Chapter 234 - Imperial Capital or the North (1)

While the lakeside within the Imperial Capital sank into silence, the prosperous streets of Myriad remained packed and bustling. Yet inside a lavish private room in the eastern district, not a sound could be heard.

Lou Ji leaned against a pillar, arms folded across the black dress patterned with green she wore. “And that’s why Big Sister has to leave. The year has barely begun, and trouble is already coming one thing after another.”

Xu Yuan did not answer immediately. He was carefully reading the latest A-grade internal report Lou Ji had just handed him.

Strictly speaking, his current position was not high enough to view intelligence of this level. But what could he say? Lou Ji doted on him.

She had suddenly come to him earlier, announced that she was washing her hands of everything and leaving, and when he asked why, she had simply handed him the report.

It concerned the war on the northern border.

After a long while, a wisp of bloodflame rose from Xu Yuan’s fingers and reduced the paper to ash. His brow was tightly furrowed.

The fighting in the Myriad Ascents Mountain Range might have looked fierce, but not a single war behemoth had appeared. That meant the Ancient Abyss was only conducting its usual yearly probe while culling the number of demon beasts in the mountains.

Had the Myriad Manifestations Sect not been pursuing its own schemes, Sageridge would never have suffered such heavy casualties.

The northern border was now the only place in the Great Flame Empire where the fighting could truly be called a war.

And for that very reason, Xu Yuan had always paid close attention to it. People naturally took an interest in such things, especially when they had access to genuine firsthand intelligence.

When Xu Yuan had first arrived in Myriad, he had asked someone to obtain similar reports for him. Whether it was the imperial bulletins released to officials or the Chancellor's Manor’s internal intelligence, every report had brought news of victory.

A total of 2,000 barbarians slain at some mountain.

The main force of a barbarian tribe surrounded beside some river.

In the largest battle of all, Princess Wuyuan had crushed the main force of a major tribe, then slaughtered the tribe’s remaining 80,000 people, old and young alike. Her intentions were not difficult to guess. Even if she could not wipe the barbarians out entirely, she intended to beat them so badly that they would need 20 years to recover.

But now, the entire tone of the war had suddenly changed.

The victory reports were gone.

Princess Wuyuan’s 40,000 Feathered Forest troops, together with 20,000 elite soldiers drawn from the major sects and aristocratic clans, had been surrounded at Black Dragon Mountain by the Barbarian King.

After a brief silence, Xu Yuan stood and paced several steps across the room, his brows knitted together. “The 40,000 defenders stationed at Homejoy Town, a vital transportation hub... were routed, cutting off the main vanguard’s overland supply line? And the two second rank experts from Spiritwater Palace who were transporting provisions and military equipment in Sumeru Rings were intercepted and killed by the barbarians at Skyrave Cliff...”

Xu Yuan found the whole thing absurd. He still only possessed a shallow understanding of how warfare worked in this world, but he at least knew there were three main ways to transport supplies.

Aside from conventional overland transportation and transport by air, powerful cultivators could carry several or even a dozen Sumeru Rings and travel at great speed.

When the Chancellor's Manor attacked Myriad, most of its supplies and military equipment had been transported using that final method.

That was also why Sumeru Rings were so rare. They were strategic assets in the truest sense, resources capable of freeing an army from the burden of conventional supply lines.

Having the overland route cut was understandable. A classic disaster. There were any number of ways it could happen. But two high-ranking cultivators being intercepted and killed was much harder to explain.

A trace of helplessness crossed Lou Ji’s languid face. She sighed. “Changtian, all of this happened within the same two days.”

There was a clear implication behind those words.

Xu Yuan naturally caught it. At present, only the Chancellor's Manor possessed the formation technology behind the Skyfones. Even among A-grade intelligence, the technology was considered top secret.

In other words, even if news had been sent to Princess Wuyuan at the front the instant each incident occurred, it still would not have reached her in time.

Someone had deliberately left her no chance to react.

At that thought, Xu Yuan raised his eyes to Lou Ji. “The sects did this?”

The internal report had only recorded the objective facts. It contained no annotations or speculation.

Lou Ji spread her hands. “I don’t know. But most likely.”

A strange sense of absurdity rose in Xu Yuan’s heart. “But the 40,000 troops stationed at Homejoy Town belonged to the sects. So did the 20,000 elite soldiers serving beside Wuyuan. Not to mention the two Origin Awakener experts.”

Lou Ji walked over, bent down, and gently patted him on the shoulder. A meaningful look flickered through her phoenix eyes. “Changtian, 60,000 men may sound like a great many. But compared to all the sects beneath Heaven, it truly isn’t much. “The same goes for two Origin Awakeners.”

Then Xu Yuan asked, somewhat baffled, “What exactly are the sects trying to do?”

Lou Ji did not answer him directly. Instead, she offered another piece of information. “The Blackscale Guards burned several of their spies to discover that the supplies Wuyuan transported north weren’t meant for 40,000 soldiers. They were enough for 100,000.”

“Hmm?” Xu Yuan’s expression turned strange. “You mean she has troops hidden somewhere?”

Lou Ji smiled and wagged a finger at him. “Marquis Wucheng commands six garrisons and 200,000 northern frontier troops. A few years ago, after certain events, that old man Li Yaoxuan summoned Marquis Wucheng back to the Imperial Capital and had him bring four of those garrisons to defend the city. But after Wuyuan broke through the barbarians and drove deep into their territory, three of those four garrisons were quietly transferred away. They should reach Northseal in a little over a week. Even I only learned about it ten days ago.”

Hearing this, Xu Yuan suddenly understood. The Chancellor's Manor was not the only power beneath Heaven capable of moving an army in secret.

The Great Flame Empire’s imperial clan possessed that ability as well. It was simply that their secrecy had not been quite as airtight as the Chancellor's Manor’s operation this time.

Still, for the Emperor to secretly send so many elite troops to the northern border...

Xu Yuan rubbed between his brows. “The Emperor intends to use this opportunity to settle the northern barbarians once and for all?”

“Most likely.” Lou Ji nodded in satisfaction. A touch of nostalgia entered her voice, as though she had remembered something from long ago.

“Li Yaoxuan is an ambitious ruler. He knows he doesn’t have much time left, so he wants to eliminate a few threats before he dies. But the sects would rather preserve the status quo. What a shame...”

Xu Yuan settled back against the heavy desk, a trace of mockery on his face. “So the sects understand that when the lips are gone, the teeth will freeze?”

Lou Ji gave a small shrug of her fair shoulders, tacitly confirming it.