Zhao Feng stared intently at the Eastern Hu king's swiftly moving battle flag.
Galloping forward, he charged.
No matter the nation, every army had a battle flag, and every ruler had a royal banner.
These were also known as command banners.
In the Qin army, there was merit for slaying enemy generals and merit for capturing enemy banners.
If the battle flag fell, it would deal a heavy blow to the army's morale.
A flag advancing symbolized the army's march forward.
Behind him, Zhao Feng led his elite guards in pursuit, while Gongsun Guang led the frontier troops in relentless pursuit and slaughter of the Eastern Hu soldiers.
Even though these frontier troops had not been fully reorganized, they all bore blood debts against the enemy. Their thirst for vengeance fueled their pursuit and slaughter.
Meanwhile, in the northern frontier, Wei Quan led over fifty thousand Qin cavalry in a frontal assault.
"Kill! Kill them all!"
"Slaughter these barbarian scum!"
"Exterminate every last one of them…"
Shouts of battle echoed across the borderlands.
Countless Eastern Hu warriors fell under volleys of arrows and the thrusts of long spears.
"My king!"
"This is bad!"
"We are being attacked from both sides!"
"Allow me to escort you to safety!"
Wu Wu called out in panic to the Eastern Hu king.
"Have I truly made a mistake?"
"Should I not have recklessly attacked?"
The Eastern Hu king, seeing the dire situation before him, felt a pang of regret.
Previously, he had been blinded by rage and hatred, leading him to launch this assault without hesitation.
Yet, considering the circumstances, how could anyone remain rational?
His royal court and his people had been slaughtered by the Qin army.
Zhao Feng had led the Qin forces in utterly devastating the Eastern Hu, leaving chaos in their wake.
If he did not march for revenge, how could he ever face his people?
But in seeking to give his people an answer, he had instead led them to their doom.
"My king!"
"Now is not the time for regrets!"
"We must break through at once!"
"The northern frontier is vast; the Qin army cannot possibly encircle us completely!" Wu Wu urged.
The Eastern Hu king gritted his teeth and pulled a token from his robes.
"General Wu!"
"If I do not make it out alive…"
"Deliver this command token to my son, Hu'er. He must succeed me as king and lead our people."
"This token will grant him access to our royal treasury, where our clan's wealth, accumulated over a hundred years, is stored. It will be enough to strengthen our people."
"Tell Hu'er not to rush into avenging me. He must first build up our strength and avoid conflict with Qin in the short term."
As he galloped forward, the Eastern Hu king flung the token toward Wu Wu.
Wu Wu caught it, his face is deathly pale.
"My king, I swear I will see you to safety!" Wu Wu vowed through gritted teeth.
"Remember my words!" the Eastern Hu king roared.
Then, raising his war blade, he bellowed, "I have failed my people!"
"I could not avenge my clan, nor could I slaughter the Qin!"
"But as the king of the Eastern Hu, how can I flee?"
"Sons of the Eastern Hu, hear my command!"
"Charge with me and slaughter the Qin!"
"Kill!"
The Eastern Hu king roared in defiance.
He yanked the reins, turned his horse, and charged toward the pursuing Qin army.
"We swear to follow our king to the death!"
"Slaughter the Qin!"
"Kill!"
"Slaughter them all!"
Countless Eastern Hu soldiers screamed in fury and followed their king into battle.
Seeing this, Wu Wu's expression darkened with sorrow, but his heart burned with hatred for the Qin.
"Qin State! Qin Army! Zhao Feng!"
"Remember this!"
"The blood feud of my people will not end here!"
"One day!"
"We shall bathe Qin in blood!"
Wu Wu swore in his heart.
He now understood that the king had chosen to perish in battle, entrusting him with the token to ensure the Eastern Hu's survival and the prince's succession.
He would obey his king's final orders without hesitation.
"Soldiers, hear me! Break through the encirclement!" Wu Wu commanded.
Leading thousands of cavalry, he charged northward.
The Eastern Hu forces scattered in all directions.
The battlefield descended into chaos, filled with the sounds of clashing steel and dying screams.
"Slay them all!"
Zhao Feng swung his spear.
With a sweeping strike, a dozen Eastern Hu warriors were instantly cleaved apart by the energy from his weapon.
His elite guards followed closely behind, cutting down enemy warriors in droves.
"There he is!"
Suddenly, Zhao Feng's eyes locked onto the Eastern Hu royal banner, now less than a hundred meters away.
Beneath the flag, the Eastern Hu king rode his horse in desperate combat. Around him, his elite warriors clashed fiercely with the Qin cavalry in a desperate struggle.
