While Sheng Yuanyao was bathing, Long Qinghuang met the demon general who had been sent back.

“Are you trying to tell me that with victories on all fronts, only your division was held up at the insignificant Guiyuan City for three days, making no progress, and then you shamefully returned to ask for reinforcements?”

Long Qinghuang stood atop a high point in the Gobi, her hands behind her back, looking at the distant city, asking without turning her head.

The demon general was dripping with cold sweat: “Guiyuan City was easy pickings, but we encountered a female general named Sheng Yuanyao. She was originally from the scout camp and for some unknown reason ended up in Guiyuan City, seized the city lord’s seal, and overstepped her authority to command the city’s defenses…”

“You’re saying you were defeated by a temporary worker.”

“No!” the demon general said anxiously. “Your Majesty gave me three days, and today is the third day. I was about to break through the city, but an accident happened…”

Long Qinghuang suddenly turned around, her gaze sharp: “Am I here to listen to your nonsense?”

Feeling the bone-chchilling killing intent, the demon general shouted: “The accident is called Lu Xingzhou!”

Long Qinghuang’s killing intent froze where it was.

She thought to herself, if he encountered Lu Xingzhou, then the failure seemed excusable. Hadn’t she herself been played several times… And he had also warned her, preventing trouble.

An ordinary demon general would certainly not be a match for Lu Xingzhou, so failure was quite normal.

Her reaction, however, made the demon general secretly breathe a sigh of relief. He thought, as expected, there’s no smoke without fire. Is this really His Majesty’s attitude towards a talented individual? Hearing that the opponent was Lu Xingzhou, she didn’t even question his crime…

There was definitely something fishy going on.

Long Qinghuang said with a straight face: “So you were repelled by him? Where are your troops? Completely annihilated?”

Lu Xingzhou actually dared to slaughter my tribe!

The demon general wiped his cold sweat: “Um, we were captured, and I was released.”

Long Qinghuang: “?”

The atmosphere froze for a moment.

Several high-ranking demon tribe members around exchanged glances, struggling to keep a straight face.

The entire army captured, and you were released… How can you say such a humiliating thing without a blush or a racing heart? If it were us, we would have committed suicide.

Surely His Majesty would be furious, right?

Long Qinghuang’s voice was indeed very cold: “Where are the others?”

“They are all imprisoned.”

“Not dead?”

“No.”

Long Qinghuang’s expression softened a little.

In fact, she was quite pleased, thinking Lu Xingzhou must have been giving her face, not wanting to completely offend her.

This thought wasn’t wrong; it could even be considered a fact, though the details might still have a subtle difference…

“Since others are imprisoned and only you were released, he must have sent you to deliver a message. Speak, what does he want to do? Force us to withdraw by threatening with captives?”

“I don’t know.” The demon general pulled out a letter: “His words are in the letter; your subordinate dared not read it.”

“You had a letter and didn’t say so earlier, talking so much nonsense.” Long Qinghuang snatched the letter, unfolded it, and began to read.

She predicted the letter would mostly threaten with captives to persuade her to retreat. It wouldn’t be an offer of surrender, nor was it likely to inform her about a spy nearby. Catching the spy was the biggest strategic objective of her trip; how could Lu Xingzhou possibly know?

“Your Majesty, the Demon Emperor, may this letter find you well. Since our parting in Hanchuan, I have often thought of you, and I am delighted to learn that your forces are sweeping through the Northern Frontier with even greater splendor than before.”

A smile touched the corner of Long Qinghuang’s lips. This young man was as sweet-talkng as ever. This greeting skipped over the embarrassing incident of her trying to capture him in the sea, making it seem as if he knew nothing, which was simply pleasant.

“The purpose of Your Majesty’s visit is mostly to find someone… I, Lu, do not wish to disrupt Your Majesty’s plans.”

Long Qinghuang’s face suddenly changed.

He really knew!

How on earth did he know?

Knowing there was a spy beside her was already strange enough. This must have been Gu Zhanting’s top secret, something even Ye Tinglan would have kept strictly confidential. How did you, Lu Xingzhou, a young man not involved in court politics, know? And not only did you know, you also knew that the true goal of this battle was to find this person!

This was utterly outrageous.

This battle, on the surface, was fought so grandly, spreading across dozens of cities along the entire border, involving a direct confrontation between the emperors of two nations, all to conceal the true intent. If this could be seen through, what was the point of playing? If Lu Xingzhou knew, did the spy themselves also get wind of it?

