Starting as a centurion, he fought his way through the chaos of the world.

Chapter 150 Another Winter

Then, the black dragon beneath Lu Ming's feet changed once again.

Layers of mist covered his body, and they grew thicker and thicker.

In the hazy mist, purple lightning flashed.

"Hmph!" A deep, resonant voice rang out.

Standing atop the dragon's head, Lu Ming could clearly feel a powerful force continuously flowing into his body.

Their combat strength was boosted once again at this moment.

"Kara!"

A thunderous voice rang out.

In the sky, a massive sword beam tore through space.

It seems to want to cover everything.

Lu Ming gazed at the overwhelming sword energy above his head.

He held the Dragon Sparrow Blade in his palm and charged towards the sky.

A cyan-gold blade aura tore through the sky.

In the blink of an eye, it grew to several hundred feet in size and clashed with the sword light.

"boom!"

A deafening roar then erupted.

Like waves, the energy spread outwards from the two of them.

Wherever it passed, it created indistinct ripples in the space.

It was like a pebble thrown into a pond.

The overwhelming power caused the disciples of the Kaiyang Sect to tremble involuntarily.

Lu Ming stomped his right foot on the dragon's head.

The black dragon raised its upper body.

It lifted him into the air.

Sharp light flashed on the dragon's claws.

As he slashed towards the Refinement God expert, Lu Ming's longsword also cleaved out.

A stunning beam of light bursts forth from the blade.

"Stab!"

The Kaiyang Sect disciple was unable to dodge in time and was struck by the blade, but he was wearing a precious robe, so he was not injured.

But the clothes were reduced to shreds.

Sensing Lu Ming's power, she turned around to dodge another attack.

"Boom!" The blade of light cleaved through the air and crashed to the ground.

The hill collapsed instantly, sending up rubble that blotted out the sky.

Lu Ming rode the black dragon forward, his blade flashing, and instantly killed a Nascent Soul Realm expert who was about to help.

His astonishing strength caused the Kaiyang Sect disciples' expressions to change drastically.

"Get out of here, he's too strong!"

The leading expert in the Refinement of Spirit realm exclaimed in surprise.

They were unwilling to continue fighting.

Lu Ming controlled the formation, his strength subtly surpassing his own.

If I continue fighting, I might perish.

However, the other party will not give him that chance.

The black dragon beneath his feet seemed poised to take flight, and he charged after the Kaiyang Sect disciples once more.

"Bang!" The dragon claw fell, piercing through a mountain range.

The boulder that bounced up instantly shattered the physical body of a Purple Mansion disciple of the Kaiyang Sect.

Only a wisp of his primordial spirit remained, fleeing into the distance.

Once one's cultivation reaches the Refining Spirit Realm, one can travel a thousand miles in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the two sides had fought for tens of thousands of miles.

They were almost able to conquer the southern borderlands.

One fled on a sword, while the other chased after him on a long dragon.

The fighting was so fierce that the sky darkened.

"Sizzle!" The Refining Spirit expert from the Kaiyang Sect slashed backward with his sword as he ran.

"Boom!" The dragon's tail swung, shattering the sword light.

However, the scales on top were also flying, and blood mist was surging.

Lu Ming raised his sword and slashed.

"Swoosh!" It struck the shoulder of the Kaiyang Sect's Refining Spirit expert.

As the blade sliced through the air, blood splattered from the victim's body.

"Bang!" But at the same time, a core disciple of the Kaiyang Sect struck out with a sword finger, which landed squarely on Lu Ming's chest.

He let out a muffled groan.

Blood splattered.

A faint cyan-gold light emanated from his body, and the runes on it pulsed with all their might.

His powerful physique allows him to fight again.

Below, Marquis Hongshan and his group, who were heading towards the southern border, looked up when they saw the battle in the air.

Then, a look of horror appeared on his rugged face.

"That's Marquis Zhige. He's actually fighting a Refining Spirit expert, and he seems to have the upper hand."

“It seems that’s indeed the case.” Marquis Jiujiang stood there, stunned.

His face was full of disbelief.

After returning from Penglai Immortal Island, their strength increased significantly, and they all reached the Golden Core Realm.

Moreover, it has the potential to go even further and enter the Purple Mansion realm.

They received considerable resources from the royal family.

They were initially quite pleased with themselves.

But unexpectedly, Lu Ming was already capable of fighting at the Refining God level.

Besides them, the spies of other rebel kings, who had been stationed in various places, also clearly witnessed this scene.

Lu Ming's strength was now recognized by everyone.

"Lord Zhige, why do this? Kill me, and the Kaiyang Sect will fight you to the death! My father is a sect steward!" A core disciple of the Kaiyang Sect roared at this moment.

His armor was torn.

Her hair was loose.

Several of my fellow disciples had already died in the pursuit.

