Chapter 158: Besieged City

"May I ask what brings you esteemed envoys to my capital?"

"Keep acting, go right ahead and put on a show!" Muttering inwardly in response to Zhou Tian's question, the church envoys didn't dare refuse to answer. After exchanging glances, they summoned their courage, straightened their spines, and said to Zhou Tian, "We have come to convey the orders of the Church."

"Oh."

"Such cold indifference!" Seeing the complete lack of interest on Zhou Tian's face, the church envoys almost cried out in unison. Fortunately, they managed to restrain themselves at the very last moment. Although they were somewhat displeased by Zhou Tian's attitude, who could blame him when he had the strength to back it up? No matter how much resentment they felt in their hearts, they had no choice but to suppress it. Casting a cautious glance at Zhou Tian, the leader of the church envoys spoke up: "The Church prohibits interference in the internal affairs of the continent's empires. As a bishop of our Church of Light, City Lord Zhou, you cannot participate in the civil war of the Yanhuang Empire. The Church is extremely dissatisfied with your current actions. We hope that during the civil war of the Yanhuang Empire, you will not do anything that might easily cause misunderstandings among the various empires of the continent."

"Impossible!" Looking coldly at the church envoys, Zhou Tian refused without the slightest hesitation: "Although I am a bishop of the Church of Light, I am also the city lord of the Yanhuang Empire. Rebels are currently rising up everywhere within the empire, and the emperor has issued an imperial decree ordering me to help him wipe out these rebels. As an official of the Yanhuang Empire, I have both the power and the obligation to serve the emperor loyally."

Looking at Zhou Tian with expressions of absolute disbelief, none of the church envoys believed a single word of his nonsense. What kind of person was Zhou Tian? Every single member of the Church had heard of him; his unruly and rebellious personality was something even the Church could not suppress. For Zhou Tian to now claim he wanted to serve the Yanhuang Empire loyally—it would be a miracle if the church envoys believed such a claim.

However, disbelief didn't matter. Since Zhou Tian had stated it like that, it was enough for the church envoys.

Having witnessed the strength of the capital, these church envoys no longer had any intention of stubbornly completing the Church's mission. Given Zhou Tian's strength, it would naturally be best if he was willing to listen to them. But if he refused to listen, there was simply nothing they could do to him. It was impossible for them to forcefully stop Zhou Tian! With their level of strength, trying to fight Zhou Tian head-on would be absolute suicide.

Now that Zhou Tian had given them an explanation—even though they didn't really believe the excuse—having such a reason was enough. Since Zhou Tian was deploying his troops in obedience to the "emperor's command," the matter could be considered entirely justified, even if some gossiping rumors were bound to circulate later. But by then, it would have nothing to do with them. If they were expected to risk their own lives for such an order, the church envoys lacked that high level of dedication.

Thus, very naturally, armed with the excuse provided by Zhou Tian, although not a single one of the church envoys believed his ghost story, they all still put on expressions of absolute and unwavering faith in the reason Zhou Tian had given. After exchanging a few polite pleasantries with him, the church envoys completely forgot the original purpose of their visit. Following a few perfunctory rounds of conversation, they didn't even dare to linger in the capital. With Zhou Tian's nod of approval, without another word, they hurriedly rushed back toward the Holy City.

"Clowns performing on a stage!" Seeing the behavior of the church envoys, Zhou Tian smiled disdainfully, immediately cast their arrival to the back of his mind, and turned his attention back to the affairs of the Yanhuang Empire.

Li Jiahao was the first person Zhou Tian wanted to deal with. No matter the reason, the fact that Li Jiahao had complained about him to the Church of Light was unchangeable. Although, to Zhou Tian, the impact of Li Jiahao's complaint was virtually negligible, the other party had still dared to pull such a stunt; if Zhou Tian failed to react, outsiders would likely think he was weak and easily bullied.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Tian's expression steadied as he immediately issued his orders.

