Great Xia Prefecture.
While Liu Wenyan and Su Yu were discussing matters, people in the City Lord's Mansion were arguing as well.
The vast hall held only a sparse few people.
Xia Longwu sat ramrod straight, gazing directly below.
Below him, on the left, sat an elderly man—a strategist-like figure of Great Xia Prefecture. He wore a smile and listened silently without uttering a word.
On the right sat another elderly man, refined and easygoing, likewise smiling. His hair was silver-white, and he too remained silent.
Apart from those two, a burly middle-aged man stood alone in the hall, his muscles knotted. In a booming voice, he angrily rebuked, "Wan Tiansheng, stop preaching that nonsense of yours! This is Great Xia Prefecture, not the Seeking Realm!"
The man he berated was the silver-haired elder on the right.
Wan Tiansheng, the Sixth Generation Academy Head of Daxia Civilization Academy!
Wan Tiansheng's smile remained gentle. Even under the burly man's furious rebuke, he stayed calm and composed. His voice was not loud, yet every word carried clearly. Slowly, he said, "Zheng Ping, speak properly. Don't shout so loudly. My ears aren't deaf—I can hear you."
Still smiling, Wan Tiansheng spoke as though chatting idly with a neighbor. "The Dragon Martial Guard should withdraw. They have fought enough. In the battle against the Tianyi Divine Race, three thousand guardsmen suffered nearly a thousand casualties. The losses were grievous."
"When it is time to show your fist, then show it. I have no objection to that."
"But now, are we truly planning to exterminate the Tianyi Divine Race?"
Wan Tiansheng looked at Xia Longwu and said softly, "Prefecture Lord, you should understand that it cannot be done. What the Tianyi Divine Race deployed to the Battlefields of the Heavens was merely a ten-thousand-man guard unit, not their entire main force."
"If we continue the pursuit, we may achieve greater results, but we will have to fill the gap with even more lives."
"Does the Prefecture Lord intend to throw all three thousand Dragon Martial Guards into this?"
After speaking, Wan Tiansheng shook his head. "There is no need. It is far too rash. We have fought; that is enough. Now, we should negotiate! Negotiate with the Tianyi Divine Race and, at a certain price, have this remnant force of theirs withdraw..."
Before he could finish, the burly man roared, "We have already surrounded them! They are now nearing a dead zone. This ten-thousand-man unit can clearly be wiped out completely, yet you, Wan Tiansheng, want to let them leave. What are your intentions?"
"Did the Tianyi Divine Race buy you off?"
Wan Tiansheng was not angered. Smiling, he said, "Zheng Ping, there is no need for personal attacks. I never denied that we could take them down. The key is... is it worth it? Three thousand Dragon Martial Guards—how much did Great Xia Prefecture spend to build them? Are we going to throw them all away over one ten-thousand-man unit?"
"There are people from your War Academy in there, and people from our Civilization Academy too. They are all elites. Are we going to send them in just to fight a ragtag force?"
Wan Tiansheng sighed softly. "Some people do not like using their brains. They only enjoy fighting and killing. Such people... should be thrown onto the battlefield as ordinary soldiers. Never let them command."
The burly man said coldly, "I served in the army for thirty years. I fought my way up from being an ordinary soldier!"
"..."
Wan Tiansheng laughed. "Then just be a good thug. Why insist on meddling in the making of major plans?"
The burly man said angrily, "I know you look down on me, and I do not need your respect! But if we mobilize the remaining two thousand Dragon Martial Guards of Great Xia Prefecture, we can annihilate them without paying too great a price!"
Unwilling to accept this, the burly man said, "We lost nearly a thousand men to drive them into a corner. Wan Tiansheng, if you make Great Xia Prefecture withdraw now, have you considered what the Dragon Martial Guard will think?"
"Will the soldiers at the front line accept this?"
"I am a soldier. I understand them! They will not accept it. They will feel wronged. They have lost one-third of their comrades, gained absolute superiority, and driven the enemy into a dead end. To give up now... no one can accept that!"
The burly man's eyes reddened. "We paid such a tremendous price to win this war..."
