The Emperor seated within his capital palace's cold silence, knew his own limitations perfectly well. Directly confronting that woman was a fight he wasn't willing to pick, regardless of his authority's perceived insult.
Moreover, her strength likely sat at the mid-to-late Qi Refining stage. He simply had no one currently in his service who was capable of dealing with such a formidable foe. Even with the empire's secret techniques and hidden resources at his disposal, a genuine mid-to-late Qi Refining expert wasn't something that could be mass-produced like common foot soldiers.
And even if he managed to nurture one such fighter through his imperial treasury's immense cost, there was no guarantee they could actually defeat her in a fair fight. As for sending a Foundation Establishment cultivator to handle the matter, that was even more impossible for him to consider.
Reaching that stage required the original cultivator to be at least at the peak of late Qi Refining. Anyone who achieved that level was far too valuable to the state, a strategic asset to be preserved at all costs, not thrown away as mere cannon fodder in a risky political squabble.
Thus, he could only sit on his golden throne and pin his remaining hopes on those two old men from the grasslands.
Training Grounds
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sharp, percussive sound of spiritual metal clashing together echoed without pause across the wide training grounds, ringing against the stone walls. The onlookers, a mix of powerful sect leaders and seasoned experts who were only a single pill away from breaking through to the Qi Refining stage themselves, watched the battle with wide, disbelieving eyes.
At the center of the field, Su Min was fighting one against four, facing off against the prince's son and his three Qi Refining companions simultaneously. Not only was she not at a disadvantage during the exchange, but she was also clearly holding back her true power. Her formidable new sword remained sheathed at her hip, the hilt untouched. The scorching Vermilion Bird flames capable of melting solid steel had yet to make an appearance on the field. And these were only the abilities they already knew about. Who could say what other dark secrets she held in reserve?
"No matter how good your weapons are," she stated calmly, her voice cutting clearly through the combat's loud din, "if your speed and perception can't keep up with your opponent, they are useless."
Seeing the four youngsters struggling to maintain their coordinated assault against her, Su Min decided not to drag the fight out any longer. She feinted high with a sudden movement, then swept low, seizing a brief opening to kick one of the spearmen squarely in the chest. The blow sent him flying backward through the air until he tumbled into the dirt. With one corner of their formation broken, the remaining three quickly fell one by one under her precise, overwhelming strikes.
The outcome was never in doubt for those watching. After all, she was a genuine late Qi Refining cultivator, and the three techniques she practiced were all rare, high-grade arts. Fighting one against three wasn't even a challenge for her. This time, however, she merely used blunt force to send them stumbling back across the dirt, not inflicting the same brutal, bruising injuries as she had before.
She was just using them to test and calibrate her current physical strength and spiritual control.
"Report!" A messenger sprinted onto the field, his boots pounding against the packed earth. His voice was urgent, echoing off the surrounding walls. "Prince Yong has summoned everyone for an emergency meeting! The enemy's vanguard has been sighted. They are only thirty kilometers from Yongzhou City!"
"Hmm?"
Not just Su Min, but everyone on the training grounds was momentarily stunned into a heavy silence.
For many of those present, resisting this foreign invasion wasn't just about the rewards Prince Yong had offered to them. Reputation and honor mattered a great deal in the Jianghu. With the world undergoing such drastic changes, heroes and ambitious figures were emerging everywhere. This war was a prime opportunity for them to make a name for themselves and their respective sects.
Though they understood most of them would only serve as supporting roles in the coming conflict, the true core of this battle—the linchpin upon which everything depended—was the mysterious and overwhelmingly powerful woman standing calmly in the center of the training field. They still hadn't seen her full strength. Four Qi Refining experts, figures they once viewed as untouchable masters, couldn't even force her to get serious during a spar.
No one believed that someone capable of forging such terrifying spiritual artifacts lacked other, deadlier hidden cards in her hand. The higher-ups, in particular, had a vague idea of the sheer volume of materials she had consumed. They couldn't even fathom what kind of power those resources had been converted into. Yet, even knowing the infamous reputation of the Flame and Earth Elders, they didn't sense much overt concern from her.
