155: Chapter 155 The Golden-Eyed Sky-Splitting Eagle

Aiyire's heart was instantly swept by a towering wave of emotion!

She looked at the man before her, who was younger, more heroic, and more powerful than the legends suggested. An incredibly bold and crazy thought uncontrollably and frantically took root in her mind!

Perhaps opening a trade route wasn't the only option!

If... if the entire Loulan could receive the protection of this powerful Eastern Lion...

Then would her clansmen never have to endure hunger and the fires of war again?

At this thought, Aiyire's breathing became rapid.

Her blue eyes looked at Gao Feng, becoming brighter and more fervent than ever before!

That night, inside Gao Feng's temporary camp tent.

To thank Gao Feng for saving her life, Aiyire personally cooked and prepared a sumptuous banquet filled with Western Regions flair for him.

There was succulent whole roasted lamb, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, fragrant hand-pulled pilaf, and the specialty of Loulan—grape wine, as crystal clear as rubies, served in luminous jade cups.

"Prince of Yan," Aiyire personally filled a cup of fine wine for Gao Feng. Her blue eyes, under the flickering candlelight, seemed to contain an entire sea of stars, filled with fatal temptation. "If Your Highness hadn't stepped in to save us today, Aiyire and my clansmen would have long since... Aiyire toasts you with this cup! I'll drain mine, please drink as you wish!"

Saying this, she heroically downed the fine wine in her cup in one go!

That passion and uninhibited nature belonging to a woman of the Western Regions made her entire being radiate a wild charm completely different from the women of the Central Plains.

Gao Feng looked at her, smiled slightly, and also drained his cup.

"The Princess is too polite. As the Lord of the North, protecting the merchants and commoners within my borders is simply my duty."

"Your Highness," Aiyire's lovely face flushed with a moving red hue from the wine. She looked at Gao Feng, her voice carrying a hint of testing, "Are you... truly willing to protect our Loulan?"

"As long as you follow the rules of my Panshi Land and pay taxes according to the regulations, I will naturally ensure your trade routes remain unobstructed within my territory," Gao Feng said indifferently.

"No, that's not what I meant." Aiyire shook her head, her blue eyes staring intently at Gao Feng as if trying to see through his very Soul.

"What I am talking about is true, eternal protection."

She took a deep breath, as if she had made an extremely important decision.

She slowly took out an exquisitely crafted box made of gold and encrusted with various gemstones from her bosom.

She carefully pushed the box in front of Gao Feng.

"Prince of Yan, this is the most precious national treasure passed down through generations in our Loulan."

"Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, a Loulan ancestor luckily obtained it from an ancient ruin."

"We only know it is the egg of a divine bird, but for hundreds of years, we have tried every method and have been unable to hatch it."

"Today, I offer it to you."

"I only ask that for the sake of this small gift, you grant Loulan true protection!"

Hearing this, Gao Feng's brow twitched slightly as he opened the golden box.

Inside the box lay a peculiar beast egg, about the size of a fist, its entire body a strange dark gold, and its surface covered in countless profound patterns like lightning bolts.

The moment he saw this beast egg, Gao Feng's heart uncontrollably began to throb violently once more!

He could clearly feel that within this seemingly ordinary beast egg was a terrifying energy—immense, pure, and filled with an aura of sharpness and destruction!

This was definitely no ordinary object!

This was the egg of an ancient exotic species!

Gao Feng never dreamed that just by coming out to patrol the border, he would encounter such a Heaven-Defying Opportunity!

Looking at the Western Region princess before him, whose eyes were filled with sincerity and hope, he felt a different emotion toward her for the first time, beyond mere appreciation.

"Princess, this gift is too valuable," Gao Feng said in a deep voice.

"No," Aiyire shook her head, her blue eyes shining startlingly bright in the candlelight, "In our Loulan, the most precious pearl is only ever fit to be offered to the strongest lion."

She slowly stood up. Under Gao Feng's slightly startled gaze, she actually shed the fiery red leather armor she was wearing, revealing a white silk dance dress underneath that was even thinner and more figure-hugging.

With her bare, snowy-white, and translucent feet, she began to dance within the small camp tent to the melodious music of exotic flair that seemed to ring out from nowhere.

Her dance was at times passionate and uninhibited, like a burning fire in the desert; at other times, it was soft and seductive to the bone, like vines entwining in an oasis.

Her supple waist twisted like a water snake in heart-stopping curves.

Her slender legs were partially visible beneath the thin dance dress, filled with fatal temptation.

Every spin and every leap seemed to use her body to tell an ancient legend of life and love.

Her gaze was like the mellowest wine, filled with blurriness and enchantment, firmly hooking Gao Feng's Soul.

The dance came to an end.

