The only report Bai Ximing received was that contact with both City One and City Two had been lost, with no survivors. The guards stationed in other cities didn't dare to act without orders, awaiting instructions from the two young masters—Bai Ximing and Wu Zhan Shuang.
"Impressive, indeed. Even though the soldiers at Gatekeeper City, City One, and City Two were among the weaker forces, being able to wipe them out is no small feat," Wu Zhan Shuang commented, his body now transformed from the one-armed Black Blade Fish Tribe to the more formidable Greenstone Tribe.
For Wu Zhan Shuang, the Black Blade Fish Tribe body had only been a temporary vessel for a plan. The Greenstone Tribe's body was far superior in every way.
Bai Ximing was furious. He couldn't wait to confront the person bold enough to challenge them and make them suffer for their insolence. If not for waiting for Wu Zhan Shuang to finish assimilating his new body, Bai Ximing would have already arrived at the battle in City One and City Two.
"Are we ready to move now?" Bai Ximing asked, frowning at Wu Zhan Shuang. If it weren't for the time wasted on the transformation, he believed they could have intervened in the previous battle and crushed their enemy.
Bai Ximing's anger stemmed from the insult of Lin Qian's provocation. He was eager to capture Lin Qian and make him suffer, ensuring he begged for death.
"Let's go and see who this audacious person really is," Wu Zhan Shuang replied with a nod, a cruel and bloodthirsty grin forming on his greenish face. "But before you take him alive, let me have some fun with him."
"Do as you wish. I only need him alive so I can torment him later," Bai Ximing agreed.
With that, Bai Ximing and Wu Zhan Shuang led a group out of the Spring Garden within the frozen world, heading toward the Third World Battle Plains.
Meanwhile, Lin Qian wasn't in a rush to launch his next offensive. Instead, he focused on fortifying City One and City Two, just as he had done with Gatekeeper City.
Yuan Xiang, observing the scene, quickly noticed that Lin Qian was transforming the cities into fortresses. He watched as Lin Qian installed more soul power cannons into the city walls, his curiosity growing.
"It's strange. How large is your spatial soul artifact, and how many soldiers do you have?" Yuan Xiang mused.
When they left Gatekeeper City, Yuan Xiang had seen Lin Qian leave behind the Blood Battle soldiers, the Silver Moon Wolves, and the Qiang Yu archers, along with the scribes and craftsmen working on the city's reconstruction. Yet upon arriving at City One, Lin Qian summoned more scribes and craftsmen to begin the fortification process.
And when they reached City Two, Lin Qian summoned even more personnel to continue the work.
Yuan Xiang couldn't help but wonder just how many people Lin Qian could summon, but the latter remained tight-lipped.
While inspecting the progress in City Two, Lin Qian suddenly heard Zhuge Ming's voice in his mind: "Your Majesty, please take a look at the message I've sent you."
Curious, Lin Qian activated his soul power, opening the Huaxia Empire system interface and viewing the message Zhuge Ming had sent.
The message was simple and clear: Surrender immediately and avoid further mistakes!
The message had been sent from City Five Hundred through the original city communication formation, which had not been dismantled during the city's fortification. The enemy must have noticed that the communication formation was still active and used it to send this message.
"Your Majesty, what should we do?" Zhuge Ming asked, unsure of how to proceed.
After a moment of thought, Lin Qian replied, "It's simple. Follow my instructions and send this response back…"
Soon after, in City Five Hundred deep within the Battle Plains, Bai Ximing slammed his hand down on the table, shattering it into pieces. Beside him, Wu Zhan Shuang's expression shifted between shock and anger.
Lin Qian's response had been straightforward and brutal:
"I'm not targeting anyone specifically, but to me, the Xunyin and Wuxing Tribes are nothing but trash!"
It was an outright insult, and Lin Qian had no intention of holding back.
From Lin Qian's perspective, the Xunyin and Wuxing Tribes had already plotted against the Human Tribe, aiming to seize this small world and launch a war against humanity. So why should he show them any courtesy?
Lin Qian's goal was simple: provoke them into attacking him without thinking, driving them to wage war against the Huaxia Empire.
Once a full-scale war broke out, would Lin Qian's Huaxia Empire fear the Xunyin and Wuxing Tribes?
Not at all. Lin Qian could now deploy twelve advanced versions of the six basic military units, and mid-tier war beasts with combat capabilities on land, sea, and air.
And with numerous devastating soul power weapons yet to be deployed, he was eager to test them out against a worthy opponent.
Lin Qian was hoping the enemy would come to him in force. If they hid behind their city walls, he'd only be able to use the soul power cannons to breach their defenses, forcing a close-quarters battle where sword soldiers would be the most practical unit. It would be too straightforward and not nearly as interesting.
There would be no room for experimentation in such a scenario.
"Please, come and attack me. The more, the better. I'm right here in City Two, but I bet you won't dare come. Cowards!"
Another message followed:
"Your father's name is Lin Qian. Hurry and come, my good son!"
After receiving these taunts, Bai Ximing went into a frenzy, smashing everything within reach and shouting with bloodshot eyes.
"Gather the forces from all 498 cities and march on them!"
Meanwhile, Wu Zhan Shuang remained calm, casually wiping the blood of the messenger from his hands as he ordered the corpse to be removed.
"Bai Xiong, make sure to leave his heart for me—I want to drink with it," Wu Zhan Shuang said coldly, licking his lips.
Back in City Two, Yuan Xiang chuckled, "Why provoke them so much? Wouldn't it be easier to conquer one city at a time?"
Having observed the enemy gathering forces from the 498 cities, Yuan Xiang returned to report to Lin Qian with amusement in his voice.
Lin Qian shook his head slightly and replied, "Conquering one city at a time is too time-consuming. Why not wipe them all out in one go? After all, dealing with sixty million enemies is hardly a challenge."
Yuan Xiang's face turned pale as he stared at Lin Qian in shock. "You… can you really summon tens of millions of troops at once?"