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Half a month had flown by in the blink of an eye.

North City.

Tianguang City.

Lu Chen, clad in brown armor, stood atop the city wall, gazing into the distance at the snowflakes swirling in the sky.

Scouts from the North Land had already returned in considerable numbers, many of whom were soldiers of the Barbarian Tribe.

It must be said that the barbarians had a significant advantage on the plains, especially in the area of scouting enemy movements.

At this moment, Xiao Pengthian leaped from below the city tower and landed beside Lu Chen, “Prince, judging by the rate at which the tribes of the North Land plains are gathering, it will probably take another month before they can head south.”

“Moreover, 1 have estimated that the North Fre King’s call to arms will not rally more than one hundred and fifty thousand barbarian soldiers.

Hearing this, Lu Chen pondered for a long while.

One hundred and fifty thousand barbarian soldiers, daring to march south in the winter to attack North City?

What on earth was the North Fre King thinking?

At this time, Lu Chen asked, “Have our spies found out why the North tre King is choosing to march south in winter?”

Upon hearing this question, Xiao Pengthian immediately replied, “Back to you, Prince, indeed some soldiers have heard the reason for the North Fre King’s march in some small tribes. However, they only heard it in small tribes, and 1 cannot vouch for its authenticity.¹‘

The scouts they had sent out included many soldiers from the former Sky Wolf King’s tribe of the Barbarian Tribe. Aside from being familiar with the steppes, they had a significant advantage: they could communicate with other barbarian tribes, gathering more information about the various tribes on the plains.

After hearing what Xiao Pengthian had said, Lu Chen immediately responded,

“I will be the judge of its truth, you just tell me what you found out.”

Xiao Pengthian immediately spoke, “According to the soldiers who returned, the North Fre King is descending in winter because he believes you stole his queen-to-be. He cannot swallow that slight.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen was taken aback for a moment.

If he had not defeated the Sky Wolf King’s army of three hundred thousand, Xiao Wenyao would indeed have been married off to the North Fre King.

However, to wage war on North City over a woman, Lu Chen still found it somewhat far-fetched.

Lu Chen continued to ask, “Is there no other reason?

Xiao Pengthian said, “There is another reason, and that is the North Fre King believes that the Sky Wolf King’s tribe’s army of three hundred thousand severely weakened North City, and that North City is now powerless to defend against their march south.”

As he spoke these words, Xiao Pengthian’s emotions became complicated; he had once participated in the battle against North City, only to be captured by a General under the North Prince.

Then, Lu Chen chuckled and said, “That’s probably the real reason the North Fre King has in mind, no wonder they are marching south in winter.

At first, Lu Chen could not fathom why the North Fre King would decide to march in winter—as the barbarians had never done so before.

Even the Sky Wolf King s tribe had never braved a blizzard to march across the steppe before; the decision of the North Fre King was indeed bold.

If they were to march in winter, it was quite possible that many of the barbarian soldiers would die before even reaching North City, which would be extremely disadvantageous to the barbarian tribes.

Just as Lu Chen was about to speak, a man dressed in a black and red Brocade Guard uniform approached him.

“1 greet you, Prince!”

Seeing this Jinyiwei, the expression on Xiao Pengthian’s face darkened instantly, and he even felt the urge to draw his sword.

The Jinyiwei Guard standing before him was none other than Wu Yuan, the merchant who had been undercover in the Sky Wolf King’s tribe.

Now that the Sky Wolf King’s tribe had all relocated to North City, there would be no more Sky Wolf King’s tribe from now on. Due to his contribution in gathering information about the barbarians, and with the Brocade Guard recently expanding its recruitment, Wu Yuan had been promoted to the rank of a Jinyiwei Commander.

Although Xiao Pengthian had already submitted to Lu Chen, and he and Wu Yuan were both Lu Chen’s subordinates, Xiao Pengthian could not help but feel a surge of emotion whenever he thought of past events, an impulse to cut down Wu Yuan on the spot.

Lu Chen asked, “What’s the matter?”

Wu Yuan replied, “Prince, the craftsmen have made the first batch of what you need, and we have secretly transported it to North City.”

Hearing this, Lu Chen’s eyes lit up. It hadn’t been long since the craftsmen from Great Yu City arrived at North City, and yet they had already produced the items he needed.

Lu Chen immediately asked further, “Have the Brocade Guards tested their power?”

Wu Yuan answered, “Yes, they have been tested. The power is not as great as that of the grenade cannons, but it is not far off. And according to your suggestion, we added a lot of metal fragments inside, the lethal effect will be much better.”

Hearing the words “grenade cannons,” Xiao Pengthian stiffened beside them.

He had joined North City for a while now; how could he not know what “grenade cannons” were? Although he still didn’t have the clearance to access the grenade cannons, he knew the name of the terrifying weapon that had bombarded them before.

Upon hearing that the North Prince had actually created weapons comparable to the grenade cannons in power, Xiao Pengthian felt a chill run down his spine.

Was it indeed the end of the era belonging to martial artists?

He also wondered where the North Prince had acquired such devastating weapons!

If the Sky Wolf King’s tribe had known that North City possessed such weapons, they wouldn’t have come to attack North City and would not have been annexed by it.

But those matters were no longer of importance, Xiao Pengthian thought to himself with only a sense of reflection.

At this time, Lu Chen said, “General Xiao, come with me to see our new weapons.”

Saying this, Lu Chen leaped down from the city wall. At this moment, Xiao Pengthian’s eyes widened as he looked at Wu Yuan.

Seeing Xiao Pengthian staring at him with eyes that seemed to wish they could flay him alive, Wu Yuan said with a smile, “General Xiao, we’re now on the same side. There’s no need for you to look at me with such hatred, right?

Xiao Pengthian snorted and said, “Lackey!”

As his words fell, Xiao Pengthian also jumped down from the city wall and followed Lu Chen to see the new weapons.

Wu Yuan shrugged his shoulders, utterly unconcerned. The Brocade Guards were indeed the North Prince’s lackeys, Xiao Pengthian wasn’t wrong in saying that, and Wu Yuan didn’t feel insulted by it at all.

In the eyes of the Brocade Guards, being called a lackey of the North Prince was more of a compliment than an insult.

Soon, Lu Chen and his companions approached the convoy transporting the military equipment.

Lu Chen immediately ordered the chests to be opened, inspecting the gunpowder weapons brought by the Jinyiwei Guards.

Since these were the first batch of gunpowder weapons crafted by the artisans, they appeared somewhat crude; basically, an iron ball wrapped around gunpowder accounted for a bomb.

There were also no cannons yet; the launching could only be done using catapults.

To create cannons, further development of materials was needed, something that couldn’t be rushed, and Lu Chen was aware of this.

Lu Chen then said, “Take two to the grasslands, 1 want to test the effects myself.”

It so happened that Tianguang City was now only a military fortress, devoid of civilians, with only stationed soldiers throughout the city.

And outside Tianguang City was a vast expanse of grasslands, making it the perfect place to test out these gunpowder weapons.

Hearing Lu Chen’s command, some Jinyiwei Guards immediately moved a bomb onto a wooden cart and started pulling it towards the grasslands.

Seeing those round iron balls, Xiao Pengthian was somewhat baffled. Were these iron balls the ones that defeated the thirty thousand-strong army of the Barbarian Tribe at Wanning Valley?

Isn’t this just an iron ball?

Why does it have such devastating power?

Could it be that this iron ball contained the life’s skill of a Grandmaster?