Chapter 772: Bai Bing in Action!
Instead of spending three months hiding amongst the rebel forces as the mission dictated, the Ice Phoenix had taken a more direct approach: she assassinated the rebel leader and claimed his position for herself.
In a mere two and a half months, she had led the burgeoning rebel army straight to the capital of the Dynasty, bringing the old regime to the very brink of collapse.
After a series of brutal battles along the way, the young reincarnators from the modern world finally understood. The phrase 'a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood' was no poetic exaggeration; it was a stark, visceral reality painted across the scorched earth before them.
Their gazes were drawn, as if by a magnetic force, to a veteran standing not far away—a woman cloaked in black.
This woman possessed a cascade of long, curly, reddish-brown hair that veiled much of her face, allowing only glimpses of her exquisitely cold features. Her stunning eyes, the same reddish-brown as her hair, and her high-bridged nose gave her the air of someone of mixed heritage. Her skin was a cool, translucent white, a canvas that held both the delicate softness of the East and the defined contours of the West. She was, in a word, stunning.
Even on a battlefield choked with the smoke of war and the stench of death, she stood out like a supermodel on a runway, effortlessly captivating the attention of all who saw her.
But none of the new reincarnators dared to lift their heads and stare.
Even the rebels and the government troops, mortal enemies on this field, shared a common fear and dared not let their gazes linger upon her.
The previous rebel leader, a man who commanded tens of thousands of refugee soldiers, had made that mistake. He had wanted this cold, beautiful woman for himself, and for that desire, he lost his head. His corpse was then unceremoniously fed to the dogs.
Her power was simply terrifying.
Not only did she instantly subdue the entirety of the rebel faction, but she also systematically crushed the government's attempts to encircle and suppress them, time and again. Under her command, the rebel forces had snowballed into a behemoth of nearly a million strong, now laying siege to the Dynasty's capital.
Though she was a woman, not a single soul harbored a shred of disrespect. To the rebels, she was a Celestial Maiden descended from the heavens, a divine being who would guide them in establishing a new, heavenly kingdom on earth. To the imperial court, who feared her with every fiber of their being, she was known only as the 'Demoness'.
But whether they called her 'Celestial Maiden'or'Demoness', no one was unafraid of her strength.
A woman like that was simply not someone a mere mortal could ever hope to covet.
They couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of man could possibly win the favor of such a celestial being.
'This is the final battle,'Bai Bing thought, her beautiful eyes narrowing, their depths mirroring the same deep intensity that often colored Shen Anyu's gaze.'The novice mission was to survive with the rebels for three months. My mission is to protect these novices—the more who survive, the greater the reward. Heh, but that's not nearly enough. I need an extra reward, a massive one, if I'm to surpass that hateful woman, Wu Shenyun!'
The woman known as the Ice Phoenix, hailed as a Celestial Maiden and cursed as a Demoness, was, of course, the Assassin Queen herself: Bai Bing.
The fact that Shen Anyu had taken Wu Shenyun to the Southern Wilderness without her had ignited a cold fury within Bai Bing, fueling a desperate hunger to become stronger.
She wasn't Shen Anyu's first woman, nor was she his only one. But she was determined to become his strongest woman—stronger, even, than Shen Anyu himself.
And when that day came, she would confine him to a secret chamber. She would keep him like a treasured, peerless beauty, making him her sole possession to be savored every single night.
Whether he was an Ice Slave or a master, Shen Anyu could only be hers.
But all of that required strength. Forget Shen Anyu—right now, she wasn't even a match for Wu Shenyun.
'Soon,'she mused, a cold anticipation coiling in her core.'By over-fulfilling this mission—not just ensuring their survival but by directly overthrowing this Dynasty—I will definitely gain more than enough Main God points. I will finally break through to the Land Immortal Realm!'
Over the past two and a half months, she had never once ceased her cultivation. Her Martial God Art had already reached the eighth layer, and her power had ascended to the Late Stage of the Heaven and Human Realm.
Just then, atop the city walls, the emperor of the ancient Great Zheng Dynasty, flanked by his civil and military officials, took a deep breath and shouted, his voice booming across the battlefield toward Bai Bing.
"Ice Phoenix Celestial Maiden! If you are willing to turn hostility into friendship, I am willing to enthrone you as the Empress of the nation and share this world with you! Our bloodline, our descendants, will be the future Crown Prince of Great Zheng, the future Emperor of Great Zheng!"
The powerful voice swept across the field of death. It was clear the emperor himself possessed considerable strength, at least equivalent to a Martial Dao Grandmaster.
The emperor stared nervously at Bai Bing, and beside him, the entire court held its breath.
