Emperor Cì Shā sneered down at the representative who had delivered Hou Jingshu’s response to their demands. Fēng Yi, Huo Yi, Xao Wen, Li Lian, and Duo Long were present as well. They sat on comfortable chairs made of oak and soft cushions. Each chair resembled a throne. The man prostrating himself on the ground shivered, not daring to lift his forehead from the floor.

“So the little princess has decided on death? Hmph. She has guts if nothing else,” Emperor Cì Shā said, tone dismissive.

“She is quite strong willed… that girl. She has to know she has no chance. Even if our overall forces are technically weaker, we outnumber her,” Lì Liàng said.

“Perhaps she holds out on the hope that the Heavenly Sword Sect will send more aid,” Fēng Yi mused as he stroked his beard.

“It is a foolish hope,” snorted Emperor Cì Shā. “The Heavenly Sword Sect is dealing with problems all over the continent.”

The summoning ritual on the Yuon Peninsula was not the only trouble that his colleagues had stirred up. They had incited all kinds of chaos in many different nations, and the Heavenly Sword Sect was being implicated in each incident now. Their reputation was being dragged through the mud as they struggled to put out all the fires. It would be a long time before they would be able to worry about anyone other than themselves.

There might not have been many forces in this world that were greater than the Heavenly Sword Sect, but that did not mean they did not exist. It just meant those other forces preferred not to take center stage. Not everyone enjoyed being in the limelight, which came with all kinds of limitations. The true strength of this continent liked controlling everything from the shadows.

“Anyway, now that Hou Jingshu has refused our kindness, we can attack whenever we’re ready,” Xao Wen said.

“What of Jian Wu?” asked Duo Long.

“Hmph. My youngest son was supposed to take care of that brat… but it looks like he escaped.” Emperor Cì Shā raised a hand and waved it dismissively. “I wouldn’t worry about him. The last report I received said he fled into the Cuòjué Forest.”

“Why are you worrying about some Human Limit Realm weakling anyway?” asked Lì Liàng with a guffaw. “It’s not like his presence on the battlefield will make any difference.”

Huo Yi slammed a hand onto his armrest and glared at Lì Liàng. “You can only say that because you have no experience with that boy. My ancestor said that Jian Wu was able to fight against people an entire realm above him. He also believed Jian Wu was a threat that should be eliminated as soon as possible.”

“And look at what happened to Yi Fu. He got himself annihilated because he was too busy focusing on the weakling and didn’t notice the cultivator with true strength.” Lì Liàng licked his lips, face morphing into something amorous. “That Hua Xue was really something. I’d love nothing more than to fight her in single combat.”

Emperor Cì Shā carefully hid his disgust behind a veneer of civility. Lì Liàng was a battle junkie who would ignore everything in favor of a good fight. He would probably even betray them if he thought doing so would give him the battle he craved. Fortunately, he was only at the Deva Realm’s first subrealm. He and his remaining Heavenly Generals could kill him with a snap of their fingers.

He glanced at Duo Long, who hid his anger behind a carefully crafted veil. Emperor Cì Shā had, of course, heard about how this man’s apprentice had been killed by Jian Wu. He personally believed that was the apprentice’s fault. He died because he was weak. That was the way of the world. Rather than getting upset at someone else for killing his apprentice, he should have been upset at himself for training such a pathetic weakling. The Wind-Lightning Pavilion’s sect master was too soft.

“Last I heard, Hua Xue traveled up north. I believe she went to the Ice Phoenix Sect to gather more reinforcements,” said Duo Long. “Even if she travels as fast as she can, I doubt she will arrive in time to stop us.”

“That is unfortunate,” Lì Liàng muttered.

“I’d rather not fight her if I don’t have to,” Fēng Yi admitted. “She is very strong. I suspect she could kill any of us easily if we fought her individually. We have only survived up to now because we have fought her together. Hopefully, she will not fight back if we manage to conquer the Shang Kingdom.”

Emperor Cì Shā had not yet met Hua Xue, but the reports they had received about her disturbed him. The Shang Kingdom was small and insignificant. Yes, they had a large amount of Asura Realm cultivators, but they lacked the resources to ascend to higher realms. How had someone like her appeared in this tiny kingdom? Emperor Cì Shā did not like it when he didn’t have all the facts.

“In either event, let us have our troops prepare for battle,” Xao Wen said.

Duo Long nodded. “I’ll contact Shao Yimu and tell him to prepare for our arrival.”

“Is he already in contact with that foolish prince?” asked Huo Yi.

“He will be getting in touch with him after we begin our assault,” assured Duo Long.

“A good plan. The young princess and her army won’t have time to worry about a single weak prince when they’re already dealing with us,” Emperor Cì Shā admitted. He liked these sort of cunning plans that relied on subterfuge.

“When will we attack?” asked Xao Wen.

“Tonight,” Emperor Cì Shā said. “I would normally prefer to wait until their food storage has been depleted and their morale is low, but there’s no need for that here. Even if our main forces lack the Shang Kingdom’s cultivation, they will have nothing to worry about with us on the battlefield.”

“Very true,” Lì Liàng laughed.

Laugh while you can, fool. I don’t plan to let you have any of the benefits that comes from conquering a kingdom, Emperor Cì Shā thought without letting a single emotion slip from his face.

***

A sense of nervousness pervaded the Shang Kingdom all throughout the day. Wu Yong felt as if he was standing on a precipous overlooking a plain filled with stakes. One wrong move and he would impale himself upon them. His stomach had been cramping, and his throat was dry as he gave orders to his men. He’d never felt like this before.

