"Your Highness, regarding the Demon Clan... When I went there, the Yin Yue Demon Venerate wouldn't even give me a chance to meet him... As for sending troops to aid us... I have failed! Please, Your Highness, punish me!"

Within the living room of the Martial King in West Capital City, two trusted ministers sent by him returned with faces full of grief, kneeling and crying for their failure at his feet.

By this time, the Martial King was no longer in a state of fury; he didn't even have the energy to be angry.

All that remained was despair.

"Back in the day, I collaborated with the Yin Yue Demon Venerate so many times, and helped him so many times, yet this time, he just stands by and watches us perish?!"

The Martial King glared at his two subordinates and kicked each of them, sending them flying to the ground!

"Ungrateful scoundrels! Thankless wretches!"

The Martial King slumped into a chair, his eyes void of any spirit.

"Your Highness, what should we do now? Qin Tian's four hundred thousand troops are eyeing us menacingly. Without aid from the Demon Clan, we surely cannot defeat Qin Tian..."

Bam!

A minister approached to speak, but before he finished, the Martial King slapped him with a palm, bursting his skull, dead on the spot!

In the room, the rest of the ministers were all taken aback, wide-eyed, and speechless, not daring to utter a word.

"On the verge of a great battle, how dare you raise others' morale while undermining ours! Treacherous scoundrel!"

The Martial King's eyes were filled with rage as he ordered, "Summon all senior military commanders for a strategic meeting to discuss countermeasures!"

In the Political Affairs Hall, dozens of senior generals from the West State Army were as silent as the grave.

Firstly, as the Martial King was in a fit of rage, no one dared speak, fearing that a single wrong word would lead to their ruin.

Secondly, under the current circumstances, with the Demon Clan unable to send reinforcements, they couldn't come up with any measures to face the formidable Qin Tian, the nearly unbreakable defensive capabilities of Xu Kuan, and the secret True Qi Cannon; they found no winning strategy.

Sitting at the topmost position, the Martial King closed his eyes at this sight, looking up with a long sigh, thinking, if Master Wu was here, he would never have left me with no way out, alas!

I should not have killed Master Wu.

"Do none of you have any suggestions? Any strategy, tell me now, and I won't hold you accountable! Speak up!"

The irritable Martial King roared, his gaze sweeping across the room, yet everyone simply bowed their heads, continuing the tense silence.

"Hmph, a bunch of cowards! A bunch of cowards! What use do I have for you lot?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The Martial King clenched his fist; as a member of the Royal Family of the Tianyuan Dynasty, it was the first time he felt helpless.

Even with over two hundred thousand troops, he was powerless, helpless.

...

In stark contrast to the Martial King's furious despair, outside West Capital City, in a camp dozens of kilometers away, Qin Tian and the officers' meeting was quite a cheerful affair.

Ye Kun and Xu Kuan suggested to Qin Tian a quick battle; attacking West Capital City with four hundred thousand troops and capturing it within ten days shouldn't be a problem.

However, Qin Tian and Zhou Yang were not in favor of a swift battle.

Qin Tian told his trusted generals, "If we force an attack, we can indeed take it within ten days. But in such a case, much of West Capital City will be destroyed, and both sides will suffer heavy casualties."

"Everyone must remember, West Capital City is the final stronghold of the Martial King's faction. Their determination to resist will be even stronger than in Lin City. At the moment of life and death, it will still be very difficult for us to attack. Thus, I do not wish for West Capital City to be damaged, nor for too many casualties, after all... ahem... mercy is a virtue of the Buddha."

Qin Tian glanced at the crowd, flashing a slight smile.

Ensuring that West Capital City, one of the five major cities of the Tianyuan Dynasty, remains undamaged was crucial for Qin Tian.

After all, if he conquered West State and disposed of the Martial King, Qin Tian intended to move his main base to West Capital City.

By then, West State would be his stronghold; even if the Ice Emperor ordered him to return or surrender his command, Qin Tian would surely not comply—

this was a territory he painstakingly won! He would not let anyone else reap the benefits!

So, since West State was practically his, preserving the capital, West Capital City, in perfect condition was naturally ideal.

Facing troops of forty thousand against over two hundred thousand, Qin Tian had eighty to ninety percent confidence of victory.

But what Qin Tian feared was that the battle at West Capital would turn into a bloody struggle of numbers, resulting in significant casualties on his side, which would be most unfortunate.

"Lay siege without assault."

Finally, Qin Tian and Zhou Yang decided on such a strategy and informed everyone.

Zhou Yang explained, "At present, the morale of West State soldiers is low, and there's no need for us to provoke them, so we only need to lay siege. The soldiers inside West Capital City will naturally begin to panic."

"What is certain now is that the Yin Yue Demon Venerate is busy hunting down the remnants of the Demon Emperor's forces and the Demon Clan's Crown Prince; he absolutely has no time to rescue the Martial King, which means the Martial King is all alone."

"Under these circumstances, if we maintain the siege without assaulting, the Martial King's faction will see their fighting spirit gradually erode. Of the Martial King's over two hundred thousand troops, more than half are from the Imperial City, who long for home after all this time. If we can utilize this slightly, hmm, hmm, by then, West Capital City may fall without a fight."

Zhou Yang's words were always persuasive, and this analysis had everyone nodding in agreement.

Zuo Yuanhao chuckled, "This plan is excellent; as for drafting letters for psychological warfare against the West State soldiers, leave that to me, haha. I'll guarantee that the West State Army will lose courage and fall into chaos before the battle begins."

Immediately, Qin Tian set out the steps, and the next day, the army split into four divisions and began to spread out, each division comprising a hundred thousand men, positioned quite close to each other.

Moreover, Qin Tian had issued a prior order that if the West State Army concentrated large forces attempting to break through, they should be allowed to pass without engaging in battle.

After all, once they broke through, they would have no place to go and would be ensnared by Qin Tian.

In reality, as Qin Tian's four-pronged army began deploying a siege, the Martial King did indeed order an unexpected assault from the city to disrupt Qin Tian's deployment and seize the opportunity to counterattack.

Unfortunately, this unexpected strike did not disrupt Qin Tian's deployment; instead, Xu Kuan took advantage and struck them into surrender; of the thirty thousand charging out, after half an hour, over twenty-five thousand surrendered directly.

When this news reached the Martial King's ears in West Capital City, he was so infuriated he spat blood.

"Heaven has forsaken me! Heaven has forsaken me!"

Seeing through Qin Tian's intentions, the Martial King could no longer sit still; over the past half month, he had hardly slept, teetering on the brink of collapse.

In this lifetime, he had spent his life on the battlefield, following the Ice Emperor, slaying Long Jun, seizing the world, and making a name in the Spiritual Domain.

Who would have thought, in the end, he'd fall into the hands of an insignificant youth?

Complete and utter ruin?