Heaven Dou City, the western market district, a teahouse along the street.
On the second floor, candlelight flickered in a private room.
Ning Fengzhi, young master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, sat by the window, holding a secret report that had just arrived from outside the city.
"Four hundred and fifty thousand troops have surrounded the city." He set down the report, his tone calm.
The steward stood quietly at his side.
Across from Ning Fengzhi sat a middle-aged man with a tall, straight bearing and a steady air—Seven Kill Sword, Sword Douluo Chen Xin.
A Level 94 Power Attack System Titled Douluo, the continent's foremost attack-type Titled Douluo, and the sharpest sword of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Uncle Jian, you've finally arrived." Ning Fengzhi lifted his teacup and personally poured Chen Xin a cup. "Sorry for the trouble on the road."
Chen Xin nodded slightly and took the cup. "You sent word to the sect, saying there were strange phenomena in Heaven Dou City. So I set out that very night."
"You sensed that sword intent, too?"
"I did." Chen Xin set down his teacup, his gaze calm.
"Even as I was leaving the sect, I could vaguely sense it.
The closer I got to Heaven Dou City, the clearer that sword intent became.
It was sharp, cold, and carried an aura beyond the mortal realm."
He paused, a trace of apprehension flashing in his eyes.
"I've devoted decades to the sword and believed I'd reached the pinnacle.
But that sword intent... in all my years, I've never seen a sword like it."
Ning Fengzhi was silent for a moment, then said:
"Before you arrived, I sent people to investigate. The sword intent rose from the direction of the imperial palace. It didn't dissipate afterward and is still there now—drawn but not released, hanging overhead without falling."
Chen Xin looked up at him. "You mean that sword intent has been there the whole time?"
"Yes." Ning Fengzhi nodded. "I arrived a few days before you and have felt that oppressive presence every day.
At first, I thought a Titled Douluo was just passing through. But when I realized it had remained above the imperial palace all this time, I knew something was wrong."
Chen Xin's brow furrowed.
"Even stranger," Ning Fengzhi said in a lowered voice,
"that woman—Yan Lingji—hasn't shown the slightest panic.
Four hundred and fifty thousand troops are surrounding the city, yet Heaven Dou City remains as relaxed and carefree as ever. What gives her such confidence?"
Chen Xin said nothing. His fingers rested lightly on the hilt of the long sword across his knees.
"I'd been wondering whether to send someone to contact Prince Xue Ye."
Ning Fengzhi rose and walked to the window.
"If Yan Lingji is defeated, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could pledge its allegiance early and become a great benefactor to the new emperor."
He turned to Chen Xin. "But that sword intent made me afraid to act."
"You did the right thing," Chen Xin said gravely. "Now that I'm in Heaven Dou City, I can feel it even more strongly. There's a sword in the imperial palace.
It's more terrifying than any sword I've ever seen. It could fall at any moment."
He raised a hand and pointed toward the imperial palace.
"With that sword there, the four hundred and fifty thousand outside the city may not win.
After all, according to the secret report, the strongest among those 450,000 troops is only a Level 83 Soul Douluo.
If there truly is a Titled Douluo in the imperial palace, then they could very well change the course of this war."
Heaven Dou Imperial City had four gates, all extremely difficult to breach.
And now, it was in a defensive posture.
Just twenty thousand troops were enough to hold off several times their number—or even ten times as many ordinary soldiers.
What's more, Yan Lingji had taken Heaven Dou Imperial City in such a short time.
There was no way she could have done it alone.
The forces behind her were even more terrifying.
Ning Fengzhi sat back down, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.
"Uncle Jian, what do you think... is the relationship between the owner of that sword intent and Yan Lingji?"
"I don't know." Chen Xin shook his head. "But for someone like her to be stationed in the imperial palace, that woman must be no ordinary person."
Ning Fengzhi set down his teacup, his gaze growing profound.
"The more calm and unruffled she seems, the less I can see through her.
Even you're wary of her. I'd better keep my head down and watch."
Chen Xin nodded slightly.
Ning Fengzhi rose and returned to the window, gazing toward the allied army.
"Wait. There's no need to pledge allegiance before they fight.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect never bets on high or low—we only do business with the winner."
He looked toward the imperial palace and murmured:
"Yan Lingji... what else are you hiding?"
Sword Douluo Chen Xin continued to gaze toward the imperial palace.
