52: Chapter 52: A Scheme of Seduction, Offering Up in This Way

At this moment, in the guest hall of the City Lord's Manor, City Lord Liu and the two vice-generals beside him were frowning deeply.

Forgetting favors for profit, returning kindness with enmity.

Such phrases flashed through their minds over and over again.

None of them were fools; they knew exactly what this meant.

Handing over that mysterious powerhouse was essentially forcing someone to their death.

At the Yingyang Pass front line, if that mysterious powerhouse hadn't stepped in, who knows how many people would have died long ago.

But today, the Imperial Court wanted them to betray this mysterious powerhouse.

"Lord Zheng, it's thanks to that mysterious powerhouse that the Yingyang Pass front line has held out until today."

"The reason the Jin Kingdom is targeting him is precisely because he poses a massive threat to them."

"If we instead frame him, I fear the Jin Kingdom will only become more and more arrogant in the future."

"They will constantly pull out the card of a Ninth-Grade Supreme to use against us."

City Lord Liu was searching for reasons to refuse, trying to persuade the imperial envoy.

Upon hearing this, Lord Zheng waved his hand dismissively.

"The issues you're worried about were already calculated by the Imperial Court during their deliberations."

"The reason the Jin Kingdom dared to deploy a Ninth-Grade is because they suffered massive losses."

"If they still dare to use a Ninth-Grade as a threat after we compromise this time, then they would be putting a Ninth-Grade's life on the line."

"They know how to make a decision, and they know our bottom line."

In the end, the biggest issue remained that the mysterious powerhouse had no faction to rely on.

Sacrificing the mysterious powerhouse Li Yuan in exchange for peace was something all parties were happy to see.

"But we don't even know who that mysterious powerhouse is."

"We aren't even sure if he is still near the Military Camp..."

City Lord Liu continued to find excuses to stall.

However, Lord Zheng remained calm; the court had already considered this point as well.

"How did that mysterious Eighth-Grade Martial Artist appear before? We just need to lure him out again now."

"When the time comes, we'll have the Jin Kingdom people cooperate; there won't be any problems."

Lord Zheng's plan shattered City Lord Liu's worldviews even further.

In the eyes of those high-ranking officials, could people be sacrificed like this?

They could even cooperate with the Jin Kingdom to deal with one of their own.

"Our Da Shun needs time to recover; the situation in the court is very severe right now."

"The various ministers in the court exhausted their energy to help you solve these difficult problems."

"Don't be tactless. You've been an official for many years; you should understand what I mean by these words."

Lord Zheng was indeed very direct and blunt.

The so-called 'ministers exhausting their energy to solve problems' was actually saying that this was the result of negotiations between various factions in the court.

The underlying conflicts of interest had all been thought through and sorted out.

It was not something City Lord Liu could interfere with.

"Give me the layout and arrangements before noon tomorrow. Keep the relevant information confidential."

"The Jin Kingdom side won't let it go this time unless they take that person to vent their anger."

"If you don't want him to be sacrificed, you can go in his place."

Once Lord Zheng used this threat, City Lord Liu had no other thoughts.

No matter how much he didn't want to frame that mysterious powerhouse, he was unwilling to let his own interests suffer a major loss.

Seeing City Lord Liu's expression, Lord Zheng felt he had successfully persuaded him.

He then stood up and headed to the guest room to rest.

Only City Lord Liu and the two vice-generals remained in the guest hall.

The three looked at each other and could only let out a helpless sigh.

Tomorrow, they would have to present the plan and arrangements.

Even though that mysterious powerhouse had saved Yingyang Pass so many times, he would ultimately receive not a shred of reward.

Instead, he would be framed and backstabbed.

At this moment, City Lord Liu felt some of his convictions collapse.

Li Yuan remained calm at this moment, continuing his own business and gathering information from various sources.

Even though the Jin Kingdom had sent that Grand Preceptor, a Ninth-Grade Supreme, Li Yuan still wasn't too worried.

