If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Su Mingyue's army arrived 30 miles outside Yongning City in the afternoon.

The 500,000-strong army marched north from Yelangpo in Anzhou, incorporating surrendered soldiers and pacifying the people along the way, and finally returned to the territory of Youzhou today.

Thirty miles is nothing to this army whose lowest cultivation level is the Refining Skin Realm.

As darkness fell, the army arrived ten miles outside Yongning City.

Su Mingyue reined in her warhorse, slammed her silver spear on the ground, and ordered the entire army to set up camp on the spot.

The camp of 500,000 people was spread out one after another in the open fields south of the city, and bonfires lit up one after another, looking from a distance like a fire dragon crawling on the earth.

She led ten thousand personal guards, removed their heavy armor and wore only light leather armor, and continued their swift march toward Yongning City.

People had already lined both sides of the official road five miles outside Yongning City.

Emperor Yongchang, Liu Ji, along with all his civil and military officials, set up a welcoming platform in the middle of the official road.

A crimson brocade carpet stretched from the welcoming platform all the way to the end of the official road, with imperial guards on both sides holding torches, illuminating the entire road as if it were daytime.

The civil and military officials were arranged in order of rank. Zhou Ming stood behind them, his dark blue official robes worn impeccably, and a perfectly respectful smile on his face.

Further out came the entire city's residents, men, women, and children, who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, bringing their families.

The crowd stretched from the city gate to both sides of the official road for several miles. Some people carried lanterns, some held children in their arms, and everyone craned their necks to look westward.

"They're here! They're here!" someone in the crowd shouted first, and then everyone saw them.

On the southern horizon, a long dragon of torches is slowly moving in this direction.

Those were Su Mingyue's ten thousand personal troops, their horses' hooves moving in perfect unison, their torches forming a winding ribbon of light in the night.

Su Mingyue rode at the very front of the group, clad in black armor and wielding a silver spear, her black hair tied high, her black cloak fluttering in the north wind.

Ten thousand personal guards stood in neat square formations behind her, their spears and halberds like a forest, their iron armor gleaming coldly in the torchlight.

The people began to cheer, initially just a few scattered shouts of "Young Marshal".

Soon, it coalesced into an overwhelming wave of sound.

"Young Marshal! Young Marshal!"

Some people held their lanterns high, some knelt down in excitement, and some lifted their children above their heads so that the children could also see the guardian deity of Youzhou.

Su Mingyue's warhorse stepped onto the official road and slowly moved forward amidst the cheers of the people lining the road.

The sky had completely darkened, and no one could see Emperor Yongchang's pitch-black face.

He sat upright on the welcoming platform, his bright yellow dragon robe fluttering slightly in the night breeze.

The tassels of his crown obscured most of his face, revealing only his two hands gripping the armrests of the dragon throne tightly, his fingers turning white.

The eunuch standing behind him saw the veins bulging on the back of his hand and a strange smile appeared on his face.

The entire city was chanting "Young Marshal," and all the officials were waiting for him; not a single voice was cheering for him.

Su Mingyue reined in her horse ten zhang away from the welcoming platform.

She dismounted, handed the silver spear to Dongmei beside her, straightened her black armor, and was about to step forward to pay her respects to Emperor Yongchang.

Just then, the sky behind her suddenly brightened.

It didn't light up gradually; it lit up suddenly, as if someone had torn a hole in the night sky and squeezed out all the light from the stars.

Everyone looked up at the same time and saw a huge flame appear in the night sky behind Su Mingyue.

The firelight was initially just a blurry red mass, then it quickly spread out.

Wings, tail feathers, crest, and eye feathers unfolded one by one in the night sky, transforming into a giant fire phoenix.

The phoenix was engulfed in raging flames, its crimson-gold light burning through half the sky. The clouds were illuminated by the firelight, resembling churning lava, and even the stars paled in comparison to the blazing inferno.

The clouds floating in the night sky were torn to shreds by the shockwaves from the phoenix's wings, and fiery rain fell from the phoenix's tail feathers, vanishing into nothingness in mid-air.

The fire phoenix slowly circled directly above Su Mingyue's head, its enormous wings leaving long trails of flame in the night sky with each flap.

It flew around her head once, the fiery winds from its wings making her cloak flutter, and the firelight shone on her black armor, giving her a flowing crimson-gold hue.

The phoenix raised its head and let out a clear and melodious cry. The sound was not a real cry, but an invisible tremor that seemed to penetrate the heavens and the earth, causing everyone's robes to tremble slightly.

Then it flapped its wings and soared higher and higher, transforming into an extremely bright crimson-gold spot at the highest point of the night sky, like a shooting star flying backwards back into the depths of the heavens, disappearing without a trace.

After the phoenix disappeared, the official road outside Yongning City fell into a deathly silence.

The raging fire died down, and the night sky returned to darkness.

The torchlight seemed as dim as fireflies compared to the raging flames just moments before.

Tens of thousands of commoners, the entire court of civil and military officials, and the imperial guards on the welcoming platform all maintained the same posture.

Head tilted back, mouth agape, eyes wide, it stared in the direction the phoenix had disappeared.

Several old farmers' lanterns fell to the ground and caught fire without anyone noticing, and several women's tears streamed down their cheeks without them realizing they were crying.

It's unclear who was the first to buckle and kneel down, their forehead slamming heavily against the muddy ground.

"Auspicious omens descend from the heavens; the phoenix appears in the world!"

Someone in the crowd shouted at the top of their lungs, their voice trembling with excitement.

The sound was like a ladle of water being poured into boiling oil, and the entire crowd erupted in chaos.

Hundreds and thousands of people knelt down in unison, their foreheads pressed against the soil, not daring to raise their heads or speak. Only heavy breathing and suppressed sobs rose and fell among the crowd.

"Auspicious omens descend from the heavens; the phoenix appears in the world!"

"It is the mandate of heaven! It is the mandate of heaven!"

"The sun and moon shine brightly in the sky, the divine phoenix descends to earth—this is the will of Heaven! The will of Heaven cannot be defied!"

The people on the outskirts shouted themselves hoarse, and then some of the civil and military officials also knelt down.

The first to kneel were several vice ministers who had been terrified by Zhou Ming's "calling a deer a horse" tactic in the imperial court.

Then there were several senior officials of the third rank or above.

An old man with gray hair, a remnant of the previous dynasty, knelt tremblingly on the ground, tears streaming down his face, repeatedly muttering to himself.

"The phoenix will not arrive, the river will not produce a map, I am finished."

After reciting a few lines, he realized it wasn't right and quickly changed his words, shouting that auspicious omens had descended from heaven.

Later, a large number of people knelt down in front of the welcoming platform, while only Emperor Yongchang remained standing.

He stood there, his whole body trembling, the beads on his crown jingling softly as he trembled.

His lips were pressed into a thin, almost bloodless line, and his chest heaved violently a few times, but he didn't utter a single word.

Su Mingyue stood there, tilting her head slightly upwards as she gazed at the night sky where the fire phoenix had disappeared.

Her face remained calm, but a very subtle glint flashed in her eyes.

She was a general who had fought countless battles and bled on the battlefield, so she wouldn't believe in any auspicious omens.

Her expression remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened, except for a barely perceptible slight curve at the corner of her mouth.

She turned around again, her gaze passing over the kneeling civil and military officials and the trembling Emperor Yongchang.

Instead of looking at the nominal ruler, he focused his gaze precisely on Zhou Ming.

The moment their eyes met, Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.

Just then, Emperor Yongchang burst into laughter.