Special Expert of Beauty CEO

”Right now, Demon Cloud City and Demon Spirit City are indeed much weaker than Demon City, but the estrangement between them has also existed for a long time. Now that we have a chance to get their help, we at least have to try. Send someone over with a letter personally written by me.”

On the surface, Demon Spirit City and Demon Cloud City were unlikely to help him, but Qin Tian had a persistent intuition that these two cities should be willing to, especially given that Mu Yunxi was still in Demon Cloud City.

So, when Qin Tian sent people to Demon Cloud City with a letter, he also wrote one to Mu Yunxi.

”Boss, the Ice Emperor’s vanguard Golden Armor Army is only a hundred kilometers away from Tiger City!”

At this moment, an urgent report came from the front: the Ice Emperor’s Vanguard Army was at the gates of Tiger City!

Originally, Tiger City didn’t fall under the jurisdiction of West State, but because it basically counted as a barrier city before Yueya City, Qin Tian had always valued it greatly. So, after defeating Xie Feihong’s army, Qin Tian sent people to occupy Tiger City.

”General Xu Kuan has already sent General Che Aijun to lead a force of a hundred thousand to garrison Tiger City. Their plan is to first fight a battle with the Ice Emperor’s Vanguard Army at Tiger City to test their strength. If we can’t beat them, we’ll fall back to Yueya City. Tiger City is essentially a testing ground.”

Little Zhuang said, ”We’re finally going to find out whether that so‑called Golden Armor Army is really as terrifying as the legends say.”

Qin Tian was also very eager to see the outcome, but at this moment he forced himself to calm down and, within West State, took what spare time he had to focus on cultivation.

In terms of cultivation, he had already been stuck at the Early Stage of the Flying Immortal Realm for more than a year, and for now there was no sign of a breakthrough. There was nothing he could do about that; improving one’s cultivation, especially after reaching the Flying Immortal Realm, was not something that could be rushed in a day or two.

Qin Tian now carefully sorted through the Cultivation Techniques and Martial Arts he practiced, and found that the ones most suitable for him at the moment were the Divine Vein Technique and the Seven-star Eight Diagram Array.

After his cultivation rose to the Early Stage of the Flying Immortal Realm, cultivating the Divine Vein Technique had gradually become second nature; advancing from Six Dragon Power to Seven Dragon Power posed no pressure to him at all.

As for the upcoming Power of Eight Dragons, Qin Tian felt that in just a few days he would also be able to break through with ease.

As for that Seven-star Eight Diagram Array, after reaching the Primary Stage, Qin Tian had been constantly trying to further break through and advance.

The gap between the Primary Stage and the Middle Stage was said to be an outright qualitative leap.

Qin Tian didn’t know exactly what kind of powerhouse the Middle Stage of the Seven-star Eight Diagram Array could trap, but he was very clear in his heart that, at this stage, if he could properly cultivate the Seven-star Eight Diagram Array, it would only be beneficial, whether for dealing with super‑strong experts or with the Imperial Capital Army; it might even become a secret Killing Move.

After easily pushing the Divine Vein Technique up to the Power of Eight Dragons, Qin Tian redoubled his cultivation of the Seven-star Eight Diagram Array. For three days straight he comprehended the Formation, grasping the Mnemonic and the Law, and on this day he finally made progress, brushing against the threshold of entering the Middle Stage.

”Boss! Boss!”

Just as Qin Tian was about to attempt deploying the Middle Stage of the Seven-star Eight Diagram Array for a trial run, Little Zhuang rushed into the rear garden, in a great hurry, sweat on his face.

Seeing Little Zhuang’s expression, Qin Tian immediately felt a bad premonition in his heart.

Sure enough, Little Zhuang flew over, landed in front of Qin Tian, and said dejectedly, ”Boss, Tiger City has fallen!”

In the face of the Ice Emperor’s great army, Tiger City falling was a given. What Qin Tian was curious about now was how exactly Tiger City had been lost.

