Xiaoxiao.

Let's rewind to a month ago.

It was a sunny afternoon.

The sun shone on the governor's office on the second floor, and the sunlight was still dazzling even after passing through the huge glass windows.

Like any other afternoon,

The yamen runners began their afternoon work again.

The only difference is that a conversation or appointment is taking place in the spacious office...

"...This is an affirmation of your abilities. I hope you can bravely shoulder this responsibility." The speaker was a middle-aged man of medium build and square face.

His gold-rimmed glasses gave him a scholarly air, and his shiny hair conveyed a sense of composure and restraint.

He was the second-in-command of Wu'an County.

The county magistrate Tan conveys the good news.

And just like that, the work arrangement was finalized!

In fact, Kuang Zheng had arrived at the prefect's residence just half an hour earlier, and along with the Imperial Chancellor's visiting card, he had also handed over a letter. The letter belonged to Ying Le, the Prince of Xianyang, the most beloved younger brother of the current Emperor of the Qin Empire.

The moment he received the business card, Prefect Cheng Feng, who was still sparring with his ninth concubine during the day, even tilted his hat.

Seeing that the visitor was unusually young, and recalling the letter's owner, the prefect initially thought the young man was a member of the royal family, the Ying clan. However, seeing that the man didn't even have a single attendant, he immediately dismissed the idea.

There's a saying that goes, "When the emperor goes on a tour, the earth shakes." If he were truly a prince, he wouldn't have such an imposing presence.

The folk legend of "traveling incognito" is impossible; the royal family of the Qin Empire had strict etiquette for traveling.

The Qin Dynasty was founded on military might, and its laws were the most stringent. The most direct manifestation of this strictness was that everyone had to strictly abide by them, and even the emperor could not overstep his bounds in name.

Otherwise, there is a risk of shaking the foundation. If the emperor takes the lead in breaking the law, who will dare to believe that their rights will not be violated in the future?

It is important to understand that "establishing trust at the city gate" refers not only to the trust of the legal patriarch personally, but also to the trust of the entire Qin Empire.

That's why the prefect was so certain.

He wasn't royalty, yet the Prince of Xianyang wrote him a private letter; this person was far beyond his capabilities.

It should be noted that the Prince of Xianyang was the head of all the princes and also the Grand Marshal of the Empire's army. He was truly "second only to the emperor and above all others."

Although His Majesty the Emperor was the actual controller of the army, the Prince of Xianyang was not just a figurehead Grand Marshal.

The 100,000 Xianyang soldiers under his command were comparable to the Emperor's Imperial Guard, and these troops were personally assigned by the Emperor.

This incident even led to court officials committing suicide to remonstrate with their ministers.

But His Majesty withstood the pressure.

This shows how much the Prince of Xianyang means to His Majesty.

The Prince of Xianyang did not disappoint His Majesty's trust, achieving numerous military exploits on the frontier and possessing exceptional talent in civil administration.

He not only loved his soldiers like his own children and was a brilliant strategist, but he also knew when to advance and retreat, adhered to principles, and enjoyed a high reputation among the people.

The young man in front of me was simply dressed and unremarkable in appearance.

But he possessed the name card of a wise prime minister and the private letter of a wise king. How could this not alarm the prefect?

After confirming the visitor's request several times, Cheng Feng finally nervously instructed his servants to call Qin Chuanxi over.

That led to the conversation above.

Xiubei Town is the biggest scar on Wu'an County.

It's something that nobody wants to talk about.

Although Xiubei Town is located deep in the mountains, it has well-developed waterways.

This area is rich in coal and iron resources.

With convenient transportation and abundant resources, it's truly a place where development can happen effortlessly.

Indeed, for a long period of time, Xiubei County was at the forefront of Wu'an Prefecture.

The area not only has a thriving economy, but its people also experience a strong sense of fulfillment and happiness.

