190: Chapter 190 Using one tiger to devour another

"Foolish!" Upon hearing this, a flash of exasperated fury crossed Lin Zhengde's eyes!

He took a sudden step forward, lowered his voice, and whispered into the Crown Prince's ear in a tone filled with seduction and madness:

"Your Highness! We have not lost yet! We still have one last card to play!"

"Drive the tiger to devour the wolf!"

"Although that rebel Gao Feng is powerful, his greatest weakness is his empty rear! As long as we can persuade the equally ambitious Blood Wolf King to mobilize his entire force and attack Gao Feng's lair, Yan King City, from behind, Gao Feng will inevitably be unable to attend to both ends and fall into the desperate situation of fighting a two-front war!"

"At that time, regardless of who wins or loses, they will both inevitably suffer damage to their Origin Qi! And we can take the opportunity to unite with the various kings of Jiangnan, reap the benefits, and restore the mountains and rivers of our Great Qian Dynasty!"

A flash of interest crossed the Crown Prince's eyes, but it immediately dimmed.

"Grand Tutor, you speak lightly. That Blood Wolf King Ashina Gudulu is a hero rarely seen in a century on the grasslands. He is as cunning as a fox and as cruel as a wolf. How could he easily submit to our manipulation?"

"Hehe..." Upon hearing this, Lin Zhengde let out a cold, harsh laugh like a night owl. In his cloudy old eyes, a cold, snake-like glint flickered.

"Rest assured, Your Highness. In this world, there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. As long as the chips we offer are tempting enough, that hungry wolf of the grasslands has no reason not to be moved!"

"Transmit my order: immediately send an envoy to secretly contact the Blood Wolf King!"

"Tell him that as long as he is willing to send troops, we are willing to cede the Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, a place that has been a strategic military location since ancient times, to their Tianlang Tribe permanently in the name of the Great Qian Imperial Family!"

"In addition, we will open the imperial treasury and present him with the three sixth-tier war Puppets that have been treasured for hundreds of years, to help him break through that sturdy Yan King City!"

"What?!" Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince jumped up from the dragon bed, his pale face filled with disbelief!

"Grand Tutor! Are you crazy?! The Youyun Sixteen Prefectures are the northern barrier of our Great Qian, they are the ancestral land of the Han people! If we cede them to the barbarians, would we not become sinners for all eternity?!"

"And those war Puppets, they are the last foundation of our Ji imperial clan! They are the supreme treasures left by our ancestors to suppress the nation's destiny! How can you easily give them to outsiders?!"

"Your Highness!" Lin Zhengde suddenly raised his voice, his raspy tone filled with unquestionable determination!

"In extraordinary times, one must take extraordinary measures! Now that the Great Qian state is in a precarious situation, if we do not make a painful decision and use thunderous methods, all that awaits us is the destruction of our nation and family!"

"Although the Youyun Sixteen Prefectures are important, compared to the entire world, can Your Highness not distinguish which is lighter and which is heavier?!"

"As for those war Puppets, remaining in our hands, they are nothing more than three cold, dead objects! But if we can use them to exchange for the Blood Wolf King's all-out strike, and exchange for an excellent opportunity for us to turn the tables, then it is well worth the price!"

"Your Highness, please trust this old minister! This is our only chance!"

Lin Zhengde's words, like a heavy hammer, struck fiercely against the Crown Prince's already fragile heart, shattering his last shred of hesitation and reason completely!

"Good... Good! We shall follow the Grand Tutor's words!" The Crown Prince slumped back onto the dragon bed in a daze, and in his hollow eyes, only the madness and desperation of a gambler remained!

... Outside the city of Shendu, the Blood Wolf King's camp.

Inside the central command tent, made by stitching together countless huge wolf skins, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if it could drip water.

Nearly nine feet tall, the burly and majestic Blood Wolf King Ashina Gudulu sat high on the throne made of pure gold. His fingers rhythmically tapped the armrest, and in his eyes, as sharp as a falcon's, flickered a heart-palpitating glint.

Standing before him was a young eunuch wearing the official robes of a Great Qian envoy, possessing an effeminate temperament.

"...Great King, you have seen the sincerity of my master, His Highness." The eunuch's voice was sharp and thin, filled with sycophancy. "The Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, with a thousand miles of fertile land, are a natural pasture bestowed upon your Tianlang Tribe by the heavens! As long as you can obtain that place, you can escape the bitter, cold grasslands and let the descendants of my Tianlang Tribe live a life of abundance, just like immortals!"

"Furthermore, there are those three war Puppets capable of rivaling sixth-tier Martial Artist Grandmasters! With the help of these divine objects, wouldn't breaking through that mere Yan King City be as easy as turning over one's hand?"

