Divine Mechanism Battalion

The shouts of the Seven Heroes of Chifeng thundered.

Their aura was imposing and fearless.

For a moment, it caused many of those whose hearts were already wavering to waver even more.

Should they follow the Commander-in-Chief, or... stay where they were?

"Brothers, you tied the fate of your nine generations to your waistbands to rebel! Now, with just one word, he wants to surrender to the Empress? Do you no longer want the merit of supporting the true dragon? Do you no longer want wealth and glory? Or is it that you just want to hand your lives over to that incompetent Empress?"

"To let them treat you as fish and meat on the chopping block, while they hold the cleaver?"

"Are you truly willing?"

The Seven Heroes of Chifeng had been in the army for a long time. Although their overall abilities were much inferior to Lin Zixiao's, they knew no less about military matters than he did. With just a few words, they struck the sore spot of the soldiers.

As a result, some people who had clearly already stood in Lin Zixiao's ranks took a few steps back, returning to their original camp.

This greatly angered Lin Zixiao.

Knowing that further words would be useless, there was only one thing left to do...

Cut his robe and sever their ties of brotherhood!

"Fine! As the saying goes, those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. Since the seven of you are no longer willing to follow me, Lin Zixiao, from this day forward, I have nothing to do with you. From now on, you and I are enemies, not friends!"

Lin Zixiao was extremely decisive. He directly pulled at his clothes.

Drawing the blade from his waist, he cut his long robe in half.

Accompanied by his bleak yet resolute gaze, the Seven Heroes of Chifeng felt a momentary pang of sorrow. However, Bai Zixuan still needed their protection, and Little Vajra had to be cherished in the palms of their hands. Right now, it didn't matter anymore.

Thus, the seven of them followed Lin Zixiao's example.

Cutting their robes to sever their brotherhood.

Afterwards...

Lin Zixiao turned and left, taking the twenty thousand men who were willing to follow him.

The Seven Heroes of Chifeng did not stop him.

They had a total army of one hundred and twenty thousand; Lin Zixiao had only taken twenty thousand. Although it was a loss, it was not a massive one. They still had enough strength to attack the capital, so they all simply let Lin Zixiao leave.

The sky was gradually darkening. Lin Zixiao led his twenty thousand troops, dawdling along the way. He did not immediately return to the capital. Instead, when they were almost at the city gates, he suddenly ordered the entire army to halt.

"Brothers, I, Lin Zixiao, led this army starting from a mere few thousand men, all the way to the outskirts of this capital, commanding a force of two hundred thousand. What I relied on was never just the sheer number of people!"

He suddenly spoke these words. Before the twenty thousand soldiers following him could understand what he meant, he abruptly issued a military order: "Everyone, follow me, straight to Shuiyuan!"

"We must reach Shuiyuan at the fastest possible speed!"

"And burn their provisions!"

The twenty thousand troops were instantly shocked.

Especially the high-ranking generals among them.

Because they knew very well that Shuiyuan was the largest stockpile of provisions for the two hundred thousand-strong army. If they set that place on fire, the remaining one hundred and eighty thousand troops would likely have less than five days' worth of food per person.

Most importantly...

This would be an extremely severe blow to those one hundred and eighty thousand troops!

A massive psychological blow!

Among these men, many had felt some regret on the way back, thinking they might have chosen wrongly and that what was originally a smooth path might turn into a dead end. But as soon as Lin Zixiao said this, their spirits were lifted.

Following a Commander-in-Chief who was so resourceful and decisive, whose abilities were clearly above the Seven Heroes of Chifeng, even if the sky fell, he would be able to hold it up!

Thus, the mere twenty thousand men moved toward Shuiyuan with the speed of a sudden thunderbolt. Taking advantage of the night and the time difference, they made everything happen exactly as Lin Zixiao had predicted!

The garrison guarding the provisions at Shuiyuan had not yet been replaced.

The defenses at Shuiyuan were the same as before!

