Chapter 223 : Four-Talisman Demon-Slaying Formation! The Scourge Army's Counterattack!
Chapter 223: Four-Talisman Demon-Slaying Formation! The Scourge Army's Counterattack!
Recently.
Things had become extremely lively offline.
The offline player exchange conference that had concluded a few days earlier was now being covered in rotation by every major mainstream media outlet and traditional television station.
As a result, more and more people who had never cared about games—security guards, fishing enthusiasts, mountain climbers, and countless others—learned about Twisted Three Kingdoms. Within just two or three days, it had sparked an unprecedented wave of public discussion across every field and throughout society.
Many people were captivated by Twisted Three Kingdoms.
The ranks of Cloud Players expanded rapidly.
Naturally, there were also countless old-fashioned parents, educators, public intellectuals, and malicious internet trolls who crazily criticized and smeared the game. In their eyes, all games were unforgivable evils, and they wished every game in the world would disappear immediately.
The debate was exceptionally heated.
It even generated a great deal of social news.
Just as both sides were arguing so fiercely that they seemed on the verge of settling things with a real fight...
Another incident, neither too big nor too small, took place in the Magic Capital region—
The offline headquarters building of the Divine Feather Palace Legion had officially opened!
The Scourge Army already had several Legions, and the number would only continue to increase in the future. Yet the Divine Feather Palace, founded by the Warlock Little Bell, was undoubtedly one of the strongest and most famous Legions overall.
Little Bell, Li Yuling, was merely a junior high school graduate.
Her father, however, Li Songlin, was one of the country's few super-rich tycoons.
By now, he had gained access to more and more insider information. What had initially been mere curiosity about the project had gradually become serious attention, then extraordinary importance, and now had reached an unprecedented level.
Not only had he increased his investment in the Divine Feather Palace Legion tenfold and continued pouring in more capital, he had personally used his influence and connections to establish an offline support team for them. He had even contributed one of the group's skyscrapers located in the core GBD district of the Magic Capital.
This luxurious building, constructed at a cost of several billion yuan...
Was directly renamed the Divine Feather Palace Tower.
All to build momentum for his daughter!
Starting today, it officially became the Divine Feather Palace Legion's headquarters in the real world. Furthermore, to attract even more talented members, he had also acquired a nearby five-star hotel, which would serve as accommodation for Legion personnel in the future.
To support his daughter's gaming career...
He invested so relentlessly.
Countless internet spectators were left dumbfounded, exclaiming that they had truly lived long enough to witness anything.
Of course, others sensed a different message from Li Songlin's actions.
A business magnate and financial conglomerate leader of his stature would never make decisions on a whim. No matter how much he doted on his only daughter, he would never invest nearly ten billion yuan simply so she could play a game.
There was only one possible explanation.
This game was worth such extensive promotion and publicity.
Because, in the future, it could generate returns that vastly exceeded the current investment.
As for Little Bell, Li Yuling, she had already completed the formalities to leave school and pursue independent study. With her father's behind-the-scenes guidance and support, she officially became a true full-time Player.
This filled Li Yuling with unprecedented happiness!
Not only could she play the game she wanted and do what she loved, but even her father—whom she used to see only a few times a year—was now frequently by her side, helping plan the Legion's development and offering advice on personnel management.
It all felt like a dream!
The high-profile announcement of the Divine Feather Palace's offline headquarters in the Magic Capital marked an extremely important milestone for the Legion. Even for the entire Scourge Army—and even Twisted Three Kingdoms itself—it was a historic event worth recording.
Once the simple unveiling ceremony concluded...
More than a hundred Divine Feather Palace Players officially moved into the headquarters hotel.
Li Yuling opened her gaming capsule, ready to log in, when an important visitor arrived.
It was none other than the Legion's greatest financial backer...
Her father.
This nationally renowned super-rich tycoon always carried himself with calm dignity and a stern expression. Beside him stood a fairly handsome young man in his early twenties.
"Huh? Cousin, what are you doing here? When did you come back to the country?"
The young man standing beside Li Songlin was Li Yuling's older cousin, Zhao Cong.
He was intelligent and had a decent character. Unfortunately, growing up surrounded by spoiled rich heirs had led him astray. He spent every day either street racing or chasing girls, accomplishing nothing, until he was eventually sent to Britain to study.
