At first, Ge Xin Wei had resigned herself to death, but to her surprise, her beauty had spared her life. She gazed at this man, who exuded an aura of hostility, his cold and arrogant demeanor constantly fanning the flames of anger deep within her heart.
“The vice commander must face fifteen opponents at once! Brave men, step forward!” Cheng Xiang wasted no time in announcing the next battle.
Out of the remaining forty men, several more stood up. Fifteen soldiers rushed onto the platform once again, and blood flew through the air.
The day’s selection showed no sign of stopping, continuing until deep into the night when it was finally time for the general's battle. Cheng Xiang stood on the platform and ordered the blood-soaked ground to be swept clean. Then, with a sharp voice, he called out, “The general must face twenty opponents at once! Brave men, step forward!” This time, only seven men stood up. However, each of them was powerfully built, radiating murderous intent, and instead of looking at the platform, they all fixed their eyes on Ruo Wen, glaring with grinding teeth.
It was already late at night. Ruo Wen, always more restless at night, looked at the beast-like eyes taunting him from below. He smirked coldly, throwing off his black cloak, and leaped down. With every step he took toward the platform, the seven men followed suit, one step at a time.
Seeing his leader’s expression, Cheng Xiang immediately knew he intended to kill. The blade wouldn’t be satisfied until it tasted blood, so he quickly withdrew.
Ruo Wen jumped onto the platform and, looking at the seven men circling him, sneered, “Come on then! Whoever survives will be the general!” As he spoke, he drew the treasured sword from his waist, its blade gleaming with a ravenous light!
The seven men exchanged glances and, in an instant, all rushed at him. “Kill Ruo Wen!”
All at once, the platform was bathed in red light. A cold smile curled on Ruo Wen’s lips. He leapt forward into their midst, launching a furious assault! His movements were as fast as lightning, without a trace of hesitation. The silver blade mercilessly cut through flesh, without caring who it was. His deep violet eyes turned to a dark red, and his sharply defined features were repeatedly splattered with hot, crimson blood. At that moment, anyone who stood in his way was doomed to lose their life to his blade!
The seven men who had ascended the platform were no mere fighters, but ultimately, they became nothing more than tools for Ruo Wen to vent his wild frenzy.
After what seemed like an eternity, the platform had become a blood-soaked pit of death. Ruo Wen suddenly stopped, standing in the center, his chest heaving, hot breath steaming from his mouth. Around him lay the dismembered, mangled corpses of the seven men. He stood there, licking the blood on his lips like a man addicted to poison. His dark red eyes gradually returned to their deep violet shade, and his black hair, slick with sweat, remained unmoved by the cold wind.
“Cheng Xiang, reset the selection!” he said with a laugh, slicing his sword in two quick strokes to fling off the blood that clung to the blade.
Silence. Under the starry sky, there was only silence. The fourteen selected vanguard and vice commanders stood to one side, wide-eyed, not daring to even breathe. “Did you see that? In the face of the strongest, everything is meaningless!” Cheng Xiang stood on the platform, looking at the terrified crowd with a smirk. Very few soldiers outside of the Huangtian Mad Legion had ever witnessed their leader’s skill in person.
However, the one most shaken by this scene was Ge Xin Wei. In that moment, she finally understood why Ruo Wen alone could dominate the Mad Legion and bring Masui to ruin in an instant. Ge Xin Wei had grown up in the royal palace, well-read in a thousand books and familiar with the world’s affairs, yet she had never been valued by her father or brothers. Not only that, but because of her humble birth and her mother’s weakness, she had endured unspeakable abuse within the palace. She had even thought of escaping, but that was the day when Ruo Wen annihilated her clan, and the mad fires burned the bodies. Thirteen days later, when she finally crawled out from among the charred corpses, she saw that the arrogant nobles and marquises she had once loathed had all died in the most disgraceful of ways. They didn’t deserve it. They never deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as her! From that moment on, it was as if a cold stream flowed through Ge Xin Wei’s heart, so clear, so strangely soothing. Her worship of power awakened at that very instant.
“Your Majesty!” Under the gaze of the entire crowd, Ge Xin Wei called out to the blood-soaked man holding Ruo Lan and Fei Wen in his arms.
Ruo Wen froze, turning back with a sinister growl, “Didn’t I tell you before? Speak again, and I’ll kill you!”
Ge Xin Wei shuddered at his words, but from the moment the battle ended, she had made a decision.
“Your Majesty! I want to speak. I want to take off these red clothes. I am not an illusion; I am Ge Xin Wei.” As she spoke, she truly began to remove the red garments one by one.
