Forced to become a pure and innocent female pharmacist in order to cultivate immortality.

Upon hearing this, all of them sighed at the same time.

"Hey! Who isn't unlucky? I don't know if the governor of Jiangzhou Prefecture has lost his mind. I heard that the King of Chu has already captured many cities in Jiangzhou Prefecture. Some other small cities have simply surrendered, but Jianglin City is still putting up a stubborn resistance." A conscripted laborer complained.

"What's the point of saying all this? Anyway, when the King of Chu attacks, let's just do our best to save our lives. I don't want to die for no reason," another strongman sighed.

These able-bodied men have little fighting ability; they are purely there to make an appearance. If a fight breaks out, they will probably be cut down like vegetables by the enemy's army.

Ye Liuyun was willing to bet that once a fight broke out, these people would definitely surrender or run away immediately.

"Judging from how aggressively they're conscripting soldiers in the city, I reckon the King of Chu's army must be arriving soon, right?" Ye Liuyun asked again.

"Hmm, I think the enemy will be at the city gates today. Kid, be prepared. It would be a waste for you to die at such a young age," the middle-aged man advised.

As time passed, Ye Liuyun finally put on the ill-fitting armor and began to wander around the city.

The city is currently in a state of disorder, with armored soldiers everywhere, according to what she overheard from other people's conversations.

The governor of Jiangzhou and his family had long since evacuated Jianglin City, but before leaving, they gave the defending generals a strict order to hold the city at all costs and not to surrender.

Furthermore, they also took away the families of some of their important generals to coerce them. In this way, even if the defending general knew it was impossible, he had to fight to the death, otherwise his family would lose their lives.

This is a tactic commonly used by the imperial court.

Aside from a small number of family members, almost the entire population of Jianglin City is now mobilized for war. Merchants who were able to escape had already fled before receiving any news.

So the once bustling city of Jianglin is now desolate, but there is one place that is very lively, and that is the red-light district.

Everywhere you look, there are soldiers and generals with women on their left and right, indulging in debauchery and getting completely drunk. They don't look like they're about to fight at all.

But it's understandable. They must all know that once a fight breaks out, they can't hold their ground and know they won't survive, so they definitely want to enjoy life to the fullest before they die.

"Sigh! They seem to have a lot of people, but in reality they're all a rabble. What a waste of this city," Ye Liuyun complained.

As Ye Liuyun was strolling around, Fan Ling suddenly appeared riding a black ox.

"Hey? Master, what are you doing? Are you joining the army to help them defend the city? It's so boring here. I've walked around, and everything is closed. Should we leave?" Fan Ling rode out of an alley on her black ox.

Ye Liuyun chuckled when he saw Fan Ling and Hei Niu come out.

"I'll play for a while first. We came out here just to wander around. Since we suddenly ran into a war, I definitely have to join in the fun. You guys just find a place to rest. I'll come find you after I've played for a bit," Ye Liuyun said with a smile.

Fan Ling couldn't quite understand what Ye Liuyun was thinking, so she could only ride away on the black ox again.

Time passed quickly, and around seven or eight o'clock in the evening, night fell. Suddenly, a long fire dragon appeared in the distance outside Jianglin City, and it was approaching Jianglin City at an extremely fast speed.

The soldier on the city wall, upon seeing the fire dragon, paled drastically. He immediately pulled the bell on the city wall and shouted.

"There are enemies! There are enemies! Quickly inform the generals!"

His shout startled the soldiers resting on the city wall, who jumped up as if they were dying and looked out of the city. The garrison commander in the city tower also rushed out and looked into the distance.

"Damn it, they've arrived so quickly? Immediately notify the reserves in the city to prepare for battle at any time," the middle-aged general ordered sternly.

This person is Gao E, the governor of Jiangzhou Prefecture.

At Gao E's command, gongs and drums were beaten everywhere in the city.

"The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming! Prepare for battle! Regular soldiers, go to the city walls! Reserves, proceed to the southeast, west, and south gates to prepare... Anyone who disobeys will be punished according to military law." A series of military orders rang out.

The reserve soldiers, who were resting in various parts of the city, were forced to converge at the three city gates by some veteran soldiers.