“But with a great war already underway, lives are being needlessly lost. This is not comparable to the minor skirmishes before. I, Lu, still advise Your Majesty to reconsider. Of course, I, Lu, know my influence is not that great, so how about I offer a piece of information that will compel Your Majesty to withdraw?”

“Regarding the battle in the sea, Your Majesty must know that the Ancient Realm is trying to massively enter this realm through various means. I, Lu, have received information that people from the Ancient Realm will launch a surprise attack on the Demon Tribe’s Sacred Mountain, replicating the old incident of True Person Ye Tinglan. If Your Majesty assumes True Person Ye Tinglan is not in this campaign and overlooks a third party, the tragedy of ten years ago may repeat.”

Long Qinghuang’s eyebrows furrowed tightly.

Lu Xingzhou’s attitude… He didn’t want to help Emperor Qian fight her, nor did he want to help her deal with Emperor Qian.

The letter didn’t even mention Gu Zhanting, even though the so-called people from the Ancient Realm were very likely colluding with Gu Zhanting. He acted as if he knew nothing, not mentioning it at all.

Not helping her deal with Emperor Qian, was it because he didn’t want to be a human traitor?

Not helping Emperor Qian deal with her… was it because?

He wanted to mediate… whether the purpose was to avoid “needless loss of lives” was hard to say. The Lu Xingzhou Long Qinghuang knew didn’t seem like someone who would be full of compassion.

Perhaps there was some influence from Ye Tinglan? But his true intention was most likely just to disrupt the Ancient Realm’s actions.

Because the Ancient Realm had caused trouble for Tianyao Sacred Land, he considered them enemies.

Long Qinghuang suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, her tightly furrowed brows never relaxing.

Even if he only wanted to disrupt the Ancient Realm’s actions, objectively speaking, it was helping her, Long Qinghuang, and on a larger scale, it prevented “needless loss of lives,” which was a great achievement. But the question was, was this reliable?

What if he was just tricking her into withdrawing? To withdraw just because of such a letter, wouldn’t that be too ridiculous?

Long Qinghuang pondered for a long time, then suddenly asked her attendants: “How is Lion Kuang’s side? Is he about to confront Huo Xingyuan?”

Someone replied: “According to the timeline, Huo Xingyuan should be nearing Wugong City by now. As the largest logistics base in the Northern Frontier, it’s a critical point Huo Xingyuan must defend. But he probably won’t head directly to Wugong City; he might detour. As for which specific route…”

Long Qinghuang waved her hand: “Which specific route is not something we can control remotely from here. Lion Kuang will decide for himself. This area has already become our territory, and their high-altitude reconnaissance is not just for show.”

“Yes.”

Long Qinghuang looked into the distance and murmured: “The decisive battle is tonight. Can it be just a matter of a few hours? Things have come to this point; the arrow is on the string. There’s no reason to withdraw directly. Moreover, since the Great Ye Tinglan Battle, the Sacred Mountain’s defenses are far from what they used to be. The so-called people from the Ancient Realm, can they just barge in? That would be too disrespectful to the Sacred Mountain.”

“Everything as usual… After I defeat Gu Zhanting and return to reinforce the Sacred Mountain, I’ll see if what you say is true or false.”

With her mind made up, Long Qinghuang suddenly smiled slightly: “You have a thoughtful heart.”

The demon general looked at his emperor’s expression, which had thawed like ice and snow, and secretly thought that this letter was indeed a love letter.

“Young Master Lu!” the elder of Yingyue Sect knocked on the door of the city lord’s mansion: “Huo Xingyuan’s army has arrived. He didn’t take the Wugong City route that Young Master Huo Zhang predicted, but detoured instead. We cannot scout nearby, nor do we know how the enemy will react. But logically, with all the cities in the rear, except ours, having fallen, the home advantage now belongs to the demon tribe. Huo Xingyuan is practically moving through the enemy’s sphere of influence. This movement hasn’t even escaped our notice, let alone theirs.”

Sheng Yuanyao had just broken through, and the two exchanged glances, knowing that tonight, doing anything was out of the question.

War was imminent.

“Brother Long still hasn’t returned. Logically, it shouldn’t take this long for him to go back and forth. Long Qinghuang’s choice is already very clear; she didn’t believe me… or rather, even if she did, she felt that the arrow was on the string and she couldn’t withdraw the army at this point.” Lu Xingzhou walked out the door, looking at a group of strong cultivators waiting for orders, and sighed: “Lord Si, do you want to achieve the feat of Fenglang Juxu?”