Drenched in fragrant sweat, Aiyire stopped, panting for breath.

Her face, already breathtakingly beautiful, was flushed with a Soul-stirring crimson like the sunset after the intense movement.

She didn't speak, but simply walked slowly, step by step, to stand before Gao Feng.

Then, right before his eyes, she slowly untied the final layer of her mysterious veil.

A perfect, peerless face that could make the heavens and earth lose their color and cause the sun and moon to dim was presented without reservation before Gao Feng.

"Prince of Yan," her voice was husky and full of magnetism, like the most beautiful sweet words, softly whispering in Gao Feng's ear, "Tonight, Aiyire is your most loyal slave girl."

Before her voice had even faded, she threw herself like the most submissive lamb into the embrace of the Eastern Lion, whose primal desires she had already ignited.

That night, inside the tent, the spring scenery was boundless.

The sounds of dragon roars and phoenix cries, accompanied by the passionate gasps and suppressed moans of the Western Region woman, echoed throughout the silent Black Stone Mountain Range.

...

“Boom—!!!”

At the very moment Gao Feng and Aiyire reached the Peak in that exotic harmony of life!

A surge of strange energy, larger and purer than ever before and filled with vibrant vitality, crashed into his body!

His spirit spring space, which had been quiet for a long time, seemed to receive an unprecedentedly massive stimulus at this moment and began to expand at a near-frenzied speed!

The space, which was originally only a few miles in size, suddenly ballooned like an inflating balloon!

Finally, when all the expansion stopped, the entire spirit spring space had turned into a true Small World spanning dozens of miles!

The boundary of the space was no longer a gray Chaos, but had become a real sky shrouded in a faint golden light curtain!

In the sky, there even hung a small sun radiating a soft glow!

The earth beneath his feet became heavier and more fertile, filled with endless vitality.

And the central spirit spring, which was originally just a pond, had now completely gathered into a small lake.

In the middle of the lake was a small island. On it stood a strange small tree, its entire body crimson like blood, its branches hung with countless crystal-clear fruits like red agate that emitted an enticing fruity fragrance, swaying in the wind!

Every leaf of that ancient tree seemed to be carved from the purest flaming glass, radiating a majestic and pure power of blood and Qi!

"Blood-Qi Vermilion Fruit!"

Information about this strange tree instantly surfaced in Gao Feng's mind!

This was actually the legendary treasure of heaven and earth—the Blood-Qi Vermilion Fruit, which blooms for a thousand years, bears fruit for a thousand years, and takes another thousand years to ripen!

This fruit was a supreme holy medicine that Martial Artists dreamed of!

If an ordinary Martial Artist could consume one, they could undergo a complete transformation, their blood and Qi would skyrocket, and they would gain decades of bitter cultivation for free!

Even for a powerhouse like Gao Feng who had already reached the Fifth-Rank Peak, it still held immeasurable benefits!

"I've hit the jackpot! This time I've really hit the jackpot!"

Gao Feng looked at the mythical scene before him and felt the even more vast and boundless power feeding back into his body due to the space upgrade, his heart filled with endless wild joy!

He never dreamed that Aiyire's unique exotic Bloodline could bring such an earth-shaking transformation to his spirit spring space!

He forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart. With a thought, he took out the egg of the ancient exotic species, the "Sky-Rending Golden-Eyed Eagle," which he had obtained from Aiyire's hand.

He carefully placed the beast egg under the Blood-Qi Vermilion Fruit tree, then drew the most pure spirit spring essence from the spirit spring lake to water it day and night without pause.

A miraculous scene occurred.

The beast egg, which had been silent for hundreds of years in the Kingdom of Loulan, the moment it touched the spirit spring essence, it was like a seed meeting long-awaited rain, and began to frantically absorb that majestic life energy!

The profound patterns on its surface began to flicker with a brilliant golden light!

A powerful life fluctuation filled with sharpness and nobility was rapidly gestating and taking shape inside it!

Just three days later.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound of an eggshell breaking rang out.

The dark golden beast egg split open a crack in the middle.

Immediately after, a fluffy little head with noble dark golden feathers poked out curiously from the shell.

Its eyes, like two of the purest golden gemstones, let out a crisp cry filled with intimacy and dependence the moment it saw Gao Feng.

"Chirp!"

It struggled to crawl out of the shell, then moved its short legs that were still a bit unsteady, wobbling as it threw itself into Gao Feng's embrace, constantly rubbing its fluffy little head against Gao Feng's chest.

Gao Feng looked at this extraordinary little fellow who had taken him as its parent from the very first sight, and his heart felt soft.

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He reached out, gently stroking its soft, golden feathers, and said with a smile, "From today on, you shall be called 'Golden Eye'."

