Imperial God Emperor

Chapter 1167, Withdrawal of troops

Fire Province. 

Among the provinces in the Dark Realm, the Fire Province was not considered a huge state, but in recent times the Fire Province had definitely become the most striking province in the Dark Realm. 

Because the Fire Province was in rebellion. 

The matter started in silence, and before everyone had realized and reacted, like the sparks of a prairie fire, it had swept through the entire Fire Province. Now the Fire Province had completely split from the order of the Guardian camp. 

The splitting up from the Guardian camp was also something that had happened before, but it was definitely not as quick and earth shaking as this time. 

 Now, the entire Fire Province was surrounded by the prestigious Zhenyuan army of the Guardian camp. 

King Zhenyuan had personally gone into battle, sealed the entire Fire Province, and only allowed entry but not exit. Any living being attempting to leave the Fire Province, regardless of race, status, and whether they were aristocratic or dark citizen, was killed on the spot. 

This policy of killing anybody had caused some controversy. 

Because it was very easy to force the experts of the aristocratic forces and major races in the Fire Province that were originally uncertain and hesitating over what move to make towards the side of bandit Xiaofei. It would instead make the major forces of the Fire Province more united and even more difficult to eliminate bandit Xiaofei.

But all oif the arguments and objections were suppressed by King Zhenyuan. 

The resoluteness and ruthlessness of this King was felt not only by the army, but also by the aristocrats from the several provinces that were called to fight in the Fire Province. 

It was just that the reality had indeed developed as everyone feared. 

After the initial panic, the Fire Province had indeed, in the shortest possible time, united like an iron place. The chief bandit Xiaofei's method was indeed exceptional to knead together the entire Fire Province in the shortest possible time and initially formed a terrifying force. 

After four great victories since its arrival, the Zhenyuan army had been in a seesaw battle for more than twenty days. Although there had been occasional victories, overall the pace of progress was incredibly slow.

And as the commander in chief, King Zhenyuan's series of military orders could not be understood by many people. He did not adopt the usual overwhelming rapid offensive like the weight of Mount Taishan crushing down, but instead a slow offensive, gradually grinding all the beings in the Fire Province. There was basically a massacre everywhere.

The nobles in the dozens of central cities on the edge of the Fire Province, after the arrival of the Zhenyuan army, immediately opened up their city and surrendered, and insisted that they had been fighting against bandit Xiaofei and were loyal to the camp all along. However, the Zhenyuan army completely massacred everyone in the city, from the nobles to the dark citizens. 

This cruel means made many of the people of the Zhenyuan army tremble with fear. 

Now, the Zhenyuan army had occupied less than one-tenth of the territory of the Fire Province, and the speed of the restoration was extremely slow. 

In the morning, there were some bad rumours in the army that caused King Zhenyuan to explode with rage, and personally went onto the battlefield to kill a group of hundreds of people. The entire army dared not to speak again. 

In the central tent. 

King Zhenyuan, sitting at the dragon bone table, a scroll in one hand, was evidently uneasy and restless. He did not look at the scroll once, but was pondering over something. There was no focus point in his pupils.

His subordinates and bodyguards had been ordered to stand guard outside the great tent long ago. 

In truth, at this moment King Zhenyuan was regretting his decision. 

At the beginning, when all the major forces in the Royal City heard that there was a rebellion in the Fire Province they all wanted to obtain the right to lead an army into battle, because according to historical experience, it was very simple to put down a rebellion. It did not require much time to crush the rebel army and with little effort it was possible to turn the rebellious Fire Province into a territory of power of his own.

King Zhenyuan had also paid a price. It was only after the exchange and compromise with the major factions of Royal City that he was able to obtain the opportunity to put down the rebellion.

In his plan, the pacification of the Fire Province was as easy as blowing off dust, and after that, the entire Fire Province would become a great complement to the power of the King of Zhenyuan’s residence. It would play a huge role in the process of integrating the forces under his control.

But now, he really regretted this decision. 

The situation that happened in the Expansion Way of the Universe now was a bit too tricky. 

The reason he adopted the method of massacre was so that the matter that happened in the Expansion Way of the Universe did not spread out of the Fire Province. But as long as the Zhenyuan army forced entry into the Fire Province, it would inevitably come into contact with the beings of the Fire Province, and the military generals will, sooner or later, hear this secret and must be killed, which meant that the number of soldiers killed in battle would not be as great as the soldiers who had to be beheaded. 

This would be a great loss. 

And what made it even trickier for King Zhenyuan was that, in the process of the battle, he vaguely became aware that the bandits that had occupied the Fire Province were not as weak as many aristocrats in Royal City had thought. Especially the bandit Xiaofei. Whether it was in personal strength or intelligence, both were very terrifying. It was evident that he had noticed the predicament of the Zhenyuan army, so he was simply avoiding battle, in order to specifically use King Zhenyuan’s slaughter knife to kill the aristocrats of the camp that did not really turn to the bandit army. 

Such a means was very terrifying. Even King Zhenyuan had no choice but to hold his nose and go according to his opponent’s calculations. 

