"Should we lose now?"
He Changnian and the other two Garrison Elders had also heard the orders from above. He Changnian turned to Li Chen. "Li Chen, you are now the Acting City Lord of Golden Light City, with full authority to decide. In your opinion, should we carry out this order?"
Li Chen thought for a moment and said, "This is indeed a sound move. What we lack right now is time, and buying time would greatly benefit us."
He Changnian said, "But even if we feign defeat, on the surface, we will still have truly lost. When merits are rewarded and offenses punished afterward, what explanation will you offer?"
Li Chen's heart jolted, and he looked at He Changnian in bewilderment.
Those words carried profound implications.
Li Chen said, "If it benefits the whole, I will do it even if a hundred offenses are laid at my feet."
He Changnian suddenly smiled and said approvingly, "Such courage! But rest assured, those above are not that muddleheaded yet. Since this order was issued through official channels rather than as a private secret directive, you need not worry about such things."
Li Chen frowned slightly, then his brow relaxed.
In the void of the Star Sea, upon a vast landmass south of the Golden Sun Gate, a black tide surged across hundreds of miles. Tens of thousands of Patrol Mountain Cranes swept in to attack like an insect swarm, their shrieks terrifying.
Amid piercing, tearing sounds that battered the eardrums, steel needles poured down like torrential rain, clanging against the line of Outer Dao Disciples below. The few with the lowest cultivation screamed as they were instantly pinned into human hedgehogs.
Their magic power had long since been exhausted in the earlier fierce fighting. Their bodies alone could withstand