"We were enemies to begin with, with different stances, and it was already a fight to the death!"

Lu Ming said calmly.

He was in a similar sorry state at this moment.

His armor was pierced, and blood flowed from his chest.

Cracks even appeared on the arm that held the knife.

Black dragon scales rose up beneath his feet.

There is blood seeping out.

Many soldiers have already died.

But they persisted.

As Lu Ming spoke, he gripped the Dragon Sparrow Blade tightly in his palm once more.

This time, he charged forward with extreme arrogance.

A stunning brilliance shone from the blade.

Behind him, the shadow of the dragon-phoenix floated.

It emitted a deafening hiss.

The disciples of the Kaiyang Sect had nowhere to hide.

He could only raise his longsword to defend himself.

"Boom!" The sword light was shattered by the blade and then landed on his body.

A core disciple of the immortal sect died at Lu Ming's hands.

Looking at the blood mist flying in the sky.

Lu Ming controlled the formation to slowly descend.

When it lands on the ground.

He was also exhausted.

This battle resulted in significant losses.

At this moment, he put a pill into his mouth.

Then the recovery process begins.

Wang Yue and the others around him were also healing their injuries.

Their armor was also broken.

His body was stained with blood.

At first glance, it looked quite disheveled.

If there were no wounded soldiers, they began to set up an alert and set fires.

A short while later, a simple campsite was set up.

When Lu Ming opened his eyes again, it was already the next day.

His injuries have now fully healed.

Looking around, he saw Wang Yue standing guard beside him.

A look of vigilance flashed in his eyes.

Outside the camp, soldiers were patrolling. "How many brothers have we lost?" Lu Ming's hoarse voice rang out.

"My lord, six hundred and eighty brothers died in battle, and their bodies have been lost." Wang Yue stepped forward and said.

His heart was bleeding too.

These people were the elite troops he had painstakingly trained.

Each of them is at the Innate Realm in terms of cultivation.

They were all shaken to death in the fighting, but not one of them retreated.

“After returning, provide their families with sufficient compensation. If they have children, they can be given special training in the military after they reach adulthood.”

Lu Ming said slowly.

That's all he can do now.

Where are we now?

“At night, scouts from the Li King’s army approached the border of Lizhou,” Wang Yue said cautiously.

Lu Ming nodded, then stood up.

He hadn't expected the battle to last so long.

Then he said, "Tell the brothers to set off; let's go back."

After speaking, Wang Yue did not hesitate and immediately ordered the army to prepare to set off.

As Lu Ming and his team headed towards the southern border.

Far away, one of the generals under King Li's command also breathed a sigh of relief at this moment.

The adjutant beside him said, "General, they only have less than ten thousand men. Shouldn't we try a surprise attack?"

"Bang!" The general slapped his deputy on the head.

"That's Marquis Zhige. Do you think he's one of the other marquises of Dayu? How many of you are enough to kill a Refinement God expert? He beat up a Refinement God yesterday. Didn't you see? A person like that can't be provoked without two or three Refinement Gods."

"Our mission is to guard the house. The prince is away fighting, so don't cause him any trouble!" the general said fiercely.

If it weren't for the fact that his deputy was his brother-in-law...

He wished he could just kick the other person out.

They really dare to say anything.

The lieutenant dared not say another word and could only retreat dejectedly.

Lu Ming's battle with the disciples of the Kaiyang Sect caused all the rebel kings to retreat in fear.

Therefore, no one dared to stop them on the way back.

In fact, the most important reason is that all the rebel kings are now targeting the central government.

She didn't want to provoke Lu Ming at this time.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days have passed.

When they returned to the border of Langya Prefecture.

Then they saw Zhang Meng, Lu Shi, and other generals hurriedly come forward to greet them, saying, "Greetings, Lord Marquis!"

The crowd bowed and greeted him.

Lu Ming waved his hand. "No need for formalities. Has anything happened while I was away?"

“My lord, there’s nothing else, but Marquis Hongshan and Marquis Jiujiang have arrived and begun taking over the cities they’ve captured. General Wu Han has sent word asking whether we should continue the attack,” Zhang Meng said.

Lu Ming nodded.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Inform Wu Han and Zhang Mu that they can continue to suppress the rebel kings. The city can be taken over by the imperial court, but the silver seized must be brought back."

The Marquis of Zhige's mansion is doing alright these days.

The grain reserves are also very sufficient; the only shortage is silver.

As our strength increases, we will need to increase our procurement of the medicinal materials needed for our million-strong army.

"Yes, Lord Marquis!" Zhang Meng replied hastily.

Then, someone was sent to deliver the message.

Lu Ming then entered the camp.

"My lord, after you killed that disciple of the Kaiyang Sect, the Prince of Langya was terrified. Should we send troops directly?"

Lu Shi's deep voice rang out.

