Volume 40, Chapter 561.1: Frantically Cultivating

In the Imperial Palace within Radiant City, the Sun Moon Empire.

A secret letter was lying on Xu Tianran’s desk. There was an adorable orange mandarin (Ju Zi) logo at the opening of the envelope.

After receiving this letter, Xu Tianran couldn’t help but reveal a gentle smile. It seems like Ju Zi’s letter is finally here. I wonder how she’ll handle the current situation.

A thorough search had been conducted for the past few days, but they were still unable to locate their enemies. It seemed as though they had disappeared without leaving a trace after sneaking an attack on Radiant City. This was completely unbelievable.

Xu Tianran was starting to worry that the enemies really possessed some sort of spatial technology like Elder Kong had suggested. If his foes really possessed such technologies, their next attack could take place within Radiant City!

After opening the envelope, Xu Tianran took out the letter. This envelope had been sealed with a certain kind of soul tool that was able to destroy the letter if the person did not know how to properly unseal the envelope.

Ju Zi’s beautiful handwriting decorated the entire letter. Her words seemed to convey the respect she had for Xu Tianran.

Xu Tianran already felt happier just from looking at her words. He started to wonder if he had gone overboard when Ju Zi asked him about whether she could bring the Prince to the battlefield with her. He felt that perhaps his reply should have been more positive. However, he believed that he had already repaid her loyalty with the trust he had shown her by giving her control over the army.

As he thought about this, Xu Tianran began to read the contents of the letter. While he was reading, the changes in his facial expression were extremely drastic. While he revealed a startled expression at times, he was more often than not admiring what Ju Zi had done. He was full of praise for her.

I can’t believe she thought of such a good way to tackle the cumbersome situation. She really is the War God Empress of the Sun Moon Empire! Ju Zi is really the person I trust the most.

The main theme of Ju Zi’s letter only contained these three words.

Do not attack!

They would surround Shrek City, but would not attack it. She planned to draw all the forces that shared a relationship with Shrek City to the place where their current camp was set up. They would set up their defensive lines outside their camp and reinforce these lines with their linked defensive soul tools. They would not initiate an attack, as they gave Shrek City a relatively long deadline to turn Huo Yuhao in. Once the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire’s troops gathered at Shrek City, they would have achieved their objective. They could then be a lot more flexible with who their real target was.

And if the enemy force that attacked Radiant City were to be in contact with the Shrek Academy, they would definitely retreat unconditionally to help defend Shrek City. The two soul engineer legions would definitely be useful for the battle at Shrek City. This meant that regardless of what capabilities this team possessed, they could only use them to fight the Sun Moon Empire directly on the battlefield. And when it came to such head-on battles, the Sun Moon Empire was almost invincible.

“Good, good, good!” Xu Tianran exclaimed in delight. His injuries seemed to have gotten better by a little bit. He immediately penned a reply, and ordered his subordinates to rush his letter to the front line.

He told Ju Zi to decide the next course of action by herself, and not to worry about the situation back at Radiant City. He informed her that the Imperial Soul Engineer Legion had returned to Radiant City to protect the palace, and was waiting for favorable news from the front line.

Once again, Ju Zi had used her wisdom to gain more trust from Xu Tianran. He seemed to believe that the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire had already fallen into his hands. He felt that Shrek City was but another city after all. It should not be impossible to destroy it.

To be honest, Xu Tianran did not want to destroy Shrek City. Instead, he wanted to see Shrek City bow to him, because that would give him the strongest sense of accomplishment.

When Xu Tianran was younger, he had once fantasized about the Shrek Academy—the number one academy on the entire continent. Xu Tianran would only be happier if Shrek City would willingly join and be a part of the Sun Moon Empire. If that were to happen, every secret about soul masters that the academy would uncover would belong to the Sun Moon Empire. They might be able to draw some insights from martial souls and find a way to heal limbs—especially that limb which only males had…

Xu Tianran immediately became uncontrollably excited the moment this idea entered his head. A powerful desire enveloped his mind as he thought about Ju Zi. How could he not love his beautiful and capable War God Empress? She was his Empress, after all! However, he was somehow unable to conquer her body physically, and such miseries were deadly for any man. Even Xu Tianran—the Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire—was no exception.

In the Sun Moon Empire’s Commander’s Tent outside of Shrek City!

Ju Zi was sitting in the Commander’s seat as she read the reconnaissance reports which had been submitted to her. A faint smile was forming on her face.

Shrek City? Why would I attack Shrek City? This Academy holds great significance to that man. Regardless of what happens, I will never destroy Shrek City and the Academy recklessly. However, this will not affect my plans to attack the other empires—especially the Star Luo Empire!

