My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

In the Great Flame Kingdom, another half month has passed since the last live stream ended.

The sky over the North remained gray, and the wind swept across the wilderness, carrying a biting chill.

The withered grass was blown flat by the wind, and the sand and gravel hit the tents in the military camp with a crackling sound.

Shu Jingwei's armies were reporting victories frequently, with news arriving by fast horse every two or three days that a city had been captured by the imperial court.

All the rebels in the city were slaughtered. The imperial troops only killed and did not surrender, leaving no survivors wherever they went.

More and more people are afraid to fight them and have all fled to Wang Meng's northern border with their families.

Fortunately, thanks to the spiritual spring that Lord Lin sent last time, the grain is now ripening quickly and in large quantities, which is just enough to provide for our food and drink.

But food alone isn't enough to win a war!

Because the city on the northern side is relatively close to the northern border, almost all the people and rebels in the city fled to this side.

Faced with these virtually undefended cities, Shu Jingwei's northward-bound army advanced with unstoppable momentum, and in the blink of an eye, they were less than a hundred miles away from Fangzhou, which was under his control and bordered by Dayan.

I estimate that it will take no more than three days to reach Fangzhou City.

Inside the general's tent, the lamplight flickered in the wind, casting long and short shadows.

The air was so stuffy it was hard to breathe; the smell of sweat and rust mingled together, making one's eyes sting.

The lieutenant was a man with a full beard. At this moment, his face was contorted into a pretzel, and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He slammed his fist on the table, causing the teacup to jump up and then fall back down.

"General! We can't wait any longer! That woman Shu Jingwei's troops are practically on our doorstep!"

Another commander wiped the cold sweat from his face and said in a trembling voice, "Yes, General, we have been studying the military treatise that Lord Lin sent us a few days ago day and night. Now we all believe that our troop formations are no less than those bastards'..."

"But...but those people are wearing invulnerable tortoise shells, and they're carrying divine weapons that can cut through iron like mud!"

The trusted commanders were also in a panic, chattering and shouting all at once.

"What are you afraid of!" The lieutenant drew his sword from his waist, a cold glint in his eyes.

"Since Shu Jingwei won't let us off the hook anyway, we might as well fight them to the death! Killing one is enough, killing two is a bonus!"

"Alright."

Wang Meng, who was sitting in the main seat, finally spoke.

The tent fell silent for a moment as everyone's eyes turned to Wang Meng, who sat in the main seat.

He didn't look at the others, but instead stared down at a letter on the table that had been worn so many times that the edges were frayed.

It was a letter that arrived along with the military treatise, and it contained only one word:

and so on.

Wang Meng spoke again, his voice not loud, but firm: "I trust Lord Lin. Since Lord Lin said he would send us divine weapons, then he definitely will. Let's wait a little longer."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the tent flap was suddenly flung open, letting in a gust of cold wind that caused the lamplight to flicker violently and almost go out.

Wang Meng looked up.

It was the soldier he had sent to guard the canyon and report to him every hour.

The soldier was covered in dirt, his face was covered in ash, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

He gasped for breath, his lips trembling as he shouted:

"General! The 'Divine Weapon' has arrived!!!"

The moment those excited words, which cracked in his voice, were uttered, the tent erupted in chaos.

The generals were suddenly jolted awake, and several of them stood up abruptly, knocking over a bunch of chairs with a clatter.

Wang Meng took the lead, striding out of the tent in a few steps and heading towards the canyon.

The generals also rushed out in a frenzy, almost breaking down the tent flap. They followed Wang Meng, full of anticipation as they charged into the canyon.

At the entrance to the canyon, the wind had picked up considerably and was howling.

The mountain walls on both sides are high and steep, squeezing the sky into a narrow slit, through which grayish-white light leaks down and shines on the bottom of the canyon.

Then, everyone stopped in their tracks, standing there dumbfounded, their mouths agape.

Inside the canyon, almost all the open spaces were occupied.

The steel bars were piled up like a mountain.

Rows of steel bars of the same length were stacked together, their gray-black metal surfaces gleaming coldly.

The distinctive metallic smell, carried by the wind, mingled with the pungent odor of rust-preventing oil, so strong it made one's throat tighten.

Someone subconsciously reached out and touched the nearest one, feeling a cold sensation on their fingertips; the spiral-shaped surface was uneven.

There was silence for a good five or six breaths.

Then a young man in his early twenties bent down and picked up a steel bar from the ground.

He picked it up with one hand, weighed it in his hand, and found it to be about two meters long, roughly the same weight as his usual spear.

He held the steel bar up to his eyes and examined it carefully, his brow furrowing and his tone clearly questioning.

"Is that all? It's so thin, and it's blunt, without even a blade. Will it really work?"

He held the steel bar up to the back of his hand; the spiral surface stung his skin, but he couldn't actually make a cut.

He shook his head, his face full of confusion.

Several commanders nearby also crowded around to take a closer look, and began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Two of the large swords and longswords that Shu Jingwei's elite troops brought over were also brought over by the righteous army at great risk.

That was incredibly sharp, cutting through iron like mud. Their armor would get a cut just from being grazed, but this had no sharp edge at all.

The more they spoke, the less confident they became; their earlier excitement was instantly dampened, as if doused with cold water.

Wang Meng stood at the front, ignoring the murmurs of the crowd.

He bent down and picked one up for himself.

His rough fingers rubbed the threads on the steel bar, the lines were even and hard, unlike any weapon he had ever touched.

He hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at the generals behind him. Their faces showed hesitation, doubt, unease, and even a hint of disappointment.

He took a deep breath, slammed the steel bar to the ground with a dull thud, and everyone fell silent.

"Go," he said, his voice not loud, "bring those strange soldiers' broadswords and longswords, try them out, and you'll know."

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then turned around to retrieve it.

A short while later, the two weapons were brought up.

A knife and a sword. The knife was about three feet long, its blade as thin as paper, gleaming with a cold, bluish light in the sunlight. The sword was narrower, with a smooth curve along its spine.

Wang Meng came to try it himself.

He held a steel bar in his left hand and handed a large knife to the most burly, dark-faced commander beside him: "You chop it."

The commander hesitated for a moment, took the knife, weighed it in his hand, then looked at the steel bar in Wang Meng's hand, and swallowed hard: "General, this..."

"Chop." Wang Meng only said one word, gripping the steel bar with both hands, one in front of the other, and spreading his legs apart to assume a horse stance.

The dark-faced commander gritted his teeth, gripped his sword with both hands, raised it above his head, and slashed down fiercely at the steel bar, which wasn't even as thick as the handle.

Everyone stared intently, their hearts pounding in their chests.

The black-faced commander's arms were taut, veins bulging, and his blade whistled as it slashed down.

The blade traced a silvery-white arc in mid-air, its edge reflecting a blinding white light.

Wang Meng gripped the steel bar without moving, his eyes fixed on the direction the blade would fall.

"clang--!!!"

The sound of metal clashing made everyone's ears ring.

But before that sound had faded, a second sound immediately followed—

"Click..."

The sound wasn't loud, but it was even more startling than the impact from before.

Then, everyone witnessed a scene they would never forget!