Alliance of Weishui

The moment Xu Nian'an swung his longsword down without a hint of hesitation, the hundreds of thousands of Great Snow Dragon Cavalry present followed suit without a moment's pause.

They brought their butcher blades down directly upon the remaining prisoners of war!

Squelch!

Squelch!

Blood erupted like a fountain, and in an instant, over a hundred thousand headless corpses were added to the scene.

Was it cruel to turn the blade on one hundred thousand prisoners who had already surrendered?

The answer was yes—it was cruel, and more than just a little. But Xu Nian'an did not care.

In the past, simply because a group of people from a defeated nation had attempted to assassinate him, Xu Nian'an had not hesitated to turn his blade against their entire country and its million civilians.

He had demonstrated what it truly meant for an emperor's wrath to leave a million corpses in its wake.

Whether it was trapping and slaughtering the fifty-thousand-strong Heaven Dou army on the battlefield or dropping a nuclear bomb, every instance had resulted in death tolls far exceeding hundreds of thousands.

In Xu Nian'an's eyes, there were only two types of people.

His own people, and everyone else.

Between his own people and others, Xu Nian'an would choose his own without a second thought.

Therefore, let alone these one hundred thousand prisoners—even if the number had reached a million, Xu Nian'an would have ordered the execution without hesitation.

Killing the so-called commander of the Heaven Dou Allied Forces, Xue Yi, did not extinguish the rage burning in Xu Nian'an's heart.

On the contrary, it only made his fury burn even brighter.

Such trash.

A mere five hundred thousand men had wiped out a force of one hundred thousand Dragon Guards.

Xu Nian'an felt the pain deep within, his anger churning. If only... if only they had waited a little longer.

Xu Nian'an had been planning to arrange for their Martial Soul awakening; once they absorbed their soul rings and became Soul Masters, a force of one hundred thousand could have easily crushed five hundred thousand.

Unfortunately, there were no "ifs," and there were no "what-ifs."

"Xu Yi!"

The moment Xu Nian'an's voice fell, a middle-aged man with disheveled long hair, three arrows protruding from his chest, and a face as pale as death stepped slowly out from the crowd.

Because of his outstanding talent as a Soul Master, Xu Yi had achieved the rank of Soul Emperor before the age of thirty-five and was highly valued by the late King, who specially appointed him as the commander of the Imperial Guard. Now, at only thirty-five years old (and through special augmentation), he had become a Level 71 Power Attack System Battle Soul Saint.

"You have disappointed This Lonely One too much."

Thud!

"This subject deserves death!"

"If not for Your Majesty, I fear I would have allowed the Heaven Dou Allied Forces to trample over Gulei City and inflict harm upon the people of Great Ming!"

"I failed to fulfill the order to hold the city for a month. This is my dereliction of duty. I beg Your Majesty to punish me alone."

"The three thousand Dragon Armor Army soldiers remaining by my side fought to the death without retreating. One hundred thousand Dragon Armor Army soldiers, to protect Great Ming, to protect the Great Ming empire, fought to the death without retreating!!!"

Xu Yi's entire body surged with Soul Power, but as soon as he finished speaking, his vision went black, and he collapsed, completely unconscious.

"Your Majesty!"

"General Xu Yi... he did his best. It was just... there were simply too many enemy soldiers. We couldn't kill them all, it was impossible to kill them all."

"Please, Your Majesty, do not punish the General any further!"

Clatter!

As soon as the words were spoken, the three thousand Dragon Guards knelt as well.

Xu Nian'an's pupils constricted.

He truly had not expected that those summoned by the system would also possess emotions.

Xu Nian'an had assumed they were of a lower order than even an NPC like Xu Yi.

After all, they were summoned by the system, but looking at them now, it seemed he had underestimated them.

They were real people, with blood, emotions, and flesh.

They had the same black hair, the same pupils, and the same yellow skin.

"Haa..."

After a long while, Xu Nian'an let out a long sigh and waved his hand.

The pain—it was truly too painful!

His heart ached even more.

To have their own emotions meant they were real people who could marry, have children, contribute infinitely to Great Ming, and leave behind countless generations of descendants!

One hundred thousand people—damn it, if each one had three to five children, that would be five hundred thousand!

"Raise the troops!"

Pain was pain, but the war still had to be fought.

