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

"Your Majesty, the alliance is now established, and it is time for us to depart."

Xuanyuan Chen was worried about the desert and wanted to return as soon as possible.

Chen Futu deliberately asked, "Why has Senior Hong Gu disappeared without a trace?"

"It must have been the people from the ancient palace who took her away. I, from the Sand Sea, will avenge this grudge."

As expected, Xuanyuan Chen was unaware that Hong Gu's disappearance was related to the Great Xia Dynasty. Chen Futu found it amusing; the Ancient Palace was definitely going to take the blame for this.

As for why the ancient palace attacked the Sand Sea before, it was probably not to kill Xuan Yuan Chen, but to kill Xuan Yuan Rong. As a holy maiden, Xuan Yuan Rong could be bound to the fate of the nation. If she died, the Sand Sea would not be able to be bound to the Great Xia in the short term, or it would be unbound due to her death.

A day later, Zhang Sanfeng set off with the group from the desert.

The powerful figures from the ancient palace, who were hiding in the shadows, discovered that Zhang Sanfeng was following the group, and, fearing the consequences, did not take any further action.

"How are the generals' trials going?"

Chen Futu casually asked Dian Wei, who replied with a simple smile, "They are completing their tribulations of life and death one by one."

Qin Liangyu's cultivation level was raised to Martial Emperor by the system, so she no longer needs to enter dungeons in the short term.

In addition, people like Li Xiuning who have completed the trial can also enter the dungeon trial again. The difficulty of the corresponding dungeon will be increased, but the effect after clearing the dungeon is not as obvious as the first time.

"Your Majesty, the grassland troops have retreated."

The Imperial Guards brought back new battle reports from Longcheng.

Chen Futu frowned. The grassland people were like cockroaches that could never be killed. After being driven back, they would recuperate for a period of time and then come back again. If he wanted to get rid of them once and for all, he had to destroy their royal court.

"Tell An Jingsi and Yue Fei to leave one person to hold the line, and the rest to return and undergo the trials of life and death. Once the south of the Milky Way is resolved, they can then sweep across the north."

Chen Futu's order was delivered to Dragon City along with several high-grade Nourishing Essence Pills.

The Nourishing Essence Pill is for Li Huaifeng and other former valiant generals. Their current strength is too weak, so they can't use it in the Life and Death Tribulation dungeon. They can only use the pills rewarded by the system to improve their strength.

Li Huaifeng and the others were overjoyed to receive the high-grade Nourishing Essence Pill. Although the pill wouldn't allow them to directly enter the Martial Emperor realm, entering the Martial Sect realm wouldn't be a problem, and with good luck, entering the Martial King realm wasn't impossible either.

In short, the Holy Emperor has not forgotten them and remembers them as the original ministers. If the Holy Emperor does not improve their cultivation, they will not even be able to defeat the Shadow Guards and will have no choice but to retire and return to their hometowns.

On the other side, Chen Futu's trusted generals learned of the existence of the life-or-death tribulation, so they discussed it privately and decided to let Yue Fei guard it first, while the others would return to receive the training.

Qingyi was the first to return to the capital. Upon her return, she went straight to the inner palace, clamoring to see her grand-disciple.

As the Grand Preceptor of the Great Xia Dynasty, her current cultivation level is only that of a Martial Emperor.

As a Martial Venerable, Chen Futu showed her the same respect as always, and gave her the fifth-level pill he had recently refined, hoping that she could break through to the Martial Venerable level in a short time.

"Not bad, kid. In just a few months, your cultivation has surpassed that of your master."

Qingyi did not refuse the pills; as an unparalleled prodigy, she naturally did not want to fall behind others.

In the past, the Martial Emperor was an absolute powerhouse in the Great Xia Dynasty, but now the Martial Emperor is commonplace.

"By the way, take this."

Chen Futu then touched two more scrolls of martial arts manuals.

One of them was an incomplete Emperor-level cultivation technique given to him privately by Xuanyuan Rong, called the "Southern Underworld Fire Technique".

Chen Futu has a systematic backing and no shortage of cultivation techniques, and he doesn't even care about incomplete ones. On the contrary, Qingyi's foundation is slightly lacking, and this cultivation technique is just right for her to break through to a higher realm.