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The little golden eagle seemed to understand its name, chirping excitedly twice.

In the days that followed, Gao Feng kept this little fellow named "Golden Eye" inside the spirit spring space.

He fed it with the purest spirit spring water and the flesh of Yao Beasts captured from the Heavenly Wolf Army, which contained immense energy.

Little Golden Eye's growth rate was simply hair-raisingly fast!

In just one month, its originally fluffy body had completely shed its down, replacing it with a set of magnificent wings that looked like they were cast from gold and filled with a metallic texture!

Its size expanded crazily like a balloon being inflated; its wingspan surged from less than a foot initially to over three zhang!

Those once-tender talons had now become harder than the sharpest black iron, capable of easily tearing through metal and stone!

And its pair of golden eyes had become incomparably sharp, as if they could pierce through the clouds and peer into the Nine Netherworlds!

It could easily spot an ant crawling on the ground from ten thousand zhang in the sky!

It acknowledged Gao Feng as its master and was filled with absolute loyalty and dependence toward him.

With just a thought from Gao Feng, it would transform into a bolt of golden lightning, descending from the sky to land on Gao Feng's shoulder, affectionately rubbing its noble head against his cheek.

It became Gao Feng's most loyal and powerful aerial scout and combat partner!

...

After obtaining the Heaven-Defying divine item "Blood-Qi Vermilion Fruit," the first thing Gao Feng did was to generously distribute it to his core and most loyal civil officials, military generals, and the members of his harem.

Big Fool and Wulu, these two "humanoid Vicious Beasts" who were already born with Divine Power and possessed a Physical Body so tyrannical it didn't seem human, underwent a terrifying transformation akin to being reborn after consuming the Blood-Qi Vermilion Fruit!

The power of blood and Qi within their bodies surged crazily like a bursting river!

Under the tempering of the massive medicinal power, their Physical Body strength was forced up another level!

Their martial arts Realm also reached the Fifth-Rank, but that terrifying Physical Body, comparable to a Sixth-Rank Grandmaster, was enough to allow them to charge through the battlefield and be invincible!

They officially became the two top-tier and most unreasonable war beasts under Gao Feng's command!

And Du Wei and the others also seized this heaven-sent Opportunity to break through their own shackles, greatly increasing their Realm and strength!

The top-tier combat power of the entire Panshi Army ushered in an explosive leap forward!

As for Su Yue, Luo Qin, Aiyire, and the other members of the harem, they underwent stunning changes under the dual nourishment of the Blood-Qi Vermilion Fruit and the spirit spring space.

Not only did their already stunningly beautiful faces become even more charming and moving, with skin so delicate it seemed ready to break at a touch, but it was as if time itself could not leave a single trace on their faces.

Their Physique also underwent a heaven-turning and earth-shattering improvement!

Even under Gao Feng's personal guidance and the accumulation of endless resources, their martial arts cultivation had made significant progress!

Everyone successfully stepped over the threshold of a Martial Artist!

Especially Luo Qi, who was already heroic and loved martial arts, and Aiyire, who was passionate and gifted; the two of them advanced by leaps and bounds, with their cultivation approaching the Third-Rank!

It could be said that at this time, Gao Feng had reached an unprecedented Peak state, whether in his own strength, the forces under his command, or the quality of his harem!

He was like a peerless hidden Dragon that had completed all its accumulation and was about to break through all restraints!

Just waiting for the right moment, he could soar into the sky and roar across the Nine Heavens!

And this moment soon arrived.

When the last snowflake in the northern border melted into a stream nourishing all things under the blowing of the spring breeze, a huge storm capable of overturning the entire world's landscape was quietly brewing in the depths of the distant northern grasslands.

The Heavenly Wolf King's tent, that golden royal tent that once symbolized the highest hegemony of the grasslands, was now shrouded in an oppressive and bloody atmosphere.

The head of the Wolf King Ashina Kuotai was kicked into the bonfire like a ball by his younger brother, the "Blood Wolf King" Ashina Gudulu, known for his cruelty and bloodthirst, right in front of all the tribal leaders.

"Trash! A piece of trash who couldn't even defeat the cowards of the Southern Dynasty! You are not worthy of possessing our Heavenly Wolf Bloodline!"

Ashina Gudulu, a man whose stature was a size larger than his brother's, his face covered in ferocious tattoos, and his whole body exuding a violent, beast-like aura, stepped on the tiger-skin throne that symbolized royal power, using his thunderous roar to declare his sovereignty to the trembling tribal leaders under the tent.

"From today on! I, Ashina Gudulu, am the only King of the Tianlang Tribe!"

"Who approves? Who opposes?!"

His voice was filled with unquestionable domineeringness and bloodiness.

