Infinite Professions-Chapter 85 - 15: Besieged City

On the other side, the Eastern Continent, Wind Thunder Mountain Range.

Since eighty years ago, after the battle of two Celestial Destinies, the Dongfang Clan retreated, Sand Beast Valley has rapidly developed, centering on the Wind Thunder Mountain Range, taking over hundreds of towns large and small surrounding it, thus establishing the Martial Country.

Thus, eighty years passed, through various development methods, the Martial Country has already become the most powerful kingdom in the Eastern Continent, and the capital city of the Martial Country adjacent to Wind Thunder Mountain Range is the most prosperous city in the Eastern Continent.

But now...

Darkness shrouds, lights illuminate brightly.

Wind Thunder Mountain Range and its surroundings are immersed in darkness, only the central Wudu is brightly lit, lights shining everywhere, and there is a large Spirit Control Guard Team patrolling, an air of tension fills the atmosphere.

Unlike other towns on the Spirit Control Continent, Wudu never built city walls from the beginning, the entire city was open, greatly facilitating transportation and promoting city development, but this also increased the difficulty of defense significantly.

Originally, this was not a problem, because the Martial Country has a large population, and a Spirit Control Guard Team and Spirit Beast Legion corresponding to the population, enough to safeguard the capital.

Plus, with the deterrence of the Sovereign "Li Taiyi", for eighty years Wudu never suffered the impact of wars and enemies, whether or not there were city walls did not matter.

But now, around the capital, various Spirit Beast Legions are defensively tense, and within the city, a large Spirit Control Guard Team is patrolling back and forth, showing a state of impending siege.

Outside the capital, within the darkness, waves of aura stir, and even the faint pressure of a monarch appears, surrounding Wudu, forming a siege that makes various Spirit Beast Legions restless, with a risk of "explosive escape" at any moment.

"Monarchs, at least five monarchs!"

"These are just the ones exposed, probably more hidden in the dark."

"There might even be Emperor-level Spirit Masters and Tier Six Spirit Beasts, trying to force the teacher to show himself!"

Wudu Royal Palace, in the main hall, it is also brightly lit.

A few people gather together, their expressions all solemn, the atmosphere tense.

Also, a particularly large eagle is beside them, its sharp eyes unemotional.

"It’s the Fire Country!"

A middle-aged man spoke coldly: "The Flame Emperor chased the teacher for decades with no result, now it’s come to this point, the various attack incidents in the city and outside in the recent days must be their doing, trying to force the teacher to show himself."

"I fear it’s not just the Fire Country!"

An elderly man in white shook his head: "The Fire Country may be a long-established kingdom, but it’s impossible for them to deploy five Lord-level Spirit Masters at once, not to mention there might be more than five monarchs, surely other kingdoms and forces are involved."

"Dogs cornered will leap, won’t they?"

The middle-aged man’s expression turned cold: "That would only mean burning jade and stone together, just follow the plan, when the teacher returns we will demand repayment."

A few people hearing this, did not speak immediately.

The elderly man’s brow furrowed, looking at the Wind Thunder Eagle King beside him: "Did Master Nangong really leave?"

Wind Thunder Eagle King nodded: "He was an Emperor-level Spirit Master from the same period as the previous Celestial Destiny generations, now his lifespan is near its end, he returned to the Holy City citing this as a reason, which is understandable."

"Understandable?"

The elder murmured to himself, then immediately asked: "Then did they send another Emperor-level Spirit Master from the Holy City?"

Wind Thunder Eagle King shook its head: "So far it seems... they haven’t."

"Is this the attitude of the Holy City?"

The elder’s brow furrowed deeper, ceased to speak.

At this moment, a young-faced man, but with graying temples, stood out: "Perhaps during this period, our actions have been too aggressive!"

"Hmm!?"

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned, looking at him with surprise and uncertainty, and the middle-aged man from earlier erupted in anger: "Zhang Xuanming, what do you mean by saying that?"

"No meaning, just stating the facts!"

Zhang Xuanming shook his head, not retreating despite the scrutiny and the anger of the middle-aged man: "The Holy City’s attitude, the departure of Nangong Tianming, along with the coalition of various forces and Fire Country, these are the best evidence."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent.

They knew well, as the currently most prosperous kingdom in the Eastern Continent, the Martial Country appeared to be full of glory, yet in reality, it was like walking on thin ice, not only with Fire Country as a mortal enemy eyeing aggressively, other countries and forces also openly or covertly suppress it.

All this is not only because of past grudges and resentments, but also due to the various measures of the Martial Country causing various interest disputes.

No need to elaborate on administration; the Martial Country entirely abolished aristocratic rule, established numerous public institutions, trained civilian Spirit Control Masters, opened up paths for advancement, coupled with the prosperity brought by economic growth, every year a large number of refugees even fleeing populations joined.

Neighboring countries have experienced this profoundly, and to prevent populations under their governance from fleeing, they even built walls at borders, increased military forces, and intensified punishments, but still could not prevent their populations from drifting towards the Martial Country.