Upon hearing this, the Blood Wolf King curled his lips into an arc filled with wildness and cruelty.

He certainly knew the importance of the Youyun Sixteen Prefectures. It was not only a wealthy grain-producing area but also a natural barrier for the Central Plains Dynasty to resist the southward advance of the northern nomadic tribes!

Once he obtained the Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, it would be equivalent to plunging the sharpest dagger into the throat of the Central Plains! From then on, the iron cavalry of his Tianlang Tribe could march south at any time, water their horses in the Yangtze River, and vie for the Central Plains!

This temptation was simply too great! So great that he was completely unable to refuse!

Although he had now broken through Shendu, taken the Crown Prince hostage, and become the de facto uncrowned king of this Central Plains land, he knew very well in his heart that his position as "King" was not secure.

Those feudal lords in the south were all outwardly compliant but inwardly disobedient, holding military power for themselves. And that Gao Feng in the north was like a sharp sword hanging over his head, making him unable to eat or sleep in peace!

There must be a battle between him and Gao Feng! Rather than waiting for Gao Feng to consolidate the entire south and then turn back to deal with him, it would be better to take advantage of his unstable footing while he was in a standoff with the Jiangnan Alliance, and deliver a fatal blow from behind!

Thinking of this, a cold killing intent flashed in the Blood Wolf King's aggressive eyes!

However, he was, after all, a generation of ruthless heroes and was not blinded by this huge temptation. He knew that the Crown Prince and Lin Zhengde were not easy to deal with either. They were trying to get him to clash with the tiger that was Gao Feng, so they could reap the benefits.

"Hehe..." The Blood Wolf King let out a low laugh. He slowly stood up from the throne, his mountain-like, burly figure bringing immense pressure to the envoy.

"Go back and tell your Crown Prince that this King... agrees to his proposal."

"However, this King also has one condition."

"I want the Youyun Sixteen Prefectures and those three war Puppets in my hands first! Otherwise, no deal!"

Upon hearing this, the envoy's face revealed a look of difficulty, but seeing the Blood Wolf King's unquestionable gaze, he could only nod helplessly.

"This servant... obeys."

After the envoy left, a prairie general who was also burly but had a colder Aura and a hideous scar on his face walked out from the shadows of the command tent. He was the number one fierce general under the Blood Wolf King, as well as his most trusted deputy, Ashina Tuge, known as the "Azure Wolf King"!

"Great King, do you really believe the nonsense of those Southern Dynasty people?" The Azure Wolf King's voice was raspy and filled with disdain. "They just want to use us as cannon fodder!"

"This King certainly knows." The Blood Wolf King sneered. "However, that Gao Feng is indeed the greatest obstacle to my Tianlang Tribe unifying the world. This person must be eliminated!"

"How about this, Tuge." A glint of craftiness flashed in the Blood Wolf King's eyes. "You, personally lead 150,000 iron cavalry, take those three war Puppets, and head north to launch a surprise attack on Yan King City!"

"And this King will personally lead the main force, stay in Shendu, and observe the situation!"

"If things go smoothly on your side, this King will immediately lead the army north, and we will attack from both sides to annihilate Gao Feng in one fell swoop!"

"If that Gao Feng truly has heaven-reaching abilities, you don't need to fight him to the death. Just cause a ruckus in the northern border, burn their grain and grass, plunder their cattle and sheep, and then immediately retreat to the grasslands to preserve your strength!"

"In this way, regardless of victory or defeat, we will remain in an invincible position!"

"Great King is wise!" Upon hearing this, the Azure Wolf King's hideous face revealed heartfelt admiration and fanaticism!

... In the palace in Qingzhou, Gao Feng quietly looked at the top-secret intelligence in his hand, transmitted by "Sky Net" spies using the highest-level "Black Iron Secret Order". A cold smile appeared on his face.

"Lin Zhengde, you old fox, have you finally been unable to hold back?"

"Driving the tiger to devour the wolf? A good plan, truly a good plan."

"It's just a pity that you found the wrong tiger, and you also provoked the wrong wolf."

A flash of disdain crossed Gao Feng's eyes. He slowly stood up, walked to the huge sand table, and his gaze fell on the area representing the northern Youyun defense line.

"War Puppets? Very good. It just so happens that I can see for myself what is so extraordinary about this foundation that the Great Qian Imperial Family has passed down for nearly a thousand years."

His lips curled into an arc filled with confidence and cruelty.

"Liu Chengfeng, Li Qingzhao, that 'gift' I left for you when I left the northern border should be time to come in handy."

