Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

Ten thousand years ago, he reached the Grandmaster realm in his early twenties, which could be considered genius, but not top-tier genius. Those truly top-tier geniuses would never be sealed away for ten thousand years—they themselves would not want it, and the powerful figures in their clans would not bear to part with them. After all, sealing someone away for ten thousand years carries the risk of unforeseen events, and no one wants a top-tier genius to take such a risk.

If that's the case, why not choose a more powerful, older generation expert to seal it for ten thousand years, instead of selecting a young genius? The reason is simple: the older and more powerful an expert is, the greater the price to pay for being sealed for ten thousand years. When one's cultivation reaches a certain level, it's impossible to seal someone for ten thousand years without damage. Even if it were possible, the resources required would be unbearable for the barbarians of ten thousand years ago.

Let alone the fact that the barbarians ten thousand years ago were not wealthy, even the top sects of the human race at that time could not seal away an elder powerful figure for ten thousand years without injury. Moreover, ten thousand years ago, each race, sect, and power had more important matters that required their own powerful figures to deal with, and simply did not have the extra energy and resources to seal away an elder powerful figure.

"Ancestor, has our army breached the Great Qian Imperial City?" one of the barbarian elders asked cautiously, his eyes filled with anticipation. Another elder looked at Tuoba Hongzhen with equal expectation, awaiting his answer.

"Probably not." Tuoba Hongzhen gave an uncertain answer, his tone tinged with bitterness. He had fled before the siege ended, and he didn't know how the final battle turned out, but he could guess that his side had most likely lost, perhaps even suffered a crushing defeat.

That human expert, who was only at the Grandmaster level, was far too powerful. Coupled with that puppet with astonishing combat strength, Tuoba Hongzhen estimated that after he escaped, Tuoba Zan would either die in battle or flee for his life like him.

"No way?" The two barbarian elders looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief. In their view, with two Grandmasters in charge, conquering the Great Qian Imperial City was a sure thing, but they dared not doubt Tuoba Hongzhen—Tuoba Hongzhen had no reason to lie.

"No need to worry. As long as I am alive, my barbarian tribe still has hope of rising again," Tuoba Hongzhen said, his tone sounding confident, but upon closer examination, one could sense a lack of conviction in his words.

The two barbarian elders were still worried, but they dared not ask any more questions. They hurriedly bowed and took their leave to inquire about the army's whereabouts.

"Once I've fully recovered, I'll definitely go back to the Great Qian Imperial City!" Tuoba Hongzhen gazed in the direction of the Great Qian Empire, a hint of unwillingness and stubbornness flashing in his eyes. He secretly vowed, "I refuse to believe that I, a barbarian genius from ten thousand years ago, can't defeat a human prodigy whose cultivation is lower than mine!"

He could not accept his defeat—if his people from ten thousand years ago knew that he had been defeated by a Grandmaster-level martial artist from ten thousand years later, he would become the laughingstock of the entire barbarian tribe and would never be able to hold his head high again.

……

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and before we knew it, it was already early February.

The dangers of the chaos were invisible to ordinary people, but the sight of spring blossoms was visible to everyone. Victories poured into the Great Qian capital and the imperial palace: the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties and fled in disarray back to the East Sea; the barbarian army also retreated to the desolate wilderness; the Northern Desert Kingdom fared the worst, with its elite wolf cavalry almost completely wiped out.

Xiao Anxun had already rewarded those who had rendered meritorious service, appeasing the soldiers and commending the meritorious officials. The once precarious Great Qian Empire, like the grass and trees in early spring, was once again full of vitality. Throughout the empire, everyone was overjoyed, having long forgotten the near-devastating losses suffered in Daliang City and Longbei County.

Xiao Anxun issued an edict to intensify recruitment efforts and to gather previously scattered soldiers, explicitly stating that they would not be held responsible for their previous defeats. Inspired by this edict, the military strength of the Great Qian Empire began to recover rapidly.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction, but Xiao Anxun was overwhelmed by one thing – the powerful figures from the Tianwu Sect had arrived.

