Chapter 32 Departure
Led by Xue Ye, the army of the Tiandou Empire marched into the Kingdom of Silvester in a mighty force. The towns and pass along the way opened their gates to let them pass.

The kingdom's army was also assembled.

Because Xue Ye was the one leading the troops, in order to show his importance to him, Di Yuan selected Di Yang as the commander-in-chief instead of Shen Yi as others thought.

Although there have been cases where the crown prince of a kingdom led the troops personally, it was only symbolic and he would not interfere in the command of the army. However, this time it was something the domestic nobles had not expected. Di Yuan actually let his son lead the troops to fight against the Xing Luo Empire, and this time it was not only Di Yang who went to the expedition, but also his fourth son Di Hong.

The fact that the two princes went there in person shows how much importance Emperor Yuan attaches to the matter.

The kingdom only had 50,000 troops on this expedition, but this included a thousand scale-armored soldiers.

Di Yang rode a war horse, wearing armor, with a fiery red cloak fluttering in the wind behind him. The 50,000-strong army marched towards the Lima Plain in a mighty manner.

Fifty thousand troops may not seem like a lot if you just look at the numbers, but when Di Hong actually saw them, he was really shocked. The soldiers marching on the road were like a long black dragon, and there was no end in sight at a glance.

Unlike others, Di Hong did not wear armor. He was a soul master and armor was of no use to him.

Facing the attacks of soul masters, the soldiers' armor is basically just a decoration, unless it is armor made of special materials, but that kind of armor is not meant for soldiers to wear.

The armor on Di Yang's body can effectively resist the attacks of soul masters below level 30, but it can only resist three times.

"Fourth brother, how long do you think this war with the Xingluo Empire will last?" Di Yang turned his head to look at Di Hong beside him.

Di Hong shook his head: "I don't know. It may take several months. After all, the Xingluo Empire has dispatched 400,000 troops. If they withdraw without getting some benefits, then the war will be in vain."

Although it was impossible to judge when the Xing Luo Empire would withdraw its troops, Di Hong knew that the Spirit Hall would definitely intervene. The new Pope Qian Xunji had only been in office for a short time when the war broke out between the two empires. As the Pope of the Spirit Hall, a third-party force independent of the two empires, he would definitely not sit idly by.

In previous wars, it was always the Spirit Hall that mediated, and this time will certainly be no exception.

Today, Pope Qian Xunji lacks prestige. He is far inferior to Qian Daoliu, both in strength and prestige. Therefore, he must increase his own prestige. Mediating the war between the two empires is just one way to do so.

"Brother, do you think this war was started by the Spirit Hall?"

He felt that the outbreak of this war was too coincidental. When the old and new popes of the Spirit Hall took over, the war between the two empires broke out. Such a large-scale war had not broken out in the previous year. At most, there were some local small-scale wars.

Not long after the Xingluo Empire captured a town or pass, the Tiandou Empire and the Barak Kingdom would retake it.

"No." Di Yang shook his head with certainty.

"The Spirit Hall will never take the initiative to provoke a war between the two empires, and the two empires will not listen to them, especially the Xing Luo Empire."

"If it is really the Spirit Hall, then his influence would not be spread all over the continent."

Although they were dissatisfied with the Spirit Hall, the two empires did not stop the expansion of the Spirit Hall, because the Spirit Hall had not done anything too extreme and did not threaten the rule of the two empires for the time being. On the contrary, they had been trying their best to maintain a delicate balance.

Not long after the army marched, they saw the troops of the Tiandou Empire. They were resting not far ahead, obviously waiting for the kingdom's army.

Compared with them, Di Hong suddenly felt that their 50,000 troops were not enough.

If they really wanted to rebel, they would be destroyed in a month at most.

Even a dozen days will be enough.

This is still the Tiandou Empire which is in decline.

The Tiandou Empire has a million strong army, while they only have 200,000 troops nationwide.

One province against five provinces, and two surrounding kingdoms. It seems he still needs to plan carefully.

We can't just go to war with the empire at the drop of a hat.

Xue Ye was already waiting there. He was wearing bright silver armor and a swan embroidered with golden silk thread on the blue cloak behind him.

Di Yang and Di Hong hurriedly rode over and stopped when they were two meters away from Xue Ye.

"Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Di Yang saluted with his fists clasped, and Di Hong did the same.

After returning the greeting with a smile, Xue Ye looked at Di Hong who was next to Di Yang.

"It's been a year since we last met. Brother Di Hong has become even stronger than last year in Tiandou City. It seems that in less than twenty years you will become a Titled Douluo level powerhouse. By then, you will be the youngest Titled Douluo on the continent." Xue Ye was a little surprised. In just one year, Di Hong had reached the Soul Emperor level. He really had never heard of such a talent.

Others at his age were Soul Masters, and at best Soul Sects, but he was already aiming for Soul Sage.

"Thank you for your good words. Hongding will work hard to live up to the expectations of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and serve the empire."

Xue Ye smiled with satisfaction. No matter whether it was sincere or not, it was fine as long as it sounded nice.

"I hope to see Brother Di Hong again in Tiandou City in the future." His voice was gentle, but also carried a hint of expectation. He really hoped to see Di Hong in Tiandou City, and it would be best if Di Hong could stay with him.

"Yes." Di Hong responded very readily. He would definitely go to Tiandou City. After all, the Yin-Yang Eyes of Ice and Fire were there. How could he not go?

"Oh?" Xue Ye was a little surprised. He just said it casually, but Di Hong responded so readily.

"Okay, okay, then I will wait for Brother Di Hong to arrive in Tiandou City."

After resting for a while, the army set off immediately.

Along the way, Xue Ye told them about the current situation.

"Although the Xingluo Empire has 400,000 troops, most of them are troops of affiliated kingdoms, and only about 100,000 are troops directly under the empire."

"Their commander is Dai Yutian."

"Isn't the new crown prince of Xingluo a general named Xu?" Di Yang frowned. The information they received was that the one leading the army of Xingluo was a general named Xu from the Xingluo Empire, and he was not even from the Zhu family which had been closely allied with the royal family for generations.

Why did Xue Ye tell them now that Dai Yutian was leading the army?

"The nominal commander of the Xingluo Empire's army is Xu Zhong, but the real commander is their crown prince Dai Yutian."

"This battle is probably to establish the authority of the new crown prince. The Xingluo Emperor wants to use this battle to help Dai Yutian gain a firm foothold in the army."

Di Hong found it hard to believe: "Just for this, we started such a large-scale war and displaced countless people. Is it worth it?"

"It's not about value or not, this is the reality." Xue Ye said lightly.

Compared with one's own interests, the life and death of civilians is not important at all. Even if the lives of one million civilians are exchanged for one benefit that benefits oneself, then those one million civilians will definitely be sacrificed because no one cares about their life or death.

One million civilians are just a number to people like them.

Although he also felt sorry for the civilians who were displaced and whose families were destroyed, they were all citizens of the Tiandou Empire after all, but he had no way to change it and could only end the war as quickly as possible. As for the life and death of the civilians of the Xingluo Empire, it had nothing to do with him, as he was not the crown prince of Xingluo.

(End of this chapter)