To crush Li Jiahao directly?

Zhou Tian had the strength to do so, but he had no intention of doing it that way. Right now, Zhou Tian was not on the Black Blood Plateau. In that place, as long as you had the strength, there was nothing you couldn't do. Thus, Zhou Tian could do whatever he pleased without needing to consider any other factors.

However, Zhou Tian was now outside the Black Blood Plateau, so he could no longer employ such overly aggressive methods.

It wasn't that god-tier powerhouses didn't exist on the continent; rather, it was extremely rare for god-tier powerhouses to participate in imperial civil wars. It wasn't that those god-tier powerhouses didn't want to, but rather that they simply didn't dare.

The destructive power of god-tier beings was simply too immense. Given just a little time, slaughtering cities and destroying nations was an effortless task. If god-tier powerhouses were allowed to run amok at will, the meager population of the Moonsun Continent would likely be almost wiped out after just a few god-tier wars.

There were quite a few god-tier powerhouses on the continent, and with their strength, they could easily acquire whatever they wanted. To prevent accidental casualties among their own friends and family during battles between peers, and also to prevent continent-wide turmoil, no one knew when it started, but a long-standing rule had been established on the continent: god-tier powerhouses were strictly prohibited from participating in secular wars.

Of course, a rule was a rule. If Zhou Tian really did it, other god-tier powerhouses would at most feel displeased with him. Unless they had some personal connection to Li Jiahao, no one else would make an enemy of Zhou Tian over someone as insignificant as Li Jiahao.

However, Zhou Tian felt it was not worth leaving a bad impression in the hearts of the continent's powerhouses over such a trivial matter. Therefore, even though Li Jiahao had offended him, Zhou Tian still had no intention of personally stepping in to deal with him.

Zhou Tian's method of retaliation against Li Jiahao was very simple. Didn't Li Jiahao want to become emperor? Then Zhou Tian would make sure he never got his wish. If he were to simply strike Li Jiahao down, while it would be deeply satisfying, it would yield no real benefit to Zhou Tian. On the other hand, if Zhou Tian completely shattered Li Jiahao's lifelong ambition, he estimated that the psychological blow would be far more agonizing to Li Jiahao than death itself.

With this decision made, Zhou Tian gave the order, and the capital immediately swung into action.

Leaving the twelve divine statues behind to guard the home front, and with the protection of the Twelve Capital Heavenly Fiends Formation, Zhou Tian was quite confident in the capital's safety. Bringing almost all the troops at his disposal, and holding the small divine tiger in his arms, Zhou Tian marched toward Xuanwu City, where Li Jiahao resided.

As soon as Zhou Tian made his move, Li Jiahao naturally reacted immediately.

What Li Jiahao feared most was Zhou Tian making a move against him. If he hadn't been terrified of Zhou Tian's strength—and it wasn't as if Li Jiahao lacked forces of his own—why would he have sought help from the Church of Light? Now, seeing that the Church of Light hadn't taken any major action against Zhou Tian, and that Zhou Tian had even declared war on him as a result, Li Jiahao inwardly cursed the uselessness of the church members while hurriedly summoning his elite troops to Xuanwu City to fortify his defenses and await Zhou Tian's attack.

He didn't have to wait very long. Zhou Tian's long-standing elite soldier strategy meant that most of the soldiers under his command possessed considerable strength. Under Zhou Tian's orders, the marching speed of his troops was extraordinary. A journey that ordinary people would take a month to complete was finished by Zhou Tian's army in a mere twenty days.

Upon arriving at their destination, at Zhou Tian's command, the several legions of the capital dispersed. Within moments, Xuanwu City was completely surrounded by Zhou Tian's forces.

To besieging a city of millions of residents and soldiers with just tens of thousands of troops—Zhou Tian's behavior could truly be described as insane.

Yet, even with Zhou Tian acting in such a manner, Li Jiahao did not dare to make the slightest rash move.

