You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

Tsk!

The sword blade tore through the air, emitting a sharp whistling sound.

Lu lightly touched the ground with his left toe and drifted back several feet.

A cold light flashed down from the night sky, the sword tip piercing the spot where Lu Zuo had just been standing.

however……

The sword had barely pierced half an inch into the grass when the swordsman flipped backward, the tip of the sword kicking up countless grains of sand that shot towards Lu Zuo, while he himself landed steadily on the grass.

Ding ding ding...

Lu Zuo raised his hand and drew the Demon Blade Thousand Blades. He swung his arm quickly, unleashing a dense barrage of blade light in front of him, blocking all the incoming sand.

"It really was you!"

Jing Ni raised her arm, pointing her sword at Lu Zuo, and said in a deep voice, "No wonder the King of Han's martial arts are extraordinary, far surpassing the Luo Wang swordsmen; he's just an imposter!"

"Who exactly are you?"

Previously, she thought Lu Zuo was a master sent by the Qin state, so she hurriedly chased after him outside the city.

But Lu Zuo was too fast. After Jing Ni left Xinzheng, there was no trace of him left.

After searching the vicinity, they saw him bringing Tianze and his wife to this bamboo forest, and he was holding a long sword that was exactly the same as the one used by the King of Han!

Therefore, she, like Zhao Ji, Yan Ling Ji, and others, immediately began to doubt the identity of the "King of Han".

After testing the waters, his martial arts style was exactly the same as that of the "King of Han" from that day.

Therefore, it can be concluded that he is the King of Han, and the King of Han is him.

Or rather...

It's a fake!

Lu Zuo wasn't afraid at all that these people would find out their identities and ruin his grand plan to use the Tide Demoness to seize power.

The logic is simple: who would believe that it's an assassin from an enemy country or a few wanted criminals?

Besides, the King of Han himself is still in the palace. He can do whatever the Fairy Chao gives him. Who would dare to say that the King of Han is a fake?

Who I am is none of your business.

Lu Zuo had no intention of getting entangled with her and said in a deep voice, "If you dare to make another move, or secretly follow me, then you can expect to collect your wife's corpse."

As soon as he finished speaking, he shot off, heading straight for the Qin Dynasty in the west.

"you……!"

Jing Ni was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to chase or not. By the time she came to her senses, Lu Zuo had already disappeared from sight.

"For Madam's safety, we cannot chase after her; besides, we wouldn't be able to catch up..."

"Let's report this to the Prime Minister as soon as possible."

With this in mind, she sped off in another direction to meet up with her companions from the Luo Wang organization.

.......

It wasn't until the three of them had walked for quite a while that Yan Lingji and the others came to their senses and helped Tianze up.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

Tianze leaned against a bamboo pole and shook his head: "He's not dead yet. That person... how did you manage to get him here?"

"Just who is he?"

"We used to know," Yan Lingji said, shaking her head and laughing, "but now we're confused too..."

Tianze glanced in the direction Lu Zuo had left, still shaken, and asked, "Do you know what he did at Snowclothes Fortress?"

The King of Poisons chuckled: "What else can I do?"

"With this person's lightness skill, he must have rescued His Highness without anyone noticing, before Bai Yifei even realized it."

"Oh, it's also possible that he used the identity of the King of Han to get Bai Yifei to release His Highness."

Tianze shook his head: "He..."

"They slaughtered everyone in Snowclothes Fortress and led me out of there!"

what?

The four great masters of Baiyue stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning, staring blankly at Tianze, looking utterly astonished.

"Bai Yifei was killed by him?"

Tianze nodded.

"And what about the thousands of elite troops of Snowcloak Fortress...?"

Tianze: "He killed half of them."

After confirming this information, Yan Lingji and the others, just like him, all looked in the direction Lu Zuo had left and asked the same question as Tian Ze.

"Is he... a human or a ghost?"

……

Royal Palace, Pearl Palace.

"I wonder how he is..."

The fairy stood by the window, gazing at the stars in the night sky, her heart filled with worry.

"Although he possesses profound internal strength and superb martial arts skills, Bai Yifei is no easy opponent either. How could assassinating him be so difficult?"

"if……"

"If he gets entangled, how will he escape when surrounded by three thousand elite troops from Snowclothes Fortress?"

While he was pondering, a high-pitched palace maid's voice suddenly came from the palace gate.

"Lady Qi, something has happened at Snowcloth Fortress."

The trendy girl's heart skipped a beat, and she asked urgently, "What happened?"

"Bai Yifei, the Blood-Clad Marquis, along with half of the elite troops of Snow-Clad Fortress, were slaughtered and none survived."

"The deposed crown prince of Baiyue, Tianze, was also rescued from the dungeon, and his whereabouts are unknown."

Upon hearing this news, General Ji Wuye rushed to the palace to request an audience with the Lady.

