The Purple Micro Mid-Heaven Supreme Emperor Flag, a vibrant standard of imperial authority, now fluttered atop Sword Peak Mountain.

Higher than even the tallest mountains, it reached towards the heavens.

Once it had graced the Guan River Platform, and now it waved defiantly within Xia territory.

This flag embodied the weight of a great empire’s past, within its fabric were woven the indelible silhouettes of glorious years. Only thus could it possess such a supreme purple hue, such a world-shining nobility.

The raising of this single, monumental flag signified more than just the glory of Qi; it proclaimed the dominion it now held over this land. More significantly, it provided the southbound Qi army with the full backing of the Great Qi Empire’s national might.

The flag suppressed mountains and rivers!

The grand army, marching eastward without pause, had now secured its initial foothold.

The surrendered troops on the mountain were not ill-treated; their weapons were simply confiscated, and they were placed under guard on the spot.

The vast army then flowed past the base of Sword Peak Mountain, advancing at a measured pace towards Xiang You Prefecture.

Chong Xuan Sheng, after a quick calculation of their marching speed, informed Jiang Wang that they would arrive at Xiang You Prefecture precisely three days hence, not a moment too early, nor a moment too late.

The Chasing Wind Army had already fanned out across Feng Jie Prefecture, dividing into nine separate forces, each tasked with sweeping the land.

Li Zheng Yan himself led one of these armies, ranging far and wide, specifically targeting the most stubborn strongholds.

For the Chasing Wind Army, the objective of this campaign was less about shattering the enemy and more about honing their own edge.

With Yu Li Yang’s escape, Hua Hong Zhao’s death in battle, and the fall of Sword Peak Mountain, the remaining conflict in Feng Jie Prefecture was destined to be unremarkable.

It was undeniable that the Xia possessed many men of valor and lacked not for those willing to sacrifice themselves. Though Emperor Xia was dead, his will persisted, his spirit and resolve still influencing generations of Xia people.

However, the swift collapse of Sword Peak Mountain had shattered the morale and will of the Feng Jie Prefecture army.

According to reports from scouting riders, large numbers of Xia soldiers and civilians within Feng Jie Prefecture were already abandoning their cities and scattering beyond its borders.

Any who still held their cities displayed rare tenacity. But the Chasing Wind Army was an elite force of unparalleled power. Under the relentless pressure of this colossal stone, no matter how tenacious the eggs, they were ultimately crushed.

For Li Zheng Yan, renowned for his ability to extinguish a country in ten days, this expedition was merely a trial of his skill. His true stage awaited him in three days, in Xiang You Prefecture, where the Great Xia Martial King, Si Jiao, personally held court.

At this time, the central army advanced with the Spring Death Army as its vanguard.

The Autumn Kill Army followed at a deliberate pace, maintaining a looser formation and entering a state of rest.

Basketfuls of Qi Blood Pills and Dao Origin Stones were being transported and distributed to the various detachments, aiding their recovery.

With little else to occupy him, Jiang Wang settled onto a military supply cart, immersing himself in his own world of cultivation.

The Fourth Star Tower, formally established just before the army’s departure, though complete in its construction, still required greater familiarization.

Its Star Path penetrated seven stars, a feat unprecedented in ancient times, and lacking any prior experience to draw upon, he needed to ponder it deeply.

“What are you writing?”

Emerging from his cultivation, Chong Xuan Sheng squeezed onto the cart opposite him. The supply cart groaned under their combined weight, causing one to worry for the beasts pulling it.

The stout youth, however, seemed unconcerned, a brush in hand, writing in a small booklet.

Jiang Wang’s curiosity was piqued.

“Helping my dear cousin record his merits,” Chong Xuan Sheng replied with a smile.

At this very moment, Chong Xuan Zun was leading his vanguard, sweeping through Feng Jie Prefecture alongside the Chasing Wind Army.

This was the advantage of being in the vanguard. With the greatest freedom of movement, they could operate in the most dangerous areas, thereby earning the most substantial merits.

Unlike Chong Xuan Sheng and the others, even though they didn’t require rest, they were confined to the Autumn Kill Army, awaiting the commander’s orders.

