Decades ago, the Great Xia Dynasty fought a great war with the surrounding nations.
At that time, the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races joined forces to invade. They coordinated their attacks from the north and south, using a similar strategy: first sow chaos from within, then attack from without.
They bribed many insiders and activated numerous spies to create all sorts of turmoil. Several Princes and Princesses met with mishaps, and even concubines and multiple Courtiers died. Once Great Xia had descended into internal chaos, they launched a massive invasion from both the north and south.
The recent events bore many similarities to that great war decades ago.
However, compared to last time, this operation was far more meticulous. Not even the Divine Capture Sect, Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang, or the Shadow Guard could find the culprit, let alone ascertain their identity.
The enemy had clearly learned their lesson from before, which was why they acted with such secrecy this time.
Only powers on the same level as the Great Xia Dynasty, like the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races, could pull off something this major with such stealth.
Individual experts, even a Super Grade Perfection Celestial Human or an Extraordinary True Monarch, might be capable of such acts, but how could they possibly be so flawless?
’And they deliberately left traces of the Enchanting Heart Technique. Isn’t that just to make us fall into internal strife and self-doubt?’
’They started with the Princes and Princesses. Thanks to my deliberate indulgence, the infighting among them is already fierce. Even if someone acted a bit ruthlessly, it wouldn’t easily arouse suspicion. It was the perfect entry point.’
’Now they’ve targeted the Third Prince Xia Wuchen and the Fifth Prince Xia Wushang, the most likely candidates for Crown Prince. This has also caused dissatisfaction from their backers, the Northern King and the Celestial Treasure Pavilion, who are now making restless moves.’
’Raiding the Inner Treasury and the National Treasury was a strike at our weakest point. It ensures that even if the Great Xia Dynasty wanted to deploy troops, we couldn’t raise enough funds for the campaign.’
’Every single move has been carefully calculated, all aimed at invading the Great Xia Dynasty.’
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. The more he thought, the more certain he was, and Emperor Xia’s expression grew increasingly grim.
"So, it’s the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races! You failed decades ago, and now you’re trying the same old tricks again!"
After his own chain of deductions, Emperor Xia had basically confirmed his theory. Xia Wuyang, however, hadn’t expected the Emperor’s imagination to be so vivid that he would suspect the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races for everything.
He had also underestimated his own lethality and power. Relying on his various Companion Talents and formidable strength, Xia Wuyang had accomplished many things that even Super Grade Celestial Humans, and perhaps even True Monarchs, couldn’t normally achieve.
After investigating for some time, even Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang had gradually come to the conclusion that these acts could not have been committed by a single person, but by an organization. Under normal circumstances, an individual definitely couldn’t be this capable.
The theft from the Inner Treasury and National Treasury alone—the loss of so many resources and treasures in such a short time—was simply not something one person could do.
After all, the largest known Storage Spiritual Artifact only had a capacity of a few cubic meters.
In the Fallen Dragon Land, Mortal Artifacts do not have storage space. Only treasures at the Level of Spiritual Artifacts and above might possess such a feature.
For example, the Flood Dragon Ring worn by Emperor Xia was a Low Level Storage Spiritual Artifact with one cubic meter of space. Even so, it was a treasure rarely seen in the world and the most precious storage artifact passed down through the Great Xia Royal Family for over a thousand years.
The largest known Storage Spiritual Artifact in the Fallen Dragon Land was the one possessed by the Khan of the Da Kuo Royal Court. It was said to have reached the Level of a High Level Spiritual Artifact, with a storage capacity of several cubic meters.
But even the Storage Spiritual Artifact owned by the Da Kuo Khan couldn’t hold all the stolen resources and treasures from the Inner Treasury and National Treasury in one go. Besides, the esteemed Da Kuo Khan would never sneak into the Great Xia Dynasty to steal from its treasuries.
Therefore, even if the thief possessed a Storage Spiritual Artifact, it would at most be a Middle-Low Level Storage Spiritual Artifact with extremely limited space. To loot so many resources and treasures in such a short period, they would have had to make dozens of trips back and forth.
To do that in just a few hours... the difficulty was simply too great. It would also create too much of a commotion, so it was highly unlikely.
The only other possibility was that an organization was coordinating with the thief—a well-trained organization at that. Only then could they have consecutively plundered the Inner Treasury and the National Treasury in just a few hours.
Never mind Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang; even if all the Divine Constables in the world were gathered, they would likely reach the same conclusion.
The culprit was a group, not an individual, and a sizable group at that.
Across the entire Fallen Dragon Land, the number of powers capable of training such a formidable group could be counted on one hand. However, the behemoths on the same level as the Great Xia Dynasty—the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races—were definitely two of them.
The Fallen Dragon Land was dominated by three great powers: the Great Xia Dynasty, the Da Kuo Royal Court, and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races.
The Great Xia Dynasty occupied the central region of the Fallen Dragon Land, which was also the most fertile area, spanning a full thirty-six million square kilometers with a population of several hundred million.
The Da Kuo Royal Court was entrenched in the northern region of the Fallen Dragon Land, occupying a similar area of about thirty million square kilometers. However, it was mostly grassland with relatively poor soil. The people of the Da Kuo Royal Court lived as herders and had always been fierce. Their population was only close to one hundred million, and they often raided the Great Xia Dynasty to the south due to various natural and man-made disasters.
The Southern Barbarian Hundred Races, as the name implied, occupied the southern region of the Fallen Dragon Land. It was a southern alliance composed of over one hundred different ethnic groups.
A single race was not formidable, but when hundreds of races united, their collective power was in no way inferior to the Great Xia Dynasty or the Da Kuo Royal Court.
The territory they occupied also exceeded thirty million square kilometers. Combined, the three great powers held a domain of roughly one hundred million square kilometers.
The remaining tens of millions of square kilometers were divided among numerous smaller kingdoms and other peoples, such as the Demon Race, the Demon Race, the Ghost Race, and the Monster Race. The entire Fallen Dragon Land spanned a territory of about one hundred and sixty million square kilometers.
’My previous life’s Earth had a surface area of over five hundred million square kilometers, making the Fallen Dragon Land about one-third of its size. But the Fallen Dragon Land is a single continent, almost entirely habitable, so its usable area isn’t much less than Earth’s.’
Not only that, but Xia Wuyang had learned from ancient records that the Fallen Dragon Land was likely not the entirety of this world. Beyond it, there should be other lands.
After this bout of imaginative deduction, Emperor Xia flew into a rage. He immediately summoned Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang, Grand General of the Imperial Guard Tantai Zhan, and Shadow Guard Chief Zheng Zhicang. As he began to explain his analysis, all three of their faces grew solemn.
However, the Grand General of the Imperial Guard, Tantai Zhan, and the Shadow Guard Chief, Zheng Zhicang, were only pretending. For days, they had been setting up multiple false leads under Xia Wuyang’s direction to misdirect Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang.
How could the two of them not know that their Lord Emperor was behind it all? They were rather surprised that Emperor Xia actually believed it was the work of the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races.

Comments

Loading...