230: Please invite the divine master to reside in my bedchamber!

Inside Qiankun Hall, there was a dead silence.

Su Chen's extremely drowsy, almost sleepwalking-like nonsense was like a bucket of ten-thousand-year-old profound ice water poured over the heads of the generals in the hall.

Roasting cockroaches?

Digging pits and pouring oil?

Lightning Rods?

Was this a discussion about a war of national destruction capable of toppling the Divine Dynasty, or were they listening to the sleep-talk of a three-year-old child?

"Presumptuous!"

A one-armed veteran general finally couldn't suppress the anger in his heart; his hair and beard stood on end as he suddenly took a step forward!

The iron-blooded Evil Qi of the Great Saint Realm erupted with a bang, turning into a physical astral wind that swept through the hall!

"Your Majesty! This boy is deceiving the public with his demonic words and insulting our Great Xia's military prestige. He should be punished according to military law!"

"We request Your Majesty to hand down punishment!"

"We request Your Majesty to hand down punishment!"

All the generals bowed together, their voices like thunder, making the entire hall hum.

They could tolerate this pretty boy being the Empress's fiancé, but they could never tolerate him treating the lives of billions of living beings as a joke!

Su Chen's ears rang from the thunderous waves of sound; a yawn he was halfway through got stuck in his throat, and his face was full of bewilderment.

[What's going on? Did I say something wrong?]

[I just wanted to finish talking quickly so I could go to sleep...]

[These old men have such bad tempers; they must have been single for too long, causing hormonal imbalances.]

However, Ji Hongxue, behind the sand table, remained motionless.

Her Phoenix eyes were fixed intently on the massive war sand table.

That gaze seemed to transform into two heavenly swords, precisely piercing the ten light spots and the few scrawled dashed lines that Su Chen had seemingly doodled at random.

Others saw a child's playful scribbles.

What she saw, however, was a miracle... one capable of overturning the entire Xuanyuan Continent's concepts of warfare!

Those ten spots!

Tianfeng City, Dragon Severing Cliff, Black Stone Fortress, Yunmeng Marsh... these ten places were all critical hubs for Spiritual Veins, troops, and resource deployment within the Great Xia Divine Dynasty!

They were separated by tens of thousands of miles and seemed completely unrelated; past military strategists had never even thought of connecting them into a single whole.

But he... he actually used a few dashed lines to completely bring these ten dead spots to life!

Luring the enemy deep, surrounding and dividing them, then using the hubs as blades to cut through them layer by layer!

This wasn't a fixed Formation!

This was a fluid meat grinder... spread across the entire territory of the Divine Dynasty!

If one spot was attacked, the other nine could instantly transform into nine of the sharpest daggers, stabbing into the enemy's weak points from all directions!

As for that "roasting cockroaches" metaphor... digging pits was to lure the enemy into a place of no return!

Pouring oil was using the national destiny to drive the grand array and seal off the heavens and earth!

Lightning Rods... were to concentrate all the power of the Divine Dynasty into a single point, detonating the Imperial Formation for a supreme strike!

Simple! Brutal! Yet precise to the extreme!

An indescribable shiver traveled from Ji Hongxue's tailbone straight to the crown of her head, giving her goosebumps all over!

Beside her, Han Qingtian, who had been promoted to Grand Marshal for wiping out the Wang Family of the Northern Region, had eyes that were now bursting with a piercing brilliance!

His body was trembling violently, not out of anger, but out of extreme shock and wild joy!

He saw it!

He saw it too!

*Thud!*

Under the incredulous gazes of all the generals in the hall, this newly appointed Grand Marshal actually felt his knees go weak and knelt down heavily!

He wasn't facing the Empress.

But rather facing Su Chen, who was currently rubbing his eyes with a face full of impatience!

"Di... Divine Master!"

Han Qingtian's voice was hoarse, filled with awe and fervor originating from his Soul.

"I, Han Qingtian, am dull-witted. Today, having heard the Divine Master's Great Dao, I finally know what it means to... deploy troops!"

As soon as he spoke, the entire hall fell silent.

The brains of all the generals instantly went blank.

Marshal Han... knelt?

And called himself dull-witted?

Before they could recover from this shocking scene, sounds of "Thud! Thud!" rang out in succession.

Those vice-generals and commanders, after a brief moment of daze, also knelt on the ground one after another, performing a grand kowtow toward Su Chen's direction!

They might not have understood, but they believed in Han Qingtian!

For someone who could make the Grand Marshal kowtow, those words must surely contain a heavenly secret beyond their comprehension!

Su Chen was completely dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at the armor kneeling all over the floor, even forgetting to finish his yawn.

[No way? A scam? A collective scam?!]

[I just wanted to sleep and drew a few random lines; even this warrants kneeling?]

[Is the KPI of your Great Xia Dynasty calculated by the wear and tear of your knees?!]

In this eerie atmosphere, Ji Hongxue's cold and majestic voice rang through the hall like a Phoenix Cry in the Nine Heavens!

"Pass down my decree!"

Step by step, she walked out from behind the sand table, her golden dragon robe trailing on the ground; every step seemed to tread upon everyone's heartbeats.

"Divine Son of the Su Family, Su Chen, has perceived the heavenly secrets and his words carry the weight of law. He has pointed out the way to break the demons for our Great Xia. His merit lies with the state, and his benefit will last for eternity!"

"Today, I confer upon Su Chen the title of Great Xia's 'Divine Master Protecting the Nation'!"

"His status shall be equal to mine!"

*Boom!*

If the kneeling earlier was shocking, then this conferment was a thunderclap!

Divine Master Protecting the Nation!

Equal in status to the Emperor!

In the hundreds of thousands of years since the founding of Great Xia, there had never been such a supreme honor!

Ji Hongxue's Phoenix eyes swept over Su Chen, her gaze so burning it seemed it could melt him.

She absolutely could not let this man go!

Absolutely not!

She walked up to Su Chen, ignoring Ye Linghan beside him who had a playful smile, and her voice softened slightly.

"The Divine Master has labored for the nation and leaked heavenly secrets; he must be physically and mentally exhausted."

"Someone, escort the Divine Master and this Fairy to stay in my sleeping quarters—Fengming Hall!"

"I shall personally act as a Protector for the Divine Master and... seek guidance on Battle Tactics at any time!"

Su Chen shuddered, his sleepiness completely gone.

Staying in the Empress's sleeping quarters?

And calling it seeking guidance on Battle Tactics?

If this isn't a disguised house arrest, then what the hell is it?!

[It's over! Just out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's mouth!]

[Ji Hongxue! You scheming bitch! You're just lusting after my body! You're shameless!]

Su Chen was roaring inwardly, but on the outside, he maintained the appearance of a salted fish, looking like "I'm so tired, I don't want to move, do whatever you want." He was "supported" by two female officials on his left and right as they walked toward the depths of the imperial palace.

Ye Linghan followed behind him with lazy steps.

As she passed by Ji Hongxue, she paused slightly and giggled in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Little Empress, quite the clever methods you have."

"However, this seat's man isn't that easy to 'seek guidance' from."

After saying that, she left Ji Hongxue with a meaningful look and drifted away.

Leaving Ji Hongxue alone, standing in place, her jade-like hands slowly tightening until her knuckles turned slightly white from the force.