Chapter 908: Chapter 682: Give Me 1000 People
In the Lower Plane, tensions seemed to be increasingly escalating between two nations.
Everyone knew that conflicts had arisen during a hunt between The Divine Auffa Empire and the Sanctuary Empire, resulting in the Sanctuary Empire being defeated by Long Yi repeatedly. However, what happened next felt like a dramatic turnaround.
Long Yi actually joined the Sanctuary Empire!
Such a formidable warrior, who had killed three Sanctuary Mages single-handedly, and slain another old Mage under the protection of the Sanctuary Imperial Army who had attempted to assassinate Long Yi, was also the king of the Stellar Realm Arena. With such titles accumulated, Long Yi became the center of attention.
And in the first week of Long Yi joining the Sanctuary Empire, he started doing what he knew best.
Military preparation.
The Sanctuary Empire had always taken The Divine Auffa Empire as a hypothetical enemy, and its military construction was entirely modelled after it. Though they could not match The Divine Auffa Empire in scale, the Sanctuary Empire had always prioritized the development of more magical equipment.
It must be said that although the number of Mages in the Sanctuary Empire wasn’t large, their research into magical weapons and equipment was quite advanced. Especially in the exploration of cutting-edge magical equipment, they had far surpassed The Divine Auffa Empire, it’s just that those advanced devices had not been able to undergo a qualitative change.
On this matter, Long Yi had extensively researched with Ai Lin. Neither the Sanctuary Empire nor The Divine Auffa Empire was particularly astute in their research and use of magic. They were essentially still in a phase where they relied on brute force.
At this time,
Saint Danze, the Emperor of the Sanctuary Empire, was walking with Long Yi through a magical armor factory where pieces of metallic armor were consistently produced and, after the completion of Rune engraving and gemstones setting, were ready to be infused with Mana. Long Yi had once promised Saint Danze to transform the remaining Imperial Army into a force capable of contending with The Divine Auffa Empire. With little difference in the level of the warriors, equipment became the biggest issue.
Long Yi picked up a set of armor and examined it closely, indeed just as he and Ai Lin had analyzed. This set of armor was filled with rough lines. If Long Yi were to design it, the armor’s defense against magic could easily double without any significant alterations.
"Mr. Long Yi, what do you think?" asked Emperor Saint Danze.
"Are you referring to this factory, or this piece of junk in my hand?" Long Yi countered.
"Well, I understand what you mean," Saint Danze laughed helplessly.
However, an old man who had been accompanying the Emperor did not take kindly to this.
"Master Long Yi, pardon my bluntness, this armor may seem fragile in the eyes of someone as powerful as you, but it is already much stronger than The Divine Auffa Empire’s armor of the same type!" The old man, who was the armor’s designer, took the armor from Long Yi’s hands and spoke earnestly, "In pure magical combat, the reduction of magical damage is the sole criterion for the excellence of armor. My design, while accommodating physical defense, can also reduce magical damage by thirty percent, which is much better than The Divine Auffa Empire’s armor that only reduces damage by twenty-five percent!"
"A five percent improvement, I must admit, that is indeed a nice progress. Any small enhancement can potentially change the outcome of a battle. But what I want to say is, this thing is still just a piece of junk," Long Yi said as he picked up another piece of armor, pointing to the Runes and Array on it.
"Look, there’s so much space left unused here. You could add a Mana channel here, linking it to the Array on the chest. Reduce one gemstone from the back and place it in the front. Just a simple change."
Long Yi spoke and directly used his finger wrapped around a crystal to inscribe on the armor. After doing all this, he threw the armor back to the old man.
"Now why don’t you give it a try?"
The old man, skeptical yet impressed with Long Yi’s deft movements, which did not seem like bluffing, had never seen such use of an Array before!
No matter the result, the trial would reveal the truth!
A warrior donned the armor, then Mana was infused. In his hands, he held a small device specifically made to measure the intensity of magic. The old man unleashed a magic missile with a flick of his wrist, and as the missile struck the warrior, its size visibly shrunk by half!
And the warrior, staring at the device, was utterly astonished!
"How much?" the old man asked eagerly. He had seen the effects and instinctively felt they should be good.
"Fifty percent!" the voice of the warrior trembled.
Half!
It was half!
Long Yi casually drew a few lines on the armor and changed the position of a gemstone, which directly reduced the magic damage by fifty percent!
The old man trembled all over. He excitedly approached Long Yi, his face flushed with emotion, "Lord Long Yi! It is my aged eyes that failed to see, I didn’t realize that you possessed such profound knowledge! Please, could you bestow more of your knowledge upon us? This time, we are truly going to leave the Divine Auffa Empire far behind!"
