Conquering Myriad Worlds from the Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1077 The War Begins Again
Lu Xun felt very humiliated.

He had previously swept across more than a hundred countries and fought across three thousand miles.

But ever since he met Joan of Arc, he has been restricted in every way.

Not to mention the repeated defeats, those were all minor skirmishes.

However, with Dian Wei's help, Joan of Arc miraculously broke through the encirclement. Even after capturing Joan of Arc's right-hand men and taking tens of thousands of prisoners, they still failed to kill Joan of Arc.

Instead, their power became too great to control, leaving them with no choice but to resort to underhanded tactics against Joan of Arc.

In a sense, Joan of Arc and the king were indeed at odds because of his instigation.

The problem is, he had only taken the first step, but his opponent managed to make it look like he had taken ten steps.

What does it mean for Joan of Arc to become empress in a single coup, with everyone supporting her?

Is gossip really that damaging?

Lu Xun was greatly shocked.

But the mountains were high and the roads were long, and his hand simply couldn't reach there.

Joan of Arc, in just a few days, directly took control of all forces, declared herself Holy Queen of France, and seized all military and political sovereignty over France.

Decisive in killing and punishing, clear in reward and punishment, and without any personal desires, Joan of Arc, through the connection of the imperial will, completely opened her will to every citizen.

Joan of Arc launched an ultimate purge from top to bottom.

Imperial will is the will of the collective, and it subtly influences the people who unite the imperial will; this is something that every imperial will possesses.

But Joan of Arc, as the reincarnation of the sacred song, integrated her will into the will of the empire, and in a way that Lu Xun could not understand, she transformed all the people of the empire into divine subjects.

Countless angels emerged from among the people of the gods, the military spirit burned wildly in the hands of Joan of Arc, and the will of the empire continued to unleash its power. These angels, who wielded divine and demonic power, became the backbone of Joan of Arc's forces.

In just half a month, the loose alliance that Lu Xun had been dealing with was completely transformed into a unified whole, and with Joan of Arc's sweeping reforms, the country's strength began to rise rapidly.

Lu Xun, unwilling to give up, wanted to cause trouble, so he sent a light cavalry unit to make a mess of things, but Joan of Arc, as if she had foreseen the future, dispatched the Miracle Legion to stop them.

Of the three thousand light cavalry, only one returned.

"Marshal, Her Majesty the Holy Queen has sent me to inform you that she will soon raise a large army to attack you, and that you will be able to..."

"Speak!" Lu Xun's face remained expressionless.

Although they were just auxiliary troops, and he hadn't expected them to do anything, the fact that only one of them returned still stirred his emotions.

"Wash your neck and wait, the day the city falls will be the day you die! If you don't have the guts, then you'd better abandon the city and run for your life!"

As soon as the message was delivered, the soldiers' faces suddenly turned to terror.

"Ahhh!"

A sacred flame rose from within the soldiers.

"Damn it! Marquis Wen saved his life!"

Lu Xun shouted loudly, and Lü Bu flashed in front of the soldiers.

A hand covered the soldier's skull, and the divine will instantly extinguished the flames.

But then Lü Bu shook his head at Lu Xun.

"Hopeless!"

Even divine will is not omnipotent. Lu Bu destroyed Joan of Arc's flames, but it was too late. This soldier had actually died when he returned, but Joan of Arc maintained his resistance to death with her will.

After delivering the message, the force burned the soldier to death.

"What a clever trick!"

Lu Bu held a flame in his palm, a solemn expression on his face.

"Are these hymns all so powerful?"

Lu Bu was very solemn. He sensed the same aura as Chi You in this flame. This was another ancient relic that had been resurrected from that godforsaken place.

"However... now that I have the Dharma Body, I may not be unable to fight him under the clouds!"

Lu Bu stepped aside, deep in thought, his face full of contemplation about Joan of Arc's strength.

Dian Wei, who was in charge of the game, also had a solemn expression. Just from his aura, he could tell that the Joan of Arc now was definitely not the Joan of Arc he had seen before.

"Boyan, don't make a wrong decision because of a moment of anger!" Chen Gong reminded Lu Xun when he saw that Lu Xun's expression was abnormal.

"I see!"

Lu Xun knew that Joan of Arc was trying to provoke him into launching an attack, using external pressure as a medium to quickly consolidate domestic forces.

So he suppressed his anger at being provoked and solemnly pondered the problem.

"Is it really that troublesome?" Ma Er frowned as he looked at Lu Xun and Chen Gong.

