Chapter 464: Troops Arriving Outside the City Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The information that Jiang Yi found out was correct. The Azure Dragon Empire, the Northern Liang Kingdom, the Northern Mang Kingdom, the Saint Spirit Kingdom, and the Divine Martial Kingdom had marched off with their five armies. They all received a piece of information, one that made them acted immediately: the Demon Empress had left Stellarsky Continent. This information came from the Martial Arts Hall, and they guaranteed that Shui Youlan and the old monk from Great Zen Monastery wouldn"t dare to protect Jiang Yi.
This information was so shocking that all the factions couldn"t stay still. The battle at Monarch City had resulted in a victory for Jiang Yi and his demonic beast against three Vajra Realm martial experts!
Only half of the three-year promise had pa.s.sed, and Jiang Yi was growing at such a tremendous rate!
If they were to give him another one year, who had the certainty that they could suppress him? Back at the Summer Rain City, the various martial experts nearly killed Jiang Yi; and Jiang Yi was a ruthless and merciless individual. When the three-year deadline was up—and if Jiang Yi had enough strength, he might just wipe out the four kingdoms and the Azure Dragon Empire.
In other words… they were afraid!
Thus, when the Martial Arts Hall sent out this information, all the kings and the Vajra Realm martial experts had a conference and decided to immediately send their troops and raze the Great Xia Kingdom—combining their forces to kill Jiang Yi.
The Martial Arts Hall was extremely influential; so much that they would be able to go against these kingdoms. Then again, the Martial Arts Hall had a great characteristic: they never contended in the continent"s affairs. Thus, everyone trusted the Martial Arts Hall and knew that they wouldn"t offer fake information.
As for some things…
Why didn"t the Martial Arts Hall do it personally? Why did they hint the various kingdoms to make move when the Chief Hall Master had yet to return? It was all because of a single individual… Ji Tingyu.
Ji Tingyu had always favored conspiring from behind the scenes, and she liked being the hidden mastermind. Unless necessary, she wouldn"t let the Martial Arts Hall do it personally. If they didn"t do it this way, they would have completely provoked Jiang Yi; and the Martial Arts Hall would move from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. There must always be a contingency plan, and Jiang Yi had created too many miracles. Hence, Ji Tingyu decided that she would first instigate the Ling Clan"s old ancestor and the others to make the first move. Even if something went wrong, it wouldn"t implicate the Martial Arts Hall.
Most importantly, she had no influence over the Chief Hall Master of the Martial Arts Hall. If he was to return—seeing how he loved talents like Jiang Yi, he might not make a move and sincerely try to recruit Jiang Yi. In order to recruit Jiang Yi, Ji Tingyu had to die; otherwise, it wouldn"t be sincere enough. Thus, Ji Tingyu plotted this conspiracy: instigating the five factions to send out their armies to raze the Great Xia Kingdom and eliminate Jiang Yi.
The various kingdoms didn"t utilize a big portion of their armies, and they totaled up to around 10,000 soldiers. However, all these soldiers were Soul Travel Realm experts; and no one knew if there were any Vajra Realm martial experts hidden within.
The armies arrived quickly as the Saint Spirit Kingdom rode the aerial spirit beasts and immediately attacked the cities in the Great Xia Kingdom. The Azure Dragon Empire, the Northern Mang Kingdom, and the Northern Liang Kingdom took the teleportation array to the Divine Martial Kingdom. They then joined with the Divine Martial Kingdom"s army, riding aerial beasts towards the Great Xia Kingdom. The reason why they marched so quickly was that they didn"t want to give the Heaven Mystics Kingdom a chance to react. Similarly, they wanted to prevent Shui Youlan and the old monk to provide reinforcements. Despite the fact that the Martial Arts Hall had given their guarantee, they still wanted to end this battle quickly.
When the Great Xia Kingdom suffered from the invasion of the six factions previously, their military strength had already diminished; and there were pitiful soldiers stationed in the various cities. The number of Soul Travel Realm experts was easily accounted for. It was obvious that if they were invaded by a large army, a single day was enough to take down four of their cities.
When the information came, the entire Great Xia Kingdom was in a huge commotion; and the Summer Rain city was in chaos. Most of the stabilized clans and citizens were now anxious due to the desperate situation. The five factions definitely wouldn"t fight a war without preparation. If they dared to attack before the three-year deadline, it either meant that they were insane or that they were certain they could eradicate the Great Xia Kingdom and Jiang Yi.