The Emperor of Saint Danze was equally excited. During the hunting event, Ai Lin had already shown her superior magic knowledge. And now, unexpectedly, Long Yi also had such astonishing knowledge! If combined with the already technologically superior magic equipment of the Sanctuary Empire, surpassing The Divine Auffa Empire in a short time was definitely not a dream!
"First, figure out the principle behind what I just drew," said Long Yi, "Don’t worry, I have a lot of knowledge to share with you; I am just afraid you might not understand it!"
"I will understand! I must understand! Even if I don’t, I will find the top masters of this plane to help me figure it out!"
The old man was so excited that he was nearly delirious.
Next, Saint Danze took Long Yi to many magic equipment manufacturing locations, where Long Yi made it a point to denigrate everything he saw. Still, everyone listened obediently, smiling because they knew that in the blink of an eye, their equipment would undergo earth-shattering changes!
It didn’t take long for all the skepticism towards Long Yi to vanish. Because Long Yi had shown them through his actions: believe in Long Yi, get equipped!
Just as what had happened in the White Dragon Empire, Long Yi proved his worth through action. What happened next was also as Long Yi had predicted. If Saint Danze had been wary of Long Yi at the beginning, soon, he revealed the entire state of his nation’s magic equipment to Long Yi. After all, in some ways, there was no point in hiding anything from Long Yi, who possessed far more advanced techniques. What was the use of concealing things Long Yi would not even glance at?
Long Yi first affirmed the level of equipment in the Sanctuary Empire; it was indeed much better than that of The Divine Auffa Empire. However, not every soldier could be equipped with such high-quality gear. In fact, the equipment of most soldiers was much worse than that of The Divine Auffa Empire.
"Therefore, I believe that it’s time for the Sanctuary Empire to start reducing its troops. Blindly maintaining a huge number of troops is simply a waste of money." At the military conference, Long Yi voiced his opinion frankly.
Upon hearing Long Yi’s suggestion of troop reductions, some of the military’s high-ranking officials immediately showed their displeasure.
"Mr. Long Yi, our troops are already at a disadvantage compared to The Divine Auffa Empire. If we reduce our forces, wouldn’t that disadvantage become even greater?" one of the high-ranking officials asked with a smile.
"No, on the contrary. By focusing our wasted resources, we can build a stronger army, an invincible force anywhere and at any time. That way, there will be no more disadvantages," said Long Yi.
"But we don’t have that army now!"
"If we just sit here and talk, we’ll never have it. To have such an army, change is necessary."
Long Yi and the high-ranking official stood firm in their stances, each with solid points. But the military would never agree to reductions easily, especially because troop cuts wouldn’t be equally distributed. And if some people had to cut more than others, it would essentially mean diminishing their own power.
"With all due respect, Mr. Long Yi, you may be powerful and quite skilled at crafting magic equipment. But when it comes to war, it’s not about fighting single-handedly. War is a true art!" another official said leisurely.
"Give me a thousand men, and if they can’t utterly defeat your ten thousand in one month, I’ll serve under you as a mere soldier!" Long Yi declared outright.
"Ah, this... Mr. Long Yi, please calm down. We are just discussing this matter!" Emperor Saint Danze couldn’t help but speak up. Clearly, Long Yi’s tone of displeasure was evident. The Emperor had been listening all along, and in fact, he did not support troop reductions. Although it sounded reasonable, without any visible results yet, calling for reductions was unrealistic.
However, when Long Yi proposed that a thousand could beat ten thousand, the Emperor had to intervene. He considered it just a brash statement from Long Yi—after all, he believed Long Yi could take on ten thousand men alone. But he did not believe that Long Yi could forge a force in a month’s time capable of defeating ten thousand.
What if Long Yi truly lost? How could they have such a powerful figure serve as a mere soldier? And if Long Yi felt disgraced and simply left the Sanctuary Empire, what then? That was why Saint Danze hastily tried to dissuade him.
But this was precisely the drastic measure Long Yi intended, and he wasn’t about to let it go so easily. To get these military officials to listen, there was only one way—to thoroughly subjugate them.
"I’m serious, Your Majesty," Long Yi said, "but I do have one condition. If I lose, I’ll serve as a soldier under your command, but if I win! I’ll start by completely cutting down your troops!"
Long Yi stared down the official who had doubted his command abilities in war, leaning in closer, "Do you dare to play this game with me?"
Under Long Yi’s gaze, the official cowered slightly. After all, Long Yi’s strength was formidable, and no one present could withstand him if he went berserk. But in matters of war, these men were unyielding.
"Fine! I’ll take you up on your challenge! I’ll give you a thousand soldiers, and I shall see how you will defeat my ten thousand in the end!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
