Although Victor Ye had been completely captivated by the woman's beauty, seeing his own haggard state now, he couldn't help but grow suspicious. Could there really be something wrong with that woman?
Ian Song added, "You're an early Nascent Soul cultivator—your vital essence should be incredibly strong. But look at you now, so drained and exhausted!"
"You're absolutely right!"
Victor Ye nodded, then a towering rage welled up in his heart. "That woman is bold beyond belief, daring to enchant me like this. I'm going to kill her right now!"
The more Victor spoke, the angrier he got—his face now radiated a murderous intent.
"Brother, come with me!"
"Alright!"
This time, Ian Song didn't refuse. He could see through the woman's disguise only thanks to his Luck-Sight Golden Eyes: human qi appeared gold, ghost qi black, and monster spirit qi gray.
So, he was certain the woman was a monster spirit. But even after probing her with his divine sense, he couldn’t see her true form. That made him curious—how exactly was she able to fool both his senses and his eyes?
"My lord, you're back!"
As Victor Ye pushed open the door, the elegantly dressed woman came forward to greet him, looking incredibly gentle and soft.
"Monster! Even now you refuse to reveal your true form?"
Victor Ye drew his sword and pressed it to her throat, shouting harshly.
"My lord, what are you saying? I don't understand!" the woman cried out in panic.
"Still trying to deny it? Die!"
Victor Ye shouted, swinging his sword straight at her head.
"Splat!"
The woman was sliced in half, but no blood spilled out. Instead, a black shadow burst from her corpse and darted outside.
"Get back here!"
Ian Song stepped forward and punched the fleeing shadow, sending it crashing back. Now revealed, the black shadow was a hunched, hideous monster spirit, just over a meter tall.
When Ian Song saw what was between the monster's legs, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
Victor Ye's face turned especially ugly. If the monster spirit had been female, it wouldn't have been so bad, but it was male—and when he thought about what he'd done these past few days, he felt like throwing up.
"Damn it, I'm going to kill you myself!"
Victor Ye swung his sword, sending out a massive wave of sword energy that wiped out the monster spirit instantly.
On the ground lay a strange human skin.
No wonder they couldn't see through the monster's disguise—it had been wearing a layer of human skin.
"Brother, please keep this a secret!"
Victor Ye said to Ian Song, looking more embarrassed than ever.
"Don't worry!"
Ian Song nodded. "That's all settled. I'll take my leave now!"
After walking some distance, Ian Song couldn't help but laugh. What a ridiculous situation—Victor Ye had spent several days tangled up with a male monster spirit! Who knows if he'll end up traumatized for life?
After capturing Source Sea City, the court didn't order the Black Tortoise Army to keep storming cities.
So, the army ended up resting for a full half-year.
Finally, nine months later, the imperial court sent envoys with orders for Victor Ye to lead his troops to Giant River City, the capital of the Ying Dynasty. During those nine months, most of Ying's cities had fallen, and now Chu's forces were camped beneath the capital's walls.
The Ying Dynasty knew the other cities couldn't be held, so they gathered all their forces in the capital for a final showdown against Great Chu.
After a ten-day forced march, they finally arrived outside Giant River City, the capital of the Ying Dynasty.
Giant River City was a Heaven-grade fortress, vast and imposing—like a primordial beast coiled atop the land.
The Black Tortoise Army wasn't the first force to arrive.
By now, over a million Great Chu troops had gathered outside the capital.
Rumor had it that the emperor of Great Chu would personally come for this battle.
Since Ian Song held no official rank, he didn’t attend the meeting with the supreme commander, Gavin Guo.
Gavin Guo was already over eight hundred years old, a mid-Deity Transformation expert, and the 'war god' of Great Chu. He enjoyed the emperor’s complete trust.
This time he led two hundred thousand troops to war. Except for Source Sea City, all the other Earth-grade strongholds were taken by him.
His contributions were truly indispensable.
A few days passed.
Suddenly, powerful auras appeared at the edge of the sky. Many people looked up to see eight flood dragons pulling a bronze carriage through the air. Behind it came twelve hundred Black-Armor Guards, all Nascent Soul experts.
Surrounding the carriage were nine men and women with formidable auras—all Deity Transformation experts.
"The emperor of Chu has arrived!"
Ian Song thought to himself.
Sure enough, once the carriage landed, Marshal Gavin Guo led the assembled generals to greet the emperor.
The emperor was in his early forties, wearing a golden crown and a black robe embroidered with rampaging flood dragons, exuding an aura of absolute authority.
"All subjects, rise!"
The emperor lifted his hand.
On the second day after the emperor arrived, he ordered an assault on Giant River City.
He immediately deployed fifty thousand troops. Their shouts and murderous aura rose like columns of wolf-smoke, punching holes in the clouds.
But Ying’s defenders fought with desperate ferocity. This was a true national war—if Giant River City fell, the Ying Dynasty would be destroyed.
One day.
Two days.
Three days.
Nine days.
For nine days straight, the troops of Great Chu failed to breach Giant River City. Losses exceeded a hundred thousand, and the Ying Dynasty fared little better, suffering heavy casualties as well.
On the tenth day, elite warriors stormed the city—Nascent Soul experts led the charge, only to be repelled by the defenders atop the walls. The fighting grew even more brutal.
Witnessing this, the emperor of Chu remained calm. Even Gavin Guo showed no reaction, as if he'd expected this outcome all along.
Several more days passed, and the battle remained deadlocked. Then, a secret missive arrived: the Yu Dynasty had launched a fierce assault on Chu, capturing three cities in just three days.
"Your Majesty, has something happened?"
Gavin Guo asked.
"Take a look for yourself, Gavin." The emperor of Chu handed the secret letter to Gavin Guo.
Gavin read the letter and his face changed dramatically. "Your Majesty, with Ying on the brink of collapse, we must not withdraw our troops!"
"How should we deal with the Yu Dynasty?" the emperor asked, gritting his teeth.
"If we take Ying as quickly as possible, we can return our forces to face the Yu Dynasty!" Gavin Guo replied.
"How confident are you?"
The emperor looked at Gavin Guo.
"If Your Majesty lets the nine consecrates and twelve hundred personal guards join the assault, I am confident we can take Giant River City in a single day!"
After a moment's thought, the emperor said, "Gavin, do not disappoint me!"
"Rest assured, Your Majesty. If I fail to take Giant River City in one day, you may take my head!"
"Very well, I’m counting on you!"
At once, the emperor summoned the nine consecrates and ordered them to follow Gavin Guo’s command.
The nine consecrates’ expressions changed slightly at the order.
One of them said, "Your Majesty, if we leave, who will protect you?"
"No matter," the emperor waved dismissively. "I am surrounded by the army—who could possibly harm me?"