"Hehe, I already dropped out. I couldn't stand another day of that useless school!"
Zhao Cong's face was full of excitement.
"Little Lingling, you're practically my idol now! You'll have to take care of your big cousin from now on!"
"What do you mean?"
Li Yuling looked completely confused.
Li Songlin explained, "Zhao Cong obtained a Twisted Three Kingdoms closed beta qualification. Tomorrow night, he'll be able to enter the game world."
Upon hearing this...
Li Yuling was overjoyed.
"Cousin's about to become a new Scourge soldier? That's fantastic! Our family finally has a second member of the Scourge Army!"
She laughed heartily.
"No problem! Come find me after you get in. We'll recruit you into the Legion, and from then on we'll enjoy the good life together!"
As one of the Four Great Legions, Divine Feather Palace mainly consisted of female members.
However, refusing all male Players wasn't realistic.
They simply imposed much stricter requirements regarding a man's character, personality, and ability.
As a result, over eighty percent of the Legion's members were women.
Although Zhao Cong had picked up some spoiled rich-kid habits, his true nature wasn't bad. As long as someone kept him from harassing the female Players, he could become a dependable companion.
Li Songlin, however, said, "There's no need for Zhao Cong to join Divine Feather Palace. We have other arrangements for him. You only need to look after him during the early stages."
Li Yuling was puzzled at first.
But after hearing the explanation, she immediately understood.
Zhao Cong was another proxy her father had selected.
Being a member of the family whom they had watched grow up, he was someone they could trust.
Although Zhao Cong was an underachiever, he possessed considerable personal charisma. Many arrogant second- and third-generation heirs admired and followed him. Li Songlin planned to take advantage of Zhao Cong's unique social network to gather these elite heirs together in the game and establish an entirely new Scourge Army faction.
Once these people were brought together...
The Legion's future resources and potential would be extraordinary.
And once Zhao Cong established himself in the game, although his Legion would operate independently from Divine Feather Palace, the two forces could complement and support one another, greatly increasing their influence both within the Scourge Army and throughout the territory.
Simply put...
Zhao Cong was another chess piece cultivated by Li Songlin.
Li Yuling nodded.
"No problem! Work hard! The territory is still in its early stages of development. There'll be plenty of opportunities to accomplish great things in the future!"
Zhao Cong felt tears welling in his eyes as his blood boiled with excitement.
He and his group of wealthy friends had long been following Twisted Three Kingdoms.
They had dreamed of obtaining closed beta qualifications.
Never had they imagined that dream would come true so soon.
Just thinking that he was about to become a glorious soldier of the Scourge Army made Zhao Cong tremble with excitement.
Street racing? Chasing girls?
How could any of that compare with this game?
"Cousin, Uncle, don't worry!"
Zhao Cong declared firmly.
"We also want to build something ourselves. We also want to make something of ourselves. We also want to earn other people's recognition. This time, I'll give it everything I've got—and I'll become the finest soldier in the Scourge Army!"
Who didn't dream of becoming a hero?
These wealthy heirs had spent their entire lives living under the protection of their parents and grandparents.
Though they would never worry about food or money, most of them were spiritually empty.
They knew full well that no matter how hard they worked or how capable they became, surpassing their elders was nearly impossible.
Spending money on luxury and entertainment cost little.
Recklessly ruining the family fortune—that was true extravagance.
But if there were a platform...
If there were an opportunity...
To prove themselves...
Anyone with even a shred of pride would seize it.
Especially when it was something this exciting.
Li Songlin said no more.
"Let's go back. Yuling's game time is precious. We shouldn't keep distracting her."
After giving a few final instructions...
He left with Zhao Cong.
Li Yuling wasted not even a single second.
She immediately entered her gaming capsule and logged into the game.
As the Scourge Army Warlock Little Bell, she awoke in her residence within Luoshui Main City.
"What an energetic new day!"
Little Bell was full of vitality and in an excellent mood.
She had never expected that even her eldest cousin would join the Scourge Army.
Surely even more relatives and friends would join in the future.
Fighting and striving together in this world would certainly be wonderful!
But...
Before any of that...
They had to protect this home!
She needed to improve herself—and strengthen the Legion—as quickly as possible!
"I already upgraded my weapon and clothes to Tier-Three Blue Quality yesterday. Today's task is skill cultivation. I'd better hurry to the Enlightenment Tower and use up my stored balance!"
