Jing Yuan's sudden shift in attitude left Qingzhu puzzled and concerned.
"General, what's wrong?"
She had worked alongside him for hundreds of years since he took office, accompanying this renowned 'Divine Foresight General', and rarely had she seen him flustered or lose his composure.
Seeing him like this now was a first.
"...Previously, I assumed Iron Tomb would hold its line, attempting to break through our Luofu's defenses forcefully. But now, it seems unlikely... Iron Tomb hasn't shown itself, merely relying on Legion soldiers for fierce assaults, revealing numerous weaknesses... This must have been intentional."
"His true objective must be to pin me down with deterrence, then seize the opportunity to converge with Celenova on the western front, encircle General Feixiao, and break the western line in one fell swoop!"
Jing Yuan pressed his forehead, looking vexed.
Once he saw it clearly, Jing Yuan's experience allowed him to easily grasp the reasoning behind it.
"General Feixiao, as the Alliance's spearhead, is sharp but also prone to falling into perilous situations, revealing vulnerabilities."
He sighed with lament.
An arrow loosed cannot return; forge ahead relentlessly – this perfectly described Feixiao and the Yaoqing fleet she led. The Yaoqing was the Xianzhou that most resolutely practiced the Path of the Hunt's will.
This style gave the Yaoqing unparalleled offensive power. Just like now, even when facing the Antimatter Legion, the Yaoqing could pressure them heavily.
However, an excessive focus on offense often exposed critical weaknesses.
When the Yaoqing used to aggressively attack the Denizens of Abundance, this tactic worked well, earning them the title of the 'Victorious' Xianzhou.
But facing the Antimatter Legion, the attackers, the Legion clearly didn't have assets they needed to defend like the Xianzhou faction did.
They cared little for maintaining lines or the loss of soldiers.
In this situation, if the Yaoqing stuck to their old playbook, they would possess immense attack power, but their weaknesses would be glaringly obvious to the Legion.
Furthermore…
The Lord Ravager Celenova, one of the most famous in the Legion and a favorite commander frequently employed by Nanook, possessed incredibly rich combat experience, not much less than the 'Victorious' General Feixiao herself.
In the past, the Legion often suffered losses against the Yaoqing because they weren't prepared for a major confrontation. Now, prepared and having identified a weakness, how could that entity possibly not seize the vulnerability Feixiao exposed and strike hard?
"But General, although the Yaoqing front is in extreme danger... what if Iron Tomb doesn't go?"
As Chief Strategist, Qingzhu wasn't naive either and voiced her concern.
However, this didn't change Jing Yuan's mind. He sighed:
"...That possibility exists, of course. But even so, I cannot abandon General Feixiao."
In reality, the Legion was clearly employing a blatant stratagem.
If Jing Yuan held his position and didn't reinforce Feixiao, she could potentially be encircled and broken through using a feint, leading to the collapse of the front line.
But if Jing Yuan went to reinforce her, the eastern front's defenses would become vulnerable. If Iron Tomb attacked then, the eastern front would also be in grave danger.
The Legion was openly exploiting their position as the attackers, lacking fatal weaknesses, to play dirty with the Xianzhou.
Jing Yuan naturally saw through this.
Yet, even so, he had to choose the latter course (reinforcing Feixiao). Because if the former scenario happened (eastern front collapse), the worst outcome would be retreating and consolidating the defensive line... But if the latter happened (Feixiao defeated, western line broken), the defeat of the 'Victorious' Xianzhou would demoralize the entire Xianzhou faction.
The entire Alliance would be affected. What use would holding the eastern front be then? After dealing with Feixiao, the Legion could simply repeat the tactic, picking them off one by one.
"Then, what about General Huaiyan? Isn't General Huaiyan also on the Xianzhou? Could we ask him for assistance?"
Understanding the stakes, Qingzhu clung to hope, turning her thoughts to Huaiyan.
"...Elder Yan is not skilled in combat. Besides... he is currently unable to spare the effort."
Jing Yuan shook his head.
Huaiyan came from the Artisanship Commission, excelling in forging but lacking combat prowess. Of course, even so, he possessed power granted by the Hunt's Aeon, Lan, making him an Emanator-level combatant.
But if he could have been brought along, both Jing Yuan and Feixiao would likely have called upon Huaiyan from the start. After all, adding another Emanator would be like adding wings to a tiger.
However... there was still another 'Phantylia' within the Xianzhou.
