"Silver Yao, tell me, do you have any good ideas for dealing with Long Zhen?" the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress asked.
Silver Yao, who bore a striking resemblance to the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress and was equally beautiful, seemed to have anticipated the question. She spoke immediately, "Your Majesty, Long Zhen has contracted nine totem-level spirit beasts and can also mobilize the Flame Emperor's divine forbidden bombs at any time. It will be very difficult for us to handle him alone. Unless all the city lords are summoned, we will have no hope of a decisive battle with Long Zhen!"
"Hmph, is that the best you can come up with? My dear sister, aren't you usually quite intelligent? When I ask for your opinion, you only come up with such terrible ideas? Do you want our Qing Qiu Kingdom to perish as soon as possible?" the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress reprimanded.
Silver Yao did not retort; she was accustomed to it. Regardless of whether her suggestions were right or wrong, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress would always find fault with her, clearly intending to humiliate her and intimidate others. The other three city lords remained silent. They were also sisters of the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress and had often been subjected to her刁难 (diāonán - difficulties/trouble). They knew that the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress had summoned them precisely to use them as cannon fodder. They were not foolish and had each made their own preparations. They were also in contact with each other and would not hesitate to join forces against the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress if the opportunity arose. Of course, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress dared to summon them because she was not afraid of them joining forces.
Afterward, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress questioned the others one by one. The remaining city lords also shared their thoughts, but without exception, they were all rebuked by the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress. "Hmph, I enjoy seeing you hate me but be unable to do anything about it," the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress sneered. She already knew about the treasury incident and did not take it to heart. She had already taken all the useful resources from the treasury, leaving only what she did not need. She also realized that only the city lords present, like Silver Yao, would dare to covet the treasury in Qing Qiu Kingdom. Therefore, she planned to use Long Zhen to eliminate Silver Yao and the others. Afterward, the cities controlled by Silver Yao and the others would be directly managed by her.
After scolding Silver Yao and the others, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress prepared to take action, which surprised Silver Yao and the others. They had come to help defend Fox Moon City, but now they were to follow the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress in attacking the defensive fortress. Under the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's command, five Nine-Tailed Fox legions advanced towards the defensive fortress. As the city lord of Fox Moon City, Silver Xuan naturally wished to drive away the Flame Emperor's spirit beast legion, as she would not feel secure in Fox Moon City otherwise. Thus, she actively mobilized the Nine-Tailed Fox legions and directed them to attack the defensive fortress.
The movements of Fox Moon City did not escape the Flame Emperor's satellites. Long Zhen Chuanshuo soon received the news, which surprised him. "What is this Nine-Tailed Fox Empress trying to do? She knows I'm here and is attacking proactively. Isn't this suicidal? Unless..." Long Zhen Chuanshuo frowned. Unless the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress had absolute confidence in victory, she would not have come personally. Did this mean the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress had made a breakthrough and become a quasi-divine level being? Or perhaps she had found help. There were several totem kingdoms around the Qing Qiu Totem Kingdom, but totem kingdoms also engaged in conflict, not only fighting for territory but also for population, all to gain more faith power. Long Zhen Chuanshuo could not imagine who would be willing to help the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress at this time. "Have the divine forbidden missile legions ready to respond to the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress. She might be hiding more deeply than we anticipated!"
Not long after, the Nine-Tailed Fox legions launched an attack on the defensive fortress. Unlike individual combat, legion warfare involved coordinated multi-person skills, also known as team combat skills. The combined team combat skills of hundreds or thousands of Nine-Tailed Foxes could be very powerful, capable of even injuring overlord-level or totem-level spirit beasts. Of course, the spirit beast legion also possessed team combat skills, and their offensive methods were more numerous than those of the Nine-Tailed Fox legions.
First, artillery suppression rained down like bullets, with each shell causing a violent explosion. This quickly disrupted the Nine-Tailed Fox legions' formations, preventing many team combat skills from being executed. Following this, a steel torrent surged out from the defensive fortress, continuously impacting the Nine-Tailed Fox legions. These steel torrents were composed of various intelligent mechanical weapons, such as electromagnetic cannon vehicles and laser cannon vehicles. These were not mechanical spirit beasts, so there was no need to worry excessively about damage or consumption. Finally, the spirit beast masters of the spirit beast legion and their respective spirit beasts joined forces to unleash various combination skills.
