Chapter 57: The Collapse of the Allied Forces

“So this is Zhao Seven?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The body has been verified by multiple people who have seen him. It is indeed Zhao Seven,”

Eunuch Wang said as he stood up straighter.

“Both legs are gone, and his heart has been pierced by a sword.”

Liu An lifted the dead body’s robe to check its identity again.

He didn’t expect that Zhao Seven, who used to be his genuine friend, would end up like this.

“Does the Elder Princess know about his death?”

“Your Majesty, she has not been informed yet,”

Eunuch Wang said.

“Wait until she returns from the frontline before you tell her!”

“Your Majesty, this is something I don’t dare to do,” Eunuch Wang bowed and said at once.

“Well, I’ll tell her then.”

Liu An turned his head away, looking embarrassed.

When the Father Emperor chose Zhao Seven for Liu Rui, he meant to use the marriage to keep Clan Zhao stay loyal to him.

He had never thought that Zhao Seven, who disguised himself as a good-for-nothing man, could be so astute.

The Father Emperor even lamented the unfair and harsh destiny of Liu Rui.

When he found out about Zhao Seven’s talents and complicated personalities, the Father Emperor was happy for a month.

No matter what happened after that, Liu Rui and Zhao Seven became a destined couple, even if they were doomed to become enemies.

What a sad story!

“Your Majesty, as for the front…”

“Keep an eye on what’s going on at the frontline. In addition, send someone to privately spread the news that the chief members of the Dark Yin Sect have been exterminated.”

“Yes.”

Beside the manor outside the Imperial Capital, there was a small river gurgling through.

A few days ago, the river had turned blood-red.

Today, it reverted to its usual color.

The was was so clear.

It was so poetic.

The water lashed against the rocks, sending up a flurry of sprays.

One could also hear the sound of waves lapping as they chased one another.

It was so peaceful and tranquil!

The slow river flowed on until it connected to a moat.

Somewhere on the banks of the river, a mirror reflected the glaring light of the sun.

A dark mist rose from the surface of the mirror and then quickly dispersed.

“Xiao Feng, look there. Is that a mirror?”

Not far away, two boys playing in the sand ran towards the mirror.

At the frontline.

Boom!

The second defense line of Xia collapsed.

Nearly one million warriors lost their lives on the battlefield.

“Commander, we won’t be able to hold our position. There are too many enemies and way too many experts.”

“Don’t worry! Fight back as much as you can. Leave those experts to the experts from Baiyun Temple and the Imperial Horse Directorate,” An Mu said, looking at the front with calmness expression on his face.

“Commander, it seems that the experts from the Imperial Horse Directorate are on the losing side.”

“Oh! If only we had more time. If we had another decade to wait for the experts in the army to become stronger. Those experts would be nothing!”

An Mu said indignantly.

Taking off the helmet, he revealed a graying head of hair.

He was old!

“Pass my order. Keep the third defense line at any cost! Even if we die, don’t let them have an easy time. We can’t let a single one of them cross our defense line.”

One could feel the determination in An Mu’s eyes.

Somewhere on the ridge of a mountain at the border, a eunuch in a purple robe with embroidered flowers on the chest, appeared behind Liu Rui.

“Elder Princess, though we have been killing the experts on the enemy’s side, the number of their experts has been growing. Why?”

This purple-robed eunuch was the head eunuch of the Imperial Horse Directorate.

He was an expert at the supreme level of the Spirit Manipulation Realm.

Liu An had sent him to the frontline to assist Liu Rui in killing the experts on the enemy’s side.

“Just like the Black Dragon Gang back then, the Dark Yin Sect relies on sucking others’ essence and cultivation to improve themselves. These experts have all just sucked their own companions’ essence to become so strong. Don’t worry, they seem to have lost their restraint and are killing one other!”

“Elder Princess, if that’s the case, then we don’t need to make a move. We just let them kill each other…”

“Don’t think too much! Once one of their experts appears at our defense line, it will be devastating for all of us. So, keep an eye on those crazy ones and kill them immediately as we can,”

Liu Rui said, while furrowing her brows.

