Near the borders of the Chu Empire
There were gigantic walls and large towers every 150 meters, and guards were stationed along their entire length. They were prepared to welcome the new royal family member returning from the Bai Empire. They saw the imperial ship approaching quickly, but even when it got close, it did not stop. Instead, it passed them and headed toward the imperial capital. The guards were shocked. What had happened to make them act like this?
Inside the ship, the protector ordered them not to stop and to continue toward the imperial capital without delay in order to deliver the news to the Emperor and the Imperial Prince.
After 3 hours
The ship arrived at the capital and landed. The protector, the princess, and the guards got off the ship and headed toward the imperial court.
When they entered, the nobles, ministers, and generals stood up to welcome them, but the protector did not respond to them. The nobles and ministers began whispering among themselves.
"What happened during their journey?"
He heard them but did not care and continued toward the Emperor.
When he arrived, he knelt on one knee and said,
"Your Majesty, I have failed in the mission entrusted to me."
The Emperor was shocked and said,
"Explain."
The protector began explaining from the beginning until they found Chu Feng's remains, and he informed him that the Bai Family was involved in his death.
The Emperor began thinking. He knew that he could not invade the Bai Empire because they possessed an ancestor who had reached the Half-Saint level.
The protector looked at the Emperor and knew what he was thinking.
He said,
"Your Majesty, do not think too much. Their ancestor is injured and is breathing his last breaths."
The Emperor was shocked, then smiled.
"It seems fate is with me."
After that, the Emperor ordered that the Imperial Prince should not be informed of Chu Feng's death. He ordered the generals and the noble families to prepare for the invasion of the Bai Empire.
Everyone began leaving to carry out their tasks and prepare for war.
The princess approached the Emperor and said,
"Father, I want to participate in the invasion. They killed my cousin and my savior."
The Emperor replied,
"War is dangerous for you, and I am afraid someone may harm you."
The princess replied,
"Father, do not worry. Uncle Protector is with me. He can protect me."
The Emperor thought for a moment and looked at her. He saw determination in her eyes, so he agreed.
"You may participate, but on one condition: you must not leave the protector's side."
The princess said,
"Thank you, Father."
Three days later
The noble families prepared by bringing out their strongest cultivators. The generals gathered the army along with their strongest commanders, and the strongest sects came to support the Empire.
After everyone had arrived, the army's final strength consisted of thousands of Spiritual Energy Gathering cultivators, hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators, dozens of Soul Transformation cultivators, and six Void Refinement cultivators.
They were:
The Eastern Guardian General.
The Western Guardian General.
The Imperial Protector.
The Imperial Prince.
The Prime Minister.
The Master of the Hybrid Azure Dragon Sect.
The Imperial Prince, Chu Fang, learned of the death of his son, Chu Feng.
He became furious and swore to destroy the Bai Empire and turn the women of the Bai Family into prostitutes.
He asked the Emperor to let him command the army because he was the strongest cultivator below the Imperial Ancestor. His cultivation had reached the Peak of the Void Refinement Realm.
The Emperor handed him the Army Command Seal.
No one objected because they all knew his strength and military experience.
After that, the Imperial Prince stood in the sky and announced,
"We will depart to invade the Bai Empire in half an hour."
Meanwhile...
In the Bai Empire, inside the imperial capital, the Emperor had gathered all the noble families, sect leaders, generals, and ministers in order to find a way to protect the Empire from invasion and destruction.
One of the sect elders stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, we only have three Void Refinement cultivators. With the ancestor of the Qing Family, we now have four. The Chu Empire has six Void Refinement cultivators, not including their ancestor who has reached the Half-Saint level."
"What should we do?"
"Should we surrender and become a vassal empire?"
The Emperor became furious and shouted,
"Execute him. He is a traitor."
Two masked men appeared and immediately cut off his head.
Most of the people stepped back in fear that they would also be killed.
The Emperor thought to himself,
"Wouldn't that be the same as handing the Bai Family over to be executed by them?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the War General, who said,
"Your Majesty, we will fight to the death. Either we lose, or we destroy them. Even if we lose, we will have killed most of their army and cultivators. The Chu Empire will become weak, and then it will be invaded."
The Prime Minister stood up and rejected the idea.
"Are you going to sacrifice the Empire and its people just to perish together with the Chu Empire?"
The general replied,
"Then what should we do? Suggest a solution."
The Prime Minister remained silent and did not answer.
Qing Li's ancestor stood up and said,
"Why don't we divide the army into four divisions? Each division will have a Void Refinement cultivator as its commander. Every division will also be prepared with many traps and formations. That way, their army will be forced to split into four divisions, and each division will be led by one Void Refinement cultivator. They will only have two Void Refinement cultivators left. One will protect the princess, and the other will be Chu Fang, the strongest Void Refinement cultivator. The Imperial Ancestor will fight him."
The Emperor said,
"Do you want to sacrifice the Imperial Ancestor?"
Qing Li's ancestor replied,
"Your Majesty, is there any better solution than this? Besides, the Imperial Ancestor does not have much time left. We all know that."
The Emperor thought about refusing, but his thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of the Imperial Ancestor.