Even if he had to step forward and exchange blows with him, it wouldn't matter.

Currently, Li Yuan was also Ninth-Grade.

Furthermore, he possessed the martial arts experience of three Ninth-Grade Supremes in his mind.

Senior Emperor Chen was even a Ninth Grade Great Perfection, a world-class powerhouse who had attempted to break into a higher Realm.

One step further, and that would be a Living Myth.

A Living Myth was not a description of a cultivation Realm.

After transcending the Ninth Grade, it was difficult for ordinary people to categorize someone using Realm descriptions.

They could only use terms like "Myth" to highlight a person's power.

It seemed Li Yuan had just entered the Ninth Grade, but in reality, he already had the most top-tier experience of the Ninth Grade.

Walking around the Military Camp, Li Yuan would occasionally see Ruan Xingqiao staring at him from a distance.

Her face still carried that look of disdainful warning.

It was as if Li Yuan were hiding, completely afraid to leave the Military Camp by even an inch.

In fact, Li Yuan just didn't take her seriously.

If necessary, if Li Yuan wanted to leave the Military Camp, he would just leave.

That night, the warning drums of Yingyang Pass suddenly thundered loudly.

This was the alarm that an enemy attack had reached the city walls.

Inside Yingyang Pass, torches began to be lit everywhere, and the commoners in the city began to flee after simple packing.

At the same time, City Lord Liu led his troops and stood on the city wall.

Outside Yingyang Pass, the Jin Kingdom's border garrison had already charged to the front of the city tower.

With the army at the gates, the situation was critical.

City Lord Liu's face was full of guilt; the current situation was merely the result of their private communications with the Jin Kingdom.

The purpose was also very simple: to lure out the mysterious powerhouse, Li Yuan.

Li Yuan's act of slaying an Eighth-Grade had broken the balance that had lasted for several years between the two countries.

They had to sacrifice the mysterious powerhouse Li Yuan to seek a new balance.

Below the city tower, the pre-battle shouting had already begun.

The Jin Kingdom side emphasized that their Ninth-Grade Supreme had not come.

Against the current formation of Yingyang Pass, there was no need for him to act.

They even clamored, claiming that the mysterious powerhouse who had acted before had already been executed by their Grand Preceptor.

As soon as these words were spoken, many soldiers of Yingyang Pass felt sorrow in their hearts, and a strong sense of hatred even surged up.

Everyone remembered his life-saving grace.

Without this mysterious powerhouse, they would have died when the Zhu family sent people last time; how could they have lasted until today.

But they didn't expect that before they even knew their benefactor's identity, he had already lost his life.

In the crowd, Li Yuan was naturally speechless upon hearing this.

He was clearly alive and well here, yet in the words of the Jin Kingdom people, he had already been slain by the Grand Preceptor.

At the same time, Li Yuan clearly sensed a Ninth-Grade majesty at the rear of the Jin Kingdom army.

Those shouting provocations said their Ninth-Grade Supreme didn't need to show his face.

But in reality, he had still followed along.

The Grand Preceptor of Jin Kingdom probably felt that no one present had the ability to distinguish his majesty, so he didn't even bother to conceal it.

Li Yuan looked around carefully; these actions today looked more and more like they were luring him to appear.

Everything revealed a sense of strangeness.

Thinking of this, Li Yuan immediately changed his position.

He went to observe the state of City Lord Liu and the other high-ranking military officers.

Looking closely, Li Yuan felt it further confirmed his thoughts.

Including that Lord Zheng from the capital, they didn't have the panic of an army at the gates at all.

Instead, they showed a posture of watching and waiting.

At this thought, Li Yuan couldn't help but laugh.

When disappointment reaches a certain point, one can't help but laugh.

This Da Shun was even filthier than he had imagined.

The entire imperial court perhaps needed a reckoning.

Setting aside letting the people live in peace and have plenty to eat and wear.

The current state of the court clearly disregarded even propriety, justice, integrity, honor, and the bonds of gratitude and enmity.