Once Xiaoxing and the experts he brought from Yangzhou Prefecture perished, Liu Xian’s army truly fell apart, while Qin Yuesheng, leveraging the power of the Yellow Springs Eye, summoned a number of undead to attack the remaining soldiers, causing extensive losses to the army in the darkness of night.

If Qin Yuesheng had brought the Celestial Demon Blade with him, with its contagious ability, the death toll might have been even higher.

In the darkness, there were inevitable falls and stampedes, resulting in heavy casualties. In such a situation, Qin Yuesheng found no need to deliver finishing blows. He retreated to where he had been and disassembled the Yao Clan’s double hook corpse, picked up seven or eight inner strength pills, and quickly disappeared into the night.

The next day, the entire populace of Cyan Yang City was tense, hiding in their homes, not daring to step outside. The streets were eerily quiet, void of any sign of life.

On the city wall, Xun Sheng stood with his officials along the wall’s edge, with the city’s soldiers well-prepared, standing at their posts with their weapons in hand and grave expressions, not daring to relax in the slightest.

Looking at the northern official road, Xun Sheng constantly rubbed the jade pendant on his waist, which soon became wet with sweat, showing how nervous he was at that moment.

"Sir, perhaps you should sit down and rest for a bit. Liu Xian’s army might not arrive so early," Xu Jin, standing beside him, suggested.

"Weren’t they supposed to arrive this morning? Why is it this hour already, and I still haven’t seen even a shadow of the army?" Xun Sheng rubbed his eyes, "Have the spies sent out for intelligence gathering come back?"

Xu Jin nodded and replied, "They have been sent out, and they should return with news soon."

...

Qin Yuesheng lay on a bamboo chair in the pavilion beside the pond, leisurely looking at the blue booklet taken from Duan Huahe.

Ah Hu sprawled before Qin Yuesheng, letting him rest his legs on its back, serving as a soft ottoman.

"Young Master, Master and Madam are calling for you. If the army enters the city, they want you to take some family wealth and leave Cyan Yang City first. Once the situation stabilizes, they will call you back," said an aunt who had served beside Duan Hongjin for years, hurrying over to Qin Yuesheng, with some urgency.

Qin Yuesheng was surprised, not expecting his parents would have him leave alone at such a critical moment.

If he didn’t have the strength to eliminate the threat posed by Liu Xian’s army, this decision would undoubtedly have to be made right now.

But with Liu Xian’s army fleeing and dead since last night, even the commander was dead, who would still come to attack Cyan Yang City?

Qin Yuesheng calmly said, "It’s fine, Aunt. Go back and tell my parents I will not abandon any of them to survive alone."

"But Young Master..."

"Don’t say anymore, just go back." Qin Yuesheng waved his hand firmly.

He hadn’t mentioned to anyone about single-handedly repelling Liu Xian’s army. Such matters shouldn’t be publicized to avoid unnecessary trouble.

...

Half an hour later.

Xun Sheng was standing on the city wall, sweating profusely, even his back was drenched, looking quite disheveled.

Two soldiers stood behind him, fanning him continuously, but the more they fanned, the hotter it got, and with a great enemy approaching, anxiety and impatience surged in his heart.

Right then, they suddenly saw someone riding a horse kicking up a cloud of dust on the northern official road — the scout sent out to gather intelligence had returned.

"Report!" The scout pulled the reins sharply near Cyan Yang City’s gate, forcing the horse to stop, then dismounted and ran up to the city wall, shouting to Xun Sheng, "Sir, great news! The northern army is gone, and I saw many soldiers’ corpses on the road, as if they were attacked by another force."

"What?!" Xun Sheng was shocked, then quickly turned joyful.

For Cyan Yang City, this was indeed fantastic news; the impending disaster was gone, and the city could maintain its peace for some time.

"Ha ha ha, great news, certainly great news." Xun Sheng excitedly slapped the stone wall, "Xu Dianshi, notify the city’s people that Liu Xian’s army is not coming, and tell everyone to relax."

"Yes." Xu Jin nodded and promptly complied.

Soon, this news spread throughout Cyan Yang City, and those who heard the good news couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Qin Yuesheng, as the mastermind behind the scenes, naturally felt indifferent, showing no expression.

Since the Cyan Yang City issue was resolved, he believed Liu Xian wouldn’t rashly deploy troops in the short term; they had to figure out who defeated his army before risking another deployment. Despite Liu Xian’s developments, repeated losses of this kind were unsustainable.

As this matter settled, Qin Yuesheng, who initially planned to handle the Wang Tao issue in Yangzhou Prefecture, had it brought back onto the agenda.

Wasting no time, Qin Yuesheng brought his three divine weapons, ready to leave the city and head to Yangzhou Prefecture.

He had packed away the dragon horn obtained from his last outing and the Tree Demon Essence Wood from Elder Huai into the Mountain Ghost Pearl, just waiting for the day he could find a powerful Weapon Master to forge these rare and precious materials into weapons for him.

Unlike previous outings, Ah Hu had now grown stronger than an adult tiger, and keeping it at the Qin Mansion, treating it like a pet cat, wasn’t ideal. Over time, its ferocity would wear away, so this time, Qin Yuesheng decided to take Ah Hu with him.

Once everything was ready, Qin Yuesheng summoned Cao Zhengchun and handed him a tightly wrapped square package made of silk.