Although Zhou Tian had not brought the Twelve Capital Heavenly Fiends Formation with him, Li Jiahao had clearly seen the divine beast Zhou Tian held in his arms—wasn't that the legendary divine beast belonging to the capital? Given the terrifying strength of a divine beast, there was no need for Zhou Tian's troops to even make a move; the divine beast alone posed an immense threat to Xuanwu City.

Therefore, even though Zhou Tian had brought only a pitifully small number of men, Li Jiahao huddled inside Xuanwu City like a turtle in its shell, not daring to make the slightest unauthorized move. If he stayed inside the city, relying on his numerical advantage and the defensive weapons deployed throughout the city, he had a sliver of confidence that he could fend off the attack of the divine beast in Zhou Tian's arms. But if he were to venture outside the city walls, Li Jiahao had no idea whether his subordinates would be able to emerge victorious against a divine beast.

Moreover, even if he had a chance of winning, Li Jiahao wouldn't dare do it! He still harbored ambitions of becoming emperor. If he fought Zhou Tian to the bitter end and exhausted the little bit of military strength he had left, what would he use to contend for the imperial throne? Therefore, unless it was an absolute last resort, Li Jiahao never intended to truly fight Zhou Tian to the death.

However, seeing Li Jiahao react this way, Zhou Tian naturally wouldn't let him stay safely cooped up inside the city forever.

Zhou Tian hadn't intended to completely wipe out Li Jiahao's forces by force, but if he didn't give Li Jiahao a taste of punishment, he estimated that Li Jiahao would never give up his wicked ambitions. Thus, while Zhou Tian didn't plan on fighting to the death, he also didn't want Li Jiahao to cower in the city indefinitely.

Consequently, in order to lure Li Jiahao out of the city, Zhou Tian immediately launched a series of actions.

Since Li Jiahao refused to come out, Zhou Tian would provoke him into coming out.

At first, seeing that Li Jiahao wouldn't leave the city, Zhou Tian returned to the capital, had the printing press run off a batch of flyers, and then had them all showered over Xuanwu City in one go.

On the flyers, Zhou Tian denounced Li Jiahao's rebellious actions, severely criticizing his current uprising. He then laid out the current situation, exaggerating his own side's strength while downplaying the defensive capabilities of Xuanwu City. In short, the message was clear to everyone inside the city: given Xuanwu City's strength, it was utterly impossible to withstand the offensive of the capital's army. Furthermore, Li Jiahao was not a man worth following; if they didn't want to die alongside Li Jiahao when his army began its assault, the people inside would do well to come out and surrender early while there was still time.

And truly, once Zhou Tian pulled this stunt, Xuanwu City was thrown into a period of chaos.

The main reason was that Zhou Tian's method was simply too difficult to defend against. When Zhou Tian dumped tens of millions of flyers into Xuanwu City all at once, Li Jiahao lacked the capacity to stop it, even if he wanted to. Once the flyers entered the city, although the vast majority were rounded up and confiscated, a few inevitably slipped through the cracks.

Furthermore, while not many people opposed Li Jiahao's uprising, opposition existed nonetheless.

Whether they were people accustomed to peace or those who had experienced the ravages of war, the vast majority of people actually harbored a deep aversion to warfare. Under such circumstances, even if the current emperor of the Yanhuang Empire was indeed lacking in moral character, the empire was still relatively peaceful, and under the emperor's rule, they could at least manage to scrape by. Yet, right at that moment, Li Jiahao had chosen to launch a rebellion. While they lacked the power to stop Li Jiahao's decision, many people remained deeply dissatisfied with his actions.

And right at that time, the flyers Zhou Tian sent into the city acted like a fuse. Those who were already dissatisfied with Li Jiahao were further incited by Zhou Tian's provocation, making them even more reluctant to be blindly tied to Li Jiahao's sinking war chariot.

