After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

Since returning from the Western Regions, Shen San noticed that his beloved daughter had lost her appetite and often spaced out. This had never happened before, and as a father, he knew perfectly well that his daughter had taken a liking to the Holy Emperor.

Unfortunately, their social statuses were worlds apart. The Holy Emperor was surrounded by beauties, so why would he show them any affection?

Recently, wealthy merchants in Jiangnan have changed their minds. Some merchants who originally submitted to Empress Ziwei have become tempted after seeing the purple aura filling the sky.

The princes of the Great Xia Dynasty have gained the approval of Heaven and Earth, and they must make changes as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be too late for them to surrender once the Holy Emperor reigns over the south of the Milky Way. Unfortunately, the Holy Emperor does not like aristocratic families, so they must express their stance first.

In the capital, an envoy from the Western Regions arrived, bringing gifts that filled hundreds of carts, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The crowds gathered to watch; it was the first time they had ever seen such strange-looking people from a foreign land.

Liu Bowen had already ordered the Great Xia Daily to report on the emperor's divine might in the Western Regions. The people watched him like monkeys, which made the powerful figures of the Western Regions both ashamed and angry.

Zhuge Liang placed the delegation in the Honglu Temple.

Xuanyuan Lie disliked the people of the Western Regions and secretly instigated Xiaobai and Li Yuanba to beat up the entire delegation, even the delegation sent by Ge Fei's Chen Kingdom was severely beaten.

After the various delegations learned that the mastermind behind it was Lao Deng from the desert, they dared not speak out, since they were nothing in the Central Plains.

Chen Futu ignored this and spent his days either holding the child and accompanying Li Xiuning or studying alchemy, leaving the affairs of state to Zhuge Liang, somewhat resembling the "immortal emperor" of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, preparations for the coronation and the wedding were completed.

On the day of the grand ceremony, the imperial city was packed with people, and red lanterns were hung all over the capital.

Chen Futu offered sacrifices to Heaven, formally ascended the throne and proclaimed himself Emperor. The delegation submitted a memorial to the throne, accepting the surrender and recommending the Great Sage Emperor to the throne, named Heavenly Khan.

At this point, Chen Futu's power extended north beyond Longguan Pass, south to Tianhe River, east to the coast, and west to various foreign tribes. If he could just lead his troops to sweep across the south of Tianhe River, he could unify the world.

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

"The Queen has a thousand years of life, a thousand years of life——"

The shouts in the imperial city were deafening.

Chen Futu led Qin Liangyu by the hand toward the palace, as a system notification sounded in their ears.

[Congratulations on your wedding, host! Qin Liangyu, as the Empress of the Dynasty, is distributing congratulatory gifts.]

[Gift 1: Qin Liangyu's cultivation level has been raised to the early stage of Martial Emperor]

[Gift 2: Qin Liangyu obtains the Mandarin Duck Armor, a top-grade defensive artifact]

[Gift 3: Increases the dynasty's national fortune by 50%]

The nation's fortunes have risen again, making Chen Futu's use of the Emperor Seal Technique even more powerful. Even ordinary people can feel the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth lingering in the air, let alone the powerful figures watching the ceremony.

In the eyes of the powerful, a hundred-foot-long, five-clawed golden dragon soared across the palace, a breathtaking sight. Fortunately, the spectacle only lasted for a short while; otherwise, ordinary experts would not have been able to withstand the imperial pressure.

Now, within the capital region, Chen Futu could crush a Grandmaster into dust with a single thought if he wanted to kill them. With his Martial Venerable cultivation and Dragon Emperor bloodline, combined with the imperial destiny, he could fight against those above the Martial Venerable level.

As for Qin Liangyu's Mandarin Duck Armor, it perfectly echoes Emperor Chongzhen's poem, "Holding the military tally in the sleeves of mandarin ducks, why must a general be a true man?"

The ceremony lasted for three full days before it ended.

Empress Ziwei's gift arrived late, containing exquisite coral from the vast ocean and numerous gold, silver, and jade artifacts—all priceless treasures.