He said,
"I accept this plan."
"You know that I do not have much time left in this life, and I am injured. At least my death will benefit the Empire."
The Emperor ordered the plan to be carried out.
The Northern Army would be led by the War General.
The Southern Army would be led by the Qing Family's ancestor.
The Western Army would be led by the Imperial Throne Guardian.
The Eastern Army would be led by the Emperor.
While the Bai Empire was making its preparations, the Chu Empire's army had already crossed the northern border.
As they approached, they found a large army from the Bai Empire waiting for them, led by the War General.
Chu Fang found this strange and ordered the army to split into four divisions to invade from all directions.
Only he, the Princess's Protector, and the princess herself headed toward the imperial capital.
The battle began between the Bai Empire's War General and the Chu Empire's Prime Minister.
The Bai Empire's War General stood in the sky, laughing as he said,
"Li Kao, do you think you're enough to kill me?"
Li Kao replied,
"Yes, I am enough to kill you, Guan Yu."
Their battle began.
Guan Yu used a Heavenly Grade technique, one of the Bai Family's treasures, to attack Li Kao.
Li Kao tried to block it but failed.
He coughed up blood and retreated.
As he retreated, Guan Yu chased after him.
He then fell into a restraining treasure controlled by Li Kao together with several Soul Transformation cultivators who were helping him control it.
They began attacking Guan Yu with many techniques.
Even his armor was close to breaking.
Cracks began to appear on it, and blood started flowing from several wounds on his body.
When he realized that he might die, he used a technique that burned his lifespan in exchange for power.
He became stronger, broke the treasure, and killed all the Soul Transformation cultivators with a single sword strike before they could even react.
He then cut off Li Kao's right arm.
After that, he began attacking the Chu army below and wiped out half of it.
He looked at Li Kao with bloodshot eyes as he continued chasing him.
Li Kao was forced to burn his vitality in order to fight him.
Even so, he was still unable to match Guan Yu.
As the battle continued, a large wound appeared on Li Kao's body.
However, he managed to injure Guan Yu and cut off his left arm.
A few minutes later, Guan Yu succeeded in cutting off Li Kao's head.
Afterward, Guan Yu fell from the sky.
Even so, the Bai Empire's army on the northern battlefield achieved victory.
On the western battlefield, the Bai Empire's army, led by the Imperial Throne Guardian, was engaged in a bloody battle against the Chu Empire's army led by the Eastern Guardian General.
On the eastern battlefield, the Bai Empire's army, led by the Emperor, was fighting against the Chu Empire's army led by the Western Guardian General.
On the southern battlefield, the Bai Empire's army, led by the Qing Family's ancestor, was fighting against the Chu Empire's army led by the Master of the Hybrid Azure Dragon Sect.
The Qing Family's ancestor was flying in the sky, facing the Master of the Hybrid Azure Dragon Sect.
The Qing Family's ancestor said,
"Chi Yan, it seems you want to die."
Chi Yan replied,
"Qing Ji, it seems this pile of bones wants to drag his family down together with the Bai Empire."
"Why don't you surrender?"
"I will guarantee your family's safety."
Qing Ji replied,
"Shut up and fight me."
"I don't like offers from half-lizards."
Their battle began.
Qing Ji lifted a mountain and threw it at the Chu army.
Chi Yan moved to stop the mountain.
The two began exchanging attacks on equal footing.
Below them, about 500 meters away, Qing Li was fighting Soul Transformation cultivators with ease.
He used the Power of the Stars inside his dantian to increase his strength.
He killed one of the Soul Transformation cultivators.
Ding!
(System): You have obtained 100 Evil Points for killing a Soul Transformation cultivator.
Qing Li: (●__●)
"What is this, System? Is this something new or what?"
(System): You never asked me before.
Qing Li: Damn you.
"System, if I kill a stronger cultivator, will I get more points?"
(System): Yes.
Qing Li then began hunting Soul Transformation cultivators, using the Saint Grade Sword that he had obtained from the inheritance.
He continuously used the Fate Severing Technique that he had taken from Chu Feng.
He fought like a madman without caring about the consumption of his spiritual energy.
100 Evil Points.
100 Evil Points.
100 Evil Points.
100 Evil Points.
100 Evil Points.
He killed more than fifteen cultivators, causing the Chu forces to retreat.
Chi Yan looked toward Qing Li and felt that he had to kill him in order to save what remained of the cultivators.
He rushed toward Qing Li at high speed.
Qing Ji tried to stop him, but Chi Yan got past him and approached Qing Li.
He launched an attack at him.
Qing Li managed to block it, but his right arm was shattered, and he was sent flying two hundred meters like a ball.
Chi Yan chased after him to kill him.
However, Qing Ji struck him with the Mountains and Rivers Strike.
A hole appeared in Chi Yan's chest, and he was knocked backward.
Even so, he did not give up on killing Qing Li.
He burned his vitality.
Then he rushed toward Qing Li again and launched another attack at him.
Qing Li shouted,
"System! Do you have anything that can save my life? Use all of my points to save me!"
The System did not reply.
The attack drew closer.
"Damn you, System!"
(System): Life-Saving Item purchased.