Besides, wasn't Zhou Tian waiting outside? While in the eyes of the major powers, Zhou Tian was no saint, among the common people, his reputation was actually quite impressive. Who made Zhou Tian's rise to prominence read like a legend? Many people now regarded him as an idol, and between Li Jiahao and Zhou Tian, Zhou Tian's words carried far more credibility with them.

When Zhou Tian claimed that Xuanwu City would be breached by him, quite a few people actually believed it. The commoners harbored a blind worship of Zhou Tian, while those with some influence were well aware of certain rumors surrounding the capital. Under such circumstances, people from all walks of life believed that Zhou Tian was capable of breaching Xuanwu City.

Believing that Zhou Tian could breach the city, they naturally didn't wish to be standing on the side destined for failure. Thus, the notion of opening the city gates to let Zhou Tian in began to take root in their minds. Through clandestine plotting, they actually attempted to put that plan into motion.

However, those people underestimated Li Jiahao's capabilities. Although their actions were conducted in secret, Li Jiahao had spent years operating in Xuanwu City and hadn't been wasting his time. Without giving those conspirators a chance, before they could even act, they were hunted down and killed by operatives dispatched by Li Jiahao.

Yet, while Li Jiahao's execution of those individuals prevented certain disasters from unfolding, it simultaneously alienated many factions within Xuanwu City. Just like that, even before the war had truly begun, internal fractures were already starting to show within Li Jiahao's camp.

Trapped in such a situation, if Li Jiahao refused to fight back, public morale would destabilize, making his already slim chances of victory even harder to maintain.

Yet, under those circumstances, Li Jiahao stubbornly endured it all. When domestic unrest broke out in the city, he forcefully suppressed it with an iron fist, but as for marching out of the city to duel Zhou Tian, Li Jiahao never showed the slightest intention of doing so from start to finish. Seeing this, Zhou Tian had no choice but to think of other methods.

Time to hurl insults!

Recalling the common tactics of ancient warfare, Zhou Tian directly selected nearly a hundred soldiers from his ranks who excelled at shouting curses. They marched right up to the walls of Xuanwu City and began calling out Li Jiahao by name to heap abuse upon him.

Starting with the eighteen generations of Li Jiahao's ancestors, not a single one of Li Jiahao's forebears was spared by the venomous tongues of those soldiers. After just a few sentences, the tempers of the defenders inside Xuanwu City were instantly ignited.

It had to be said that the tactic of verbal abuse was crude and simple, but one had to admit that this utterly ordinary method often proved remarkably effective in certain situations.

After the soldiers sent by Zhou Tian spent several hours cursing outside the walls of Xuanwu City, Li Jiahao could no longer sit still inside the city.

"We cannot let them keep cursing like this." Given Li Jiahao's poise, it was naturally impossible for him to genuinely lose his temper over a few insults from the enemy. However, while Li Jiahao could ignore the abuses coming from outside the city, he could not afford to ignore the impact such behavior would have.

The flyers previously distributed by Zhou Tian had already caused cracks in the morale of Xuanwu City's soldiers and citizens. Under such circumstances, if he, Li Jiahao, endured such humiliating curses from Zhou Tian's subordinates without even daring to send out a force to fight back, how would his subordinates view him? How could he maintain their trust? Therefore, regardless of whether Li Jiahao wanted to fight or not, he was now forced to engage Zhou Tian in battle. If he was defeated, while his troop numbers would plummet, at least everything would still remain under his control. But if he refused to fight now, and the dissenting elements within Xuanwu City stirred up more trouble, Li Jiahao truly feared that his own troops would be provoked to the point of mutiny, ultimately causing even greater losses.

Thus, despite his reluctance, under Zhou Tian's relentless provocations, Li Jiahao gritted his teeth and issued an order to a general standing nearby: "Rene, take fifty thousand men and charge out through the southern gate. Scatter the capital's army for this king. Remember, the moment you find Zhou Tian approaching you, no matter what the battlefield situation looks like, you are to immediately retreat back to me!"