Now, it seemed that the bandits in the Fire Province were losing territory little by little, and the Zhenyuan army had completely occupied the upper hand, but King Zhenyuan knew very clearly that this was just a deliberate display of weakness from the enemy. Even if half of the Fire Province was taken, that group of bandits would not suffer any serious injury. However, for the Zhenyuan army, the consumption at that time would be incredibly great and the secret would spread like a plague, wounding the Zhenyuan army. On the other hand the bandits were immune to such a plague. 

If he were able to predict this, King Zhenyuan would have never fought for the spot for the trip.

Now he was unable to back down or quit. 

The Zhenyuan army was the core force that the Yuan clan had worked incredibly hard to cultivate for generations. The slightest damage to the army was as painful as a stab to his heart, and if the core strength suffered a disastrous loss, the glory of the Yuan clan would also scatter with the wind.

If he could, he wanted to withdraw the troops. 

But the withdrawal of troops would bring even greater trouble. 

King Zhenyuan dropped the book in his hand onto the table, slowly got up, and came to the center of the tent where the sand table was. The vast millions of kilometers of territory of the Fire Province was miniaturized on the sand table, vivid and lifelike. 

At this time, there was the sound of footsteps outside. 

King Zhenyuan frowned slightly. 

“Commander, His Highness Crown Prince sent an urgent message over from the Royal City,” the guard reported, trembling with fear. 

King Zhenyuan hesitated and said, “Bring it in.” 

The door of the great tent opened, and the guard came in with an old man in a grey robe.

“Huh? Uncle Fu, why did you come in person?” King Zhenyuan asked in a friendly tone of voice, looking surprised to see the grey-robed elder.

He was an old servant who had followed the Yuan clan for more than hundreds of years, and was once also a martial arts genius in the Dark Realm. He was subdued by the former King Zhenyuan and had been serving him since then. Usually he was extremely low profile, and even the outside world did not know that Uncle Fu was in fact a Quasi-emperor realm expert.

“King Zhenyuan, something happened in the mansion and His Highness the Crown Prince and the second Prince could not come to a decision, so they sent old servant, I, over to report to you.” Uncle Fu spoke concisely as he handed over a strengthened jade scroll. 

“What kind of matter would make Uncle Fu come in person?” Zhenyuan said, received the jade scroll, but before he took a look his eyes suddenly flashed a hint of shock, “You're injured?” 

Uncle Fu nodded, “some minor injuries, no need to worry.” 

“Who is able to wound you?” King Zhenyuan was even more surprised. Uncle Fu was a Quasi-emperor and possessed unfathomable strength. His injuries made him immediately realize that perhaps the mater that had happened in Royal City was absolutely not simple.

“You will understand when you look at the jade scroll,” Uncle Fu stated. 

King Zhenyuan nodded, unsealing the scroll with the Yuan clan’s special technique. 

A moment later.  

“This is too far.” 

King Zhenyuan fumed. 

The jade scroll in his hand had turned into fine powder. 

He exploded with rage.  

“A little [Military Judge of the Nine Swords] who has no foundation like a duckweed dares to see my King of Zhenyuan’s residence as nothing. He must have some old fool supporting him. Haha, is it the Sun clan or the Nie clan. Good, very good, I will not leave this matter at this” King Zhenyuan's face darkened, and the gloom that had accumulated over these few days was revealed like a volcanic eruption. “Uncle Fu, your injury, is left by that [Military Judge of the Nine Swords] Zhang Longcheng?”

Uncle Fu nodded, “This person's power is unfathomable, and very terrifying. In the battle in the residence that day, there was a total of four Quasi-emperor esteemed masters, Second Prince and I, as well as the formations in the residence, but we still failed to keep him there. If we let him live in the world, he will certainly be a great trouble to the residence.” 

King Zhenyuan nodded, “Correct, according to the description in the scroll, he is indeed very terrifying. Haha, but, I will make him understand that even a real Martial Emperor cannot completely go against the heavens...” 

At this moment, he had finally made a decision. 

“Come, pass on the order that the army will retreat and return to Royal City at once,” he said loud and clear. 

“Ah?” The guards were all completely taken aback. 

Retreat?

Return to Royal City? 

“Why are you still standing there?” King Zhengyuan raised his brows. 

It was then that the guards snapped out of the shock and responded, “Yes.” 

Uncle Fu stood aside and did not speak again. 

He had never been involved in the decision of King Zhenyuan, and instead executed every command firmly, which was one of the biggest reasons why he was able to obtain the absolute trust of the former and present King Zhenyuan.

The gloom on the face of King Zhenyuan was instantly swept away. 

He wanted to find a chance to withdraw, and that reason had finally come by itself. 

Haha, his royal residence was almost destroyed, but the aristocrats of Royal City had let that madman leave. This insult must be washed away. Nobody could say anything if he took the opportunity to retreat.

As for the Fire Province?

This mess, let it rot completely. Who cares? 

On the same day, the Zhenyuan army, at the speed of lightning, withdrew from the Fire Province and returned to the capital.

The news broke out, shaking the world——