Little Bell had already reached Level 22.
She was the highest-level Warlock in the Scourge Army.
However, because she had been focusing on leveling recently, she had invested relatively little into skill cultivation.
As the saying went, sharpening the axe didn't delay chopping wood.
Skill cultivation was just as important as equipment upgrades—
Perhaps even more important.
However...
Training skills consumed enormous amounts of Essence.
What if she didn't have enough?
Little Bell's solution was simple.
Spend money!
Although Twisted Three Kingdoms sold neither power nor cosmetics, and in fact offered Players no official cash shop whatsoever, that didn't mean wealthy Players couldn't gain advantages by showering the game with money.
The developers might not want to earn money.
But ordinary Players certainly did.
The Contribution Points earned through daily quests and monster hunting were partially converted into tradable currency.
In the end, most of it flowed into the hands of wealthy Players represented by Little Bell and Ye Li Meng.
These wealthy Players acquired more resources to expand their influence.
Meanwhile, ordinary Players earned substantial amounts of real-world cash, improving their lives—and even changing their destinies.
Everyone got what they wanted.
And it wasn't just Contribution Points.
Equipment.
Items.
Anything that could be traded...
Could be purchased with cash.
Recently, Little Bell had spent over ten million yuan acquiring a batch of Enlightenment Tower Recharge Vouchers.
These so-called "Enlightenment Tower Recharge Vouchers" were actually Essence Discount Vouchers exclusive to the Enlightenment Tower.
They couldn't be obtained from monster drops.
Nor could they be purchased from NPCs.
They could only be obtained from reward chests earned through event quests.
The vouchers came in many different denominations.
Some deducted 2,000 or 3,000 Essence.
Others covered as much as 80,000 or even 100,000 Essence.
The amount depended on both the quest's quality and the reward chest's rarity.
Recently, with events occurring one after another, the territory had distributed abundant rewards.
Many mid- and lower-tier Players had obtained small-value Enlightenment Tower Recharge Vouchers from Bronze Treasure Chests.
This gave Little Bell the perfect opportunity to spend nearly ten million yuan buying them in bulk.
By the end...
She had acquired over sixty vouchers.
Enough to deduct roughly 500,000 Essence inside the Enlightenment Tower.
For Little Bell—or rather, the financial consortium behind her—
This wasn't much money.
But for the Players who sold those vouchers...
They had made an absolute fortune.
Little Bell checked her current resources.
She presently possessed 80,000 Essence.
Combined with the more than 500,000 Essence stored in the Enlightenment Tower...
She had nearly 600,000 Essence available for skill cultivation.
At the current stage of the game...
That was unquestionably an enormous fortune.
Hopefully...
She could develop an outstanding new skill!
Thinking this, she entered the Enlightenment Tower.
She immediately began reviewing all the skills she currently possessed.
As one of the Scourge Army's top Warlocks, Little Bell had already mastered nearly twenty different skills, including combination skills.
Naturally, the overwhelming majority were Warlock techniques that enhanced Spirit.
However...
Having many skills...
Didn't mean she had many suitable fusion materials.
Whether two skills could successfully undergo Enlightenment and fuse depended first on one essential condition—
Both skills had to be trained to maximum level.
Although Little Bell possessed nearly twenty skills, not every one of them had been fully mastered.
Secondly, although any two skills theoretically had a chance of successful Enlightenment, the more compatible the two skills were, the higher the success rate.
Without abundant Essence, it was best not to stubbornly attempt to fuse two completely incompatible skills.
So far...
The territory had already produced many powerful Strength- and Agility-type fusion skills.
For example, Black-Eyed Sharp Bro's Swiftflash Assault.
Or Ye Li Meng's Frenzied Tiger Soul Ignition.
Both were exceptionally powerful Blue-grade skills.
There were also supreme techniques such as The Martial Saint's Three Strikes and Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix Spear, legendary martial arts systems so difficult that the Scourge Army could only admire them from afar.
By comparison...
Warlocks and Monks were in an awkward position.
Up until now, the territory had yet to produce any Blue-grade Spirit Enhancement or Will Enhancement skills.
There were certainly no complete cultivation systems.
The main reason...
Was that the territory simply lacked sufficient Spell skills.
Nor did it possess complete systems suitable for integration.