Because he was uninformed about Zhou Tian's intelligence, the general named Rene did not understand why Li Jiahao was so terrified of Zhou Tian. But since Li Jiahao was the boss and he was merely a subordinate, even if he didn't understand Li Jiahao's reasoning, he lacked the authority to object.

Furthermore, although Li Jiahao had swallowed his pride and endured Zhou Tian's series of actions, officers like Rene had long been fuming with anger. Now that Li Jiahao had finally granted him permission to lead troops into battle, how could Rene possibly give up this opportunity to "teach the enemy a lesson" just because of one condition set by Li Jiahao?

"Understood, Marshal!" Suppressing all his confusion, Rene cupped his fists and accepted Li Jiahao's command without hesitation.

Shortly after, at Rene's command, an elite force of fifty thousand men directly under his command charged out from the southern gate of Xuanwu City.

Zhou Tian had come from the north, and his army was naturally positioned outside the northern gate of Xuanwu City. Yet Rene had been ordered by Li Jiahao to sally forth from the southern gate. From this, it was clear that even though Li Jiahao had been forced into battle, deep down he still wanted to avoid a desperate clash to the death with Zhou Tian, which was why he had devised this method to vent the frustration of his soldiers.

However, no matter how well Li Jiahao calculated, he still underestimated Zhou Tian.

Did Zhou Tian really dare to surround Xuanwu City with such a small force simply because he was certain Li Jiahao wouldn't dare to sortie?

Obviously, that was impossible. The capital's army was forged by Zhou Tian over the course of several years. While he didn't value this military force above all else, he had invested so much effort into it that if they were easily wiped out, the loss would be enough to cause Zhou Tian genuine heartache.

Without a certain degree of confidence, even if he had to resort to other means, Zhou Tian would never risk the lives of his own soldiers merely to gamble on Li Jiahao's reaction. From the very beginning, Li Jiahao had never been taken seriously by Zhou Tian; he could deal with Li Jiahao however he pleased. With a myriad of ways to win at will, how could Zhou Tian possibly take unnecessary risks in a battle against Li Jiahao?

The fact that Zhou Tian had dispersed his troops to cover all four gates proved only one thing: from beginning to end, Zhou Tian had absolute faith that Li Jiahao's forces were entirely incapable of inflicting casualties on his own troops.

Yet how could Li Jiahao possibly know what was going on in Zhou Tian's mind? When he saw that Zhou Tian made no move whatsoever as his own troops launched a surprise attack against the capital's army, a surge of elation actually washed over him.

Fighting with fifty thousand against ten thousand—Li Jiahao simply refused to believe that his own elite troops could fail to achieve victory in such a matchup. Therefore, seeing Rene launch his attack on the capital's army at the southern gate, Li Jiahao had already been excitedly imagining how he would soon witness the utter rout of Zhou Tian's forces.

However, when the two armies actually clashed, the final outcome nearly caused Li Jiahao's eyeballs to pop out of their sockets.

"Am... am I seeing things?!" At that moment, as Li Jiahao watched the capital's army make their move, his thoughts were no longer about how to defeat the enemy force; instead, he was now desperately wondering how many of the men Rene had led would manage to return alive.

"How could Zhou Tian possess an army like this?" No one could answer Li Jiahao's question. Li Jiahao's intelligence-gathering on the capital was simply too meager. Or rather, the capital's security in this regard had been airtight. Even though Li Jiahao was located right near the capital, it was only at this exact moment that he discovered Zhou Tian had actually forged an army composed entirely of professional fighters right under his very nose.