To execute someone openly and brazenly?

The trendy woman was speechless, feeling both slightly relieved and a sudden chill.

He was able to fight an entire army all by himself?

After the initial surprise came a surge of joy and excitement!

With this person's support, wouldn't I be perfectly secure as the master of South Korea?

.......

As dawn broke, the sunlight pierced through the gaps in the clouds, and a thin mist hung like gauze over the open fields.

The air was cool and refreshing, filled with the scent of grass and damp earth. The sea of ​​grass stretched endlessly, dewdrops clinging to the tips of the leaves, shimmering with tiny sparkles.

Lu Zuo sat on a rock, gazing into the distance, his thoughts wandering.

"While the 'Sweeping Through a Thousand Armies' technique can easily pierce armor and possesses immense power, its consumption is indeed quite high..."

"Last night's battle at Snowcloth Fortress must have consumed at least 70-80% of my true energy."

"From this, we can conclude that if I go all out, I can break through the armor of two thousand, or even more than two thousand, by myself."

"It's not enough..."

As far as Lu Zuo knew, a normal Three Elements Great Completion cultivator could easily break through three thousand armors on his own.

Shen Xun has cultivated for many years and possesses profound skills. The number of armor-piercing enemies he can break through is probably over three thousand, but the exact number is unclear.

In short, at my current level, I am no match for him!

"I hope I can achieve enlightenment in the remaining ten days."

Thinking of this, he took out Zhu Yuyan's reflection and began to read it with his eyes lowered.

"Hey, when are you going to let me go?"

Not far away, Zhao Ji leaned against a blue stone, her skirt outlining her graceful curves, and asked Lu Zuo with a reproachful look in her eyes.

"What's the rush?"

Lu Zuo said without looking up, "Once I get what I want, I will naturally let you go."

Zhao Ji glared at him, snorted angrily, turned her face to the other side, and looked westward with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

The two of them just sat there, one reading a book and the other daydreaming, without disturbing each other.

Time flew by, and it was noon.

Zhao Ji broke the silence first: "Hey, I'm hungry."

Lu Zuo took out a piece of cake from his personal space and threw it over without looking up, causing it to bump into her arms.

Zhao Ji picked it up and put it to her mouth, biting down hard with her pearly teeth.

With a click.

The dough in my hand was as hard as a brick; not a single crumb fell out.

"Hey, how am I supposed to eat something this hard?"

She glared at Lu Zuo and scoffed, "Couldn't you just heat it up for me?"

"If you say one more word, I'll strip you naked right now."

Annoyed by her interference, Lu Zuo looked up, glared at her, and made a threatening gesture.

Zhao Ji's pretty face turned deathly pale instantly, and she dared not utter another word...

She held the bread in her hands and took small bites.

After taking a bite out of about half of the pancake, she couldn't eat any more and angrily threw the rest of the pancake aside.

She rubbed her aching cheeks with her delicate hands, glaring at Lu Zuo with resentment, muttering something under her breath...

After muttering to herself for a while, Zhao Ji's pretty face suddenly turned bright red as she recalled what Hu Meiren had said to her.

"Is he... really that amazing?"

Just then, Lu Zuo took back Zhu Yuyan's insights and stood up from the rock.

"Let's go."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was already in front of Zhao Ji, pulled her into his arms, and flew away into the distance.

Zhao Ji nestled softly against Lu Zuo's chest, tilting her head up to look at his face. As she looked, her pretty face flushed even more.

……

Several days later, within the territory of the Qin state.

Along the straight official road, carriages stretched out in a continuous line, some standing upright on the road, others leaning precariously over the grass on either side.

Beside the carriage, hundreds of Qin soldiers in black armor lay sprawled on the ground. Some held swords, while others had been knocked unconscious before they could even draw their weapons.

"You've struck it rich!"

Looking at the machine weapons loaded onto dozens of horse-drawn carriages, Lu Zuo's eyes lit up with great joy.

"Unfortunately, space is limited, so we can't transport too many."

"Otherwise, the outcome of this battle would be pretty much a foregone conclusion..."

The vehicle was equipped with only ten repeating crossbows; the rest were mostly loaded with vortex-type arrow magazines.

There were many other mechanical weapons, but Lu Zuo didn't recognize any of them and didn't know how to use them.

Ignoring Zhao Ji's presence, he directly stored the crossbow and vortex arrow magazine into his personal storage space.

Because of the limited space, the thirty crossbow carts took up most of the space, and Lu Zuo didn't even fill the arrow magazines completely before the space was full.

Surrounded by open plains, with nowhere to hide anything, he had no choice but to give up.

"So many things just vanished into thin air with a wave of your hand?"

"How did he do that?"

Zhao Ji stared at him in astonishment, as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight!

