Chapter 1550 - 1526: Taking Over Twenty-Six Cities

Yang Xiao only left Wanyan Bai and Chen Peng with ten thousand guards stationed at the City of Hope. The rest of the guards went with Elder Qi, Black Wood, and others to recover Shuize City, Firebird City, and Cold Wind Valley.

The recovery of the cities injects everyone with a powerful sense of shock and glory. It is a moment of honor that these guards who once fought valiantly should enjoy.

The guards of Yu Hai and Yu Tao, several hundred who escaped being killed by Yang Xiao, had already fled back to the three cities and told the remaining inhabitants what had transpired.

These individuals, upon hearing that Yang Xiao had easily slaughtered 150,000 guards, panicked and fled immediately, grabbing nothing in their escape.

Some people still thought about going back for their belongings.

"Are you crazy? Yang Xiao could attack at any moment. It's best to escape quickly!"

In total, just over ten thousand defenders were left at the three cities, but they all fled.

The common people in the city were bewildered, not knowing what had happened.

Someone overheard the fleeing guards discussing, "Yu Hai was defeated by Yang Xiao, and fifteen thousand guards were killed."

Very quickly, word spread like wildfire through the city that Yang Xiao had returned to the City of Hope and defeated the Alliance Army of Yu Hai.

The people, who originally supported Yang Xiao, were furious after Yu Hai occupied these cities, extorting them harshly and suppressing them cruelly, which had already stirred city-wide dissent.

Now, hearing of Yu Hai's defeat, Yang Xiao's triumphant return as a King.

The entire city erupted in a joyous celebration, cheering and clapping.

When Elder Qi and others brought their troops to recover the cities, they found tens of thousands of citizens outside cheering and clapping.

Thus, Elder Qi and Black Wood, with the Guard Team, easily recovered the three cities without breaking a sweat.

Yu Hai had stockpiled a massive amount of food in Cold Wind Valley, Firebird City, Shuize City, and especially Titan City, which served as the headquarters of the Alliance Army, storing the most food.

Elder Qi left some food behind and maintained law and order with guards of ten thousand in each city, then transported most of the food back to the City of Hope.

"Boss, the food problem is resolved; there's no need to worry about food for half a year."

Yang Xiao laughed and said:

"I have never worried about food,

For the five cities, immediately convene a meeting to resume production and daily life. The farms in the Dark Forest must also start operating immediately, sowing seeds and planting crops."

"Boss, rest assured, each city has been arranged with a person in charge."

Yang Xiao convened a meeting overnight to arrange post-war reconstruction.

After this battle, Yang Xiao became almost a god-like figure in everyone's hearts.

"Now, there's an even more important matter to address,"

Yang Xiao glanced at everyone and said:

"Yu Hai formed a twenty-six city Alliance Army to attack us. Now, their army has been almost completely eliminated, and they have no resistance left.

Taking this opportunity, I plan to bring these twenty-six cities under my command. What do you all think?"

Elder Qi and others watched Yang Xiao, feeling excited, thrilled, and tense.

"Boss, if we can bring these twenty-six cities under our rule, it will be excellent."

"From now on, in the Central Continent, we will be on par with the likes of Ba Tianhu, Guo Jianglong, and Pangolins."

"Boss, what if these cities resist?"

"Resist?"

Yang Xiao snorted coldly,

"Black Wood, Flying Tiger, Suonan, Ma Kui, tomorrow take fifty thousand warriors, and bring the leaders of these twenty-six cities to the City of Hope.

You can clearly tell them, if anyone dares to defy me, I will immediately massacre the city, no mercy."

Flying Tiger, upon hearing this, excitedly slapped the table,

"Boss, I love your bossiness—it's great!"

Everyone was first stunned, then burst into laughter.

The next day, Black Wood, Flying Tiger, Suonan, and Ma Kui, accompanied by fifty thousand elite guards, set out.

...

Since forming their Alliance Army, the twenty-six cities had already suffered heavy casualties after several large battles with Elder Qi and others.

This time, Yang Xiao slaughtered 150,000 guards at once, almost emptying the full Combat Power of these twenty-six cities; the remaining guards combined were no more than fifty thousand, scattered across each city, with each city only having two to three thousand guards.

When Black Wood, Flying Tiger, and others appeared outside these cities with fifty thousand guards, the entire city was petrified.

They had already heard of Yu Hai's Alliance Army's defeat and Yang Xiao's ability to decimate tens of thousands of guards in one strike, and had been nervously awaiting this judgment of fate.

"Bring out your City Lord, quickly, or else I'll slaughter the city,"

Black Wood and Flying Tiger roared viciously.

The guards at the city gate heard and quickly ran off to report.

A moment later, the City Lord came running out fearfully, and fell to his knees with a thud.

"Lord Black Wood, Lord Flying Tiger, spare us; we realize our mistakes and will never dare again. It's all because of those bastards Yu Hai and Ba Tianhu who forced us into the Alliance Army; we were forced!"