"Charge forward and slaughter those country bumpkins! A reward of one silver coin for every man killed, centurions for those who kill ten, and if anyone kills a hundred, I will petition the Prince to promote them to garrison generals!" Just as they rushed out of the southern gate of Xuanwu City, Rene had no idea what kind of opponents he was about to face. Viewing them through colored glasses, he refused to believe the capital's army could be all that strong. Outnumbering the enemy and before the battle had even begun, he was already promising rewards to his subordinates for their impending victory.

The soldiers under Rene's command cared about nothing else; upon hearing Rene's promises, they grew immensely excited.

Heavy rewards breed brave men; as long as the bounties were generous, there would never be a shortage of enthusiasm. While the conditions Rene offered weren't exceptionally lavish, when facing opponents they deemed "ordinary," these terms were more than enough to motivate his men.

However, the moment they eagerly raised their weapons and charged toward the capital's army, a single motion from the capital's troops made the expressions of both Rene and his soldiers drain of all color.

Battle Qi!

The instant the soldiers of the capital collectively flared their Battle Qi, Rene and his men were frozen in utter shock on the spot.

What kind of situation was this?

Since when did Battle Qi become like cabbages by the roadside, something anyone could learn?

Generally speaking, soldiers who could muster Battle Qi could at least secure the position of a centurion in the army, and even in elite legions, the rank of a decurion was practically guaranteed.

Yet what on earth was going on with the capital's army? Ordinary foot soldiers possessed Battle Qi, while junior officers like decurions and centurions had cultivation levels reaching the intermediate or even advanced stages of Battle Qi. With such formidable strength, an army like this could easily rank among the absolute best across the entire continent.

An army composed entirely of professionals wasn't unheard of—the Imperial Guard of the Yanhuang Empire, for instance, was an elite force made up entirely of professional fighters. But the Imperial Guard's duty was to guard the imperial palace, and their total headcount was only around ten thousand. They were nothing like Zhou Tian's forces, where tens of thousands were deployed at a whim, and every single soldier's Battle Qi cultivation had reached at least the apprentice tier on average. An army like this—let alone seeing it, Rene and his men had never even heard of such a thing.

Abruptly realizing that the opponent they had to face was not a soft persimmon but a slab of iron harder than anything else, Rene and his men were struck dumb with terror. For a moment, they even forgot how to react appropriately.

By the time Rene and his men finally snapped out of their stupor, their previous momentum had carried them straight up to the front lines of the capital's army. Realizing this terrifying reality, the soldiers under Rene's command turned pale with fright.

While Rene and his men stood there frozen, the army under Zhou Tian's command did not hesitate.

The moment Rene's forces charged right up to the capital's army, at the sharp orders of their respective officers, the capital's soldiers unleashed their attacks upon the enemies before them.

Given the cultivation levels of Zhou Tian's soldiers, aside from the officers among Rene's ranks who could put up a meager defense, how could ordinary foot soldiers possibly hope to match them? The army that Zhou Tian had forged using several rare treasures and vast amounts of time was simply not something Rene's troops could compare to. The clash lasted only a split second before the front-line soldiers of Rene's army were hacked to the ground by the capital's forces.

"Retreat! Fall back quickly!" Seeing how fiercely the capital's forces performed, Rene lost his mind. How could he dare fight against such opponents? After clumsily blocking a few strikes from the capital's soldiers, he frantically led his remaining men in a headlong flight back toward Xuanwu City.

"Pursue them!" Since Rene's men were fleeing, the officers of the capital's army naturally issued orders to give chase.

With the aid of Battle Qi, cultivators naturally moved much faster than ordinary foot soldiers. Moreover, because Rene had panicked and failed to make any arrangements or form a rearguard during the retreat, his force of fifty thousand men was whittled down to a mere few thousand survivors by the time they reached the city gates.

"Archers, loose!" When Rene and his men finally reached the southern gate of Xuanwu City, the soldiers atop the ramparts, acting on Li Jiahao's orders, immediately rained a volley of arrows down upon the capital's troops hot on Rene's heels.