Now she was also in chaos.

So many warriors had gathered at the front.

In the Dark Yin Sect, there must be some cunning members who sucked their companions’ essence and blood to feed themselves.

Liu Rui didn’t expect that the situation could be so out of control.

They were too many to kill!

The enemy’s experts were growing way too fast.

In contrast, they had spent more than twenty years just to train a group of experts and at an immense cost.

They couldn’t afford to lose any one of them.

However, the enemies just needed to suck other warriors’ essence to improve their cultivation.

“Zhao Seven, I underestimated you. So many troops and warriors were not just gathered for the war with Xia. You wanted to destroy the entire Nanzhou. But why? What exactly is your hidden purpose? What good would it do for you to destroy Nanzhou?”

“I also want to know his hidden purpose. But now that he’s dead, you can look for answers elsewhere,”

Li Mu suddenly appeared.

Still in a green robe.

Still no one could see his face and figure.

“Senior!”

Liu Rui trembled with excitement.

“Leave the front to me. You do your best to find the people hiding behind Zhao Seven.”

“There is someone controlling Zhao Seven?”

Liu Rui was stunned for a moment and she felt a sudden burst of fear.

Who on earth could make Zhao Seven work for him?

She thought that Zhao Seven was already terrifying enough.

“Yes!”

Li Mu said.

“Hiss! Senior, do you have any clues?”

“No!”

Li Mu shook his head.

Liu Rui was silent.

It was unlikely that the senior would lie to her.

Even he couldn’t find out out who was behind Zhao Seven.

“Senior…”

When Liu Rui turned around and wanted to ask more questions, she found that Li Mu had already left.

Li Mu suddenly appeared on the frontline, right in front of a saint-level warrior.

The warrior was hiding in a military camp as he sucked the cultivation of his companions.

He was shocked by the sudden presence of Li Mu.

“You are so good at hiding! Others are fighting out there while you are here to secretly improve your cultivation. Looks like you can be another Zhao Seven!”

“Who are you?”

The saint-level warrior who was sucking his friend’s cultivation dropped the corpse and stepped backwards.

“The one who came to end your life.”

Li Mu flicked his fingers.

He hated this kind of cunning creatures who hid in the dark for their filthy businesses.

After killing this man, Li Mu used his sword to sweep the other villains who were hiding.

This time, he first killed those who ran away in advance, and then went on to deal with the vast numbers of troops.

In this way, these bastards wouldn’t be able to flee and hide in advance.

The green-robed figure flashed among millions of warriors.

The killing lasted two days.

But Li Mu felt that there was a growing number of villains secretly sucking others’ cultivation.

He couldn’t kill them all!

At the third defense line of Xia.

Every day, there was a large number of deaths in the allied forces of the five states. In addition, many sect and clan warriors died in the hands of the Xia troops in various ways.

The big fight went on.

The allied forces obviously had lost many members.

Many Dark Yin Sect members took the opportunity to suck the essence of their companions in the battlefield.

When the battle ended, they sucked their companions’ cultivation while taking a rest.

In just a few days, the ground was covered with the corpses of the allied forces.

Many people woke up and found that they were surrounded by people they didn’t know.

When they woke up again, there was another group of people around them.

Many soldiers were distracted. They couldn’t withstand this atmosphere and slipped out of the camp when the patrol soldiers were not watching.

After two more days, Li Mu once again found that those who sucked the cultivation of their companions were getting bolder and bolder.

They even killed their fellow soldiers in public.

“The five states are going to collapse, and those so-called sects are going to be finished.”

Liu Rui was relieved when she saw such a scene.

Finally, she saw the result she wanted to see.

Back then, Zhao Seven had absolute authority over members of the Black Dragon Gang.

But members of the Dark Yin Sect were grand ancestors from different clans and sects.

They had never been submissive since they were young.

They were grand ancestors at their own clan or sect.

But after they joined the Dark Yin Sect, they were treated as nobody.

They had experienced a lot, which made them sophisticated enough.

Without tangible benefits, they could be double-faced, which was not difficult for them.