"They are coming, huh?" Su Min murmured to herself, ignoring the intense stares of the people around her. "I will likely be facing an opponent with Foundation Establishment level power. At the start of the battle, I must find a way to kill or at least cripple one of them immediately."
Her thoughts turned to the two elders' infamous trump card, a secret technique that allowed them to merge their powers into a single, monstrous entity. If two late Qi Refining cultivators fused, their combined strength would undoubtedly brush against the early Foundation Establishment stage. Even for her, that would be a daunting challenge to overcome. The best strategy, then, was a blitz. She had to go all out against one of them from the very first moment, before they had any chance to combine their strengths. If she could kill or seriously injure one, the remaining elder wouldn't pose much of a threat on his own.
"With my new armor, my Golden Bell Shield, and my late-stage cultivation as a foundation, those two won't easily break through my defenses," she calculated. "If things go south, I can always retreat from the field. Worst case scenario, I will just lose some face. Besides, I already have three of the elemental treasures I need. That's enough to meet the minimum requirements for Earth Foundation Establishment if I have to settle for that."
With a plan firmly in mind, Su Min said nothing more to the gathered crowd. If she truly wanted to escape a battle, those two old men wouldn't be able to stop her. As for the rest? She would do her best, and leave the outcome to fate.
Soon, a group of them stood atop the high stone walls of Yongzhou City, gazing out at the distant horizon where the desert met the grasslands. A massive, roiling dust cloud stained the blue sky, and a low, constant tremor in the earth announced the approach of a colossal force. For a moment, an invisible, suffocating weight seemed to press down on every heart on the wall. The cold wind carried the faint, metallic scent of distant armor and the musk of thousands of horses.
Yongzhou City wasn't just a major settlement. It was the most critical stronghold in the north, the final gateway protecting the Eight Prefectures and the heartland of Great Wei beyond. Prince Yong, as a feudal lord and not the emperor himself, didn't command an overwhelmingly large imperial army. Every soldier and every guardsman he had was stationed here. If Yongzhou fell, the entire northwest of Great Wei would be torn open, and the consequences for its people would be a living hell.
Yet, after the initial shock of the sight, their eyes unconsciously turned toward the lone figure standing perfectly calm and still atop the main gate tower. The sight of that tall, composed silhouette, her robes stirring slightly in the cold breeze, somehow eased the tight knot of tension in their chests.
"This is just their vanguard, about ten thousand troops," Prince Yong reported, his voice low and cautious as he stood beside Su Min. "The main force of two hundred thousand is still a day or two behind them. The grasslands tribes have brought everything they have. It seems they don't plan on leaving, or on having a path for retreat."
This invasion was unprecedented in its scale and commitment. Counting the noncombatants, the elderly, the children, and the vast herds of livestock trailing the army, the total number of beings surging south easily surpassed a million. These people had abandoned their ancestral pastures, bringing their entire world with them to support the two hundred thousand strong army. Only the absolute authority of the Flame and Earth Elders could have mobilized the fiercely independent grasslands tribes to such an extreme, unified extent.
And if they breached the city, the consequences would be catastrophic for the region. Although the Eight Prefectures under Prince Yong's rule were vast, the pressure of accommodating and feeding over a million invaders was no joke. To secure enough resources for their own survival, the grassland army would undoubtedly carry out systematic, brutal massacres across the prefectures, slaughtering the Wei people to seize their homes, their farmland, and their stored grain, trying to put down new roots in conquered soil.
This kind of all-or-nothing strategy was something even Su Min, with her knowledge from another world, found shocking. In gaming terms, it could be summed up in two words: a base trade.
But games were just games. In reality, who would ever dare to employ such a desperate, brutal tactic?
If their army was stalled at the walls of Yongzhou City for even half a year, the entire invasion force would collapse from within. Without sufficient grazing land, their livestock would die in droves outside the gates. And the people? Starvation, cannibalism, and rampant plague would soon follow.
"Those two old freaks…" Su Min muttered, her gaze fixed on the approaching dust cloud. "Are they completely insane, or just lethally overconfident? Do they really think I don't know about their little fusion trick?"