In addition, she sent a letter, which contained a hint of resentment and bitterness: "Has Your Majesty forgotten me? Thinking back to when Your Majesty offered sacrifices to Heaven and ascended the throne, I served you by your side. Now that the new has replaced the old, how does the Empress compare to me?"

Chen Futu smiled wryly upon seeing the message and replied, "Zhensu is my beloved, and Xiuning is also what I desire. A hen crowing at dawn is like Daji offering flattery, harboring evil intentions. How could I have any other thoughts? Now that the Great Emperor Ziwei reigns over the Southern Kingdom, when will he join me for a hunt in the Milky Way? If he does not agree to the invitation, it would be better for him to surrender soon. I will treat him as a concubine. I hope the Great Emperor will consider this carefully and make a decision quickly."

Chen Futu's reply was full of sarcasm.

That little vixen dares to compare herself to Qin Liangyu? How dare she?

Even if she is the chosen one of this world's destiny, her arrogance and claiming to be the representative of fate is her original sin.

When the time is right, the Great Xia will sweep away the Southern Kingdom and give her a good spanking.

As expected, Empress Ziwei received a reply. In her embarrassment and anger, she punched the air a few times, shouting, "Chen Futu, you bastard! How much do you look down on me! What's wrong with me being called Ziwei? Did I eat your rice?!"

Despite her anger, Liu Longyue could still tell that Chen Futu treated her quite well. He was only verbally mocking her and hadn't actually threatened to kill her. There was a certain charm in his words. Even if she rebelled against the Great Xia, Chen Futu wouldn't kill her; at most, he would just give her a beating.

"Chen Futu, the Northern Wu has already occupied most of the Southern Kingdom's territory. Once I have secured the country, let's see if you can conquer it."

Liu Mengyue is currently acting out of spite. In fact, she and Chen Futu are not enemies, but they have different goals. She wants to settle the Northern Martial Army in the Central Plains, while Chen Futu wants to unify the world. This is where their conflict arises.

After the grand ceremony of the Great Xia Dynasty ended, everyone knew the name of the Heavenly Khan, and some conspiracies and schemes quietly unfolded in the shadows.

Chen Futu didn't rest. He continued to refine pills to improve his alchemy skills. In addition, he learned about the weapon grade classification in this world, where ordinary weapons were classified as treasures.

The system's armory sells treasures of all grades, but the top-grade treasures are too expensive, costing ten million each. Even with gifts from the Western Regions totaling thirty million, Chen Futu's nearly one hundred million in national reserves cannot afford to spend them all. He can only purchase lower-grade treasures for the generals to use temporarily, and will replace them when the Holy Emperor has more money.

It's worth mentioning that Zhang Sanfeng's Zhenwu Sword is a top-grade treasure, as are Xiaobai's rice bowl and small cauldron and Li Yuanba's big iron hammer, all of which were bestowed by the system.

The life-or-death ordeal for the generals has begun. Chen Futu did not participate. The system said that Li Xiuning was targeted by the will of heaven and earth because of the imperial dragon energy of the fetus. Guan Yu and the others did not have imperial dragon energy and would not be targeted, so Zhang Liang should be in charge.

Half a month later, people from the desert arrived.

Xuanyuan Rong, an old woman, and a young man accompanied a middle-aged man, who was none other than her father, Xuanyuan Chen, the current patriarch of the Sand Sea clan.

The guards of the Sand Sea were extremely extravagant. The Left Deputy Commander Chongming brought a full twelve Martial Emperors to protect him. This strength really shocked Chen Futu. Chen Futu couldn't see through the strength of Xuan Yuan Chen and the old woman at all. Zhang Sanfeng reminded him that Xuan Yuan Chen was at the peak of Martial Venerable and the old woman was above Martial Emperor.

"That's quite a grand gesture."

Even in the palace, Chen Futu could feel the old woman's aura; it was truly terrifying.

This is the fourth Martial Venerable that Chen Futu has seen besides Zhang Sanfeng and the two mischievous children, but he doesn't know the specific realm, nor does the system say.

Chen Futu did not go to see Xuan Yuanchen immediately because the old woman was scolding Xuan Yuanlie.