r18novel Chapter 220 Military Advice
Chapter 220 Military Advice
Chapter 220 Military Advice
The Spirit Empire, Spirit City.
Emperor Douling sat in his study, his gaze fixed on the intelligence report in front of him.
According to reports from the border, the Heavenly Soul Empire appears to have experienced significant personnel changes on the border.
In the past, the Heavenly Soul Empire mostly used the border of Douling as its training ground, so its army's combat strength was not very strong.
However, five days ago, a new army of Soul Masters, numbering around 348 and named Tianhe Wuchen, suddenly entered the border battlefield.
These people are the elite of the younger generation of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Its superior equipment once reminded the Douling Empire of the fear it felt more than four thousand years ago when it was being supported and attacked by the Sun Moon Empire.
What frightens them even more is the Soul Master force represented by Tianhe Wuchen.
These 348 people are all under the age of 30, covering geniuses from all the top forces in the Heavenly Soul Empire, from families to sects.
Under the leadership of Tianhe Wuchen and Lietian Qiang Yunting, they were like a sharp knife, fiercely tearing through the defenses of the Douling border.
In particular, Lan Shuang, who could command many soul beasts, captured dozens of extremely powerful soul beasts from the far north and tamed them into Tianhe Wuchen's beast cavalry, causing the border guards of the Douling Empire to suffer repeated defeats.
Lan Shuang is a newly emerged owner of ultimate ice in the Heavenly Soul Empire.
If her Martial Soul Ice Demon weren't a new Martial Soul that had never appeared in the history of Martial Souls, the Douling Empire would probably have thought that the far north had reached some kind of strategic cooperation with the Tianhun Empire.
"Another extreme example of ice—"
"Moreover, the younger generation of the Body Sect and the Azure Dragon Guard have not yet appeared on the battlefield."
"With them included, Tianhe Wuchen's membership will be 362."
"This is a number that is only three people away from reaching the number 365 of the cycle."
"Could it be that the Heavenly Soul Empire has three more hidden geniuses?"
"If the Holy Angel Yu Mengdi can be counted as one, then who are the other two?"
Emperor Douling frowned, pondering the purpose of the Heavenly Soul Empire's deployment of this new army on the border.
He was arguably the youngest among the four kingdoms, and in terms of seniority, he was Xu Sanshi's cousin.
"Isn't Tianhun afraid that Tianhe Wuchen will be completely annihilated?"
The Heavenly Soul Empire's large-scale deployment of the nation's future elites to the battlefield is definitely not just a simple training exercise or a demonstration of power.
"Aren't they afraid that Dou Ling, with a do-or-die mentality, will blow all these people up?"
"Although the Douling Empire doesn't have powerful fixed-position soul-guided cannons, it can still organize a thousand Soul Saints to launch a suicidal charge."
However, he only dared to think about this idea.
He knew in his heart that if he dared to do this, the future Douling royal family would be completely wiped out.
Even if the Douling Empire loses in a future war, the royal family will at most be kept in captivity by Tianhun like pigs.
This way, the Douling royal family would at least have a chance to leave behind their illegitimate children before Tianhun completely wiped them out.
However, if they dare to strike a fatal blow against the future of the Heavenly Soul Empire, then the Douling Royal Family will surely face annihilation.
"Someone come here."
"Order to consolidate border defenses and abandon all non-strategic locations on the periphery!"
"All garrison troops shall rely on fortified fortresses and pre-established soul-guided positions for defense. Without my personal order, they are strictly prohibited from launching any offensive!"
"Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
As soon as his orders reached the border, the three lines of defense in western Douling were breached in just seven days.
Large swathes of non-strategic territory were swiftly occupied by Tianhe Wuchen, forcing the Douling garrison to retreat again and again, retreating into several fortified cities.
The morale of the fighting spirits plummeted to its lowest point. When news of the border defeat reached Lingdou City, panic spread among the nobles and officials.
Emperor Douling knew that shrinking the defense line was like drinking poison to quench thirst, and abandoning the land meant losing resources, population, and strategic depth.
But he was truly afraid, knowing that a head-on confrontation would only provoke the Heavenly Soul Empire into a decisive battle, resulting in even greater losses.
He can now only pin his hopes on the Protoss Alliance, which Dai Hao facilitated, to turn the tide in the future.
After receiving Dai Hao's secret letter, Xu Jiawei merely touched the table with his finger and did not rush to have Dai Hao take action.
"Intervening now would only be helping Dou Ling take the hit; the best course of action is to have Dai Hao assist in the defense."
"Tianhun is now starting to get restless and wants to devour Douling, this piece of fat meat."
"Xingluo can help Douling defend the Southern Border, and even help the young emperor of Douling secure his throne, but the price needs to be negotiated."
After the messenger left, Xu Jiawei slumped into a chair and wearily rubbed his temples.
"After the Sun Moon Empire ran into trouble, the Heavenly Soul began to get restless."
"They want Xingluo to assist Tianhun in dismembering Douling, thus buying themselves time for the future."
"But where do they get the confidence to start a war now?"
Xu Jiawei couldn't quite understand it.
Even if Tianhun and Xingluo share the Douling, in the future they will only gain a large amount of spiritual herbs and food resources.
If the Douluo Continent had been in a tripartite balance of power ten thousand years ago, Tianhun's actions might be understandable.
But now the Sun Moon Empire is like a frightened bird.
