Chapter 140

Sure enough, the system won't lie to people—Ru Yan the Great Emperor truly deeply loves Shen Tianxing; that capacity to tolerate people, not letting Shen Tianxing enjoy to the extreme, is really too big.

If you, my lady, think that way, I can rest easy; as for having children, let's talk about it later—let's first discuss where you come from.

Shen Tianxing wasn't wholly opposed, but it would be better to take things step by step; according to the character settings given by the system, Empress Ru Yan is already Shen Tianxing's wife who has passed the wedding rites, yet they have not consummated the marriage.

Husband, how could you forget? We were already betrothed when we were young; you just went out for training, and I waited at home for you, never seeing you return, so I came to find you.

Having a child is the urgent matter; husband, if you have anything to say, why don't we talk while we attend to it?

If it weren't summoned by the system, Shen Tianxing would be certain this is a honey‑trap; but since the words have gone this far, what more nonsense is there? He immediately scooped Empress Ru Yan up in a horizontal hold, then walked to the room and shut the door.

As the saying goes, 'The moon sets, wolves cry, frost fills the sky'; a sleepless night is all fate. Shen Tianxing's strength has risen to the level of a Grandmaster Second Layer, his stamina sufficient, his performance extraordinary, exhausting even Grandmasters.

My lord, I too now possess the strength of a Grandmaster Second Layer; I can help you with many things. From now on let me stay by your side, so you'll have a thoughtful companion at night, alright?

At noon, Shen Tianxing and Empress Ru Yan both woke, lying together in the blankets; Empress Ru Yan spoke with utmost tenderness of her longing, then declared her resolve to stay.

What you say is correct; I have no intention of letting you go. In a moment I'll take you to see Red Moon—she is also my wife, making her your sister.

What reason would there be to let her go when I have a Grandmaster Third Layer expert at my side? Know that Empress Ru Yan's every martial art is perfected; even without divine‑grade techniques, they are all supreme.

Shen Tianxing's plan is to take Empress Ru Yan for a spin around Humen Pass, then lead troops straight into Wuzhou to engage Lei Wufeng's Lei Family Army head‑on.

The garrisons in those places are actually quite weak; even with the Lei Family Army present, they're only a bit stronger.

My lord, the captured Lei Family Army has already been escorted to the execution grounds, ready to be put to death; please go there, my lord.

Yue Yunyang's voice came from outside; only then did Shen Tianxing rise, he and Empress Ru Yan dressed and opened the door. Seeing Empress Ru Yan, Yue Yunyang also froze for a moment.

But that no longer matters; what's important is that yesterday, after those captured Lei Family Army received their military tokens, they all turned green, yet they said they were willing to surrender.

Father‑in‑law, if you can see that this is best, I'll accompany you right away; this is Empress Ru Yan, the wife I had long ago arranged through a childhood betrothal.

Shen Tianxing then gave a brief introduction, after which Empress Ru Yan clasped her hands in greeting toward Yue Yunyang.

Empress Ru Yan pays her respects, General Yue.

Madam, you're too polite.

At this moment Yue Yunyang doesn't care about this, even though the woman before him is prettier than all of Shen Tianxing's other wives and even bears an otherworldly aura.

But Yue Yunyang understands Shen Tianxing well enough, knowing he won't play favorites; as long as he doesn't wrong his daughter, that's fine.

Then the three came to the execution grounds, where over five thousand Lei Family Army soldiers were bound tightly and kneeling, each glaring at Yue Yunyang and Shen Tianxing with extreme anger.

Don't waste time—kill them.

As soon as Shen Tianxing arrived, he issued the order; he truly didn't want to waste time on these fellows.

The executioner raised his blade and cut down row after row; no one begged for mercy. Yue Yunyang's eyes filled with reluctance, yet he knew keeping them would be a hidden danger, releasing them would bring trouble.