... A few days later, northern border, Youyun border. Azure Wolf King Ashina Tuge, leading 150,000 menacing Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, like a black tide pouring out of Hell, bypassed all the formidable passes and fortresses and appeared on this vast, seemingly defenseless plain!

Looking at the endless, fertile land before him, which he could gallop across at will, a cruel and greedy smile appeared on his hideous face!

"Hahaha! That brat Gao Feng has indeed transferred all his main forces to the south! This northern border is now an undefended treasure trove!"

"Lads!" The Azure Wolf King suddenly drew the scimitar from his waist and swung it fiercely forward!

"Follow me and kill your way in! Burn their houses! Plunder their grain! Kill their men! Turn their women into playthings under our crotches!"

"Awoo—!" 150,000 Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry let out bursts of crazy howls like wild beasts. They waved the scimitars in their hands, like a dam-bursting flood, launching the most barbaric and bloody charge toward the hinterland of the northern border, which had already become something in their bag in their eyes!

However, just as their thundering iron hooves were about to tread upon that fertile land, a sudden change occurred!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" A series of terrifying, thunderous explosions erupted without warning right beneath their feet!

The thousands of Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry charging at the very front did not even have a chance to react before they, along with their horses, were blown into a blur of flesh and blood by the sudden, terrifying explosions!

The tens of thousands of third-generation "Ground-Stepping Mine"s that had been buried in advance revealed their ferocious and deadly fangs at this most critical moment!

Unlike the first-generation products used previously at Yanmen Pass, these third-generation "Ground-Stepping Mine"s not only had greater power and a wider blast radius, but also contained countless steel balls and iron shards tempered with deadly poison!

In an instant, the entire vanguard line of the Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry plunged into unprecedented chaos and death!

"What is happening?! What kind of Demonic Technique is this?!" As the Azure Wolf King looked at the tragic scene before him that resembled Hell on earth, his ferocious face, for the first time, revealed a look of horror as if he had seen a ghost!

However, this was only the beginning!

Just as he had not yet recovered from the terror of the explosions, a sharper, more death-filled, terrifying whistling sound came booming from the distant horizon!

"Whew—! Whew—! Whew—!"

A dark, dense mass of black cannonballs, like a swarm of locusts, streaked across the sky in graceful, deadly parabolas. With a thunderous, unstoppable, and terrifying momentum, they landed with pinpoint accuracy right into the already chaotic and dense formation of the Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry!

"Boom—!!!!!" "Boom—!!!!!" "Boom—!!!!!" A series of earth-shattering roars, louder and countless times more terrifying than any previous explosion, erupted!

Huge, orange-red fireballs filled with the scent of destruction and death rose into the sky across the vast plains!

The terrifying shockwaves of the explosions, like a level-12 super hurricane, instantly swept across the entire battlefield!

Countless Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry soldiers were torn into shreds of flesh and blood by the ruthless steel storm before they could even let out a scream!

This was simply not a battle between evenly matched forces!

This was clearly a one-sided, unreasonable dimensional strike conducted by a higher-dimensional civilization against a group of primitives still living in the cold weapon era!

The Azure Wolf King was completely stunned by the terrifying, apocalyptic scene before him!

He gaped, his eyes, usually filled with cruelty and violence, now holding only the fear and disbelief of a dead man.

He never dreamed that what awaited them was not the easily attainable wealth and beauties they had imagined, but a death feast carefully prepared for them long ago!

Just then, on the distant horizon, a terrifying "city wall" slowly rose, stretching for dozens of miles, cast entirely from steel and shimmering with a cold metallic luster!

On that "Steel Great Wall," tens of thousands of ferocious-looking giant crossbows stood densely, along with hundreds of pitch-black cannon barrels still emitting billowing smoke and an endless Aura of death!

At the very center of that "Steel Great Wall," two figures, both familiar and yet strangely alien to him, stood quietly.

One was the seemingly weak and effeminate scholar, the chief strategist of the Panshi Army, Liu Chengfeng!

The other was the seemingly mad, yet wise-eyed Dean of the Hundred Crafts Institute, Gongshu Ban!

"Azure Wolf King, it has been a while." A faint smile played on Liu Chengfeng's face. His voice was not loud, but amplified by a specially crafted sound-transmission formation, it resonated like the judgment of a deity from the Nine Heavens, clearly reaching the ears of every surviving Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry soldier.

"My Prince long ago anticipated your arrival. He specifically ordered me to prepare a generous gift for you here."

"I wonder, are you satisfied with this steel feast composed of the 'Divine Might Type II' breech-loading rifled cannons, newly developed by our Northern Territory, and the third-generation 'Ground-Stepping Mine'?"

Liu Chengfeng's voice was filled with undisguised mockery and the composure of a cat playing with a mouse.

