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"Has it arrived?"

The Imperial Court’s army had long been prepared to welcome the Jiangnan delegation along both banks of the Celestial Dragon Big River.

The person coming to welcome them was no small figure; from one of the eight great Martial Families in Capital City, the Chu Family, held in high regard by the Imperial Family just behind the Hong Family and Weichi Clan.

The person who came was the future reserved Family Head and Duke’s Heir of the Chu Family: Chu Tianhe.

The Chu Family excelled in naval warfare, and their water army was famous throughout the land. Aside from controlling the Imperial Court’s influence along the coasts of the Eastern Sea and the Southern Sea, the Chu Family also wielded power over the Celestial Dragon River.

This was a massive river that divided the north and the south.

The Imperial Court would never allow Jiangnan to control the waterways, so while Jiangnan was permitted to connect to the West Sea, the banks of this river leading to the Capital City were controlled by forces from the Capital.

And for the past twenty years, the Celestial River Army responsible for this area had been led by the legitimate heir of the Chu Family.

"Princely Heir, is that the Jiangnan group? Their presence is quite extraordinary...."

Chu Tianhe’s deputy general became alert even from a distance.

The Jiangnan group wasn’t large, appearing to be just about twenty or so in number.

It took guts for such a small group to head straight to Capital City, but their aura was indeed astonishing.

At a distance of at least a kilometer, the force of those people’s presence made their own tens of thousands of soldiers feel as though they were facing a formidable enemy.

"Could that be His Highness, the King of Qin?" Chu Tianhe shouted at the top of his lungs.

The opposing troop halted. The lead female general rode a giant horse, approaching step by step. Her lone figure on horseback was enough to unsettle their own horses; they grew restless and many soldiers had to continuously calm them. The entire formation began to appear somewhat disordered.

Chu Tianhe felt his heart pounding uncontrollably and couldn’t help but think to himself, Who is this person?

As the formation seemed about to collapse, he had no choice but to toughen up, drive his horse forward to meet them. His two deputy generals frowned but knew that now was not the time to lose their composure. They quickly followed behind him.

All of whom were riding the Imperial Court’s elite Dragon Colts, which normally showed no fear, even in the face of terrifying demons. But at that moment, they could clearly sense that the horses they rode were afraid, unsure whether it was the woman’s horse or the woman herself they feared...

"Your names..."

The silver-armored woman stopped at a distance of at least a hundred meters and addressed the advancing Chu Tianhe and his men with a chilly tone.

Such an arrogant manner of speaking gave the three men a sense of relief.

If the woman had continued to approach without saying a word, they wouldn’t have known what to do.

Engaging in combat was the last thing they wanted.

For the first time since birth, they felt as if facing a lone foe, their tens of thousands of troops might be entirely wiped out. ..

"I am Chu Tianhe, on an Imperial Court mandate to welcome Lord Wang!"

"Chu Tianhe..." Ao Zhen looked at him, examining his facial features before suddenly asking, "What is your relation to Chu Yuan?"

Chu Tianhe was taken aback, staring at her with incredulity for quite a while before responding, "I do not know who the elder refers to, but indeed, the fourth-generation Family Head of my family was named Chu Yuan."

Chu Yuan, the fourth-generation Family Head of the Chu Family, held the highest esteem in their family’s history.

According to the family’s secret history, that ancestor had once been enlightened by a Venerable One and mastered the Celestial River Eight Techniques, laying the foundation for the Chu Family and granting the Chu lineage their strongest water combat abilities.

In the current generation of the Chu lineage, very few could comprehend the Eight Techniques. Having mastered six of them before the age of thirty-five, Chu Tianhe was already the most exceptional prodigy in a thousand years, thereby earning the ancestral title: Tianhe.

"You resemble him quite a bit...."

Chu Tianhe was startled at first, then instinctively wanted to burst out with an accusation of impertinence. His ancestor had been a figure from a hundred thousand years ago, how could someone claim they looked alike as though they knew the ancestor personally?

But the words wouldn’t come out. For some reason, deep within his blood, he felt a resistance to being impolite to this woman, despite her youthful appearance of a twenty-year-old girl.

"The elder jests...." he replied uneasily, forcing a smile that was anything but genuine.

The woman did not continue the conversation but instead turned and nodded to her followers, and the entire group began to move forward slowly.

