Chapter 247: Chapter 168: Last-Minute Defection

Lu Yuan’s army was composed entirely of cavalry, and they advanced with great speed. This time, he was positioned in the Central Army, tightly protected by the Standard Guard Army.

The grand army formed into arrays as it marched.

He eagerly anticipated seeing the Array formed by hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

It would not be an exaggeration to say it could shake the heavens and move the earth.

If one were to look down upon this army from the sky...

...they would see the soldiers advancing in square formations of fifty thousand men each.

Lu Yuan’s Central Army commanded one hundred thousand Beast Riders.

The arrangement of each square formation was rather complex.

When gathered, they emanated a breathtaking aura.

With the swaying of the great standard...

...the formations shifted from time to time.

Mangu Tun led four square formations of Wolf Riders forward. He personally commanded one unit, while the other three were led by his subordinate Manliang, the High Priest, and a Divine Power Realm expert.

Mangu Hun likewise led four square formations of Blood Riders. Besides the one he led himself, two Earth Immortal Realm experts under his command each led a unit.

Xiao Xiong led the Beast Cavalry Army.

The three armies formed a giant arrowhead, charging straight for the border.

With every city and tribe they passed, large numbers of Elite Cavalry joined their ranks.

After a month, the army had amassed 1.2 million soldiers, and was now proclaimed to be an army of two million.

They appeared within the buffer zone.

Seated on his warhorse, Lu Yuan gazed at where Xiao Ren stood in the distance. The corner of his mouth curled into a smirk. ’We used to be superior and subordinate, but now we stand on opposite sides.’

As a general of the Imperial Guard, Xiao Ren was positioned at the rear of his army, surrounded by one hundred thousand Imperial Guards.

In front of him were a million elites from the Celestial King Stronghold and one hundred thousand Jianghu experts recruited from all over.

Both sides had set up their formations, clearly preparing for a head-on clash.

The last time the Northern Barbarians refused to fight, they had no choice. Their own strength was lacking, so they could only bribe the nobles within Dayong to find a way to end the conflict quickly.

But this time was different.

Great Qin had just been unified; they needed a decisive victory to prove themselves.

Besides, the kind of direct, hard-fought battle was what Lu Yuan enjoyed most. Since he was the Commander...

...he certainly wouldn’t hide in the back. Most importantly, all arrangements for this battle were already in place.

At this moment, Lu Yuan, seated on his warhorse, looked to Wei Yong at his side. "I had you contact King Bei You. It’s been a year now. Have they given you a reply?"

After leaving the Crown Prince’s Traveling Palace last time, he hadn’t been idle. He had immediately ordered his men to contact King Bei You, hoping for his assistance when Dayong and Great Qin went to war.

The terms he offered were very tempting: if they could defeat Dayong and the army stormed the Imperial City, Great Qin would only take the spoils of war. The Imperial Dynasty itself would be left for King Bei You.

The king had always wanted to overthrow the Yong Emperor and claim the throne for himself.

Moreover, he had been humiliated in the Crown Prince’s Traveling Palace last time, making his resentment toward the Yong Emperor even deeper.

Lu Yuan’s proposal was exactly what he wanted.

However, King Bei You was no fool. In his eyes, this was tantamount to making a deal with the devil.

Therefore, he had never readily agreed.

Now, with the great battle about to begin, if King Bei You still hadn’t agreed, it would mean all hope was lost.

But if he did agree, then what came next would be quite a show.

In Lu Yuan’s opinion, he didn’t need King Bei You to actually do as Great Qin asked and fight alongside them against Dayong. As long as the king could stir up some trouble from the rear and distract Dayong, that would be enough.

Wei Yong said cautiously, "King Bei You’s men have agreed. They will mobilize their troops directly within the Northern Border at the opportune moment."

"However, they only ask that we apply pressure to Dayong from outside the border. They have not agreed to open the border passes for us."

The corner of Lu Yuan’s mouth twitched. ’It seems this King Bei You wants me to tie down Dayong’s army so he can launch a rebellion from within.’

’He wants to use Great Qin as his blade. A clever scheme.’

However, Lu Yuan had no intention of letting him get his wish. In truth, as long as King Bei You mobilized troops within Dayong, his own objective would be achieved.

’The great merit of opening the gates isn’t something I’ll let fall into his lap.’

Having thought of this, he looked at Wei Yong and said, "Tell King Bei You to act immediately. We will do our utmost to coordinate."

"As you command!" After responding, Wei Yong took out a Sound Transmission Stone and began to transmit the message.

Just then, the Crown Prince, standing beside Xiao Ren, said with a grin, "Old Duke, the other side isn’t making a move. Let’s launch the first attack."

"These people from Great Qin are quite cautious."

"The Crown Prince seems to have great confidence in the men of the Celestial King Stronghold," Xiao Heng said with a solemn expression.

"But of course. It’s an army of over a million. Every man is now equipped with armor, and their cultivation is at the Organ Refining realm. They are not one bit inferior to the Imperial Guard."

"Would you say they are weak?" the Dayong Crown Prince said softly.

However, just then, Xiao Heng said, "But I am not the Commander-in-Chief today. I can only serve as a Vice General."

After he spoke, a figure clad in golden armor slowly emerged.

It was none other than the Unparalleled Marquis.

When the Crown Prince saw him, he was stunned for a moment. Then, a glint flashed in his eyes, and he said with a smile, "The Unparalleled Marquis must have broken through and become another Renowned General for our Dayong."

In truth, this was not difficult to guess. Otherwise, given Xiao Heng’s status, even the Unparalleled Marquis’s arrival would not have been enough to usurp his position as Commander-in-Chief.