"Even if the First Yellow Heaven and the Trapped Camp were combined, they still couldn't defeat the opponent?"

"It was possible before, but it's impossible now!"

Chen Gong sighed. The lethality of a single finger and a clenched fist is worlds apart.

Not to mention that Joan of Arc also added a steel gauntlet to this fist.

Lu Xun had only a small number of troops, and he also had to divide his forces to maintain stability within his jurisdiction. His chances of winning against Joan of Arc, who was giving her all, were extremely slim.

Joan of Arc took over the king's guards and the nobles' private armies. Although the kingdom's total military strength had decreased due to the coup, the number of troops that Joan of Arc could command had increased significantly.

"Let's wait for reinforcements. Even if the other side sends people to provoke us, we can only endure it!" Chen Gong said quietly.

It's already difficult to fight, and if we launch an attack on Joan of Arc out of anger, it will only make things more complicated.

At that moment, a starlight suddenly appeared in front of Ma Er.

Ma Er grasped the starlight, and his expression immediately became quite interesting.

"Prepare to send troops! Reinforcements are on their way!"

When Mu Yi received the news, he was also surprised. He keenly noticed that Joan of Arc's threat was no less than that of Chi You before.

It was even more dangerous, after all, Joan of Arc's initial power was an entire empire.

Chi You could attract millions of troops to besiege a province just by occupying it; now Joan of Arc is even more powerful than Chi You, and she has the upper hand in terms of popular support and military morale.

If Joan of Arc had been allowed to develop properly for a while, she might have been able to reach the level of the Qing court.

Considering the actual situation, Mu Yi immediately organized a large army to assist Lu Xun in defeating the enemy.

Although war is the last thing they want to start, they know what's more important and they don't want to see a hostile empire grow stronger.

Given that the opponent is constantly getting stronger, their best course of action is to send troops to defeat them in the shortest possible time.

However, the empire has now expanded to a large area, and manpower is needed everywhere. Zhuge Liang made some arrangements and transferred 300,000 people while trying his best not to affect the operation of the empire.

The 200,000 regular troops were organized into a mixed infantry and cavalry force, consisting of seven types of soldiers: the Northern Song Imperial Guard, the Danyang Elite, the Changshui Battalion, the Shesheng Battalion, the Baima Righteous Cavalry, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.

Each unit is basically composed of seven fully-staffed dual-talent legions and one Royal Guard legion.
The three groups, Baima, Changshui, and Shesheng, have relatively small numbers, each with only 10,000 members. They are a full-strength Imperial Guard and a full-strength Double Talent Army, respectively.

Of the remaining 100,000 men, Xu Huang, Taishi Ci, Ma Chao, and Sun Ce each led their own troops, while Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan each led a new army.

Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Qin Ming, Wu Song, and Lu Zhishen were also transferred from Song Shijie.

There are also the Fifth Skylark, the Eleventh Sacrifice Legion, the Burning Guard, plus the two military souls, Dijiang and Houtu, and the two three-talent legions, Peacock and Houyi.

Finally, there were the three Crimson Blood Guards led by Bai Qi.

Combined with the 50,000 regular troops and 150,000 auxiliary troops that Lu Xun had gathered, they managed to assemble an army of 500,000, which Bai Qi personally commanded and marched towards France.

"Is Your Majesty placing too much importance on Joan of Arc this time?" Guo Jia sat in the carriage, somewhat puzzled, wondering why Mu Yi would make such a fuss over Joan of Arc.

The people transferred this time are basically all top-notch, and they are among the best in Xinghan.

And it was Bai Qi himself who led the team. With this scale, you can imagine attacking a newly integrated empire.

Even if they were to fight against the Ming Dynasty and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, they could at least be considered as a large army advancing.

After all, the team has two Miracles, several Military Souls, and tens of thousands of Talents. This configuration is more than enough to fight in wars that span the world.

"You really need to get your head worked up!"

Chen Gong stared at Guo Jia speechlessly, finding it hard to believe that this was once a top strategist known for his ingenious schemes.

Guo Jia looked at Chen Gong with dissatisfaction, but seeing that Chen Gong had no intention of explaining, he could only frown and ponder.

A moment later, Guo Jia raised his head.

"Have you figured it out?" Chen Gong asked with a hint of anticipation.

"No, I'm too lazy to think about it anymore. Anyway, you guys are keeping an eye on things, so it's not my place to worry about it!" Guo Jia settled into a comfortable position, showing no intention of using his brain at all.

What a joke! Who needs to use their brain to think about what the Emperor is thinking? Since the order has been issued, just do as it's ordered. Why think so much?

