Chapter 324: Reaching the Qinglong Mountain Range, Extorting the Dayue Dynasty!
Keep in mind, these are two grandmasters!
The world’s top-tier martial artists!
Each capable of facing a thousand troops!
Possessing strength so great they could trample even an empire underfoot!
Now, these two invincible grandmasters are actually here to assist in his conquest… This is truly beyond imagination!
In the expectant and unbelieving gaze of the Prince of Northern Hebei, the leader of the Tianmen Sect nodded with a smile and said, “Absolutely true!”
And these two grandmasters, once again placing their right hands over their hearts, echoed in unison, “We are willing to serve His Highness like loyal hounds!”
“Thank you! Thank you very much, two heroes, for your assistance! With the aid of two heroes, how could my grand undertaking fail? Haha…” Prince of Northern Hebei laughed excitedly, from start to finish, his mood greatly relieved.
As he said, with these two grandmasters’ assistance, how could his grand undertaking fail?
At this point, his strength has caught up with the imperial court!
The imperial court has a million soldiers and horses, but he possesses tens of thousands of Innate top-tier martial artists, enough to bridge this gap entirely!
The imperial court has three grandmasters as protectors, and now he also has three grandmasters!
No, it should be said four, as there’s one more under Lin Beifan’s command, which is one more than the imperial court!
With an additional grandmaster, the balance of victory has tilted in his favor!
Moreover, his loyal subject, Lin Beifan, still remains within the imperial court, holding a high position and the Empress’s trust!
If rebellion arises, by collaborating both within and outside, their chances of success would be even greater!
Prince of Northern Hebei couldn’t think of any reason he wouldn’t be victorious.
Even if his former rivals, Prince of Southern Jiang and Wuxi Duke, were to unite, they wouldn’t be his match!
The strategist, Mr. Zhuge, exclaimed loudly, “Congratulations, Your Highness! A congratulation, Your Highness! With the assistance of two grandmaster heroes, success is certainly within reach!”
Prince of Northern Hebei chuckled proudly, “Haha…”
“Your Highness, you’re celebrating a bit prematurely!” The leader of the Tianmen Sect, Leng Ruochen, smiled mysteriously, “This seat has another piece of good news for you!”
“What good news?” Prince of Northern Hebei anxiously inquired.
The leader of the Tianmen Sect laughed, “Your Highness, these two friends of mine come from an ancient tribe within the wilderness, skilled in alchemy! They’ve refined a kind of elixir called the ‘Qi-Gathering Pill,’ which, when ingested, can accelerate cultivation speed by three to four times! If we distribute this medicine throughout the entire army, within just one month, we could train tens of thousands of postnatal pinnacle martial artists in advance!”
“Is there really such a miraculous elixir?” Prince of Northern Hebei’s breath quickened.
“Naturally!” Dragon Suppressor produced a pouch and took out several unremarkable-looking pills, saying, “Your Highness, these are the Qi-Gathering Pills! If you doubt it, you can have someone try it!”
Prince of Northern Hebei immediately had someone come over to test it, confirming that it truly increased cultivation speed.
Prince of Northern Hebei once again grew excited, “Excellent! Excellent! This is truly a miraculous elixir! With this elixir, we can undoubtedly train tens of thousands of postnatal pinnacle martial artists in a short period. A month from now, we can start our rebellion! Heroes, I am immensely grateful for your generous assistance! Once our grand undertaking succeeds, I will surely reward you generously!”
“Thank you, Your Highness!” The two brothers, Dragon Suppressorn and Tiger Tamer, bowed their heads, exchanging smiles with the leader of the Tianmen Sect.
“No need for thanks! This is what you deserve, haha…” Prince of Northern Hebei laughed uncontrollably, as if he could already see himself donning the imperial robe and sitting high on the throne.
Meanwhile, Lin Beifan was leading his army from east to west, retaking the lands of Wuxi.
Wuxi Duke had been captured, the Wuxi and Dayue forces were wiped out, so the progress was smooth, killing and capturing along the way. Within seven or eight days, they reached the Qinglong Fortress, bloodily dealing with those who resisted.
The Qinglong Fortress was once again under the control of the imperial court.
On the other side of the Qinglong Fortress, the Dayue Dynasty was in shock, fearing the advance of the Great Wu forces.
After all, their war god, Gongsun Wudi, had been killed, and their 500,000-strong army lay buried in foreign lands. In the short term, they were unable to organize any meaningful resistance.
So, they quickly sent envoys to seek peace.
Facing the envoy, Lin Beifan displayed a tough stance, slamming the table in anger, “Back then, it was your people who invaded Great Wu first! Now that you’ve lost and want to make peace, thinking we’ll let you off easily? It’s not that simple!”
The Dayue envoy smiled wryly, bowing respectfully, “Lord Lin, you’re right. Your anger is justified, and we’ve realized our mistake! This is our sincerity, please review it!”
With that, he presented a list of reparations to Lin Beifan.
Lin Beifan glanced at it and dismissed it with a wave, “Is this your sincerity? I can’t see even a shred of it in this list. Go back and revise it! If you don’t show proper sincerity within three days, I’ll lead my soldiers straight into your Dayue Dynasty, all the way to your capital, and negotiate with your emperor in person!”
The Dayue envoy was taken aback, “Yes, yes, understood!”
They hurried back to negotiate new reparations.
Meanwhile, Lin Beifan led his troops to train outside the enemy fortress, creating a massive show of force. He even had some innate masters charge through the enemy lines, frightening them.
On the second day, the Dayue envoy returned with another list of reparations.
