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Indeed, as Meng Yan had anticipated, the situation was harder to hold on to than imagined....

The enemy’s assaults were fiercer with each attack, and the timing was extremely unpredictable—sometimes at dawn, sometimes in the afternoon, also at midnight, and in the late night. They could launch an attack at any time, without warning.

On our side, in order to be prepared for those unforeseeable attacks, the soldiers had to remain vigilant around the clock without a moment of rest.

Under such oppressive conditions, it was truly torturous to endure.

He could clearly feel that the enemy was growing stronger as the battle progressed, while the morale of his own side was increasingly low.

Especially today at noon, when twice as many soldiers had broken through to the city walls as usual.

Had it not been for the deputy generals fighting to their deaths and throwing those dozen or so fierce warriors off the walls along with themselves, the city might have already fallen!

And the cost had been enormous. Two Transcendent deputy generals, the moment they fell from the city walls, were beheaded with a swift stroke by the enemy’s female general riding a Dragon Horse!

When they tallied the casualties after the battle, Meng Yan felt a chill in his heart upon discovering that, in these past few days of defending the city, they had unwittingly lost a third of their forces. They couldn’t even count up to four thousand soldiers....

Looking at the sky, he had a feeling that if another attack came tonight, with the current low spirits, the defense would truly be impossible to hold.

Finally, he gathered the defending generals from several other nations and came to a secretive military tent within the pass, where everyone seated turned out to be a group of individuals with Central Plains’ features.

The generals leading the troops from various nations were all at the Transcendent level, but when facing those inside the tent, they showed immense deference, performing a kneeling salute that was uncommon for military men....

"We’ve seen the envoy...."

They spoke in unison, and the few seated in the tent remained indifferent. If Chen Qing were present, he would certainly recognize the one sitting in the center as the Ghost Empress, who had the inheritance of the Celestial Serpent, Dragon Palace, and Ghost Domain all at once.

"What brings you here?" asked one of the men with an indifferent face.

"Esteemed envoy, the current state of the battle is dire. Tiannan Pass is in grave danger. We implore you to intervene and turn the tide!"

In response to the kneeling generals’ plea, those seated remained silent, not uttering a word. Those who knelt didn’t dare to raise their heads as cold sweat dripped from their foreheads to the ground.

After a long while, it was the leading Dragon Mother who asked, "Has Chen Qing made a move?"

The hearts of the generals tightened, and they didn’t dare to hesitate, "He has not...."

"What was the initial agreement?" the Dragon Mother asked with a smile.

The generals fell into silence.

In the next instant, a chill filled the entire military tent.

"What? Can’t speak anymore?"

The generals hastily knocked their heads on the floor several times, with Meng Yan finally speaking, "Esteemed envoy, the initial agreement was that if Chen Qing did not take action, the envoys would not need to intervene. We could still take Central Plains for the envoys. However... we underestimated Jiangnan’s strength. ..."

"You’re speaking of underestimation now?" the Dragon Mother said with a cold laugh. "Do you expect us to cover your failures?"

"We dare not!" Meng Yan immediately kowtowed once more, prostrate on the ground.

"Be gone, a bunch of useless things...." the Dragon Mother said coldly. "If you can’t hold Tiannan Pass, then die there!"

"Yes... We shall take our leave!" The generals scrambled to their feet and exited the tent, only daring to talk to one another after they had walked a great distance away.

"General Meng.... What do you think?"

Meng Yan’s face was ashen. In the end, he shook his head helplessly, "Let’s go. It seems the envoys are not going to make a move...."

He couldn’t understand why, at such a critical moment, they still cared about the initial agreement. Shouldn’t they address the most urgent matters first?

With Jiangnan’s military strength demonstrated today, once they took over Tiannan Pass, how difficult would it be to recapture it later? An excellent opportunity to advance into Central Plains lay before them, yet what were these people thinking?

"But tonight..." The leaders of the other nations’ armies all showed troubled expressions.

As experienced commanders, they all knew very well that if the enemy launched another wave of attacks tonight, it was very likely that they would not be able to hold it....

"When can the reinforcements arrive?" Meng Yan whispered.

"The envoy from Azland said they should be arriving tomorrow by the terms of our agreement..."