Even though the hatred within Ju Zi’s heart had slowly faded away, that did not necessarily mean she had forgotten about it. Conversely, she now felt as if everything was under her control, and looked forward to that day’s arrival.

If the Star Luo Empire had not destroyed my homeland and turned me into a helpless orphan, I would not have met Xu Tianran.

Hence, she knew she must destroy the Star Luo Empire in the future in order to relieve herself from the deep hatred which lay in her heart.

However, her current target was not the Star Luo Empire.

“Empress!” A dark figure suddenly appeared in the Commander’s Tent without any warning.

Ju Zi had long been accustomed to the way this person arrived. She stood up slowly and flashed a smile. “Imperial Tutor, you’re here.”

“Yes.” Zhongli Wu nodded as he strolled closer to Ju Zi before stopping. “Empress, have you decided when we will attack Shrek City?”

Ju Zi replied, “There are still eight more days before the deadline arrives. You need to be patient.”

“Empress, do you really plan to be honest with Shrek City?” Zhongli Wu replied coldly, “I believe the academy had already started to ask for help from all over the entire continent. Before long, reinforcements from Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire will arrive. When that happens, we will need to sustain huge costs in order to destroy them. You must think about the injuries and deaths we will have to sustain when that happens. With our current strength, we can flatten Shrek City anytime as we will.”

Ju Zi shook her head gently and said, “I believe Imperial Tutor must be extremely familiar with Shrek Academy. Since that’s the case, what do you think will be the cost for our victory if we are to force an attack on them right now?”

Zhongli Wu was a little startled as he replied, “Shrek Academy has taken in the remaining bastards from the Heavenly Soul Empire. Even if we were to factor in their own city defense army, their numbers would still pale in comparison to ours. After all, we have an eight hundred thousand strong army, with eight soul engineer legions. We should be able to destroy their defensive lines just with our soul engineer legions.”

Ju Zi said, “No, it won’t be that simple. Based on the data we have collected, it seems like Shrek Academy already possesses the ability to manufacture Class 9 stationary soul cannon shells. As for the exact number of shells which they have produced, we have yet to obtain any reliable data. In addition, the academy has countless powerful soul masters. Almost every single elder within the Sea God’s Pavilion possesses abilities which rivalled that of a Transcendent Douluo. If we were to force their hand, I am unsure what this powerful academy with over ten thousand years of history is capable of. Right now, the best strategy for us is to surround them, but not attack them. As for the reinforcements you were mentioning earlier, they are the people I want to see the most. It would best if they were to turn up here.”

Zhongli Wu squinted after listening to Ju Zi’s words. He was not a fool, as he seemed to have sensed something after hearing what she said. “Empress, does this mean you don’t plan to attack Shrek City?”

Ju Zi said, “It is not the right time yet. The Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion and the Evileye Tyrant Soul Engineer Legion have just set off the night before last. Our army camp looks the same, but we already have fifty thousand troops leaving the camp and cooperating with the two soul engineer legions. We just need to attract Shrek Academy’s attention here at the front line. Even though it is not the right time to attack, we can still launch feint attacks once in a while.”

Zhongli Wu’s breathing started to become uneven as he said authoritatively, “With the current power we have, we can definitely take them down if we were to put in our best effort. Even if they try to retaliate, we definitely possess the ability to suppress them. Once Shrek City falls, the psychological support that the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire depend on will disappear. This means the entire continent will definitely be ours sooner or later. I don’t understand why you want to delay the entire plan!”

Ju Zi replied plainly, “Imperial Tutor, I want to remind you of your appointment. You are the military supervisor—not the commander. When it pertains to tactical and strategic matters, I will be the one calling the shots. If you are unsatisfied with any of my plans, feel free to take it up with His Majesty. If His Majesty does not agree with my plans, I am definitely willing to change them.”

Zhongli Wu’s breathing started to become rapid. For inexplicable reasons, he seemed to fear Ju Zi a little. But of course, he did not fear her for her fighting power. He could definitely destroy Ju Zi easily in a fight with the ability that she possessed. However, she was truly frightening when it came to leading troops and strategizing warfare. It was almost as though she was assisted by God himself.

Even though Zhongli Wu was not a young man anymore, he was still unable to fully appreciate and understand her military arrangements. Nonetheless, her inspiring tactics were always able to decide victory, even when he did not understand them.

Hence, he really did not dare to offend Ju Zi. Furthermore, she had the support of multiple Class 9 soul engineers around her. Even though he had brought several powerful cultivators from the Holy Ghost Church along with him, soul engineers were not as frightened of evil soul masters as regular soul masters were.

“Hmph! Take care then, Empress.” Zhongli Wu waved the sleeve of his robe as he turned and left.

Ju Zi looked at the back of his figure and flashed a faint smile. “In that case, I will not be sending you off.”

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