Ding Hao, Same Name?

When Ding Hao returned to the Death Row Camp once more, all he saw were looks of reverence and envy!

Clearly.

News of Ding Hao claiming the Merit of First to Ascend had already spread throughout the entire Death Row Camp!

"Brother Ding, impressive skills!"

"Brother Ding has claimed the Merit of First to Ascend and will soon shed his death-row status. Congratulations!"

"We have Brother Ding Hao to thank today. Otherwise, forget about being rewarded with wine and meat—probably only a few of us would have made it back alive!"

The death row prisoners all flattered and thanked Ding Hao. In the end, they even gave him one of the scarce wooden beds in the Death Row Camp.

Ding Hao did not refuse. He accepted it with perfect calm.

Although he had only been in this world for a few months, he had long understood the law by which this world operated: the strong were honored!

Now that he had grown stronger, he should enjoy better treatment and special privileges. Otherwise, what was the point of striving to become stronger!

"From now on, no one is allowed within five meters of this bed without my permission!"

Ding Hao gave the order, and the death row prisoners immediately nodded respectfully and withdrew!

"Panel!"

With no one left to disturb him, Ding Hao immediately summoned his attribute panel!

Host: Ding Hao

Realm: Fourth Rank Martial Artist

Vitality: 450 (Unfused: 360)

Spirit: 30 (Unfused: 20)

Comprehension: 40 (Unfused: 60)

Luck: 0 (None for now)

Talents/Bloodlines: Innate Strength, Light as a Swallow, a wisp of Primordial Barbarian Bloodline (Unfused)

Cultivation Methods/Martial Arts: Tyrant Blade Slash (Unpracticed)

Possessions: Mysterious Iron Saber, broken shield, broken War Saber...

Looking at his character panel, his attributes were already far more dazzling than before the battle!

Aside from the unfused attributes, there were three other things worth noting.

The Primordial Barbarian Bloodline, Tyrant Blade Slash, and Mysterious Iron Saber—these three items had all been picked up from the corpse of Man Poqi, the Northern Barbarians' commanding general.

Primordial Barbarian Bloodline: A wisp of barbarian bloodline from the primordial age. Activating this bloodline granted the augmentation of primordial brute strength!

Tyrant Blade Slash: High-grade Martial Arts. A tyrannical saber art that cleaved with peerless blade force. At its peak, it could split gold and iron, shatter steles and crack rocks!

Mysterious Iron Saber: Forged by a Northern Barbarian bladesmith from thousand-year Mysterious Iron, tempered through a thousand hammerings and a hundred refinements. It could slice through iron like mud and sever hairs blown against its edge!

"System, fuse all the attributes first!"

Ding Hao's gaze burned as he immediately fused all the attributes he had accumulated!

In an instant, streams of heat surged through Ding Hao's body. Beneath the roaring vitality, his realm rose directly to the Fifth Rank!

Moreover, both his spirit and comprehension rose by another level!

After that, he chose to fuse that wisp of Primordial Barbarian Bloodline!

This time, the reaction was even more intense than the attribute fusion. The blood throughout his body boiled like water, while surging heat currents flowed without end!

After a long while.

Once the fusion was complete, he looked again. The attribute panel had become—

Host: Ding Hao

Realm: Fifth Rank Martial Artist

Vitality: 810

Spirit: 50

Comprehension: 100

Luck: 0 (None for now)

Talents/Bloodlines: Innate Strength, Light as a Swallow, Primordial Barbarian Bloodline

Cultivation Methods/Martial Arts: Tyrant Blade Slash (Unpracticed)

Possessions: Mysterious Iron Saber, broken shield, broken chopping saber...

"Though I'm only Fifth Rank now, with Innate Strength and the primordial brute strength granted by the Primordial Barbarian Bloodline..."

"Even the strength of a Seventh-Rank Martial Artist probably wouldn't be a match for me!"

Ding Hao estimated inwardly, his expression exhilarated. And this was not the end!

In the next moment, Ding Hao turned his attention to the manual of Tyrant Blade Slash!

One should know that cultivation methods and martial arts, from low to high, were generally divided into Beginner, Intermediate, High-grade, Grandmaster, Celestial Being level, and Immortal God level!

Within Great Zhou and the Northern Barbarians, High-grade Martial Arts were already exceedingly rare and difficult to cultivate. Generally speaking, only True Martial Realm warriors could practice them!

"System, let me study Tyrant Blade Slash!"

With a thought from Ding Hao, Tyrant Blade Slash immediately unfolded in his mind!

The reason High-grade Martial Arts were called High-grade Martial Arts was because they were—high-grade!

If ordinary warriors studied them, they would find them incomparably obscure and profound. Some would even see them as heavenly scriptures, utterly incapable of mastering them!

