Chapter 2231: Endless work and unending battles

With a mere flick of his hand, Mei Wuniang felt a gentle breeze on her face, and an invisible force softly pressed her back into her chair.

She only saw He Lingchuan take out a seal, press a red mark at the end of the letter, then fold the paper and place it into a brocade pouch.

"This is your life-saving charm," he said, extending the brocade pouch. "If your involvement is ever exposed and you are unfortunately captured, you must ensure that the authorities in the Heavenly Palace or Lingxu City receive this pouch. It can save your life."

Mei Wuniang's eyes lit up, and she reached out to take it.

But He Lingchuan pulled his hand back. "I've placed a seal on this," he stated. "If you open it without permission, it will lose its effectiveness."

"Really?"

Mei Wuniang immediately replied, "All right, I won't open it. I don't joke about things that can save my life!"

Only then did He Lingchuan hand her the brocade pouch. "Are you done with your noodles?" he asked. "Come with me; let's find a skilled doctor for your face."

Not long after, the war situation quietly shifted.

The allies and sects abandoned by the Mou Kingdom were conquered one by one by Beijia and its forces. This process generated a massive amount of nightmare qi, which was then absorbed by the Tianluo Star.

This was a success for Beijia's Demon Emperor, who used this method to offer nightmare qi as tribute to the Sky Demon, thereby alleviating the Sky Demon's dissatisfaction.

However, this approach naturally came with side effects.

The seven vassal demon kingdoms, including Bolang and Shan Yu, contributed the most to the war against Mou and consequently suffered the heaviest casualties. Yet, as the war dragged on, they discovered that the Chiyan Kingdom, Baoshu Kingdom, and Lingxu City were actually profiting immensely from their trade with Mou!

Meanwhile, Beijia generated the most nightmare qi while suppressing the Ling Mountain forces, making the contribution from the Mou-Beijia battlefield less prominent. This meant the efforts of vassal demon kingdoms like Shan Yu did not receive the gods' affirmation; instead, they endured numerous rebukes.

Fighting under such circumstances became quite disheartening.

Those who contributed the least gained the most;

While those who contributed the most suffered the heaviest losses!

How could this be tolerated?

Don't forget that while they all belonged to the Northern Demon Kingdoms, they actually had competitive, and even hostile, relationships. If others grew stronger, didn't that mean they themselves became weaker?

The seven vassal demon kingdoms repeatedly appealed to the royal court, demanding that border trade between their lands and Mou be severed. They passionately declared, "Every copper coin we send to Mou will turn into an arrow shot at our own soldiers!"

Lingxu City, of course, could not agree to such requests.

Those trade routes carried not only goods from Mou, but also from Cangyan and other nations. If they indiscriminately cut off all of them, Beijia itself would suffer the greatest losses.

Furthermore, Beijia, as the aggressor with the advantage, should have been fearless, demonstrating the might of a great nation with grand victories abroad and peace and prosperity at home. Even the besieged Mou Kingdom hadn't severed the trade routes of the Yangshan Archipelago. Why should Beijia be the first to cut off its own… its own lifelines?

As a result, with disputes in the royal court escalating and rumors spreading throughout the nation, how could the soldiers on the front lines truly focus on fighting?

From its very establishment, Cangyan announced to the world that the Sky Demon not only drained the lifeblood of the people but also waged wars, exchanging the blood and flesh of the young and strong for nightmare qi to sustain itself.

Such a widespread exposure of the Sky Demon's cruel true nature had never occurred before.

When ordinary people heard this, their initial reaction was disbelief.

However, the deeds of Cangyan and Emperor Jiuyou slowly spread among the people, and Cangyan's founding declaration was brought up time and again.

The more frequently it was mentioned, the more people gradually began to believe.

After all, Emperor Jiuyou was such an extraordinary figure. Even though he was demonized in many countries—which, ironically, only made him seem more formidable—more and more people came to believe that what he said and did must hold truth.

The words and actions of such a powerful figure naturally inspire trust and loyalty.

Furthermore, Emperor Jiuyou had another identity not officially recognized in most countries:

The reincarnation of the Dragon God!

The Dragon God's accusation that the gods harvested human lives for nightmare qi, while vehemently denied by god-worshipping nations like Beijia—who claimed Cangyan was slandering the gods—found fertile ground among the populace. Conspiracy theories always had the widest appeal; people not only relished discussing them but were also particularly eager to spread them.

The soldiers of Beijia's vassal demon kingdoms had, of course, also heard these claims.

When the armies found themselves in a grueling stalemate with Mou's forces, and victory or defeat became uncertain, some soldiers couldn't help but wonder: Was Lingxu City intentionally driving them to the battlefield? Was it deliberately sacrificing their lives for nightmare qi as tribute to the gods?

Such sentiments appeared in the army more than once or twice, and each time they were severely suppressed. However, the underlying sentiment could not be halted.

Rumors, once widely spread, proved unstoppable and deeply destructive.

Gradually, the overall performance of Beijia's army on the battlefield became less enthusiastic.

After all, no one goes to battle intending to die.

In these vassal demon kingdoms, both officials and soldiers lacked motivation. As time passed, the intensity of the Beijia-Mou battlefield gradually decreased. Sometimes, Mou's western front would see no fighting for over a month.

The army grew weary and began to slack off. Sometimes, both sides on the front line would secretly conduct transactions, exchanging addictive substances. Only when the Heavenly Palace and Lingxu City pressed them would they fight a few battles to satisfy their superiors.

Emperor Jiuyou, who had been closely observing the battlefields of the powerful nations, finally breathed a sigh of relief at these developments and addressed his ministers:

"In the world today," he said, "as long as the three great nations—Beijia, Mou, and Cangyan—maintain overall peace, even if other regions remain chaotic, the rate of nightmare qi growth will be far slower than the eruption of the Emperor's Vitality Fluid. The laws of the Tianluo Star, overall, are beneficial to the human realm."

These three great nations were the most crucial cornerstones of global stability.

With them as ballast, no matter how great the turmoil stirred up by the Sky Demon, it would not reach significant proportions.

Although the outside world remained tumultuous, the present moment was, in fact, the best period for the human realm in nearly a thousand years:

Spiritual energy was abundant, all things were thriving, the Sky Demon had fallen, and humanity was rising!

When Wang Fubao came to the capital for his official report, he couldn't help but seek the Emperor's advice:

"Mou has fully retreated," he stated, "abandoning its old allies and the Ling Mountain subordinates. Its own credibility and prestige must have been damaged. By the time the Mou-Beijia war ends, I'm afraid Mou will have few partners left in the human realm."

He used to never deeply consider such matters until he gained significant experience by leading troops into battle. Only then did he truly understand the meaning of the saying, "One who does not plan for the whole cannot plan for a part."

He Lingchuan didn't even lift his head. "So what?" he replied.

He was nevertheless pleased that Wang Fubao, Wanqi Liang, and others had matured quickly in recent years.

They were the epitome of Cangyan's young generals.

A great nation requires such emerging and thriving talents.

"At that point, wouldn't it be isolated and powerless?"

"There is gain and there is sacrifice; this is called 'cutting off an arm to save the body,' and also 'having no choice,'" He Lingchuan said, pausing his writing. "Mou is not foolish; it understands it must fully focus on overcoming its immediate difficulties to ensure it has a 'future' to consider. But this also doesn't mean it will no longer have opportunities to counterattack and expand its influence."