Jiang Wang, now interested, leaned closer to peer at the booklet.

He saw it was divided into two columns, listing two names: “Chong Xuan Zun” on the left and “Chong Xuan Sheng” on the right.

Beneath Chong Xuan Zun’s name was written:

Break and capture, one hundred li.

Break city, two.

“He’s already broken two cities?” Jiang Wang asked, surprised.

Chong Xuan Sheng rolled his eyes. “What difficulty is there in breaking cities in the current Feng Jie Prefecture? I could send Chong Xuan Xin and get the same results.”

Saying this, he added a “small” after the “two,” indicating that this city-breaking merit was not significant and could only be counted as minor.

He then looked at the entry under his own name: Break pass, Sword Peak Mountain.

Jiang Wang chuckled. “That can’t be counted under your name, can it?”

“The merit of breaking Sword Peak Mountain… perhaps we can count two ten-thousandths? No, counting the armored soldiers of the three capitals, adding them all up…”

Chong Xuan Sheng snapped his booklet shut. “Too troublesome!”

He slid off the cart and began rummaging through a storage box, intending to go and offer comfort to the soldiers in the main camp. As a scion of a prominent family, he was naturally adept at the arts of managing and deploying troops.

Fourteen followed him step by step, her gait heavy, her thoughts unknown.

“Don’t rush, don’t rush.”

Chong Xuan Sheng, amidst his bustling, turned back and grasped her hand. “The war is still ongoing.”

The sudden fall of Sword Peak Mountain was undoubtedly news of a mountain collapse!

Though the Xia military tried desperately to suppress the information, the entire Feng Jie Prefecture, with its twenty-three cities and several million inhabitants, had become displaced overnight. How could such a catastrophe be concealed?

Moreover, the Qi intelligence network was actively at work.

Panic had gripped Gui Yi City.

Thousands of households were consumed by worry.

Pedestrians hurried through the streets and alleys.

Among the myriad high officials, how many could sleep peacefully?

Some had forgotten the scene of the Qi army at the gates of Gui Yi City thirty-two years ago, but now those memories surged back.

Blue Luan Hall.

A magnificent pearl and jade screen divided this palace, designated for the Empress Dowager’s affairs, into two halves. It lacked a specific name, as the Great Xia orthodoxy rested with Emperor Xia’s son, yet this palace was subtly where the Empress Dowager personally conducted state matters.

Behind the screen, the Great Xia Empress Dowager reclined on a phoenix chair, hand supporting her forehead, her beautiful eyes slightly closed, as if in repose.

A palace maid stood beside her, reading memorials with graceful cadence.

When key points were reached, she would open her mouth and offer a few sentences. Beside her was a writing desk, where a palace maid with a brush rapidly transcribed her words.

After years of handling state affairs, she could now conduct herself with the same ease as the former emperor. The officials’ masked expressions, the hidden private thoughts within the public heart, she could discern seven or eight parts with a single glance. She spoke little, but when she did, her words struck at the heart of the matter.

State affairs flowed one after another, like water pouring over cups.

The accumulated national power of Great Xia over the past thirty-two years still gave her a sense of strength.

The future, she believed, stretched long before them.

A small eunuch hurried in, kneeling outside the screen. “Min King has arrived, Your Highness.”

“Proclaim him,” the Xia Empress Dowager simply stated.

The palace maid reading memorials immediately fell silent, and the recording palace maid paused her brush.

Despite themselves, they all cast sidelong glances towards the area outside the screen.

Soon after, the legend of the Divine Martial Era, Min King Yu Li Yang, emerged from the shadows, walking into the hall.

“Greetings, Empress Dowager,” he offered a respectful bow.

In terms of grace, bearing, power, status, and personal strength, he was a figure of the highest order within Great Xia.

It was no wonder people found him captivating.

“Min King, please be seated,” the Xia Empress Dowager’s voice resonated from behind the screen.

In the center of the great hall, before the screen, stood a seat.

Yu Li Yang stepped forward and seated himself, conversing with the Empress Dowager across the dividing screen.

