Chapter 913 - 273: Fated Showdown

As Emperor Xin walked forward,

more and more black mist exploded behind him.

More and more of the familiar, or unfamiliar dead, those whose fate he had devoured, were once again "awakened" from death.

The methods of Jhin bear some resemblance to Dawn’s, but there are differences.

The "shadows of the past" summoned by Dawn through anchor points possess all their strength from life.

Jhin cannot fully restore the resurrected to peak strength, but he has his own advantage.

His advantage is that as long as they are fate-devoured, they can be summoned without limit.

Moreover, it is an unrestricted summoning.

Simply put, it is related to the thickness of the devoured fate.

The fate of the deceased devoured by him is embraced by Jhin.

Each time he resummons a deceased, a certain degree of fate is consumed.

Until the fate is exhausted, before then, Jhin can repeatedly summon the opponent as his minion.

Soon, the entire hall was filled with resurrected beings crawling out of the black mist!

This was not the end.

The black mist spread wildly like an infection, covering not only the hall but also within and outside of the Chao Ge Capital City.

Countless deceased whose fate was devoured by Emperor Xin appeared again.

However, they had lost their self-awareness, completely becoming the undead army under Emperor Xin!

"How many people can all the vassal states together muster?"

"Even if their strength surpasses my undead army, even the weakest deceased can be revived three times."

"With a mass strategy, Ji Fa, how will you defeat me?"

Emperor Xin was no fool.

He had lived in the Xiqi Ancestral Temple for so many years, searching not only for the fate line of the Sun God but also for the weaknesses of Jiang Ziya and the temple.

He discovered the most fatal weakness.

It was people!

The strength of temple cultivators often relies on the people’s faith and wish power.

The more the people, the more the faith, the more the wish power, the stronger the temple cultivators become.

However, public sentiment is a double-edged sword.

Once public sentiment falters, it will be disastrous.

Previously, destroying the Celestial God Sacrifice of Xiqi was not only one step of Emperor Xin’s tri-fold plan but also a probe.

Through that probe, Emperor Xin confirmed his hypothesis was correct.

Temple cultivators, based on people’s faith, have the weakness of people!

"The people who pledged allegiance from vassal states are not citizens of Xiqi; their trust in the temple is not as high."

"Once they face my Shang Dynasty’s army of the dead, mass casualties will surely follow, and even if they don’t die, once they realize these dead cannot be killed and will resurrect again and again, public sentiment will certainly be in chaos."

"Moreover, if we kill these allied forces, the faith foundation of the temple will be shaken."

This was Emperor Xin’s open strategy prepared for the Alliance of Lords!

...

"What?"

"Did I hear that right?"

"Ji Fa... King Wu, did he really say that?"

In the camp of the Alliance of Lords, upon hearing the news relayed back by their subordinates, several monarchs of vassal states stood there with their mouths agape.

"Yes, the latest directive from King Wu is for the entire allied forces to hold their ground and not engage in the first battle with the Shang army."

"This..."

The monarchs looked at each other in astonishment.

They had joined up with King Wu, Ji Fa, already prepared to sacrifice their warriors, to fight for Xiqi as cannon fodder.

Although they might feel uncomfortable inside, they understood that their vassal states’ survival was owed to Ji Fa, and they had nothing to complain about.

Yet, they never expected that Ji Fa would instruct them to stand their ground and not join the fight?

"You are instructing the other vassal states not to engage?"

In the military tent, Jiang Ziya glanced in surprise at Han Zhan and asked.

"No." Han Zhan shook his head, "Not only the warriors from the vassal states, but the soldiers of Xiqi also don’t have to go into battle personally."

Hearing his words, Jiang Ziya opened his mouth.

"Are you concerned about a lack of public sentiment?"

Han Zhan nodded slightly and admitted, "That’s part of it, but it’s not the whole story."

"The temple’s wish power can rapidly enhance strength, yet if the people’s faith collapses, it can also decline rapidly. If possible, strengthening the people’s faith is crucial."

The faith of the Xiqi citizens could not collapse that quickly.

The temple had cultivated this area for a long time, confident enough.

But the other vassal states had just joined, their trust not fully established yet; this was a major risk.

This is the apparent reason.

As for the deeper reason, actually, it is, "I have better tactics."

Rumble...

As Han Zhan’s words fell, the entire ground suddenly began to quake violently.

A gigantic hand emerged from beneath the earth!

With a sleek, futuristic silver metallic texture, the well-defined fingers and arm.

The ground continued to shake,

as that massive hand slapped the ground hard, displacing vast tracts of soil, and a figure several zhang tall appeared in view!

It was the nanomachine whirlwind from the Blue Star Fruit World, a war machine!

Looking at the gigantic body, as large as a mountain, a long-lost sense of security enveloped Han Zhan as he exhaled heavily.

The nanomachines did not disappoint him.

In other camps,

still abuzz with discussions about King Wu Ji Fa’s recent order, with even some murmurs of discontent from the monarchs of vassal states,

were startled by the commotion outside, and they rushed out,

only to witness a scene they would never forget.

"Is this mountain-like colossal creature King Wu’s trump card?"

"But can just one such massive creature truly bring down Chao Ge?"

As if to answer his doubts.

The ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently too.

Soon, a war machine shining with silvery brilliance burst out from beneath their feet!

Never underestimate the productivity of the nanomachines.

Even with less than five days, the nanomachines manufactured a vast number of war machines.

In the underground space that once belonged to Senior Brother’s developed area, it had completely transformed into an assembly line for producing war machines, continuously churning out new ones around the clock.

Countless war machines appeared at the forefront of the battlefield.

Such an awe-inspiring scene also erased all skeptical voices.

Jiang Ziya’s eyes gleamed.

Even though he had long anticipated this, witnessing the ocean-like expanse of war machines before him left him deeply shocked.

It’s hard to imagine what other means this young man, favored and revered by the Saints, who suddenly emerged in this world as the destined one, has yet to employ.

Feeling the wish power surging once more in the bronze seal, Han Zhan’s gaze fixed toward Chao Ge’s direction.

"So, let’s begin."