Both sides suffered casualties, warriors falling from their mounts, slain in the melee.
But under the crushing weight of the encirclement, the Eastern Hu army was already at its breaking point.
"Kill!"
Zhao Feng shouted coldly.
He spurred his horse forward, charging straight for the Eastern Hu king.
His elite guards followed in tight formation.
In mere moments, Zhao Feng's Overlord Spear swept forward.
Any enemy soldier in his path was effortlessly slain, their bodies reduced to blood and severed limbs, converted into his attribute points, and extended lifespan.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Feng had closed the distance to within ten meters of the Eastern Hu king.
"King of the Eastern Hu, Tuoba Zhuang!"
"I've been looking for you for quite some time!"
Zhao Feng sneered as he locked eyes with the Eastern Hu king.
"Zhao Feng!"
Though this was their first meeting, the Eastern Hu king recognized him at a glance.
"Not in vain, then, was my slaughter of your royal court. Looks like I've left quite an impression on you," Zhao Feng sneered.
"Kill him!"
"Kill him now!"
The Eastern Hu king roared, his voice filled with boundless hatred for Zhao Feng.
"Kill!"
His most elite warriors surged forward in a desperate attempt to protect their king.
"Slaughter them all!"
Zhao Feng smirked coldly and swung his spear.
A radiant arc of spear energy swept outward.
"Aaaah!"
"Aaahhh!"
A chorus of agonized screams filled the air.
In an instant, dozens of Eastern Hu royal guards were flung from their horses, their bodies torn apart in a gruesome spectacle.
One strike.
A massacre.
"You… you…"
The Eastern Hu king stared in horror as if he had seen a demon.
With a single sweep of his spear, Zhao Feng had eradicated dozens of his finest warriors.
But Zhao Feng paid no heed to his shock.
Spurring his horse forward, he trampled over the bodies of the fallen, charging straight for the Eastern Hu king.
"Let's end this."
"Come at me if you dare!"
The Donghu King gritted his teeth and swung his blade toward Zhao Feng.
But before he could strike
A flash of cold light cut through the air.
With a muffled puchi sound, the Overlord Spear pierced through the Donghu King's armor, penetrating his chest.
"To me," Zhao Feng said coldly, "you are nothing more than an ant."
"Too slow."
The Donghu King's face twisted in agony.
"You... you... demon..."
With the last of his strength, blood gushing from his mouth, he uttered his final words.
Then, his head tilted to the side, and he perished.
[You have slain the Donghu King, Tuoba Zhuang. You have gained +500 to all attributes and obtained a Tier 3 Treasure Chest.]
The system notification appeared.
"As expected," Zhao Feng thought with a smirk. "Killing a king is quite the reward."
"A Tier 3 Treasure Chest, huh?"
He tightened his grip.
The Donghu King's lifeless body was lifted high off his warhorse, held aloft by Zhao Feng's spear.
"The Donghu King has fallen by my hand!"
"All soldiers, hear my command!"
"Not a single barbarian shall be spared!"
"Slaughter them all!"
His voice thundered across the battlefield.
"Glory to the Grand General!"
"Kill all the barbarians!"
"Kill!"
Seeing Zhao Feng spear the Donghu King, the Qin soldiers' morale soared.
The encircled barbarian warriors were slaughtered.
The battle raged on.
The white plains of the northern frontier were soaked in blood.
The massacre lasted an entire day.
Corpses littered the battlefield.
But this time
Zhao Feng did not order a pursuit of the remnants who had broken through the encirclement.
"Do not chase a desperate foe."
"Clean the battlefield. Tend to the wounded."
"Sever the heads of the barbarians and construct a Jingguan."
He issued his orders firmly.
"As you command!"
The generals responded in unison.
As his soldiers busied themselves with the aftermath, Zhao Feng finally allowed himself a moment of ease.
"This battle is over."
"The war for Yan is truly settled now."
"For the next ten years, the Donghu will not be able to rise again."
"Still"
"The Donghu King was blinded by hatred. He charged in recklessly, without proper supply lines."
"But this is good."
"With their king dead and their power shattered, the Donghu will face internal strife."
"By the time ten years pass, the Central Plains will have long been unified under Qin."
"And when that time comes"
"I'll lead the army to wipe out the Donghu once and for all."
Zhao Feng chuckled coldly.
Now that this campaign has finished
He could finally relax for a while.
Xiangping City
As soon as Zhao Feng returned to camp
"Report!"
