Lingyan City, Yanzhou, in the Tianyuan Empire, was the largest city in Yanzhou apart from Flame City, and indeed the entire province's greatest granary. It had always supplied vast amounts of military and civilian provisions to Flame City, making it the linchpin of all Yanzhou. This was why, despite days of widespread rebellion, this city remained untouched by the insurgent forces...

To ensure the city’s defense, King Xuan Yuan Yan had dispatched three thousand of his personal guards—a formidable legion composed entirely of Xuan Yuan family members. Coupled with the eight thousand troops already garrisoned here, and the sixty thousand Silver Armored Legion soon to depart for Yunzhou, the total defending force amounted to a staggering one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers...

With the city’s immense reserves, even an attacking force of three or four hundred thousand might fail to breach its walls...

Logically, Sima Xuan, the City Lord of Lingyan, should have been enjoying a period of relative ease. Yet, today, nothing could be further from his mind...

Inside the City Lord’s Mansion, Sima Xuan sat rigidly in his seat, his face etched with misery. Flanking him were two figures. To his left sat a general in his mid-forties: Xuan Yuan Yu, Vice Commander of the King's Personal Guard. He had just attained the Grandmaster realm, his expression utterly blank, though a clear, ingrained arrogance permeated his brow—the natural pride of the Xuan Yuan lineage, even if he was only a distant relation to the Imperial House...

To Sima Xuan’s right sat a man clad entirely in silver scale armor, even his face obscured by a silver mask. Despite the disguise, Sima Xuan could feel the fury radiating from him...

This was, indeed, Yu Wuhen, the General of the Silver Armored Legion, known ominously as the Jade-Faced Asura...

His rage stemmed, naturally, from the battle reports arriving from the front lines. The subordinate general he had dispatched, Bai Xiao Mo, a prodigious talent from the Hundred Families, had been utterly annihilated; only a few thousand men had managed to escape...

The incident occurred on a vast plain barely two hundred li outside Lingyan City...

According to the survivors' testimonies, their destroyers were not the rebels, but forces from the Shu Yun Kingdom—a nation they perpetually looked down upon. More shockingly, this force of only eight thousand men had virtually wiped out the four-thousand-strong contingent of the Silver Armored Legion...

Eight thousand soldiers nearly eradicating forty thousand seasoned troops—this was unbelievable to everyone present. But for Yu Wuhen, it was a source of incandescent fury...

It could only be described as utter rage. Were his Silver Armored Legion truly so fragile?

He was enraged, and his men—his erlang—were just as furious, constantly clamoring to march out and punish the group that had annihilated their forty thousand comrades. They claimed not to fear the colossal beasts or the enemy’s sharp weaponry; they believed the tales were merely excuses concocted by cowards in retreat...

However, Sima Xuan had received intelligence indicating two more large armies were advancing their way, both hailing from the Shu Yun Kingdom. These two contingents, despite suffering skirmishes with the Tianyuan Empire’s forces, had managed to coordinate with those accursed rebels, deeply tearing open the Tianyuan Empire’s border defenses. They moved as if on open ground, driving directly toward Lingyan City, and had even consolidated a portion of the insurgent forces, their numbers now exceeding one hundred thousand...

Two armies, totaling one hundred thousand strong, were converging on Lingyan City. As its lord, Sima Xuan bore the responsibility of its safety. Thus, he immediately dispatched an urgent report. It was because of this plea that the three thousand personal guards sent by King Xuan Yuan Yan, and even Yu Wuhen—who was slated to head toward Yunzhou—were ordered to remain in Lingyan City to jointly defend it...

Lingyan City was not only the granary for Flame City but also held a critical strategic position flanking it. Should Lingyan City fall, and the enemy establish a stronghold here, Flame City would face imminent danger...

Therefore, the King’s explicit command was to exert every possible effort to hold Lingyan City until the scattered armies suppressing the rebellion could return, allowing them to jointly annihilate these Shu Yun Kingdom forces daring enough to invade the Tianyuan Empire...

This was the military plan laid out by King Xuan Yuan Yan, and Sima Xuan, as the King’s confidant, felt compelled to execute it to the best of his ability...

But the Jade-Faced Asura, Yu Wuhen, was singularly obsessed with launching a sortie to avenge his fallen erlang. This plight left Sima Xuan distraught, helpless, and utterly exhausted. He was forced to summon Xuan Yuan Yu, hoping the latter could persuade this general commanding ten thousand troops...

"Yu Wuhen, these are the King’s orders. I trust you will not jeopardize the King’s great affairs..." Xuan Yuan Yu stated coolly, sipping the premium Longjing tea from the table. As a man bearing the Xuan Yuan surname, he felt no need to lower himself to beg this general who now controlled the greatest military strength within Lingyan City...

"Of course, I will not delay the King’s affairs. But mine is a cavalry unit—a field cavalry unit! Do you expect my horsemen to fight dismounted in a siege?" Yu Wuhen nearly roared. To this day, he could not comprehend how his forty thousand elites could be so utterly crushed by a mere eight thousand foes. If he failed to annihilate those eight thousand, how could he maintain any standing within the Tianyuan Empire, or command the Silver Armored Legion ever again?

Thus, he was determined to wipe out that eight-thousand-strong force before they reached Lingyan City; only then could he recover some measure of dignity...

"Rest assured, the defense of the walls will be handled by the City Lord’s garrison forces. You need only follow the City Lord’s arrangements. These are the King’s orders, and the Emperor’s orders as well..." Xuan Yuan Yu scoffed coldly, deeply displeased by Yu Wuhen’s audacity to raise his voice in his presence...

"The Emperor?" Yu Wuhen merely sneered, cursing inwardly: what could a child of just a few years possibly understand?

"Hmph. If you still hold reverence for the Emperor, then remain within the city and obey the City Lord’s arrangements. Your chance for revenge will surely come..." Seeing Yu Wuhen invoke the Emperor’s name, Xuan Yuan Yu assumed he was intimidated by the Xuan Yuan family’s authority, and he let out another heavy scoff...

"Fine. I will remain within the city and wait for those curs to arrive. But I have one condition: that eight-thousand-strong force must be eliminated by me," Yu Wuhen conceded. Though a general commanding one hundred thousand men, he dared not challenge Imperial authority, even when it was embodied by a mere toddler...

Hearing Yu Wuhen agree, Xuan Yuan Yu ceased speaking, a faint, cold smile touching his lips. From the reports gathered at the front, he knew that the eight-thousand-strong force included four hundred monstrously huge beasts—a potent fighting capability Xuan Yuan Yu certainly had no desire to confront. Since Yu Wuhen offered, he was more than happy to oblige. As for Sima Xuan, upon hearing this agreement, he breathed a profound sigh of relief; with those sixty thousand cavalry at his disposal, his confidence in holding the city rose dramatically...