“The fall of Sword Peak Mountain in a single day is this king’s fault,” he confessed.

The Xia Empress Dowager replied, “This mourning family is already aware of the course of the battle. That Cao All pressed with overwhelming force; indeed, he was irresistible. Ultimately, it was not the fault of the battle itself. It is my Great Xia that is weak, which is why the Min King’s reputation has been tarnished.”

Yu Li Yang offered a wry smile. “Empress Dowager’s words are meant to comfort this humble king.”

“In this matter, those with clear eyes understand the truth; pay no mind to the gossip of common folk,” the Xia Empress Dowager said slowly. “Heaven-born Min King is the fortune of my Great Xia. That the Min King is willing to sacrifice his reputation for the country brings this mourning family to the brink of tears.”

Yu Li Yang couldn’t help but acknowledge the truth in her words.

Even with his formidable strength, even standing at the peak of the extraordinary, even though those criticisms didn’t affect him fundamentally, the Empress Dowager’s words still provided immense comfort.

It reminded him of that year, when beacons blazed throughout Xia, his pride shattered on the battlefield, his self-proclaimed romance repeatedly broken, forcing him to retreat and escape in disarray, back to Gui Yi City, Great Xia’s last royal capital.

That day, he raised his head, and saw the Empress Dowager, in phoenix crown and robes, standing atop the walls of Gui Yi City, like a rose burning its life!

So radiant, so magnificent,

She granted him endless power.

Exhausted and parched as he was then, he regained vitality.

That kind of power had sustained him in the years that followed, helping him rise time and again.

It had supported him in becoming the Min King.

It supported him today, making him a pillar of the Great Xia nation!

“Speaking of which…” Yu Li Yang continued, “The Qi army’s familiarity with the Sword Peak Mountain defense line far exceeded this humble king’s expectations. This humble king strongly suspects that Great Xia harbors some secrets unknown to us towards Qi.”

Cao All, upon their first encounter, had immediately pressed his advantage with such certainty, evidently having foreseen the final outcome.

This level of assurance, this degree of familiarity, could not be explained away merely as intelligence.

Within the Xia military, someone must have leaked detailed information about the Sword Peak Mountain defense line! Perhaps, not just Sword Peak Mountain…

Who was that person?

Who was the traitor?

Yu Li Yang was acutely aware.

Jing An Marquis Hua Hong Zhao’s final choice to die was not without the meaning of proving his loyalty through death.

After all, his son, Hua Fang Yu, had lost the pass so laughably. When it was his turn to personally guard Sword Peak Mountain, the related secrets of Sword Peak Mountain were again thoroughly exposed to the Qi army…

There were countless reasons to blame the dead.

Since Hua Hong Zhao had used his life to prove his loyalty, the Jing An Marquis manor would not suffer repercussions.

But… if not Hua Hong Zhao, then who?

“This mourning family feels instead that the Min King need not dwell overly on these matters,” the Xia Empress Dowager’s voice echoed from behind the screen. “In matters of life and death, with the Qi people’s soldiers strong and horses robust, dominating the east, it is most normal and impossible to prevent some people from surrendering out of fear.”

“Perhaps Great Xia indeed has no secrets left towards Qi. But neither do we need any secrets.”

“This war of national rise and fall does not rely on secrets, nor on hidden means. It relies on true strength, careful wisdom, the unity of all beliefs, and the courage to shed the last drop of blood.”

The Empress Dowager’s meaning was clear: without solid evidence, she would not, at this juncture, make a fuss about investigating an internal traitor.

She wished to unite all possible allies, rather than sowing mutual suspicion among court officials at this time.

Not rooting out that person would lead to many problems. But attempting to root them out now would create even more problems.

Conversely, one could consider why Cao All did not conceal his familiarity with the Sword Peak Mountain defense line. Was it precisely to cause them to fall into disarray?

This move was a contest within the court!

And the Xia Empress Dowager chose to ignore it, rallying the entire country against Qi, creating a momentum that would force even the internal traitor to contribute their efforts.