Yet this attack served merely as a minor obstruction. Given the strength of the capital's soldiers, ordinary arrows found it extremely difficult to cause them any real harm.

Still, acting as a momentary obstacle was enough. During the brief window where the capital's soldiers were forced to halt their advance under the rain of arrows, Rene and his surviving men managed to retreat back inside Xuanwu City.

"Fall back!"

Although the officers of the capital's army wanted nothing more than to press their advantage and storm straight into Xuanwu City, bound by Zhou Tian's prior orders, they did not dare to arbitrarily alter commands. Thus, upon seeing Rene retreat into the city, they didn't linger. After blocking the arrows fired from the ramparts, they gracefully withdrew to their original positions.

A battered and bruised Rene was helped up the northern city wall by his guards. With a face full of shame, he knelt before Li Jiahao and pleaded guilty: "Marshal, this subordinate has failed in his duty and pointlessly squandered tens of thousands of men. I beg the Marshal to punish me!"

Gazing at Rene, Li Jiahao inwardly hated him to the bone. Fifty thousand men! That was fifty thousand elite soldiers; even with Li Jiahao's current sphere of influence, he didn't possess many armies of that caliber. Yet Rene had managed to squander them in less than an hour. It was simply impossible for Li Jiahao not to feel resentment.

However, although Li Jiahao's hatred for Rene was burning fiercely in his chest, he knew this was not the time to purge subordinates. After a brief moment of internal deliberation, Li Jiahao stepped forward, personally helped Rene to his feet, and offered words of comfort: "This defeat was not the General's fault; the General need not blame himself. Please, rise at once!" After steadying Rene and offering a few more soothing remarks, he instructed someone to escort Rene away to rest.

"Marshal, the strength of Zhou Tian's army is simply too terrifying! With our current forces, there is simply no way we can withstand them. I think we should plan our retreat and surrender early!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Zhou Tian hasn't even made a move yet, and just his ordinary soldiers possess such combat capability. If Zhou Tian himself actually steps in, I'm afraid we really will..."

"In my view, we should... just surrender!"

"Who dares speak of surrender!" Seeing the terrifying prowess displayed by the capital's army, the officers under Li Jiahao's command could not help feeling a deep sense of cowardice. Forgetting to weigh Li Jiahao's reaction, they began advising him to surrender one after another.

Yet those individuals drastically underestimated Li Jiahao's resolve.

Li Jiahao had spent an untold amount of time preparing for this very day. Having finally seized such an opportunity to rebel, how could Li Jiahao possibly give up now? If he let this chance slip away, Li Jiahao doubted he would ever find another opportunity to seize the throne. Therefore, upon hearing the words of his subordinates, not only did he fail to feel any sense of agreement, but he flew into a rage upon hearing such cowardly talk.

Earlier, even when Rene returned in utter defeat with heavy casualties, Li Jiahao had managed to swallow his frustration and comfort the man. But now, when those officers touched upon the most sensitive nerve in Li Jiahao's heart, hearing a certain officer openly advocate surrender, Li Jiahao drew his sword without a second word and thrust it straight through the officer's heart, killing him on the spot.

Fiercely glaring at the remaining officers around him, Li Jiahao declared in a ruthless tone: "Anyone who dares to speak of surrender again will be executed without mercy!"

Although the terrifying strength demonstrated by Zhou Tian had indeed frightened Li Jiahao's officers out of their wits, Li Jiahao had ruled Xuanwu City for many years, and his authority among them remained deep-rooted. With Li Jiahao laying down the law in such a brutal fashion, the surrounding officers didn't dare utter another word.

Seeing this, Li Jiahao let out a bitter inward sigh.

He had never anticipated that things would suddenly devolve into such a state. Although he had long recognized Zhou Tian's considerable potential, Li Jiahao had never imagined that Zhou Tian would develop at such a terrifying speed. How much time had actually passed? Yet Zhou Tian had already grown to such towering heights. Having made a fateful decision long ago that turned Zhou Tian into an enemy, was his lifelong effort truly about to be destroyed by Zhou Tian's hands?

