"A Nascent Soul Sword cultivator."
Shu Zhi said calmly, "His sword intent permeates everywhere here. Our men were killed by him."
Mu Ya clenched his fist, his boxing intent surging. "My lord, shall I go and finish him with one punch?"
"Can you really do it with one punch?"
Lin Zhao frowned, "We can't cause too much commotion."
"Do you want to leave anyone alive for interrogation?" Chu Yu asked.
"Did he leave any of our Snow Domain cavalry alive?"
Lin Zhao's eyes were cold. "Shu Zhi, kill him with one sword. We can still find answers from his corpse."
"Yes, my lord!"
Shu Zhi leaped down. The sword light flashed and disappeared in the air. The Nascent Soul cultivator coiled on the tree, who was at the Ninth Realm, had no chance to react before being enveloped by Shu Zhi's small world. As a sword qi swept past, the head of the Nascent Soul Sword cultivator rolled off his shoulders.
...
Lin Zhao walked forward and kicked the head away, flipping the Nascent Soul Sword cultivator's corpse over. He discovered the character "Xiu" tattooed on his arm. He tore off the embroidered character and held it in his hand, saying faintly, "The character Xiu. What's his background?"
"Xiu Yi Xuan."
Chu Yu's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "Xiu Yi Xuan of White Emperor City, said to be founded by Cao Ying, the most beautiful woman in White Emperor City. This Xiu Yi Xuan keeps a large group of death warriors and spies who are responsible for collecting intelligence for the Great Shang Dynasty's royal family. I didn't expect them to be so vigilant. Death warriors found this place so quickly. This matter is troublesome."
"Is Xiu Yi Xuan that formidable?" Lin Zhao asked in surprise.
"Yes!"
Shu Zhi nodded. "Xiu Yi Xuan is one of the highest-level organizations in White Emperor City. The Pavilion Master, Cao Ying, is a twelfth-realm sword cultivator from Furong Prefecture, renowned as the most beautiful woman in White Emperor City. Although Xiu Yi Xuan's actions have always been clandestine, Pavilion Master Cao Ying holds a very high official rank in the Great Shang court, First Rank Senior, even one rank higher than the Director of the Shan Hai Division."
"What will happen if we kill a death warrior of Xiu Yi Xuan?" Lin Zhao asked.
Chu Yu said, "The mid-fifth-realm death warriors of Xiu Yi Xuan travel with flying fish. Since this Nascent Soul realm death warrior has discovered this spirit stone mine, the flying fish must be on its way back to White Emperor City. It's unlikely that the Great Shang Dynasty will let this go. It will be either Xiu Yi Xuan or Shan Hai Division that comes."
Lin Zhao frowned. "This is troublesome. The tree wishes to be still, but the wind will not cease. The more we don't want to provoke the Great Shang Dynasty, the more we encounter them..."
Shu Zhi said, "My lord, what should we do? We can't just hand over a large spirit stone mine to the Great Shang Dynasty like this, can we?"
"Of course not!"
Lin Zhao took a deep breath and said, "This spirit stone mine is more useful in our hands than in the Great Shang Dynasty's. Mu Ya, return to Snow Domain Heavenly Pool immediately and muster 3,000 elite cavalry to rush to Luoyan Mountain overnight. Also, bring 200 Divine Dragon Crossbows, heavy cannons, and ballistae. We will establish a defensive posture at Luoyan Mountain. It will be easier to deal with the people from the Great Shang Dynasty when they arrive."
"This Nascent Soul corpse..."
Shu Zhi glanced at it.
"Dispose of it, leaving no trace."
Lin Zhao took the money bag from the corpse's waist. This Nascent Soul Sword cultivator was rather poor, with only 12 Golden Zizhi coins. Afterward, Shu Zhi swept his sword, and the corpse turned into a mist of blood and evaporated, leaving nothing behind. Lin Zhao had already decided that if the people from the Great Shang Dynasty really came, it wouldn't matter. They would say they had never seen this person, and that Snow Domain Heavenly Pool had already occupied this spirit stone mine in advance. If the Great Shang Dynasty insisted on taking it by force, Snow Domain Heavenly Pool would have a righteous cause.
