Chapter 1381: Shouzhe's Decisive Victory From a Thousand Miles Away

Chapter 1381: Chapter 46: Shouzhe’s Decisive Victory From a Thousand Miles Away

The reason why the Azure Dragon Battle Group is called an “Ace” unit, on the one hand, is because among all the corps of Qian it enjoys the highest resource allocation, the best equipment, the finest soldier quality, and the strongest combat power; on the other hand, it is also because the backbone of the group is largely composed of Royal Family scions.

Moreover, the group’s main general and its two deputy generals are all Cultivators of the Purple Mansion Realm.

Among them, the main general is usually selected from the Imperial Princes, specifically those Princes whose grasp of warfare is comparatively outstanding. The main general of the Third Corps is precisely the Royal Family’s Prince Ning, Wu Yingjun.

Prince Ning is nearing five hundred years of age, and his cultivation has already reached the Middle Stage of the Purple Mansion Realm. Even among the many Purple Mansion Realm Princes of the Imperial Family, his strength is considered remarkably exceptional, and he has repeatedly achieved fine results in internal, same‑realm exchange competitions within the Imperial Family.

Setting aside the Great Celestial Prides, his strength ranks among the top within the entire Imperial Family, and cannot be compared to idlers like Prince Rong and Prince Fu.

Inside the command tent, Prince Ning, who still appears to be in his middle years, has a burly figure and a face full of Evil Qi. When he sits upright, an overbearing sense of authority naturally radiates from him, extremely intimidating.

He is a typical battle‑hardened general, possessing considerable renown even on the Outer Domain Battlefield.

As for the requirements for the deputy generals, they are not as high. They may be held by members of the Imperial Family, or by Purple Mansion Ascendants from Military Families or local Noble Families.

The two deputy generals of the Azure Dragon Third Corps—one comes from the Imperial Family, and the other from the Daqian Chen Family.

The deputy general from the Imperial Family is named “Wu Zhixing,” none other than the newly invested Imperial Prince of Daqian—Prince Hong.

Although he narrowly lost back then to Wang Liyao, Prince Hong Wu Zhixing is a Great Celestial Pride of the Imperial Family, with limitless future potential. In recent years he has devoted himself to cultivation and has already successfully advanced to the Purple Mansion Realm, formally becoming a core member of the Imperial Family.

Having him placed in the Azure Dragon Third Corps, under the personal tutelage of the seasoned Prince Ning, shows how highly Emperor’s Son An regards him and how earnestly he is being groomed.

Within this command tent, in addition to the three Purple Mansion cultivators—the one main and two deputy generals of the Azure Dragon Third Corps—

the principal seat is occupied by a middle‑aged man clad in Profound Black Battle Armor.

His expression is stern, his demeanor grave; with every glance, an aura belonging to a great personage surges forth naturally.

Compared to Prince Ning Wu Yingjun and Prince Hong Wu Zhixing, the aura on his body is far more powerful, and he effortlessly suppresses everyone present.

This person.

Is precisely the newly promoted Prince of the Daqian Imperial Family—Prince Yoongheng, Wu Hanheng.

Prince Yoongheng had already been illustrious during his time as a Prince.

Back then he was still called “Prince Heng,” and in Gui Long City he opened an establishment named White Cloud Tower. In recent years, relying on the gimmicks of the Big Appetite Competition and the Battle of the Celestial Prodigies, the business of White Cloud Tower has become exceptionally prosperous.

For this reason, even though Prince Yoongheng is still a newly invested Prince, he is already one of the wealthy magnates among Daqian’s Princes, and the equipment he carries can be considered luxurious.

This time, Emperor’s Son An has dispatched him to the front lines, partly to serve as a Royal Family Commander, supervising frontline operations, and partly to act as high‑end combat power.

“Everyone, according to reports from the reconnaissance network we have deployed at the front, the Southern Qin army has already reached the outskirts of Nether Gate Ridge. Its commanding marshal is Southern Qin’s old Marshal, Murong Kaifong.” Prince Yoongheng said solemnly. “Murong Kaifong has spent his life in armor, has fought countless campaigns, and holds extremely high status and prestige within Southern Qin.”

“The important point is that this man is thorough in his thinking and steady in his conduct. Therefore we must by no means reveal any flaw.”

“Your Highness speaks most aptly.”

Hearing this, the man seated at the secondary position beside Prince Yoongheng nodded in agreement.

This man’s face was like carved jade, his bearing handsome; he looked no more than a youth, yet he deliberately kept a streak of beard on his face, adding a touch of weathered gravity. Coupled with his flowing wide robes, he appeared truly refined and composed, with an extraordinary presence.

This elegant gentleman speaking is Wang Shizhao, the current Young Clan Leader of the Changning Wang Family and the eldest legitimate grandson of Wang Shouzhe.

Although he currently only holds the official rank of Fourth‑Grade Commander of Daqian, he is a favored confidant at Emperor’s Son An’s side, long stationed in the capital to assist Emperor’s Son An in handling various affairs of state, equivalent to serving in the position of Emperor’s Son An’s Secretary General.

Despite being only a little over a hundred years old and his cultivation still some distance away from the Purple Mansion Realm, none of those present—not even Prince Yoongheng—dare to underestimate Wang Shizhao.

He is not only the embodiment of Emperor’s Son An’s will, but also the embodiment of the Changning Wang Family’s will. The growth path arranged for him by the Changning Wang Family is to tread the route of the court and council.

Though no one says it aloud, everyone understands clearly that sooner or later there will come a day when he succeeds Duke Yinda Ancestor as the new Prime Minister of the Inner Pavilion.

After voicing his agreement with Prince Yoongheng, Wang Shizhao added, “Murong Kaifong enjoys Emperor Yuanyou’s deep trust and has been fully granted military authority. In this invasion of our Daqian, Southern Qin has sent not just two of the Southern Qin Imperial Family’s Ace units, the Qilin Battle Group, but also five main corps, ten Ordinary Corps, and thirty Corpse Puppet Legions. Their strength truly cannot be underestimated.”

In overall national power, Southern Qin is significantly weaker than Daqian. Across the whole country, it has only four corps that qualify as Ace Battle Groups, nine main corps, and moreover it must divert a portion of them to garrison and assist in the Outer Domain Battlefield.

To dispatch so many corps in this single expedition can be described as emptying the nest.

However, they possess an advantage, namely the Corpse Puppet Legions refined from Death‑row Inmates. The combat strength of ordinary corpse puppets is somewhat inferior to that of regular soldiers, yet they fear no death, their morale unaffected by highs and lows. They can fight until the very last puppet without retreat, and their bodies carry corpse poison; even in death they remain a troublesome hazard.