"Which is why we need to make up for it!"
Wan Tiansheng said softly, "War is not about exhausting the nation's strength through reckless campaigns, Zheng Ping. After all these years, why do you still not understand? Sometimes, victory and defeat are not measured by how many people you kill, but by how much you gain."
"I do not like Great Xia Prefecture's way of fighting—slaughtering everything, leaving not a blade of grass behind!"
"It is bad, very bad!"
"Acting like this will only stir up the enemy's will to resist. It will only make them fight to the death, smashing their cauldrons and sinking their boats!"
"When it is time to stop, stop at once. Make them use resources, cultivation methods, martial techniques, divine blood, and heavenly treasures to exchange for their lives."
"The next time war begins, once they have lost thirty percent of their forces halfway through, they will think of surrendering and spending money to buy their lives."
"Break their fighting spirit instead of igniting it."
Wan Tiansheng sighed. "Great Xia Prefecture has fought so many wars over the years. Yes, every time, we kill the most enemies—but every time, we also suffer the greatest losses and reap the smallest gains of any prefecture!"
"You have stirred up the enemy's fighting spirit. The myriad races on the Battlefields of the Heavens know that when they encounter Great Zhou Prefecture, if they cannot win, they can spend money to buy their lives. But when they encounter Great Xia Prefecture... they fight to the bitter end!"
"Zhou Potian has done this very well. Even Great Ming Prefecture has done better than us."
"Our Great Xia Prefecture has elite troops and fierce generals, unrivaled among the prefectures in killing enemies on the battlefield. But... what about the losses? What about the pensions?"
Wan Tiansheng shook his head and sighed. "Zheng Ping, I think the Prefecture Lord should send you to inspect the treasury. Go see whether the treasury... is empty."
Zheng Ping's body trembled slightly as he looked toward Xia Longwu.
Xia Longwu, who had not spoken all this time, met Zheng Ping's gaze and calmly said, "The treasury is indeed not very well supplied, but that is no matter. Great Xia Prefecture's foundations can bear the expense!"
Wan Tiansheng chuckled. "So the Prefecture Lord means... we continue fighting?"
Xia Longwu looked at him and said indifferently, "Wan Tiansheng, some of what you said is correct. Whenever Great Xia Prefecture goes to war, we suffer the greatest losses and gain the least. I know these matters better than you. Yet all these years, I have merely listened to your words and never taken them to heart. Do you know why?"
Wan Tiansheng was not surprised. Slowly, he said, "I understand. The Prefecture Lord needs to forge the strongest human legion! To give humanity a vanguard army capable of fighting brutal battles!"
"It is good that you understand!"
Xia Longwu rose to his feet and said coldly, "In the past, Great Zhou Prefecture was the strongest! The Great Zhou Army swept across the Battlefields of the Heavens, invincible wherever it went! At that time, they were exactly like this. After winning, their enemies could spend money to buy their lives."
"One year, two years... ten years, a hundred years!"
"Then, on one expedition through the heavens, they had clearly driven their enemy into a dead end. They believed it was time to cast the net and reap the harvest. But... they were wrong! That elite divine race legion fought with death-defying resolve!"
"With ten thousand soldiers, they crushed the careless hundred-thousand-strong Great Zhou legion! The Great Zhou Army had forgotten how to fight to the end. They had forgotten how to fight with the resolve to die! A hundred thousand troops... actually collapsed!"
Xia Longwu sneered. "That was the Battle of Luozhouhai recorded by humanity! A disastrous defeat!"
"A hundred thousand of the most elite troops were defeated by a remnant army! It was unbelievable. The Myriad Races of the Heavens were shocked, and they suddenly discovered... humanity's most elite legion was actually a paper tiger!"
A chill appeared on Xia Longwu's face. "The Great Zhou Army, hailed as invincible, had its myth shattered just like that! Because they had grown accustomed to it. In war... why should so many people die?"
Xia Longwu looked at Wan Tiansheng and said solemnly, "The lesson of the cart before us is right in front of our eyes, Wan Tiansheng. Do you still think hard battles are unnecessary?"