The night was black as ink, without stars or moon.
Heavy clouds pressed down over Heaven Dou City, swallowing even the last glimmer of starlight.
The allied army's camp stretched for more than ten miles beyond the city. Scattered pinpricks of fireflies-like light outlined a vast military fortress in the darkness.
Around the camp, a watchtower stood every few dozen paces. The sentries atop them fought to stay alert as they warily watched Heaven Dou City.
Sharpened stakes and chevaux-de-frise lined the outer side of the trenches.
Patrols carried torches along the camp walls.
The clink of armor and the thud of boots were clear in the night wind.
Everything was orderly.
Everything was heavily guarded.
But no one noticed that, in a few places, the earth beneath the camp was shifting slightly.
The movement was tiny, quieter than an ant crawling by.
Even if someone had looked down, they would have thought it was dust stirred up by the night wind.
But those shifting patches weren't limited to one or two places.
They were scattered across several areas of the 450,000-strong army's camp.
The soil shifted again, and a few threads of metal, fine as hair, poked out. They swayed gently in the night breeze, then withdrew a moment later.
Inside a tent beside the central command tent, a man wearing a deputy general's armor slowly opened his eyes.
He was the captain of a certain earl's personal guard.
Back when Xue Ye had summoned the nobles to attack Yan Lingji,
he had already been caught by members of the Net, had his memories erased, and been implanted with commands of loyalty.
His face remained the same, and he still spoke with the same accent, but now he was loyal to Yan Lingji.
There were plenty more like him.
The entire allied army had long since been infiltrated like a sieve.
And the foolish Xue Ye and the others had no idea.
He pulled a short blade from beneath his pillow, tucked it into his belt, threw on his coat, and peered outside through a gap in the tent flap.
The patrol had just passed. The next shift wouldn't come for half an incense stick.
That was more than enough.
He gestured to several subordinates behind him.
They, too, were puppets whose memories had been erased. They nodded expressionlessly and drew their weapons.
At the same moment, in the left and right wings of the allied army's camp, in the rear supply camp,
and even in several tents along the perimeter of the central camp, thousands of people opened their eyes at once.
Some were disguised as noblemen's guards, others were mixed in with the laborers handling supplies.
Some had become personal guards to earls, and a few had even risen to the ranks of mid-level officers.
138 Three people, spread throughout the allied army, from scouts to guards, from supply crews to officers' personal retinues—they were everywhere.
They had waited a long time for this signal.
It was time to act and offer their loyalty to the empress.
Inside the central command tent, candles burned brightly.
Marshal Helge sat in the seat of honor, a huge map of Heaven Dou City's defenses spread before him.
Prince Xue Ye sat to his left, King Kundera of Balaque to his right, while the commanders of dozens of noble houses stood in two rows on either side.
"The map of the city's defenses is complete." Helge pointed to the markings on the map.
"Of Heaven Dou City's four gates, the north gate has the weakest defenses and the most defenders.
The south gate has the strongest defenses and the fewest defenders.
Because they're certain we won't launch our main attack from the south."
"So we attack from the south?" Xue Ye asked.
"No." Helge shook his head.
"We'll surround them for three days and cut off their supply lines to wear down their morale.
The city's food supplies won't last half a month. Once they're too hungry to fight, we'll break through the city in one fell swoop."
Kundera stroked his beard and nodded slowly. "The marshal is wise. A frontal assault would cost too many lives. Surrounding the city without attacking is the superior strategy."
The commanders around the tent nodded, the atmosphere relaxed.
They had no idea that, dozens of yards beneath their feet, a steel behemoth lay in wait.
Earth-Breaking Three coiled beneath the ground, its body drawn tightly in, its pitch-black scales gleaming with a cold sheen in the soil.
Xiaomeng sat atop Earth-Breaking Three, Qiuli Sword resting across her knees, her cool face expressionless.
On high ground outside the city, Snow Maiden raised the Blue Sea Tide-Rising Flute to her lips.
In the rear courtyard of Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Yan Lingji reclined on a soft couch, her nine tails swaying gently, her peach-blossom eyes lowered.
A pitch-black tentacle reached out from beneath her skirt. She gently grasped it, leaned forward to kiss it, and smiled seductively.
"Attack."
In an instant,
the signal was sent directly to all the women through Jiang Ce's Venom symbiote link.
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