327: Duan Zhengming personally led the expedition

Two to one, the Kingdom side is at a disadvantage.

"General Helian, as it stands, the situation is unfavorable for us; we must find a way." Zhu Danchen looked at Iron Tree Helian.

"This time, the Jin State seems determined to take the Kingdom. They haven't hidden anything, nor do they plan to use any schemes; they're simply trying to steamroll over the Kingdom." Iron Tree Helian looked at the dense Jin army below the city gates with a solemn expression.

"General, there's no need to worry too much. We only need to hold the city gates."

"The Jin State will withdraw their troops soon." Zhu Danchen looked at Iron Tree Helian with a smile.

The Princess Consort's side has already sent people to the Jin State to assassinate the Emperor of Jin. As long as the Jin Emperor dies, the army here will withdraw.

This will resolve the crisis.

"Oh? It seems Emperor Baoding already has a foolproof plan." Iron Tree Helian looked at Zhu Danchen in surprise.

Just as Iron Tree Helian finished speaking, a commotion was heard from below the city gates.

Then, Emperor, clad in his dragon robes, arrived directly atop the city wall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Zhu Danchen and the others bowed to Emperor.

"Greetings to the Kingdom's Emperor Baoding." Iron Tree Helian cupped his hands in greeting.

"No need for such formalities, everyone. General Helian, thank you for coming to our aid." Emperor looked at Iron Tree Helian with a smile.

"Your Majesty is too kind. I am merely acting on orders."

"Today, the Kingdom and Western Xia are closely linked; it is only right that we help one another."

Iron Tree Helian did not dare to be arrogant before Emperor, as he was, after all, the Kingdom Emperor.

If he were to neglect him and word reached the ears of Empress Dowager Li Qiushui, his career as a general would be over.

"Your Majesty, how should we deal with this Jin army of four hundred thousand?" Iron Tree Helian looked at Emperor, wanting to hear his opinion.

"Wait..."

To his surprise, Emperor only spoke a single word, which stunned Iron Tree Helian for a moment before he realized.

"Is Your Majesty waiting for King Kaoshan to return?" Iron Tree Helian looked at Emperor in confusion.

"No, King Kaoshan should be in Snow Moon City right now. It's too far; he might not make it back in time."

"However, before this, someone has already gone to handle the matter."

"What we need to do now is wait. Once the news returns, the Jin State will surely retreat without a fight." Emperor said with full confidence, turning to look at the massive Jin army below the wall.

"Wait? Could it be that by simply waiting, the Jin army will retreat on its own?" Iron Tree Helian frowned as he looked at the dense Jin army below.

He knew the Kingdom was founded on martial arts, but even the strongest Martial Artist would have to avoid the brunt of an army of hundreds of thousands.

Although Duan Zhengchun was powerful, he certainly wouldn't dare to face these hundreds of thousands of troops.

But Emperor had just said that Duan Zhengchun hadn't returned, so who in the Kingdom could withstand these hundreds of thousands of troops?

Just with the two hundred thousand troops they had in hand?

While they might not necessarily be a match, holding them off for a few days was still possible.

However, in that case, the casualties would certainly not be small.

Originally, he wouldn't have participated in this, but he couldn't disobey the Empress Dowager's orders.

Now, if a battle were to break out, he was unwilling to let the Western Xia soldiers charge at the front.

"Rest assured, General Helian. Even if a battle begins, the men of our Kingdom will be at the very front." Emperor looked at Iron Tree Helian with a smile.

It was as if Iron Tree Helian's thoughts had been seen through, making him feel quite embarrassed.

However, he said nothing more. The Empress Dowager's order was for him to assist the Kingdom, so he only needed to follow Emperor's deployment when the time came.

If Emperor said to wait, then they would wait.

He didn't know what Emperor was waiting for—a miracle?

Great General Zhenyuan of the Jin State looked at the tightly shut city gates, his face turning grim.

"Emperor, you are an Emperor after all; is this all the courage you have?"

"Do you really think that by avoiding battle like this, I will have no way to deal with you?"

"I didn't expect the so-called nation founded on martial arts to be nothing more than a bunch of trash."

"Order the attack!" Great General Zhenyuan commanded. Instantly, the battle cries of the Jin soldiers shook the heavens as they charged toward the city gates.

"Archers, prepare..."

At Iron Tree Helian's command, all the soldiers drew their bows to full tension.

"Fire!"

In an instant, arrows fell like a violent storm into the crowd below.

Immediately, a chorus of wails rang out.

However, there were too many people, and the lethality of the arrows was limited. They still couldn't stop the soldiers; soon, men carrying Scaling ladders rushed forward, set them up, and began to climb.

Below, dozens more soldiers were pushing a Battering ram to strike the city gates.

Emperor's face darkened as he watched the Jin soldiers below.

At this rate, the city gates wouldn't hold for long before being breached. Facing so many soldiers, an ordinary Martial Artist would be seeking death by entering the fray.

Emperor knew clearly that he had to go out himself; he was now at the Initial Grandmaster Realm.

During this time, he had been diligently cultivating the Nine Yin Manual. He was originally at the Grandmaster Realm, and with the Nine Yin Manual, his strength quickly broke through to the Grandmaster Realm.

Now his One Yang Finger has also reached the First-grade stage; within the Grandmaster Realm, he has few rivals.

Emperor flicked his dragon robe and leaped down, firing a One Yang Finger at the Battering ram.

Instantly, the powerful force struck the Battering ram. Made only of wood, it couldn't withstand a single strike from a Great Grandmaster at all.

Under this immense power, it disintegrated instantly.

Before his body even touched the ground, Emperor fired successive One Yang Fingers. The finger force was like a submachine gun from a later era, piercing directly through the soldiers' armor.

As he landed, Emperor grabbed his waist with one hand, and a Flexible sword appeared. With a single spin, the surrounding soldiers had their throats slit.

In an instant, a brief vacuum zone formed around Duan Zhengchun.

However, those Jin soldiers were fearless of death; as those in front fell, people from behind immediately swarmed in.

Their spears all thrust together toward Emperor in the center.

Zhu Danchen hadn't expected that Emperor, as the Emperor, would not only lead the army in person but also take the initiative to charge down. His face turned green with fright.

If anything happened to Emperor, none of them would survive.

He immediately leaped off the city wall, and the others followed suit.

Iron Tree Helian's expression was solemn; he hadn't expected Emperor to be so reckless as to personally take the field.

If he didn't do something now, he really wouldn't be able to bear the consequences when the Empress Dowager blamed him later.

"Guards, protect the Emperor!" Iron Tree Helian was just a military general and didn't know martial arts. If he jumped from such a high wall, he'd fall to his death before he could save anyone.

Helplessly, he could only order the Martial Artists under him to rescue him.

At that moment, a domineering and cold Sword Qi suddenly appeared, slashing directly at the Jin soldiers besieging Emperor.

Everyone was shocked and looked up in the direction the Sword Qi had come from.

They saw a cold-faced figure in a black robe flying through the air, with two other figures following behind him.

The newcomers were none other than the Great Ming Sword God West Gate Blowing Snow, Four Eyebrows Lu Xiaofeng, and the Jiangnan Hua Family's Hua Manlou.