Chapter 1925: Dragon God's View of the World

It is said that the divine nature of the gods also has a similar effect, making the Qianglong Armor akin to an external divine essence for Emperor Jiuyou. To a certain extent, he could view the power of vows as an indicator of popular sentiment, though not entirely precise, but generally accurate.

He Lingchuan carefully selected fifteen locations, all with particularly strong foundations of the power of vows. The common people there not only didn't resent the arrival of the Black Armored Army but welcomed it. Based on this, he then considered factors such as geographical advantage, transportation, material storage, and personnel, finally sifting out five.

After these five initial offensives were launched, he devised subsequent attack routes, with the distribution of the power of vows also being a key consideration. Which areas could be attacked first and which were best left for later were clear at a glance on the sandbox map of vows.

Of course, from his strategic planning to the simultaneous launch of the seven-pronged attack, many unexpected incidents occurred. For instance, supply points of the Yangshan Merchant Association, spread across Flash Gold, were invaded, with several being completely plundered. Although the Yangshan Association had a great reputation, this land had always been a breeding ground for desperate outlaws. What did Yangshan's reputation matter to them? It didn't stop them from stealing. When such incidents happened, the local branches of the Yangshan Merchant Association would severely punish the perpetrators.

Fortunately, Yangshan was primarily a large merchant association specializing in storage and transportation, with business across the entire plain. Many local authorities, in particular, directly outsourced transportation tasks to the Yangshan Merchant Association and the Wuwei Escort Team, even for goods vital to the national economy and people's livelihoods, such as grain and weapons. It wasn't that they weren't vigilant; rather, transporting these goods themselves involved significant risk, terribly low efficiency, and numerous vested interests, so it was simpler to just hand it over to Yangshan. Consequently, few local forces became suspicious—and even if they did, they were dealt with promptly.

Wanqisi Liang, standing behind him, attempted to discern a pattern on the sandbox map. After observing for a long time, he suddenly remarked, "My lord always begins in the poorest and most distressed areas. This is true compassion."

At these words, He Lingchuan suddenly turned to look at him.

Wanqisi Liang asked, "Did I... did I say something wrong, my lord?"

"No, you are absolutely right," He Lingchuan said, stroking his chin as he looked at the flags on the sandbox. Wanqisi Liang's words offered a different perspective. Indeed, from an outsider's perspective, the starting points and routes he chose were all in the poorest, most chaotic, and most suffering areas. It was precisely because these places were in constant turmoil, impoverished, backward, and hopeless for self-rescue that people held an even stronger faith in the Dragon God, yearning for the Dragon God's arrival and salvation.

In He Lingchuan's eyes, this manifested as the power of vows, resembling a galaxy—some areas dense and bustling, others sparse and scattered. Perhaps, in ancient times, this was how the world appeared in the Dragon God's eyes. What the Dragon God once saw, Emperor Jiuyou now saw.

When Dr. Li sent him a report via fast message, he mentioned what he had seen and heard: In an unremarkable rural village in central Flash Gold, the locals, terrified by the widespread expansion of the Dragon God Army, branded them as bandits and villains, and labeled Yangshan as their accomplice.

However, as soon as the announcement was posted, the common people began to curse loudly. Even the person reading it aloud was pelted with feces—eggs were too expensive to waste. By the next morning, the announcement had vanished.

At that time, Weng Xing was scouting the area. While waiting for noodles at a humble inn in the village, he overheard an elderly aunt in the kitchen, her voice full of indignation: "They dare call the Dragon God Army bad guys, dare say Yangshan is an accomplice? What utter nonsense! I haven't seen the Dragon God Army, so I don't know about them. But my son just collected his last month's wages from the Yangshan Merchant Association." Then came the clatter of pots and pans: "Oh, so accomplices pay you on time and don't shortchange you a single copper? In that case, I wish the whole world were full of accomplices! Those government devils should take a look at themselves; our neighbor Ma Er broke his leg fixing their wall, and they've been dragging his wages for eight months now!"

Weng Xing joined the elderly aunt in her rant. Pleased, she added an extra egg to his plain noodles. Upon reading this message, He Lingchuan knew his choices were correct.

The places with the strongest faith in the Dragon God were usually the most chaotic and impoverished, and thus deserved to be saved first. It was only natural for more prosperous areas, which showed less reverence for the Dragon God, to be prioritized later. He Lingchuan certainly harbored his own ambitions and strategic intentions for the Flash Gold Plain. Yet, mysteriously, his actions seemed to align with many principles. Was he, in fact, complying with the Dragon God's compassion, or perhaps following the will of heaven itself?

On the sandbox map before him, only the Allied Army and Yaodi remained blank, without flags planted. Evidently, He Lingchuan had placed these two areas lower on his priority list. The strategy he devised for the other teams in the first phase was to capture all easily taken areas, bypassing the "hard nuts to crack," to first create a widespread impression across the Flash Gold Plain that the Black Armored Army was rising everywhere and their momentum was unmatched. Building momentum was crucial.

However, He Lingchuan's and Qiu Hu's two teams, as the utmost priorities, did the opposite, specifically tackling the toughest challenges. After He Lingchuan landed at Whale Port in northern Flash Gold, he marched south from the Woolly Mammoth Forest, using the Illusionary Sect's team and demon immortals/great demons to largely subdue the demon kings in the northern uninhabited areas. It was either death or surrender; he offered the great demons no third option.

Afterwards, they rendezvoused with Lu Qiuwei, who was stationed in north-central Flash Gold. He Lingchuan officially led 1,500 troops, along with his demons and immortals, in a swift assault on the Kasha tribe, officially commencing Emperor Jiuyou's first battle to sweep across Flash Gold!

North-central Flash Gold was dotted with numerous small powers, among which the Kasha tribe was a well-known nomadic hunter tribe, not yet a kingdom, with a population of over 600,000. They typically had nearly 20,000 warriors who, like the Luodian, excelled at horseback archery, and were greatly feared by neighboring smaller tribes. This tribe worshipped the Goddess Miaozhantian, and thus, before departing for the Upside-Down Sea, the goddess took over a thousand of their most elite and resolute warriors and shamanic practitioners from their tribe—and then they were gone.

This was a colossal loss for the Kasha tribe. On a dark, windy night, Emperor Jiuyou unleashed the Three Corpse Worms for the first time in the real world.

In his first battle, he routed General Wushu of Kasha's eight thousand troops, a scene very similar to today's battle against Qu Ruhai. Fear and confusion became one of Emperor Jiuyou's sharpest weapons. A black tide, with power and swiftness unimaginable to the locals, swept across the entire Kasha territory.

The Dragon God's arrival could not be refused. Just five days later, the Kasha's main state was forced to confront Emperor Jiuyou. The Kasha chieftain led his troops into battle, refusing to surrender. Consequently, he was decapitated on the spot by Elder Xutuo, in front of seven thousand Kasha warriors and 150,000 citizens.

Elder Xutuo's true form was a colossal bull, even larger than a wasteland elephant. When charging, his body emanated green flames, while the spiral-shaped immortal patterns on his hind legs and shoulder blades shimmered with a reddish-gold light, creating a terrifying spectacle of sound and light in the night. The Kasha chieftain's war chariot was also a rare magic artifact, capable of amplifying the charging power of the Star Steeds pulling it multiple times. Yet, it couldn't withstand even one round; Xutuo's charge shattered it into pieces. The Kasha chieftain, injured by the impact, was trampled to death on the spot within two steps.