Yu Kunlun frowned slightly and then calmly said, "Your Majesty may try to disperse the main army as much as possible to avoid a decisive battle. Set up more forts in strategic locations and reinforce protective arrays, especially in resisting Divine Intent."

Emperor Jianyuan, being knowledgeable in military affairs, instantly grasped Yu Kunlun’s idea.

The strategy was simply to disperse the main army, build more forts in various locations, and engage in defensive warfare.

In doing so, the issue of insufficient local troop strength after the army disperses could be avoided.

Forts’ protective arrays could also be utilized to fend off the blasts from the Divine Intent Touch Death Blade.

—The problem is, this requires manpower and Silver Coin! And in massive amounts.

"This method treats the symptoms, not the root cause. In a conflict between the two sides, how could there be any sense in only defending and not attacking? To quell the rebellion, I cannot keep all the troops holed up in forts."

Emperor Jianyuan shook his head: "Moreover, the enemy deploys troops without any concern. They can easily concentrate millions of troops on any battlefield. Even if I build countless forts, I can’t resist, and they would inevitably be taken down one by one. So outside the forts, I still need an army capable of confronting the Divine Intent Touch Death Blade head-on!"

’Constraining God Instrument’ is a good method, but the cost of forging it is so high that even Emperor Jianyuan can’t bear it.

Furthermore, the crafting process is complex, requiring only skilled Artifact Masters to refine.

Yu Kunlun couldn’t help but fall into contemplation: "Your Majesty might seek help from the Divine Machine Tower! The Bamboo Stone War Puppets they forge are cost-effective, employing stone masons and low-level mages to mass-produce them, with combat effectiveness nearing the Eighth Rank. If certain issues are resolved, they could potentially be used on the battlefield on a large scale."

The names Divine Machine Tower and Tianji Pavilion are similar, but their fields of operation are entirely different.

They specialize in various mechanical devices and are among the top forces in the world.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jianyuan’s brow slightly furrowed.

He was aware of the Divine Machine Tower’s ’Bamboo Stone War Puppet,’ constructed primarily from bamboo and stone.

Compared to other mechanical war puppets forged by the Divine Machine Tower, they are indeed cost-effective, but their price is still three thousand five hundred taels of Demon Silver, and maintaining them requires ongoing funding.

Even with large-scale production reducing costs to some extent, it wouldn’t fall below three thousand taels.

Meanwhile, an ordinary border army soldier, using standard Ninth Grade or Eighth Rank secret medicine, doesn’t cost more than one thousand four hundred taels altogether.

If they use inferior secret medicine, it might not even require eight hundred taels.

And excluding the Ninth Grade secret medicine, the rest are bought by the border army soldiers with their own salaries.

Even if they are promoted to Eighth Rank, their monthly salary is only about one hundred and twenty taels.

As for their weapons and war armor, the entire set wouldn’t exceed three hundred taels of Demon Silver.

And a qualified Eighth Rank border army soldier can at least combat two ’Bamboo Stone War Puppets.’

Moreover, ’Bamboo Stone War Puppets’ cannot invoke the Emperor’s Secret Technique.

"I will persuade the Grandmaster to increase the total training fund by eight million taels of Demon Silver to rapidly create two hundred thousand ’Bamboo Stone War Puppets,’ but even this is far from enough."

Emperor Jianyuan looked at Yu Kunlun, his eyes flashing with a cold light: "According to what I know, Hou Qing, Yiing Gou, and Jiang Chen all control large masses of Corpse Army. They should be able to resist the Divine Intent Touch Death Blade, right?"

Yu Kunlun felt a slight chill in his heart.

He raised his head and met Emperor Jianyuan’s gaze.

After a while, Yu Kunlun sighed inwardly once again.

"From what I know, most of these Corpse Armies lack a strong self-consciousness and are driven by higher-level entities like the Corpse School, Corpse Generals, and Corpse Commanders. Naturally, they aren’t associated with malicious intent or killing thoughts."

Yu Kunlun said expressionlessly: "Indeed, they can resist the Divine Intent Touch Death Blade, provided Your Majesty can create a true initial generation Heavenly Gaze and manage to subdue and control it."

Emperor Jianyuan raised an eyebrow: "To control the Heavenly Gaze, do I need to achieve Yin Yang Unity?"

"Indeed! The Heavenly Gaze is a creature of Extreme Yin, but its Corpse Poison is Extreme Yang. Only Yin Yang Unity can prevent its Corpse Poison from overcoming and thus control the Primordial Spirit of the Heavenly Gaze."

Yu Kunlun laid everything out: "The problem is that the Divine Sects are already aware, and they will keep an unyielding watch on Your Majesty."

Emperor Jianyuan, however, seemed unfazed by this revelation: "Ritual Supervision, draft a decree immediately to urgently summon Zhangsun Bingquan to the capital to accept the title of Prince of Jidong!"

While he spoke, his peripheral vision glanced towards Consort Zhuang, who seemed somewhat lost in thought nearby.

To replicate the first-generation Heavenly Gaze indeed requires evading the Divine Sects’ eyes.

Otherwise, if those First Grade Divine Sects unite against him, he might not even be able to secure his throne.

The best outcome would be a forced abdication, bequeathing the throne to a descendant.

The worst-case scenario would be Daning’s downfall and the demise of the dynasty.

Emperor Jianyuan reflected that, as the current measure, other stakes must be used to divert their attention.

It is time to help those Daluo Divine Ants with their unsealing, and the sooner, the better!

※※※※

Beyond the Mortal World at Tianjing Star, the Master of Pure and Satisfied, Shen Jingli, had not yet completed her avatar’s descent when she heard the news of the God Seven Killings Avatar being captured and slain.

Her mood was initially foul, and now it worsened to an indescribable extent.

Shen Jingli did not care at all about the death of Star Lord Zhuanlun.

In this Void Outer Realm, there are thousands upon thousands of Wild Gods and over a thousand Lower Gods without Stars. Any of them could readily fill the position of Star Lord of the ’Divine Wheel Star.’

However, the fact that God Seven Killings Avatar was destroyed and its right arm fell into the hands of Zhu Guangyin is a major problem and exceptionally troublesome.

Yet, for the time being, Shen Jingli couldn’t attend to these issues.