Moreover, many of the young men from the Imperial Army have distinguished themselves in battle and earned certain titles.

But everything came to an abrupt end ten years ago!

From then on, the people suffered from poverty and bandits ran rampant.

Recently, there have even been signs of them disobeying the law.

That's why Cheng Feng repeatedly confirmed Kuang Zheng's request to take up a post in Xiubei County when he learned of it.

In his mind, someone like Kuang Zheng, with such a powerful background (backed by the two pillars of the empire), should be doing his "gilding" in the vicinity of the imperial city of Xianyang, not in Anwu County, which is far from the emperor's reach.

Moreover, it was Xiubei County, which already showed signs of rebellion. Wasn't that just jumping into a fire pit?

Don't end up losing your life instead of getting the gold plating done.

If that were the case, wouldn't I, as the prefect, be finished too?

Don't you think these imperial princes and nobles are harming people?

If it weren't for the explicit phrase "at your discretion" in both the business card and the private message, he would have thought that this rich kid was making fun of him.

Cheng Feng kept grumbling to himself, but his dissatisfaction remained hidden in his heart, while his face still wore the same warm smile he always had.

After confirming it repeatedly, Cheng Feng rolled his eyes and made a hasty decision.

He delegated the task to his deputy, so that if anything serious happened to this young man in Xiubei County, he would have an excuse to shirk responsibility: he hadn't handled the matter personally.

There's always room for maneuver; that's what it means to not push things to the brink.

By the time the formalities were completed, the sun was already setting. The staff here even remarked that this level of efficiency was rare.

Kuang Zheng, accustomed to military life, scoffed at the idea, but he said nothing. He had always heard people say that dealing with government affairs was difficult, and now he had witnessed it firsthand.

Even with such a valuable qualification, it still took me this long. For ordinary people, it's unimaginable.

You can't investigate this matter further; they've already come up with an excuse: everything is done according to procedure.

How could Cheng Feng's smooth talk escape Kuang Zheng's eyes? It's just that he didn't cross the line. They were just strangers who met by chance, and their paths would diverge from now on, so there was no need to take it seriously.

As he walked, he filtered through the information his brothers had gathered. Kuang Zheng wandered aimlessly through the streets, refusing Qin Chuanxi's insistence on staying the night, but he still needed to find a place to stay for the night.

Seeing a restaurant with a fairly clean facade, Kuang Zheng went straight inside.

Lying in bed, he was still pondering the unusual situation in Xiubei County. Normally, an ordinary small county wouldn't even come to their attention. So why was Xiubei County so unforgettable to him?

The story begins six years ago:

As the youngest captain of the most elite special forces unit in the Qin Empire's thousands of years of history, and even on the planet Penglai, Kuang Zheng ascended to the captain's throne at the age of only 10, the same age as the legendary prime minister Gan Luo when he became prime minister.

It should be noted that although the Dragon Flame Brigade is called a brigade, it has a total of 100,000 personnel.

Even with the ten-year-old Gan Luo as a precedent, a mere child cannot convince the elite 100,000 troops of Penglai Planet.

These 100,000 people were not only exceptionally strong in combat, but their backgrounds were even more terrifying. As the empire's last trump card, many of them had intricate connections with the royal family, not to mention the descendants of high-ranking officials and nobles.

They were either descendants of meritorious officials who followed the First Emperor in conquering the world, or direct descendants of princesses throughout history, or even members of the royal family.

This group of people is not to be trifled with. They only fear two kinds of "sons" in their lives: one is the "emperor" and the other is their "parents".

It's simply a pipe dream to expect such a group of proud and fierce soldiers to listen to the instructions of a 10-year-old child.

What's truly astonishing is that this ten-year-old managed to subdue 10 people in just ten days.

The method is simple: those with brains compete in wisdom, those with strength compete in fists and feet. Those who are both literate and martial can wield any of the eighteen weapons and employ any of the thirty-six stratagems at will.