Secondly, there is the upgraded Zhongnan Mountain martial arts manual, "The Essentials of the Classic of Mountains and Seas," which is now at the Emperor level.

The woman in green, having read the Classic of Mountains and Seas, looked astonished. "How did you do that?"

When she taught Chen Futu the essentials of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, she wasn't exactly an emperor-level being; she was barely an emperor-level being.

"Hehe, this is the true Zhongnan Mountain heritage, which I obtained by chance."

Chen Futu lied; he wouldn't say it was given to him by the system.

Qingyi accepted the generous gift. She was also quite tempted by the Nanming Lihuo Technique, but it was given to her by the Holy Maiden, and Chen Futu was giving it to her as a favor. She felt it was inappropriate.

Chen Futu joked, "You really don't want it? If you don't want it, I'll give it to someone else. They won't refuse an Emperor-level technique."

"Alright, you've shown your sincerity, so I'll accept it."

The woman in green took the cultivation manual and said, "I need to go into seclusion to break through to a higher realm. Otherwise, if I delay any longer, others will have objections to my appointment as the national advisor."

"You should work hard. I'm waiting for you to come out of quarantine and take care of me."

Chen Futu chuckled and teased, while Qingyi rolled her eyes and drifted away.

In truth, Chen Futu felt a pang of sympathy for Qingyi. If it weren't for the system, he would definitely still be relying on her. As a powerful figure from the original world, her comprehension was on par with Dongfang Bubai's, and perhaps this seclusion would yield unexpected gains.

After arranging everything, Chen Futu asked the system, "The cultivation techniques in the Cultivation Technique Pavilion are too expensive. Even the royal-level techniques cost ten million per book. I can't afford them at all! Make it cheaper, and I'll buy them in bulk for the generals."

【no】

“We’re all so familiar with each other, let’s give you a discount. I’ll name a price: one million per book.”

[The host should look for the reasons within himself. After all this time, has the national treasury revenue increased? Has the host been working hard to become emperor?]

"Shut up, I."

Ding!

[Stargazer detected is being hunted. Host, please proceed to rescue him as soon as possible.]

"Stargazing?"

Chen Futu's heart skipped a beat; he had almost forgotten about this young woman, which is why she returned from Beiwu with the secrets of the ancestral temple.

"Where is she? Who's after her?"

[Coordinates are as follows]

The system displayed a map with a bright red dot marked on it.

"Good heavens, she went to the south of the Milky Way?"

The location of the stargazing point on the map is still moving. It has now reached the south bank of the Tianhe River and seems unable to cross it, so she has found a place to hide and appears to be injured.

Chen Futu summoned Zhuge Liang and gave him some instructions, then met with Xuanyuan Lie.

Upon hearing that he was going on a long journey, the latter frowned and said, "Your Majesty is of noble birth. How can you leave the capital without permission? If something were to happen to you, how would Great Xia and the Desert Sea cope?"

"Stop talking nonsense. I must go there myself. Either you come with me, or I'll borrow the drought demon."

The drought demon is very strong; it can easily hold off a peak Martial Venerable.

Xuanyuan Lie thought for a moment and finally borrowed the drought demon. He wanted to guard the capital and teach his two children cultivation, so he didn't want to go out.

As evening fell, Chen Futu changed into the attire of a wandering swordsman, and, along with the drought demon and the bronze-armored corpse, left the capital and headed straight south.

I went there in person because I suspected that I had discovered the secret of the ancestral temple through stargazing, and I had to see her as soon as possible.

The area south of the Milky Way is currently under the control of the Northern Martial Kingdom. If Liu Longyue were to personally pursue and kill them, the young lady would still have to give the Holy Emperor some face, especially since it would be a good opportunity to discuss some matters with her.

Several days later, Chen Futu arrived at the north bank of the Tianhe River. The two puppets wore masks and could not speak, looking like two dull-witted guards.

Chen Futu found a nearby inn to store his horses, then took a ferry across the Milky Way and headed straight for the stargazing hideout.

"It moved again, what the heck?"

The system map shows that the star has moved ten miles within an hour, and it is moving westward.

Without a moment's rest, Chen Futu sped westward under the cover of night.