Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

boom!

The guards were knocked off their feet.

The scouts rushed out the gate.

They plunged headlong into the bustling streets of Beijing.

The streets of the capital were incredibly noisy.

The aroma of roast duck wafted from the restaurant, while courtesans waved handkerchiefs on the second floor.

This illusion of peace and prosperity is a world apart from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood at Broken Soul Cliff.

The surrounding people all turned their heads to look at this soldier who seemed to be insane and smelled of foul odor.

An old man selling steamed buns on the street slipped, and the meat buns rolled all over the ground.

"Is this guy crazy?"

The old man was dumbfounded.

"Never mind him! He probably got his pay docked by his superior!"

The vegetable vendor next to them wasn't surprised at all.

The scouts couldn't hear the surrounding chatter at all.

He stepped barefoot onto the bluestone slab.

Blisters formed from the rough stone surface, which then broke, leaving behind bloody footprints.

But he ran faster than a rabbit.

He was afraid that if he stopped, he would be grabbed by Lin Mo's bloody hand, or dragged back by the Third Prince's black-clad guards to feed the dogs.

The wind whistled in my ears.

Tears welled up in his eyes, mingling with the dirt on his face and washing out two clear furrows.

Why did you choose to join the army in the first place?

A gambling father, an alcoholic mother, a sick sister, and a broken man.

Was it easy for him to earn that little bit of military pay?

The results of it?

They're constantly on the verge of death!

First they encountered Lin Mo, that living devil, and now they've run into the Third Prince, this treacherous villain!

I can't be a soldier anymore!

Quit it!

I'd rather die than do it!

Anyone who tries to stop me will get bitten!

"Waaaaah..."

He ran while crying.

I cried heartbreakingly.

He cried as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Go home! I want to go home! Let whoever wants to be a soldier have it!"

"A monthly salary of 300 coins? Why risk your life like that!"

The scout ran faster and faster, his legs leaving afterimages as he swung them.

They knocked over the bundles of candied hawthorns and kicked away the wooden frame of the rouge stall.

He didn't even turn his head, despite the jeers hurled at him.

"I'm going back to farming! I'm going to marry Widow Wang from the village entrance!"

"Even if I starve to death, or jump off the walls of this capital city, I'd rather die than serve in this damned army!"

"That's fucking terrifying!"

"Waaaaah... Widow Wang, wait for me!"

The moment I ran out of the city gate.

The scouts braved the blinding sunlight and plunged into the wilderness outside the city.

On the other side...

A luxurious and imposing motorcade was rolling along another official road outside the capital.

Eight pure white horses pulled a huge rosewood carriage.

Thousands of black-clad imperial guards cleared the way, their menacing aura startling the birds in the forest into flight.

Inside the carriage, Xia Jie closed his eyes to rest.

He was toying with a blood-red jade thumb ring.

The carriage was heading in the direction of Yunmi Mountain.

……

Clouds obscure the mountains.

High, extremely high.

The area from the middle of the mountain upwards was completely shrouded in thick white fog, hot and humid, with moisture seeping straight into one's bones.

Xia Jie sat in a sedan chair made of golden nanmu wood.

Four burly sedan chair carriers climbed the slippery stone steps one by one.

The mountain road was rugged.

The sedan chair inevitably lurched.

Xia Jie frowned.

He took out a handkerchief with gold cloud patterns and covered his mouth and nose.

The mountain wind carried the stench of rotten leaves, bird droppings, and mud, a smell that made his stomach churn.

"Slower!"

The accompanying chief eunuch, Wei Zhong, shouted in a shrill voice.

"Your Highness, you've been startled! We'll skin you alive and burn you like firecrackers!"

The sedan chair carriers were trembling with fear, their backs soaked with sweat.

But the higher you go, the narrower the road becomes.

The thorns and strange trees on both sides were almost intertwined, making it impossible for the sedan chair to pass.

The sedan chair bearers stopped the sedan chair in front of the stone steps.

Wei Zhong lifted the sedan curtain and leaned forward, bowing low.

"Your Highness, there is no way out."

"You'll have to climb the remaining stone steps yourself."

Xia Jie stepped down from the sedan chair.