"Grand General, an envoy from Xianyang has arrived and is waiting for you in the barracks."
A waiting officer rushed up to report.
"An envoy from the capital?" Zhao Feng raised an eyebrow.
Since his campaign against the northern barbarians began, he had not heard any news from Xianyang.
But
Considering his unilateral decision to march deep into enemy territory
Zhao Feng suddenly thought of the Qin King.
"I didn't get permission for this expedition at all."
"Could His Majesty be furious?"
The thought made him uneasy.
His original orders were to conquer Yan.
Marching into the northern frontier was entirely his own decision.
Though he had wiped out the invading barbarians, he had also witnessed countless innocent civilians being slaughtered in Yan.
He couldn't stomach that.
So he led his troops northward and exacted vengeance upon the barbarians.
"Well, if he's angry, so be it."
"At least this war has ensured the Donghu won't be a threat to Qin for the next decade. It was worth it."
Zhao Feng pondered for a moment but quickly dismissed his worries.
He dismounted and strode toward the barracks.
Inside
The commander of the Imperial Guards, Ren Xiao, stood waiting with his men.
"Greetings, Grand General!"
The moment Zhao Feng stepped in, Ren Xiao and the Imperial Guards saluted with fervor.
"At ease, everyone."
Zhao Feng returned the salute with a smile.
"Thank you, Grand General!"
The passion in the eyes of the Imperial Guards did not wane in the slightest.
To them
And to the entire Qin military
Zhao Feng's achievements were unparalleled.
Leading an army into barbarian lands, annihilating their warriors, destroying dozens of tribes, and razing their royal court to the ground
Such a feat was unprecedented in history.
Any soldier, any warrior, would admire such a man.
Perhaps even the armies of enemy nations, as long as they were of the Hua race, would have nothing but respect for him.
In fact
With the Qin court's deliberate efforts to spread the news
Zhao Feng's victories had already spread across the land.
Even Qin's rivals had no choice but to acknowledge his might.
They had only one word for him Respect.
One could only imagine how far his reputation had risen.
"What message does His Majesty send?" Zhao Feng asked.
"The King has issued a single command."
"As soon as the Grand General returns from the northern frontier, he is to report to the capital immediately, without delay."
Ren Xiao's tone turned solemn.
Then
He took out a royal edict.
"This is His Majesty's decree."
"Grand General, please read it yourself."
Ren Xiao stepped forward and handed the scroll to Zhao Feng.
Zhao Feng took it, unrolled it
And his expression instantly turned strange.
The decree contained only one sentence:
"Consider this order as if I were standing before you GET BACK HERE IMMEDIATELY!"
Below the sentence was the Qin King's royal seal.
No wonder Ren Xiao hadn't read it aloud.
Perhaps
He hadn't dared to.
"So His Majesty is truly furious, huh?"
Seeing the king's decree, Zhao Feng couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.
Judging by the tone of the message, he was somewhat afraid of returning to Qin to face the king.
If a storm of fury awaited him, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious.
"Commander Ren."
"Today, I have just repelled the invading foreign tribes with my army."
"Moreover, I intend to take my sister home for a visit before heading to the capital."
"Can this matter be delayed?" Zhao Feng asked as he looked at Ren Xiao.
"This..." Ren Xiao hesitated for a moment before saying, "I am only here to deliver the king's decree and have no authority to make decisions, but since this concerns military affairs, it should naturally take precedence."
Though Ren Xiao did not say it explicitly, his meaning was clear.
"In that case."
"I'll have to trouble Commander Ren to return first and report to the king." Zhao Feng said with a smile.
"I understand." Ren Xiao nodded immediately.
After that, Zhao Feng turned to Zhang Ming and said, "Go and inform my sister to make preparations, take care of matters in the wounded soldiers' camp as quickly as possible, and then accompany me to Shacheng before heading to Xianyang."
"Yes, sir." Zhang Ming quickly ran off.
After giving his instructions, Zhao Feng returned to his tent.
"Settle the battle rewards," Zhao Feng commanded.
"Battle concluded."
"Total enemies slain by the host's army: 87,866."
"Collected attribute points: 21,966."
"Collected True Qi: 2,593."
"Collected Strength: 4,245."
"Collected Speed: 4,123."
"Collected Constitution: 3,243."
"Collected Spirit: 2,345."
"Collected Lifespan: 5,417 days." The system displayed.
"The foreign tribes are truly a boundless source of attribute points."
