Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

"Hahaha!" Chen Qing, hiding behind the two thousand soldiers, laughed wildly. Unfortunately, he celebrated too early. 

A sword that wasn't quite a sword, a flower that wasn't quite a flower, and in the hands of the master—an invincible spiritual sword. The speed was like lightning, and the claws, as sharp as the wind, left trails wherever they passed. The soldiers were stunned to realize they couldn't even track the opponent's shadow with their arrows…

"Don't panic! Surround them! Spearmen, forward! Kill!" 

"Change blades! Change blades!" 

"Protect the heir! Protect the heir!" 

"Kill!" 

"Where are they? Where did they go?" 

"Ah!!!" 

"Monsters!" 

The chaos ensued, as the elite soldiers couldn't handle the overwhelming speed and strength of the two intruders. The soldiers' desperate cries echoed in the air.

Meanwhile, the headquarters of the city defense army was located near the capital's provincial government office. It was lunchtime, and the main commanders were dining together. Except for the red-bannered general and the five commanders who were on duty, the other four commanders, along with the overall commander, Feng Xiong, were all present.

"Commander, Old Eight isn't on duty. Where did he take his men?" one of the commanders asked, looking across the table at Feng Xiong.

"Oh, the heir to the prince might be in some trouble. Old Eight took some men to check it out," Feng Xiong replied nonchalantly.

"That damned heir! How many problems is he going to cause for us this year? Every time something happens, he turns to us. We're not his personal army!" another commander grumbled angrily.

"Old Seven! Watch your language! We're all brothers here. If outsiders hear that, it'll cause us trouble," Feng Xiong reprimanded sharply.

"But Chief, we can't keep pandering to the heir. Every time something happens, he calls us. Remember last time, the heir got into a mess with the son of the Minister of Rites over a woman? He called us again. We solved the issue, but we also offended the Minister!" a third commander chimed in.

"Enough! What else can we do? The world's at peace, and we've landed this difficult, thankless job. Do you think I wanted to clean up after the heir?" Feng Xiong cursed. He paused before adding, "Brothers, we still need to support our families. For the sake of the safety of the people in the city, we should be more cautious. Keep an eye on the heir from now on. By the way, where is Old Eight? He's been gone for a long time." 

As Feng Xiong pondered this, a lower-ranking officer rushed into the room, his face pale.

"Sir! Sir! It's... bad!" the officer stammered.

"What's the matter? Why are you so panicked?" Feng Xiong demanded, his tone stern.

"The heir... no, the general Liao... he... he..." The officer was incoherent.

"Calm down!" Feng Xiong barked. "What happened?"

The officer finally caught his breath and hurriedly spoke. "General Liao's two thousand men were completely wiped out. General Liao and the heir were both captured!" 

"Ah!!!" The room was filled with gasps of shock. Even the loudest thunder would have been less surprising.

"Impossible!" all the commanders thought simultaneously. This was the capital! What kind of force could wipe out two thousand city defense soldiers? And dare to capture the heir? Was the sky falling? Could these people really treat the city's twenty thousand soldiers as if they were nothing? Could they disregard the eight thousand soldiers guarding the gates? This was unthinkable!

"Repeat what you just said. If you're lying, I'll have your head as a drinking cup," Feng Xiong threatened angrily, glaring at the officer.

"Sir, I swear on my life, what I said is true! Please, send reinforcements now! General Liao and the heir are in the Xiangque Tower!" The officer suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Before General Liao was captured, he gave me this and told me to bring reinforcements. If it's too late, the situation will be irreversible." 

The officer pulled out a military token from his sleeve.

"Military order token!" Feng Xiong immediately recognized the significance of the token. It was something that a general would always carry, unless something major had happened.

"Deploy immediately! Mobilize the six, seven, nine, and ten regiments! Send my orders to the first through fifth regiments to converge near the Xiangque Tower and form a siege! We cannot let a single enemy escape. We must minimize the damage. If anything goes wrong, all of our heads will be on the line! Do you hear me?" 

"Yes, Sir!" the commanders immediately responded and hurried out.

"By the way, how many enemies are there?" Feng Xiong suddenly realized he had forgotten to ask a crucial question.

"Two... two..." The officer hesitated, holding up two fingers.

"Two thousand? What were the gate guards doing? How could they let two thousand unknown soldiers into the city?" Feng Xiong was furious.

"Sir, it's not... two thousand. It's..." The officer stammered.

"Don't tell me it's twenty thousand!?" Feng Xiong asked in horror. He wouldn't believe that two hundred soldiers could wipe out two thousand well-equipped city defense troops, much less twenty thousand.

"No, Sir! It's not two thousand, and it's not twenty thousand. It's... it's... two... two people!" The officer burst into tears.

"Two... two people?" Feng Xiong stood frozen, unable to comprehend.

The capital was in chaos. Even the imperial palace was in turmoil. For over a hundred and fifty years, since the overthrow of the previous emperor by Chen Yuan, the capital had never been in such disarray.

Imperial edicts were issued in rapid succession, and wave after wave of troops began to gather at one location in the city. The common people had no idea what was happening, and even the government officials were kept in the dark. All they knew was that the city had been put under martial law, and all military units had been ordered to converge near the Xiangque Tower.

The elite Jin Yi Wei also mobilized, with five thousand of their best men taking control of the major official residences.

Feng Xiong, the overall commander of the city defense forces, personally led the siege on the Xiangque Tower, ensuring that no one could escape. If even a bird tried to fly over, it would have to answer to the five thousand archers.

But even as he ordered his forces into action, Feng Xiong could barely keep his composure. He had been pacing back and forth for hours. "What do they want with the heir?" he muttered. 

"Chief, should I take a group and charge again?" a commander asked.

"Shut up! Do you want to make our soldiers suffer more?" Feng Xiong snapped, his mind still reeling from the fact that two people—only two—had managed to take the heir captive.

With the heir in their hands, Feng Xiong knew his hands were tied. His soldiers couldn't use their arrows. Imperial orders had come down—no harm could come to the heir. Even the Prince's estate had sent people, stressing that the heir's safety was the priority.