Chapter 300: One Decisive Blow

"It's Tan Tianwe’s younger brother, Tan Shengwei, who they want as the family head" Tan Zhenwei continued. "He's hailed as the most brilliant talent the Tan family has seen in a hundred years and currently serves as the acting head of the family. Unfortunately for him, he was born to a concubine, so the old man never fully recognized him. A tragedy, really."

Tan Zhenwei didn’t hold back as he provided a detailed account of the Tan family’s current dynamics. The patriarch of the Tan family was Tan Zhenwei's father, who was now nearing the end of his life. Knowing his days were numbered, he shocked everyone by choosing Tan Zhenwei, who had been exiled from the family for years, as the next head.

This unexpected decision triggered a series of cascading events. The most immediate result was Tan Shengwei, once the favored heir, immediately launching an assassination attempt on Tan Zhenwei.

Unfortunately, Tan Tianwei, Shengwei's ally in this plan, was neither as strong nor as cunning as Tan Zhenwei, leading to his death in the wilderness.

"How did you know the Tan family would collude with the Jiepeng people to assassinate you on the way?" Li Xiaofei asked.

"Every soldier assigned to protect me on that Weave Bird aircraft was one of their people. Jiepeng also sought the Wilderness Free Sect’s help before they even began their operation," Tan Zhenwei explained.

Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but silently shake his head in disbelief at the irony. Tan Tianwei, while trying to kill Tan Zhenwei, had unknowingly sought assistance from the very person he intended to eliminate. It was like a moth flying into a flame.

As they spoke, a metallic glimmer appeared below, revealing a small city. It was a newly constructed encampment! The beast tide was already launching a ferocious assault on the camp. The battle had already begun.

This camp was clearly well-established. The metallic walls stood fifty meters high, forming a circular perimeter with a diameter of about two kilometers. The walls were lined with a dense array of firearms that fired relentlessly at the attacking star beasts, tearing through them as they advanced.

Inside the camp, several Prism Towers projected energy shields, protecting the inner structures from aerial assaults by the star beasts. In terms of defense and firepower, this temporary camp far surpassed Liuhe Base City.

On the walls, dozens of combat power armors assisted in defending the camp.

“Jiepeng’s base,” Tan Zhenwei muttered, his eyes narrowing. “The spatial passageway known as the Eye of the Northwest, connecting Jiepeng's coastal region to the heart of Great Xia's Northwest, lies beneath this very camp.”

Li Xiaofei’s mind stirred. He removed the blinders from his eyes, as he examined the scene below more carefully. Indeed, the soldiers running along the metal walls were dressed in Jiepeng military uniforms, and the power armors patrolling the perimeter bore the Jiepeng insignia on their metallic exteriors.

“Are you planning on destroying Jiepeng’s base?” Li Xiaofei asked, beginning to grasp Tan Zhenwei’s intentions.

Tan Zhenwei smiled faintly. “No, I’m going to destroy the Eye of the Northwest. Without this spatial passageway, the storm of conspiracy surrounding Liuhe Base City will dissipate like smoke.”

Destroying the source of the problem. That was his ultimate goal.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Li Xiaofei, still puzzled, asked, “Why not act sooner?”

The Jiepeng Empire had been using the Eye of the Northwest for quite some time. If the passage had been destroyed earlier, the brewing storm might have been averted from the beginning.

“There are many reasons,” Tan Zhenwei replied calmly. “I can give you at least four.”

“First, I had initially hoped the Great Xia’s government would step in. A spatial passageway like this could be an extraordinary asset for the Northwest Administrative Region if it was used properly. Second, the Jiepeng Empire discovered the Eye of the Northwest first. They took advantage of that head start and were well-prepared. Third, the Wilderness Free Sect needed certain technologies from Jiepeng. Deceiving them and extracting that knowledge took time. Fourth, destroying a spatial passageway requires an incredible amount of power, far more than you might imagine. It’s not something that can be accomplished overnight. I needed time to gather that strength.”

As Tan Zhenwei continued, he glanced at Li Xiaofei. "There’s actually a fifth reason. I wanted to see which of the domestic Saint families were spineless enough to sell out and weaken the nation for their own gain. By drawing their greedy hands into this wilderness, I could finish them and the Jiepeng forces all in one decisive blow. Though I won’t be able to eliminate every traitor, I can severely weaken them."

"Are these reasons sufficient?" Tan Zhenwei asked, his eyes landing on Li Xiaofei.

Li Xiaofei chuckled bitterly. "More than enough."

He had to admit, Tan Zhenwei’s vision and planning were far beyond his own comprehension. This was a true strategist. His ability to orchestrate such complex schemes, with layers of meticulous planning, foresight, and ruthlessness, was beyond anything Li Xiaofei could fathom.

As a high school student who had crossed over into this world, he now realized how small he was in comparison even with his unique advantages. While he had been honing his skills and showing off in the War God League, flexing his strength in the relatively small world of Liuhe Base City, his soon-to-be father-in-law’s gaze had been fixed on national and international affairs the entire time.

His respect for Tan Zhenwei deepened. Inwardly, Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but acknowledge his brilliance.

Old man, you’re amazing!

Below, the battlefield surged with star beasts that seemed like a relentless tide. Yet, the metallic base stood like an island amidst the ocean, repelling wave after wave of assaults.

But Tan Zhenwei was in no hurry. Standing tall on the back of the Red Magpie, he gazed down at the battlefield like a king ruling over all living things, fully in control. The low-grade star beast assault was merely a tactic to exhaust the enemy’s firepower, energy, and stamina. This was the same strategy used during the assault on Liuhe Base City.

Ten minutes passed before Tan Zhenwei finally made his next move. Twenty grade four star beasts emerged from within the beast tide, targeting various critical points of the Jiepeng metallic encampment. Their attacks were precise and devastating.

The battle quickly intensified as the star beasts managed to break through the walls and engaged the soldiers in close combat. A grade four star beast, a Silver-Horned Leopard, roared atop the metallic walls. It took only a few ferocious bites and swipes to tear a gap in Jiepeng's defenses, opening the way for the other beasts to flood through.

At the same moment, a master of the Five Spirits Realm appeared from within the base, wielding a long blade, and swiftly decapitated the Silver-Horned Leopard.

Li Xiaofei narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight.

A Five Spirits Realm expert! The Jiepeng base houses powerful fighters.

"Let me handle this," Li Xiaofei volunteered. "I can kill those Jiepeng warriors."

He was strong enough to break through the base’s walls and allow the star beasts to flood in, overwhelming and destroying the camp.

But Tan Zhenwei shook his head. "That’s not the only Five Spirits Realm expert in the Jiepeng base. It’s not yet time for you to act."

Before Tan Zhenwei finished speaking, three more terrifying auras exploded from the base like towering pillars of smoke, each one powerful enough to shake the heavens. The auras tore through the sky, instantly reducing the flying star beasts above to a rain of blood.

Three more Five Spirits Realm warriors?!

Li Xiaofei was stunned.

This Jiepeng base was hiding such a formidable number of high-level experts? This is terrifying.

The four Five Spirits Realm warriors cut down the twenty or so grade four star beasts that had been attacking the base in no time. Their overwhelming pressure caused the advancing star beast tide to momentarily stutter.