"Madam, these Qin soldiers will wake up soon."

"You can go back with them later."

Zhao Ji was taken aback. Was this really the end of the relationship?

"Lu... um?"

Where are they?

Looking up, there was no sign of Lu Zuo anywhere nearby.

Zhao Ji stood there blankly, feeling a strange sense of loss in her heart.

"If I'd known we'd break up so soon, I should have been bolder these past few days..."

……

Meanwhile, in the Tang Dynasty world, in Nantong City.

On the city wall, a dense mass of soldiers stood like iron nails.

Their armor reflected a cold light, their long spears stood like a forest, pointing diagonally at the gray sky, their facial muscles tense, their eyes fixed on the distant horizon, motionless and silent.

Yue Qing wore bright silver armor, held a long sword, and had sharp eyes like a hawk, displaying his divine and martial demeanor.

however……

His slightly trembling fingers betrayed the panic in his heart.

It wasn't just him; Chen Wu, Gu Han, Shangguan Jing, and the others were also filled with anxiety and unease.

These days, Nantong City has been making military preparations, but instead of strengthening its forces, many soldiers have deserted.

Of course, most of them were original soldiers from the Nantong Military Equipment Office.

As for the martial artists in the city, they readily agreed to defend the city, but secretly slipped away in the middle of the night, either joining Shen Xun or fleeing into the martial world.

In short, nobody is optimistic about this big battle!

Everyone thought that Nantong was doomed to lose, and Lu Zuo was doomed!

And the facts are indeed developing in this direction...

And the facts are indeed developing in this direction...

As the tides turned, Nantong's forces numbered less than 50,000, while Shen Xun's forces had increased to 300,000—a six-fold difference in strength. Furthermore, the enemy also had several top-tier experts...

What can we use to win?

"They're here!"

Yue Qing's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he uttered a low, deep voice.

Rumble...

Chen Wu and the others felt a sudden chill in their hearts and all looked up at the same time.

In the distance, tens of thousands of cavalrymen transformed into a rolling black tide, their iron hooves flying and kicking up dust as they surged toward Nantong City.

The sound of horses' hooves blended into a continuous rumble of thunder, causing dust to fall from the city walls.

tread!tread!tread!

Following the cavalry onslaught, an endless array of infantry followed closely behind, marching in perfect unison.

"My goodness..."

Chen Wu let out a low cry, feeling as if there were a forest of spears and halberds in his vision, their cold gleam reflecting in the dim light so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.

Gradually...

As the black tide drew near, the sounds of footsteps, the friction of armor, and the rumble of war wheels blended into a suffocating, low roar that clearly reached the ears of every defender.

"Gurgle..."

A soldier from the Shenwu Battalion swallowed hard, a hint of panic flashing across his previously composed expression.

Some soldiers took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to relieve the tightness in their chests.

Some people licked their chapped lips, their muscles trembling slightly...

suddenly!

The rolling black tide stopped, and then quickly spread to the left and right wings!

"Why aren't they attacking?" Chen Wu asked, glancing around.

Yue Qing frowned and said in a deep voice, "Before the army attacks, we must deploy our forces and prepare siege equipment."

"Besides, Shen Xun has been marching at breakneck speed and needs some rest. I think we'll have to wait until tomorrow..."

Before the words were even finished, three figures suddenly flew out from the army formation below the city and rushed straight towards the city gate with lightning speed!

Yue Qing's eyes widened. They didn't even take a break?

"quick!"

"Release the arrows!"

"Stop those three experts! We must not let them get near the city gate!"

……

Meanwhile, on the other side.

On the winding ancient road, an old man with white hair stood in the middle, his eyes sharp and piercing, staring at the hundreds of martial artists walking not far away.

"stop!"

"Jiang Che, are you really going to lead your senior and junior brothers to their deaths?"

Jiang Che stopped and cupped his hands, saying, "Master, the outcome is still uncertain. How can you be so sure that Nantong will lose?"

"Do you realize how important this opportunity is for us students from humble backgrounds?"

"As long as we can win this battle, my fellow disciples will be highly valued by His Majesty, and the Ironclad Sect will also..."

"Shut up!"

The white-haired old man interrupted him with a stern shout, "Win?"

"Outlandish!"

"A fool's dream!"

"The garrison in Nantong numbers less than 50,000, while the army in Dongyang numbers a full 300,000!"

"Shen Xun is a highly skilled cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Three Elements, and he also has several Three Elements masters under his command!"

"With just you guys?"

"With just Chen Shubao and a mere battalion of the Divine Martial Army?"

"Before the Dongyang army, they are nothing but ants!"

"What will we use to win?"

"If you go, you will be trampled into dust by the Dongyang army in an instant!"

"Jiang Che, whatever happens to you is fine, but you can't take your fellow disciples to be buried with that tyrant!"

"Go back!"