The Burial Tower of Immortals buries the heavens, the earth, and all the immortals.

Meanwhile, in the border regions.

The cold north wind, carrying snow grains like sand, swept across the drill ground, making the school flag flap sharply.

Zhao Qingcheng possessed unparalleled beauty, with sharp, sword-like features. Her slender figure was clad in silver armor, which did not conceal her exquisite curves but instead accentuated her upright and graceful posture.

With an unyielding spirit that rivals any man, and a stunning beauty coupled with illustrious military achievements, she is a military leader revered as a totem by the border troops, and a killing god who strikes fear into the hearts of enemy nations!

At this moment, she was standing on the training platform, practicing with the group of soldiers below who had just emerged from a great battle and crawled out of piles of corpses.

The north wind is exceptionally strong today; it feels like being cut by a knife.

However, Zhao Qingcheng never checks the weather when training her troops. She knows very well that the battlefield is not a game and won't let her check the weather for you.

These soldiers can only survive long on the battlefield if they can stand for a long time in the north wind.

The eunuchs carrying the imperial decree braved the unusually strong north wind and entered the military camp.

The head eunuch, Eunuch Zhao, was as thin as a rake, with an arrogant air about him. His red brocade robe, made of the finest silk, stood out conspicuously against the gray and white landscape of the northern frontier.

In the palace, there were originally two chief eunuchs who were most favored by the Empress. However, the other eunuch, Eunuch Wei, was killed by Qin Changye for issuing a marriage decree to him.

He had expected this mission to be a difficult one, but once he left the capital, he found that officials lined up to respond to him, and local gentry vied to curry favor with him. The benefits he received alone filled five carriages.

This made him even more smug, thinking that it was good that Eunuch Wei died, because he would be the only one to receive the Empress's favor and would definitely reap many benefits.

"The imperial edict has arrived! General Zhao, why don't you receive it immediately!"

Eunuch Zhao was arrogant and his shrill voice was particularly grating.

Zhao Qingcheng didn't even remove her armor. She casually took the imperial edict, glanced at it a few times, and then tossed it onto the table beside her.

"When a general is in the field, he may disobey some of the emperor's orders!"

Her tone was even somewhat cold.

The decisive battle had just been won, the enemy army was routed, and the remnants were hiding in the last few cities on the border, barely clinging to life.

At this point, should we allow her army to return to the capital? Or should we let her return to the imperial city to get married?

How can we face the soldiers whose bodies are still warm from the decisive battle?

How can we face the soldiers who train so hard in the training ground?

She knew very well that if you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring.

If we don't seize those cities in one fell swoop and wipe out the remaining soldiers, once they recuperate and return, it will be the border troops of the Great Zhou and the people of the Great Zhou who will be killed.

"presumptuous!"

Eunuch Zhao didn't care about any of that. All he knew was that along the way, officials and gentry alike treated him like an ancestor, and many even privately called him "Nine Thousand Years Old".

When it came to Zhao Qingcheng, she dared to glare at him coldly and even disregard the Empress's decree, which was simply outrageous!

"You dare to defy the imperial decree and even casually discard it. This is a great disrespect to His Majesty and a blatant provocation against His Majesty's mighty power. I have been in the palace for decades and have never seen such arrogance."

puff!

Before Eunuch Zhao could finish speaking, a red-tasseled spear had already pierced through his chest...

"Now you've seen it!"

Zhao Qingcheng drew her spear and flicked away the blood droplets from the tip.

Then, ignoring the fallen corpse of Eunuch Zhao, she turned her gaze to the other eunuchs who were already dumbfounded: "He dared to threaten me, so I killed him. Do you have any objections?"

The entire room fell silent.

The eunuchs knelt on the ground, shaking their heads like rattles; some of the more timid ones even wet their pants.

I had long heard that Zhao Qingcheng was an exceptionally ruthless person, and seeing her today, I can confirm that her reputation is well-deserved.

How many lives do they have? Do they dare to have a problem with Zhao Qingcheng?

"I don't care how you indulge your favor and become arrogant in the palace, but if you dare to be disrespectful in front of me, this is your fate!"

Zhao Qingcheng seemed quite satisfied with their attitude. While fiddling with the spear in her hand, she asked, enunciating each word clearly, "Did you understand?"

The eunuchs nodded vigorously, replying with unwavering conviction:

"General Zhao, rest assured, when we return to report, we will never tell you that Eunuch Zhao was killed by you."

"Yes, yes, yes, Eunuch Zhao clearly died of the plague."

"That's right, I saw it with my own eyes. Eunuch Zhao contracted the plague on his way north, and just now he suddenly fell ill and died in the training ground. General Zhao was kind-hearted and even closed his eyes with his own hands!"

……

Zhao Qingcheng finally withdrew her spear: "You can all get out of here! Also, leave those five cartloads of goods as military expenses. You shouldn't have any objections, right?"

The eunuchs shouted that they had no objections and ran away as fast as they could, wishing they had been given two more legs.

The tent quickly fell silent.

Zhao Qingcheng sat alone at the desk, her beautiful eyes falling on the border map spread out on it, which marked several cities where the remnants of the enemy army had retreated to, but her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

She had received news that Qin Changye had stormed the Zhao family, killed Zhao Ruyan, and killed You Fengyun.

Zhao Qingcheng felt no sadness at their deaths, but rather a sense of regret, because Qin Changye's preemptive strike prevented her from killing them with her own hands.