Because of this, Lin Zixiao didn't even have to kill anyone. Relying solely on his prestige, he easily entered Shuiyuan. Soon after, a massive fire was set, and countless provisions went up in roaring, surging flames.

The Seven Heroes of Chifeng, realizing this too late, immediately panicked!

They almost poured out all their elites, rushing madly to the rescue.

Especially the third brother, Shen Xiao. As the cavalry commander, he led his riders, galloping furiously to arrive.

However...

All of the Seven Heroes of Chifeng arrived, but Lin Zixiao was nowhere to be seen.

All that was left was a field of ruins.

Just as the Seven Heroes of Chifeng gnashed their teeth in hatred, wishing they could eat Lin Zixiao's flesh raw, they looked up and saw another patch of red glowing in the distance.

That direction...

Was exactly where their one hundred and eighty thousand-strong army was camped!

"Oh no, Lin Zixiao took his men straight to our main camp!"

"Zixuan is still there, and Little Vajra is still there!"

"Quick, quick, quick, go save them!"

...

The Seven Heroes of Chifeng immediately rushed madly from Shuiyuan back to the main camp.

They returned even faster than they had come.

However, just as they led their men through a canyon, rocks fell from the sky. Countless rolling logs and massive boulders cascaded down from both sides, crushing their already exhausted bodies into bloody pulp.

Fortunately, the canyon was relatively wide.

Moreover, Lin Zixiao's primary goal was not to slaughter their main force, but merely to deter and suppress them; his ultimate aim was still to recruit these men.

As a result, the casualties were not severe.

But after these successive maneuvers, the Seven Heroes of Chifeng were thoroughly dejected.

"Lin Zixiao truly calculates without missing a single detail!"

The eldest brother, Xiao Lie, who was the vanguard general and originally the most likely among the Seven Heroes of Chifeng to succeed Lin Zixiao, quickly realized how terrifying Lin Zixiao was.

"He calculated everything. He figured we would definitely go to save Shuiyuan, and furthermore, he figured we would have to come back to rescue the main camp. So, on his way to launch a surprise attack on Shuiyuan, he left his infantry behind to set an ambush in advance!"

"Ha, ha, ha, what a brilliant calculation."

"What a brilliant calculation, Lin Zixiao."

"When we were under his command before, I didn't feel he was this formidable. I never expected that now that we've become opponents, just one encounter would completely shatter us."

While the eldest brother Xiao Lie was still sighing, the other six roused their spirits again. After all, Bai Zixuan's fate was still unknown.

Fortunately, when they reached the main camp, they successfully found Bai Zixuan.

And they found Little Vajra.

Lin Zixiao most likely didn't know yet that Bai Zixuan was their weakness and hadn't deliberately targeted her. However, while he didn't target Bai Zixuan, he did launch an attack on their exhausted, arriving troops.

The forces in Lin Zixiao's hands clearly numbered more than twenty thousand now.

There were probably around fifty or sixty thousand.

It was obvious that after this wave of events, more people, either to survive or intimidated by Lin Zixiao, had taken the initiative to defect to him.

And now, Lin Zixiao was leading these people to charge at them.

Just this afternoon, they had held an absolute advantage with one hundred and eighty thousand troops. Now... they were almost utterly defeated!

"It's over, it's over. The wealth and glory we promised you, Zixuan, are gone."

"Little Vajra won't be able to sit on the throne in the future."

"Zixuan, I... I'm so sorry."

...

The Seven Heroes of Chifeng were all dejected, even on the verge of breaking down.

Bai Zixuan, however, remained optimistic.

"What are you afraid of? Our subordinates were just scattered, not killed. We can just gather them again. Besides..." A strong sense of confidence appeared on Bai Zixuan's face. "Our Tongxin Alliance has ten thousand troops already on the way."

"I believe they will arrive within these two days."

"Every single one of them is armed with firearms, and they are the most advanced firearms at that!"

"With ten thousand men of the Divine Firearms Battalion at my command, what does it matter how formidable Lin Zixiao is?"

"I shall make him beg for life to no avail, and pray for a death that will never come!"

...