As the Azure Cloud forces finished assembling, they all looked towards the members of the Li family sitting cross-legged by the distant lake.
They noticed that after so many years, there were many unfamiliar faces among the Li's, and their auras were terrifyingly strong.
This was especially true of a spirit ark in the distance; the Li family would never normally allow a spirit ark into their Inner City.
After a moment, however, they paid it no more mind, raising their heads to gaze at the sky above.
Above the lake, two women floated, sitting cross-legged and facing each other. One was Li Yaowen; the other was Lady Dongfang of Skynet.
Dongfang Xuan already knew the strategic layout of Duravia Trade Prefecture.
In the eyes of the crowd, the two women, with calm expressions, sat and planned the coming war.
This was a game of strategy.
They began to speak, one after the other.
Li Yaowen's voice was gentle, yet carried the chill of a winter wind. "I shall play with the pieces of Eternal Sun."
Dongfang Xuan's voice was tranquil, like the distant echo of a mountain storm. "And I shall place the pieces of the many factions of the Duravia Trade Prefecture."
As their words faded, everyone present focused their minds, listening with rapt attention.
Above the lake, a massive map materialized, showing the Eternal Sun Prefecture and the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
On it were marked the seven regions of Eternal Sun and the twelve regions of Duravia Trade Prefecture, each annotated with all known intelligence on their respective powers, their experts, and even their secret techniques.
This was a war simulation!
"My Li family," Li Yaowen began, "will strike directly at Prince Qian's Mansion."
On the map, a red line shot out from the location of Merit City, heading straight for Prince Qian's Mansion.
Dongfang Xuan responded calmly.
"If I were Prince Qian, after suffering such successive defeats and now having the aid of the three great immortal sects, I would certainly lay an inescapable net to be ready for anything.
Duravia Trade Prefecture has already deployed its troops and is prepared for war at any cost.
The moment the Li family crosses the border, all factions will be alerted.
A Divinity Transformation cultivator from the farthest region could arrive in seven days; sect disciples on spirit arks could arrive in twenty.
Even if Prince Qian were to die, they would not hesitate to annihilate the invading enemy."
"My father will unleash all of his zombies, and a corpse plague will sweep the land. The enemy forces will have no choice but to divide their attention; otherwise, the zombies will bite the people, and in less than a month, the dead will be everywhere, with corpses hopping across the fields."
As Li Yaowen's words fell, Dongfang Xuan's breath hitched, and for a moment, she was speechless.
The Li family members lowered their heads and let out a collective cough, while the people of Azure Cloud around the lake, who had experienced some rather unpleasant things in the past, nervously looked away.
The members of Skynet stared at each other, their eyes wide with shock.
On the spirit ark, the demonic Qi swirled in agitation for a moment. A pair of perfectly round eyes blinked a few times in the darkness, and a voice asked its companion, "Are all the humans outside our Duskwild Prefecture this savage?"
"Even if all the zombies are unleashed," Dongfang Xuan said, her expression suddenly turning grave, "the experts of Duravia Trade Prefecture will still remain. They will join forces to surround them."
Li Yaowen's gaze remained placid.
"Then we will open the gates and grant the Wu Clan easy passage, leading them into the Duravia Trade Prefecture. The Immortal Clans will have no choice but to defend against them."
"..."
Dongfang Xuan's expression froze. "From where would the Wu Clan come? If the Wu Clan attacks again, and you are caught in the trap of a pincer attack on Eternal Sun, are you not afraid…"
"My Li family has its own ways. You need not concern yourself with it."
Staring at Li Yaowen's perpetually calm face, Dongfang Xuan clenched her jaw.
"There are still other experts… I will send disciples from the families in the east and west…"
"I will lure the sea demons to emerge from the Eastern Sea and come ashore. With the very survival of the Human Race at stake, Duravia Trade Prefecture will have to make its own choice!"
"Where would you get sea demons?!!"
"You need not concern yourself with it…"
"I…"
As the two women continued their strategic debate, deploying phantom armies on the map, the cultivators of Azure Cloud began to look reassured, and the eyes of the Skynet members grew brighter and brighter.
Only the person on the spirit ark wiped the cold sweat from their brow.
This was only possible in an age of great chaos. If the Azure Dynasty were not in turmoil, forget attacking the Duravia Trade Prefecture; for any single one of Li Yaowen's plans, the Imperial Capital's Immortal Enforcement Department would have likely been dispatched, along with a call for all the cultivators in the world to deal with the Li family as traitors to the Human Race.
Planning was one thing, but actually executing the plan was another.
Even Li Yaowen and Dongfang Xuan had to overturn and re-run their simulations time and time again.
Although they now had the help of Skynet and Prince Yu's forces, their combined assault on the Duravia Trade Prefecture would still be fraught with peril.
Their decapitation strike would take them deep into the enemy's heartland.
There, on their opponent's home ground, they would face the constant threat of encirclement and unknown trump cards.
They would have… no reinforcements!
The Three Great Immortal Sects remained an insurmountable mountain.
Prince Qian was a venomous snake.
No matter how arrogant he was, he was a megalomaniac with the backing of three immortal sects.
They could all see that once Prince Qian managed to assemble a massive army, the entire Eternal Sun Prefecture would face the threat of a full-scale invasion.
At that point, it would be an all-out war.
The scale of the conflict between the two prefectures would be so vast that no one would be able to escape unscathed.
The war simulation continued for half a month.
The leaders of Azure Cloud also began to offer their own suggestions, pooling their collective wisdom.
While Li Yaowen and Dongfang Xuan naturally focused on the grand strategy, these old hands from Azure Cloud were not without their own insights and could always point out crucial details.
On this day, as the simulation concluded, the group that had been debating for half a month finally had a rare chance to rest.
Merit City had its own four seasons, unlike the continuous harsh winter of the outside world.
The Li family hosted a grand banquet, where all the invited guests were drinking and conversing merrily, getting to know one another better.
However, not a single one of them was permitted to leave Merit City.
The war simulations were top secret, and not a whisper of them could be allowed to escape.
Even after the planning was complete, Li Yaowen still had to assign each person their specific mission.
The cultivators drank the immortal wine that Li Yaoqing had brewed for many years. After they had their fill, these experts who stood at the pinnacle of power in Azure Cloud began to get boisterously drunk in the Li family residence, having a wonderfully merry time.
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