Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chapter 77: Unimaginable Cooperation

The girl suddenly turned her head, looking at Iron Dragon City, her gaze sharp as a sword, cold as ice. However, as the contemplation deepened in her eyes, that sharpness slowly began to fade away bit by bit.

“Eight years ago, your majesty was suddenly struck by a poisoned arrow, facing imminent death. The crown prince was still young, only ten years old at the time. Although he was exceptionally clever, he could not command respect from the masses. The entire Iron Cloud Nation was on the brink of collapse, with various court officials each harboring their own thoughts, and the situation was perilously critical.”

Iron Dragon City spoke slowly. Chu Yang felt as if he was being explained to.

Chu Yang believed that during their first meeting, whether he had the qualifications or not, there was no need for him to explain anything to himself. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Iron Dragon City continued, “Then, Diwu Qingrou made several completely unnecessary and quite incomprehensible mistakes on the battlefield, leading several seasoned generals of the Great Zhao Empire, who were accustomed to battle, to their doom on the battlefield. Those battles were losses that the Great Zhao Empire did not need and were unlikely to happen!”

“Because at that time, as long as they launched a full-scale attack, the entire Iron Cloud would be reduced to ashes within half a year! We in Iron Cloud were powerless to turn the tide! But at that critical moment, several commanding generals suddenly, due to erroneous intelligence, walked into a dead end. This allowed us to annihilate them with ease! Those decisive three battles gave Iron Cloud a chance to breathe!”

“And after that, when we gathered from all sides and looked back on those three battles, we discovered that we had made no efforts to lead them into a trap! In other words, they were seeking their own deaths, bringing about their own demise. This reality left us all astounded.”

“Afterwards, the Great Zhao Empire rested its army for a month. And that month was entirely unnecessary for recovery; it seemed they intentionally left us time to breathe and consider…” Iron Dragon City took a deep breath and said, “It wasn’t until we analyzed the intelligence of the Great Zhao Nation several times that we realized this was Diwu Qingrou’s scheme!”

“But this scheme forced us to cooperate! We had no choice but to be led by the nose.”

“Diwu Qingrou needed a protracted war to continuously accumulate military achievements, eliminate dissenters, promote loyalists, and consolidate the military and political power in his hands. At that time, we in Iron Cloud needed that period even more than Diwu Qingrou did; we needed to unify our military and political forces into a single fist. Because at that moment, the survival of our nation was hanging by a thread!”

“If we did not comply, the Iron Cloud Nation would perish within months, but even if we did not cooperate, Diwu Qingrou would have other opportunities. For example, the Limitless Nation! Therefore, we had no other choice. Even if it was a disgrace, we could only pinch our noses and swallow it!”

At this point, Iron Dragon City let out a long sigh.

Though he did not continue speaking, Chu Yang and the others already understood.

At that moment, the commanders of both nations, under this tacit understanding, unified their approaches to eliminate dissent and unify their own territories! Unbeknownst to them, they coordinated with each other; you earn your military achievements, I take my territory, you eliminate your dissenters, and I kill my enemies!

In short, both of their goals were the same: to concentrate the entire power of their nations into a fist that they could wield to its fullest extent!

If Diwu Qingrou had decisively engaged in battle at that time, victory would have been a certainty, that was a given. But after victory, he would face the consequences of being too accomplished, causing the ruler to doubt his ministers, and at that time, his foundation would not be solid. The worst outcome would be a death without a burial place! Even if he could preserve his life, he might maintain a certain position, but he would forever lose the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of power.