"Tomorrow?" Meng Yan clenched his teeth. According to his plan, it would be safest to use that killer move after the reinforcements arrived, but now... it seemed they could not wait any longer.

"We’ll have to use it today..."

"This..." Upon hearing this, the expressions of the generals from several countries fluctuated, and after a long time, someone said, "General Meng, as you know, once we use that method, the soldiers will have no fighting strength left.

If the enemy launches another offensive before the reinforcements arrive, how can we resist? "

Meng Yan responded through gritted teeth, "That’s why tonight... we must kill a large number of enemy soldiers, inflict heavy damage on them, so that they wouldn’t dare to attack us again in a short period!"

"Is this feasible?" One of them said uncertainly.

"Feasible or not, we have no choice but to take the risk. Would I do it if there were any other way?" Meng Yan asked coldly.

The others fell silent. If there were any other solution, they would have objected.

They had experimented with the Second Blessing before, and the risk of those blessed soldiers being disabled was extremely high.

Now, the elite soldiers blessed by the ghosts were precious, each being the direct forces of their respective nations.

If they were lost, who knew how long it would take to replace them?

Moreover, once they used that move, even if they successfully repelled the enemy forces, the people from Azland would come and have a great advantage, inevitably taking away a lot of land from the Central Plains.

It was as if they were bearing the hardest part, while the others would come and pick the fruits of their labor. ..

"As for Azland, you don’t have to worry too much..." Meng Yan also noticed everyone’s concerns and said, "Their position means they cannot become too big. Controlling the Central Plains through us? We can take it back sooner or later."

"That is also true..." One of them nodded slightly.

Another person then said, "General Meng, how do we ensure that we can inflict heavy damage on the enemy?"

"Let the enemy attack first..." A fierce light flashed in Meng Yan’s eyes as he said, "We’ll pretend to be defeated and retreat. Once enough of the enemy forces have advanced, making it impossible for them to withdraw in formation, we’ll counterattack with the ferocity of thunder and certainly deal them a heavy blow! "

"I believe that the soldiers from Jiangnan are also elites. If they suffer heavy losses, they surely won’t continue to press the attack the next day. This is our only chance..."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s faces showed a struggle, but in the end, they all clenched their teeth and nodded fiercely, "We’ll do as General Meng says, and take a gamble with those Jiangnan curs!"

"Right, scare them off in one go, and they’ll scurry back to Jiangnan with their tails between their legs!"

"Then, when the time comes, let General Meng take unified command of the army!"

Meng Yan looked up at the person who had spoken, and that person gazed directly back, saying, "For a tactic like feigning weakness before counterattacking, unified advance and retreat under one commander will be more effective."

Upon hearing this, Meng Yan looked at the others, who glanced at each other and nodded, "Zhou Yun makes a good point..."

"In that case..." Meng Yan was not a man to dither, he nodded directly and said, "Time is also not on our side. Let’s return now and discuss it clearly with our subordinates.

If I may be so bold, after we brothers get through this hardship and march into the Central Plains, all the land will be divided equally! "

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"This Meng fellow indeed has guts, much more reliable than that useless Second Prince you had high hopes for," said a voice inside the military tent, where they could still hear the other side’s discussion clearly despite being hundreds of meters away.

Dragon Mother looked at the speaker and smiled slightly, "In that case, you must have an abundance of talent within Azland, right?"

The speaker’s mouth twitched at the words. If they had such capable talents, why would they let the opponent steal all the glory?

After all, the Southern Wilderness was a place with low luck, and its cultural heritage was not deep. How easy could it be to produce great talents?

"Are we really not going to intervene in the risky plan they’re discussing?" another person frowned and asked.

"Intervene? With what?" Dragon Mother scoffed. "Without relying on the power of the terrain, all of us combined might not even be able to defeat that Ao Zhen, let alone Chen Qing, whose strength is no less than Ao Zhen’s!"

"Who is this Chen Qing?" the sole woman among them asked, puzzled, "This is my first encounter across three reincarnations, where someone relying on mortal world accumulation can withstand the troops of Ghost Domain!"

Dragon Mother looked at everyone and finally said, "Transcendent!"

The people around were left speechless: "..."