From the start of the battle, the Nine-Tailed Fox legions gained no advantage and were repeatedly repelled. Seeing this, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress frowned. "What are these useless creatures doing? How are they trained? A waste of my resources." However, she had not yet intended to intervene. She looked at Silver Yao and the other city lords and commanded, "Silver Yao, what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to act? Do you want our legions to be completely routed?"
Silver Yao and the other city lords exchanged glances. They lacked the courage to confront the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress directly, so they took action, leading the Nine-Tailed Fox legions to attack the defensive fortress. With the addition of totem-level combat power, the Flame Emperor's spirit beast legion was at a disadvantage. However, Long Zhen Chuanshuo showed no intention of intervening.
Just then, missiles began to fly. These missiles carried high-yield forbidden bombs, sufficient to injure totem-level Nine-Tailed Foxes. This forced Silver Yao and the other city lords to evade and retreat. This displeased the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress. "Anyone who dares to retreat again, I will cripple them!" This put Silver Yao and the other city lords in a difficult position. Gritting their teeth, they joined forces and desperately attacked the defensive fortress. The spirit beast legion defending the fortress immediately felt immense pressure. Many spirit beast masters' spirit beasts were killed.
At this moment, Long Zhen Chuanshuo intervened. He summoned nine totem-level spirit beasts, each incredibly powerful, and directly attacked Silver Yao and the other city lords. Silver Yao faced the Nine-Headed Roc and was forced to retreat repeatedly. Even Silver Xuan, who was commanding the Nine-Tailed Fox legions, was targeted by a totem-level Six-Winged Golden Dragon. Long Zhen Chuanshuo kept a Vajra Ape King by his side. The Vajra Ape King was very powerful, only half a step away from the quasi-divine level, and was his strongest spirit beast, reserved for dealing with the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Empress also looked up at Long Zhen Chuanshuo, who was floating in the air. "Why are you forcing me to act? As the Empress of Qing Qiu Kingdom, I have treated your human race well. Your human race here lives no worse than they do in your Flame Emperor. If I die, they will surely miss the current life."
Long Zhen Chuanshuo chuckled disdainfully. "This operation has nothing to do with how you treat our human race! You have secretly colluded with the fox demon race from another world, attempting to dominate Blue Star. Such an ambition will cause the deaths of countless people! Therefore, we must act against you. Secondly, a canary in a cage also lives well, but are you sure it likes living in a cage?"
"Hmph, your human race calls us Nine-Tailed Foxes cunning, but in my opinion, we Nine-Tailed Foxes are nowhere as insidious as your human race. You can twist a single sentence to mean anything, let alone do something. In your human race's words, if you are not a canary in a cage, how do you know they are uncomfortable?" The Nine-Tailed Fox Empress said as she stepped through the air towards Long Zhen Chuanshuo. Seeing this, the Vajra Ape King beside Long Zhen Chuanshuo stepped forward to protect him.
However, it was useless. The Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's aura continued to rise, becoming stronger and stronger. Her immense aura was like an abyss, making it difficult to breathe! Below, Silver Xuan, Silver Yao, and the other city lords looked at the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress in astonishment. Quasi-divine level! This was the realm they had always dreamed of. They never expected the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress to have reached it! "Damn it, you really were hiding your strength," Silver Yao's eyes flashed with unwillingness. Distracted, she was attacked by the Nine-Headed Roc and injured again. "Bastard, do you really think I'm easy to bully!" Silver Yao no longer concealed her strength and fought the Nine-Headed Roc with all her might.
Long Zhen Chuanshuo was also surprised. He hadn't expected the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress to truly be quasi-divine level. This was somewhat troublesome. Although divine forbidden weapons could deal with quasi-divine level extraordinary beings, they had to hit their target. This meant two or three wouldn't be enough; more would be needed, and there was a risk of friendly fire.
As Long Zhen Chuanshuo pondered, the Vajra Ape King was struck by the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress and sent crashing to the ground. Immediately after, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress threw another punch at Long Zhen Chuanshuo. As legend-level spirit beast masters, they possessed many self-preservation abilities. Long Zhen Chuanshuo vanished from his spot and reappeared on the defensive city wall. This was not a spatial skill but a spirit beast domain projected by his spirit beast space. Within the spirit beast domain, Long Zhen Chuanshuo could move freely and appear anywhere within the domain, making him difficult to track. Long Zhen Chuanshuo's spirit beast domain was vast, almost covering the entire battlefield, so it was not easy to ambush him.
