Tian Yuan Xian Ji

Chapter 1658 Palace Discussion

Things turned out just as he expected. After Han Siyuan learned about the situation in Jinan County, he decided to evacuate the county. During this period of time, the expansion of the demons did not stop at all. In addition to the four counties that had already been captured, they were also frantically attacking other cities.

Battle reports are sent from the front line every day. As the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Tang Ning would not be stationed at the front line in person, but he was never idle. He had to make the final decision on many matters such as the defense dispatch of each city and the evacuation of personnel.

As the days passed, most of Jinan County had been completely swallowed up by the demons, and various forces had gradually withdrawn from here.

……

In Tianxing County, Xuanlin Sect, in the vast valley, groups of demons stood there, as if they were holding some important ceremony. The leading demon monks of the Mahayana level all had solemn expressions.

The whole valley was quiet, without any sound.

Around noon, the space in the sky was torn apart. As time passed, a rotating space channel condensed and a figure fell from inside.

It was a man over three meters tall, with a golden horn on his head, two half-red and half-purple wings on his back, and a pair of dark green pupils full of majesty. The man landed on the ground, and the many demons standing around him bowed their heads in greeting.

"Elder Pazesi, congratulations on your arrival."

.........

In Linzi County, on the majestic and vast city walls, Tang Ning and several monks from the Qingzhou coalition were looking forward to it. In the distance, a beam of light shot over and landed in front of him. He bowed and said, "Uncle Tang, we have spotted the warships of the aristocratic alliance ahead. They are expected to arrive in the city in half an hour."

Tang Ning nodded and said, "My fellow Taoists, let's go together to welcome the allied forces that have come from afar!"

A few people flashed and left the city. Not long after they walked, they saw the Lei Zi ship with the flag of the Aristocratic Alliance flying in the distance, speeding towards them.

On the deck of the warship, four men and women were waiting for the arrival of the greeters. This was an unwritten rule. Whenever reinforcements arrived at the front battlefield, there would always be someone to greet them before entering the city as a welcome gesture. This showed an attitude of importance and respect.

These secular etiquettes are also not exempt from the spiritual world.

Although it has no practical use, if this attitude is not shown, it may make the aid-giving party feel dissatisfied, which will naturally affect the subsequent unity and cooperation.

Tang Ning and his companions landed on the deck of the warship and glanced at the four people.

The leader was a burly old man with white hair and beard, and he was in the middle stage of Mahayana cultivation.

The three people behind him were all in the early stage of Mahayana cultivation, and one of them was a middle-aged man with ordinary looks and medium build.

A woman in her fifties with prominent cheekbones and narrow eyes. A man with a fair complexion and elegant appearance.

"I am Tang Ning, and I am here to greet you fellow Daoists on the orders of Senior Brother Han from our department." Tang Ning bowed his head and introduced the three people behind him: "This is our fellow Daoist Kong Rui, fellow Daoist Zhu Zhiqing, and fellow Daoist Feng Jingyuan."

"I have long heard of Daoist Fellow Tang. I am honored to meet you today. I am Yao Yuanqing." The old man smiled and returned the greeting: "This is Daoist Fellow Gu Xingyun from the Jiang family, this is Daoist Fellow Ji Lishui from the Ji family, and this is Daoist Fellow Yuan Bushi from the Ying family."

Tang Ning nodded to them one by one. After so many years of development of the four major cultivation families in the Tianyuan Realm, the cultivators from other families even accounted for the majority in each family. Gu Xingyun and Yuan Bushi were the representative figures of the high-level cultivators from other families in the Jiang and Ying families.

"I have long heard that fellow Taoist Tang is a rare genius unprecedented in ancient and modern times. I have long wanted to pay you a visit, but unfortunately I have no chance to meet him. Today I finally have the honor of meeting him, which is enough to satisfy my lifelong admiration for him." Yuan Bushi said.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, you are too kind. I dare not accept your compliments. You have come from afar to help Qingzhou. We are grateful. On behalf of the Qingzhou coalition, I welcome your joining. Senior Brother Han is waiting for you at the coalition headquarters."

"Fellow Daoist Tang, what is the current situation in Qingzhou? How many troops does the demon clan have?"

"The demons have occupied Jinan County and have temporarily stopped, but I think they will launch a new attack soon. The total strength of the demons is still unclear. So far, twelve Mahayana demons have appeared, and it is unknown how many have not yet appeared. Conservative estimates are at least twenty-four or twenty-five Mahayana demons. I personally estimate that the demon army may have no less than thirty or forty Mahayana monks. Their strength is probably comparable to the demons that invaded Liangzhou."

Hearing this, the old man frowned immediately. They didn't know the details of Qingzhou, and only now realized that the situation was more serious than they had imagined: "The demons are so powerful this time?"

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have rushed to ask for help from the Xuanmen Alliance, the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, and the Aristocratic Family Alliance. Unfortunately, the Xuanmen Alliance and the Chamber of Commerce Alliance have been dispatched to other places to fight against the demons."

"How many troops does your coalition have?"

"Recently, our headquarters has assembled all the forces in Qingzhou, and the legion has been expanded to 25. All the Mahayana monks stationed in Qingzhou have joined our coalition forces, a total of 22 people. In addition, our sect, the Jiang family, the Nether Sea Organization, and the Qiankun Chamber of Commerce can also draw a part of the troops plus five Mahayana monks, and they are rushing to Linzi County."

