At last, the sword boat received definite news.
The capital had merely relayed a single sentence, something akin to an oral decree: "You may act now."
It seemed to be neither Emperor His Majesty's edict nor a military order from the Capital Ministry of War following a court deliberation.
From Han Prefecture to Qiu Kingdom, from there to the inside and outside of Qiu Kingdom's capital—from mountain to lowland, court to jianghu, grand clan residences to the common streets—things began to stir.
Zhou Haijing asked in puzzlement, "Besides activating every spy and death warrior in Han Prefecture to infiltrate Qiu Kingdom and lie in wait there, why did they have to transfer and dispatch so many Military Cultivators? Making a mountain out of a molehill is one thing, but they would not even let them intervene freely—they were only allowed to watch? If you ask me, just send a couple of Uncut Jade Realm cultivators, bring a group of Ministry of Justice Earth Immortal worshippers, and add a few Far Travel Realm and Peak Realm Martial Cultivators. Make a few rounds of visits, and it would all be cleaned up in less than half a day, wouldn't it? Or simply send the twelve of us to Qiu Kingdom. There would not be a single casualty."
Cao Gengxin smiled and asked in return, "If an immortal manor has an Immortal or an Ascension Realm cultivator guarding its Daoist grounds, what use are those Lower Five Realms Genealogical Cultivators?"
Zhou Haijing said, "Stop beating around the bush. Speak plainly."
Cao Gengxin patiently explained, "First, this is a military exercise not displayed on the table, conducted in a rather unusual fashion. Yet the Great Li Dynasty, having returned half of Treasure Bottle Continent's territory, will need it for the next several decades, perhaps