Finally, there was sincerity visible in Lin Beifan’s eyes.
Not only was there compensation for the imperial court, but also for his mental distress.
Lin Beifan nodded in satisfaction, “This is more like it!”
The Dayue envoy was overjoyed.
Lin Beifan leaned in and whispered, “The compensation for the imperial court is enough, but mine is still a bit lacking.”
The Dayue envoy asked in a hushed voice, “Lord Lin, how much do you want?”
Lin Beifan grinned, “I don’t want much. Just double the compensation listed here!”
“This isn’t much?” The Dayue envoy was flabbergasted.
To prevent an attack from Great Wu, the Dayue Dynasty immediately mobilized a large amount of gold, silver, jewels, and supplies to the Qinglong Fortress.
As a result, the imperial court grew richer once again, and so did Lin Beifan.
After collecting all the reparations, and taking a day to rest, Lin Beifan was ready to return.
On this day, Lin Beifan stood on the Qinglong Mountain Range, gazing down at the Dayue Dynasty below. With the setting sun, the realm of the Dayue Dynasty was clothed in a golden hue, looking especially beautiful.
Beside him was only Princess Ziyue.
Princess Ziyue turned to ask, “Strategist, why let the Dayue off so easily?”
“We must let them go!” Lin Beifan shook his head and smiled, “Firstly, reaching the Qinglong Mountain Range can be considered reclaiming territory. The reasons are entirely justifiable! But if we were to reach the Dayue territory, it would be seen as an invasion, lacking legitimacy. The Dayue side would definitely organize a fierce resistance, and their people would support it either, leading to significant losses for our forces!”
Princess Ziyue nodded.
“Secondly, our imperial troops have just undergone a long-distance march and are already exhausted, unfit for battle! If we were to attack the Dayue Dynasty, we’d be unfamiliar with the terrain and at a disadvantage. Also, extending our battle lines would lead to logistical challenges!”
Princess Ziyue nodded again.
“Lastly, if by any chance we do conquer it, management becomes an issue! You see, we’ve just reclaimed Southern Jiang and Wuxi. These two places have already been severely harmed by Prince of Southern Jiang and Wuxi Duke, with their economies collapsing, livelihoods ruined, and heavy population loss…”
Lin Beifan sighed deeply, “I haven’t even sorted out these two messes properly, and now with the addition of the Dayue, how could I manage it all? So, it’s best to quit while we’re ahead and take the benefits back with us!”
Princess Ziyue admired, “What the strategist says is absolutely true!”
“Fourthly…” Lin Beifan smiled at Princess Ziyue, “What if we truly conquer them and bring the Dayue under the Great Wu banner? How would we deal with the Slanted Moon Faction? How would you restore the dynasty, Princess? What do you say?”
“Strategist, you’re right. It’s better not to fight!” Princess Ziyue immediately agreed.
Lin Beifan smiled and nodded.
In fact, there was one more point he hadn’t mentioned.
Prince of Northern Hebei had been quiet for the past couple of months, but who knew what kind of mischief he was brewing?
You see, he was secretly cultivating a force of warriors.
Though their numbers weren’t large, if they succeeded, their threat would rival that of a million-strong army!
Furthermore, he had a good reputation and held sway in the martial world, capable of rallying many martial artists to his cause!
With an army, a reputation, and his own strength, he would be harder to deal with than Prince of Southern Jiang and Wuxi Duke!
Besides that, he had the ambitious leader of the Tianmen Sect behind him…
So, Prince of Northern Hebei had to return to oversee the overall situation.
“Your Highness, your army has completed training. The next step is to seize the Dayue and restore the Slanted Moon Dynasty! Do you know what to do next?” Lin Beifan asked with a smile.
“I’m not sure, please enlighten me, Strategist!” Princess Ziyue humbly sought guidance.
“The Dayue has suffered a loss of their war god, Gongsun Wudi, and 500,000 soldiers. Their defenses are weak, and their military power has greatly diminished.”
“Adding to that, we’ve demanded reparations for our victory, which led to a loss of a significant amount of gold, silver, jewels, and supplies. This shortage of resources has led to a tight economy, affecting the livelihoods of their people!”
“Weak defense, poor economy, people’s hardships—these will inevitably lead to turmoil in the country!”
“Therefore, now is the perfect time to restore the dynasty!”
Lin Beifan spoke eloquently, “We can send people to infiltrate the Dayue, causing chaos and unrest. We’ll make the people resentful of the Dayue, then use our advanced ideas and strategies to absorb them into our ranks, develop them into our people. With the foundation of Wuxi, we can both attack and defend, allowing for rapid growth…”
Princess Ziyue’s eyes lit up as she listened.
Lin Beifan’s war strategy had proven to be effective! In just one short year, they had gone from nothing to their current size, all thanks to Lin Beifan’s guidance!
Now, applying this approach to the Dayue was bound to yield even better results.
And they were no longer starting from scratch!
They had a devoted and capable army, along with sufficient food reserves. Was it really that difficult to deal with the Dayue?
Princess Ziyue was completely confident that they could develop and strengthen themselves within a few years and restore the Slanted Moon Dynasty!
Of course, if they had someone’s assistance, the process would undoubtedly be faster!
Princess Ziyue gazed at Lin Beifan’s youthful face, her eyes burning. “Strategist, accompany me to Dayue! Once the dynasty is restored, you will become my husband, the prince of the Slanted Moon! You will wield authority over wind and rain, with no one able to hinder you. Isn’t this much better than being a subject in Great Wu?”
