his voice was able to travel through the clouds.
"Roar! Roar!"
There was a furious roar coming from the city and a giant black shadow flew above the city wall. It spread its wings and flew into the sky.
The black shadow felt like a dragon and a tiger at the same time!
It had the look of a big tiger, but it had wings and was very energetic.
It is a special tiger with wings!
The tiger was the White Winged Tiger! It was a tamed spiritual beast from the Clear Spring Prefecture. It not only was able to fly, its body was tough like metal and it could fight against a [Martial Artist (11th Gate)]!
"Let's go!"
Xia Yunqing and Lan Xiaosheng leapt lightly onto the back of the White Tiger. Lan Xiaosheng looked at the lonely Liu Yan and laughed. "I'm impressed that you dare to fight against us even though you are alone. Where are your 3 leaders, the spiritual knight and the young sect master?"
"I alone am sufficient enough to defeat you two!"
Even though the two prefecture masters right in front of Liu Yan were also great spiritual knights, Liu Yan was very confident and treated the two of them as though they were dead already!
Such attitude made the two prefecture masters even more furious.
"Good! Very good! Looks like you are powerful enough to defeat the two of us on your own. How can we reject this?"
Xia Yunqing gave a long laugh and was feeling excited.
From the way he looked, it would be hard for Liu Yan to defeat the two of them on his own if he had not reached the Elemental Opening Realm!
This was the best time to end the war as Liu Yan was on his own.
He turned his head and saw that Lan Xiaosheng also had the same look as him. Both couldn't wait to defeat Liu Yan.
Both of them looked at each other and as the White Winged Tiger gave a loud roar, it pounced in the direction of where Liu Yan was...
...…..
Just when the 3 prefecture masters were fighting.
Back in the capital of the Xia Country.
The Xia Country was split into 3 prefectures. Most of the land was controlled by the respective prefectures and there was a small portion of land that was still controlled by the royal family. At least it showed that the royal family still had some sort of power in this country.
The capital laid at the intersection of the 3 prefectures and there were no walls built around the capital city!
It was said that it was decided to be like this when the 3 prefecture masters were chosen. However, this clearly showed that the royal family of the Xia Country had to be a puppet forever and couldn't go against anyone who had great power.
Since there was no wall surrounding the capital city, there were enemies in all directions and the city was prone to many threats. The royal family had also become weak.
If not for the survival of the king's heritage and the restraint of the 3 Prefecture masters, the whole of Xia Country would have probably been exterminated.
"So how is it, Princess?"
Back in a tall building in the royal palace, tea was served to Xie Lingyun who had just returned from her trip as an ambassador. Her expression was confused and she was facing a white-haired energetic old daoist.
"Even though Liu Yan is frenzied and has created trouble for the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, the matter is still related to Xia Country. The two prefecture masters of the Summer Sun and Clear Spring are both loyal ministers and how can we let Gui Country handle this matter for us?"
Plus…..I'm just a lady and you, the ambassador from the Gui Country has looked for the wrong person!"
Xie Lingyun said confidently, "I should look for Father to discuss this matter!"
"Hehe….Miss Xie, why do you have to hide from me? Miss Xie, your power is considered to be great in this country! In fact, the king from my home country is also impressed with your methods of handling the matter!"
The old daoist shook his head and seemed to have known some secrets.
"What are you talking about?"
Xie Lingyun's expression changed.
"I'm not speaking nonsense. Your methods are special. In just a short period of time, you are able to rapport the support of a spiritual knight and a Wu Zong. This is incredible!"
The old daoist laughed and said.
As he spoke, Xie Lingyun's energy was being shocked a little and she couldn't regulate her energy, which caused her face's colour to be changing.
"Wu Zong is here. You don't need me to point out where the spiritual knight is, do you?"
The old daoist looked into Xie Lingyun's eyes intensely as if he wanted to know what she was thinking.
"Just tell me, what are you going to do now?"
Xie Lingyun took a deep breath and her expression changed.
If Fang Yuan was here, he would be surprised by her change in expressions.
Xie Lingyun was standing straight with much confidence and she looked like a commander who had no miscalculations.
"I have said before. The king from my home country is willing to help you. However, after everything is settled, please give a portion of the Secluded Mountains as a reward to the king…..and you two can get married. The king has been admiring you for a long time already….."
The old daoist shook his head when he said that to Xie Lingyun.
As she heard this, she laughed and suddenly gave a cold look. "The king of the Gui Country is indeed asking for a lot from me, I will have to reject his offer!"
"You don't have to reject this offer straight away!"
The old daoist continued with much confidence, "Your plan of interlocking the attacks is indeed great and you even placed a mole by Liu Yan's side. However, you have overlooked something!"
"Lu Renjia?!"
Xie Lingyun was able to what was it on the spot and she was surprised. "I was already guessing that Lu Renjia had something to do with the foreign power. So it was you people!"
"We only put a little trick there and we didn't expect to reap anything from it!"
The old daoist stroked his beard and continued arrogantly, "I see that you have known quite a lot of things from Lu Renjia and that include one secret method….."
"Is it regarding the method of using high-quality spiritual objects to break through the bottleneck?"
Xie Lingyun interrupted him and gave him a mocking look.
"So princess, you also know that. You are indeed special….."
The old daoist was a little surprised but was still full of confidence. "What I want to mention is the other manual. The manual is dedicated to Blood Demon and one could use a normal person's blood to recover one's elemental force! This method is called the Blood Refining Technique. This technique could cause a lot of damage as it requires the blood of thousands of people to produce its effect. Also, one could be affected mentally if one executes this technique!"
"Blood Refining? Blood Refining!"
Xie Lingyun was shocked and her nails were gripping onto something unknowingly. "The Huangshi City is being burnt?"
"Correct, we have sent our men to have a look and indeed, there is a possibility that many people are already the victims of this technique…..However, Liu Yan was smart and he burnt the whole city straight away to remove any traces and evidence."
The old daoist gave a weird smile and continued, "I guess you will know whether is it real or fake very soon!"
"Princess!"
At that moment, there were a few rapid knocks on the door. Then, a servant rushed in and was looking very anxious. "Breaking news from the Summer Sun Prefecture! Liu Yan has managed to defeat the other two prefecture masters. He has killed Xia Yunqing while Lan Xiaosheng, who was seriously injured, has escaped. The Summer Sun Prefecture…...has been taken down!"
"What!?"
Xie Lingyun's expression instantly changed.