The fire below burned ever more fiercely. Over a thousand corpses had all been set ablaze, and the sea of flames surged into the sky, the thick smoke making it impossible to linger.
The remaining two red-robed eunuchs struggled only briefly before perishing here, burned to ashes.
By the time they stepped out of the dark, narrow limestone cave, dawn had begun to break outside.
Morning mist filled the air. The trees were lush and verdant, their drooping leaves scattering crystalline dewdrops from their tips.
Only then did Su Changqing realize that it was already morning.
"A whole night. This battle was truly difficult." Zhou Chu, his face blackened with soot and a long blade in hand, sighed softly.
Too many had died: the East Factory, the Imperial Guard, and the bandits of Cloud Dragon Village.
This had been no less than a small-scale battle.
And this war had begun only because of a single sentence from the Empress: I want to see the scenery of Cloud Dragon Mountain.
Cloud Dragon Mountain—mountains linked to water, water linked to mountains.
The seven peaks echoed one another beneath the morning mist, vast as the heavens. A seven-colored rainbow appeared, dreamlike and illusory.
"The Suppression Bureau has won a great victory!" Jin Yichuan shouted.
"A great victory!"
"A great victory!"
As everyone descended, Zuo Qianhu still had not awakened. The Earth Fiend Realm's Life-and-Death Gate was simply too difficult, especially since all his true qi had been exhausted. Even though Su Changqing and Jin Yichuan had both poured a great deal of true qi into him—
—it was still a drop in the ocean.
He needed an Earth Fiend Realm expert to stir the power of the Earth Fiend within him.
There were Earth Fiend Realm experts among the Imperial Guard, but whether he could truly break through still depended on Zuo Qianhu's own fate.
Several large ships sailed across Cloud Dragon Lake, riding the wind and waves straight toward Chang'an City.
The banner of the Suppression Bureau hung from the prow.
They had traveled by land when they came, concealing their tracks.
Now that every bandit of Cloud Dragon Village had been wiped out, they could naturally return by ship.
Su Changqing stood at the bow, dressed in a gold-embroidered Flying Fish Robe, Frost Snow hanging at his waist.
The many Imperial Guards all looked toward him, their hearts surging with emotion.
Today, they had witnessed Commander Su's rise.
The youth stood tall and straight, handsome and elegant. His Flying Fish Robe was black as ink and spotless, reflecting the rising sun as morning mist drifted around him.
His glossy black hair spilled over his shoulders. The gold-embroidered flying fish fluttered in the wind, and his unmatched bearing, resolute face, and aura made him seem like an immortal banished to the mortal world.
"With Su Changqing in the Suppression Bureau, we are better off than with ten Tai Longs," Jin Yichuan praised.
Tai Long had indeed died miserably. While clearing the area, some Imperial Guards had discovered that he had drowned deep beneath the lake.
Besides that, there was also a Thousand-Year Old Clam, which Jin Yichuan had ordered people to haul ashore.
Presenting this item to those above would be enough to earn a great merit, especially that pearl the size of a woman's fist.
Jin Yichuan guessed that Tai Long had been tempted by the treasure and missed his chance to come up for air.
But regardless, Tai Long was surely the only person who had ever drowned like that.
"Su Changqing is truly loyal. Not only did he risk his life to save me, he also risked himself to save Zuo Qianhu. I must become good friends with him when I get the chance. He is far better than Tai Long and his master."
Jin Yichuan murmured to himself inwardly.
He did not know that without Su Changqing... he probably would not have suffered so badly.
"Commander Su, um..." Zhou Chu stepped forward and cupped his hands slightly.
"What is it?" Su Changqing asked with a slight frown.
"That woman... has already been sent to Commander Su's room."
Su Changqing's eyes narrowed as he looked at him. "When did I say I wanted her sent into my room?"
Jiang Xingxing was indeed extraordinarily beautiful. Her long legs were straight and slender. Though her skin was not like congealed snow, she was tall and willowy, with exquisite features.
But was Feng Qingxue or Lin Yuchan any inferior to her?
Su Changqing did not care for beauty.
The system's evaluation was something to listen to and leave at that.
Actually ravage her for ten days? Cooperate with the system, then make Jiang Xingxing hate him?