"Deliver this to Su Lanyin personally. No one else should hand it over, except Su Lanyin," Qin Yuesheng instructed.

"Yes, I will personally deliver it to Miss Su," Cao Zhengchun gravely accepted the package from Qin Yuesheng, his expression extremely serious.

With the external forging skill and the body-strengthening pills provided by Qin Yuesheng, Cao Zhengchun, through diligent and rigorous training, had now reached the Outer Skin Refining Realm. In Cyan Yang City, he could be considered a prominent expert.

Cao Zhengchun’s rise from a mere hospital guard to his current position was wholly thanks to the grace of Qin Yuesheng, which made him particularly grateful to Qin Yuesheng.

It could be said that an imperial edict meant less to Cao Zhengchun than a single word from Qin Yuesheng.

Watching Cao Zhengchun leave, Qin Yuesheng then prepared to leave the Qin Mansion with Ah Hu.

The package contained the "Seven Elements Creation Spell" that he had transcribed overnight, originally obtained when he escaped from Ten Thousand Flowers City, after disengaging it from Lady Ten Thousand Flowers’ possession, a powerful set of spells.

If one could cultivate to the level of Lady Ten Thousand Flowers, they could command the seven natural forces of the world, and its power was beyond question, as Qin Yuesheng had personally experienced, almost at the cost of his life.

Although the Seven Elements Creation Spell was powerful, it had a major flaw: only women could learn it. If a man dared to learn it, it could result in genital rupture at best, and death at worst.

This somewhat limiting spell had been subconsciously forgotten by Qin Yuesheng ever since he escaped with the white porcelain jade tablet. It suddenly came to mind last night, so he temporarily transcribed a copy, intending to give it to Su Lanyin for her own protection.

Amid everyone’s surprised gazes, Qin Yuesheng mounted Ah Hu and swaggered out through the gates of Cyan Yang City, then urged Ah Hu to sprint at full speed towards the northern official road.

...

Yangzhou Prefecture.

"What?!" Liu Xian, holding two secret reports, turned beet red with rage, not only grinding his teeth with hatred but also trembling uncontrollably with both hands that held the reports.

The naval forces attacking the Twelve Linked Rings were completely annihilated.

The troops advancing south to capture territory were suddenly attacked midway by a mysterious eight-armed figure, their general slain, and the soldiers scattered into chaos.

Having fully seized control of Yangzhou Prefecture, Liu Xian’s first two moves to expand externally had crumbled, a poor start which he found unacceptable.

Previously ambitious to first conquer all of Jiangnan and become the King of Jiangnan before reorganizing his forces to dominate the Central Plains, he was now in a pitiful state, which was truly discouraging.

"Who is secretly opposing me?" Liu Xian furiously tore the reports into pieces, then drew the sword from the table and started slashing recklessly at everything in sight.

In a short time, the desk, bookshelves, and lamps were all reduced to ruins.

After Liu Xian had vented his frustration for a while, and just as his momentum began to wane, Tong Yan, the strategist standing silently by his side, finally spoke up: "My lord, please calm down. The current turbulent world situation means both the court and the martial world may secretly conspire to thwart your grand ambitions. As the leader, you must not let them succeed with their schemes. Please calm yourself."

Hearing this, Liu Xian gave it a moment’s thought before quickly calming down. Achieving great success is never smooth; if one becomes enraged at every setback, they are bound not to succeed.

He laughed, "You’re right, I was being foolish."

Tong Yan said, "Lord, we have ample troops and provisions, so a couple of failures are inconsequential. Cao Mengda and Wu Bao are also vying for Jiangnan; there’s a chance they’ve sent people to hinder us. I recommend you inform the Yellow Turban Immortal Sect about this incident, asking them to send more experts to bolster our forces."

Liu Xian sat back down and casually turned through the pages of a book, "We have a limited number of experts under our command, and if the Yellow Turban Immortal Sect hadn’t approached us, sending numerous experts to protect me, I might have already died under the blades of the court’s experts."

"The Yellow Turban Immortal Sect is shrouded in mystery, with numerous experts. Being overly reliant on them means that even if I become the King of Jiangnan, I could be significantly constrained by them in the future."

Tong Yan replied, "Indeed. The Yellow Turban Immortal Sect came with a pleasant offer: to help you become the supreme ruler, in exchange for being the state religion, and nothing more. But they have a deep and immeasurable strength, and who knows how things will actually play out."

Liu Xian sighed, "Due to a leak of intelligence, I was forced to initiate a rebellion prematurely, and we couldn’t recruit many martial experts. Without the support of the Yellow Turban Immortal Sect, I probably wouldn’t have survived."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door from outside.

Liu Xian’s expression changed slightly before returning to normal, and he calmly asked, "Who’s there?"

"It’s Yue Yangfei, seeking an audience with Lord Liu."

Liu Xian and Tong Yan exchanged glances, "Ah, it’s Mr. Yue, please come in."

With these words, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a long-bearded man in a yellow robe immediately stepped inside. He curiously surveyed the room and asked, "Is something troubling you, my lord? Perhaps I could lend an ear and help you resolve it."

Liu Xian, touching the book in his hand, said, "You’re wonderfully timely, Mr. Yue. Your words are something I eagerly seek. I’ve indeed run into some trouble recently and need your sect’s assistance."

Immediately, Liu Xian recounted the incident of the army being ambushed halfway by an eight-armed figure.