After experiencing months of brutal internal purges, all voices that dared to oppose him had long since turned into cold corpses on the grasslands, feeding the vultures.

This newly ascended Blood Wolf King had dyed his throne red with the blood of his brother and all his competitors, and had firmly secured his position as the new generation's hegemon of the grasslands.

However, unlike his rough and violent appearance, the heart of Ashina Gudulu was far more sinister and cunning than his dead brother's.

He knew well what kind of terrifying existence that Eastern man was—the Yan King named Gao Feng, who had severed his brother's head with a single blade strike under Ji City.

To go head-to-head with such a monster was stupid.

He wanted revenge, but not in the stupid way his brother had.

He wanted to use a grander and more vicious conspiracy to drag that damned Eastern man, along with the entire decaying Great Qian Dynasty behind him, into an abyss of no return!

Soon, a royal decree from the Heavenly Wolf King's tent spread like a prairie fire across the entire northern grasslands.

The Blood Wolf King Ashina Gudulu proclaimed to the world that he would inherit his brother's will, assemble all the warriors of the Tianlang Tribe, and at all costs, break through Ji City, wash Youzhou in blood, and use Gao Feng's head to mourn his brother's spirit in heaven!

For a time, beacon fires rose all over the grasslands, and Killing Intent soared into the sky!

Countless Tianlang warriors, driven by the flames of revenge and greed for wealth, gathered from all directions toward the royal tent.

The dark, oppressive iron cavalry, like an endless black ocean, deployed hundreds of thousands of troops on the border of Youzhou, posing a terrifying posture of an imminent war to destroy the nation!

This news reached the Great Qian capital first.

The entire imperial court was shaken by it!

Those remonstrating officials who had once impeached Gao Feng for "raising troops to weigh heavily on the state" were now scared pale, silent as cicadas in winter.

And the Crown Prince and Grand Tutor Lin's faction secretly rejoiced.

In their view, this was simply a heaven-sent Opportunity!

If the Blood Wolf King and Gao Feng, these two peerless fierce tigers entrenched in the north, could fight until both were injured, it would undoubtedly be a great thing for the imperial court!

For a time, the eyes of the entire Great Qian Dynasty were focused on this precarious northern border.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of that earth-shattering battle, destined to flow with blood.

However, what none of them knew was this.

Just when the Blood Wolf King was gathering troops with great fanfare on the Youzhou border, attracting the attention of the entire Great Qian Dynasty.

Secret envoys sent by him, carrying his personally signed alliances and massive amounts of gold and silver treasures, had already quietly entered the territories of the Eastern Hu Tribes and the Xianbei, who had also been coveting the fat meat of the Great Qian for hundreds of years.

A larger and more lethal conspiracy was quietly taking shape in the darkness.

The Blood Wolf King's true target was never Gao Feng, who was as hard to swallow as a hedgehog.

Instead, it was the vast, prosperous, and long-undefended Central Plains of the Great Qian!

He would use Gao Feng's formidable reputation in the northern border as his best cover!

He would let everyone believe that he would fight Gao Feng to the death in the northern border!

Then, he would plunge a fatal knife into the softest belly of the Great Qian in a way no one expected!

He would make Gao Feng take the impact and exhaustion from other grassland tribes for him!

He would make this Eastern man the perfect stepping stone for him to enter the Central Plains!

This was the ultimate scheme to kill two birds with one stone!

...

One month later.

When the border line of Youzhou was still "filled with beacon fires and swords drawn," but no large-scale conflict had erupted, causing everyone to feel a strange sense of calm.

A piece of shocking bad news, enough to turn the entire Great Qian Dynasty upside down, came crashing from the northwest like a magnitude 12 super earthquake!

Daizhou had fallen!

Bingzhou had fallen!

The Blood Wolf King Ashina Gudulu, after assembling a coalition army of three hundred thousand, including the Eastern Hu Tribes and the Xianbei, suddenly changed direction and, with lightning speed, tore a huge gap from the border of Daizhou, the weakest point of the Great Qian Dynasty's defense line!

The black iron current drove straight in!

The prefectures and counties along the way were instantly captured without any decent resistance!

Countless commoners became ghosts under the blades of the grassland barbarians while they slept!

In just over ten days, Daizhou and Bingzhou, the most prosperous grain-producing regions of the Great Qian Dynasty, had completely fallen!

The three hundred thousand coalition army of the grasslands, like a bursting flood, burned, killed, and looted all the way, unstoppable, with their blade pointing directly at the Divine Capital!

The news arrived, and the Divine Capital was shaken!

The world was shaken!

The Great Qian Emperor, who sat high on the Dragon throne, thinking he could control everything and play with power in his palm, sprayed a mouthful of old blood onto the Dragon desk in front of him the moment he heard the news, and fainted on the spot.