Si Han was stunned: “What is Fenglang Juxu?”

“Oh, I forgot you don’t have that idiom… Do you want to emulate the Tianyao Sacred Master’s old deed?”

“Me? Attack the Sacred Mountain?” Si Han was dumbfounded.

The demon tribe didn’t have only Long Qinghuang; the Sacred Mountain, no matter what, had transcendent-grade guardians. Ye Tinglan could break in because Ye Tinglan was formidable; how could he do it?

Why don’t you just ask me to annihilate the demon tribe?

“It’s called attacking the Sacred Mountain, but it’s really the Tianshuang Kingdom watching Qian and the demon tribe fight, hoping to pick up scraps. In reality, when you get there, the Sacred Mountain will inevitably be under intense attack and defense. The Sacred Mountain is not easy to attack. The attacking side, seeing your elite troops suddenly coming from behind, will surely retreat for fear of being caught in a pincer attack. Once they retreat, you can also retreat.”

Si Han: “…”

He knew what Lu Xingzhou was thinking, but this also aligned with Si Han’s intentions.

He certainly didn’t want to rescue Gu Zhanting for no reason, fighting Long Qinghuang to the death; why?

To gain the reputation of “attacking the demon tribe’s holy land,” and also to deter the Ancient Realm, without having to pay any losses, why not? As for disrupting the Ancient Realm’s actions, Si Han was even more pleased. Earlier, Zha’en had stolen his Tianshuang Kingdom’s destiny and almost killed him. Si Han was also a monarch; how could he not have some temper?

Although he didn’t know if Zha’en and this group from the Ancient Realm were on the same side, they were all from the Ancient Realm anyway, so he’d treat them as such for now.

Seeing Si Han happily leading his people away, Huo Zhang was anxious: “You’ve taken the elite troops; what about us?”

Lu Xingzhou glanced at him.

Judging by the situation where the enemy commander had set up a net for Huo Xingyuan, the opponent should be Long Qinghuang’s confidant, planning a heavy blow against Huo Xingyuan. If they were colluding with Huo Xingyuan, their behavior wouldn’t be this cautious type.

This meant that among those staying with Long Qinghuang to attack Gu Zhanting, there was that spy.

Now, Huo Xingyuan’s side was facing a greater challenge and might suffer heavy losses. If Huo Zhang went to help his father at this time, whether it was a drop in the bucket or not, it would certainly be a big show of loyalty.

If he wanted to show off, then let him show off. What role could a single Huo Zhang play?

“Just wait,” Lu Xingzhou patted his shoulder amiably, “At the right time, you can cut into the battlefield to help your father. With such merits and such affection, how will Huo Qi ever compete with you?”

Huo Zhang hesitated for a moment: “What about you?”

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: “Of course, I’m going too. But we might not fight side by side; everyone is responsible for different flanks.”

Huo Zhang was overjoyed: “That’s good. As long as I’m not fighting alone, there’s no problem.”

Seeing Lu Xingzhou’s previous actions, Huo Zhang always felt that this guy was almost defecting to the demons. Now, with this statement, he was completely relieved.

He also knew that Lu Xingzhou was reluctant to help Huo Xingyuan; it was normal for them to take different paths. Anyway, even if he went to his father’s position alone, it wouldn’t matter. If Lu Xingzhou could help contain the enemy on the other side, it wouldn’t be like he was going alone to his death.

In this type of battlefield, a third-grade fierce general like him still had plenty of room to exert his abilities.

After Huo Zhang left, Sheng Yuanyao finally whispered, “Are you really willing to save Huo Xingyuan? But our meager remaining troops aren’t enough.”

“First, I’m not helping Huo Xingyuan. Second, we have more than just these remaining troops. Third, in the chaos of war, who can keep track of whom… What I really want to do is see if I can secretly kill Huo Xingyuan… When he’s dealing with the enemy’s top general, it’s the easiest time to launch a sneak attack.” Lu Xingzhou reached into his robe and pulled out a mask: “Have you seen my Yanluo Temple mask?”

Sheng Yuanyao sighed, not offering any objections, merely taking off her Dragon Subduing Armor and putting it back on him.

Then, she gently caressed his chest and whispered, “Revenge can be sought anytime. Remember not to be too reckless. If things are impossible, safety comes first.”