Looking back, her birth mother, that beautiful and kind woman, was murdered by this mother and daughter working together.

You Fengyun was just a courtesan from a brothel, of lowly status. She entered the Zhao family through shady means. Her mother not only did not look down on her in the slightest, but also helped her in every way, cared for her, and treated her like a younger sister.

Yu Fengyun was moved to tears and knelt before her mother, swearing to the heavens that she would go to great lengths for her mother in the future.

However, after she gained complete power, the first thing she did was to stab her mother in the back...

That year, Zhao Qingcheng was only thirteen years old, a thin and small girl. She hid behind the door and watched her mother die with resentment, and watched You Fengyun and Zhao Ruyan stand in front of her mother's coffin and laugh loudly.

At that moment, she understood a principle: if you're not ruthless, you can't stand firm.

She's ruthless to others, but even more ruthless to herself.

Without her mother's protection, she knew that You Fengyun and her daughter would not let her, the eldest daughter, go. So, before they could make a move, she ran away from home overnight, disguised herself as a man, and entered the military camp.

Twelve years of fighting and cavalry.

She doesn't remember how much blood she has shed, how many wounds she has suffered, or how many people she has killed or how many cities she has massacred.

All she knew was that she had climbed her way up from a lowly soldier not because of her family background or connections, but because of the battle merits she earned from fighting her way through piles of corpses.

Heaven rewards those who persevere!

Today, she has become the queen of the border army, a fearsome female assassin.

As for Zhao Gao, although he was her biological father, he never fulfilled his responsibilities as a father.

He didn't even bother to come and see his mother when she was driven to her death.

From the moment she stepped out of the Zhao residence, she severed her father-daughter relationship with Zhao Gao.

Therefore, she felt no hatred towards Qin Changye, and even felt sorry for him.

The Qin Prince's Mansion has been loyal and brave for generations, guarding the northern border of the Great Zhou for decades, but now only this one descendant remains.

The empress bestowed him upon her in marriage, clearly intending for his death.

At this moment, a dashing female deputy general lifted the curtain and entered, handing her a secret report that had just arrived from the capital.

She flipped through a few pages, and her brows suddenly furrowed.

The secret report said that Qin Changye was different now. He had escaped unscathed from the Myriad Weapons Diagram, killed Li Jingtian on the Life and Death Arena, and even became the Heavenly King of the Blood-Clad Guards...

"I never imagined that this good-for-nothing prince, whom everyone sees as utterly useless, was actually hiding his true abilities so well!"

Zhao Qingcheng was somewhat surprised, but that was all.

Looking at the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, she was only interested in Li Guanxuan, who broke her and the Empress's records and forcefully ascended to the top of the Battle Soul Tower.

She had climbed the Battle Soul Tower more than once and knew that reaching the top was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Only a powerful man like Li Guanxuan is worthy of Zhao Qingcheng!

……

Millions of kilometers away, the First Holy Sect.

"It's done! I've succeeded!"

A pot-bellied old man dressed in a Taoist robe suddenly shouted with wild joy.

He was Lin Dao, the Ninth Elder of the First Saint Sect, and at this moment, his fat face was adorned with an almost manic smile.

Over the past five years, he has used the pretext of "accepting disciples" to lure the geniuses of the major dynasties in the Great Wilderness to compete for bloodline testing.

Those prodigies were filled with hope, believing that as long as they were chosen by him, they could leap over the dragon gate and rise to the top in one step.

Little did he know that what he was really looking for was not a closed-door disciple, but a bloodline that was a perfect match for his youngest son.

His youngest son was poisoned in childhood, causing his blood to become depleted. For many years, he sought out famous doctors without success, and only a blood transfusion could prolong his life.

The physique that can match the bloodline of his youngest son is one in ten thousand.

He searched for five whole years and tested thousands of prodigies; today, he finally has a result.

The Great Zhou Dynasty, Li Jingtian.

His bloodline match with his youngest son was almost 90%.

"Xiao Pang!"

He called out.

Soon, his second disciple, a chubby little boy, trotted in from outside the door.

Xiao Pang's Taoist robe was stretched taut, making him look like a rolling meatball as he ran. His face was full of respectful smiles: "Master, what are your orders?"

"Go to the Great Zhou Dynasty and bring Li Jingtian back. Remember, he must be alive!"

The Ninth Elder said solemnly, "Once someone dies, their blood will no longer be fresh."

Xiao Pang immediately pounded his chest loudly: "Master, rest assured, your disciple will certainly not fail in his mission!"

He turned to leave, but the Ninth Elder called him back: "Take this Blood Grass."

The Ninth Elder took out a blood-red herb that emitted a vast medicinal power.

Xiao Pang's eyes, barely larger than mung beans, instantly shone with fiery light, but he skillfully declined, saying, "Serving my master is my duty; what reward do I need?"

"It's not for you," the Ninth Elder interrupted him expressionlessly. "It's for you to give to Li Jingtian, to give him something to eat."

The Blood-Gathering Grass can remove impurities from the blood, making the bloodline purer, thus increasing the success rate of the blood transfusion to his youngest son.

"You old codger!"

Xiao Pang cursed inwardly. He thought it was a fee for running errands, but it turned out to be feed given to Li Jingtian, the chosen "piglet," in advance to ensure the freshness of the blood.

On the surface, he still maintained a respectful demeanor: "Master, your disciple will set off immediately and will definitely bring that 'piglet' back intact. If he is missing even a single hair, Master, you may break all three of my legs!"

……