Even if the Heavenly Souls devour the Fighting Spirits, they still don't have enough rare metal mines to support a future war with the Sun and Moon Empire using soul tools.
As an ancient empire that has existed for ten thousand years, Xingluo is well aware of Tianhun's strength and reserves.
If they really had that many metal veins, they would have launched a war to annex Xingluo during the Tiandou era.
Meanwhile, in Lingdou City.
Upon learning of the successive falls of border cities in Douling, Xu Sanshi slammed his fist on the table.
"How could Your Majesty do this!"
"To retreat without a fight is tantamount to handing over our territory to others!"
"Does he really expect the Star Luo Empire to lend a hand?"
Beibei reached out and pressed on Xu Sanshi's shoulder, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes: "Sanshi, calm down."
"I can't calm down!"
Xu Sanshi said, "Beibei, you know I can't go back to the Heavenly Soul Empire now. Douling is my home. How can I just watch my cousin hand Douling over to someone else!"
"Look at the voices of those surrender faction in the court right now. They can't wait for Tianhun to attack so they can open the city gates and surrender, and continue being nobles!"
Xu Sanshi's chest heaved violently, and his eyes were bloodshot.
In his view, this defensive tactic was no less than slow suicide, feeding the Douluo Continent bit by bit into the gaping maw of the Heavenly Soul.
"No, I have to sneak back to the Xuanming Sect to find my mother and father."
Xu Sanshi's finger suddenly jabbed at several fortified cities highlighted on the map: "Lingyue, Pumo, and Huanxing are three fortresses that form a strategic defensive network. As long as we can set up an ambush, no matter how strong Tianhe Wuchen is, once he crashes in, he won't be able to get out!"
"They are well-equipped, but they only number a little over three hundred. We can wear them down!"
Xu Sanshi has now clearly fallen into a state of paranoia.
Zhang Lexuan frowned and said, "Sanshi, have you thought about how to deal with the Three Limits?"
"Tianhe Wuchen represents the entire elite of the younger generation of the Heavenly Soul Empire. If they are all lost—"
Xu Sanshi fell silent instantly.
The Three Limits of Heavenly Soul is a giant sword that always hangs over Douling, Xingluo, and even the Sun and Moon.
If Du Bu Si, Su Ji, and Gu Tian don't die, the Dou Ling Emperor won't even have the courage to fight to the death.
Beibei sighed as she watched Xu Sanshi struggle in pain.
"Sanshi, the current situation is beyond our control."
"The strength of the Heavenly Soul Empire far exceeds our imagination; acting rashly will only lead to our deaths."
"Instead of fighting to the death on the border, we should consider another path—preserving our strength and waiting for an opportunity."
Beibei pointed to another location on the map: "Let's assume that Tianhun and the Far North have reached a cooperation agreement."
"Then we can also try to contact the Star Dou Great Forest, where there are even more powerful soul beasts."
"Once the Heavenly Souls are unified in the future, the consumption of soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest will increase to an unprecedented level."
"Di Tian absolutely does not want to see such a scene."
"For soul beasts, the division of humanity has always been more desirable than unity."
"I'm not sure how long Di Tian can hold out against the Three Limits, but with Xiong Jun and the others, the threat of the Three Limits might be resolved."
"Dean Xianlin'er died at the hands of Xiong Jun, but we—"
"But we can only try to survive first, and then seek revenge."
"Furthermore, if the core combat force of the Star Dou Great Forest is injured by the Three Limits, we can also—"
Beibei stopped talking after that.
He didn't need to say his last words aloud, but everyone understood what he meant.
The current emperor of Douling does not have the courage to cooperate with the Star Dou Great Forest.
Unless—a military coup!
If Douling can cooperate with Xingdou and break free from the pressure of Tianhun, Xingluo, and even Riyue in the future, the only way is through a coup.
This is an act of utter defiance, setting a precedent for Soul Masters to seize power and stage a coup by relying on the power of Soul Beasts.
They don't need to trigger a beast tide in the Star Dou Great Forest; targeting the three limits of the Heavenly Soul Realm is enough.
Xu Sanshi remained silent, rapidly weighing the pros and cons.
Currently, the only two reclusive sects within the Heavenly Soul Realm are the Xuanming Sect and Haotian Fortress.
Under these circumstances, these two forces will certainly become thorns in the side of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Because of Xue Lingxun's existence, it is impossible for the Xuanming Sect to completely side with the Tianhun Empire in the future.
Unless the sect leader of the Xuanming Sect, who is also Xu Sanshi's father, divorces his wife and completely abandons their years of relationship.
Moreover, simply divorcing his wife was not enough; he also needed to personally hand over Xue Lingxun and Xu Sanshi to the Heavenly Soul Empire for disposal in order to gain the trust of the current Heavenly Soul Empire.
The reason is simple: the Xuanming Sect has been posing as a reclusive sect for too long.
But knowing his father as he did, Xu Sanshi knew he would never do such a thing.
To maintain the Xuanming Sect's status as a reclusive sect and not affect Xu Xuanming and Xue Lingxun's relationship, they had to find another way.
The solution was to design and ambush the three limits of the Heavenly Soul.
Xu Sanshi took a deep breath, his eyes gradually hardening.
In the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged beside the Lake of Life with his eyes closed, his fourth spirit ring faintly glowing with a scarlet color.