...
White Emperor City, Listening Rain Pavilion.
This Listening Rain Pavilion was composed of a whole complex of pavilions and towers. Such an elegant and scenic place was the residence of Cao Ying, the Pavilion Master of Xiu Yi Xuan, who specialized in investigation and assassination. At this time, a continuous spring rain was falling in White Emperor City. On the top floor of the Listening Rain Pavilion, a graceful woman in a long dress was leaning against the building, listening to the rain. Her face was extremely exquisite, and her figure was graceful. However, her powerful sword intent made it impossible for anyone to approach. The clasp of her cloak was a sparkling ruby, very eye-catching. That was the symbol of her official rank, a regulation of the Great Shang Dynasty that only those of First Rank Senior or Junior First Rank could wear ruby pendants.
Cao Ying, a twelfth-realm sword cultivator, the most beautiful woman in White Emperor City, and also the most trusted person by the Emperor and Prince Jinan.
"Pavilion Master!"
A death warrior floated upstairs. He was a Star River realm cultivator and presented a flying fish transmission. "A flying fish transmission from the Northern Region!"
"I know."
Cao Ying raised her hand and took the flying fish transmission. After a brief glance, she closed it and said, "I will go to Prince Jinan's mansion. The selection of the new batch of death warriors will be handled by Vice Pavilion Master Qin Cheng."
"Yes, my lord!"
Cao Ying stood up, tidied her dress, and ascended a beam of sword light, flying straight towards Prince Jinan's mansion in the distance.
Not long after, she descended gracefully.
Ahead was a pavilion. A middle-aged man with a bulging belly was feeding fish by the lotus pond, a smile on his lips. "Cao Ying, what is it?"
"Reporting to Your Highness."
Cao Ying saluted. "A death warrior discovered a large spirit stone mine in the Luoyan Mountain area of the Northern Region."
"Oh?"
Prince Jinan Zhao Qiyang turned around and smiled. "A good thing..."
"But..."
Cao Ying frowned and said, "When this death warrior discovered the spirit stone mine, it had already been discovered by people from Snow Domain Heavenly Pool. That person called Bai Yi dispatched a hundred cavalry to guard the spirit stone mine, and they were all killed by this Nascent Soul death warrior of Xiu Yi Xuan. I fear... this matter will cause a greater disturbance, and then it will be difficult to handle."
"Pavilion Master."
Prince Jinan smiled faintly. "Are you worried about offending Snow Domain Heavenly Pool and that Bai Yi?"
"Your Highness, it is widely rumored that Bai Yi is the reincarnation of Lin Zhao's military strategist. The truth of this is unknown, but what if it is true?" Cao Ying's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "If he is truly Lin Zhao, too many people are involved. First, the Saint of Military Arts from the ancestral court of the military strategists. Second, Lin Xingchu of Xijian River. Third, he is a disciple of Qin Suihan, the successor of the Confucian Sage. If we have a conflict with Lin Zhao, it will be difficult to explain to the Confucian Academy."
"Is that so?"
Prince Jinan smiled slightly. "Since we are not sure if he is Lin Zhao, let's assume he is not. Send ten more death warriors there to establish the fact that we, Great Shang, have occupied the spirit stone mine first. If that Bai Yi still intends to make trouble, seize the opportunity to take his life. We are ignorant, so we are not to blame. Even the Saint of Military Arts must reason, right? Besides, would the Saint of Military Arts risk offending the entire human race for a Lin Zhao? I don't think so."
"Yes!"
Cao Ying said, "Your subordinate will immediately dispatch ten more death warriors!"
"Go ahead."
