“My Prince?”

Mo Yu Yao waved his hand, casually wiping away the blood from his lips. “Ling Tie Han truly lives up to his reputation.” Though he seemed to have the upper hand, with Mo Yu Yao’s insight how could he not see that Ling Tie Han was deliberately showing weakness? Moreover, though Ling Tie Han was heavily injured, his internal injuries weren’t light either. As Ling Tie Han had said, if he fought with all his strength, the result would probably just be who died more miserably. He had no intention of perishing together with Ling Tie Han.

“My Prince, should we…?” the guard beside him asked softly. The King of Hell Palace was almost destroyed, and Ling Tie Han was seriously injured. If they sent people to follow and wipe out Ling Tie Han’s group in one sweep, it wasn’t impossible.

Mo Yu Yao shook his head, “Forget it, we’ll deal with this later.” He believed Cold Liu Yue when she said Ling Tie Han had shown mercy to A-Li. At their level of martial arts, if one wanted to ambush someone unless they were of equal skill, few could survive. Of course, Mo Yu Yao had also calculated that Ling Tie Han would not oppose the Defined Prince’s manor for Lightning Zhen Ting’s sake, but he hadn’t expected Ling Tie Han would still make his move. Even if A-Li hadn’t been injured, he couldn’t just pretend nothing had happened.

“Ling Tie Han still has his uses. Later, send a letter to him on This Prince’s behalf,” Mo Yu Yao said.

“Yes.”

“My Prince, an urgent letter from Commander Mo.” A shadow guard appeared before Mo Yu Yao, presenting a letter with both hands. Mo Yu Yao raised an eyebrow and took the letter, opening it. His expression changed instantly. “Mo Jing Li, This Prince will make you beg for life yet find no death!”

The two shadow guards standing nearby imperceptibly stepped back, silently praying for whoever had angered their Prince.

Mo Yu Yao stared at the letter in his hand, his gaze sinister. Want to make A-Li Empress? This Prince will ensure you can’t even be Emperor – let’s see what you’ll use to make her Empress then!

“Come,” After a long while, Mo Yu Yao crushed the letter to powder in his hand and scattered it.

“My Prince, please command.” A black-robed shadow guard appeared behind Mo Yu Yao, bowing to receive orders. Mo Yu Yao said flatly, “Have Mo Hua personally go to Nanjing with This Prince’s token. Tell the Empress Dowager that Great Chu can have a different Emperor. This Prince guarantees Mo Jing Li won’t return to cause her trouble.”

“This servant obeys.” The shadow guard glanced at Mo Yu Yao’s gloomy face and quickly took the order before vanishing. The Prince was in a bad mood – whoever ran into him would suffer.

On the third day after Lightning Zhen Ting left Flying Hong Pass, the flames of war that had briefly stopped were reignited. Perhaps because they had confirmed Mo Yu Yao’s death, this time the Western Ling army no longer carefully probed and maneuvered as they had when facing Mo Yu Yao. Instead, the entire army advanced together, rushing straight for Flying Hong Pass. Meanwhile, the Great Chu reinforcements that Mo Jing Li had originally brought to aid Cold Valley Pass bypassed it entirely, taking the Jade Ming Pass route northwest, quickly occupying Yu State’s Li Yang City to block the only major road from the Chu capital and Cold Valley Pass to Flying Hong Pass.

Li Yang was the necessary route from the Chu capital to Flying Hong Pass, and also the home of the Xu family, originally Yu State’s great clan. After the entire Xu family moved northwest ten years ago, Li Yang’s premier clan became the Chu family, which had marriage ties with the Xu family. Unfortunately, although Mo Jing Li was the Great Chu’s Emperor, his arrival wasn’t welcomed by Yu State and Li Yang’s common people. Even the famous noble families of Yu State closed their doors one by one, completely ignoring Mo Jing Li. This left the originally confident Mo Jing Li thoroughly rebuffed. If he had retained even a shred of rationality, he might have executed these noble families’ entire households one by one.