Father‑in‑law, as a commander you must not be soft‑hearted; they harbor ill intent, so there's nothing to feel reluctant about—being merciful to others is cruelty to oneself.

Yue Yunyang nodded with a wry smile; he understood the reasoning, but having long enjoyed peace and grown old, he no longer had that former fierce vigor.

My lord's teachings, This One will keep them firmly in mind.

Yue Yunyang bowed deeply and respectfully; this time he truly understood.

Congratulations, Host, for completing the side quest—leave none alive; reward: 2,000,000 Killing Value, a random Ultimate Martial Art, 10% increase in Martial Arts Experience, 1/3 Divine Artifact Exchange Card, and 1,000,000 silver.

The System Prompt sounded, and the Killing Value, which had been at zero, instantly rose to over two million; the Divine Artifact Exchange Card also reminded Shen Tianxing that he hadn't yet redeemed a Divine Weapon—indeed, beautiful women are nothing but trouble.

Father‑in‑law, I'm glad you've seen sense; let's clean this up, then we'll head to An City, and on the way swing by Humen Pass—arrangements there are already made, and the Prefect of An City, An Heping, has surrendered.

The system's judgment gave Shen Tianxing the utmost confidence in saying that; Yue Yunyang also blinked, mainly because he didn't quite believe it, but thinking Shen Tianxing wouldn't joke about such a thing, he nodded.

This One obeys.

Shen Tianxing stopped wasting words, and he and Empress Ru Yan returned to Taishou Fu; they were busy for an hour, Empress Ru Yan took a nap to catch up on sleep, and only then did Shen Tianxing open the System Mall to prepare to redeem a Divine Weapon.

After searching for a long while, Shen Tianxing finally found the most valuable Divine Weapon—a replica of the Wish‑fulfilling Golden Cudgel worth 100,000,000 Killing Value.

'Wish‑fulfilling Golden Cudgel replica, weighing 1,350 catties, can shrink to a needle, expand to a length of ten zhang and width of two zhang as a giant pillar, or shrink further into a ring, increasing martial power.'

Its main skill, Sweep Away a Thousand Troops, consumes seventy percent of the wielder's internal force, unleashing a horizontal sweep from the maximally enlarged Wish‑fulfilling Golden Cudgel; those whose Martial Dao Realm is lower than the host's will be struck dead on contact.

If the opponent's Martial Dao Realm is higher than the host's but below Grandmaster level, they suffer grave injury verging on death; if it is higher than the host's and they have entered the Grandmaster realm, the skill ignores defense and inflicts 50% severe damage. (The skill's power grows with the host's strength.)

Its additional skill, Ten Thousand Staves Flying, when the weapon is at normal size, allows the wielder to control and manifest ten thousand staff shadows, launching a sky‑covering barrage; each shadow deals 50% of the wielder's damage, and each use consumes 1,000 points of internal force.

Shen Tianxing redeemed the Wish‑fulfilling Golden Cudgel replica; upon taking it in hand it was indeed heavy—under normal circumstances he could barely lift it, let alone wield it.

But since it was obtained from the system, such concerns are irrelevant; picking it up he could wield it as lightly as the wind, with no need to worry about its weight.

'System, spend 200,000 Killing Value to fuse the Wish‑fulfilling Golden Cudgel replica into the Flying Dragon Spear!'

'Congratulations, Host, you have successfully fused the Wish‑fulfilling Golden Cudgel replica into the Flying Dragon Spear; the merged attributes stack, giving the Flying Dragon Spear a 50% increase in all properties.'

At this moment Shen Tianxing's martial power surged again, all attributes rising another 10%; he deliberately transformed the Flying Dragon Spear into the form of the Wish‑fulfilling Golden Cudgel and turned it into a ring, which he placed on his ring finger.

With this Divine Weapon equipment integration, besides the 10% increase in all attributes, his martial power value also rose a bit, so that Shen Tianxing now possesses a martial power value equivalent to that of a Grandmaster Fifth Layer.