"Hmph, you run quite fast, but can your Vajra Ape King escape?" The Nine-Tailed Fox Empress struck the recovering Vajra Ape King on the ground with another palm. Seeing this, Long Zhen Chuanshuo used his spirit beast talent, Limit Enhancement. Limit Enhancement could rapidly unleash a spirit beast's strongest power, pushing it to the limit of its physical capacity. This meant that the stronger the body, the greater the burst of power. Facing the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's attack, the Vajra Ape King, under Long Zhen Chuanshuo's enhancement, retaliated angrily, throwing a punch. This punch also used a super-tier skill, Annihilation Emperor Fist. The resulting power actually blocked the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's attack. This surprised the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress. "Hmph, don't get cocky, this is only fifty percent of my strength."
Immediately, nine red tails emerged from behind the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress, each enormous and seemingly capable of obscuring the sky. At this moment, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress maintained her beast-eared girl form, beautiful, noble, and inviolable, with a fierce look in her eyes. Her tails fiercely whipped towards the Vajra Ape King.
*Boom...*
The ground shattered and caved in! The Vajra Ape King was driven into the ground, trapped in a massive crater, bleeding from the mouth, and heavily injured. However, as one tail fell, another followed, like a whirlwind, determined to beat the Vajra Ape King to death. Seeing the Vajra Ape King in peril, Long Zhen Chuanshuo's other spirit beasts rushed to his aid. After Long Zhen Chuanshuo used Limit Enhancement, it wasn't just the Vajra Ape King who received the enhancement; all his spirit beasts were strengthened. As a result, Silver Xuan, Silver Yao, and the other city lords could no longer withstand the onslaught. Three city lords immediately fell. Silver Xuan and Silver Yao were also injured and preparing to flee.
Seeing that the Vajra Ape King could not withstand the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's attack, six totem-level spirit beasts rushed to help. Unfortunately, even combined, they were no match for the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress. Just as the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress was exulting, intelligent missiles carrying divine forbidden bombs flew towards her. The Flame Emperor's greatest strength was not individual spirit beast masters but its technology. This powerful technology was the fundamental reason why the surrounding totem kingdoms feared them.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Empress also sensed the danger and quickly dodged. Although she was powerful, she also feared divine forbidden bombs. Unfortunately, she had been locked on, and it was not easy to break free. The Nine-Tailed Fox Empress had no choice but to condense numerous clones, a total of eighty-one, each dodging in a different direction. However, the intelligent missiles in the air were not lured away, nor did they fall directly. Because the materials for making divine forbidden bombs were rare, the use of divine forbidden bombs was always cautious.
More missiles arrived in the sky above the battlefield. These missiles carried forbidden bombs, primarily used to repel interference and identify the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's true body. As the missiles fell, many of the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's clones were injured, revealing their weaknesses. Through analysis by the totem-level mechanical life battlefield brain in the combat center, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress's true body was quickly identified. Subsequently, intelligent missiles carrying divine forbidden bombs pursued her. These intelligent missiles possessed preliminary analysis and judgment capabilities, allowing them to change their trajectories and locked targets at any time. This was the latest achievement of the Flame Emperor's Weapons Bureau's continuous iteration.
However, it was still difficult to kill the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress with divine forbidden bombs alone. A mushroom cloud rose, and a red shockwave spread outwards. The Nine-Tailed Fox legions were annihilated. Silver Xuan and Silver Yao, using their life-saving trump cards, still could not withstand it and fell to the ground. The defensive fortress also collapsed. Although the Flame Emperor's spirit beast legion had prepared defenses in advance, they also suffered significant losses. This was unavoidable.
However, the Nine-Tailed Fox Empress did not die. She was heavily injured and fled. Just like the Bio-Dragon Whale Emperor, although divine forbidden bombs could heavily injure them, it was difficult to kill them completely. Long Zhen Chuanshuo did not pursue. The more important task now was to secure this secret realm and prepare for the long-term occupation of the surrounding cities, establishing a passage to the Flame Emperor. Only by doing so could they prevent the fox demon race.
However, taking a few cities in the Qing Qiu Totem Kingdom would not be difficult. The challenge lay in long-term occupation, gaining their acceptance of the Flame Emperor, and integrating them into the Flame Emperor. If handled poorly, it could lead to major problems and internal instability. The internal affairs of the Flame Emperor were already complex due to various major families. Incorporating a few cities from the Qing Qiu Totem Kingdom would only exacerbate these issues.
After a period of thought, Long Zhen Chuanshuo decided to first support a pro-Flame Emperor puppet totem kingdom, then gradually win over the people living in these cities to accept the Flame Emperor, and then find a way to integrate them. The question was, who should be chosen as the ruler of this puppet totem kingdom?