Decapitation Strike

Outside Meeting Room One. Upon Yaoguang's arrival, every representative of the great aristocratic families rose and waited outside the doors. Though he appeared younger than anyone had anticipated, the moment he stepped up to the conference room entrance, everyone bowed in greeting—whether from the mighty Lü and Jiang families or the declining Li and Yue families. This was both an acknowledgment of his status and respect for a supreme powerhouse whose solitary might could overthrow the regime of a small nation. Inside the meeting room. Yaoguang gestured for everyone to take their seats. Without wasting time on pleasantries, he went straight to the point. "Since you have all come, you clearly share an initial interest in cooperation. That means we have a common goal." Everyone nodded. "Anyone with even a passing understanding of Dayu's internal affairs has seen the friction between the aristocratic families and the royal house over the years," said Jiang Sheng. "As soon as the era of turmoil ended, the Liao family set about reclaiming the rights and interests that originally belonged to the families. Decades ago, they at least used post-war reckonings as an excuse, but in recent years, their conduct has grown increasingly brazen. Had we not come to our senses in time and formed an alliance, they would have long since picked us off one by one in silence." On the way over, Yue Xingzhou had explained the situation to Yaoguang. Among the surviving aristocratic families, the Lü family appeared the most formidable on the surface, but the Jiang family possessed the oldest heritage and the deepest foundation. Jiang Sheng's words resonated with the other houses. "The Liao family wants to break tradition, dominate Dayu alone, and wipe us out down to the last person. If that's the case, they can't blame us for fighting to the death." Listening to the family representatives, Yaoguang knew full well that what they were doing was neither noble nor sacred. Yet... That did not matter. He had only ever pursued one thing: a sense of security. That security encompassed both physical safety and the safety of his living environment. Demons had threatened his living environment, so he had slain demons. The Liao family had harbored those demons and subsequently posed a direct threat to his life... So he had risen up in resistance, fighting for his survival. What was wrong with that? After making his stance clear, Jiang Sheng turned his gaze back to Yaoguang. "We would like to know what you plan to do, Sir Yaoguang." "The Yue family showed me their intelligence," Yaoguang said. "In conventional strength, your families combined are by no means inferior to the Liao family, and in certain respects you even hold the advantage. You suffer from only two disadvantages. First..." Yaoguang glanced at the representatives of the nine families. "Each of you has your own schemes, and your hearts are divided." The representatives exchanged glances, acknowledging the truth in their hearts. They knew that if they truly united as one, they might well have been able to divide Dayu with the Liao family and rule half each. Yet... Even blood relatives could turn on each other over profit, let alone nine separate families—or rather, nine distinct interest groups. Precisely for this reason, while the Liao family refrained from tearing down all pretense with the nine families at once, they had been slicing away with a dull knife, steadily whittling down the clans' power. In another ten or twenty years, once the families were weakened to the point where they could no longer stir up serious turmoil, it would be the end of the nine great aristocratic houses. "Aside from divided hearts, the second point is that the Liao family holds a decisive advantage in top-tier combat power," Yaoguang continued. "They possess the strength to decapitate the core members of any single family with thunderous momentum." Describing the relationship between the royal Liao family and the nine aristocratic houses was like imagining a man holding a gun against nine barehanded brutes. If all nine threw caution to the wind and swarmed forward together, they could certainly beat the Liao family to death. Yet... The gun always shot the bird that took flight first. The nine were already harborers of their own agendas. Leaving aside whether they could discard life and death to charge together, even if they truly risked everything... The first few to lead the charge would meet certain death. "Direct to the point," Jiang Sheng said with a nod, agreeing with Yaoguang's assessment. After all, this was information provided by the Yue family, and as one of the clans, they understood the crux of the issue intimately. "However, the situation has changed now," Yaoguang said. He stood up, looked directly at the representatives of the nine families, and said calmly, "I am here." "You mean..." "Exactly what you are thinking." Yaoguang glanced at Jiang Sheng. "With me at the lead, we will assemble an elite squad and launch a decapitation strike against the Liao family!" Jiang Sheng and the others nodded slightly. This was indeed the most effective, swift, and direct plan they had conceived. Originally, the only issue was that doing so would force Yaoguang, a teenage Martial Saint, to bear immense risk—the equivalent of diving straight into a dragon's pool or a tiger's den. Yet now, he had brought it up himself. "My question is," Yaoguang said, "once I eliminate the dozens of core members of the Dayu royal family, can you swiftly take control of the situation and ensure that Dayu does not descend into turmoil, or even civil war?" "We cannot give an absolute guarantee regarding the royal capital, but for the other provinces, yes!" Jiang Sheng answered directly. "Oh?" Yaoguang looked at him. "In truth, the logic is very simple. We live in the information age," Jiang Ming said with a smile. "I cannot confront the military forces controlled by the Liao family head-on, but... I can jam all communications in the royal capital for at least an hour, preventing any information from being transmitted outward. And one hour... is more than enough for the dust to settle. Afterward, those who recognize the situation will naturally make the right choice." Lü Jianfeng added, "Perhaps some royal diehards might react rashly and spark small-scale unrest, but they won't be able to make any major waves." Beside them, Yue Nanxing also nodded. Yaoguang recalled the Su family's recent contact with the Yue family and their rapid penetration of various departments across Tiannan... Even the heavily