"No, this guy is really done for!" Chen Gong sighed helplessly, ignoring Guo Jia and turning to Lu Xun to ask.

"Although Lord Wu'an has taken over command of this battle, how do you think we can win?"

"Joan of Arc was busy consolidating internal forces, rapidly building up an army with the will of the empire, and constantly sending people to provoke me. She had clearly anticipated this scene today..." Lu Xun spoke with great apprehension towards the goddess Joan of Arc.

It involves the scale of two empires, the intertwined causes and effects of millions upon millions of people, and yet it is possible to predict the future to this extent.

"If my deduction is correct, then Joan of Arc will surely lead her troops to confront our army head-on."

"Why?" Guo Jia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“If the other side holds firm and does not come out, then a scorched earth policy will be necessary, which is extremely detrimental to uniting the nation’s will. Since the other side wants to use external forces to unite the nation, they will definitely keep the enemy outside the country’s borders. Only in this way can they better unite the nation.” Lu Xun slowly explained his speculation.

"Does the other side have that many soldiers?"

"The number has increased significantly. Most of the guerrilla forces that used to harass our rear have disappeared. I suspect that the enemy has consolidated these forces, but I don't know exactly how large they have expanded to now!"

"Based on the intelligence I obtained from those prisoners, in the worst-case scenario, the enemy could field an army of 1.5 million."

"Of these 1.5 million, I'm afraid even 1 million won't reach the level of dual-talented soldiers?" Guo Jia rarely saw through the problem.

Even if the Military Soul Legion continuously converted its soldiers, it would be absolutely impossible for more than a million people to reach the level of dual talents.

"As long as we have 500,000 elite troops holding the line, this million men can quickly grow stronger, and the enemy may not even need them to go to the battlefield..."

A gloomy look appeared between Lu Xun's brows, indicating that the current situation was not optimistic for him.

However, he was judging from the perspective of a marshal, and he didn't know what Bai Qi was thinking in this situation.

"What do you mean?"

"Based on the information we have gathered so far, Joan of Arc's deity should be some kind of religious god, and bears some resemblance to the Lord of Light that we once destroyed."

"If the other side can collect these wills and create an Angelic Belief Body, we will be in a very passive position!"

Lu Xun laid out all his concerns, not because he was being overly pessimistic, but because he had discovered that Joan of Arc's headquarters possessed this power.

The large number of soldiers transformed from the spirit of Joan of Arc's main force are likely to amplify this power.

The faith of all beings is embodied and manifested as actual fighting power.

If this is the case, the challenges they will face will be very severe.

But putting that possibility aside, even if the other side used it to provide the simplest cloud energy to create a magic array, it would still be a considerable problem.

Chen Gong relayed their discussion to Bai Qi so that Bai Qi could make a better judgment.

Bai Qi smiled slightly, not taking Lu Xun and the others' worries to heart.

What he's about to do is something even crazier.

They plan to use 500,000 men to encircle and annihilate the enemy's main force.

It sounds absurd, but it is Bai Qi's plan to anchor the future reality by using the army's belief.

Bai Qi is constantly using the will of his army to lock in this future.

Since Joan of Arc possesses the ability to foresee the future, Bai Qi locks in an unchangeable future, leaving Joan of Arc with no choice.

"The future is converging?" After realizing this, Joan of Arc's usually calm eyes showed a hint of shock.

If you could only see a failing future, and no matter what you did, that failing future would become clearer and clearer, would you accept that future?
The answer is no; no one would want to accept such a future.

Even Joan of Arc was no exception. She gave up predicting the future. As long as she gave up observation, the future would regain its uncertainty, and there would be a possibility of changing the situation and breaking the deadlock.

"General Guan, what are you looking at?" Lu Junyi asked curiously, looking at Guan Yu who was always looking up at the sky.

"It's nothing!" Guan Yu shook his head. He was naturally sensing Bai Qi's method of mobilizing the army's will.

He was only a hair's breadth away from becoming a god of war, but that hair's breadth was eternity. He really couldn't imagine how Bai Qi could anchor himself to a future that had not yet happened.

If he could learn this skill and cut off all future failures, that would be the time for him to be promoted to a god of war.

But so far, he still doesn't understand how Bai Qi did it, and Bai Qi has no way to explain it to Guan Yu.

This thing is so mysterious that you have to figure it out yourself. Once it was told to Guan Yu, Guan Yu's path was blocked.

After all, this is his path, not Guan Yu's path!
(End of this chapter)