"Greetings, Fairy Su."
After their initial shock faded, every practitioner in the room stared at Su Min with eyes blazing with fervent hope and naked ambition. Sweeping her pitch-black gaze across the hall, she understood exactly what they wanted. She had no interest in wasting time on pleasantries or political formalities. They were here for a transaction, and she was prepared to provide one.
"Once this matter is settled," she said, her voice cutting through the expectant silence, "I will devote an entire year to alchemical refining. Each of you will have the opportunity to request a pill from me, but you must prepare your own ingredients. Given my skill, a single batch of third-tier pills usually yields two to three pellets, so you may pair up and submit your request together. Just make sure to prepare at least two full sets of materials."
What she didn't mention was that, as a genuine fourth-rank alchemist, she could easily refine three to five pills per batch as long as the ingredients were of good quality. Her success rate for third-tier pills was essentially one hundred percent. Any surplus pills would belong to her. It was the unspoken tax for her services. Even if the others found out, they had no right to object. She looked at the mediocre alchemists trained by Prince Yong's household and knew her value was beyond dispute. Before leaving this continent, she fully intended to wring every last drop of value from it.
"Thank you, Fairy Su!"
Her words sent waves of palpable joy and relief through the room. Her ever-cold and detached demeanor had led many to assume that asking her to refine pills was a near-impossible feat. With expectations already rock bottom, her straightforward terms felt like a divine blessing. Two sets of ingredients for a guaranteed single third-tier pill was unbelievably cheap. Prince Yong's in-house alchemist demanded at least three sets for a chance at one pellet, with no guarantee of success.
"One last thing," Su Min added, her voice dropping several degrees. "I don't expect you to defeat the enemy supreme experts outright. But when that Demon Queen uses her secret arts to extract and consume souls on the battlefield, if you fail to shatter those souls before she absorbs them fully, don't blame me for the consequences that will follow."
Her obsidian eyes swept across the hall, carrying a lethal edge. Everyone present instinctively lowered their heads. Their shoulders tensed as if caught in a sudden frost. They understood the warning perfectly: failure to contain the Queen's soul-devouring techniques would mean facing a Su Min who had run out of patience.
"We shall not fail you!"
"Good."
Su Min gave a single nod. A faint flicker of thunderlight passed through the air, and then she was gone from the throne. These were people of status and hardened ambition; flowery words meant little to them. Tangible rewards and dire warnings were far more effective. Another matter required her attention: she needed to forge a new pill furnace, her old one having shattered under the strain of the Golden Spirit Pill.
"Troublesome. I simply don't have enough high-grade materials. I can't even make a proper low-Mystic-tier furnace, let alone any other Mystic-grade artifacts."
She stared at the limited materials in her hand. At this point, the only thing holding her back was a lack of raw, supreme-grade material. She would have to make do with what she had. Locking herself in a forging chamber, she worked through the night. The heat of the Nanming Lihuo turned the room into a crucible, the air shimmering with golden light. By the next day, a brand-new furnace took shape.
"Mid-tier yellow grade. I will just have to make do. Although I'm a fourth-rank alchemist now, the core ingredients needed for true fourth-tier pills are too rare in this land to waste on a subpar furnace."
She sighed, her breath misting against the cooling metal. If she wasn't planning to refine fourth-tier pills in the immediate future, this furnace would suffice. Pushing it to handle such potent energies would likely make it explode after just two or three batches. Those kinds of pill flames and spiritual pressures weren't something a mere yellow-grade tool could endure for long.
"Once that old hag is dead, I will be able to visit the major sects and trade for proper materials. They must have hoarded some things over the centuries."
She muttered under her breath. That Demon Queen held something extremely rare: a spatial coordinate jade slip that was essential to her future plans. Su Min had to kill her to obtain it. As for the pill furnace, it would do for now. Just then, she received word that Prince Yong had officially mobilized his armies.
These weren't ragtag rebels. This was a force carefully nurtured over decades, slowly devouring the Great Wei Empire from within like a cancer. Now, with a single command, three great armies surged forward in terrifying unison. One from the northwest, one from the southern frontiers, and one from the eastern seas. The Duke Fu, who nominally held the southern front, barely had time to rally a defense before his own personal guards turned on him. They tied him up and forbade him from leaving his residence. The betrayal was absolute. Over the years, Prince Yong had used the Fuding Merchant Guild's vast network to replace every key position in Prince Fu's household with his own loyal men.
The combined army exceeded half a million well-trained troops. In less than a week, vast swaths of the Great Wei Empire fell under their boots. Even the elite Demon Slayer Division could only offer desperate resistance. With the martial world mobilized behind them, and the hidden resources of Prince Fu's faction now brought to bear, their strength far outstripped anything the imperial court could muster.