Kuang Zheng earned his position as battalion commander through his own abilities. Not only that, but he also instilled a new sense of fear in these elites: "fear of the battalion commander."

Kuang Zheng lived up to expectations, and in the days that followed, Long Yan achieved numerous feats under his leadership. Not only did they ravage the special forces of the Tang and Han dynasties, but they also turned the tide in the desolate wilderness, which humanity had always been on the defensive.

Although the process was difficult, although 103 brothers were lost, and although it was an ambush.

But a victory is a victory; this is the first time in human history that a human has faced a monstrous beast of the wilderness.

At that moment, Kuang Zheng's reputation reached its peak. Not only in the Qin Dynasty, but also among the high-ranking officials of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the name left a deep impression on them.

But it was in that battle that Kuang Zheng's seven-man squad was swept away by the giant beast and plunged into the wilderness.

This outcome left countless people heartbroken; who could have imagined that the hero's brilliance would become his swan song? A dazzling star had just risen, only to vanish like a shooting star, leaving behind endless regret...

This outcome plunged the entire Qin Empire into mourning, while the Tang and Han dynasties breathed a deep sigh of relief. They dared not imagine what this child would be like if he were allowed to fully grow up; who knew if the Qin emperor would follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and once again sweep across the land?

If it were under that child's leadership, they couldn't even imagine what their own country could use to stop his advance.

At the age of thirteen, he single-handedly stopped the onslaught of the monstrous beasts of the wilderness with the help of the 100,000-strong Dragon Flame Brigade.

The fact that they only lost 103 lives is an unprecedented achievement in human history.

For this alone, Kuang Zheng is deified. He will become the most powerful war god on Penglai Planet!!!

Let alone a once-in-a-millennium event, even a once-in-a-century wild beast tide is a disaster that would lead to the destruction of a nation and the extinction of a race!

When was it not a time when the three countries joined forces and cooperated sincerely?

The three empires held nothing back, and once the beast tide passed, each empire was on the verge of collapse.

If these beasts aren't severely punished, they will launch attacks for three to five years in a row, sometimes even for as long as ten years.

Each battle involved the entire nation of the three kingdoms, with a scale of nearly one billion soldiers, which was almost the total military strength of the three great empires.

The war started with a full-scale battle, and the behemoths wouldn't launch any probing attacks.

Such high-intensity, high-stakes warfare, fought relentlessly year after year, would eventually deplete even the wealthiest empires. This is why, after each war, the major empires would unanimously cease hostilities and allow themselves to recuperate.

Because generally speaking, the giant beasts of the wilderness rise in small waves every year, large waves every ten years, high tides every hundred years, and giant waves every thousand years.

The territories of the three great empires, like three rings of jade pendants, surrounded the wilderness in the middle, which meant that each country had to face the direct threat of giant beasts.

This objectively prevented a brutal struggle between empires, because the war against the behemoths was a battle for racial survival. The conquests between empires, frankly, were a struggle for interests. One was survival, the other was profit. Which was more important is obvious.

Since the dawn of humanity, no one has ever ventured more than a hundred miles into the vast wilderness, an area twice the size of the territories of three great empires. This mere hundred-mile distance is the result of millennia of relentless struggle by humankind. Every step has been forged in blood and flesh, every step built upon countless bones.

This stretch of over a hundred miles represents all of humanity's actual knowledge of the wilderness; legends, however, should not be taken as fact. This very stretch of over a hundred miles effectively kept humanity out, because it was a "forbidden zone for humans."

The seven members of the Kuangzheng team were swept into the wilderness by the giant beast. Where was there any way out?

Upon hearing the news, Ying Ao burst into tears. The dignified ruler of a nation wept uncontrollably, declaring a day of mourning and suspending court proceedings.

King Ying Le of Xianyang smashed nine jade cups in succession, and the Prime Minister's wife heard the low sobbing sounds coming from her husband's study.