Look up.

The steep stone steps, covered in moss, seemed to stretch endlessly.

Old man.

Why would someone choose to cultivate immortality in this godforsaken place instead of living in a magnificent palace?

"Support this king."

Xia Jie raised his arm.

Wei Zhong quickly stepped forward and supported it with his clean sleeve.

climb mountains.

First order.

Tenth level.

100 steps.

Xia Jie's breathing grew heavier and heavier.

A body accustomed to a life of comfort simply cannot withstand this kind of torment.

He felt his legs getting heavy, and the mud on the soles of his boots was getting thicker and thicker.

The hem of the luxurious brocade robe swept across the moss and became covered in large mud spots.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) flares up.

Xia Jie looked at the mud stain and wanted to kill someone.

They want to flatten this mountain completely.

But he had to endure it.

For the tiger tally.

For that million-strong army.

To kill that bastard Lin Mo.

"Huff... huff..."

Xia Jie gasped for breath, and beads of sweat rolled into his eyes, stinging them painfully.

Wei Zhong was in no better shape; his face was deathly pale, and he was barely clinging to life.

at last.

Through the last patch of thick fog.

We've reached the summit.

A dilapidated building stands in the center.

Most of the blue brick wall plaster has peeled off, revealing dark gray stone blanks.

The two black lacquered wooden doors were mottled and worn, with thick verdigris covering the door knockers.

The plaque above the gate bears three crooked characters: Changsheng Temple.

This wretched place is worse than even the City God Temple outside the capital.

Is this where the Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty lives?

A deep sense of mockery flashed in Xia Jie's eyes.

longevity.

There is no such thing as immortality in this world; only power is eternal!

Go knock on the door.

Xia Jie shook off Wei Zhong and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a silk handkerchief.

Wei Zhong dragged his tired legs to the door.

knock knock --

The wooden door made a dull thud.

There was no movement.

Not even a bird chirped.

Wei Zhong turned to look at Xia Jie.

Xia Jie's face was gloomy, and he raised his chin.

Wei Zhong increased the force.

Bang bang bang!

"Your Majesty! The Third Prince requests an audience—"

A shrill voice echoed from the mountaintop.

however.

Still no response.

Xia Jie's patience ran out, and he casually threw the silk handkerchief on the ground.

He glanced down at his mud-covered boots and wrinkled shirt, suppressing a wave of nausea, and brushed the dust off his sleeves.

To tidy one's clothes.

Then, walk to the center of the doorway.

Both knees are bent.

puff.

He knelt firmly on the stone slab.

The mud and water soaked through the brocade at the knees.

Xia Jie's molars clenched so tightly they made a grinding sound.

He clasped his hands together and raised them above his head.

He solemnly kowtowed.

boom!

"Your subject, Xia Jie."

"Greetings, Father Emperor!"

A powerful, penetrating sound pounded against the wooden door, but there was still no response from inside.

Xia Jie remained in a prone position.

Take a breath.

Ten breaths.

Half a cup of tea.

The damp, cold sensation on my knees seemed to seep into my bones.

The thigh muscles began to spasm due to prolonged tension.

The anxiety of losing 400,000 troops, coupled with the exhaustion of climbing the mountain.

At this moment, it all transformed into a raging fire, shooting straight towards the top of the head.

That old geezer...

Do you really think you've become an immortal?

They don't even care whether their own son lives or dies?

Do we no longer want the Great Xia Dynasty?

Xia Jie suddenly looked up.

The gentleness in his eyes was completely torn apart, revealing an almost pathological madness.

He braced himself on the ground with his palms, about to get up and lash out.

Even if it means smashing down this broken door and killing that old bastard, we must get the Tiger Tally today!

However, just as his knees were about to leave the ground...

hum-

A dull, grinding sound rang out.

The two mottled black lacquered wooden doors slowly opened inward.

A rich, exotic fragrance wafted out from under the door.

It's not sandalwood.

It is not the calming incense commonly used in Taoism.

Instead, it has an extremely sweet, cloying fragrance with a hint of aphrodisiac.

Xia Jie froze.

He peered through the crack in the door and saw a person standing behind it.

A...woman.