However...
With the conquest of Wan City...
The territory had absorbed figures like Jia Xu and Zhang Zhongjing, as well as forces such as the Extreme Yin Sect and the Han Clan of Wan City, all of whom specialized in magic.
In the future...
More and more powerful secret arts and mystical techniques would surely spread throughout the territory.
So...
What should she cultivate this time?
With the assistance of Divine Feather Palace's offline research team...
Little Bell had already identified a suitable direction.
Although spell-type skills in the territory rarely formed complete systems...
There was one exception.
Talisman Arts.
Within the main city stood the Taiping Talisman Tower.
There, Players could learn six different skills:
Taiping Lightning Command Talisman,
Taiping Blazing Flame Talisman,
Taiping Frost Talisman,
Taiping Wind Strike Talisman,
Taiping Spring Renewal Talisman,
and Taiping Purification Talisman.
Compared to other spells...
These Talisman Arts clearly belonged to the same school.
Their chances of integrating into a complete system were much higher.
Since Little Bell had no better cultivation direction at present, she decided to begin with Talisman Arts.
If this cultivation route proved successful...
It would also be a contribution to the territory.
Many people would benefit from it in the future.
However...
Of the six major Talisman Arts...
She had only mastered the four offensive talismans.
【Ding! You are attempting to fuse "Taiping Lightning Command Talisman" and "Taiping Blazing Flame Talisman." This Enlightenment attempt will consume 15,000 Essence!】
"That's expensive..."
But both were Green-grade skills.
The cost was understandable.
Little Bell took several deep breaths to calm herself.
Then she officially entered the Enlightenment state.
In an instant...
Countless streams of information flooded into her mind.
Although she gained many profound new insights...
No spark of true creativity emerged.
Her first attempt ended in failure.
Although she had failed immediately...
Little Bell wasn't discouraged.
After resting for two minutes...
She began her second attempt.
【Essence -15,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment failed!】
"Failed again!"
It had been so close!
Before the lingering insights faded...
Little Bell immediately launched her third attempt.
【Essence -15,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment successful! You have comprehended "Taiping Thunderflame Talisman"!】
"It worked!"
Little Bell was overjoyed.
She had succeeded within only three attempts.
That meant the two skills were indeed highly compatible!
She immediately checked the information for Taiping Thunderflame Talisman.
This skill possessed both Lightning and Flame attributes.
Its power far exceeded that of ordinary Lightning Talismans.
After exploding, it also left behind burning flames.
Its cooldown wasn't particularly long either.
More importantly...
The Thunderflame Talisman could be set to detonate with a delay...
Or triggered by proximity.
This gave Players who mastered it far more tactical options.
It resembled explosive talismans from certain manga.
An excellent skill!
Unfortunately...
It was still only Green-grade.
Little Bell spent another 35,000 Essence training it to maximum level, further increasing her Spirit attribute.
Then she immediately began another round of Enlightenment.
【Ding! You are attempting to fuse "Taiping Wind Strike Talisman" and "Taiping Frost Talisman." This Enlightenment attempt will consume 15,000 Essence!】
【Ding! Enlightenment failed!】
【Essence -15,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment failed!】
【Essence -15,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment successful! You have comprehended "Taiping Ice-Sealing Talisman"!】
Little Bell was overjoyed.
This time...
She had succeeded after only two failures!
She quickly examined her newly created skill.
The Taiping Ice-Sealing Talisman summoned an extremely cold storm through a talisman.
It instantly froze the surrounding air...
Creating a massive block of ice.
Its destructive power wasn't particularly impressive.
Perhaps only one-tenth that of the Thunderflame Talisman.
However...
It could freeze both its target and the surrounding air simultaneously.
As a result, it possessed extremely powerful binding and sealing capabilities—
An ability that was currently very scarce within the Scourge Army.
Little Bell was extremely satisfied.
She already possessed plenty of offensive skills.
What she lacked...
Were abilities that could physically seal enemies.
With the Nine-Curve Cursed Staff, she already possessed a degree of mental control.
Now...
She had also gained a technique capable of sealing an opponent's body.
Her battlefield performance would undoubtedly rise to an entirely new level.
She spent another 35,000 Essence.
The Taiping Ice-Sealing Talisman also reached maximum level.
Her attributes increased yet again.