The empire's defenders were like ants trying to stop a flood. Prince Yong's strategy was meticulous. He dismantled the empire piece by piece, severing its limbs before going for the heart. Even if they ultimately failed, they would have already carved the court's territory down to a shadow.
Su Min didn't join any of these early battles because the resistance was laughably weak. Decades of decay under the emperor's neglectful rule had left the imperial heartlands hollowed out. Most cities and garrisons surrendered without a fight. The only reason the Great Wei still clung to a semblance of life was the terrifying presence of the Demon Queen herself. Su Min spent this time in the central command tent, a silent presence. The commander leading the main campaign was Cao Yuanmu.
"There's no need to rush," he said, frowning at the strategic map. "The other two armies must proceed steadily. We will converge on the imperial capital in one week. If we give that Demon Queen an opening by arriving piecemeal, things could turn ugly."
Despite the sweeping momentum, Cao Yuanmu remained deeply cautious. He hadn't forgotten how past rebel forces were completely wiped out by a single careless mistake. The two flanking armies were purposely routed toward northern fortresses instead of the capital. Only the central army, with Su Min at its core, marched directly for the imperial city.
"Any word from deep within the capital?" Su Min asked, her brows furrowed. "It's too quiet. This is going far too smoothly."
The Great Wei wasn't some fragile porcelain doll. Even a crumbling house kicks up a cloud of dust when it falls. Yet now, it was as if the entire empire waited in an ominous hush for the final blade to fall.
"The inner palace is tightly guarded by the Demon Queen's own personal wards. We haven't been able to infiltrate deeply. But our best spies report that the emperor recently sent all his surviving children and consorts into her private chambers."
"What?"
Su Min froze for a beat. A grim memory surfaced from a past clash with the Queen's energy: a vision of a hidden charnel pit where small bones, barely more than infants, were littered like gravel. "That emperor and his Demon Queen truly are a match made in hell. The royal bloodline is almost wiped out already. What are they trying to accomplish with this final sacrifice?"
Cao Yuanmu shuddered. With the world changing, royal bloodlines were becoming valuable spiritual assets. A family's long-term foundation relied heavily on the number of cultivators it could produce. Erasing their own lineage was shortsighted madness.
"That woman is truly ruthless; though I suppose it saves me the trouble of dirtying my hands with the innocent," Su Min said, her voice cold as a grave. Her expression darkened as she realized the implication. "She is cornered. She is trying to use a mass blood sacrifice to forcibly restore herself to the peak of the early Golden Core stage, or even push into the mid-stage. If she succeeds… she and I will be near equals in raw cultivation."
"What?!"
Cao Yuanmu paled. He was only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, but through his association with Hui Ming, he had learned much about the realms beyond. The Golden Core realm was a monstrous threshold. The third strike of the heavenly tribulation was a death sentence for nearly all Foundation cultivators. Only a heaven-defying few, like Su Min, could pass it unscathed. The gap between a peak Foundation cultivator and a newly ascended Golden Core expert was wider than the gulf between an early Body Refining novice and Foundation Establishment. A true Golden Core cultivator could single-handedly shatter the morale of entire armies.
"Order the armies to advance at double time! Any city that surrenders is to be left untouched. We don't have time for pacification! We must completely surround the capital within three days!"
Cao Yuanmu didn't hesitate. Instantly, couriers were dispatched, and the 200,000-strong central army mobilized. They abandoned heavy siege supplies to race toward the capital with lightening speed. Su Min said nothing, merely watching. An early, decisive battle suited her. She was prepared to fight a fully recovered Golden Core Demon Queen, but if she could face an incomplete version, even better.
-
"What? They are speeding up? They will reach the capital walls by dawn tomorrow?!"
In the palace throne room, the emperor's face twisted in panic. He had recalled all elite Demon Slayer Division members to the capital, hoping to buy time by sacrificially yielding the outer territories. But now, the enemy had seen through his stalling tactic and was charging for the heart.
"Queen… how much longer do you need?"
For the first time in decades, the emperor felt a cold fear in his gut. Though he was technically in the Foundation Establishment stage, his foundation was unstable, built on pills and forbidden shortcuts. In a real fight, he would lose to any properly trained expert. Against a genuine Golden Core master like Su Min, he is hopelessly outmatched.
"Report! Her Majesty the Queen says it's still not enough. The Ziwei aura is potent but scattered. She needs more essence to condense it."
"Not enough?!"
The emperor's fists clenched. A wild, desperate look flashed in his eyes. "Then send men into the capital and the nearby villages. Gather 1,000 children—those with the brightest spiritual spark—and bring them to the palace immediately!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Several experts clad in dark robes bowed and vanished into the gathering twilight. A thousand children wasn't a small number, but in the desperate scheme of saving the empire, it was a price he was willing to pay. They would take them from the poorest outskirts, where no one had the power to resist. Soon, the night air was pierced by the terrified screams of parents and the wailing of stolen children.