Jianglin City has about 20,000 regular troops. If you include the conscripts captured in the past few days, the total population is over 200,000. The city also has sufficient food supplies, so it should be able to hold out for ten days to half a month without any problem, but the premise is that it can be defended.

As for why Jianglin City must be defended to the death, the main reason is that this place is a vital waterway. If Jianglin City were to fall, it would be too easy for the Chu King's army to march north or join forces with other rebel kings.

The imperial court is also sending reinforcements to support Jiangzhou Prefecture, but it will take time because Prince Jing is not only facing the rebel king Chu, but nine rebel kings.

These nine rebel kings came from the four regions of Nanling, Xichuan, Beiyuan, and Donghuang. Under the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials," they gathered a large number of troops, and frankly, the imperial court could not control them.

Ye Liuyun also pretended to follow the others to the West Gate. Once there, she used her divine sense to look outside the city. She saw flames soaring into the sky outside the city, and soldiers carrying torches everywhere.

"Good heavens, this is densely packed. Eh? Are there cultivators hidden among the soldiers? Strange, there are quite a few of them." Ye Liuyun scanned the army outside the city with his divine sense and found that there were many cultivators among them. Although their cultivation levels were not high, there were still some at the Spirit Stream Realm.

Putting everything else aside, the enemy only needs to send out these cultivators at the Spirit Stream Realm to easily break through Jianglin City.

However, after Ye Liuyun carefully examined the people on Jianglin City's side, he was also taken aback, because there were quite a few cultivators on the side as well.

In other words, the so-called worldly battles are not just fights between ordinary people; there are also battles between cultivators in the shadows.

However, upon closer reflection, it makes sense. There are many independent cultivators in the mortal world. These independent cultivators may be at the bottom of the cultivation world, but in the mortal world, they would be at the top.

In this world, the secular court is not completely separated from the cultivation world. There are still a large number of cultivators in the secular world. These are people who could not survive in the cultivation world, so they come to the secular world to enjoy wealth and glory. This can be considered a choice.

At the main gate, the two sides stood facing each other, and the rebel army did not immediately launch an attack on the city.

"Gao E, Prince Jing has rebelled and usurped the throne. As an official of the court, you disobey the call and instead aid the wicked. Do you want to rebel? Quickly open the city gates and surrender to welcome His Highness Prince Chu into the city!" Outside the west gate, a majestic general in golden armor was pointing a long sword at Gao E on the city wall and shouting.

Frankly speaking, throughout history, those who rebelled to purge the emperor's inner circle of corrupt officials were usually traitors. Since they couldn't find a suitable reason, they could only use this old-fashioned excuse, which never failed.

Looking at the massive crowd outside the city, Gao E, standing on the city wall, felt a chill in his heart, because there were far more troops than he had anticipated.

If he was originally confident he could hold out for a month, now, whether he can hold out for ten days is a question.

Most importantly, he sensed a strong aura within the enemy army. Gao E was also a cultivator, at the mid-stage of the Spirit Stream Realm.

If those cultivators on the other side were to intervene, let alone ten days, it would be questionable whether we could even get through tonight safely.

After thinking for a moment, Gao E decided that he still had to say something, because he didn't want to fight unless absolutely necessary.

"Your subject Gao E requests that Your Highness, the King of Chu, appear before me," Gao E said loudly.

As soon as he said this, the rebel general immediately gestured to his lieutenant, who quickly turned and went to the rear of the army.

Soon, the army parted to make way, and a carriage carrying a young man wearing a crown and a pale yellow royal robe slowly arrived at the main entrance.

"Gao E, you request an audience with me. What do you wish to say?" the young man asked Gao E calmly, sitting in his carriage and looking up at him from the city wall.

Upon seeing the King of Chu, Gao E immediately bowed and paid his respects.

“Your Highness, although I do not know where you heard that His Majesty the Emperor was murdered by Prince Jing, I can guarantee with my life that His Majesty the Emperor did indeed die from a serious illness, and was not murdered by anyone else.”

"Furthermore, His Highness Prince Jing never intended to sit on the throne. After the Emperor's death, His Highness Prince Jing and the Empress Dowager, together with the senior officials of the court, summoned you princes to the palace in order to elect a new emperor. Why did you princes disobey the imperial edict, believe that Prince Jing was plotting a rebellion, and insist on raising an army?" Gao E questioned.