suppressed Yue family possessed such capability, let alone the others. With that thought, Yaoguang made his decision. "Then it is settled. When it is over, the royal capital, the three surrounding cities, and Tiannan Province will belong to the Su and Yue families. The rest of the territory is yours to divide as you see fit!" Pausing, he added, "I have only one requirement: the flow of people and information between the provinces must remain unobstructed. No actions may interfere with or block it." Lü Jianfeng, Jiang Sheng, and the others understood Yaoguang's intention. This... This was essentially dismembering Dayu into ten small-to-medium nations akin to Lihuo. Under the current global climate of contending against the bullying of Chixing and Xuelong, this was disadvantageous. Their original intention had been to return to the former status quo where the aristocratic families and the royal house governed the realm together. Outwardly, they would submit to the royal family and even pay a certain amount of 'taxes' as tribute, but the royal house would not interfere with their dominance over their respective provinces, while also helping them shoulder pressure from Chixing. However, it was too early to debate such details now. The Liao family had not yet fallen. Moreover, they needed to observe Yaoguang during this operation and establish their ultimate stance based on his performance. "Agreed." "As Sir Yaoguang says." Lü Jianfeng and Jiang Sheng both gave their consent. With those two speaking up, the other families naturally voiced their agreement. "Then so be it. Each family will dispatch one Grandmaster to accompany me on the operation. In addition, I will give you twelve hours to make arrangements. At midnight tonight, I will launch the decapitation strike against the Liao family directly," Yaoguang declared. "Twelve hours?" Li Cunyu was startled and could not help saying, "Isn't that too fast? We won't have time to make full preparations." "Speed is of the essence in warfare!" Yaoguang gave him a look. "If we are unprepared, their response will be equally deficient." Before Li Cunyu could say anything more, Jiang Sheng spoke up. "Midnight it is!" He said in a heavy voice, "In what we are about to do, there is no such thing as being foolproof. A reasonable degree of confidence is enough." "Heh, wasn't our arrival here already in anticipation of this very scenario?" Lü Jianfeng remarked with a smile. Among the clan representatives present, seven were Grandmasters. The remaining two families had brought Grandmasters along as well. That fact alone was telling. They had long prepared various contingencies. Among them was the possibility that Yaoguang would choose to assemble an elite team for a decapitation strike. "I have already set up a comms channel. Have the logistics teams of each Grandmaster join my channel to facilitate operational coordination," Yue Xingzhou said, stepping forward. The others nodded. Lü Jianfeng turned to Yaoguang. "My adoptive father has lent me his team. If Sir Yaoguang needs them, I will arrange for them to stand by in the royal capital immediately." "No need," Yaoguang replied. The logistics team would provide intelligence, equipment, supplies, long-range fire support, and all other manner of backing. Compared to the Lü family's Martial Saint, he trusted Yue Xingzhou, who stood firmly on his side. Seeing this, Lü Jianfeng did not press the matter. Soon, everyone was pulled into the channel. For safety's sake, each family also dispatched a liaison squad to stay by Yaoguang's side, ready to follow directives at any time. Returning to his villa, Yaoguang quickly gathered his equipment. Combat suit, weapons, firearms, medicinal pills—he packed them all. As he was packing, Lei Yun suddenly approached. "Young Master, Martial Saint Zong Yan sent over a dossier." "A dossier?" Yaoguang took the file and examined it. Recorded within was none other than the powerhouses and armed forces possessed by the Liao family. Out in the open, the Liao family had two Martial Saints: Liao Zhenguo and Kong Fang. In reality, aside from those two, Zhang Jian, commander of the military, also served the royal family. Furthermore, they kept Bian Liancheng, another Martial Saint, hidden in the shadows. In other words, the Liao family could mobilize as many as four Martial Saints. As for Grandmasters, their numbers exceeded twenty. Such strength... Could certainly not be called weak. No wonder these aristocratic families had not dared to be the first to stand up and resist, even while knowing they were being whittled down by the Liao family's dull blade. Whoever stood out first was sure to die. In addition to the Liao family, the dossier also noted the Lü and Jiang families. The Lü family was straightforward enough, with Martial Saint Lü Tianhe out in the open, but the Jiang family... They actually concealed a Martial Saint as well. Moreover, the Xu family was suspected of harboring a Martial Saint, though even the Jishi Society's intelligence department had been unable to confirm it. After finishing the file, Yaoguang fell silent for a moment before slowly exhaling a breath. "So weak." A country of three hundred million people, with military strength ranking among the top twenty worldwide, possessed only seven Martial Saints. Far too weak. A moment later, he recalled what a Martial Saint represented... Fully equipped, launching a sudden strike, one could tear through a heavy combined-arms brigade. The key was that they were elusive and impossible to detect through conventional means. There had once been a glorious record of a single Martial Saint shattering thirteen heavy combined-arms brigades within a year... Before a Martial Saint backed by a complete logistics team, ordinary soldiers were mere lambs waiting to be slaughtered. A single person rivaling an entire nation—it was precisely that. Thus, seven Martial Saints... Underestimating such power was a direct path to ruin. There was only one reason Yaoguang felt this way: "I'm simply too strong." ... Setting the dossier aside, he finished packing his gear. Six hours later, he arrived at a secret Lü family safehouse in the royal capital. Here, a contingent of Grandmasters including Lü Jianfeng and Jiang Sheng had already led their teams and waited for some time. Yaoguang could clearly see rooms where a dozen or even dozens of personnel bustled ceaselessly amid banks of monitors. After brief greetings to gauge one another's strengths and areas of expertise, everyone began adjusting their condition and checking their gear. Time slipped by. Midnight had arrived.