Chapter 497: Chapter 409: Because He Promised Me

Two years passed in the blink of an eye after Xiao Mo personally led the army to war against the Qi Kingdom.

During those two years, even with the aid of the Ten Thousand Islands Country, the Qin army had conquered one city after another.

By now, Xiao Mo was closing in on the Qi Kingdom’s Canghai Pass.

Reaching Canghai Pass signified that the war within the Qi Kingdom had entered its final stage.

Once Canghai Pass fell, the gateway to the Qi Kingdom’s Imperial City would be laid bare before the Qin army, as vulnerable as a woman undoing her sash.

At that point, even if its capital was not destroyed, the Qi Kingdom would exist in name only.

The Qi King, aware of the gravity of the situation, took personal command of the campaign. He led the allied armies of the Qi Kingdom and the Ten Thousand Islands Country, intending to make a last, desperate stand against Xiao Mo.

As for the front in the Zhao Kingdom, things were not going nearly as smoothly.

At first, even though Li Jing and his forces had struggled with their sieges, they had still held a certain advantage.

However, the Demon Armies from the Flowing Fire Kingdom and the Stream Valley Kingdom were simply too tenacious.

Furthermore, the nations of the Demon Race’s World later came to an agreement, and each dispatched additional troops to reinforce the Zhao Kingdom.

In the eyes of these Demon Kings, if the Zhao Kingdom could defend its cities, push back the front lines, or even capture Qin territory, they would seize the opportunity to claim a slice of the pie.

And if the Zhao Kingdom couldn’t hold on, it didn’t matter; they would simply retreat.

So what if a few Demon Cultivators died in the process?

It was no great loss to them.

However, it was impossible for the nations of the Demon Race’s World to dispatch even larger armies.

For one, many Demon Kings already felt that the affairs of the World of Ten Thousand Laws were none of their concern.

’For our Demon Race’s World to sacrifice its own Demon Cultivators just to protect a Human Race kingdom... it’s simply absurd!’

’If that certain someone hadn’t personally come to persuade us, I would never have sent troops in the first place!’

For another, if too many Demon Cultivators were to enter the World of Ten Thousand Laws, the great Sects there would no longer sit idly by.

At that point, it would no longer be a war between Dynasties but could very well trigger a full-scale war between the two worlds.

Therefore, the number of Demon Cultivators currently reinforcing the Zhao Kingdom was already as high as it could be.

But with the help of these Demon Cultivators, the Zhao King not only repelled the attacks from Li Jing, Fang Weiming, and their forces, but even managed to gain a significant advantage.

However, after stabilizing the situation in the Zhao Kingdom, the Zhao King was in no hurry to launch a counter-offensive.

In the Zhao King’s view, the most urgent matter at hand was to reinforce the Qi Kingdom.

Otherwise, if the Qi Kingdom fell, the Zhao Kingdom would be unable to stand alone.

The Zhao Kingdom’s Human-Demon allied army seized an opportunity, broke through the defensive line set by Fang Weiming, and crossed through the lands of the Jin Kingdom. After a long detour, they finally rendezvoused with the Qi Kingdom’s army.

In addition, after careful deliberation, the Sovereign of the Ten Thousand Islands Country decided to double down on his bet on the Qi Kingdom!

’After all, too many of the Ten Thousand Islands Country’s Cultivators had already died. He was completely unwilling to retreat with nothing to show for it!’

And so, the Sovereign of the Ten Thousand Islands Country dispatched another army of 300,000 to the Qi Kingdom.

The weakest among this army of 300,000 were at the Cave Mansion Realm.

The Sovereign of the Ten Thousand Islands Country was truly sparing no expense.

The arrival of the Human-Demon and the Ten Thousand Islands Country reinforcements allowed the Qi army to breathe a collective sigh of relief, and their morale soared.

The Qi King was overjoyed, believing he could now certainly hold off Xiao Mo, and perhaps even turn the tables from defense to offense.

...