And on the side of the Martial Country, it does not show any restraint, not only are newcomers welcomed, but it opens convenient channels wide, and subtly introduces refugees through various means, depicting a trend of undermining and even uprooting the fates of other nations.

Facing this bold and audacious behavior of undermining their own lifeline, how could other countries tolerate it, grudges have long accumulated.

In addition to this, in recent years the Martial Country has also frantically developed commerce and livestock industries, through new products like cement, glass, soap, and meat livestock like Sand Beasts, aggressively selling to other countries, plundering their wealth, undermining their industries, even seeking to control their economies and livestock lifeblood.

Although various countries have implemented countermeasures, increasing tariffs and even banning the circulation of goods from the Martial Country in the marketplace, these measures are only temporary fixes. Because the goods from the Martial Country have a significant price advantage, the consequence of an official ban is rampant smuggling.

A 50% profit can drive people to take risks.

A 100% profit can lead people to trample on the law.

A 300% profit, even death cannot stop.

While the goods from the Martial Country are not that cheap, they are enough to tempt many merchants to take risks and defy the bans of various countries to engage in smuggling.

It’s not just merchants—even some minor nobles, large aristocrats, and even the royalties and the Imperial Families of various countries are involved.

As of today, around the Martial Country, several major kingdoms’ economic lifelines, as well as their livestock industries, have been dominated by the Martial Country. Their original industries have been squeezed to the point of bankruptcy, forcing them to transform.

This gives the Martial Country a terrifying degree of control over the surrounding countries. Once the Martial Country closes smuggling channels or raises product prices, the economies of other countries would be affected, especially in the livestock industry and meat market.

The Martial Country indeed acted this way, having significantly raised the prices of exported goods and meat in recent years, causing the prices in surrounding countries to skyrocket. Although not to the point of being unlivable, it has severely injured the vital interests of these countries.

This doesn’t just align with the natural flow of benefits but also exposes the Martial Country’s aggressiveness and threat, revealing ambitious intents that even the Spirit Control Master Holy City finds somewhat discontenting.

So, the Elder of the Holy City who blocked the Flame Emperor eighty years ago and had been living in seclusion in the Wind Thunder Mountain Range, Emperor-level Spirit Master Nangong Tianming, left the Wind Thunder Mountain Range a few months ago under the pretext of his life nearing its end.

And the Spirit Control Master Holy City did not send another Guardian to replace him. To this day, several unidentified Monarchs have surrounded the Martial Country’s capital, adopting a menacing stance of troops at the city gates.

The attitude of the Spirit Control City, Nangong Tianming’s attitude, and the attitudes of major kingdoms and factions have become clear.

They have acted too aggressively, exceeding the tolerance limits of all parties, even forcing the Spirit Control City to change its stance and retract this Emperor-level Spirit Master Nangong Tianming.

So, in response to Zhang Xuanming’s words, everyone fell silent.

"Too aggressive?"

Only the middle-aged man shouted angrily: "So, you mean our teacher’s national strategy is flawed, and we should not act this way, that we should bow down and compromise to those people?"

"I didn’t say that!"

Zhang Xuanming frowned: "I mean we could ease up a bit; there is no need to push them to this extent."

"Isn’t that still bowing down?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The middle-aged man shouted angrily: "Do you think if we bow down, they will be content and leave? No, they will only exploit more. If this happens once, a second and third time will surely follow!"

"So, what solution do you have to resolve this stalemate now?"

Zhang Xuanming, seeing his attitude, retorted sharply: "Are you really planning to go head-to-head with them in destruction? They have five Lord-level Spirit Masters, and that’s just what’s on the surface. Who knows how many lurk in the shadows, possibly even an Emperor Spirit. What will you use to fight against them, the lives of everyone in the city?"

"I..."

"Enough!"

The middle-aged man wanted to argue but was cut off by an elder: "Do we really need internal conflict at a time like this?"

"Hmph!"

The middle-aged man snorted coldly, turned his head, and said nothing more.

Zhang Xuanming also remained silent, making the atmosphere in the hall even more tense.

It was finally the elder who spoke: "At this point, there is no other choice but to follow the Sovereign’s plan. Drag it out as long as possible; the Sovereign must have received the news by now and likely will have some countermeasures."

"..."

"Then let’s go with Prime Minister Zhou’s suggestion!"

"At this juncture, preventing total collapse is crucial!"

"Let’s adjourn for now!"

No one disagreed with this mature advice. After a spell of silence, they all voiced their agreement, and the meeting ended, leaving Zhang Xuanming and the Wind Thunder Eagle King alone in the hall.

"..."

Watching the figures leave, Zhang Xuanming remained silent for a long time. Only after everyone had left did he turn to the silent Wind Thunder Eagle King: "Who do you think it is?"

"Chen Luojun?"

"Seems like it, yet it doesn’t!"

The Wind Thunder Eagle King shook his head: "You humans are too complicated!"

"Complicated?"

Zhang Xuanming murmured as if to himself, then suddenly laughed sardonically: "Yes, we humans are too complicated!"

After speaking, he looked outside, his eyes full of concern: "Teacher..."