Volume 9, Chapter 619 – She Alone Slaughters Through Four Nations (Part 6)

“Hmph, you disagree? How about we settle this based on our own abilities?”

Inside the grand command tent, Ran Xiong’s cold voice carried a sharp threat.

“You…”

The generals from the Xueyu Dynasty and the Feisha Dynasty were instantly at a loss for words. They knew very well that if everything came down to strength alone, their nations might not even get a single state in the end.

“On the battlefield, strength speaks. And you two pieces of trash think you can bargain with me? Go back and tell your commanders this: your two dynasties can only claim five states in the northwest of the Western Radiance Dynasty. If you dare step a single inch beyond that line, I’ll make you pay back five states on top of it!”

Ran Xiong’s tone was domineering and unyielding.

“Five states?!”

The generals from the Feisha Dynasty and the Xueyu Dynasty were both shocked and furious. Just for questioning him a little, this Ran Xiong had forcibly snatched away half the land they had hoped for. Even worse, he had deliberately offered an odd number of states, clearly imitating the old “two peaches killing three warriors” ¹ 二桃杀三士 (Èr Táo Shā Sān Shì), an idiom that comes from a famous story during the Spring and Autumn period strategy. His intentions were vicious to the extreme.

“What? Too much for you? Then let’s make it three states.”

Ran Xiong changed his mind again without hesitation.

This time, the generals from both dynasties finally surrendered completely and didn’t dare utter another word.

“Good. Then it’s decided,” Ran Xiong said with a satisfied smile.

“Marshal, our Grand Marshal has instructed us: no matter who the Western Radiance Dynasty’s empress sends to negotiate peace, and no matter what conditions she proposes, you must never agree,” reminded the goateed general from Gaosheng Kingdom.

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“I’m not an idiot. If there’s meat on the table, why would I settle for scraps?” Ran Xiong flicked his cloak and turned to sit down.

“Exactly. The Grand Marshal ordered us to kill the Western Radiance Dynasty’s envoy last time just to crush that empress’s hopes of negotiation. She’s just a little woman. Do you think she’d dare send anyone here now?” the Left General of the Beiling Kingdom sneered.

“Hah, even if she dares, would her ministers dare? If the Western Radiance Dynasty actually had fearless officials and generals, their army wouldn’t have been crushed so easily,” the Right General added mockingly.

Qi Huang could no longer stay silent. Her figure instantly appeared outside the command tent, and she spoke calmly: “I dare.”

“Who goes there?! Stop!”

Several guards stationed outside the tent were startled. Gripping their spears, they rushed toward her.

Qi Huang didn’t even glance at them and walked straight toward the tent. Without any warning, the guards charging forward suddenly exploded into bursts of blood and flesh, spraying the ground crimson.

She kept walking, Divine Sense protecting her body, not a single drop of blood able to get within three feet of her.

Lifting the tent’s flap, Qi Huang stepped inside to find several generals gripping their weapons, watching her like they were facing a mortal enemy.

“Who are you? Why have you barged into my command tent?” Ran Xiong demanded, his thick brows furrowed.

“National Preceptor of the Western Radiance Dynasty… Li Die. Li, as in ‘Zhang San Li Si’; Die, as in ‘your father’ ² 爹 (diē) = father .”

Qi Huang introduced herself as casually as ever.

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“A Western Radiance Dynasty agent dares to trespass into our camp and even provoke us? Seeking death!”

The Left and Right Generals roared in anger, rushing at her with several deputy generals. None of them stopped to consider how she had suddenly appeared outside the tent so mysteriously.

Ran Xiong didn’t stop them either. He wanted to see exactly how capable this so-called National Preceptor was.

In the cultivation world, martial practitioners were ranked in six tiers: third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, Grandmaster, Legend, and Myth. These two generals had risen to their positions on the battlefield, and without formidable strength, sheer luck would never have gotten them here.

Indeed, the Left and Right Generals of the Beiling Kingdom were both at the peak of the Grandmaster Realm, equivalent to late-stage cultivators of the Incarnation Realm. The deputy generals were all first-rate martial practitioners, roughly equal to cultivators at the Unity Realm.

In short, these men were frighteningly strong. Against anyone below the Divine Realm or the martial Legend Realm, they could easily overwhelm them.

Unfortunately for them, Qi Huang’s strength far surpassed even so-called Divine Realm cultivators. To her, these shouting generals were like flies buzzing around. She could swat them away with a glance.

Suddenly, Qi Huang’s Divine Sense burst forth, surging like a tidal wave toward the approaching generals. The surrounding space subtly distorted, as if a river had materialized out of thin air.