Seeing that another battle had earned him tens of thousands of attribute points, Zhao Feng couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
However
While battles granted him attributes quickly, now that he had advanced techniques and his attributes had significantly increased, he could gain 500 attribute points per day simply by practicing his techniques for twelve full hours.
If he were to go into closed-door training for a few months, gaining 100,000 attribute points wouldn't seem too difficult.
The path ahead
Had already opened up for Zhao Feng.
"Two Tier-2 treasure chests and one Tier-3 treasure chest."
"It's time to test my luck again."
"Open them all."
The two Tier-2 chests were obtained from accumulating attribute points.
As for the third one, it was a reward for slaying the enemy king.
This was the second Tier-3 chest Zhao Feng had ever received.
"Opening Tier-2 treasure chest."
"Acquired Heaven-rank Low-grade [Shadow Clone Technique]."
"Acquired [Tier-4 Blacksmith Inheritance]."
"Opening Tier-3 treasure chest."
"Acquired Heaven-rank High-grade [Ten Thousand Sword Prison]." The system displayed.
With just a glance
A joyful smile appeared on Zhao Feng's face.
"A jackpot, a real jackpot!"
"This truly enhances my strength in every way."
"I already obtained the Tier-3 Alchemist Inheritance before, and now I've received the Tier-4 Blacksmith Inheritance."
"Looks like I'm being set up to forge a martial empire."
"Once the end of Qin arrives, I will establish my empire."
"By then"
"I will sweep across the world, and I will ascend to immortality through sheer attributes." A hint of excitement appeared on Zhao Feng's face.
At this moment, he was already unrivaled in the mortal realm.
However, when it came to alchemy, blacksmithing, and all other auxiliary professions, he welcomed them with open arms.
Perhaps these paths could also help him break through the mysterious constraints of the world and seize true immortality.
"Extract Blacksmith Inheritance."
Zhao Feng issued the command.
In the next moment
A golden light directly fused into Zhao Feng's body.
Within his mind, a wave of knowledge surged forth.
The inheritance of a Tier-4 Blacksmith was rapidly assimilated by Zhao Feng.
Tier-4 Blacksmith
This was no low level.
Once Zhao Feng fully absorbed the inheritance
"Now I have mastered another auxiliary craft blacksmithing."
"Creating artifacts and divine weapons."
"This is quite interesting."
Zhao Feng opened his eyes, having gained an initial grasp of blacksmithing.
Just like the Alchemist Inheritance he had obtained before, he still needed time to fully master it and refine the craft through continuous practice.
"There are also two martial techniques, one Heaven-rank Low-grade, and one Heaven-rank High-grade."
"That's no small matter."
These two techniques alone
Would boost Zhao Feng's strength several times over.
"Extract."
Zhao Feng immediately extracted both martial techniques.
Upon extraction
Zhao Feng closed his eyes.
The two martial techniques successively imprinted themselves in his consciousness.
The profound techniques and insights poured directly into his mind.
If his Spirit attribute hadn't already surpassed 50,000, he might have struggled to maintain stability under the impact of these Heaven-rank techniques.
"As expected of Heaven-rank martial techniques."
"This is incredible."
"If I unleash them without restraint"
"With a single strike of this Heaven-rank High-grade technique, I could instantly wipe out thousands."
"This has completely transcended the realm of mortals."
"And this Shadow Clone Technique, at its initial stage, allows me to create three shadow clones, each possessing 50% of my original strength. They can even self-destruct."
"This is just too powerful."
After extracting these two techniques, Zhao Feng was completely astonished by their might.
No doubt about it
Heaven-rank techniques were on a different level.
They had instantly propelled Zhao Feng's strength to an entirely new height!
"Heaven-rank martial techniques... These are practically divine abilities."
"I've never used merit points to enhance techniques before."
"Once I fully master these, I'll immediately upgrade both to perfection. These will be my ultimate trump cards." Zhao Feng thought to himself.
Time flashed by!
Donghu Royal Court!
Meanwhile, in the Donghu Royal Court
Prince Tuoba Hu was still leading his troops in rebuilding the ruined palace, clearing away the corpses, burnt wood, and destroyed structures.
"Your Highness."
"The royal court has been 90% destroyed by the Qin forces."
"There is no point in rebuilding it."
"I suggest relocating and establishing a new royal court elsewhere," a general proposed to Tuoba Hu.
"We must wait for my father's return before making that decision."
"For now, we continue the cleanup," Tuoba Hu said in a deep voice.
The reason they hadn't abandoned the ruined court yet and were still cleaning up
Was, of course, because Tuoba Hu knew about the royal treasury hidden within!
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