「Inside the Qin army’s command tent.」

Xiao Mo and his generals stood around a massive sand table in the center of the tent, their expressions grim.

"General, the combined forces of the Qi Kingdom, the Zhao Kingdom, the Demon Race, and the Ten Thousand Islands Country now number four million! What’s more, their Cultivators are all at the Foundation Establishment Realm at minimum."

"While our army also numbers four million, roughly thirty percent of our troops are Martial Cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Stage. In terms of cultivation realms, we are at a disadvantage."

Xu Yao, who was part of the war council, said with a frown.

"General, should we request reinforcements?" Chen Wang asked.

"No."

After a long moment of contemplation, Xiao Mo shook his head.

"Though I executed a number of Dukes to intimidate the rest, many have simply hidden their ambitions and are waiting for an opportunity."

"Furthermore, we can’t be certain of the Noble Families’ loyalty."

"We need our forces stationed throughout the Qin Kingdom to keep those Duke Nobles in line."

"As for the Zhao Kingdom front, if we pull troops from Li Jing’s command, I fear their lines will break."

As he finished speaking, Xiao Mo stared at the sand table, his eyes fixed on the boundless plain outside Canghai Pass.

"Canghai Pass is massive, and the plain before it is large enough for ten million soldiers to clash in battle and Magical Combat."

"And yet, the pass itself is too small to garrison four million defenders."

"The Qi Kingdom knows this. The longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it becomes for them. After all, the Cultivators from the Ten Thousand Islands Country and the Demon Race’s World won’t be patient forever."

"Not to mention, Liu Xing and his forces are still launching attacks on their flanks, bleeding them slowly like death by a thousand cuts."

"Therefore, they are certain to seek a decisive battle with us—a fight to the death."

"And we cannot retreat."

"If we retreat, our other two fronts will collapse."

"If that’s the case..."

"...then we’ll give them the fight they’re looking for!"

With that, Xiao Mo looked up and smiled. "Whether the World of Ten Thousand Laws moves toward unification or remains fractured... it all comes down to this battle."

Hearing Xiao Mo’s words, the hearts of all present grew heavy.

Even though they were generals who had served for many years, they couldn’t help but feel a knot of tension form in their stomachs.

If one were to say that all the previous battles, big and small, were merely part of the process of unifying the World of Ten Thousand Laws...

...then this final battle at Canghai Pass would be the one to bring that era to a definitive close.

"Go and make your preparations," Xiao Mo said to them with a smile. "Have the soldiers rest and build up their strength, and spread the news of the coming battle."

"Yes, General!" The generals saluted and filed out of the tent.

After they had gone, Xiao Mo picked up his brush and wrote a letter detailing the current military situation and stating that the decisive battle with the Qi Kingdom would take place soon.

In addition, Xiao Mo wrote a second letter, which he sealed with a bloody fingerprint.

The first letter was sent to the Imperial Palace by Flying Sword.

The second letter, along with the seal of Prince Zhenbei, was sent to Qiu Wen.

Having taken care of everything, Xiao Mo stepped out of the command tent and looked into the distance, toward the direction of the Qin Kingdom’s Imperial City.

After a long while, Xiao Mo withdrew his gaze.

He took a small clay figure from within his robes.

The clay figure was ugly, but in Xiao Mo’s eyes, it was beautiful.

Xiao Mo reached out and gently brushed the clay figure’s nose, a faint smile on his face.

Carefully tucking the clay figure back inside his robes, Xiao Mo took a deep breath and walked straight forward.

...

Three days later, Qin Siyao received Xiao Mo’s message by Flying Sword and learned that he was about to face the Qi Kingdom in a decisive battle outside Canghai Pass.

Staring at the letter, Qin Siyao was silent for a long, long time.

"Your Majesty, please do not worry. He will surely return," Hua Sheng said comfortingly, seeing Qin Siyao’s worried expression.

"I know..."

Qin Siyao reached out, gently tracing the strokes of his handwriting on the letter.

"I know he’ll come back."

"Because he... he promised me..."

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