The City Lord began to plead miserably.

Flying Tiger shouted loudly,

"Shut up, I have no time for your nonsense; I'm here on behalf of our boss Yang Xiao to inform you that from today, your city belongs to our boss Yang Xiao. If you disagree, I'll slaughter the city, leaving no survivors and avenging our fallen brothers."

Though the City Lord was of Emperor Level Realm in Cultivation, with only a few thousand guards at his disposal, he was no match for the fifty thousand elite guards before him.

"May I go back and discuss it with my subordinates?"

"Of course, since you're not agreeing now, you're reluctant. Brothers, this dog City Lord is unwilling to submit to our boss, raze his city to the ground, leave not a single soul alive."

The crowd listened and shouted:

"Kill!"

Instantly, killing aura surged to the heavens.

The city lord's legs trembled immediately, and he quickly bowed his head:

"I surrender, I capitulate, I capitulate!"

Black Wood waved his large hand:

"Smart choice. Now, I'll take five thousand people with you into the city and open the gold vault of the City Lord Mansion; all the crystal disks must be handed over."

"Ah?"

The city lord collapsed directly to the ground, his forehead sweating profusely.

However, with the knife already at his neck, he had no chance to resist and had to obediently stay with Black Wood and enter the City Lord Mansion to hand over the two hundred million crystal disks from the vault.

Black Wood took the crystal disks, left with all the guards, and flew directly to the next city.

"Flying Tiger, Suonan, Ma Kui, to prevent the remaining city lords from getting the news and transferring their assets, we'll split into two groups and each take twenty-five thousand guards to recapture these cities."

"Alright."

Flying Tiger partnered with Black Wood, and Suonan partnered with Ma Kui, each taking twenty-five thousand guards and setting off.

The remaining more than twenty city lords, seeing their army, were too frightened to resist, eventually all obediently surrendered.

Black Wood, Flying Tiger, Suonan, and Ma Kui, along with their guard teams, were busy for an entire day, returning to the City of Hope with all the troops by the afternoon of the next day.

The twenty-six cities also arrived at the City of Hope, awaiting their fate's verdict.

Yang Xiao convened a meeting, with all twenty-six city lords attending, along with Elder Qi, Black Wood, and others present.

Xing Zhe sat beside Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao scanned the twenty-six city lords, each feeling dejected, frightened, and anxious.

"You don't need to be nervous; the grudges have been avenged, and I won't kill you anymore."

The twenty-six city lords felt much relieved upon hearing this.

"You formed an alliance with Yu Hai to attack us, killing my hundred thousand guards and many civilians, and we also killed over two hundred thousand of your guards,

considering this debt temporarily settled, nobody owes each other."

"However, from now on, all twenty-six cities belong to me, just like the current City of Hope; all under my jurisdiction. Do you have any objections?"

The twenty-six city lords only sought to save their lives and those of their families, having no objections.

"Lord Yang, I have no objections; I wish to serve under your leadership."

"Lord Yang, I also wish to surrender to you."

"I wish to as well."

...

All twenty-six city lords expressed their views one by one.

Yang Xiao smiled,

"Surrender should come from the heart; a forced act is not sweet. I personally don't like forcing others to obey my orders. If any of you are unwilling, you can leave here immediately."

Who among the twenty-six city lords dared to leave?

"Lord Yang, we sincerely want to surrender to you."

"I've long wanted to submit to you; I've always admired you greatly."

"Me too."

"If it weren't for Ba Tianhu and Yu Hai forcing us to join the alliance, we would never dare to offend you."

"It's all that damn Ba Tianhu's fault; he's the real culprit!"

...

The twenty-six city lords remembered their lost cities, feeling defeated and mournful, and collectively redirected their resentment towards Ba Tianhu, each denouncing him.

Flying Tiger slammed the table:

"What are you shouting for? Be quiet! Now is the time to declare your loyalty, who's allowing you to drag Ba Tianhu into this?"

The twenty-six city lords bowed their heads, saying nothing.

Yang Xiao lightly smiled:

"Alright, since you're all willing to surrender, then from today on, we're all brothers. You, having been city lords once, I will give each of you ten million crystal disks,"

"Ah?!"

The crowd was surprised, originally thinking they had become impoverished, but unexpectedly, Yang Xiao now offered them ten million crystal disks.

With this money, their families could lead a secure and comfortable life without worrying about finances.

"You'll return tomorrow; I'll give each of you a team of two thousand people to accompany you, you should then count the population, assets, etc., in the city and hand them over to the new person in charge I'll send you,

then you must take your families and leave your original cities,

your families must migrate to the City of Hope, where there is absolute safety and security, your children can go to school and cultivate the Genetic Evolution Method,

I will also arrange jobs for you, as my representatives, to assume the position of city lords in other cities, assisting me in governing these cities,

are you willing?"

"Willing, very willing; serving Lord Yang is our honor!"

"Moreover, regarding Ba Tianhu you mentioned, I will bring his head to pay respects to all those who perished in this war."