Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

It was not advisable for the group to leave the mountains at present.

The two thousand of them made camp and rested. Deep in the night, Fan Jinhua finally returned.

Everyone saw his pale face as he spoke, his voice trembling...

”It’s nothing but Great Wu soldiers outside...”

”Fierce Tiger Pass was breached by Lu Hanyan five days ago. The Great Wu soldiers are now attacking Sword Tooth City, the first Tiger Flame city beyond the pass.”

”The Hundred Countries Army has set up a joint defense, but it looks like they won’t be able to hold on for much longer.”

As Fan Jinhua spoke, everyone exchanged glances. The faces of She Xiaoping and the others turned pale...

But Lu Chao couldn’t help but laugh. ”Excellent. This is excellent.”

Everyone looked at him in confusion. Tan An immediately asked, ”Brother Lu, what’s so excellent about this? I’m afraid we won’t be able to get out now.”

The Great Wu army was everywhere outside. If Sword Tooth City fell, the Great Wu Empire would surge into the Tiger Flame Kingdom.

For them, it seemed they were trapped, with no way forward and no way back.

If Lu Hanyan still held a grudge against them, she might even send troops into the mountains to hunt them down.

Under everyone’s gaze...

Lu Chao said, ”For us, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses. Our goal remains the same: to secure a place to survive.”

Hearing this, everyone had a sudden realization... That’s right, they didn’t have a side in this conflict.

They were only trying to survive.

Even if the Hundred Countries won, they would still have to face the executioner’s blade that the great Flame Countries would likely turn on them.

The atmosphere grew heavy once more...

Lu Chao continued, ”If we want to secure a land for ourselves, the Hundred Countries must first face a crisis. I will then use our ability to resolve this crisis as a condition to make the great Flame Countries publicly grant us their promise.”

Everyone froze again. ’Resolve the crisis for the Hundred Countries?’

’What does he mean?’

Suddenly, Lu Chao looked at Wu Caicai. ”Miss Wu, now that we’ve reached the Tiger Flame Kingdom and Lu Hanyan has no intelligence about you being with the Descendants of Azure Flame, you can leave safely.”

At his words, Wu Caicai froze on the spot, her face clearly showing she didn’t want to leave.

Meanwhile, Uncle Leng frantically shot glances at Wu Caicai.

They were from the Hundred Flames Trading Company. They had been forced to follow Lu Chao, mainly because they needed to leave Yangzhou City at the time.

Now that Wu Wei was dead, no one would pay any attention to Wu Caicai and him.

In short, Uncle Leng was done with all this.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of dying; he was terrified something would happen to his young miss. His heart had felt ready to explode from the constant fear.

Hearing this, Fan Jinhua also said immediately, ”Caicai, you should leave. You can’t get dragged any deeper into this with us.”

Biting her lip, Wu Caicai felt it was wrong to just leave like this.

Just then, Lu Chao spoke again...

”I have a favor to ask of you, Miss Wu.”

”I’d like to ask you to deliver a message to Sword Tooth City. Tell them Master Fan has a plan to defeat Great Wu.”

”It can save Sword Tooth City, and even allow for a counterattack against the Great Wu Empire.”

As soon as he said this, everyone’s eyes widened.

Lu Chao’s earlier words flashed through their minds: resolve the crisis for the Hundred Countries, and make the great Flame Countries give their promise.

’It isn’t Master Fan who has a plan. It’s Lu Chao! He has a plan to defeat Great Wu.’

”If the Hundred Countries want to save Sword Tooth City, and if they trust Master Fan, they should send people to retrieve us in secret.”

”Miss Wu, please deliver this message for us.”

Gazing at Lu Chao’s face, Wu Caicai no longer felt that she was doing something wrong. This was an important mission.

She finally nodded firmly in agreement, then led Uncle Leng out of the mountains.

Turning back, Wu Caicai said solemnly, ”Master Fan, Hero Lu, Young Madam Lu... I will wait for you at the Tiger Flame Academy.”

And with that, the two of them departed.

The two thousand people remained where they were to rest. No one asked Lu Chao about his plan; they were afraid that speaking of it would jinx it.

...

「The next day, atop the walls of Sword Tooth City.」

The commanders of the Six Great Flame Countries were gathered together. Below them were the other representatives of the Hundred Countries.

Among the Hundred Countries, there were Seven Great Flame Countries.

But the Dragon Flame Kingdom had never participated in the war against the Great Wu Empire.

Because they were on the territory of the Tiger Flame Kingdom, the Tiger Flame Commander, Guan Zanyi, was serving as the Supreme Commander and sat in the main seat. However, those below him regarded him with cold indifference.

’Dammit, if he weren’t so incompetent, we wouldn’t be on the back foot in this war.’

After twenty days of fighting, the Hundred Countries had been suffering defeat after defeat.

Guan Zanyi saw the looks everyone was giving him...

Suddenly, he couldn’t help but roar, ”I’ll resign as Supreme Commander! Who wants to take my place?”

As soon as he said this, the formerly cold and indifferent gazes in the room instantly turned to panic.

’Dammit, Sword Tooth City is about to fall. Whoever takes the Supreme Commander’s seat now will be cursed for all eternity.’

’And who the hell would be willing to take the blame for Guan Zanyi’s screw-ups?’

’You’re the one whose poor command crippled us in the early stages, and now you want us to take over? Dream on.’

”Hmph!”

Seeing their reactions, Guan Zanyi snorted heavily and said slowly, ”We must unite now. We have to find a way to defend Sword Tooth City. Otherwise, it won’t just be Tiger Flame that suffers—all of the Hundred Countries will be doomed.”

”Does anyone have any suggestions?”

Following his words, the generals below remained silent. No one offered an opinion.

The war had reached a point where Sword Tooth City was virtually indefensible. Its fall was only a matter of time.

Suddenly, a Fox Flame Female General stood up...

”I have a plan. We should urgently summon Fan Changcun to take command. Perhaps he has a way to defend Sword Tooth City.”

At her words, the entire hall fell silent, their eyes glinting as they considered the idea.

But Guan Zanyi immediately shot it down. ”You think too highly of that old fool. He’s just an armchair strategist. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have lost to the then-rookie Great Wu Lu Chao three years ago. Don’t mention this again.”

The Fox Flame Female General sat back down, and the others continued to ponder...

The next moment... ”REPORT!”

A long cry of ”Report!” echoed as a Tiger Flame messenger burst in, shouting, ”Grand General Guan, someone sent a secret letter through the Hundred Flames Trading Company! The letter says... ’I have a plan to defeat Great Wu.’”

As the messenger finished speaking, everyone froze.

Guan Zanyi quickly had him present the letter. After taking it, Guan Zanyi immediately tore it open and looked at the contents.

Instantly, his expression changed.

An instant later, he crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it fiercely to the ground.

Then he stomped on it a few times and said, ”Fan Jinhua, that bastard piece of trash! He actually managed to cross the Yinzhou Mountain and survive! And he has the fucking nerve to say he has a plan to defeat Great Wu? Who the hell does he think he is?!”

The generals present were stunned by his words, and their gazes all turned to Guan Zanyi.

Guan Zanyi immediately looked up and explained, ”It’s a secret letter from Fan Jinhua, sent through the Hundred Flames Trading Company. He claims he can defend Sword Tooth City and even says we can counterattack Great Wu. It’s ridiculous.”

”His grandfather is an old armchair strategist, and he’s never actually commanded troops himself. For a Tiger Flame Tutor, he sure can talk big.”

”Damn, and here I thought some great expert had emerged. Ptooey.”

After speaking, Guan Zanyi spat fiercely on the crumpled ball of paper on the ground.