Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)
chapter-4016

Upon hearing this, everyone's heart trembled, and they swiftly set aside their joy at passing the trial. After all, the Vermilion Bird Empire was embroiled in a fierce war.

“Everyone, your servant has been waiting a long time. Please prepare yourselves and hurry to the battlefield!” Just then, Eunuch Wei appeared.

The current Eunuch Wei no longer had any of his previous haughtiness. When he looked at Long Chen, there was even a hint of reverence in his eyes.

“Eunuch Wei, what is the current situation? Where are the emperor and empresses?” asked Yu Qingxuan worriedly.

For them to not be present, along with any other powerful experts, it was clear that the situation was not good.

“The eight empires have launched their attacks, so His Majesty and the empresses have gone to the various battlefields to defend our territories. The situation is critical. I also wished to go to the battlefield, but I am not strong enough to have much use, so I was left here to wait for you,” said Eunuch Wei shamefully.

In truth, Eunuch Wei could be counted as an expert. Although his cultivation base was only in the half-step Divine Venerate realm, due to cutting off a certain thing in his youth, he had refined his qi quite a bit, making him much stronger than the average experts.

However, in front of the princes and princesses, he now appeared miniscule. They had completely transformed, and Eunuch Wei could only look up at them.

“Brother Long, what do you think?” Zhu Yunwen turned to Long Chen.

After this trial, Long Chen had completely won their hearts. They would listen to him.

“Eunuch Wei, tell me the situation. Everyone, rest for two hours. Remember, you only have two hours. Recover all the energy that the little black room took. What awaits us is a true bloody battlefield,” said Long Chen.

Everyone, including Zhu Yunwen, Yu Qianxue, and the others, immediately sat and entered a meditative state. Being in the little black room had severely drained their willpower. Hence, they had to recover that energy, or their power would be greatly affected on the battlefield.

Seeing Zhu Yunwen and the others follow Long Chen’s orders, Eunuch Wei was shaken. As a result, when Long Chen looked at him, his heart trembled and he hastily reported the situation.

The eight empires had originally only surrounded the Vermilion Bird Empire. But fifteen days ago, they suddenly pressed forward, laying siege to the empire's eight crucial border cities. These cities formed the backbone of the empire's defenses, and their loss would result in a collapse of the entire defense system, rendering their formations ineffective.

It was because these eight cities were connected to the karmic vein of the Vermilion Bird Empire. If they were destroyed, it would rattle the very foundation of the empire. If the empire’s karmic luck was damaged, then in the future, the Vermilion Bird Empire would definitely decline. Perhaps even without the eight empires attacking, the Vermilion Bird Empire would simply decline on its own, fading away entirely.

The eight armies stood over the cities, each commanded by a three-flower Earth Venerate. To confront such formidable forces, the Vermilion Bird Empire needed experts of equal power. It was evident that this was yet another probing strike, testing the empire's strength and preparedness.

Hence, the Vermilion Bird Empire had to respond and show their power. Only with enough power could they shake the other side.

Originally, on the surface, the Vermilion Bird Empire only possessed three three-flower Earth Venerates. They were Yu Xiaoyun, Jiang Huixin, and Xu Lanxin.

As the eight empires crossed the border, a surprising turn of events unfolded. Five additional three-flower Earth Venerates emerged from within the Vermilion Bird Empire, and among them was the patriarch of the royal family.

Witnessing the gravity of the situation, the emperor and empresses themselves took up positions to defend the cities, and even the patriarch didn't hesitate to join the defense. It was evident that the Vermilion Bird Empire had mobilized its entire might in response to the imminent threat.

As for the eight empires, their leaders had yet to personally descend upon the battlefield, which showed just how disadvantageous things were for the Vermilion Bird Empire.

The Vermilion Bird Empire had already brought out everything it had, while the eight empires had only brought out a fraction of their forces. From this, it was clear who had the advantage.

Most vexing of all was that countless people inside the empire were fanning the flames, intentionally spreading rumors to disturb the people’s hearts, encouraging them to surrender and give up.

During times of crisis, bad people always jumped out first. Those fake scholars in particular finally had a chance to write all kinds of stories and fake news, sowing as many negative emotions as they could.

Most hateful of all, some people even took the lead in carrying out vandalism. With the interior of the empire in chaos and them pressing down from the exterior of the empire, their enemies gradually inched closer and closer to victory.

The Vermilion Bird Empire was like a dam holding back a river, but the rebels were like termites eating away at the dam, leaving giant holes.

Merely three days ago, traitors from within the Vermilion Bird Empire had led small squads from the eight empires through unguarded gaps in the border and infiltrated the empire's territory. With the bulk of the empire's forces stationed at the crucial eight border cities, they couldn't be swiftly redeployed. Thus, they had no choice but to rely on other available forces to handle the invaders who had stealthily sneaked in.

As a result, the Vermilion Bird Empire’s forces were split. While they had gathered a force to confront the infiltrators, their plans were leaked, leading to a disastrous outcome. The force meant to counter the invaders fell into an ambush orchestrated by the eight empires' forces. This setback further strained the empire's defense and made it evident that their enemies were skilled in exploiting their vulnerabilities and internal discord.

In just a short three days, thousands of small skirmishes had been fought and the Vermilion Bird Empire had lost hundreds of thousands of experts. When that news was spread, it fanned the flames. It felt like the Vermilion Bird Empire was on the verge of collapse, causing the residents of the empire to panic.

Due to this, a growing number of people revolted and changed sides, exacerbating the turmoil within the Vermilion Bird Empire. In the end, the situation spiraled out of control and no one could stop it.

Hearing Eunuch Wei narrate this, Long Chen nodded. That was about what he had predicted. After all, a battle between empires was different from battles between people.

When it came to wars between empires, it was rarely hatred that drove them. Instead, it was profit. In other words, the eight empires simply wanted to consume the Vermilion Bird Empire for profit.

However, in order to get the greatest profit, they had to lower the costs, and using mental warfare to throw the empire’s people into chaos was such an excellent method. As long as the interior crumbled, the eight empires’ main forces wouldn’t even need to do anything. Just through intimidation, they could take over the Vermilion Bird Empire.

When people couldn’t see any hope, they would definitely leave. In the end, all that would be left was the royal family. At that time, they would be cut off from help, and no one would be able to save the empire.

They would either have a deathbed struggle or just dejectedly leave. Even if a battle was unavoidable in the end, with all eight empires joining forces, destroying the royal family would definitely not cost that much.

Wars between empires were sometimes just that simple. Using overwhelming power was the best tactic. To use the old man’s words, in front of absolute power, all schemes are meaningless.

At this moment, Yu Qingxuan and the others woke up after two hours of recovery. They were at seventy to eighty percent power.

“Long Chen, let us rush to the battlefield!” said Yu Qingxuan, feeling worried about her parents.

“We will be going to the battlefield. But it is not the Vermilion Bird Empire’s battlefield,” said Long Chen.

“Then where are we going?” Everyone was startled and confused.

“The Violet Thunderclap Empire. We will destroy their imperial city!” Long Chen smiled sinisterly, declaring his target word by word.