Obtaining two outstanding new skills from this Enlightenment session was already an excellent result.
Yet she wasn't satisfied.
"A Blue skill!"
"I want a Blue skill!"
"These two are amazing—but they're still only Green! If I fuse them again, it'll definitely become Blue!"
She had completed seven Enlightenment attempts in total.
The total cost so far...
Was 105,000 Essence.
Even after that...
She still had roughly 400,000 Essence remaining inside the tower.
No matter how she looked at it...
That was more than enough.
Little Bell couldn't help becoming excited.
If she succeeded this time...
She would become the very first member of the Scourge Army to possess a Blue-grade fusion spell!
【Ding! You are attempting to fuse "Taiping Thunderflame Talisman" and "Taiping Ice-Sealing Talisman." This Enlightenment attempt will consume 35,000 Essence!】
"So expensive..."
But there was no alternative.
Little Bell immediately entered Enlightenment.
The first attempt failed exactly as expected.
She frowned.
This failure felt completely different from the previous ones.
Almost no meaningful inspiration emerged.
Clearly...
The difficulty of this fusion was on an entirely different level.
She prepared herself mentally.
Another cycle of Enlightenment began.
【Essence -35,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment failed!】
【Essence -35,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment failed!】
【……】
By the seventh consecutive failure...
A total of 245,000 Essence had vanished.
Even wealthy Little Bell was beginning to lose her composure.
The loss was simply too great.
She didn't mind spending money.
If money alone could solve the problem...
That would have been easy.
However, these vouchers could only be obtained from quest reward chests.
Very few remained in circulation.
Unless the territory continued launching large-scale quests at a high frequency...
No amount of money would allow her to buy more.
Should she give up?
The Thunderflame Talisman...
And the Ice-Sealing Talisman...
Their attributes seemed fundamentally opposed.
That was probably why the success rate was so low.
She still had some Essence remaining in the Enlightenment Tower.
Perhaps she should use it to cultivate other skills instead...
Rather than throwing everything away on these two.
After a brief hesitation...
Little Bell gritted her teeth.
She chose to continue.
She had already invested far too much into these skills.
Giving up now...
Would be far too wasteful.
Although she had failed seven consecutive times...
She had accumulated many insights.
She was simply missing that final spark.
A journey of a hundred miles was ninety percent complete only at the final ten miles.
She couldn't surrender now.
【Essence -35,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment failed!】
【Essence -35,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment failed!】
【……】
Three more failures.
Ten failures in total.
Three hundred and fifty thousand Essence...
Gone.
Little Bell forcibly suppressed her impatience.
She could clearly feel...
Success was only one final step away.
【Essence -35,000!】
【Ding! Enlightenment successful! You have comprehended "Four-Talisman Demon-Slaying Formation"!】
"It worked!"
Little Bell was ecstatic.
She could clearly feel an enormous body of knowledge and understanding taking shape within her mind...
Perfectly integrating into one whole.
An entirely new power had been born.
Without even checking the details...
She could already tell.
The ability she had just created...
Far surpassed every spell she currently possessed in both complexity and power.
She opened her status panel.
A brand-new skill appeared before her eyes.
【Four-Talisman Demon-Slaying Formation】, Blue-grade Skill. Current Skill Level: 1.
Permanent Spirit +65.
Consumes 200 Mana to summon the Four-Talisman Extermination Formation, which inflicts Lightning, Flame, Wind, and Frost damage upon designated targets—or all targets—within the formation. It continuously applies Paralysis, Burning, Bleeding, and Freezing effects. At the same time, all targets suppressed by the formation suffer reductions to all attributes.
The formation's coverage area and power scale with the user's cultivation level, skill level, and Spirit attribute.
Mana consumption scales with the formation's area of effect and the number of targets.
Cooldown: 300 seconds.
……
Little Bell froze after reading the skill.
First of all...
There was no question whatsoever—
This was an extraordinarily powerful skill.
Even at Level 1...
It granted 65 permanent Spirit.
Even among Blue-grade fusion skills...
That was exceptional.
Once fully mastered...
It would probably grant somewhere between 130 and 140 Spirit.
Even ignoring its actual effects...
That Spirit bonus alone was enough to massively increase a Warlock's spellcasting power.
As for the skill itself...
Not only was it the territory's first Blue-grade fusion skill...
