"Are you here?"
Along the Heavenly Dragon Great River, the imperial army was already prepared to welcome the delegation from Jiangnan.
The people who came to greet them this time were no ordinary people. They were from one of the eight great military families in the capital, and the Chu Household, which was the most favored by the royal family after the Hong Household and the Yuchi Household. The person who came was Chu Tianhe, the future head of the Chu Household and the heir of the Duke.
The Chu Household excels in naval warfare, and their navy is renowned throughout the land. The Chu Household controls most of the imperial court's influence along the East Sea and the South Sea. There is another place under the Chu Household's Chu Household, and that is the Heavenly Dragon Waterway.
This is a huge river that divides the north and south. The imperial court would never allow the Jiangnan to control the waterways of the country. So while allowing the Jiangnan to connect to the West Sea, the banks of the river leading to the capital were controlled by the capital's forces. The Heavenly River Army, which is in charge here, has been under the command of the eldest son of the Chu Household for the past twenty years.
"Your Highness, are those people from Jiangnan? They certainly have an impressive presence."
Chu Tianhe's deputy general became vigilant from a distance. There weren't many people from Jiangnan, probably only about twenty. They were quite bold to dare to go to the capital with such a small number of people. But their aura was indeed astonishing. Even from a distance of at least a thousand meters, their presence made the tens of thousands of soldiers on his side feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
"But His Highness King of Qin?!" Chu Tianhe shouted at the top of his lungs.
The opposing force stopped, and the leading female general rode a giant horse, approaching step by step. Just the two of them, riding alone, caused their horses to become restless and fidgety. Many soldiers tried to calm them down, and the whole formation became somewhat chaotic.
Chu Tianhe's heart pounded wildly, and he couldn't help but think to himself: Who is this person?
Seeing that the troops were about to lose their formation, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and spur his horse forward. The two lieutenants behind him frowned, but they knew that they couldn't lose their basic courage at this moment, so they quickly followed behind.
The group rode elite imperial steeds, steeds that would normally face even terrifying demons without fear. But now, they clearly sensed their horses were afraid, unsure whether they were afraid of the woman's horse or the woman herself.
"You all, state your names!"
The silver-armored woman stopped at least a hundred meters away and spoke coldly to Chu Tianhe and the others who were approaching.
Such an arrogant tone made the three feel as if they had been granted a pardon, because if the other party continued to approach without speaking, they would not know what to do. They absolutely did not want to fight. For the first time since birth, they had faced a lone wolf, and they all felt that their tens of thousands of troops would be wiped out.
"I am Chu Tianhe, and I have come by imperial decree to welcome Your Lord King of Qin!"
" Chu Tianhe," Ao Zhen looked at the other person, carefully examined the features of his face, and suddenly asked, "Who is Chu Yuan to you?"
Chu Tianhe was taken aback, looking at the other person with great curiosity. After a long pause, he said, "I don't know who you are referring to, senior, but the fourth head of my Chu Household is indeed named Chu Yuan."
Chu Yuan, the fourth patriarch of the Chu Household, is also the most highly regarded patriarch in the family's history. According to the family's secret history, it is said that his ancestor once received guidance from a high- Venerable one and comprehended the Eight Forms of the Heavenly River, which laid the foundation of the Chu Household and gave the Chu family's sons the strongest naval combat ability.
Among the descendants of the Chu Household today, those who can comprehend all eight forms are extremely rare. I myself comprehended six of them before the age of thirty-five, making me the most outstanding genius in the Chu Household in the past thousand years. That is why my ancestor bestowed upon me the name Heavenly River.
You and he look quite alike.
Chu Tianhe was taken aback at first, and then subconsciously wanted to shout "How dare you!" His ancestors were all from 100,000 years ago. Do you think you look alike? As if you know them.
But the words wouldn't come out. For some reason, the blood in his veins resisted his rudeness to the woman in front of him, even though she looked like a twenty-year-old girl.
"You flatter me, senior," Chu Tianhe replied with a forced smile, suppressing his anger.
