478: Return to Great Qi, see the Empress again.

Great Qi, Imperial Palace in the Imperial Capital.

In the Clear Breeze Pavilion, a graceful figure in a white gauze dress sat within the pavilion.

Several maids stood around, gazing at the scenery outside the pavilion, their eyes unwavering.

Within the deep palace of Great Qi, there was only one woman who could freely enter and reside here.

The Empress of Great Qi, Yan Yuzhu!

The Great Qi of today was already vastly different from before!

A year ago, Great Qi had just experienced an earth-shshattering battle, after which it began an unstoppable expansion.

The Great Qi army saw a large influx of Jianghu members, launching furious offensives against the surrounding Imperial Dynasties.

No one could withstand Great Qi's iron army, especially since the surrounding Imperial Dynasty forces had already been shattered a year prior.

Numerous Cultivators were slain; trying to rely on a regular army to block the onslaught of a Cultivator army was simply impossible!

Especially Great Qi's Three Departments, now militarily strong, their Cultivator forces were more than just a little stronger.

Previously, Carefree Realm Cultivators were already considered Grandmaster level, Divine Profound Cultivators were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, and Soul Palace Cultivators almost never appeared.

But now, within the Three Departments, experts emerged in an endless stream; Carefree Realm Cultivators were no longer so unattainable, only considered an intermediate force at this level in Great Qi.

Divine Profound and Soul Palace Realm Cultivators were becoming more and more numerous.

And all these changes stemmed from that great battle in the Western Frontier a year ago!

The person who brought about this change was the former Grand Minister of Justice of Great Qi, Shen Tianxing!

Shen Tianxing brought the Empress many invaluable Cultivation resources, such as divine marrow, which was far more important than Spirit Stones and was standard for Cultivators.

There were also some precious medicines that had never existed in a Border Wilderness Region like Great Qi, and some Materials for crafting divine weapons, which gradually allowed Great Qi to possess an unstoppable Cultivator army!

Empress Yan Yuzhu's Cultivation had not made any Breakthrough; she was too deeply intertwined with the Dragon Vein of the Great Qi Dynasty. The stronger the Imperial Dao Dragon Qi, the deeper her crisis of assimilation became, step by step.

The time left for her was running out.

“Alas…”

Yan Yuzhu sighed softly, holding a pot of wine, and tilted her head back to take a generous gulp.

Clear, sweet wine flowed down her exquisitely beautiful chin, descending towards her snow-white, jade-like chest. Her complexion was tinged with a rosy hue, like a blossoming peach flower, enchanting and graceful.

Such an expression, no one had ever been able to appreciate; not even the maids standing by, awaiting orders, had the chance to see it.

Strictly speaking, they dared not.

The only person qualified to see it was not here at this moment.

Yan Yuzhu's mind was filled with a single shadow; a year's time, like a persistent illness, was unforgettable.

Especially in the underground space, when she suffered Qi Deviation, that person's appearance changed her destiny.

But it also made her confront her own feelings.

As a woman, she had her own feelings for the first time, and confronted them for the first time.

From then on, it became unstoppable!

Whoosh... A wisp of clear breeze swept in, raising ripples on the lake, the gentle undulations spreading out, as if revealing the Empress's thoughts.

Suddenly, a large hand grasped her wrist, and before she could react, a soft and gentle voice followed.

“Drinking alone, and so much, aren't you afraid of being bored?”

“If Xing Yao saw this, she would probably nag you again.”

Thump...!

Yan Yuzhu's languid expression instantly changed; her somewhat disturbed bad mood now seemed like a hundred flowers blooming, radiating the most beautiful colors!

“You... you're back!”

There was disbelief, and there was boundless joy.

At this moment, how could she remember that she was the domineering, supreme Empress?

The monarch who, at the slightest disagreement, would send armies to annihilate a nation?

She was now just an ordinary woman longing for the return of the person in her heart.

Shen Tianxing took the jade pot from her hand, yet the surrounding maids and eunuchs showed no reaction, as if they couldn't see him at all.

They didn't even react in the slightest, nor did they notice Yan Yuzhu's current demeanor.

“I'm back.”

Shen Tianxing sat beside Yan Yuzhu, gently taking her slender, jade-like hand.

Yan Yuzhu looked at the person so close to her, reaching out to gently caress his face, her eyes revealing a sense of relief.

He was back.

Regardless of whether he could fulfill his promise to take her away from Great Qi, she was already content.

Imperial Dao Dragon Qi, it was not so easy to resolve.

Throughout the generations of Great Qi's emperors, many brilliant emperors had tried to solve it, but unfortunately, no one had succeeded.

Her talent, Yan Yuzhu's, was no less than any previous emperor, yet she also failed to resolve it, seemingly foretelling that all emperors of Great Qi would share the same fate.

But, what did it matter?

She thought of nothing else now.

Just being able to see Shen Tianxing again was enough.

The two looked at each other, affection surging in their hearts; although it had only been a short year, in their hearts, it felt as if countless years had passed.

“How is the situation in the Inner Sea? You didn't encounter any trouble, did you?”

After a long while, Yan Yuzhu spoke.

She didn't ask Shen Tianxing if he had found a solution, but rather inquired about his current situation.

The last time Shen Tianxing returned, he had told her about the troubles he encountered, although Shen Tianxing stated there were no issues.

How could Yan Yuzhu not know that his saying so definitely meant trouble, and it wouldn't be easy to resolve?

She still had some understanding of the Sea of Buried Demons.

The Inner Sea was even more difficult than the Outer Sea; the Cultivators there lived by the law of the jungle, killing without batting an eye.

It must have been difficult for Shen Tianxing too.

However, seeing him return safe and sound now, her worries had significantly lessened.

“It's all resolved.”

Shen Tianxing gently caressed her face and said, “I told you before I left that when I returned again, I would definitely take you away.”

“This time, I've come back to fulfill that promise.”

Yan Yuzhu was stunned at his words.

A glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes; she didn't doubt for a moment that Shen Tianxing would say these words to deceive her.

She trusted Shen Tianxing implicitly, unconditionally.

“Can I finally leave this place? I also want to go out with you and see the vast world.”

This was perhaps Yan Yuzhu's long-held expectation.

If she hadn't inherited the position of Emperor of Great Qi, she might have left long ago.

Being confined to Great Qi, everything she witnessed was like looking at the sky from the bottom of a well; for her, it was a torment.

She had personally witnessed how easily high-level experts sent by the Holy Heaven Demon Sect could swagger and show off; with her temperament, how could she not feel resentment?

Her talent was rare in the world; no previous emperor had managed to Cultivate to the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm Peak by relying on Imperial Dao Dragon Qi, but she had achieved it.

Moreover, she had done so before the age of thirty.

If given the chance, Yan Yuzhu believed that she, without relying on any external objects, could absolutely surpass her current Cultivation Realm!