Although she was imprisoned deep within the Shackling Prison, in a special Abode, suppressing such an immortal Heliobus Emanator couldn't possibly be achieved through ordinary means alone.
Without using a containment array on the scale used to imprison Flint Emperor, only the power of another Emanator could restrain her. Therefore, until the materials from the Zhuming arrived, Huaiyan had to dedicate the Emanator power granted by Lan to keeping Phantylia contained.
As for Qingque…
Jing Yuan hadn't even considered this option.
If this war against the Legion were visualized as a game of chess, then Qingque, or at least the position Qingque held, was the King or General piece.
If that position became vacant... just as the Legion initially intended, letting Phantylia disrupt and destroy the Xianzhou itself, then even if the front lines won, the war would already be lost for the Xianzhou.
"Let's take it one step at a time for now…"
Jing Yuan sighed, forced to place his hopes on faint possibilities.
"...I leave this place to you and Yanqing."
To prevent chaos on the eastern front, he left Qingzhu in command, then boarded the fastest starskiff available and rushed towards the western front battlefield.
Everything unfolded exactly as [Qingque] had predicted.
When Jing Yuan arrived at the Yaoqing's battle line, moving faster than ever before in his life, he witnessed the bleak state of the Yaoqing Cloud Knight fleet, clearly on the back foot.
He also sensed the three terrifying Emanator-level energy fluctuations.
One, incredibly familiar, was undoubtedly Feixiao's Flying Aureus.
Empowered by Flying Aureus, she wielded her battle blade, locked in combat with two Emanators of the same Path.
The latter two.
One was Celenova, the other Iron Tomb.
It was clear that although Feixiao was exceptionally skilled in combat, arguably the strongest martial artist among the Seven Arbiter-Generals, contending with two Destruction Emanators simultaneously – neither of whom was weak – was proving too much even for the 'Victorious' General.
Moreover, she had her own inherent flaws.
But to Jing Yuan's relief, judging by the battle's state, Iron Tomb likely hadn't been there long.
He must have just arrived.
Realizing this, Jing Yuan felt a wave of immense relief and luck.
If he had waited until Feixiao was defeated or nearly exhausted before arriving, then he, an old man not particularly skilled in combat, would have gone from providing support to delivering himself on a silver platter.
Thank goodness he had listened to that child's advice and rushed over without delay. Otherwise, with battlefield information heavily delayed by Iron Tomb's interference, if he had waited until receiving the Yaoqing's request for aid, he probably would have arrived just in time to collect General Feixiao's corpse.
Simultaneously, Iron Tomb's appearance brought Jing Yuan immense relief.
With Iron Tomb here, he didn't need to worry as much about the eastern front being a diversion tactic (luring the tiger away from the mountain).
His heart settled, gripping his glaive, Jing Yuan shouted:
"Fellow Cloud Knights, fear not! Jing Yuan has arrived!"
"**Radiant Spirit Invocation, Heed My Command, Sunder the Wicked!**"
The arrival of the Lightning Lord was like a shot of adrenaline for the western front's Cloud Knight fleet.
"The Luofu's Divine Foresight General is here!"
Their flagging strength instantly surged as if they had seen a guiding light, their morale soaring.
Simultaneously, it disrupted the pincer attack of the two Lord Ravagers against Feixiao.
"General Feixiao, I'm here to help!"
"Cough cough... You're not too late."
Standing atop Flying Aureus, coughing violently, Feixiao saw Jing Yuan's arrival with a mix of relief and anger. Of course, this anger wasn't directed at Jing Yuan or her opponents.
It was directed at herself.
Due to her origins, her body had significant drawbacks. Although her experiences a decade ago had alleviated some issues, they still caused Feixiao considerable trouble, especially in a high-intensity, high-level engagement against two Lord Ravagers simultaneously.
If her body were fine, she felt that even fighting two-on-one, she might not win, but she could at least hold out for a long time, unlike now where she was completely overwhelmed.
"Thanks to that child's reminder… If not for that, I was nearly misled."
"...You received it too?"
"General Feixiao also received word from the Seat of Divine Foresight?"
"Yes."
"...Almost suffered a huge loss."
Feixiao gritted her teeth. Jing Yuan immediately noticed a terrifying scar on Feixiao's shoulder. With his sharp eyes, he could tell the blow had originally aimed for a vital spot.
And its creator was clearly Iron Tomb before them.
Just before the Emanator battle erupted and she engaged Celenova, she had received a warning from the Luofu's Seat of Divine Foresight regarding Iron Tomb's sudden attack.