"Demonic Technique! This is a Demonic Technique!" The Azure Wolf King let out a shrill roar filled with endless fear and madness!

His heart of a Martial Artist, long hardened like iron by blood and slaughter, was completely crushed at this moment by that unreasonable, absolute technological power!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly! All forces retreat!"

He no longer had any Battle Intent, turned his horse around, and prepared to flee in a panic toward the vast grasslands!

However, how could Liu Chengfeng easily let him leave?

"Want to leave? It's too late."

A trace of cold killing intent flashed in Liu Chengfeng's eyes. He slowly raised the red command flag in his hand and, with a tone devoid of any emotion, gently waved it downward.

"Fire."

At the command! The hundreds of "Divine Might Type II" breech-loading rifled cannons, having already completed their second reload, once again let out a deafening roar of death!

The overwhelming rain of death, like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, mercilessly harvested the lives of the Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, who had already lost all will to fight and were only focused on fleeing for their lives!

This was an inhumane massacre!

The Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, which once made the entire Central Plains tremble with fear and ruled the grasslands invincible, appeared so fragile and vulnerable before the Panshi Army's terrifying, era-spanning firearms!

Their proud mounted archery became a laughable joke in the face of the terrifying cannons with a range of several miles!

Their sturdy leather armor was like paper in front of the terrifying cannonballs capable of piercing steel plates!

They had no power to fight back, only to be passively beaten!

"No! I am not reconciled! I am not reconciled!" Watching his loyal warriors falling one by one beside him, the Azure Wolf King let out a wild roar filled with endless grief and indignation!

He knew he could not continue to flee passively like this! Otherwise, his 150,000-strong army would be completely annihilated here today!

The only way to survive was to charge! To charge to the front of that "Steel Great Wall" and use the sharpest scimitars in their hands to cut off the heads of those demons controlling the "Demonic Technique"!

"War Puppet! Attack for me!" The Azure Wolf King let out a hysterical roar, unleashing his final and strongest trump card!

Three giant humanoid Puppets, three zhang tall, crafted entirely from an unknown black metal, and filled with a ferocious and destructive Aura, stepped out from the rear of the Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, their footsteps so heavy it felt as if they would crush the entire earth!

Their electronic eyes, embedded with huge red crystals, flickered with a cold, murderous light!

In their hands, they held giant horse-chopping sabers capable of splitting a city wall with a single strike!

With every step they took, the entire earth trembled violently!

The supreme sense of oppression brought about by pure steel and power was even more heart-stopping than the charge of thousands of horses!

"Hahaha! Do you see?! This is the supreme treasure of my Great Qian Imperial Family! With this divine object, your Demonic Technique is completely vulnerable!" A wild and ferocious smile appeared on the Azure Wolf King's face again!

He seemed to have already seen the bloody scene of himself controlling these three invincible War Puppets, tearing that hateful "Steel Great Wall" into pieces, and mincing those two damned Southerners into meat paste!

However, facing these three aggressive and oppressive War Puppets, a strange and pitying smile appeared on Liu Chengfeng's face.

He turned his head and glanced at Gongshu Ban beside him, who was already beaming with his eyes shining, as if he had seen a peerless treasure, drool almost flowing out, and helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

"Old Ban, it seems your precious baby finally has a chance to be put to use."

"Hehehe..." Gongshu Ban let out a weird, triumphant laugh like an old urchin. He pulled a strangely shaped remote control device from his bosom and pressed the red button on it heavily!

"Boom... boom... boom..." A series of deep, heavy sounds, like the heartbeat of an ancient Vicious Beast, slowly came from behind the "Steel Great Wall"!

The sound was so heavy and so oppressive that the entire massive battlefield seemed to tremble slightly amidst this terrifying roar!

Immediately after, ten giant humanoid battle Puppets, even taller, fiercer, and filled with the aesthetics of violence and destruction than those three War Puppets, stepped out slowly from behind the "Steel Great Wall" with footsteps so heavy it felt as if they would crush the entire earth!

war golem!

And they were "war golem Type II" units, improved several times by Gongshu Ban, equipped with the latest generation "Earth Fire Dragon" core and the "Gatling" Vulcan cannon with faster firing rate and greater power!

All the triumph and madness on the Azure Wolf King's ferocious face instantly solidified at this moment, replaced by endless horror and disbelief from the depths of his Soul!

Looking at those ten steel behemoths that seemed to have walked out of myths and legends, he felt that his worldview had been completely overturned at this moment!

This... this... what the Hell are these monsters?!

However, Gongshu Ban did not give him any time to think at all!

"My babies! Tear those three pieces of scrap metal apart for me!"