When the King of Chu heard this, he remained expressionless. He certainly knew about this matter, but to put it jokingly, if it were simply a matter of choosing a new emperor, there would be no need to summon all the princes who were qualified to inherit the throne back to the capital.

According to past practice, the usual procedure is to first select a new emperor, then secretly summon the new emperor to the palace, enthrone him as emperor, and then announce it to the world, thus making the deed done.

However, this time, the situation was different from the past, because the capital was asking the regional princes to come to the palace to pay their respects after the emperor's death, and then to discuss the issue of the new emperor.

This is clearly suspicious. Any prince with a modicum of sense wouldn't fall for this. Whether it's true or not, they can't possibly believe it, because once they enter the capital, they'll be at the mercy of others.

The King of Chu was clearly not a particularly ruthless person, but at that moment, a middle-aged man with a goatee who was accompanying the King of Chu glanced at the King and suddenly spoke on his behalf.

"What a joke, Gao E, you believe that? Prince Jing is the regent, and the emperor is young. She has the final say in everything in the court. If His Highness Prince Chu were to obey the order and return to the capital, he would probably be placed under house arrest immediately, wouldn't he?" the middle-aged man sneered.

After saying this, he immediately bowed to the King of Chu in the carriage.

“Your Highness, those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles. You must not believe Prince Jing’s words. Besides, all the princes have already raised their armies. We have no choice.”

The King of Chu thought for a moment, then nodded at him.

"The strategist is right. Now that we have raised an army, we have no choice but to fight to the bitter end," the King of Chu replied.

What the strategist said made sense, and Gao E couldn't deny it, because the possibility was very high. Even he didn't believe things would be so simple.

However, there was nothing he could do, because he had not heard any talk of usurpation from the court, and his family was all in the capital. Even if there were problems, he had no choice but to follow the court's orders.

But he still wanted to try, because Jianglin City was an important town in the Nanling Mountains, and if it were destroyed, it would be a great loss for the Tang Kingdom.

"Your Highness, even so, can you bear to watch the people of Tang suffer? Shouldn't you, the descendants of the late emperor, work together to maintain the stability of the country at this critical moment? Is it fair to the spirit of the late emperor to raise an army at this time?" Gao E changed his tone and tried to persuade the King of Chu in a different way.

This is a typical example of first trying to reason with someone, and if reasoning fails, then resorting to moral blackmail.

However, the King of Chu seemed to have already made a decision and didn't want to listen to Gao E's nonsense anymore.

"It seems you don't intend to open the city gate yourself. In that case, don't blame me for being impolite. Let's go," the King of Chu gestured to the coachman.

Seeing this, the coachman quickly turned the carriage around and left. It was time to take action, because he knew that saying more would be pointless.

The struggles among royal children have always been life-or-death battles, with the truth lying only on the edge of a knife.

"Archers, prepare! Catapults, prepare!" As the King of Chu left, the general in charge of the army gave the order without saying a word.

Seeing that the King of Chu would not listen to advice, the city wall was high and the city walls were high, so they had no choice but to fight.

"Hey! Prepare for defense." Gao E forced himself to tell his subordinates to get ready for defense.

The soldiers on the city wall immediately picked up their bows and arrows and aimed them at the army below.

"Release the arrows!" came the order from both sides.

A large number of ordinary arrows were shot from upstairs, while a large number of arrows with stray fire were shot from downstairs. The attacking side not only shot arrows, but also used catapults to throw wine jars and oil into Jianglin City.

Upstairs, Gao E and the other generals from Lingxi Realm brandished their spears and swords, trying their best to intercept the arrows.

But as the oil and wine jugs smashed against the city wall and were ignited by fire arrows, a raging fire quickly spread, with flames reaching the sky wherever it went.

The city walls and the outer edges of the city were engulfed in flames in no time.

Especially the soldiers on the city wall, many of whom had nowhere to hide, could only watch as the flames engulfed them, their screams echoing through the night.

Although worldly wars are not as large-scale as wars fought by cultivators in the cultivation world, fire attacks are one of the most effective ways to attack cities.

"Fire! Fire! Get the reserves in the city to fetch water and put out the fire!" Gao E ordered.

At this moment, Ye Liuyun and the others, who were inside the city, looked at the sky filled with fire arrows and fireballs, their faces solemn.