-
By dawn the next day, Su Min's vanguard sighted the capital's towering walls. By noon, the entire 200,000-strong army had fully encircled the city. The surrounding villages were already deserted. Everyone had fled days before.
"Commander, the encirclement is complete. Shall we order the attack? The Great Wei's outer defenses seem surprisingly lax."
A messenger reported to Cao Yuanmu in the command tent.
"No need for a prolonged siege. This city has no true protective formation. Its walls are merely stone and mortar."
Before Cao Yuanmu could respond, Su Min's voice cut through the air. In a flash of silent lightning, she vanished from the command tent and reappeared high above the battlefield, hovering effortlessly on a glowing spirit sword.
"Look! Up in the sky! Who is that? So beautiful…"
Murmurs of awe spread through both armies. At this height, even the civilians and soldiers hiding within the city could see her. The radiant sword beneath her feet made her an impossible spectacle against the grey sky.
"That's… a Golden Core expert… truly flying…"
The Foundation Establishment cultivators in both armies watched with a mixture of raw awe and bitter envy. This was the realm they all dreamed of.
"Nanming Lihuo Slash!"
Ignoring the stunned crowd, Su Min simply raised her sword, gathered a fraction of her power, and swung it downward. A massive blade of concentrated heavenly fire, over thirty meters long, materialized in the air and descended from the sky like divine punishment.
BOOM!!!
The earth shook. When the dust and dissipating flame settled, both armies gasped. The heavily fortified main gate and a large section of the wall had been reduced to a smoldering ruin of rubble in a single strike. One attack had breached the supposedly impregnable capital. One attack had defied all logic and warfare. Golden Core experts existed to shatter common sense. No conventional fortress could hope to withstand them.
What they didn't know was that in established cultivation societies, major city walls were always reinforced with complex spirit stone formations. But in this backwater, such sophisticated defenses simply didn't exist yet.
"Attack. Now."
Cao Yuanmu suppressed his surge of jubilation and gave the order, his voice booming across the field.
"CHARGE!!!"
The imperial soldiers' morale shattered. Most threw down their weapons and surrendered, while the Prince Yong army stormed forward through the breach like an unstoppable tide. Su Min didn't join the slaughter in the streets. Her gaze was locked on the inner palace complex, now shrouded in a shimmering crimson barrier. They hadn't been able to protect the entire city, but the inner palace was sealed tight.
"The current world's thin spiritual energy can't sustain long-term formations. Every second that barrier holds drains their limited stockpile of spirit stones. Let's see how long they can last."
She didn't rush to break it herself. Doing so would drain her spiritual energy, potentially leaving her vulnerable to the Demon Queen's ambush. She hovered in the air, a silent sentinel, watching as the army advanced. But just as the vanguard reached the plaza before the palace gates—
"ROAR!!!"
A deafening screech filled with hatred and Yin energy erupted from the palace's heart, sending visible shockwaves in all directions. The frontline troops were sent flying like dried leaves. Only the Qi Refining experts remained standing. Then, dozens of powerful auras flared atop the palace walls. Over forty Foundation Establishment experts now stood revealed. Even Cao Yuanmu's face fell as he felt their collective pressure.
How many monsters had the Demon Queen created?
What they didn't know was that the Emperor and Demon Queen had resorted to the most vile of soul-burning arts, forcibly boosting the cultivation of their followers at the cost of their future. But numbers were numbers, and against the army's experts, they were a terrifying force. Behind them, over five hundred Qi Refining experts stood ready, their eyes glowing with an unnatural light.
Almost instantly, the battle for the plaza erupted into chaos. The elite, empowered warriors leaped from the walls, crashing into the Prince Yong forces.
"Engage them! Hold the line!"
Cao Yuanmu roared and led the counter-charge, his sword clashing against a similarly empowered enemy commander. The ground trembled under the force of their blows. This was a fight far beyond the capability of ordinary soldiers. Su Min still didn't move from her position in the sky.
Because the moment that screech had sounded, she knew with absolute certainty: the Demon Queen had fully recovered her strength and was now making her presence known.
Sure enough, a wave of sinister Yin-cold aura so thick it was almost tangible burst from the palace's heart, condensing into a spear of black ice that shot toward Su Min's heart. She didn't flinch. With a thought, six flaming wooden swords materialized around her and shot forward to intercept the attack.
BOOM!!!
The collision of fire and absolute cold sent violent shockwaves rippling across the sky. Below, soldiers from both sides were knocked flat by the concussive force. The final, decisive battle between the two supreme powers of the land had begun.