The woman didn't continue the conversation, but instead turned around and nodded to the line behind her, at which point the entire line slowly moved forward.
Seeing this, the adjutant beside him said, "His Highness King of Qin has arrived earlier than we expected. His ships haven't arrived yet, so we may have to wait for him here for a while."
As they spoke, the two lieutenants, including Chu Tianhe, glanced at each other cautiously.
The ships hadn't arrived on purpose; it was meant to embarrass the King of Qin and his entourage, to give them a hard time. But now, seeing the other side's imposing manner, they were genuinely regretting their decision.
"Need not."
The woman shook her head slightly, and without waiting for the three men's permission, she rode her horse past them.
The movement was incredibly light, and the three of them didn't even have time to react. The key point is that it wasn't just a person passing by them, but someone with such a huge horse, who seemed like a ghost, naturally drifting past them.
When the three of them realized what was happening and turned around, the woman had already ridden her horse to the riverbank.
The three First Rank military officers were too slow to react, let alone the soldiers. It wasn't until the woman stopped on the riverbank that the soldiers came to their senses. They were incredibly surprised, but also felt a surge of shame and anger. This woman hadn't taken them seriously at all.
Chu Tianhe frowned, and just as he was about to muster up the courage to say something, an unbelievable phenomenon made him afraid to utter a single word.
The woman walked to the riverbank, and with a gentle flick of her strangely shaped trident, the massive river parted automatically to both sides. The enormous river visibly receded to both sides, and in just a few breaths, a land route to the opposite bank appeared in front of her. The convection currents on both sides piled up dozens of meters high!
Warlock?
In the army, an old man quietly asked a black-clad sorcerer beside him, "Is this a sorcerer's technique?"
He had never even heard of the ability to open the Heavenly River with one hand.
If such sorcerers existed in the world, Heavenly River would have long since stopped going to such great lengths to train so many naval forces.
"Not a sorcerer." Beneath his black hat, the old man in black was also filled with shock!
"Not a warlock?"
"At least it's not the work of a warlock." The old man took a breath and lowered his voice, "There's no Spirit Energy fluctuation at all; it seems more like..."
"What is the inverted image?"
"It's as if this river is afraid of this woman."
"What are you talking about?" The old man next to him looked at the other person in absurdity, never having heard of a river being frightening.
"It does sound absurd, but that's the feeling," the old man whispered. "The surrounding water is afraid of this woman, not just the river, but everything in it is afraid of her. This woman has a terrifying origin!"
Even after the black-robed sorcerer gave his second affirmation, the old general beside him still found it utterly absurd, even though he knew the old sorcerer wouldn't lie.
But does such a thing really exist in this world?
All the soldiers stared blankly at the scene, speechless for a moment. They trained here day and night to guard this Heavenly River, but if such a person existed in the world, what was their purpose?
Ao Zhen ignored the mortals and looked at the opposite bank of the river with great interest.
Central Plains?
It's been a hundred thousand years since I last came here!
I'm really looking forward to it; what changes will there be compared to before?
--
"Looks pretty reliable," A Li sighed softly as she lifted the carriage curtain and gazed at the spectacular scene ahead.
"Yes." Shen Qi's eyes were filled with complex emotions. How did Chen Qing manage to get such a powerful monster to join their side in the first place?
Now that the conflict between the other party and Tian Heng is deepening, if Chen Qing doesn't return soon, something bad might really happen.
Even if Chen Qing returns, he still wants to know if Chen Qing can make such a person willingly serve him.
"I think our safety should be guaranteed this time," A Li laughed. "With her here, who in the capital can stand against us?"
"Don't underestimate the capital," Shen Qi shook his head. "All the Thousand Eyes Spell I left in the capital have been removed. In all my years of life, I've never seen a spell that's already been set up removed so directly. This incomprehensible thing can only mean that there are people in the capital we can't even imagine."
"And"
Shen Qi looked towards the capital, and he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that this trip to the capital was extremely dangerous, even more dangerous than his last trip to Great Azure Mountain. He had a feeling that if Chen Qing didn't come this time, something terrible was going to happen!
Extra chapters will start tomorrow...