It was also an extremely rare Formation-type skill.
It combined offense...
Suppression...
Control...
And debuffing...
All into one.
How unbelievably powerful!
She had never seen anything like it!
Little Bell felt every bit of effort had been worthwhile.
The difficulty of obtaining this skill was astonishing.
Beginning with mastering the four Taiping Talismans of Lightning, Flame, Wind, and Frost...
Then creating the higher-level Thunderflame Talisman and Ice-Sealing Talisman...
Then finally creating the Four-Talisman Demon-Slaying Formation...
And eventually training it to maximum level...
By her rough estimate...
The total cost would reach around 800,000 Essence.
For Players at the current stage...
The difficulty was enormous.
Among all current skills...
It ranked second only to Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix Spear and The Martial Saint's Three Strikes.
Thinking that she had mastered such an incredible skill...
Little Bell was filled with pride and accomplishment.
She could hardly wait to test its power.
When she finally left the Enlightenment Tower...
Ten hours had already passed.
Before she could marvel at how quickly time flowed during Enlightenment...
She received urgent messages from the senior members of Divine Feather Palace and several other Legions.
The territory...
Had entered a state of war once again.
"What happened?"
Little Bell hurried to Divine Feather Palace's headquarters.
By then...
Most of the Legion's Players had already assembled.
Chimera Wraith said,
"Our Woniu Mountain region has come under attack again. As of just now, four or five Blessing Points have already fallen!"
Hua Mulan angrily declared,
"It must be those undead from the north!"
Qingchen said,
"The Foreign Tribes still refuse to give up on destroying us. We absolutely cannot allow them to run wild in our territory!"
Upon learning what had happened...
Little Bell flew into a rage.
This territory was the home of every member of the Scourge Army—
Indeed, of all humanity.
Anyone who dared threaten or invade this land...
Was an enemy every member of the Scourge Army would fight to the death.
No matter who the enemy was.
No matter how powerful they were.
Even if they had to die a thousand...
Or ten thousand times...
They would drive them back!
After all...
According to Director Zhou's explanation during the offline gathering...
The creation of this game world had depended on extraordinary circumstances.
If this world were destroyed...
Humanity might lose this home forever.
Such a price...
Was one no one could bear.
Dawnlight said,
"The territory has already issued bounty quests. Anyone who recaptures occupied strongholds from the Foreign Tribes will receive generous Contribution Points and random reward prizes."
Lu Xiaoyou said,
"Then what are we waiting for? This is the perfect chance for Divine Feather Palace to prove ourselves!"
Chimera Wraith nodded.
"Exactly. This mission will have a major impact on the Legion ranking. Whether for the territory or our Legion's future, we must act immediately."
After discussing the matter among themselves...
The commanders of the various Legions each selected their own target.
As for the remaining Players...
Those without a Legion, or those belonging to newly established small Legions, could freely choose one of the major Legions to follow into battle.
As long as the stronghold was successfully recaptured...
Rewards would be distributed according to each person's contributions.
For a time...
Players responded enthusiastically.
Whether or not there was a bounty hardly mattered.
What Players truly cared about...
Was the safety of their territory.
The presence of hostile Foreign Tribes drastically reduced everyone's sense of security.
Even without a single coin in rewards...
They would never allow outsiders to rampage across their homeland.
Not to mention...
Killing these units of the Will of the Stars also yielded extremely generous loot.
Inside the Core Hall...
When Hang Yu noticed that the Scourge Army had begun its counterattack...
He nodded in satisfaction.
He had always been observing the Players' performance.
Even when he occasionally missed something...
Xiao Ba would promptly remind him whenever anything noteworthy occurred.
For example...
The Four-Talisman Demon-Slaying Formation that Little Bell had just created.
That really was an excellent skill.
These Players always managed to surprise the territory from time to time.
Hang Yu continued holding his position.
Sanxiang Ancient City was jointly defended by Zhou Cang and Wen Pin.
Meanwhile, Jia Xu had already completed all necessary preparations on Wan City's side.
The entire counteroffensive was entrusted to the Scourge Army.
This clash would produce results before long.
Since the opposing Lord still hadn't revealed himself...
There was no need for Hang Yu to personally take the field.
All he needed to do now...
Was continue directing the overall situation from behind the scenes...
While monitoring developments on every front.
As a Lord...
He had to remain patient.