Enthroning a rebel leader as the Empress—had such a proposal been made three months ago, or even one month ago, it would have been met with a furious storm of condemnation from the court's upright officials. Some might have even committed suicide by smashing their heads against a pillar in a final, desperate remonstrance.
But now, not a single person voiced any opposition. In fact, they prayed she would agree.
Because Bai Bing was simply too strong.
A wave of excitement stirred among the rebel generals who heard the emperor's promise. If things could be settled this way, it would be a declaration of victory without the need for a brutal, bloody siege. Still, no one dared to speak. They all kept their heads bowed, respectfully awaiting Bai Bing's decision.
They knew that in this world, only one person's will mattered now: the Ice Phoenix Celestial Maiden!
Hearing the promise of becoming the Empress of a nation, Bai Bing slowly raised her delicate chin. Her gaze was pure, unadulterated contempt. A cold, dismissive laugh escaped her lips.
"An ant-like thing such as yourself... is worthy?"
Her voice, though not loud, cut through the silence like a shard of ice.
"Surrender, or your entire imperial family will be slaughtered."
The emperor's face turned ashen. He, the dignified Son of Heaven, had just been called an 'ant-like thing'and deemed'unworthy'.
But he knew all too well the terror and power Bai Bing wielded. She was a being who could slay kings and generals as easily as breathing, even amidst an army of ten thousand.
The rebel army, once a disorganized rabble, had been forged into an unstoppable force under her leadership. Whether she was a Celestial Maiden or a Demoness, she swept through everything in her path.
Even the Prince of Zhenbei, a man hailed as a peerless War God, had been slain by her as easily as one would kill a dog, his body left to rot by the roadside.
"Demoness, you force my hand!" the emperor roared, his desperation turning to fury.
He took a deep, shuddering breath, then turned his gaze to the immortal-like, Daoist-robed elder standing beside him. He bowed deeply and respectfully.
"Zhenren Chen! With the national luck of my Great Zheng Dynasty, I hereby enthrone you as Imperial Advisor! My only request is that you destroy this Demoness and quell this rebellion!"
The emperor's heart bled as he spoke the words. Appointing an Imperial Advisor and binding them to the nation's luck was an act of folly committed only by fallen monarchs throughout history, an act with endless, disastrous repercussions. But now, without taking this step, there was simply no way to stop the Demoness and her army.
Even if it meant drinking poison to quench his thirst, he would not hesitate.
As the emperor's decree fell, the roar of a dragon echoed from the Void Realm.
Above the emperor's head, the faint phantom of a three-clawed Flood Dragon materialized. It was majestic and vast, sacred and impressive, its form connecting the heavens above to the earth below. Upon its shimmering scales, the images of countless common people flickered in and out of existence.
Whoosh!
The illusory three-clawed Flood Dragon surged downwards, pouring its essence into the immortal-like, Daoist-robed elder.
As Zhenren Chen, the current leader of the Daoist sect, was officially appointed Imperial Advisor, his aura began to skyrocket. It broke through one barrier after another, rapidly climbing towards an unbelievable world of power.
Pfft!
The emperor suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning deathly pale in an instant. He looked at the terrified and worried expressions of his officials and managed a bitter smile.
"No wonder... no wonder throughout history, only fallen and incompetent emperors appointed Imperial Advisors... This is the price."
His voice was a strained whisper. "Not only is the national luck drained, but even the emperor must pay with his own lifespan..."
The emperor could faintly sense that his current state was already a mercy from the heavens; otherwise, he would have died on the spot.
"Even the heavens stand with me! Imperial Advisor, I beg of you!"
The Imperial Advisor nodded solemnly. His gaze, now filled with a majestic, borrowed power, locked onto Bai Bing.
"Demoness, prepare to die!"
His aura shot into the sky, twisting the clouds and changing the very color of the firmament. Like a hurricane, like a tornado, the Imperial Advisor charged toward Bai Bing.
Bai Bing narrowed her reddish-brown eyes, a faint, unimpressed comment on her lips.
"This luck augmentation has some merit. It's raised a mere Grandmaster of techniques to a level approaching a Land Immortal. But... he's still no match for that hateful woman, Wu Shenyun. He's still going to die!"
Before her words had even finished echoing, Bai Bing shattered the Void Realm to meet his charge. An overwhelming killing intent poured from her, as if the man she was facing was not the Imperial Advisor of Great Zheng, but her true rival, Wu Shenyun.
If Bai Bing ever learned what Wu Shenyun had done to Shen Anyu, she would probably fight until the Great Dao itself was annihilated.
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