"Your Majesty, a hundred thousand cavalry have surrounded the city, and two Grandmasters are overseeing the battle. We are sure to lose this war!"
"Our only option now is... is to move the capital. Only then can we preserve the royal bloodline and live to fight another day."
"Move the capital? Where would we go? The Qing Army's cavalry can cover eight hundred miles in a day."
"Can we outrun them? In this old minister's opinion, it would be better to... to open the gates and surrender. That might save the million people in the city from slaughter!"
Inside the imperial palace, in the court hall.
The emergency court session that had just been convened had already descended into chaos.
Faced with the Qing Army's menacing advance outside the city, these civil and military officials, who usually held themselves above everyone else, had completely shed their disguises.
They all revealed their truest, ugliest selves.
The officials who advocated moving the capital wanted to bundle up their gold and valuables and flee for their lives.
The officials who advocated surrender had secretly colluded with the Qing Army long ago, hoping to sell out their country for personal gain.
The entire hall was filled with arguments and cries, as though the apocalypse had arrived.
Li Yuechan sat upon the imperial throne, looking at the ministers below as they made spectacles of themselves.
A deep disappointment flashed through her clear eyes.
But more than that, she showed a composure far beyond her years.
"Enough!"
She slammed a hand against the armrest of the throne, and a loud thud rang out.
The sound was crisp and not particularly loud, yet it carried an unquestionable imperial authority that instantly drowned out all the noise.
Everyone was stunned, staring in shock at the petite figure on the throne.
"Chancellor, say that again."
Li Yuechan's gaze settled on the old minister who had just advocated surrender.
The old chancellor prided himself on being a veteran who had served three dynasties, and paid no heed to this young girl.
He stuck out his chin and spoke with the arrogance of an old man trading on his seniority.
"Your Majesty, this old minister is thinking of the people of the realm."
"They have two Grandmasters. This is a force we cannot hope to defeat."
"If we resist, both sides will be destroyed, and a million people in the Capital will be buried alongside Your Majesty! Surrender is the only way to survive."
"Well said."
Li Yuechan nodded, and a kind smile even appeared on her face.
But that smile filled the old chancellor with a strange sense of dread.
The next moment, Li Yuechan did something that left everyone dumbfounded.
She slowly drew the sword beside the throne, a weapon that symbolized the Son of Heaven's authority.
As the old chancellor stared in utter horror, she stepped down from the throne and brought her sword down.
"Pfft!"
A fine head rolled across the floor.
Blood stained Li Yuechan's golden dragon robe, lending her an even more imposing imperial air.
"Those who spread seditious lies and undermine the army's morale will be shown no mercy!"
Li Yuechan's icy, emotionless voice echoed through the deathly silent hall.
Her sudden display of iron-fisted ruthlessness left everyone completely dumbstruck.
After killing the man, she returned to the throne and sat down. Her gaze swept over the ministers below, who dared not even breathe, and she spoke each word slowly and distinctly.
"Flee? Tell me, where would you run?"
"The Qing Army's cavalry are right outside the city, with two Grandmasters overseeing them. The moment we leave the city, we'll be walking to our deaths."
"Surrender? Do you still remember the three-day massacre at the Liao Province border ten years ago?"
"After the Qing Army breached the city, they slaughtered all three hundred thousand soldiers and civilians within it, men and women, young and old."
"Do you think surrender will save your lives?!"
"I am the emperor of Great Gan, and behind me stand a million people in the Capital!"
"I cannot flee, and I will never surrender!"
"Now, only one path remains to us."
At this point, her voice suddenly rose, ringing with passion.
"We fight to the death! We defend the Capital and await the arrival of reinforcements."
"I will personally climb the city walls and stand alongside our soldiers to defend the capital of Great Gan to the death."
"Who among you is willing to live and die with me?!"
Her impassioned words exploded in everyone's hearts.
The Imperial Guard generals and officials who had favored fighting, all of whom had been ready to despair, were moved by her willingness to face death without flinching.
The blood in their veins blazed to life.
"This subject is willing to live or die with Your Majesty!"
Wang Jian, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard, was the first to drop to one knee, his voice booming like a great bell.
"We are willing to live or die with Your Majesty!"
More and more officials and generals fell to their knees, roaring loud enough to shake the heavens.
Just then, a calm voice drifted in from outside the hall.
Strangely, it rang out clearly over the voices of everyone present.
"A mere hundred thousand cavalry and two Grandmasters. That's all."
"Leave the matter outside the city to me."
As the words rang out, a young man dressed in black slowly entered the hall.
It was Lin Hanzhou, who had been in seclusion for half a month.
He paid no heed to the shocked looks of the surrounding officials, merely nodding calmly to Li Yuechan on the throne.
His half-month of seclusion had brought him tremendous gains.
Although his cultivation remained at the first level of the third-stage Qi Sea Realm and had not advanced, he had replaced all his original Yellow-ranked movement techniques and martial skills with top-grade Profound-ranked ones, thanks to the vast trove of techniques at his disposal.
His Flowing Cloud Sword Technique had also advanced naturally to the Perfection Realm.
His combat strength had risen another level.
Moreover, the martial arts texts in the treasury had given him a much clearer understanding of this world's Grandmaster Realm.
In this world, the Grandmaster Realm was divided into four stages.
They were ordinary Grandmasters, veteran Grandmasters, peak Grandmasters, and, finally, Great Grandmasters.
In terms of Blue Star's martial arts stages, ordinary Grandmasters corresponded to levels one through three of the third stage, while veteran Grandmasters corresponded to levels four through six, and so on.
A Great Grandmaster was a powerhouse comparable to the peak of the third-stage Qi Sea Realm.
"The third-stage peak... It'll be tricky, but they can still be killed."
Lin Hanzhou had already worked out the odds in his mind.
He was now confident he could kill a Great Grandmaster.
He had a perfected Profound-ranked sword technique, as well as numerous top-grade Profound-ranked martial and movement techniques.
"State Preceptor!"
When Li Yuechan saw Lin Hanzhou appear, the heavy stone weighing on her heart came crashing down.
Without realizing it, she had come to regard him as the backbone she could rely on.
She knew that the State Preceptor was her last, and strongest, trump card.
Lin Hanzhou said nothing more.
As everyone watched in shock, he walked toward the towering walls of the Capital, alone with his sword.
On the northern wall of the Capital.
Lin Hanzhou had reached the top of the wall. The wind whipped at his black robes, making them snap and flutter.
Facing him was a vast, dark tide of Qing Army soldiers in iron armor.
The killing intent forged by a hundred thousand elite soldiers through years of warfare seemed capable of seizing the soul.
This killing intent was enough to make any ordinary Grandmaster tremble with dread.
Two tremendously powerful auras slowly rose from within the Qing Army's ranks.
They belonged to two hulking generals clad in black heavy armor.
They were the commanders of this surprise attack—the two Great Grandmasters of Great Qing.
Looking at the somewhat slender figure on the wall, they laughed scornfully.
"Hahaha! Has Great Gan run out of men? They've actually sent an ignorant brat who still reeks of milk to die here?"
Lin Hanzhou did not answer.
He merely drew the long sword at his waist, slowly pointing its blade ahead.
One man, facing two Great Grandmasters and a hundred thousand cavalry.
There was not the slightest trace of fear or hesitation in his eyes.
Instead, a fierce battle intent burned within him.
For all this time, every fight had been a crushing victory.
Getting into a real high-stakes battle for once didn't seem like such a bad idea.
Before you continue