Seeing this, a deputy general said, "Lord Wang has arrived earlier than expected; our ship has not yet arrived. You may have to wait here for a bit..."

While speaking, the two deputy generals, including Chu Tianhe, glanced cautiously at her.

Deliberately delaying the ship was intended to put Lord Wang and his party at a disadvantage, providing a show of force. But given their current daunting presence, they truly regretted crafting such a scheme.

"There’s no need..."

The woman simply shook her head, bypassing the two of them without waiting for their consent, and led her horse past them.

Her movements were graceful, leaving the three men with no time to react. It wasn’t even that she had passed by them, but rather, she had led her immense horse past them as if she were a ghost drifting naturally by.

By the time the three of them came to their senses and looked back, the woman had already ridden her horse to the riverbank.

The three First Rank military generals had been unable to react, and naturally, the soldiers couldn’t either.

Only after the woman stopped at the riverbank did the assembled officers and soldiers come back to their senses, feeling astonished and at the same time a surge of humiliation flooded their hearts; this woman hadn’t taken them into account at all.

Chu Tianhe furrowed his brow and was just about to muster the courage to say something when another incomprehensible phenomenon kept him from uttering a single word.

They saw the woman walk to the river’s edge, and with a light flick of the oddly shaped trident in her hands, the immense river automatically parted to both sides.

The vast watercourse receded visibly to each side in a matter of a few breaths, creating a land path to the opposite bank with water currents piling up dozens of meters high on each side!

Magician?

Within the army, an elder quietly asked a black-clothed sorcerer nearby, "Is this the work of a magician?"

Opening the Celestial Dragon Big River with a single hand—this was a capability he had never even heard of.

If such magicians existed in the world, the Celestial River Army wouldn’t have needed to go to such lengths to train so many naval forces.

"It’s not a magician..." Underneath his conical hat, the old man too was filled with shock!

"Not a magician?"

"At least, it’s not a magician’s technique..." the elder drew a breath and whispered lower: "There’s no fluctuation of spiritual energy whatsoever, rather it seems like..."

"It seems like what?"

"Like this river is... afraid of this woman..."

"What are you talking about?" The old man beside him looked at him as if he were absurd, having never heard of a river being afraid of a person before.

"It does sound absurd, but that’s the impression..." the elder whispered, "All the surrounding water currents are afraid of this woman; not just the river. Everything in the river is afraid of her. This woman... her origins are fearsome!"

After the black-robed sorcerer confirmed it a second time, the old general beside him still found it utterly ridiculous, although he knew that the old sorcerer wouldn’t lie.

But really, could such a thing exist in this world?

All the soldiers were also gazing dumbfoundedly at this scene, not knowing what to say for a moment. They had trained here day after day to guard the Celestial Dragon River, but if such a person existed in the world, then what was the significance of their existence?

Ao Zhen paid no attention to these mere mortals, instead looking with great interest towards the opposite riverbank.

The Central Plains, huh?

It has been a hundred thousand years since my last visit!

I’m actually somewhat excited. How has it changed since before... what changes will there be?

-----------------------------

"It looks... pretty reliable..." Ali peeled back the carriage curtain, watching the magnificent scene ahead and couldn’t help but sigh softly.

"Indeed..." Shen Qi’s eyes were filled with complexity. With such a formidable creature, how on earth did Chen Qing manage to recruit her into their ranks?

And now, with her conflict with Tian Heng growing deeper and deeper, if Chen Qing didn’t return soon, they really might be facing a crisis.

Even if Chen Qing did return, he too wanted to know, could Chen Qing... make such a person willingly serve him?

"I think we should be safe this time..." Ali laughed, "With her here, who in the Capital City could be a match?"

"Don’t underestimate the Capital City...

" Shen Qi shook his head: "The Thousand Eyes Techniques I had previously placed in the Capital City have all been pulled out. I’ve lived for so many years, and never has a technique I’ve deployed been directly removed by someone.

Such an incomprehensible event means there must also be individuals in the Capital City beyond our imagination. "

"Moreover..."

Shen Qi looked towards the Capital City, and he wasn’t sure if it was just a feeling, but he sensed that this trip to the Capital City was extremely perilous, perhaps even more so than the last trip to Daqing Mountain.

He had a premonition that this time... if Chen Qing didn’t come, there might be a major disaster!