With fury burning in his heart, Xu Nian'an gave the order. The three hundred thousand Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, along with the remaining one hundred thousand Dragon Guard and fifty thousand elite soldiers, moved in an instant.

This time, Xu Nian'an did not take everyone to attack Heaven Dou.

Having already wiped out two forces of five hundred thousand, he believed the Heaven Dou Empire's current military strength must be on the verge of collapse.

At most, they had less than three hundred thousand left.

Xu Nian'an leading four hundred and fifty thousand was more than enough to sweep through Heaven Dou.

A day later, those stationed on the other side of the Mingdou Mountain Range guarding the Heaven Dou border noticed something amiss.

The Heaven Dou Allied Forces had not sent a status report for over twenty-four hours.

In other words, the five hundred thousand men of the Heaven Dou Allied Forces had lost contact once again.

That afternoon, the moment the vast sea of silver-armored, white-robed troops surged over the other side of the Mingdou Mountain Range, the Heaven Dou garrison was struck with terror.

The emergency courier system was activated immediately.

That same afternoon.

Emperor Xue Ye in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace received another urgent dispatch.

"What!"

"The five hundred thousand Heaven Dou Allied Forces have lost contact?"

It was the same familiar script again.

Five hundred thousand men had gone missing, but another piece of news in the letter made Emperor Xue Ye's body run cold.

[The Daming Army has crossed the Mingdou border and entered the Heaven Dou Empire's primary province, Di'ao Province!]

Soon, the State Council summoned the officials once again to convene the Tiandou Congress.

But before they could reach any conclusion, Xu Nian'an led his army across the Heavenly Spirit Mountain Range and the Guhen Hills without meeting any resistance, arriving before a great river to stand face-to-face with the prosperous Tiandou City.

In the span of a single afternoon, he had swiftly surrounded the entire city.

That everything had gone so smoothly was thanks to Emperor Xue Ye himself.

Because Long Xiaoyao had shown just a glimpse of his power last time, it had scared Xue Ye into summoning all his troops overnight to guard the Imperial Palace.

Excluding the army sent to attack Daming, there were only two hundred thousand Heaven Dou troops left in Tiandou City.

All other regional forces had been emptied.

It was rare to find even ten thousand soldiers in any other location; how could they possibly block Xu Nian'an's four hundred thousand troops?

Along the way, whenever they encountered resistance, Xu Nian'an gave the order to annihilate them without a moment's hesitation.

Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.

"Your Majesty, we... we are surrounded!"

When this news reached the ears of Emperor Xue Ye, who was still in the State Council discussing how to deal with the Daming Army, the room fell into instant silence.

"W-what!"

The next moment, the State Council erupted into chaos!

Previously, some had suggested summoning more troops or asking the kingdoms and the Star Luo Empire for reinforcements.

Others had talked about setting traps to slaughter the enemy.

There were all sorts of chaotic ideas, but those were all based on the premise that the capital, Tiandou City, had not yet been surrounded and they still had time to prepare.

Now that Tiandou City was surrounded, what was the point of fighting? It was all over.

Try to pull tricks right under the enemy's nose?

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, why don't we seek peace talks?"

"Yes, yes! Daming's economy isn't doing well; we could form an economic alliance with them!"

Regardless of what they were thinking, Xu Nian'an didn't care.

That night, they sent an envoy to negotiate peace.

They wanted to form an alliance with Xu Nian'an at the Wei River.

"???"

"You say your Heaven Dou Empire wants to form an alliance with my Daming?"

Hearing Xu Nian'an's words, the envoy smiled and nodded excitedly.

"Yes, we will provide you with our empire's development methods, every single one of them."

"We will send personnel, factories, and capital to help Daming's regional economy rise."

"Once it's done, the capitalists' money goes back to their own pockets, and as for the commoners' wealth, we split it seventy-thirty—we take the seventy."

Hearing this, Xu Nian'an nearly burst out laughing.

Li Shimin: I'm familiar with this script.

The other party actually dared to attempt to forge an alliance with him, mimicking Li Shimin of the Great Tang and the Alliance of Weishui.

"It's just that..."

"Developing the local economy takes time, but plundering doesn't—it's a business with ten thousand times the profit!"

Upon hearing Xu Nian'an's words, the envoy's expression shifted violently.