"That is not what I mean."
Wan Tiansheng shook his head, then continued, "But Great Xia Prefecture truly cannot hold on any longer! Prefecture Lord, there must be a proper balance between tension and relaxation. We cannot negate the entire Great Zhou Army because of one defeat. The reason the Great Zhou Army was able to rise again so quickly was because they had gained enormously back then, allowing them to rapidly rebuild an elite legion!"
"But our Great Xia Prefecture... if we lose the Dragon Martial Guard, rebuilding another Dragon Martial Guard will be difficult—far too difficult!"
Xia Longwu stared down at him.
Wan Tiansheng did not avoid his gaze. Looking Xia Longwu directly in the eye, he repeated, "Withdraw the army. Negotiate. Use resources to buy lives!"
"I, Xia Longwu, am the soul of Great Xia Prefecture. I cannot retreat!"
"Then retreat you must!"
The previously refined Wan Tiansheng turned aggressive, his gaze sharp as blades. "If you do not retreat, Daxia Civilization Academy will never again provide the Dragon Martial Guard with a single soldier! No more civilization masters will enter the Dragon Martial Guard to fight!"
"Are you threatening me?"
Xia Longwu's voice sank. Wan Tiansheng rose to his feet, his expression grave. "If you do not retreat, I would rather have the teachers and students of the academy defect to Great Zhou Prefecture than let the academy's sons die upon the Battlefields of the Heavens to build the name of Xia Longwu!"
"Bastard!"
Zheng Ping roared, "Wan Tiansheng, are you betraying Great Xia Prefecture?"
"No. I am saving Great Xia Prefecture. I am willing to fight for humanity, but not for a solitary tyrant!"
Wan Tiansheng suddenly removed the ceremonial crown from his head and said solemnly, "Wan Tiansheng requests to resign from the position of Academy Head of Daxia Civilization Academy!"
Xia Longwu stared at him for a long time without speaking.
Just then, the elderly man on the left smiled and said, "Director Wan, stop teasing Director Zheng."
Zheng Ping frowned at them, somewhat displeased. What did that mean?
The elderly man chuckled. "We should retreat. Great Xia Prefecture has fought for decades; the battles have been too bitter, and the losses too great. The Prefecture Lord summoned you today precisely to discuss this matter."
"Since you already guessed it, why make the Prefecture Lord lose face..."
Wan Tiansheng feigned confusion. "What do you mean?"
The elderly man laughed and shook his head. "You have not changed at all from back then. Let me explain. You two are always shouting and arguing—can't you calm down a little?"
"The Prefecture Lord wants to retreat... but he cannot retreat. He is a banner of humanity and the soul of Great Xia Prefecture. If he retreats, what will the frontline soldiers think?"
"He is not the shameless Zhu Tiandao..."
Laughter suddenly rang through the previously tense hall.
Even Xia Longwu, usually stern and unsmiling, sat back down. He coughed lightly and said, "Nonsense! Do not spout nonsense. Director Zhu... cough, cough, he still knows when he ought to care about his dignity."
Everyone laughed, and the elderly man laughed as well. "Yes, this old man misspoke. Let us not discuss that man and return to the subject. A withdrawal is necessary. The Dragon Martial Guard cannot pay the price of several thousand men in exchange for the Tianyi Divine Race's ten-thousand-man guard unit."
"But it cannot be done in the Prefecture Lord's name."
"The Prefecture Lord killed several experts of the Tianyi Divine Cult and needs to enter seclusion at once."
"We summoned the two of you today because of the ceremony in a few days... While the Prefecture Lord is in seclusion, Marquis Xia will temporarily act as Prefecture Lord. Then... Wan Tiansheng, put on the same performance you gave today."
The elderly man smiled. "Have Marquis Xia order the withdrawal! The Prefecture Lord will be in seclusion and uninvolved in all affairs, so it will have nothing to do with him."
"Even if the frontline soldiers are dissatisfied, it will not matter. Marquis Xia will not care about such things either."