"Yes. I broke through just two days ago and requested to be sent here. I simply wanted to see if that Lu Yuan, the one the Northern Barbarians were willing to trade anything for, can truly be compared to me," the Unparalleled Marquis said lightly.

Yet, his face held a hint of mockery.

The Crown Prince laughed. "Haha, when the Unparalleled Marquis dominated the battlefields, Lu Yuan was probably still a child! Now that you’ve advanced to a Renowned General, it’s only natural that you should take command at the Northern Border."

"However, I must ask, if you can spare him, please leave this Prince of Great Qin alive. I intend to personally drag him to the Imperial City for execution."

"I have long heard that Your Highness the Crown Prince is clear in your loves and hates, and it seems to be true. Naturally, that will not be a problem," the Unparalleled Marquis said with a grin.

With the great battle imminent, the two of them were joking without a care, clearly not viewing Lu Yuan as any sort of threat.

Xiao Heng, however, spoke up worriedly, "Unparalleled Marquis, you arrived in haste. Neither the Celestial King Stronghold army nor the Imperial Guard is familiar with your Military Arrays. Perhaps we should delay this battle..."

"Rest assured, Old Duke. Since the armies are already arrayed for battle, there is absolutely no reason to retreat. Let’s fight one battle first, then we can go back and rehearse the Military Arrays."

"When this Prince of Great Qin was in our Dayong, he was nothing more than a General of the Northern Patrol. With his level of skill, defeating him won’t be difficult, even without Military Arrays," the Unparalleled Marquis finished.

His gaze shifted to the front.

His tone was filled with contempt.

And with the appearance of the Unparalleled Marquis, the many experts from various imperial dynasties who were observing the battle all focused their gazes on him.

"It’s the Unparalleled Marquis! Dayong kept this well-hidden, secretly dispatching him here. He must have already become a Renowned General."

"The news was released two days ago. He’s already a Renowned General. Now this will be a good show."

...

Discussions erupted all around.

The experts from the various imperial courts observed, simultaneously activating their Profound Light Mirrors so that the high-ranking officials in their courts could witness the scene.

The Yong Emperor toyed with a Jade Pendant in his hand. "It seems sending the Unparalleled Marquis was effective. Though it was a bit rushed, our morale has risen considerably."

"Your Majesty is wise. Having the Unparalleled Marquis appear at this moment will undoubtedly put immense psychological pressure on Great Qin," the Eunuch said with a light chuckle.

"Hehe, let’s wait and see if we can chip away a portion of Great Qin’s main force in this battle." After speaking, the Yong Emperor simply turned his gaze back to the Profound Light Mirror.

Within the Great Qin Imperial Palace, Xiao Shi stared at the Unparalleled Marquis’s image in her Profound Light Mirror, a trace of worry in her eyes. "Can we confirm the news that the Unparalleled Marquis has advanced to become a Renowned General?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it has been confirmed. Dayong released the news a while ago. They must have deliberately revealed the Unparalleled Marquis at this moment to throw us into disarray," Xiao Gu said solemnly.

In a battle of this scale, the Warriors’ morale is crucial.

"The Unparalleled Marquis has been a Renowned General for far longer. Can Yuan handle him?" Xiao Shi’s question left the ministers below unsure how to respond.

But the worry in their eyes was plain to see.

After all, everyone knew that among generals of their caliber, the earlier one achieved the rank of Renowned General, the stronger they were.

This was especially true for the Unparalleled Marquis, hailed as a once-in-a-millennium talent of the Great Yu.

Just then, however, Xiao Mie spoke up. "Actually, what worries me most are the troops from the Celestial King Stronghold. Look at them—each one exudes a powerful aura and is superbly equipped."

"They are true elites, forged in the fires of the buffer zone. I’m afraid this will be a hard-fought battle."

The high-ranking officials of Great Qin all nodded at this.

Evidently, they did not have much confidence in this battle.

At that very moment on the battlefield, Lu Yuan’s face remained impassive upon seeing the Unparalleled Marquis appear.

He called out to the army behind him, "Advance!"

After the command was given.

The great standard beside him swayed. At the same time, the tens of thousands of archers arrayed at the very rear of the Celestial King Stronghold’s army suddenly turned in unison and drew their bowstrings, aiming at the Imperial Guard.

It happened with incredible speed.

No one saw it coming.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

As an endless rain of arrows filled the sky...

...some of Dayong’s experts finally realized what was happening.

"What’s happening? Why is the Celestial King Stronghold attacking us!?"

"This is bad! Protect the Crown Prince! The Celestial King Stronghold has turned on us!"

...

In an instant, shouts erupted from all sides.

Even elite troops like the Imperial Guard were completely stunned.

THWACK! THWACK!

A multitude of feathered arrows rained down, and in that instant, an untold number of Imperial Guards were shot down where they stood.

At this moment, Wu Han channeled his True Essence and bellowed, "By order of Lu Yuan, Great Village Chief of the Celestial King Stronghold! Charge into the Dayong army and take the Crown Prince’s head!"

The moment his shout faded...

...the men of the Celestial King Stronghold charged toward Dayong’s Central Army without the slightest hesitation.

The great standard by Lu Yuan’s side waved once more.

Having received the order, Xiao Xiong, though shaken to his core, still commanded, "Coordinate with the Celestial King Stronghold! Annihilate the Dayong Imperial Guard!"

After he spoke, the surrounding cavalry formations immediately began to close in on the center.

At this point, Great Qin’s army had swelled to a staggering total of over two million. With such vast numbers, they could unleash terrifying combat power even without Military Arrays.

Never mind the Imperial Guard; even the spectators were completely dumbfounded.

They had expected an earth-shattering battle, but who could have possibly imagined...

...that it would seemingly be over before it had even truly begun?

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