Chapter Fourteen: The Desire to Kill Zhao Min and Zhu Jin Zhen’s Promise

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Yan Yimei held a shield in her left hand and a blade in the other. Back in the battlefield, she commanded with unmatched skill; wherever her saber swept, death followed without mercy.

The only exception was the father and son of Prince Ruyang.

Had it not been for that barbarian expert who blocked her strike, the Mongol prince would have surely perished.

The memory remained vivid.

“General Yan’s formidable reputation has long been thunderous in my ears,” Zhao Min’s eyes flickered. Back then, if the Mongol champion, the Golden Wheel Dharma King, had not fought on the battlefield to buy time for her father, Prince Ruyang, neither her father nor her brother would have escaped alive.

But the cost had been terribly high.

The once-promising Vajrayana prodigy, the Golden Wheel Dharma King, was struck down on the battlefield by Yan Yimei’s blade—cut cleanly in two and beheaded.

Yan Yimei now stood before Zhao Min, towering and indifferent, coldly saying, “Your father was saved because someone wielding a wheel blocked three of my strikes, allowing him to escape death. You, however, are not so fortunate. Come with me, Princess Shao Min.”

Yan Yimei did not know what Zhao Min was thinking; otherwise, she would only have sneered.

Battles were not like martial arts contests; back then, she had been momentarily entangled, but at the cost of the Mongol’s wheel master—an astute Vajrayana master—falling under her blade, along with the complete annihilation of over 2,700 fleeing soldiers who had hoped to escape.

In the eyes of Zhao Min and the Mongols, the lost future general, highly likely to succeed as national advisor, was nothing but a lost soul beneath her blade. Yan Yimei never bothered to remember the dead.

Zhao Min glanced at the blade mere inches from her throat, a flicker of panic flashing through her mind, but she concealed it well. “I have long admired Prince Su as well. Lead the way.”

Yan Yimei stepped aside, allowing Zhao Min to go first.

Just as Yan Yimei was about to leave the tavern with Zhao Min, a female soldier of the Cangyun Army swiftly approached and whispered into Yan Yimei’s ear.

A terrifying murderous aura flashed across Yan Yimei’s brows but quickly calmed. She nodded lightly. “Understood. Inform Commander Yan that I will personally escort her back—no mistakes will be made.”

“Yes!”

The Cangyun soldier quickly retreated.

Zhao Min, as if expecting this, laughed teasingly, “What’s this? Has General Yan changed her mind?”

“Hm.”

Yan Yimei slowly raised her saber. “I’ve decided not to take you back.”

“You… what do you intend to do?”

Zhao Min finally panicked. No matter how cunning and scheming she was, facing the killing intent of a celestial grandmaster, stranded in a foreign land without troops or aid, she was helpless.

“Do what?”

“Kill you!”

Yan Yimei’s brows lightly arched, her saber flashing a fierce gleam in the air.

Ching!

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The saber blade brushed past Zhao Min’s neck, cutting through the strands of hair at her temple. The cold edge hadn’t severed her head, but it terrified Zhao Min so much that her complexion drained, and her knees weakened, nearly collapsing.

“Already trembling?” Yan Yimei sneered, her overwhelming aura stirring the wind and clouds, locking onto a certain direction.

“Hmph, take her away.”

Yan Yimei cast a disdainful glance at Zhao Min and waved her hand.

Several waiting female soldiers of the Cangyun Army quickly lifted Zhao Min out of Yan Yimei’s sight.

“Annoying flies, damned barbarians.”

Yan Yimei turned, her gaze like a blade piercing several directions, issuing a stern warning: “This is the Great Ming, this is Jiayuguan. Anyone who dares to violate the law will be killed on the spot!”

With that, Yan Yimei’s figure surged upward like a swift swan, rapidly crossing towards the distance.

Outside the Tiance Mansion.

Zhu Jinzhen, garbed in a royal robe, watched the orderly Tiance selection below.

“There seem to be many promising talents this year.”

“Indeed, Your Highness,” replied Li Cheng’en, Yang Ning, Qin Yiyan, and others, all smiling.

Among the many commoners participating in the Tiance selection, there were those born with divine strength, those possessing supernatural power, and children with extraordinary bone structures, all showing their prowess.

Zhu Jinzhen’s eyes brightened when he noticed a girl wielding a red-tasselled spear. He couldn’t help but smile, “It looks like the Youlong Cavalry will be recruiting new members this year. Excellent!”

The expansion conditions for the Youlong Cavalry were the strictest in the Tiance Mansion.

Apart from those unfortunate women originally enlisted, and survivors from border villages around Jiayuguan ravaged by Mongol and Liao raids, four successive recruitments at Tiance Mansion had yielded no newcomers.

Today, that little girl wielding the red-tasselled spear, her movements like a dragon dancing, capable of drawing a five-shi bow, occasionally glancing in their direction, seemed to be an exception.

Cao Xueyang followed Zhu Jinzhen’s gaze and noticed the agile girl, nodding silently in approval.

“Hm?”

Yang Ning suddenly looked toward the distance in surprise.

The others also sensed a shift in the aura outside Jiayuguan.

“Is there a clash between celestial grandmasters?”

Zhu Jinzhen smiled faintly. “It seems Wang Wang has already learned the news and taken action.”

“Does the prince require…”

“No need.”

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Zhu Jinzhen waved his hand. “A few petty troublemakers—Cangyun troops can easily suppress them.”

A few petty troublemakers?

Li Cheng’en and the others twitched at the corners of their eyes.

If they were not mistaken, those battling outside Jiayuguan were indeed celestial grandmasters.

And more than one at that!

Though Zhu Jinzhen did not turn around, he seemed to know their thoughts and remarked, “Cheng’en, times have changed, but your perspective has not. The Tiance is no longer what it was. Celestial grandmasters who once required careful handling are no longer a grave threat.”

His words were like a sudden enlightenment.

Li Cheng’en, Yang Ning, and the others gradually came to their senses, dazed.

“That’s right. We are no longer in an era where soldiers must exchange their lives for injury, desperately killing celestial grandmasters,” Li Cheng’en’s eyes flickered with memories and sorrow, but a confident smile slowly appeared on his face. “We honor the sacrifices of our Tiance brothers and no longer need to be so cautious.”

“Because…”

They had all successfully entered the realm of celestial grandmasters.

Yang Ning, Cao Xueyang, Qin Yiyan, and others felt the shared joy, tears of happiness welling.

Celestial Grandmasters were the pinnacle of the martial world—peerless figures.

Second only to the land immortals, akin to divine beings.

Back when Mongol and Liao forces besieged the pass, many celestial grandmasters they recruited dealt heavy blows to Tiance and Cangyun troops, often requiring thousands of Tiance or Cangyun brothers to fall in battle just to kill a single celestial grandmaster.

But now, no longer.

They were growing—had grown.

Tiance Commander Li Cheng’en, Celestial Grandmaster.

Deputy Commander Qin Yiyan, Celestial Grandmaster.

Tiance Mansion’s top expert Yang Ning, Land Immortal realm.

General Xuanwei Cao Xueyang, Celestial Grandmaster.

Besides these leaders, the Tiance Mansion harbored even more celestial grandmasters.

A mere celestial grandmaster no longer warranted a massive deployment.

Zhu Jinzhen looked back at Li Cheng’en and Cao Xueyang’s reactions, smiling knowingly. “Keep watching. Everything is moving forward. Past tragedies and helplessness will never be repeated.”

“This is my promise to all of you.”