The Great Qian Imperial City is under siege. In such a momentous battle, it's highly suspicious that Empress Lin Wen and Grandmaster Lin Zhengying have remained completely silent. Lin Zhengying came to protect the imperial power; how could he be so completely inactive in such a crucial battle concerning the survival of the empire?

Now, the entire city is praising the great achievements of the newly appointed Imperial Preceptor Su Mu, but no one is mentioning the Grandmaster of the Tianwu Sect. Naturally, the powerful figures of the Tianwu Sect have become suspicious. Moreover, after the great battle, neither Lin Wen, Lin Zhengying, nor the Xiao royal family sent a message to the Tianwu Sect to report that they were safe, which is even more illogical.

The powerful figures of the Tianwu Sect were filled with worry, fearing that their Grandmaster had met with misfortune in the battle to defend the imperial city. They never dreamed that Lin Zhengying had already died in the palace, at the hands of the newly appointed Imperial Preceptor, Su Mu.

That noon, Su Mu was having lunch in the library when Xiao Anran entered, her expression grave. She asked, "Grand Preceptor, people from the Tianwu Sect have arrived. They wish to see Empress Lin and Elder Lin. How should we handle this?"

"The truth will come out sooner or later. You can hide it for a while, but you can't hide it forever." Su Mu put down his chopsticks and said calmly, "I killed the person, and I have no fear of the Heavenly Martial Sect's revenge."

Xiao Anran knew perfectly well that Su Mu, who could easily kill a Grandmaster, naturally wouldn't take the Tianwu Sect, which currently didn't even have a single Grandmaster, seriously. However, the Xiao imperial family still needed the Tianwu Sect to lead martial arts masters from all walks of life to deal with the monsters constantly emerging from the Cangmang Mountains. If the Tianwu Sect rebelled, the impact on the Great Qian Empire would be unimaginable.

Throughout the entire Great Qian Empire, only the Tianwu Sect, with its long history and high prestige, could unite the martial arts world among the common people into one force to jointly resist the invasion of demonic beasts.

Seeing that Su Mu was unwilling to discuss the Tianwu Sect any further, Xiao Anran quickly changed the subject and cautiously asked, "If the Imperial Preceptor is unwilling to accept disciples, would the Imperial Preceptor be willing to accept Her Highness the Consort as your godfather?"

"The Imperial Concubine?" Su Mu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. Of course, he knew who the Imperial Concubine of the Great Qian Empire was—Imperial Concubine Liu Ruoyu, who was thirty-five years old this year. She was Xiao Anxun's first concubine and also his childhood sweetheart.

Liu Ruoyu bore Xiao Anxun two sons and a daughter, and Xiao Anxun had deep feelings for her. Although Liu Ruoyu's maternal family, the Liu family, was not as prominent as the Situ family or the Tianwu Sect, it was still a long-established martial arts family and a wealthy merchant family.

Like the Duanmu family, the Situ family was once a reclusive clan. Later, they chose to enter the world and moved to the Great Qian Imperial City to serve the royal family. The Liu family, on the other hand, never remained in seclusion. At the beginning of the Great Qian Empire, the Liu family was a martial arts family in the southern prefectures. It was only in the last few hundred years that they moved to the Great Qian Imperial City.

The Liu family's businesses are extremely diverse, with restaurants all over the Great Qian Empire. They also deal in medicinal herbs, cloth, spices, and other products. In terms of wealth, they are as rich as a country. However, in terms of martial prowess, the Liu family is somewhat inferior, as they have not produced a Grandmaster for hundreds of years.

It was precisely because of the passing of the last Grandmaster of the Liu family that, for the sake of the family's safety, the Liu family moved from the southern county city to the Great Qian Imperial City—the very foot of the emperor. As long as they maintained good relations with the royal family, they could obtain sufficient security.