"Marquis Xia is a merchant to begin with. Let him negotiate compensation, losses, and terms with the Tianyi Divine Race. Then the Tianyi Divine Race will not become suspicious, nor will the Myriad Races of the Heavens see Great Xia Prefecture's weakness."
At this moment, Zheng Ping understood. Unable to restrain himself, he cursed quietly, "You old bastard, is this appropriate? Marquis Xia... every time there is a black pot to carry, you dump it on his head. His reputation outside is already cursed beyond count..."
"Then he will not care about one more curse."
The elderly man smiled. "Director Zheng, Director Wan was not wrong. Great Xia Prefecture's treasury is nearly empty. We truly cannot keep fighting like this. We cannot build a second Dragon Martial Guard. Once this group of fierce troops and powerful generals is spent, Great Xia Prefecture's elite forces will be finished!"
"It is only the Tianyi Divine Race. It is not as though we are directly exterminating their race. Why fixate on a single ten-thousand-man guard unit? The Prefecture Lord enters seclusion, and Marquis Xia takes office. That elder loves wealth, not fame; the Myriad Races of the Heavens all know this."
"If he chooses to withdraw and make the Tianyi Divine Race compensate us to replenish Great Xia Prefecture's treasury, who can object?"
The elderly man smiled brilliantly. "The Tianyi Divine Race will probably even rejoice that Marquis Xia took office rather than the Prefecture Lord continuing to command the Dragon Martial Guard. Otherwise, this ten-thousand-man guard unit truly would be finished."
"The Prefecture Lord is famous for never lowering his head. If he withdrew now, people would instead find it unbelievable and think Great Xia Prefecture... truly was about to collapse."
Zheng Ping wanted to speak but hesitated. After a moment, he asked in a muffled voice, "Is it really that serious?"
"It is. The treasury truly is nearly empty."
The elderly man sighed. "Otherwise, after fighting for so many years, why would we choose to compromise now? The Tianyi Divine Race even dared to invade Great Xia Prefecture. Under our previous attitude, we would never stop until we had beaten them into agony!"
"But now, we truly need to nurture our troops and build up our strength."
The elderly man said seriously, "The Prefecture Lord's choice to enter seclusion at this time was also made with this in mind. We cannot keep fighting. It is not just the Dragon Martial Guard—the Demon Suppression Army has issued calls to recall veteran soldiers many times. The losses are too great. The Demon Suppression Army included, all of us need to quiet down for a while."
"Great Xia Prefecture appears powerful, but in reality, we are already facing a gap between old and new. We built our prestige through war over these years, and now choosing to rest, recover, and multiply our strength is necessary!"
"When Great Xia Prefecture has recovered its vitality, that will be when the Prefecture Lord emerges from seclusion!"
"And at that time, it will also be when the Prefecture Lord ascends to Invincibility!"
At the side, Xia Longwu said faintly, "I had originally planned to charge into the Battlefields of the Heavens in the coming days, slaughter a king, and use that to help me ascend to that realm! However... for the sake of certainty, we will conserve our strength and postpone this battle. In a few years, I believe Great Xia Prefecture can recover its vitality!"
"The Prefecture Lord is wise!"
Wan Tiansheng flattered him. "With the Prefecture Lord making this choice, Great Xia Prefecture has hope!"
Xia Longwu did not buy it. Indifferently, he said, "Were you not going to resign? How about this: resign at the ceremony in a few days! Since Zhou Potian is willing to take you, go to him."
"The Prefecture Lord jests!"
Wan Tiansheng's expression did not change. "That was merely a rehearsal, to ensure that Marquis Xia will not see through us at the ceremony, and that others will not see the truth. Zhou Potian is old and cunning; I disdain keeping company with him!"
"Heh heh!"
Xia Longwu gave a cold laugh. "Convey those words... to Zhou Potian!"
He was speaking to the elderly man on the left.
The elderly man laughed and looked at Zheng Ping. "Director Zheng, you will convey those words to Director Zhou. Director Wan's words—repeat every single one without omission!"
Zheng Ping's face turned black, but he said nothing.
