The Emperor Personally Leads the Expedition?

In Grand Tutor Wenzhong's residence in Morning Song, a scout on a fast horse delivered the front-line battle report. Though it contained only a few brief lines, every word struck like a dagger to the heart.

Wenzhong gripped the report, his knuckles suddenly tightening. His body trembled faintly beneath his black robe, and a pained sigh escaped his throat. "How could this have happened?!"

Upon learning that all Four Sages of Nine Dragons had fallen and Zhang Guifang had been defeated and taken his own life, endless self-reproach swept through him in an instant.

He squeezed his eyes shut, his expression desolate and remorseful. "I harmed the four Fellow Daoists! I personally went to invite them, dragging them into this mortal killing tribulation and ruining their ten-thousand-year path of cultivation!"

Even now, Wenzhong found it hard to believe that the Four Sages of Nine Dragons, cultivators of such profound strength, had actually met their downfall in Western Qi.

One had to know that although any one of the Four Sages was weaker than him, if all four joined forces, even he could only be defeated and retreat. He had never possessed any certainty of victory against them.

In his eyes, with the Four Sages commanding the vanguard, quelling the unrest in Western Qi should have been as easy as turning over one's hand.

Had he not feared that Di Xin, secluded deep within the palace, would act recklessly and bring further disaster upon himself, shaking the foundations of Morning Song, he had originally intended to personally lead the army on campaign. Why would he have needed to trouble the four Fellow Daoists and send them into danger?

In the end, the Four Sages of Nine Dragons had taken this Death Tribulation of the campaign against Qi in his place.

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