I wonder if this was how my father felt when he had to give our clan orders…

Wu Yong often thought of his family when he was stressed; he would wonder what Wu Youshi would have done, how his younger brother might have felt in his position, what might have happened if they had survived. Would he have been able to reconcile with Wu Jian had the Wu Clan not been destroyed.

“You’re spacing out again.”

Wu Yong shook his head, dismissing his errant thoughts, and looked at Zheng Yawen. He had selected her as his right hand because of the time they had spent together. They knew each other’s fighting style and could work together as a team quite well. He was also just a lot more comfortable in her presence than he was anyone else’s.

“Sorry. My thoughts were elsewhere,” he apologized.

“You need to focus. You can’t afford to lose your concentration in combat,” she admonished.

“You’re right, of course.” Wu Yong sighed.

A moment of silence passed between them again. Wu Yong observed his men as they gathered and stored supplies inside of storage rings. They were gathering an explosive known as black powder. It was a mixture of volcano rocks, fire affinity magical beast cores, and fifty year old charcoal. All the ingredients were crushed into a powder.

Most nations did not use explosives like this since there was no need. Human Limit and Deva Realm cultivators could do much more damage with a wave of their hands. Asura Realm cultivators could also do quite a bit of damage, but they did not have the same range of attacks and power. There were things they could not do that an explosive substance like this could.

A single black powder keg had the same power as an Asura Realm cultivator’s strongest attack. On its own, it wouldn’t be enough to even harm a Human Limit Realm cultivator, but if they combined enough kegs, it was theoretically possible to kill a cultivator at that level. He didn’t know about the Deva Realm though. Those people were true monsters.

Like blowing up the ground underneath their enemies, for example.

He glanced back at Zheng Yawen. “How is your arm?”

Zhen Yawen looked at her arm. It was the one she had lost. Hou Jingshu had gone to great lengths to acquire a pill that could restore lost limbs and gave it to Zheng Yawen. Now she had both arms once again.

“It works fine. It feels just like my old one,” she admitted, moving her arm around as if to emphasize the fact.

“Good. I’m going to need you with both limbs usable,” he said.

“It is nice having my arm back,” she admitted, clapping her hands together. “We should get to work too. Can’t leave everything to your men.”

“Right.”

The two joined their men in gathering the supplies. They took the black powder from the army’s store room, stored them in rings, and traveled down into the sewers.

Shang Imperial City had hundreds if not thousands of canals running through it, bringing in fresh water from the rivers that flowed from the Ice Phoenix Mountain Range. Beneath the canals were the sewers. There were several entrances to the sewers via grates and doors near the canals. They used one near the army barracks.

“Whew… that stinks,” Zheng Yawen muttered.

“It is not pleasant,” Wu Yong agreed.

Sewers were not really supposed to smell good, but the combination of chemicals and feces was more horrid than he’d have thought possible. Fortunately, the sewers themselves were fairly clean. The water that ran through them was treated with alchemical liquids designed to purify the water of human waste and return it to the environment. Wu Yong had no idea when or who had come up with this system, but it was used in every city across the Xaio Continent.

“We should be reaching the main street soon,” Zheng Yawen said, looking at a map in her hands. She also had a compass.

“Good. We’ll line the sewer with black powder then,” said Wu Yong.

Upon reaching their destination, Wu Yong had them split up into two teams. One team would place the black powder in key locations marked on the map, and the other would head to the main street and keep an eye out for the enemy. Wu Yong joined the team working with the black powder, which were stored in large oak kegs lined with seals to further enhance the explosive damage. He had Zheng Yawen join the team that was keeping an eye out for the enemy.

The group worked in silence. There were almost a dozen people currently under his command, and he would take control of a much greater force when the battle started. This was just a prelude. They were going to wait until a good portion of the enemy forces were marching over this spot, then ignite the black powder. The areas they lined with black powder were specifically designed to collapse. It was a way to both eliminate enemy forces and hamper enemy movement.

Wu Yong didn’t know how much time passed, but they were just about done when Zheng Yawen returned with her group.

“The enemy is coming,” she said.

“How many?”

“Too many to count.”

“So they’ve come in full force?”

“Looks like it.”

“All right. We’re just about done here. We’ll move away in a bit, then wait until the streets are full to blow everything up.”

Zheng Yawen nodded, and Wu Yong had his men finish setting up the black powder. They opened up a separate keg, then used it to create a trail of black powder, connecting all the kegs together. Wu Yong used more black powder to create a long line behind them as they moved away from the main sewer, toward the nearest entrance. He ordered one of his men to keep an eye on the street. There were several grates they could use to look out of.

“I see them coming,” the young man said.

At that moment, the sound of thousands of marching feet caused the ground to shake. Wu Yong’s breath caught in his throat. This was it. His fingers were shaking. His legs felt weak. He needed to take several steadying breaths, lest he forget to breathe. So much hinged on this moment. If he failed to properly incite chaos within the enemy’s ranks, their battle would be that much harder.

“There here. By the nine heavens, there’s so many of them,” the young man muttered.

“Tell me when a good portion of their forces are on the street,” ordered Wu Yong.

“Yessir.”

Sweat ran down Wu Yong’s scalp as he waited. Zheng Yawen must have felt it, too, for she placed a hand on his shoulder as though to steady herself. The young man keeping watch shook, eyes wide as he stared at the passing army. Time seemed to stand still as they waited.

“I… I think there are enough,” he finally said.

Wu Yong took in a deep breath and breathed out a single flame. He was not good with the elements, so this was the most he could do, but it was enough. The black powder ignited, the trail burned up quickly, the flame splitting as it reached the point that connected all the kegs together, and then traveling up to the pile of barrels.

A second of absolute stillness passed.

Then an explosion ripped through the air.