Su Changqing had a better method.
During this expedition through the Seven Mountains of Cloud Dragon, Ye Ronghuo, Li Kongxiang, and the others had died, but Gongsun Wuji was certainly still alive. Su Changqing had not interfered with him either.
Without Snow Drifting Through the Mortal Realm from the Three Slashes of Buried Flowers, no one could open the tomb of the Flower Burial Martial Saint.
Gongsun Wuji was also one of the pieces Su Changqing had planned to use.
And at present, Jiang Xingxing was the only person in the Great Shang Dynasty who knew this blade technique.
She would be one of Su Changqing's pieces.
As for beauty, no matter how talented, stunning, or peerless a woman might be, she was no more than fleeting clouds in Su Changqing's eyes.
When the hundred-year limit arrived, even rosy cheeks would become bleached bones.
Su Changqing wished to step into the Martial Saint Realm, using Profound Heaven True Qi to extend his lifespan and temper the strongest body.
Shattering the Void was difficult. There were only a handful of people in the world capable of it.
Yet he had a hidden trump card. Before Ji Xingyue rose to power, however, he needed to become stronger.
"My path is arduous. I shall walk it slowly and steadily, with no regrets for the rest of my life."
Su Changqing murmured to himself inwardly. His eyes were profound as he gazed at the emerald waves before him.
A day passed. More than three thousand people had come with the Suppression Bureau, but only 1,783 returned. More than a thousand had died.
Other than Su Changqing breaking through the mountain first, the assault on Cloud Dragon Mountain had been difficult for everyone else.
But in the end, seven Xiantian Realm red-robed eunuchs had died, along with eight hundred men from the East and West Factories.
The Divine Marquis did not condemn them. Instead, he sent an Earth Fiend Realm expert to treat Zuo Qianhu's injuries.
Within Commander Su's courtyard at the Suppression Bureau.
Su Changqing stood beneath a large banyan tree. After a moment of silence, a shocking thought suddenly came to him.
"The Seventy-two Earth Fiends and Thirty-six Heavenly Gang... could they be not formations, but people cultivated by the Divine Marquis?"
In Number One Under Heaven from his previous life, those people had been very weak. But that might not mean anything, since the opponents they faced had been the even stronger Heaven, Earth, and Yellow.
"If that is true, then when a great calamity comes, I will leave the Suppression Bureau."
Su Changqing stroked Frost Snow. Blossoms of ice crystals curled around his fingertips, his heart chilled and his gaze slightly narrowed as he spoke softly.
The only time he had ever acted willfully was in the Cold Palace, when he had first emerged into the world and saved Ji Xingyue.
No matter how chaotic things became, he would not join any faction. Neither would Ji Xingyue.
"Earth Fiends have initially grasped the power of heaven and earth. Once Zuo Qianhu returns, I wonder whether A Chinese Ghost Story will open."
After pondering for a moment, Su Changqing stopped thinking about it and pushed open the door.
There was only a table and a chair inside, with no decorations. Yet on the bed lay a red-robed woman with cold eyes, the finest decoration of all.
Her red robes fell to her toes. Her long, straight legs were tied to the bed in a tight bundle, and she stared coldly at Su Changqing.
"Imperial Guard dog!" Jiang Xingxing muttered through the cloth sealing her mouth.
"Do you know? You should have died," Su Changqing said calmly as he stood by the table and poured himself a cup of water.
"You cultivate the Three Slashes of Buried Flowers, yet you have not even entered the first slash. I truly do not know how Martial Uncle taught you in the past."
Jiang Xingxing froze where she was.
He walked over to Jiang Xingxing and removed the strip of cloth from her mouth.
They faced each other at close range, her fragrance assailing him and stirring ripples in his heart.
Jiang Xingxing's eyes flickered. Her lashes were long, like two crescent moons, soft and captivating enough that even Su Changqing could not help feeling moved.
"Imperial Guard dog, you still want to deceive me!" Jiang Xingxing said coldly.
"If I meant to deceive you, how would I know the Three Slashes of Buried Flowers? This blade technique originated in Fusang of the Eastern Seas. The first slash is called Snow Drifting Through the Mortal Realm."
Su Changqing looked at her calmly.
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