The sky over Xianyang was gray that day.

Time flies, and several years have passed in the blink of an eye.

When all that remains is a memory, the matter is over.

Only a few people will be moved by the sights and sounds of nature at specific times and places.

But that night, Xianyang Palace was brightly lit and heavily guarded.

Upon closer inspection, wow! The Prince of Xianyang, the old prime minister, and the ministers of the six ministries were all present.

What's even more unbelievable is that the seven Kuang Zhengs who were dragged into the wilderness a year ago are now standing there perfectly fine.

"...holding on for the last breath, before I fainted, I threw the last team member into that black pit. Luckily, thanks to the impact of the giant beast, I was also knocked in..." Kuang Zheng said.

"Like the captain, we had a strange dream. A bizarre dream with no beginning or end, neither here nor there," said the only girl among the seven. She looked only 7 or 12,3 years old, like the others, but her figure was incredibly voluptuous. If you added her delicate face, even a high monk would break his vows.

"It might not be a dream; it felt like I experienced it firsthand," another person said.

"You mean there's a large tomb inside? But there's no record of any civilized human footprints in the wilderness!" said the Minister of Revenue.

"That's not necessarily true. Isn't there a legend that the tombs of Nuwa and the Yellow Emperor are located there?" the Minister of Rites said.

"Nonsense! How can such a fabricated story be true? Nuwa and the Yellow Emperor? Aren't they supposed to be gods? How could immortals die?" the Minister of Justice retorted.

"If these are all rumors, then what about the experiences of those who were corrected?" the Minister of Rites replied.

"Hmph! How could I know if I didn't see it with my own eyes?" the Minister of Justice replied.

"Are all seven of you unable to use your ancient martial arts?" the Prince of Xianyang asked.

"Reporting to Imperial Uncle, it's not that it can't be used, but I can only use 7% of my full power right now. Any more would be dangerous. If I force it, it would feel like my soul is leaving my body, and I would also suffer internal injuries," Ying Yue said. Ying Yue was the girl among the seven people, a member of the Qin royal family, and the eldest daughter of the current emperor.

“This must be what the dream described as reaching a bottleneck in cultivation, and if one doesn’t find a way to break through, one’s life will be in danger,” Kuang Zheng said.

"Then how do we break through?" Ying Ao asked.

"It's still unclear. I seem to have a method for cultivation in my mind, but it's not clear. The only thing I know for now is that I need to find something that resonates with my body," Kuang Zheng said.

"What is it? I possess the entire world; I can find you anything," Ying Ao said confidently.

"Thank you, Your Majesty (Father)." The seven people bowed in gratitude.

"No need for thanks, it's good that you're all doing well. The Great Qin Empire can't do without relatives like you! We will all grow old eventually, the future belongs to you." With just one sentence, the old and young were all deeply grateful, the art of imperial rule subtly influencing them.

And so, the group began searching for items that resonated with them.

At first, things were fine, as the royal treasury contained some of their treasures. However, as time went on, they had to search far and wide.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye. And in the past year, they have found nothing of any use, their situation becoming increasingly perilous.

Of the seven who escaped together, only three remain; the others eventually had no choice but to wander into the wilderness.

The energy released by the four people's self-destruction in the wilderness alarmed the highest levels of the three great empires. It was a power not belonging to humanity, powerful enough to destroy the world.

In view of this, the three of them left the capital and settled down on the outskirts of the wilderness.

If it's truly beyond repair, then like the four people before them, they will walk alone into the wilderness.

Go as far as you can, and then make your final, glorious moment!

As time went on, the spiritual energy within his body became increasingly turbulent.

With their final days fast approaching, they knew their last moments were drawing near...

Just as the three were saying their final goodbyes, they suddenly sensed an aura almost simultaneously. After searching, they finally located it in a place called Xiubei County.

After careful consideration, they finally embarked on this unknown journey...