On the other side, Lightning Zhen Ting’s Western Ling army wasn’t faring well either. Under the leadership of several famous generals including Murong Shen, the Mo family army had dispersed and infiltrated, creating trouble everywhere for the Western Ling army. Although in terms of military strategy and force, Murong Shen, General Nan, and others couldn’t compare to Lightning Zhen Ting, when it came to simply causing chaos and hindering the army’s advance, it wasn’t difficult. Especially since when everyone left Flying Hong Pass, they had just received the Defined Princess’s instruction in the sixteen-character maxim: “When enemy advances, we retreat; when enemy retreats, we pursue; when enemy camps, we harass; when enemy tires, we strike.” These veterans of many years on the battlefield naturally quickly integrated this, making Lightning Zhen Ting as frustrated as if he had swallowed a fly – couldn’t spit it out, couldn’t swallow it down comfortably.

In the Western Ling army camp, Lightning Zhen Ting stared coldly at the map before him. The news of Mo Yu Yao’s death and the good news of soon defeating the Mo family army now brought him no pleasure or joy. Looking at Lei Teng Feng who entered wearing battle robes and showing signs of fatigue, he asked in a deep voice, “How many more days until we reach Flying Hong Pass?”

Lei Teng Feng said, “Originally our army would reach Flying Hong Pass within three days. But now… it will take at least half a month. Father King, now that Mo Yu Yao is dead, we don’t need to rush. Shouldn’t we clear out these weeds first?” As long as Mo Yu Yao was dead, the Mo family army had lost its leader. Given time to gradually wear them down, Western Ling would eventually defeat the Mo family army. So Lei Teng Feng really couldn’t understand why his father was in such a hurry, even ignoring the threat of Murong Shen and General Nan behind them.

Lightning Zhen Ting shook his head, “We don’t have time.”

“Father King?” Lei Teng Feng raised an eyebrow in confusion. Lightning Zhen Ting smiled bitterly, “Mo Yu Yao’s death is a good thing for Western Ling. But… for the Garrison South King’s manor, this timing might not be good.”

“Your son is slow-witted,” Lei Teng Feng lowered his head, saying in confusion.

Lightning Zhen Ting sighed and said, “Teng Feng, the Garrison South King’s manor isn’t the Western Ling royal family’s direct line after all. In An City, there’s still His Majesty.” The Western Ling Emperor truly wasn’t very capable, but he wasn’t a fool either. These years, he had just been playing dumb.

Lei Teng Feng frowned, “His Majesty? What can he do? Western Ling is under Father King’s control.”

Lightning Zhen Ting shook his head, “How powerful was the Defined Prince’s manor back then? Yet it was nearly destroyed by Mo Jing Li, whom even you look down upon. Isn’t that lesson enough?”

“Father King means?!” Lei Teng Feng said in surprise.

Lightning Zhen Ting smiled slightly bitterly. Originally with Mo Yu Yao as a powerful enemy, the Western Ling Emperor naturally had his reservations. Who said the Western Ling Emperor was completely mediocre? These years, Lightning Zhen Ting had shouldered all Western Ling’s affairs large and small, working himself to exhaustion. But the legitimate ruler of Western Ling, high above all, was still the Western Ling Emperor. And now, Mo Yu Yao was dead, while Lightning Zhen Ting was away at war – it was the perfect time for the Western Ling Emperor to seize power.

Lei Teng Feng frowned. He had never thought much of his uncle sitting on the throne. But he also understood that the fact that the incompetent Western Ling Emperor could sit steadily on the throne for so many years was itself a kind of ability. After all, the Garrison South King’s manor wasn’t like the former Defined Prince’s manor, wholeheartedly supporting the royal family. But if they were slightly careless, the former Defined Prince’s manor would become a cautionary tale for the Garrison South King’s manor.

“Your son’s thoughts were inadequate, please punish me, Father King,” Lei Teng Feng bowed to request punishment.

Lightning Zhen Ting waved his hand and smiled, “Enough, I know you’ve been irritated by Murong Shen and the others these past few days. But what you said isn’t wrong either – this can’t continue. I’ll leave you twenty hundred thousand troops, can you cover our army’s retreat?”

Lei Teng Feng’s spirit lifted as he responded clearly, “Your son will not disappoint Father King.”

Lightning Zhen Ting nodded and said, “Father King believes in you, but… be extremely careful. Just holding them back is enough, don’t rush to destroy the enemy. The Mo family army’s sudden change in tactics must have an expert advising them behind the scenes.”

Lei Teng Feng frowned and said, “An expert? Besides Mo Yu Yao, does the Mo family army have experts that even Father King finds difficult to handle?”

