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”What, the Xiong Clan dares to send troops to Leopard City as well!?”

Upon hearing the news of the Xiong Clan dispatching troops, the Lion King nearly collapsed onto his seat.

His grand ambitions were now ruined, completely ruined.

He had orchestrated the turmoil within the Barbarian Clan, thinking he could easily clean up the aftermath and take control of the Barbarian Clan.

Unexpectedly, Qin Tian suddenly emerged, causing his grand ambition of dominating the Barbarian Clan within a month to be utterly extinguished.

He couldn’t stop the Fox Clan’s deployment.

He still couldn’t stop the Xiong Clan’s deployment.

He couldn’t stop the Tiger Clan’s deployment either.

With Qin Tian and the Leopard Clan deploying troops, the Lion King found it even harder to resist.

In an instant, all his so-called allies became uncontrollable, leaving him a solitary figure!

”These people have forgotten the ancestral laws! These people have forgotten they are part of the Barbarian Clan! Damn it! It’s infuriating!”

The Lion King was furious, but now, he really couldn’t send troops, as those who once were his underlings no longer obeyed him.

Not only that, but those underlings were also eyeing him like tigers watching their prey. If he attempted to send troops, they would ally against him!

He originally considered gathering his allies to raise an army of two hundred thousand, but as things stood, he felt Qin Tian might raise an army of two hundred thousand to deal with him instead!

”Your Majesty, what do we do now? What should we do?”

A group of Lion Clan ministers were all in a panic.

”It seems the other major clans have joined forces with Qin Tian. They seem to harbor significant animosity toward us, the Lion Clan. Trying to sow dissension among them now is too difficult.”

”Indeed, the Fox Clan, Tiger Clan, and Leopard Clan are impossible. The people we supported within the Xiong Clan have also been killed... Your Majesty, I’m afraid we now have to rely solely on ourselves.”

The generals and ministers began to lament.

The Lion King, also frustrated, gritted his teeth and said, ”Given the current situation, relying on ourselves is unreliable as well.”

At these words, everyone was in an uproar.

But upon further thought, it was inevitable.

Qin Tian united with the other major clans, amassing forces of at least 250,000.

As of now, even if the Lion Clan mobilized all its forces, including an additional 20,000 troops from the Wolf Clan, they could gather only over 200,000, not to mention, the Lion Clan still needed to split forces to guard other cities, making it exceedingly difficult.

Thus, after contemplating, the Lion King made a decisive order: ”Send the State Preceptor to the Imperial City, form an alliance, and request reinforcements! Inform the Ice Emperor that he must send troops; otherwise, the Southern Barbarians will fall into Qin Tian’s hands!”

”Yes, Your Majesty!”

...

Imperial City. Imperial Palace.

Upon receiving the Lion King’s plea for help, the Ice Emperor and the Fourth Prince immediately convened an emergency meeting.

”What do you make of this? The troops in South State are already strained due to being dispatched to suppress West State. If we send more troops to the Southern Barbarians, where would they come from?”

The Ice Emperor looked at the Fourth Prince, who fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, ”I never expected Qin Tian to be able to turn the Barbarian Clan upside down with such little cost, to the point that it’s almost entirely in his hands.”

”Father, if not for concerns about trouble in East State, West State and the Southern Barbarians wouldn’t be an issue at all.”

”I am well aware, but the Dragon Clan is watching like a hawk. We cannot afford to be careless.”

The Ice Emperor took a deep breath. Currently, the military forces of the Tianyuan Dynasty were mainly concentrated in the Imperial City and West State, while a substantial force remained in East State to guard against any changes from the Dragon Clan, and these troops could not be moved.

”We have only two choices now: either mobilize troops from East State and the Imperial City to support the Southern Barbarians or let the Southern Barbarians fend for themselves,” said the Ice Emperor.

The Fourth Prince said, ”If we can mobilize troops to support the Southern Barbarians, why not send them directly to West State? With just 50,000 men, they could decide the battle in West State and be the straw that breaks Qin Tian’s back.”

”Damn Dragon Clan, what tricks are they playing?”

The more the Ice Emperor thought about it, the angrier he became, to the point of nearly banging the table.

The war in West State had been ongoing for six months, with the Dragon Clan sending a total of 200,000 soldiers to assist over this period.

Such a scale seemed impressive, but it took the Dragon Clan over three months to reach the West State battlefield.

For the remaining time, the Dragon Clan’s troops had wandered back and forth between two cities in West State and South State, showing no intention of engaging Qin Tian.

Even when the Imperial City requested the Dragon Clan’s cooperation, they repeatedly reneged, informing the Imperial Capital Army of sudden cases of soldiers with stomach aches, soldiers plagued by water and climate issues, and outbreaks of diseases in the army…

In short, a variety of bizarre reasons and excuses left the Imperial Capital Army fuming.

But after Xie Feihong reported to the Ice Emperor and the Fourth Prince, they were utterly helpless with the Dragon Clan’s army.

After all, the Dragon Clan’s army of 200,000 was not something they could afford to provoke, at least not while engaged in large-scale combat with Qin Tian.

Thus, the war in West State had been protracted and intensely stalemated, with the Dragon Clan having ”contributed” significantly to the Imperial City.

Just thinking about the Dragon Clan gave them a headache.

The Ice Emperor and the Fourth Prince both remained silent.

After a while, the Fourth Prince finally spoke, ”Father, why don’t we be a bit bolder and directly reinforce West State first to handle Qin Tian. Using the momentum of a blitzkrieg, we could catch the Dragon Clan off guard. By the time they react, we would have already pacified West State, leaving them with nothing to do.”

”I have considered that, but eliminating Qin Tian is not a task that can be accomplished overnight. Even with a reinforcement of 100,000, we can’t capture West State within a month. Such a long duration won’t go unnoticed by the Dragon Clan.”

The Ice Emperor contemplated and then said, ”For now, we can only rely on diplomatic means.”

”Fourth Prince, you take the lead and start arrangements. Send goodwill to the Empress of the Dragon Clan, informing them that the situation in West State is gradually stabilizing, and we can handle it ourselves. Request that they withdraw their troops.”

The Ice Emperor proposed his idea, but before he could finish, the Fourth Prince was already shaking his head, ”It’s easy to invite a deity in, but hard to send them away. The Dragon Clan won’t agree easily.”

”Then offer them benefits, negotiate terms. Ask them what it would take for them to withdraw their army!”

The Ice Emperor was somewhat annoyed, ”I refuse to believe that the Dragon Clan would dare to act recklessly on our territory? Regardless, the Dragon Clan must withdraw quickly, so we can concentrate all our forces to swiftly eliminate Qin Tian! The longer Qin Tian lives, the more uneasy I become!”

”Very well, I’ll dispatch one of my military advisors to negotiate, offering monetary compensation to persuade them to agree to withdraw their troops.”

The Fourth Prince agreed and promptly arranged for it upon returning to his residence.

About ten days later, a reply from the Dragon Clan arrived: They would withdraw, but wanted compensation.

This was within the Fourth Prince’s expectations. He quickly asked the visiting military advisor, ”How much compensation does the Dragon Clan demand?”