Little Zhuang said, ”The Ice Emperor’s Vanguard Army sent fifty thousand Golden Armor troops to attack Tiger City, while Che Aijun had a hundred thousand defending it. The result: three days—just three days—and Che Aijun lost Tiger City. Over forty thousand of our troops were killed in battle, even Che Aijun himself suffered minor injuries, and in the end he had no choice but to withdraw with the army back to Yueya City.”

Lightly put into just one sentence, yet when Qin Tian heard it, his heart suddenly sank.

What he feared most was that this Golden Armor Army would be far more formidable than he had imagined.

He hadn’t expected it to be this formidable.

Fifty thousand men attacking a Tiger City defended by a hundred thousand, and they took it in three days—terrifying!

One had to know, Tiger City was easy to defend and hard to attack. Not only did those fifty thousand Golden Armor troops seize Tiger City, they also killed more than forty thousand; what kind of deterrent power was that?

”What about their casualties?” Qin Tian asked.

”There’s no way to get exact numbers, but I asked Che Aijun. Based on his own rough estimate, he figures the Golden Armor Army’s dead number around ten thousand.”

”Heh… not bad.”

Qin Tian let out a faint laugh. His West State Army’s combat power already ranked among the top, yet this time they had run straight into a Golden Armor Army whose combat strength was probably two tiers above the West State Army’s; they were basically routed outright.

”Boss, at a time like this you can still laugh? What are we going to do? Xu Kuan estimates that the Ice Emperor’s Vanguard Army will attack Yueya City within ten days. We have to prepare early, otherwise there’s a high chance we won’t be able to hold Yueya City!”

Little Zhuang seemed truly anxious now.

Back when Xie Feihong’s seven hundred thousand troops were camped under the walls of Yueya City, the situation had looked extremely dire, yet Little Zhuang had never said Yueya City couldn’t be held.

But now, facing an attack by the Ice Emperor’s two hundred and fifty thousand troops, he actually said those words.

”Third, if Yueya City falls, do you think West Liang Mountain and West Capital can withstand the Ice Emperor’s advance?”

”Huh?”

Qin Tian’s sudden question left Little Zhuang stunned. ”Boss, what do you mean, asking me that at a time like this?”

”Just answer me.”

”After more than ten years of work by General Xu Kuan, Yueya City has already become the strongest defensive city in all of West State. West Capital can’t compare.”

Little Zhuang thought for a moment and said, ”If Yueya City falls, then the kind of natural defenses at West Liang Mountain definitely won’t hold. As for West Capital, you know this too: although West Capital is a beautifully built city with thick, tall walls, it doesn’t have layered depth to its defenses. Once the enemy gets onto the gate towers, we basically won’t be able to stop them.”

As he spoke, Little Zhuang looked at Qin Tian and said, ”The Ice Emperor has brought so many experts, even those at the Flying Immortal Realm. Letting them climb up onto the gate towers won’t be difficult at all…”

”So I think, with Yueya City’s layered defenses stretching for dozens of li, it’s far better than West Capital. If Yueya City is quickly breached by the Ice Emperor, then West Capital probably won’t be defendable either. After that, we’ll very likely be forced to retreat to the Demon Clan or the Barbarian Clan and wage guerrilla warfare.”

Little Zhuang sighed and said, ”Boss, I personally went to the front line, to the convalescent camp in West Capital where the seriously wounded were sent back, to ask about the situation. Those people all say the Ice Emperor’s Golden Armor Army is too terrifying. It’s said that practically all of them are soldiers at the Middle Stage of the Longevity Realm, and a lot of them probably have cultivation at the Small Immortal Realm!”

”That’s too terrifying. That’s basically our Qin Family Army! Our Qin Family Army has fewer than five thousand in total, and they have hundreds of thousands!?” Little Zhuang’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

(There’s been a lot going on these past few days so updates have been a bit sparse. Once I get through this, at the latest next week, Hong Qi will pull an all‑nighter one day to write and definitely do a big burst!)