Expedition

Under Xue Ye's leadership, the Heaven Dou Empire's army marched grandly into the Silves Kingdom. The towns and passes along the way opened their gates one after another to let them through.

The kingdom's forces had also finished assembling.

Since Xue Ye was personally leading the troops, and to demonstrate the importance he placed on him, Di Yuan did not appoint Shen Yi as the expedition's commander as everyone had expected. Instead, he chose Di Yang.

Though there had been cases of a crown prince personally leading troops before, it had only ever been symbolic, with no involvement in military command. This time, however, the kingdom's nobles had never expected Di Yuan to directly send his own son to fight the Star Luo Empire. Moreover, it was not only Di Yang going on this expedition—his fourth son, Di Hong, was going as well.

With two princes heading out in person, Di Yuan's regard for this campaign was plain to see.

The kingdom had dispatched only fifty thousand troops this time, though that number included a thousand soldiers from the Scale Armor Army.

Di Yang rode atop a warhorse in full armor, a crimson cape billowing behind him in the wind as the fifty-thousand-strong army advanced grandly toward the Lima Plain.

Fifty thousand soldiers did not sound like much when looking at the number alone, but seeing them in person truly startled Di Hong. The soldiers marching down the road resembled a black dragon stretching endlessly into the distance, with no end visible at a glance.

Unlike the others, Di Hong wore no armor. He was a Spirit Master, and armor was of no use to him.

Against a Spirit Master's attacks, ordinary soldiers' armor was practically just decoration. Only armor forged from special materials could offer any real protection, but that kind of armor was never meant for ordinary soldiers.

The armor Di Yang wore could effectively withstand attacks from Spirit Masters below level thirty, but only three times at most.

"Fourth Brother, how long do you think this war with the Star Luo Empire will last?" Di Yang asked, turning his head toward Di Hong beside him.

Di Hong shook his head. "Hard to say. Probably a few months. The Star Luo Empire has deployed four hundred thousand troops. If they retreat without gaining anything, this war would have been for nothing."

Though Di Hong could not tell when exactly the Star Luo Empire would withdraw, he knew Spirit Hall would certainly intervene. How long had the new Pope, Qian Xunji, been in power before the Two Great Empires broke into war? As the Pope of Spirit Hall, the leader of a third-party force independent of the Two Great Empires, he would never simply stand by and watch.

In past wars, Spirit Hall had always stepped in to mediate. This time would certainly be no exception.

Pope Qian Xunji did not yet have enough prestige. Compared with Qian Daoliu, he was far inferior, both in strength and reputation. Therefore, he definitely needed to build his own prestige, and mediating a war between the Two Great Empires was the perfect way to do so.

"Big Brother, do you think Spirit Hall might have started this war?"

The timing of this war was simply too coincidental. Just as Spirit Hall's old and new Popes were changing hands, war broke out between the Two Great Empires. No conflict on such a scale had erupted in the past year—at most, there had only been small local skirmishes.

Not long after the Star Luo Empire seized a town or pass, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Balak Kingdom would take it back.

"No." Di Yang shook his head with absolute certainty.

"Spirit Hall has never taken the initiative to start a war between the Two Great Empires, and neither empire would listen to them—especially not the Star Luo Empire."

"If it really were Spirit Hall's doing, its influence would not be spread across the entire continent."

Though the Two Great Empires were dissatisfied with Spirit Hall, neither had stopped its expansion. That was because Spirit Hall had never done anything too outrageous and had yet to threaten their rule. On the contrary, it had always done its best to maintain a delicate balance.

Before long, the army spotted the Heaven Dou Empire's expeditionary forces. They were resting not far ahead, clearly waiting for the kingdom's army.

Compared with them, Di Hong suddenly felt that their fifty thousand troops were rather insignificant.

If they really wanted to rebel, the empire could wipe out their kingdom in a month at most.

Perhaps even ten days would be enough.

And this was the Heaven Dou Empire in decline.

The Heaven Dou Empire had a million-strong army, while their entire kingdom had only two hundred thousand troops.

One province against Five Provinces, not to mention the two surrounding kingdoms.

It seemed he would have to plan things carefully.

He could not simply raise his arm and declare war on the empire.

Xue Ye was already waiting there. He wore gleaming silver armor, and a swan embroidered in gold thread adorned the blue cape behind him.

Di Yang and Di Hong promptly rode over, stopping two meters away from Xue Ye.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince." Di Yang cupped his fists in salute, and Di Hong did the same.

After returning the salute with a smile, Xue Ye looked at Di Hong beside Di Yang.

"It has only been a year, yet Brother Di Hong has grown even stronger than when we met in Heaven Dou City last year. At this rate, you will become a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse in less than twenty years. By then, you will be the youngest Titled Douluo on the continent." Xue Ye was somewhat astonished. In just a single year, Di Hong had reached the Soul Emperor rank. He had truly never heard of such talent before.

At Di Hong's age, others were still Soul Elders at best, perhaps Soul Ancestors if they were exceptionally gifted. Yet he was already advancing toward the Soul Saint rank.

"May your words come true. I will certainly work hard and live up to Your Highness's expectations, serving the empire."

Xue Ye smiled in satisfaction. Whether Di Hong meant it or not did not matter—as long as the words sounded good.

"I hope to see Brother Di Hong again in Heaven Dou City someday." His voice was gentle, but it carried a trace of expectation. He truly hoped to see Di Hong in Heaven Dou City, preferably with Di Hong remaining by his side.

"I will." Di Hong answered readily. He would definitely go to Heaven Dou City. After all, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was there. How could he not go?

"Oh?" Xue Ye was somewhat surprised. He had only said it casually, yet Di Hong had agreed so readily.

"Good, good, good. Then I shall await Brother Di Hong's arrival in Heaven Dou City."

After resting for a while, the army immediately set off again.

Along the way, Xue Ye explained the current situation to them.

"Though the Star Luo Empire has four hundred thousand troops, most of them are forces from its vassal kingdoms. Only around a hundred thousand are directly under the empire's command."

"Their commander is Dai Yutian."

"Isn't Star Luo's new crown prince a general surnamed Xu?" Di Yang frowned. The information they had received stated that the Star Luo forces were led by a commander surnamed Xu from within the Star Luo Empire, not even someone from the Zhu Family, which had intermarried with the Royal Family for generations.

So why was Xue Ye now telling them that Dai Yutian was leading the army?

"The nominal commander of the Star Luo Empire's army was Xu Zhong, but their true commander was their Crown Prince, Dai Yutian."

"This battle was probably meant to establish the new Crown Prince's authority. The Star Luo Emperor wanted to use this war to help Dai Yutian secure his footing within the military."

Di Hong found it hard to believe. "Just for that, they launched a war on such a massive scale, leaving countless people displaced. Was it worth it?"

"There's no such thing as worth it or not. Reality is simply like this," Xue Ye said calmly.

Compared to their own interests, the lives of commoners were utterly insignificant. Even if a benefit to themselves required the lives of a million civilians, those million civilians would certainly be sacrificed, because no one cared whether they lived or died.

To people like them, a million civilians were nothing more than a number.

He also grieved for those civilians who had been displaced and lost their homes and families. After all, they were subjects of the Heaven Dou Empire. But he had no way to change anything. He could only end this war as quickly as possible. As for whether the civilians of the Star Luo Empire lived or died, that had little to do with him. He was not Star Luo's Crown Prince.