He was already starting to lose his patience.

Once the King of Langya is eliminated, the southern border will be secure.

"Although the elite troops of the Prince of Langya are gone, we can still muster tens of thousands of men."

Moreover, we wouldn't even have enough people to defend the city if we captured it.

We'll meet up here after Wu Han and Zhang Mu have dealt with the rebel kings in the vicinity.

All we need to do is keep an eye on the Prince of Langya to prevent him from causing trouble.

Lu Ming said calmly.

After taking a sip of tea.

He leaned back in his chair, seemingly resting with his eyes closed.

In reality, they were checking the system's online store.

Over the course of more than ten days, as the army continued to advance, he reaped great rewards.

The points have reached a staggering 140 million.

Without hesitation, he immediately exchanged for two more scrolls.

After opening his eyes again, he took it out of his pocket and threw it into the hands of Lu Shi and Zheng Yong.

"Take these back and cultivate them diligently, while we wait for your breakthroughs!"

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, signaling the two men to leave.

Meanwhile, in southern Xinjiang, everything was developing in a positive direction.

Inside the Imperial Palace in Shangjing at this time.

The Empress sat in the Imperial Garden, dressed in a black dragon robe that exuded an aura of nobility. Her exquisite beauty made even the autumn sunlight seem somewhat dim as she carefully examined the battle report presented by the female official in blue.

Her alluring red lips involuntarily curled upwards.

"Not only is Marquis Zhige himself powerful, but his generals are also renowned throughout the land. In particular, Wu Han led his army to conquer two states in less than a month. It was truly unexpected."

His tone became much more cheerful when he spoke.

The female official in green also cautiously said, "Your Majesty, Marquis Hongshan and his men have begun to take over the cities they have captured. The people from Marquis Zhige's mansion did not stop them. The handover of the garrison troops in the cities went very smoothly. However, Marquis Jiujiang submitted a memorial complaining that..."

The Marquis of Zhige's mansion took all the spoils with them, leaving them nothing behind.

"The Marquis of Jiujiang is also a good-for-nothing, having to file a complaint about this. The Marquis of Zhige's mansion has not received any grain or salary from the imperial court over the years. How can we support our troops and recover the southern border without taking spoils?" The Empress's voice turned cold at this moment.

Now, she has completely sided with Lu Ming.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that the conquered territories were handed over to the imperial court without any hindrance made her feel extremely gratified.

"Notify the Imperial Household Department to allocate 10,000 spirit stones and 30 million taels of silver to Marquis Zhige as provisions for the army during this period."

Upon hearing the sound, the female official in blue couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.

Your Majesty is truly generous these days.

Thirty million taels of silver is manageable, but ten thousand spirit stones is quite a lot.

Even the core disciples within the sect mostly obtain spirit stones by completing tasks.

Even if the sect allocates funds, it's only a little over a thousand spirit stones a year.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!" The Empress frowned when she saw the expression on the female official's face.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Then, they prepared to leave.

However, at this moment, the Empress seemed to have thought of something. "By the way, Wu Han is the number one general under Marquis Zhige, and he is quite a good helper. Isn't there a high-grade magic weapon, the Crescent Blade, in the treasury? You can take it and give it to Lu Ming so that he can reward his subordinates."

The soldiers at the front are fighting desperately; the imperial court cannot be swayed by their sacrifice.

"Your Majesty, the young prince of the Jing Prince's mansion has asked you for that battle sword many times."

"Why would a spoiled brat like him need such a fine weapon? Just do as I say."

The Empress waved her hand.

He said, completely unconcerned.

Just then, the female official in green said, "Your Majesty, the list of marriage alliances for the imperial clan has been released. Marquis Zhige's list includes several women from the imperial clan. Should we send it over this time so he can choose one?"

"So fast." The Empress frowned slightly.

"Originally, the first batch of nobles were to be selected first, and third-rank marquises like the Marquis of Zhige should have been selected last. However, the Marquis's achievements this time were too outstanding, as he actually killed a master of the Refinement of Spirit, so the royal family promoted him to the first batch."

It is said that the Grand Master of Ceremonies also offered his evaluation, saying that although he relied on military formations, he was still a valiant general and a rare talent for the Great Yu Dynasty.

"Then send them all over together," the Empress said calmly.

There was no emotion on his face.

The female official in green responded and withdrew.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after accumulating a large number of points...

Lu Ming wasn't idle either, since the King of Langya dared not attack anyway.

He would be better off using his time to cultivate.

Their current strength is still somewhat lacking.

In particular, the cultivation level of geomancers must be improved as soon as possible.

Once you reach the level of a five-pattern Earth Master, you can go out and search for spiritual veins.

They were moved to the various states under their control.

The concentration of spiritual energy has increased.

Why worry that your subordinates cannot improve their strength?