Three days later.
In the court hall of the Star Luo Empire.
A chamberlain stood in the center of the hall and repeated Gui Mei's words to the court room exactly as they were.
Star Luo Emperor was sitting on the dragon chair, with a posture as tall and straight as a pine tree, a resolute and majestic face, and a pair of tiger eyes that slowly swept across the faces of the courtiers.
"My dear friends," he said in a low voice, "Spirit Hall asks our two countries to withdraw their troops. What do you think?"
As soon as these words came out, the hall was silent for a moment.
The courtiers looked at me, and I looked at you, their eyes colliding, intertwining, and dodging in the air, but no one took the initiative to speak.
Star Luo Emperor glanced around the court, and when no one answered, he turned his head slightly, his eyes fell on a middle-aged man with a burly figure and a resolute face, and he called out in a deep voice:
"Zhu Aiqing, what do you think?"
The person named took a step forward, the hem of his court uniform swaying slightly at his feet.
He bowed slightly, clasped his hands into fists, and replied in a steady voice:
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, I wish you to withdraw your troops."
"Oh?" Star Luo Emperor raised his eyebrows slightly, a trace of displeasure flashed in his eyes, "Tell me your reasons."
"Your Majesty."
The man straightened up, looked around, and then returned to Star Luo Emperor's face.
"The armies of our Star Luo Empire and Heaven Dou Empire have been fighting at the border for more than a month."
"During this period, both sides suffered numerous casualties, and their daily supplies of food, grass, and baggage were consumed at an extremely exaggerated figure."
"But our front line has been stuck at Jialing Pass, without advancing at all."
"In the long run, apart from wasting national power, we will not get any benefits at all."
He didn't dare to tell Clear Sky Sect directly. Clear Sky Sect was the sect that protected the country of the Star Luo Empire. Those elders received salaries from the empire but did not work hard on the battlefield. Everyone knew it, but no one dared to say it.
He just leaned forward again and continued:
"Therefore, I believe that retreating is the best option."
"That's wrong."
A voice sounded from the queue, and a minister who looked like a civil servant walked out of the queue.
He leaned slightly towards Star Luo Emperor and said in a clear voice:
"Your Majesty, I believe that instead of retreating our troops at this moment, we need to increase our troop investment in the Heaven Dou Empire."
"Tell me your reasons." Star Luo Emperor said calmly.
"Yes, Your Majesty,"
The civil servant straightened up, glanced at the courtiers present, and raised his voice a little higher.
"We have invested too much troops and money in Jialing Pass."
"If you quit, you will lose all your money."
"Of course, that's not the point."
"My Star Luo Empire family has a great business and is far from comparable to the Heaven Dou Empire. These losses are nothing at all."
The civil servant's tone suddenly changed and became a little more solemn.
"The real point is, if Spirit Hall asks us to cease the war, and we just withdraw our troops and cease the war, what will we become Star Luo Empire?"
"Became his Spirit Hall's subordinate?"
"How will the common people view our Majesty?"
"You think His Majesty is just a subordinate of the Spirit Hall?"
"He Spirit Hall is the real master of the Douluo Continent?"
The civil servant's voice rose a little higher, with a hint of excitement.
"Therefore, not only can we not withdraw our troops, but we must increase our deployment of troops against Jialing Pass."
"Even if we can't break Jialing Pass, we still have to force Heaven Dou Empire to cede territory and pay compensation!"
"But what if Spirit Hall pursues this matter?" Star Luo Emperor asked again, his tone was calm, and there was no hint of happiness or anger.
"Your Majesty is worried about the new Pope, right?" The civil servant smiled slightly, with a trace of calmness on his lips.
He stroked his beard and said slowly:
"As far as I know, Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden is only twenty years old, and his experience is extremely shallow. He has almost never left Spirit City. It can be said that he has no political means at all."
"To deal with such a new Pope, we only need to fool it a little bit to get through it."
Star Luo Emperor heard this, nodded slightly, and his eyes became distant, as if he was thinking about something.
After a moment, he tapped his fingers on the armrest twice and said calmly, "In that case, let's do as you said..."
The other side.
Heaven Dou Empire.
The atmosphere in the court hall is completely different from the Star Luo Empire.
Heaven Dou Empire's courtiers responded quite positively to the Spirit Hall's "stop".
The hall was buzzing like a swarm of wasps that had stabbed their nests. People were talking to each other, and they were talking almost overwhelmingly in support of the truce.
Some people say, "When the two countries are at war, all lives are in ruins. Spirit Hall's move is actually kind and benevolent."
Some people say, "I, Heaven Dou Empire, have just experienced a national mourning. Our national strength is weakening. It is time for us to recuperate and recuperate, and it is not appropriate to fight again."
Others said, "Spirit Hall is very powerful. If you offend them, I'm afraid there will be endless troubles"...
In short, everyone's reasons are high-sounding, and everyone's expression is concerned about the country and the people.
But the strange thing is that Xue Ye defied all opinions and ordered the fight to continue.
He sat on the dragon throne with a stern face, and his eyes swept over the faces of the noisy courtiers.
The reason given by Xue Ye is also very simple. If Spirit Hall asks him to retreat, he will retreat. Wouldn't that make the whole world think that he is weak and can be bullied?
As a result, the war between the two sides under Jialing Pass became more intense.
Star Luo Empire increases troops, Heaven Dou Empire also increases troops.
Star Luo Empire strengthens the offensive, Heaven Dou Empire also strengthens the defense.
The war raged more and more fiercely, with more and more casualties, and continued unabated until the spring of the following year.
The following spring.
The glacier opens and everything returns to spring.
The ice and snow in winter gradually melt under the warm sunshine of spring, turning into trickles, flowing into rivers and running towards the sea.
The willow trees on the shore have sprouted new buds, and their green branches are swaying gently in the breeze, like a girl's long hair.
Within Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Zhao Linchuan is sitting cross-legged next to the spring in Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, surrounded by two emerald-gold divine rings. The majestic aura dyes the surrounding air with a light emerald-gold color.
The two divine rings rotated quietly around him, neither hurried nor slow. Each rotation brought about a wave of subtle energy fluctuations, like ripples in water, spreading around in circles.
Wherever he passed, even the green grass beside the spring straightened up, and the dewdrops on the leaves reflected tiny rays of light.
Zhao Linchuan moved in his heart and opened his own properties panel.
[Zhao Linchuan:]
[Divine power level: level 105 (no god position)]
[Spiritual power level: 109 (no god)]
[First Soul/Supreme Ease Golden Edge: Red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, dark gold, platinum.]
[Second Soul/Primordial Spirit Beast: Cuijin, Cuijin.]
[Soul Bone configuration: Ice and Fire Dragon King's left and right arm bones, Azure Life Left Leg Bone, one hundred thousand year Four-Winged Holy Feather Beast's right leg bone, Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's assault torso bone, Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's wisdom Head Soul Bone.]