She remained remarkably calm, but the reserve soldiers around her were so frightened that they turned and ran away.

"Ah, run! The fire is coming!" The conscripted soldiers saw this scene and turned to run without thinking. If they didn't run, wouldn't they be waiting to die?

But where could they run to? They hadn't gone far when they were stopped by the soldiers supervising the battle.

"Don't panic, don't run! Go get the buckets over there, fetch water, and put out the fire. Anyone who dares to back down will be killed without mercy!" a garrison commander and a group of veteran soldiers threatened menacingly.

Some of the able-bodied men mustered their courage and wanted to resist, but in his view, it was simply sending them to their deaths.

"Brothers, don't listen to them! They're sending us to our deaths. We're going to die whether we run or not, so we might as well fight them!" someone shouted.

But as soon as he finished speaking, a rope flew out from among the veterans, accurately looped around the neck of the jeering man, and with a gentle tug, pulled him out of the crowd and beheaded him.

The scene was very bloody, and the able-bodied men immediately cowered when they saw it.

"Anyone who dares to cause a disturbance will suffer the consequences," the supervising general roared.

Seeing this scene, Ye Liuyun looked helpless. She looked at the people around her who were unfortunately engulfed by the flames, and after thinking for a while, she felt that she couldn't just stand by and watch. Anyway, she had no taboos. But no matter whether it was the cultivation world or the mortal world, she had to find a way to help the people outside the city break through the city with the fewest casualties.

Why didn't he help defend the city? Because this place definitely couldn't be defended. The other two city gates were also engulfed in flames, unless she directly used a powerful elixir or revealed her strength.

However, if she did that, it might trigger a war among cultivators, so it wouldn't work. Besides, he had his own objectives and needed the people outside the city to win.

"We can't just stand by and watch. If this continues, Jianglin City will turn into a sea of ​​fire. This King Chu is truly ruthless."

Taking advantage of the chaos, Ye Liuyun took an invisibility pill and hid. After arriving at a secluded place, he found a blue pill in his hand. This was a rain-gathering pill, which meant that Ye Liuyun could now command the wind and rain and was omnipotent.

She activated the pill with her power and threw it on the ground. The pill immediately emitted a thick mist of water vapor, which drifted into the night sky.

A moment later, a large number of dark clouds drifted over Jianglin City. There were only dark clouds, no thunder or lightning, and no wind. Then it started to rain, and the rain was heavy.

The flames that had been burning inside the city were quickly extinguished by the rain, as were the torches on the city walls and those of the rebels outside.

"Huh? It's raining? What's going on? The sky was just clear and starry, how come it's raining all of a sudden?" This rain must have caused a lot of trouble for the rebels.

The soldiers on the city wall and inside the city shouted with joy when they saw it suddenly raining.

"Thank goodness, God help us, otherwise we would be dead today." Some of the strong men looked at the flames around them that were gradually dying down and laughed with wild joy.

It's raining late at night, which means fire attacks are definitely not going to work, and are even unsuitable for attacking. It's pitch black, how can you attack? Jianglin City also has a moat, which makes things even more troublesome.

"Your Highness, it has suddenly started raining. It seems we can only halt the fighting for now and wait for the rain to stop tomorrow," the strategist suggested.

The King of Chu had no choice but to order a retreat and set up camp.

Gao E, standing on the city wall, breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the garrison outside the city suddenly withdraw.

"Ah! This is truly a timely rain!" Gao E exclaimed.

Little did he know, he was celebrating too soon. Ye Liuyun wasn't trying to help them; he just didn't want too many people to die.

The rain didn't last long, only about an hour. The King of Chu's army had already set up camp outside the city. Since they had already set up camp, they couldn't continue the attack just because the rain had stopped. It would be better to think of a better plan, let the soldiers rest, and fight again tomorrow.

Anyway, as far as they know, Jianglin City will not receive any reinforcements in the short term, so there is no rush.

Inside the King of Chu's command tent, a group of generals were conversing.

"Your Highness, why don't we just send out our martial arts forces? Our army has several times more martial artists than their city-defending cultivators. If we send out our martial artists, we'll definitely be able to take Jianglin City easily," a general suggested.

Martial artists are a general term used in the secular world to refer to cultivators. Some are acquired physical cultivators, some are spiritual cultivators, but most are physical cultivators.