Splatt! Splatt!

A rapid series of explosions followed. The generals didn’t even have time to scream before their bodies burst apart like overripe melons, spraying red and white everywhere.

Ran Xiong’s expression shifted slightly, and the surviving generals behind him staggered backward, faces twisted in terror.

“What terrifying Divine Sense… Are you a mid-stage or late-stage Divine Realm cultivator?” Ran Xiong steadied himself and asked.

“Your courage isn’t small, but as a general, you should understand something: the calmer you appear before your enemy, the sooner you’ll die. After all, no one lets a tiger return to the mountain,” Qi Huang said coldly, tilting her chin slightly.

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“You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that,” Ran Xiong replied evenly. “But you’re interfering in a mortal war. The Immortal Alliance strictly forbids cultivators from meddling in worldly conflicts. If you persist, you’ll face their punishment.”

“So that’s what you’re relying on? Unfortunately, the Immortal Alliance’s bans only apply to its own cultivators. I’m just a rogue cultivator. Their rules don’t bind me,” Qi Huang said lightly.

“A rogue cultivator, are you? With power like yours, no one would believe you’re not from some top-tier sect or major cultivation family,” Ran Xiong said suspiciously.

“Believe whatever you want. Either way, you don’t have the right to know,” Qi Huang said dismissively before issuing a command: “I have no desire for a massacre. Take your army and retreat back into Beiling territory. Then have your emperor prepare to sign a letter of surrender.”

“You intend to force Beiling Kingdom’s hundreds of thousands of soldiers into surrender by yourself?” Ran Xiong asked incredulously.

“Wrong. Not just Beiling Kingdom. The same goes for the other three nations. Retreat to your borders immediately, or once I change my mind, none of you will leave here alive,” Qi Huang declared.

“How arrogant! What gives you the right to speak like this?”

“Do you even know how many soldiers the four kingdoms have combined? Over a million! Even if you’re strong, can you fight a million men alone? Do you think you’re some Heavenly Tribulation Realm powerhouse?”

“Hah! I think you should go back and tell your empress to prepare her dowry. Our Gaosheng Kingdom’s emperor will be generous enough to grace her with his presence.”

The other surviving generals, consumed by rage, forgot their fear entirely.

“Allow me to strip away that mask of yours,” Ran Xiong roared. “I want to see what kind of rat dares act so arrogantly!”

As soon as he spoke, Ran Xiong slammed his right foot down and lunged forward like a charging bull. Despite his size, his speed was astonishing. The ground cracked beneath his steps, sending up clouds of dust.

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Drawing close, Ran Xiong swung his saber upward. The blade cut through the air with such force it produced a massive crescent-shaped arc of killing light, slashing down toward Qi Huang with terrifying speed and strength, many times greater than the generals before him. His strength was clearly on another level.

Indeed, as the Grand Marshal of Beiling’s entire army, Ran Xiong had reached the mid-stage of the martial Legend Realm, equivalent to a mid-stage Divine Realm cultivator.

And he wasn’t done yet. Before the blade even descended, an overwhelming Killing Intent erupted from his body, crashing toward Qi Huang like a storm. As a general who had directly or indirectly slaughtered nearly a million men, his mastery of Killing Intent was hardly surprising. And Killing Intent, after all, was known to restrain Divine Sense.

‘As long as his cultivation hasn’t reached the Heavenly Tribulation Realm, I have a chance!’ Ran Xiong thought confidently, his composure unshaken.

‘Killing Intent, huh?’

Qi Huang smirked faintly. Before her Essence Soul had assimilated, she might have felt wary. But now? This so-called “trump card” was utterly meaningless.

Ignoring his Killing Intent entirely, Qi Huang willed the Cicada Wing Sword to flash in front of her. Its light vanished in an instant, too fast for the naked eye to follow.

The surviving officers inside the tent braced themselves for an earth-shaking battle. Instead, Ran Xiong’s movements suddenly froze. His left foot tangled with his right, and his massive body toppled forward from sheer inertia, his face scraping hard against the ground and leaving a long bloody smear.

The stunned officers turned pale, only now noticing the rapidly spreading bloodstain on Ran Xiong’s left chest. A razor-thin wound, like the edge of a cicada’s wing, pierced clean through his heart from front to back.

Though Ran Xiong was immensely powerful, he was still a mortal martial practitioner; his soul was only slightly stronger than an ordinary man’s. The moment his Life Soul slipped free, it was obliterated by the Heavenly Dao. He didn’t even get the chance to beg for mercy.

‘A single strike… to kill a Legend Realm martial practitioner?’

The surviving officers stared wide-eyed, pupils trembling violently.