Lightning Zhen Ting pondered for a moment, then sighed with a somewhat complex expression, “If This King’s guess isn’t wrong, it should be Ye Li. Besides her, everyone in the Mo family army are warriors who fought their way up from the battlefield – they wouldn’t have such an imaginative strategy.” Lightning Zhen Ting never knew quite how to evaluate Ye Li. In his view, Ye Li definitely couldn’t be called a peerless military talent. But this woman repeatedly achieved surprising military results that no one expected. When studying her tactics afterward, Lightning Zhen Ting discovered that Ye Li’s tactics could only be described with one phrase: “unexpected.” Because they were unexpected, they couldn’t be copied. Such tactics required wild imagination and extraordinary courage. Of course, Lightning Zhen Ting would never guess that Ye Li’s tactics weren’t due to some wild imagination or strange talent, but rather her thousands of years more military knowledge and experience. True genius necessarily creates its unique domain, and Ye Li was still far from reaching such a level.

Lei Teng Feng nodded solemnly and said, “Father King, rest assured, Teng Feng absolutely won’t act rashly.” The thirty-something Lei Teng Feng was long past his reckless youth and knew what mattered. Therefore, he absolutely wouldn’t jeopardize his father’s entire plan for temporary military achievement.

Lightning Zhen Ting nodded and said, “Father King naturally trusts you. Well then, go prepare. Tonight, This King will lead troops to depart under cover of night.”

“Yes, Father King take care. Teng Feng takes his leave.”

Flying Hong Pass

“Reporting to the Princess: Garrison South King Lightning Zhen Ting leads seven hundred thousand troops advancing toward Flying Hong Pass in two routes.” In the General’s manor, Ye Li and Han Ming Yue stopped their chess game. Ye Li smiled calmly and said, “So they’ve finally come?”

Han Ming Yue methodically returned the chess pieces to the box beside them, smiling as he said, “The Princess doesn’t seem nervous at all.”

Ye Li smiled and said, “Nervousness only leads to wrong judgments – besides that, it has no benefit at all. Moreover, isn’t this something we already knew would happen?”

Han Ming Yue raised his sword-like eyebrows and smiled without speaking. He had always been curious about where Ye Li’s bottom line truly was. But it seemed nothing could make her truly collapse or feel fear. “The Princess’s strength of mind puts even men to shame.”

Ye Li smiled and shook her head, saying, “Actually, women’s endurance and capacity for bearing hardship were originally far greater than men’s, it’s just…” Just that in this era, women had long been bound by various ethical teachings, and raised in deep chambers without experiencing wind and rain. To the point where encountering even small matters, they could only scream in pain, suffer, or even faint.

Han Ming Yue smiled and said, “Seeing the Princess, this one believes these words.”

Ye Li smiled helplessly – she had been forced into this, hadn’t she? At this time, if even she lost her composure, the entire Flying Hong Pass would likely immediately fall into chaos. Looking at Ye Li’s composed and elegant countenance, Han Ming Yue asked, “In at most two days, Lightning Zhen Ting’s army will likely be at our gates. What are the Princess’s plans?”

“Plans?” Ye Li raised her eyebrows with a faint smile, “How about we first send him a grand gift before discussing plans?”

“This one eagerly awaits,” Han Ming Yue smiled.

Two days later, less than ten li from Flying Hong Pass, the Western Ling army advanced with high morale, breaking through all resistance like bamboo. Seeing Flying Hong Pass seemingly within reach, Lightning Zhen Ting, walking at the front, finally showed a trace of a smile. Once they took Flying Hong Pass, there would be no more defensible passes in the Northwest territory. Without Mo Yu Yao, and with their main commanders sent away, the Mo family army would surely be headless dragons. Then… Ye Li, would you regret it?

“My King, we’re less than ten li from Flying Hong Pass. Shall we make camp here?” A scout general rode back and reported with cupped hands. Lightning Zhen Ting raised an eyebrow, looking at the terrain ahead. The land was open and flat, with only a solitary mountain to the southwest. Though not ideal for defense, equally, in this open plain, it would be extremely difficult for the enemy to launch a surprise attack. Although Lightning Zhen Ting didn’t believe Ye Li could spare forces for an ambush now, he still had to be cautious.

Nodding, Lightning Zhen Ting said, “Make camp here. Prepare to attack at dawn tomorrow.”