After Cao Ying left, Prince Jinan lost all interest in feeding the fish. He smashed the porcelain bowl containing fish food fiercely and roared, "Lin Zhao, Lin Zhao, what exactly do you want to do? Are you trying to compete with my Zhao family for who is the ruler of the world? If you are sensible, after your reincarnation, you should find a deep mountain and diligently practice your boxing and sword techniques. Why would a clever person like you do something as foolish as trying to usurp the host's position?"
...
Early morning.
The first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and cast upon Luoyan Mountain. Near the spirit stone mine in Luoyan Mountain, banners fluttered. 3,000 Snow Domain cavalry were on alert. The great banner of the Lin character was even erected on the summit of Luoyan Mountain. Not only that, but Shu Zhi and Mu Ya, two upper-fifth-realm cultivators, were stationed there. Chu Yu, Xiang Ji, and others were also present. Almost all the elite forces of Snow Domain Heavenly Pool were here.
In Lin Zhao's view, Snow Domain Heavenly Pool could be lost, but the spirit stone mine could not be lost. Possessing a spirit stone mine would give Snow Domain Heavenly Pool more confidence in the future, and they would no longer have to bow to others.
In the jungle, ten death warriors from the Great Shang Dynasty had completely entered the territory of Luoyan Mountain. When they looked from afar, they saw flags and Snow Domain cavalry covering the mountains and plains. In addition, some upper-fifth-realm and mid-fifth-realm experts were also hidden in the mountains.
"This is not good..."
A female death warrior with prominent cheekbones and a somewhat stern face, who was at the Golden Core realm, frowned. "They have already established themselves on Luoyan Mountain, and the aura of our previous Nascent Soul realm colleague... has completely vanished. If nothing unexpected happened, he must have been killed."
"What should we do?"
Another Yuan Chao realm martial artist death warrior gritted his teeth. "Should we just go back? If the Pavilion Master blames us, who can bear it?"
"Otherwise?"
The female death warrior said coldly, "Charge forward and fight thousands of cavalry? And with the upper-fifth-realm Shu Zhi and Mu Ya present, wouldn't going forward be suicide for nine of us, with one returning to report to the Pavilion Master?"
"No need to argue."
A Nascent Soul realm death warrior, the highest-ranked among them, frowned. "Even our previous Nascent Soul realm colleague was silently eliminated. We will only be sending ourselves to our deaths if we go. Xiu Yi Xuan trains us not to be sent to our deaths. Let's go back and report the situation here to the Pavilion Master, and let the Pavilion Master decide."
"Alright!"
Ten death warriors returned without success.
...
White Emperor City, Prince Jinan's mansion.
Cao Ying's figure reappeared. Normally, she might not even visit the Prince's mansion once a month, but this was the second time in one day.
"It seems..."
Zhao Qiyang narrowed his eyes and smiled. "This Bai Yi has seen through our intentions, so he has taken Luoyan Mountain first, intending to put us, the Great Shang Dynasty, in the wrong?"
Cao Ying nodded. "It is likely so."
Zhao Qiyang sneered. "Cao Ying, you don't need to worry about this matter anymore. It's better for the Shan Hai Division to handle it. You continue to dispatch more death warriors and spies to the north to investigate the movements of the demon and devil races. Also, plant more informants around Li Chunyang, Wen Hao, as well as Lin Yan, Chen Xi, Han Yetang, and others. The northern border has been unstable recently, and we must be more vigilant towards these people who hold considerable military power."
"Yes!"
Cao Ying nodded and smiled. "Your subordinate understands. Your subordinate takes his leave!"
"Go."
Zhao Qiyang narrowed his eyes and looked at Cao Ying's receding back. She was indeed beautiful, and truly cruel-hearted. If her cultivation realm were not so high and her personality not so fiery, she would have long ago become his new princess consort.
"Someone."
Zhao Qiyang said faintly, "Summon the Director of the Shan Hai Division, Huang Qingning. Tell him that this king wishes to see him!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"