Xia Longwu ignored them and rose to his feet. "It is decided, then! The Dragon Martial Guard will withdraw swiftly. The Tianyi Divine Race must pay a price, while I... enter seclusion. On the day I emerge, I will use the Tianyi Divine Race as my blade!"
The people below answered in assent. No one raised another objection.
Wan Tiansheng wore a broad smile. As he was leaving, he glanced at Zheng Ping and sighed. "A foolhardy brute, not worth plotting with!"
Zheng Ping's face was black. "You old bastard, during this year's inter-academy exchange, just wait until your academy is filled with cries!"
Wan Tiansheng did not care. Instead, he smiled happily. "I'll be waiting. Fight—fight hard! In previous years, your War Academy people were too soft-handed, their fists too light, as though they had not eaten."
"When you go this year, I will provide ten thousand jin of blood food for free. Eat until you are full, use more strength, and if you drive away half the students, I will send you a banner of honor. There are too many people at the Civilization Academy anyway. What do we need so many for?"
Wan Tiansheng shook his head. "A crowd of mediocrities. I have long wanted to streamline the academy. If those old fellows had not stopped me, I would recruit at most a thousand people each year! Old Zheng, I will trouble you this time. Work harder. Drive away a thousand people, and I will personally lead the academy's teachers and students to deliver a banner of honor to your place!"
Zheng Ping's face grew even darker. This old bastard—he had never once won a battle of words against him!
Wan Tiansheng laughed heartily and strolled out of the hall. With a sigh, he said, "Great Xia War College... has declined! Ah! Dragon Martial Academy has some promise, but what a pity for your Great Xia War College. Truly, if you do not drive away a thousand people this year, I will look down on you!"
As his words fell, Wan Tiansheng had already vanished from sight.
After he left, Zheng Ping suddenly said weakly, "That old bastard is becoming harder and harder to deal with! Prefecture Lord, is Great Xia Prefecture truly going to shift from offense to defense?"
Beside him, Xia Longwu, who had seemingly departed earlier, had reappeared at some unknown time.
Watching Wan Tiansheng leave, Xia Longwu fell silent for a moment before softly saying, "Not defense. Waiting! Waiting for us to recover our vitality! Wan Tiansheng waited all these years, until Great Xia Prefecture was powerless. So... he won."
Zheng Ping sighed again. "I am somewhat afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"Afraid... that we will lose our fighting spirit, lose our confidence, lose our morale."
Zheng Ping turned to Xia Longwu, his expression complicated. "I fear that after we retreat, Great Xia Prefecture... even its people's hearts will change with this retreat!"
"What is meant to come will come sooner or later."
Xia Longwu said faintly, "We cannot fight for an entire lifetime, fighting until old soldiers retire only to return to battle once again! Resting and recuperating are necessary. Recovering now is better than recovering only when we can no longer fight."
"Old Zheng, the War Academy has also suffered grievous losses over the years. It is time to rest."
After saying that, Xia Longwu spoke no more. A desolate air clung to him.
He had been strong and competitive his entire life, but at this moment, he could no longer keep forcing himself to be strong.
He claimed to look down on Zhu Tiandao and Zhou Potian, but in truth... he admired them somewhat, envied them somewhat.
At least... fewer of their sons had died in battle than those of my Great Xia Prefecture...
Muttering inwardly, bitterness surfaced in Xia Longwu's eyes. He wanted to continue fighting, but reality would not allow him to continue.
Exhausting the nation's strength through reckless campaigns!
Great Xia Prefecture was like oil poured upon a blazing fire at this moment. It appeared as splendid as blooming flowers, yet danger had long lurked on all sides.
Wan Tiansheng... we have fought for so many years. I want to see what you can change.
Xia Longwu murmured inwardly. He also wanted to see just how far Wan Tiansheng could go.
Civilization Academy... the next frontier. I hope trouble will not arise. Teacher... can you truly keep it under control?
Xia Longwu chuckled softly. Teacher—yes, that man had been his first mentor.
But after so many years, he had almost forgotten.
Before you continue