“This subordinate obeys!” The vice general departed with orders to have the entire army make camp.

On that solitary mountain not far away, Ye Li stood with Feng Zhi Yao and others in a hidden spot on the cliff, watching the Western Ling army making camp below. Seeing the dense, orderly troops and horses, Han Ming Xi couldn’t help but sigh repeatedly, “There must be seventy or eighty hundred thousand men – are we going to defend Flying Hong Pass to the death?” Flying Hong Pass didn’t even have three hundred thousand men.

Feng Zhi Yao glanced at him and said, “Unless Master Wind Moon can think of a place easier to defend and harder to attack than Flying Hong Pass.” Once the Western Ling army passed Flying Hong Pass, there would be no more defense. It was flat to Li City’s feet, and even Li City couldn’t be called impregnable. Li City itself was just a rebuilt northwestern city of moderate size. Though it had been ten years, its defenses were still far inferior to Western Ling’s imperial city and the Chu capital.

Han Ming Xi shrugged indifferently – he didn’t handle battlefield matters anyway, he was just complaining idly.

“Princess, what are we looking at here? To see how many troops Lightning Zhen Ting brought?” Feng Zhi Yao was also curious. The Princess said she would prepare a grand gift for Lightning Zhen Ting’s army, but he didn’t know what she had prepared that required coming here to see.

Ye Li looked at the Western Ling army making camp below and sighed somewhat helplessly, “This isn’t a good spot, but we can’t be picky. Qin Feng, is everything ready?”

Standing behind Ye Li, Qin Feng nodded and said, “Princess, please be at ease, it’s been ready for some time.”

“Very good, begin. Lightning Zhen Ting should send people up the mountain soon,” Ye Li nodded and said.

“Yes.” Qin Feng waved his hand, and over a hundred Black Cloud Riders appeared at the cliff edge, holding bows and arrows aimed at the camp below.

Feng Zhi Yao couldn’t help but roll his eyes, “Princess, you’re not planning to greet Lightning Zhen Ting with just these hundred men?” Let alone whether they could hit anything at this distance, even if they did hit, how much damage could they do? Just considering a hundred men against eight hundred thousand – even if these Black Cloud Riders shot until they foamed at the mouth, they couldn’t kill many.

Ye Li smiled and said, “Just watch carefully. Fire!”

Whoosh whoosh–!

The black arrows left their bowstrings, shooting toward the Western Ling camp. The Western Ling army were all elites as well – hearing the sound of arrows cutting through the air, they immediately reacted, “Enemy attack!”

In an instant, the whole army was on alert. But fast as the Western Ling soldiers’ reactions were, they couldn’t outpace arrows already in flight. Soon they discovered the black arrows weren’t aimed at people but at empty ground or hay piles and tents. Just as everyone was wondering what this meant, the battle-hardened Lightning Zhen Ting instinctively sensed danger and shouted harshly, “Retreat!”

“BOOM!” Before his words fell, there was an earth-shattering explosion, followed by a series of massive blasts accompanied by thick gunpowder smoke rising from the not-yet-fully-established camp. Mixed with the explosions were countless soldiers’ screams of agony.

The continuous explosions lasted nearly a quarter-hour before gradually subsiding. Because of the thick smoke from the explosions, when Lightning Zhen Ting stood up somewhat disheveled, what he saw was countless severed limbs and complete chaos. Many soldiers had been blown to death, the unlucky ones blasted to pieces. Even more were seriously wounded, missing arms and legs, lying on the ground in agony. Even those fortunate enough to avoid injury were frightened, some of the more timid collapsed on the ground crying for their parents.

It wasn’t that Western Ling’s soldiers were too cowardly, but that no one had ever seen such terrifying power. If anyone had paid close attention to the details of how the Mo family army had seized the Chu capital back then, perhaps they would have been somewhat prepared. But in that battle, the Mo family army had used very little explosive powder and hadn’t caused major casualties. Moreover, they had tightly controlled information afterward – even their soldiers knew little about it, let alone Western Ling’s people.

On the cliff, everyone stared dumbfounded at the scene before them. After a long while, Feng Zhi Yao finally squeezed out words from his throat, “So powerful…” Feng Zhi Yao had seen these things in the Chu capital at that time but hadn’t been particularly impressed. Because those things were troublesome to transport, quite bulky, and more importantly, their killing power wasn’t particularly special. But this time, the impact was enough to shock him.

