Chapter 137

Dawu Army withdrew; when they came, they were mighty, when they left, they were in disarray; especially, of the 150,000 troops, the Grandmaster killed nearly twenty thousand, and the siege consumed another ten thousand or so, so when they retreated they had fewer than 120,000 troops, yet they gained no victory at all.

「Thank you, Uncle Qiao, for your help, but does this really have no effect on you? And also, thank you, senior, for your help; are you also a Grandmaster? 」

After the Dawu Army withdrew, Shen Tianxing's external avatar Shen Tianzhen and Qiao Yinxiang together returned to the city tower, and Yang Hongyue hurried up to thank them.

「Otherwise, rest assured, there will be no impact; if a Dawu Sect Grandmaster comes, isn't there still my master Li Zhangsheng? As long as he takes action, even if several Grandmasters come, they will die. 」

Qiao Yinxiang, following Shen Tianzhen's earlier mental transmission to him, answered Yang Hongyue's words; Yang Hongyue nodded and looked toward Shen Tianzhen. Shen Tianzhen wore a mask, and his voice became a little hoarse.

「I am a Grandmaster, the Master Brother of Tianxing and also the Master Brother of Qiao Yinxiang; Junior Sister-in-law, you need not take offense—I have many junior disciples, all of Grandmaster strength, though they basically stay out of sight, but you will see them in the future. 」

Shen Tianzhen is doing this to lay groundwork for Shen Tianxing to summon more Grandmasters in the future, so that Yang Hongyue won't be too surprised later, and she can even tell Qin Mingyue and the others about it, saving them from being shocked over this.

「Thank you, Master Brother, for your help; I never expected Tianxing to have so many Grandmaster senior brothers—no wonder his strength is so great. 」

Yang Hongyue sincerely thanked them and felt full of confidence; just with Shen Tianxing now having three Grandmasters assisting him, the world is surely within easy grasp. Especially, Shen Tianxing's master Li Zhangsheng's Grandmaster strength is unfathomable; perhaps he could truly unify the Shenzhou Continent one day.

「That's because Junior Sister-in-law underestimated Tianxing; his current strength is not inferior to any of our fellow disciples, and you will naturally know that in the future. 」

Shen Tianzhen continued to give preventive inoculations; although Yang Hongyue had a slight doubt, she still nodded.

「Since the Master Brother said so, that must be the case; today, with the help of Master Brother and Uncle Qiao, we can hold Humen Pass—why don't I host a banquet and invite Master Brother and Uncle Qiao to drink until they're drunk and not return? 」

Yang Hongyue is also someone who knows how to handle things; she naturally knows one shouldn't let others work for nothing, and what ought to be expressed should still be expressed; as for whether they're willing, that depends on their two intentions.

「No need for all that trouble; I still need to go find Shen Tianxing—I have some matters to report. I expect he should also be arriving at Humen Pass soon; if the opportunity arises, I'll meet Junior Sister-in-law again then. 」

Shen Tianzhen said, waving his black robe, his figure flashed and disappeared without a trace, not giving Yang Hongyue even the time to say another word.

「Uncle Qiao, this Master Brother feels a bit strange, as if I've seen him somewhere before. 」

Shen Tianzhen came quickly and left quickly, but Yang Hongyue inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity. She asked casually and discovered that Qiao Yinxiang had also disappeared at some point.

「How nice it is to be a Grandmaster—just like that, one's figure vanishes, and I don't know when I'll be able to cultivate to Grandmaster level. 」

Yang Hongyue felt envious, but she only muttered a sentence to herself, then led her subordinates to clean up the battlefield.

Through the external avatar, Shen Tianxing naturally understood the situation at Humen Pass; at the same time, he had no intention of wasting the 100,000 Killing Value consumed this time, so he did not immediately recall the external avatar, but instead issued an order and came to An City.

The An City Prefect, Shen Tianxing, I had met before. He is the sole good official in the entire Beizhou, a refined and elegant scholar, neither corrupt nor oppressive to the people; every day he just composes poetry and writes couplets, dances with sword and song.

If you think he only knows how to compose poetry and write couplets, you'd be very wrong; this An City Prefect, An Heping, is a Seven-Rank First Layer martial artist, and he's also skilled at training troops; under his command are only fifteen thousand city guards, all of them First-Rank Sixth Layer elite soldiers.

It was evening; An Heping was sitting in the pavilion, gazing at the bright clear moon, drinking tea, and incidentally playing chess by himself.

「As the saying goes, 'Friends coming from afar, isn't that delightful?' Unfortunately, you are not my friend, but since you've come from afar, why not sit down and have a cup of tea? 」

Those who didn't know might have thought An Heping was talking to himself there, but in fact he had noticed someone nearby staring at him, and that person was none other than Shen Tianzhen.

「An Lord is accomplished in both civil and military affairs, a rare good official; I didn't come to kill you, I just want to ask if An Lord is willing to surrender. 」

Shen Tianzhen appeared, sitting himself down on the stone bench opposite An Heping; An Heping poured him a cup of tea, brought it to him, and then stared at Shen Tianzhen's mask.

「Such a choice is unfair to me, or rather, you never gave me a choice at all—you only let me agree, and if I don't agree, it's death. 」

「How can the An City Prefect be so certain? You've been told I'm a good official—I won't kill you; regardless of whether you're willing, this is merely a simple conversation between us, and it won't affect the final outcome. 」

「You are the one plotting rebellion; what difference do good and bad officials make in your eyes? Beizhou is practically already in your hands—adding or losing An City makes no difference, so why must I be forced to choose? 」

「An Lord, your words are mistaken; An Lord is a talent, I want An Lord to become my person, so naturally I must have An Lord make a choice. 」

「Shen Lord, are you not even pretending anymore? You say Shen Lord is a Grandmaster, but a Grandmaster cannot be emperor; are you trying to break this worldly rule? If so, will the many who obstruct Shen Lord be able to cope with him? 」

「An Lord knows quite a lot; it seems from the battle at Humen Pass that An Lord's information is more thorough than anyone's—I am not a Grandmaster, so I have no such scruple; I'm merely an ordinary Grandmaster, not a match for him. 」

「Being this close, if I didn't even know this bit of information, my position as An City Prefect would be wasted; Shen Lord also knows I'm not a Worthless Soldier, otherwise he wouldn't try to win me over. 」

「Since we've come this far, won't An Lord give me an answer? I'm not a very patient person. 」

「Hasn't the answer already been told to Shen Lord? I have no choice; I'm not afraid of death, but I also don't want the people of An City to suffer. This One An Heping pays respects to the Emperor. 」

After those words, An Heping ultimately chose to kneel on one knee and submit to Shen Tianxing. At first he didn't agree, or rather his agreement was not obvious; it was merely to confirm Shen Tianxing's identity.

Shen Tianxing stepped forward and helped An Heping up.

「Gaining An Lord's assistance is truly like adding wings to a tiger; thereafter, An City will still be under An Lord's jurisdiction. Now Beizhou is practically completely under my rule; next, I intend to attack Wuzhou—I don't know if An Lord has any suggestions. 」

「There's really no suggestion to speak of, but the methods used in Beizhou shouldn't be employed by the Emperor; I've already invited this Mr. Guo over—Mr. Guo's ability is fine, he just came to the wrong place, and the people of An City still trust me quite a bit. 」

As soon as An Heping finished speaking, Guo Tu was brought over by two garrison soldiers, his face full of embarrassment; he bowed his hands to Shen Tianxing, feeling deeply ashamed, and said:

「I have embarrassed the Emperor; please punish me, Your Majesty! 」