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At this point, the Tianqi King turned to a General beside him and said, "You lead a hundred thousand troops and attack from the East City. I want to see how long they can hold out!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Grandmaster Martial Artist by the Tianqi King's side then swiftly led a hundred thousand soldiers from the Barbarian Army towards the East City to launch an assault on Ningbei City's eastern gates.

Of course, the attack by the Barbarian Tribe was merely a probing siege, so they didn't achieve significant success; tens of thousands of barbarian soldiers were killed in explosions, and the camp suddenly saw an influx of injured soldiers missing arms and legs.

A day soon came to an end, and inside the Main Commander's tent, the generals of the Barbarian Tribe were exceedingly excited, celebrating with swigs of liquor and large bites of meat.

"Your Majesty, your prediction was indeed correct. The North Country hardly has any of those iron balls left. This afternoon, when we attacked again, they mainly used rocks and arrows, resorting to those iron spheres only when our soldiers approached the gates!"

Another General of the Barbarian Tribe added, "If we keep this pace, it shouldn't take us long to exhaust their supply of those mysterious iron balls."

Upon hearing what the generals had said, the Tianqi King laughed and responded, "They think such iron balls can stop my march? Pure fantasy!"

Then, a curious General from the Barbarian Tribe said, "But come to think of it, we don't even know what those glowing iron balls are made of. If we could make them ourselves, your unification of the Barbarian Tribes would be imminent!"

After taking a drink, the Tianqi King replied, "According to my guess, crafting those iron balls might require the use of a living Fifth Grade Martial Artist."

Hearing this, a shudder went through the hearts of the Generals in the tent.

The Tianqi King continued, "As far as I know, Central Plains Warriors often use a special Cultivation Technique that allows them to concentrate all their skill into the Dantian, causing their bodies to explode. When they do explode, those nearby will also be affected, killed or injured in the blast."

"The way those iron balls explode resembles a Martial Artist's self-destruction. I suspect they've found a way to seal the Martial Artist's skill inside the iron balls and then use them as weapons."

A General from the Barbarian Tribe responded, "Then to make so many iron balls, wouldn't that mean killing a lot of Martial Artists?"

The Tianqi King laughed and said, "That just goes to show the people of Great Sum know they can't beat us and have resorted to this suicidal method to stop our advance."

"I would like to see just how many Martial Artists they are willing to sacrifice to halt my advance. If this continues, the Martial Artist soldiers in the North Country army will sooner or later rebel. We just need to keep wearing them down!"

In the Tianqi King's view, since living people were being used as weapons, it was possible that the Martial Artists in North Country's army would fear they too might one day be turned into weapons. Should the pressure from the Barbarian Tribe be sufficient, the Martial Artist soldiers within Ningbei City would eventually revolt.

When that time came, with cooperation from the rebelling soldiers inside and the Barbarian Army outside, it would be easy to rout North Country's two hundred thousand strong army.

Over the subsequent half-month, the Tianqi King intermittently led his Barbarian soldiers in assaults on the city. Still, they remained exploratory in nature and were not fully committed.

The Barbarian soldiers soon noticed that Ningbei City's terrifying iron ball weapons were being used less frequently, and later on, the city's defenders relied almost exclusively on arrows and rocks.

On several occasions, Barbarian soldiers even reached the city gates, making the Tianqi King and all his Generals more confident in their assumption that Ningbei City's stockpile of iron ball weapons was likely depleted. It would not be long before they conquered Ningbei City.

This belief rapidly spread among the Barbarian soldiers, who gradually lost their fear of Ningbei City's terrifying iron balls. They became less tense than they had been after the first battle.

In recent days, Lu Chen noticed the increased eagerness of the Barbarian soldiers in their sieges, feeling that the time was ripe.

At dusk, Lu Chen immediately convened a military council with his generals, preparing for a decisive battle with the Tianqi King that very night.

Looking at the Military Generals in the room, Lu Chen began, "The time is right. Tonight, we strike at the Barbarian camp!"

Upon hearing this, the officers were immensely excited, having been waiting for this moment. Over the past half-month, Lu Chen had limited their use of cannons, leaving them with a pent-up eagerness since they could not finish off the Barbarian soldiers even as they stormed the ramparts.

Now that an attack was finally in order, they were free to fully utilize their firearms.

Lu Chen continued, "The assault will commence at midnight. Even if the Barbarians' scouts discover us, and they awaken the soldiers immediately, they won't be able to react in time."

At that point, Mu Changtian reminded, "Prince, be careful. The Tianqi King is a Grandmaster. He may come after you personally during the battle."

Once the full-scale war broke out that night, if the Grandmaster Tianqi King became enraged, there was a good chance he would seek out Lu Chen himself.

Lu Chen smiled and said, "With Master Chen here, I will be fine."

Then, turning to Chen Wanrong at the doorway, Lu Chen said, "Master Chen, I entrust my safety to you tonight."

Without a word, Chen Wanrong remained still, thinking to herself that it was finally going to end.