Ye Li looked at the devastation below, lowering her gaze in silence.

“Ye Li?!” Below, Lightning Zhen Ting finally couldn’t help but roar in fury at the devastating scene before him. His gaze shot like lightning toward the crowd on the cliff, accurately finding Ye Li’s position. Lightning Zhen Ting was beside himself with rage – in this explosion just now, Western Ling’s army had over ten thousand soldiers dead or seriously wounded. Although this wasn’t much to Lightning Zhen Ting who currently commanded over seven hundred thousand troops, the Mo family army had inflicted such damage on Western Ling without losing a single soldier – the consequences and impact on Western Ling’s army would be far more than just losing tens of thousands of troops.

Lightning Zhen Ting leaped up, pouncing toward Ye Li and the others. In mid-air, Lightning Zhen Ting’s sword swept out a fierce sword energy rushing toward Ye Li’s position.

Han Ming Yue and Feng Zhi Yao simultaneously stepped forward to block this sword energy, while over a hundred Black Cloud Riders’ arrows simultaneously aimed and shot at Lightning Zhen Ting. In mid-air, Lightning Zhen Ting had nowhere to borrow force – if he didn’t want to become a hedgehog, he would have to abandon his attack on Ye Li and retreat.

But Lightning Zhen Ting was so enraged that with one sweep of his sword, he knocked down all hundred-plus arrows at once, his sword momentum undiminished as it swept toward Ye Li again.

After one failed attack, the Black Cloud Riders didn’t panic, continuing to draw and lose arrows.

Feng Zhi Yao, Qin Feng, Han Ming Yue, and others all simultaneously moved in front of Ye Li – if by chance the Black Cloud Riders still couldn’t stop Lightning Zhen Ting, they would have to act to ensure Ye Li’s safety. The only one who couldn’t help, Han Ming Xi, stood beside Ye Li and with sharp eyes saw her take out something very strange-looking from her sleeve and adjust it a few times. Then he saw Ye Li raise that thing forward and say in a deep voice, “Feng San, move aside.”

Standing in front of Ye Li, Feng Zhi Yao started, reflexively obeying and stepping aside. There was a loud bang. Feng Zhi Yao only felt a forceful wind shoot past him. The previously fierce Lightning Zhen Ting in mid-air suddenly stiffened, then slowly dropped down. Feng Zhi Yao saw blood bloom on Lightning Zhen Ting’s shoulder, but he hadn’t seen any arrow hit him – and Feng Zhi Yao would guarantee no arrow had struck Lightning Zhen Ting.

Everyone turned back in shock to look at the white-robed woman. Ye Li still held that thing – it looked very strange, with a small black hole, but even widely experienced people like Feng Zhi Yao and Han Ming Xi couldn’t tell what kind of hidden weapon it was. They only felt that although this thing wasn’t attractive, in Ye Li’s hand it seemed to carry a unique elegant killing intent.

More importantly, this unremarkable thing had wounded Western Ling’s Garrison South King Lightning Zhen Ting, one of the world’s four great masters.

“What… what is this?”

Ye Li frowned, sighing somewhat helplessly. Looking at the pistol in her hand, she sighed, “I missed.” Unfortunately, this was the best pistol they could make currently, and they couldn’t mass produce it. This was a single-shot pistol, effective only within 150 meters, and Lightning Zhen Ting’s lightness skill was too good – she didn’t even have a chance to use a rifle. But compared to what she’d seen last time, at least the killing power and stability had improved significantly, rather than remaining just a laughable toy.

“What would happen if you didn’t miss?” In Han Ming Xi’s view, when over a hundred Black Cloud Riders couldn’t hit Lightning Zhen Ting but Ye Li brought him down with one shot, that was already quite an achievement.

Ye Li smiled and said, “I originally thought I could hit the head with one hundred percent certainty.”

“You wanted to shoot through Lightning Zhen Ting’s head?!” Everyone was chilled.

Ye Li shook her head, “This gun’s penetration isn’t strong – it couldn’t penetrate at this distance.”

Even without penetration, it was terrifying. Imagining someone like Lightning Zhen Ting with a hole in his head… everyone’s looks at Ye Li could be called horrified. No, they were looking at the thing in Ye Li’s hand – this was the world’s greatest hidden weapon.