Feixiao hadn't initially paid it much mind. Even after engaging Celenova, gaining the upper hand, and becoming eager for victory, she had been blinded for a time.
Until a certain moment, recalling the warning from 'Qingque', and precisely at the next instant, she felt immense danger looming over her.
Then came Iron Tomb's unannounced, unpredictable 'fatal strike'.
If Feixiao hadn't reacted quickly, that blow, even blocked forcefully with Flying Aureus, would likely have cost her half her life.
It should be noted that the vitality of Foxians wasn't as robust as that of the Xianzhou natives.
Undoubtedly, she owed that person her life. Of course, considering the events of a decade ago, this might already be the second life she owed.
Jing Yuan sighed, then tightened his grip on his glaive.
"In that case, I shall take the lead in attacking from now on."
Though reluctant, Feixiao understood she indeed needed a chance to catch her breath and stabilize her injuries. She could only nod.
Emanators clashed fiercely.
Cloud Knights bled profusely.
The airspace of the western front had transformed into an incredibly brutal battlefield, a veritable Asura's Domain.
The two Lord Ravagers unleashed indiscriminate attacks without restraint.
They didn't care even if their own Legion voidspawn were caught in the crossfire. After all, such things could be produced endlessly by the war forges. They could even take the battlefield remains back for reprocessing.
But Feixiao and Jing Yuan couldn't do the same.
Not only were they unable to unleash indiscriminate AoE attacks like the Lord Ravagers, but they even had to carefully control the direction of their power to protect the Cloud Knights' formations. At times, they even had to intercept the AoE attacks from the Lord Ravagers to prevent their own lines from collapsing.
Relocating the battlefield was an option, of course, but neither Celenova nor Iron Tomb would likely grant their wish.
After all, what they wanted was precisely to use the Xianzhou Cloud Knights to tie up the two Xianzhou Generals, forcing them to fight with their hands tied, as if burdened by shackles.
"Huff… huff…"
As the battle situation deteriorated further, Feixiao, burning with anxiety, already heavily injured, and the primary target, stumbled precariously on the wreckage of a warship. She had to protect the Yaoqing Cloud Knights, contend with her injuries and physical ailments, and endure severe stamina drain...
With all these debuffs stacked against her, even with Jing Yuan's assistance, the fact that she could still stand here and wield her weapon was purely due to sheer willpower.
And Jing Yuan…
Gazing at the two Lord Ravagers eyeing him like tigers, he had a premonition… this would likely be his final dance.
General Feixiao was injured, he himself wasn't adept at combat, and he was getting old. In this situation, even two-on-two, it would be difficult to defeat these Legion commanders.
Although Jing Yuan clearly recognized all this, there wasn't a trace of despair in his heart.
...Even if victory is impossible, it doesn't matter. Alliance reinforcements are surely on their way, and I have already found a successor for the Xianzhou who is no less capable than myself... no, perhaps even far surpasses me.
So, at this moment… only a fight to the death remains.
Raising his glaive, the Divine Foresight General's eyes filled with sharp resolve and determination.
In the past, he always worried too much about various matters.
But at this moment, he felt as if he had returned to his youth, to the legendary High-Cloud Quintet of the old Xianzhou.
Regrettably… now, old friends were gone, leaving only him behind.
Though filled with nostalgia, upon reflection, the High-Cloud Quintet was already smoke from the past. The Xianzhou's future should belong to the future generation... Looking at it this way, as the last remaining member of the High-Cloud Quintet, it seemed most fitting for him to conclude this story.
Just that, amidst the fierce battle, he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret… wishing they could fight side-by-side once more.
Memories of the past flashed through his mind, and Jing Yuan's hand gripping the glaive trembled slightly.
He prepared to summon the Lightning Lord again, to fight a decisive battle against the two Lord Ravagers, just like Tengxiao's bloody battle against Shuhu back then. Perhaps this was the destiny of the Luofu Generals? To die in battle…
"**Azure Dragon's Rebuke, World-Cleansing Dragon!**"
"**Moon Frost Across a Thousand Rivers!**"
Two distinct, chilling voices echoed beside Jing Yuan's ears.
Accompanying them were vast, moon-frost-like sword energy and a water dragon brimming with immense power, striking towards the two Lord Ravagers respectively.
This familiar scene, the familiar tone and voices, caused Jing Yuan, who had been preparing to give his all, to reveal utter astonishment. Gazing at the two figures who had just entered the battlefield, his pupils constricted, filled with disbelief.