Until this very moment, Li Jiahao still had no idea of the true reason why Zhou Tian was targeting him. Regretting his past decisions in his heart, Li Jiahao was forced to reveal a portion of his trump cards to reassure his subordinates and stabilize their morale.

"You gentlemen need not worry too much. While Zhou Tian's strength is not weak, we are no pushovers either. I have deployed several thousand military-grade magitech devices throughout Xuanwu City. If Zhou Tian truly dares to launch a direct assault, even if the divine beast in his arms takes the field, I am confident we can beat it back. Furthermore, do not forget that Zhou Tian is still a member of the Church. His current actions constitute a severe violation of the Church's ironclad laws. I have already reported this matter to the Holy City of the Church of Light. As long as we hold out for a little longer, the Church of Light will step forward on its own to drag Zhou Tian back to face judgment. Therefore, you gentlemen have no need for excessive worry. We will proceed strictly according to our original plan. As long as everything goes smoothly and I ascend the throne, your rewards will naturally be guaranteed."

Listening to Li Jiahao's words, while they didn't entirely believe them, the expressions of Li Jiahao's subordinates improved significantly. Their ties to Li Jiahao were already too deep to sever; unless Li Jiahao himself surrendered, even if they betrayed him at this juncture, they would meet no good end.

Thus, with Li Jiahao refusing to surrender, those men had no other choice left except to place their faith in Li Jiahao's words and hope he could ultimately secure victory.

Zhou Tian was completely unaware of the internal turmoil brewing within Xuanwu City. Seeing that Li Jiahao had sent troops to engage him only to suffer such a miserable defeat, Zhou Tian burst into uninhibited mockery outside the city walls.

However, after this battle, neither Li Jiahao nor his subordinates had any remaining desire to fight Zhou Tian to the finish. No matter how Zhou Tian tried to provoke Li Jiahao, the latter ignored him completely, leaving Zhou Tian with no effective counter.

Since Li Jiahao refused to sally forth from the city, Zhou Tian had no intention of recklessly launching a siege. Aside from fearing that the military-grade magitech devices prepared by Li Jiahao might inflict heavy casualties on his own forces, his primary concern was the fear of accidentally harming the civilians within Xuanwu City.

Up until this very moment, Zhou Tian's reputation among the common people remained quite favorable. Short of an absolute last resort, he was unwilling to do anything in public that would harm civilians.

And so, the two sides fell into a stalemate outside Xuanwu City. Zhou Tian refused to attack, and Li Jiahao dared not make any rash moves. Staring each other down across the battlefield, time slowly ticked away.

Meanwhile, while Zhou Tian kept Li Jiahao pinned down, Empress Wu Zhao was fully displaying her formidable administrative and political talents elsewhere.

The Yanhuang Empire possessed dozens of legions, among which only five were considered truly elite.

The first was the Northern Legion commanded by Li Jiahao, which held the most formidable military might among all the rebellious princes in the Yanhuang Empire. Had Zhou Tian not intervened, with Li Jiahao leading the charge, regardless of which faction ultimately triumphed in the Yanhuang Empire's civil war, the imperial court would have found it virtually impossible to maintain its grip on the throne.

Aside from the Northern Legion, the other four legions consisted of garrison forces stationed in the three other directions of the Yanhuang Empire and the Imperial Guard held in the hands of the royal family.

Among them, while the Imperial Guard was the most elite legion, their small headcount meant they could play little role in suppressing the rebellions across the Yanhuang Empire.

As for the remaining three legions, although they shared the same renown as the Northern Legion, because neighboring nations had not experienced large-scale warfare for a very long time, these troops had grown rusty from a lack of combat experience. Their combat effectiveness had inevitably eroded, making them far inferior to the battle-hardened Northern Legion.