Su Ruoxue and the others were panicking as Jiang Yi had yet to return from the Soul-Seizing Valley in the Saint Spirit Kingdom. No one knew when he was going to return, and without Jiang Yi around, it meant that they had lost their backbone and was at a complete loss.
During this period of panic, Su Ruoxue regained her composure and gave her orders for the cities in the north to not put up any resistance. Asking them to surrender as soon as the enemy had arrived. The factions wouldn"t go slaughtering the cities, and with their limited manpower, they wouldn"t be plundering or occupying the cities either.
At the same time—!
She ordered all the citizens and clans in Summer Rain City to evacuate towards the west. She was clear that the various armies" objective was Summer Rain City. As long as Summer Rain City had fallen, they wouldn"t go attacking the other cities.
She didn"t know what happened, but she knew that the five factions were coming with full preparation. Everyone might perish.
Death was something that she never feared!
This time, she actually hoped that Jiang Yi didn"t receive the information and wouldn"t return. She wasn"t going to abandon the Great Xia Kingdom, and so she wouldn"t flee. The five factions were coming with a huge force, and Jiang Yi might probably fall if he was to return. She naturally didn"t wish for her beloved man to return and perish alongside with her.
"I am not leaving."
"I am not leaving as well. If Boss doesn"t return, I will not go anywhere. Even if I have to die, we will die together!"
"Young Master asked me to protect Big Sister Ruoxue, and if they want to destroy Summer Rain City, they have to step over Xiaonu"s corpse!"
In Drifting Snow Palace, Su Ruoxue had just proposed for them to evacuate; but everyone spoke in unison. Jiang Yi wasn"t around; how could they just abandon Jiang Yi"s woman and flee? If they did that, how were they going to face Jiang Yi in the future? Furthermore, with their close relationship with Jiang Yi, where else could they flee? Their only option was to walk along with Jiang Yi until the path grew dark.
"Sigh!"
Su Ruoxue let out a sigh and didn"t try to persuade them anymore. With Jiang Xiaonu around, it would be impossible for her to forcefully send them away. She walked out and summoned the officials as they arranged the evacuation for the citizens in Summer Rain City.
The citizens in the city evacuated very quickly, and so did a huge number of politicians. A large group of generals remained, and most of the army stayed behind as well. Back then, they didn"t escape when the six factions surrounded Summer Rain City; this time, they wouldn"t escape either. They believed that G.o.d-like youth would create another miracle.
The armies took down the cities as they marched and took just three days to raze down most of the major cities in the northern part of Great Xia Kingdom. Due to the fact that no one resisted as per Su Ruoxue"s orders, the five factions didn"t harm a single soldier or commoner while sweeping across the northern part of the Great Xia Kingdom. They didn"t slaughter the entire city and merely left a few individuals to occupy the cities, leaving behind an escape route. After three days, the army of a few thousand had finally arrived outside of Summer Rain City.
The strange thing was that the army didn"t attack during the same night they arrived. Instead, they set up camp and rested. They might only have a number of 7000 or 8000 soldiers while the city had an army of 300,000, but the citizens that stayed behind felt as though there were millions of soldiers outside the city. Everyone could guess that there was definitely a Vajra Realm martial expert hidden in the army!
Su Ruoxue didn"t choose to let the army fight the enemies outside the city. Instead, they were waiting for the enemy to attack. The soldiers in the city had a sleepless night, and those standing on the city walls felt as though they were looking at a sinister monster as they observed the army camps in the dark night.
On the second day, the army didn"t make their move; and all the people in the city had this extremely strange feeling. When night came, the army finally made their move. After camping outside of Summer Rain City, the various factions" scouts came back and offered information that pleased them. The Demon Empress didn"t appear; Shui Youlan and the old monk didn"t make a move either. Hence, they prepared to attack.
"Jiang Yi, come out and receive your death!"
The commanding marshal of the Divine Martial Kingdom, Taishi Wudi, roared out. When he saw that there was no reaction from the city, he swung his longsword and yelled, "Attack!"
Roar!
Just as the army was about to rush at the city, the royal palace of the Summer Rain City echoed with a shockingly loud beast roar. An enormous demonic beast shot out from the city. It was bursting with aura presence that enveloped the thousands of the Soul Travel Realm experts outside the city. Its skin was glowing with a reddish yellow light, as though a layer of molten lava was flowing on its skin. The bronze bell-like eyes were filled with murderous aura as the beast swept a glance outside the city. It grinned and roared, "Anyone who dares to take a step in the city shall be killed without mercy!"
The Yazi Beast had entered the battle.