After entering Linzi County, they met with Han Siyuan in the meeting hall and discussed the current situation for a long time. ………

In a blink of an eye, several months passed in the blink of an eye. In addition to the reinforcements from the aristocratic family alliance, another batch of reinforcements from Taixuan Sect, Qiankun Chamber of Commerce, Nether Sea Organization, and Jiang Family also arrived one after another.

On this day, everyone gathered in the meeting hall of the Linzi County headquarters. There were a total of thirty-one Mahayana monks, which was all the strength that Qingzhou could muster.

Han Siyuan sat in the main seat and said with a smile: "Now that the reinforcements from all directions have gathered, with our current strength, it cannot be said to be easy to defeat the Jinan County demons, but at least there is a 70% to 80% chance of winning. I suggest that we immediately launch a counterattack against Jinan County, annihilate the invading demons in one fell swoop, and recapture Jinan County. What do you think?"

Tang Ning said, "The demons should not be underestimated. Although we have gathered the entire Qingzhou force, plus reinforcements from various places, it may not be easy to defeat the invading demons in one fell swoop. According to my estimation, the overall strength of the invading demons this time is not less than that of the Liangzhou demons. At present, we don't know the specific strength of the demons. If we attack rashly, there will definitely be a lot of casualties."

"I participated in the battle against the demons in Liangzhou. At that time, I didn't know the true strength of the demons, so I led a large army into the battle. As a result, I suffered heavy casualties. Until now, the demons are still entrenched in Liangzhou and are in a stalemate with the Liangzhou coalition forces."

"Let's not talk about the distant ones. The demon army is still there in Mubei's territory. For so many years, the demons in Mubei have been unable to do anything to them."

"The demons have now completely occupied Jinan County. Although they have not made any major moves yet, it won't be long before they launch an attack on Linzi County."

"They invaded Qingzhou on a large scale, so it is impossible for them to be satisfied with just Jinan County."

"Instead of attacking proactively, it is better to wait for the demons to attack. We should continue to improve our defenses and wait for the demons to attack. We can defend ourselves with our formations and deploy heavy troops in layers of defense. This way, we can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zhiyuan immediately refuted: "I don't agree with what Brother Tang said. The demons are not like the Mubei monsters. Their occupation will erode all the spirit veins. The longer the time is delayed, the more serious the erosion of the spirit veins will be. By then, all the spirit veins in the entire Jinan County will disappear."

"Now is the best time for us to attack them while they are unstable. Otherwise, the demons will completely control Jinan County and turn all the spiritual veins into surging demonic energy. Even if we take back Jinan County, we will be seriously injured. What's the point of taking back a desertified Jinan County?"

"What Daoist Lu said makes sense." Deng Feng continued, "What Daoist Tang said about the demon race having 20 to 30 Mahayana monsters is completely imaginary. So far, we have only found 12 Mahayana monsters. Even if the demon race really has 20 Mahayana monsters entering Jinan County, we have no fear with our current strength."

"If we don't take back Jinan County now, when will we? Fellow Daoist Tang mentioned earlier that the demons had invaded Liangzhou and Mubei. I would like to ask you, what is the current situation of the demon-occupied areas in Liangzhou and Mubei?"

"I believe you have all heard that Annan County in Mubei is now a vast desert, and all the spiritual veins are polluted. Do we have to wait until Jinan County reaches this point before we can recapture it?"

As representatives of local sects and families in Jinan County, the two naturally would not agree with Tang Ning's plan of defense as offense, and both refuted it in a harsh tone.

After the two finished speaking, the hall fell silent. After a while, Feng Yuliang said, "Tang Daoyou's words are mature and prudent. Considering the overall situation and the long-term, relying on defensive fortifications and the power of the formation, and using defense as offense is the best solution. A rash attack would be too risky. Not only would we not be able to recover Jinan County, we would not even be able to keep Qingzhou."

Zhu Zhiqing nodded and said, "I agree with Fellow Daoist Tang's plan. We should not attack rashly before we are sure of the demon clan's specific strength."

...

Everyone spoke up one after another, and the coalition army was clearly divided into two factions, one advocating the recovery of Jinan County, and the other advocating the defense of Linzi County. Of course, there were also many neutral people who had not yet expressed their views.

Although Tang Ning's proposal was shared by more people, Han Siyuan did not follow his opinion. After most people expressed their opinions, he said, "Now all kinds of reinforcements are ready. We have nearly 27 legions of troops. The demon army is far less powerful than us, and there are only 12 Mahayana-level monks who have appeared."

"Our strength is almost three times theirs. With such a huge disparity in strength, if we just sit and guard Linzi County, we will probably be laughed at."

"Besides, our massive attack does not mean we will have to fight the demons in one go. We still have to nibble away at them step by step and advance slowly."

"If the attack on Jinan County fails, we can retreat to Linzi County at any time. How can we gather elite troops from all directions and then sit there without doing anything?"

"If we don't attack Jinan County, and the demons don't move, won't we miss the opportunity if we continue to stalemate? Are we going to watch Jinan County turn into a desert?"

"Since all of you fellow Taoists have doubts about this, we will only send a portion of our troops to advance into Jinan County."

"The total strength of the demon clan is less than ten legions, and there are twelve Mahayana-level monks who have appeared. It should be more than enough for us to send half of them to attack."

After that, Han Siyuan looked at Tang Ning again and said, "Junior Brother Tang, you are the pillar of our Qingzhou coalition. I want you to lead the troops to capture Jinan County. Are you willing?"

"I've already said it before, the demons should not be underestimated. I still think it's better to stick to Linzi County." Tang Ning replied calmly, politely rejecting the request.