But Ding Hao was different. His original comprehension had been a mere 10 points, but now his comprehension had already risen to 100 points. By the numbers, his comprehension had increased tenfold.

Ding Hao estimated that even True Martial Realm experts like Ding Yishan and Man Poqi possessed nowhere near his current level of comprehension.

Thus, cultivating Tyrant Blade Slash within his mind was completely effortless.

Just as Ding Hao sat cross-legged on his bed, cultivating Tyrant Blade Slash.

In the shadows.

Zhang Dahu, commander of the Death Row Camp, stared at Ding Hao with a dark expression.

Several of his confidants stood beside him, indignantly speaking up for him.

"Commander, you're the commander of the Death Row Camp, the same military rank as a thousand-man commander. Yet General Ding humiliated you in front of everyone over a mere death-row prisoner. He showed you absolutely no respect!"

"Exactly! Even if Ding Hao earned the Merit of First to Ascend and the court pardoned his death-row prisoner status, so what? He's still just an ordinary grunt!"

"Commander, shall we find an opportunity to give him a good, hard lesson?"

At those words, Zhang Dahu turned and barked, "Don't you fucking do anything stupid! Throughout Great Zhou's history, how many death-row prisoners have ever won the Merit of First to Ascend?"

"That kid Ding Hao is a hot commodity right now. Everyone's attention is on him, especially Ding Yishan!"

"If we touch him now, are you saying I haven't suffered enough already?!"

The confidants immediately looked at one another, not daring to say another word!

At last, Zhang Dahu shot Ding Hao another glance and said coldly.

"Let that brat swagger around for a few days first. Once this fuss dies down, I'll find a chance to deal with him!"

"I, Zhang Dahu, have never swallowed this kind of bullshit in all my life!"

At the same time, Great Zhou Imperial City, Imperial Palace.

As the dynasty's center of power, the Great Zhou Imperial Palace was immensely vast and luxurious, with jade towers and grand halls scattered throughout, pavilions, terraces, and kiosks standing in profusion.

In the Imperial Study, before the dragon desk, the scent of books and ancient ink lingered as blue sandalwood incense curled through the air.

A woman wearing a phoenix crown sat at the desk, reading through memorials.

Her gold-and-crimson imperial robe draped to the floor. With handsome brows and a lovely face, she exuded an immense majesty that placed her high above all others, utterly beyond desecration!

She was the newly appointed Empress of Great Zhou.

And the only Empress in Great Zhou's history—Xia Weiyang!

Beside Xia Weiyang stood an elderly eunuch!

He was bent in respectful congratulations.

"Congratulations, Empress! Congratulations, Empress!"

"Under the leadership of Army Lord Luo, our Great Zhou Divine Phoenix Army has shown peerless valor, with victories reported one after another. Of the Northern Barbarians' thirteen passes, key strongholds such as Tianxian Pass, Black River Pass, and Duan Yun Pass have all been taken. Those mere northern barbarian savages are now—doomed to be destroyed before long!!"

To his surprise, Xia Weiyang raised her head and smiled coolly. "Hehe, Eunuch Wei, don't you think you said something wrong?"

"Wrong?"

At that moment, Wei Tong, who had been revered as the Eunuch King since the Former Emperor's reign, felt a chill run through his entire body, as though his head were no longer secure!

For he knew all too well just how ruthless the schemes and methods of the woman before him were—the Talented Woman who had ascended to Great Zhou's imperial throne!

Fortunately, Wei Tong understood the crux of the matter in an instant and hurriedly changed his tune, crying out, "Oh, oh, no, no, no! It is not that Army Lord Luo is brave. It is that Your Majesty's heavenly might is boundless and your governance wise, allowing the Divine Phoenix Army to win victory after victory. Heaven blesses Your Majesty!"

"Mhm~"

Only then did Xia Weiyang nod in satisfaction and continue reading the border war reports!

But very soon.

Her eyes narrowed as she picked up a battle report from Duan Yun Pass and read it again and again. "Death-row prisoner Ding Hao? He earned the Merit of First to Ascend?"

"Your Majesty, what is it?" Wei Tong could not help asking upon seeing this.

Xia Weiyang came back to herself and shook her head, scoffing inwardly.

She had engaged in deep exchanges with Ding Hao for several months—how could she not know what Ding Hao was capable of? It was probably merely someone with the same name.

But even if it was someone with the same name, she still found the name unpleasant!

Thus, with a sweep of her jade-like hand, she drew a large cross over it in an instant!

Then she added a line of small notes beneath it. Only then did she say wearily, "Wei Tong, send the reply to the border. I am tired~"

"Yes!"

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