Yu Li Yang said, “Empress Dowager is right… The Central City defense line was personally overseen in its construction by this humble king, with the latter half taken over by the Martial King Hall. Apart from us and General Long Jiao, no one else possesses such profound knowledge. Even if the Qi people wished to infiltrate, they would have no place to do so.”

“Thus, Xiang You Prefecture is truly the battlefield that will test the soldiers of my Xia nation,” the Empress Dowager’s voice, from behind the screen, carried weight.

Her expectations were held within it.

Her apprehensions were also not concealed.

Yu Li Yang had originally intended to say that the rapid fall of Sword Peak Mountain had left the Martial King too little time, and he was unsure if the elder could complete the defense construction in time.

But in the end, he only said:

“Yes, indeed!”

With Central City rose forty-nine zhang high, a rare and majestic city, standing on the Jiang Yin Plain.

South of a mountain and north of water is “yang,” north of a mountain and south of water is “yin,” thus this plain naturally lay south of the Lian Jiang.

More accurately, it lay southwest of this great river, as the Lian Jiang was depicted at a tilt on the map.

The Jiang Yin Plain was originally without strategic dangers, but the presence of With Central City made it a crucial point.

A so-called majestic city, with its high walls, was absolutely not a simple accumulation of bricks and earth.

Otherwise, a few extraordinary powerful individuals could casually erect how many great cities in three or five days, using potent Dao techniques.

But such cities, how could they withstand the strikes of a battle formation?

Walls constructed with Dao techniques would also necessarily be easily destroyed by Dao techniques.

True majestic cities, every single wall brick, needed to be engraved with array patterns. These array patterns, necessarily interconnected, linked all the key buildings of the city, combined with the terrain, thus constructing a great city-protecting array.

Even the wall bricks themselves were carefully fired by great craftsmen; to say it exaggeratedly, taking a single wall brick to fight with people would not be inferior to ordinary swords!

Any great city was the accumulation of a country’s heart’s blood over several, or even a dozen, years. Poured out with blood and sweat, they could stand firm.

Precisely because building a truly defensive great city was so difficult, the initial erection of “Yin Ge” by the Mo Gate in Yong country overnight, to confront Lock Dragon Pass, was so astonishing!

As he descended from the city tower, Tai Yin’s fingers trembled slightly.

Certainly not out of fear, though the single-day collapse of Sword Peak Mountain had indeed startled him a little. But it was only a little; he had long been psychologically prepared for the strength of the Qi people.

Whether it was Chong Xuan Zun at the Huang He Assembly or Jiang Qing Yang in the Mountain Sea Realm, both had already allowed him to personally experience it.

As a direct descendant of the Tai family, he had always seen more clearly than the average countryman. The opponent of a hegemonic power was only another hegemonic power.

His trembling hand was due to fatigue.

Several days and nights without sleep, high-intensity engraving of array patterns, even for a cultivator like him, with his outer tower complete, was somewhat taxing.

An array master’s will and heart’s blood were all focused on array laws.

The effort of these past few days was no lighter than successive life-and-death battles.

But walking through the streets of With Central City, looking at the hurried footsteps of every single person, he wished he could persist for a while longer.

The term “With Central” meant “all within this.”

Including him, including every single person within the city.

With what kind of spirit had his uncle-grandfather, True Person Tai Hua, that year, traversed the entire country, personally repairing and improving every protective city array, pouring out his heart’s blood, connecting them with the great protective country array into a unified whole?

If that elder had not died, seeing the Qi people come east again today, he would surely be even more resolute than the family head…

Thinking these thoughts, he finally arrived at the Tai family’s encampment.

All the young and strong of the Tai family clan were here, even thirteen thousand of their family soldiers had come to With Central City.

Yet, the large encampment was extraordinarily quiet.

So quiet that Tai Yin could hear the sound of his own footsteps.

The vast majority of the Tai family members were still rushing to repair fortifications; those in the encampment were withdrawn for rest, each one vying to recover their condition.

In this kind of quiet,

A stirring power lay dormant. Providing you with the fastest update, Chapter 191: Flag Suppresses Mountains and Rivers, free to read.