As Ruo Wen watched her slowly bare her body, his eyes darkened. From the beginning, the thing about her that most resembled Huang Bei Shuang was not her appearance, but her eyes—though they were different in color, they had the same commanding spirit.
Ge Xin Wei stripped herself completely bare, standing before Ruo Wen. “Your Majesty, I am not anyone’s substitute!”
As the cold wind blew, her skin broke out in goosebumps, yet Ruo Wen only laughed. “You want to be my woman?”
Ge Xin Wei’s gaze deepened, and she responded firmly, “I do!”
In the icy wind, Ruo Wen burst into wild laughter. After a long time, he finally said, “Then lick every drop of blood from my body clean!”
That night, in the Fen Tian palace, yet another woman lay on Ruo Wen’s bed, endlessly indulging in passion. But unlike the others, this woman harbored a burning desire in her heart.
I am willing to crawl at your feet and lick every drop of blood from your body,
I am willing to wait by your side, loving the hard calluses on your palms.
At that moment, I am willing to offer you all comfort.
For your shadowed, empty eyes,
For the sword in your hand that slays gods and saints,
I wait for you to crush everything beneath your feet. I wait for you to destroy all things,
Until the day when even ash falls, and all life is equal!
The next day, Ruo Wen sat on the throne of Heyan, flanked by Mang Hu, Lang Tou, Cheng Xiang, Luo Ying, and others. They all looked at the woman kneeling in the center of the grand hall—the same woman who had boldly offered herself to their leader under the moon the night before.
Ge Xin Wei knelt on the ground, dressed in yellow brocade, her expression distant. Soon, her jade-like voice rang out in measured tones.
“Chaos is approaching, and warlords will carve up the land. But I, Ge Xin Wei, know that only the Mad Blood King shall reign supreme. Therefore, to hasten Your Majesty’s rise to the pinnacle of the great desert, I humbly offer a suggestion. Fen Tian cannot remain long without governance, without decrees or rules. Otherwise, it will be difficult to resist the Northern Tian Du or Southern Yunpei. Hence, I propose the establishment of three armies and two councils before the battle begins. The three armies would be: the Zhen Yuan Army, with fifty thousand troops, to defend Fen Tian; the Southern Expedition Army, with one hundred thirty thousand troops, to attack Yunpei; and the Royal Guard, also known as the Mad Yellow Army of Heaven, as Your Majesty’s personal soldiers, acting at your command alone. Each army would have its own responsibilities: the Zhen Yuan Army would quell domestic unrest, ensuring peace in the kingdom; a stable kingdom strengthens the military. The Southern Expedition Army would destroy our enemies, and their victory would make the nation strong. This forms the military council. A nation is founded on both its military and its resources, so I also propose two additional councils: the Treasury Council, to manage finances and provisions, and the Military Personnel Council, to distribute troops. These three armies and two councils will stabilize the nation, strengthen the military, and assist Your Majesty in unifying the land.”
As Ge Xin Wei spoke, her voice grew louder. Kneeling there, she still remembered the wild pain of the previous night—the rough possession by Ruo Wen, and the humiliation of sharing his bed with two other women.
Yet, for her, the man reflected in her icy blue eyes was a god—a god capable of destroying all injustice.
Ruo Wen looked down at the woman kneeling before him. To preserve her life, she had never dared to defy him, not even slightly. For over a month, she hadn’t spoken a single word. Yet now, in full view of everyone, she had dared to seduce him with her immature body. And she had succeeded. Last night’s memory still lingered with him, reminding him of the moment he had captured Huang Bei Shuang.
However, Ge Xin Wei was not Huang Bei Shuang. Her eyes held an ambitious gleam that Huang Bei Shuang never had.
Hmph! Women—they’re like venomous flowers, coming in all kinds.
“Oh! Truly, you are of royal blood!” Ruo Wen said coldly. “Silent for so long, yet once you speak, you make a stunning impression!” His voice sounded mocking, though it was unclear at whom the mockery was aimed.
“Damn, this girl is quite something!” Lang Tou couldn’t help but exclaim, “Even more interesting than Huang Bei Shuang!”
Mang Hu, always quick to chime in, added, “That’s right! Huang Bei Shuang came from a slave nation, but this one—she’s from a ruling nation! Although we crushed her instantly, she’s still a princess!”
Cheng Xiang joined in, “I’ve never heard of a princess who’d dare strip herself naked in front of someone!”
“And how did she taste, leader?” the youngest, Luo Ying, sneered at Ge Xin Wei with a lewd grin. “Careful you don’t get addicted!”
This group of rough men, showing their bandit nature, openly laughed and mocked her in front of Ruo Wen. Yet Ge Xin Wei remained unmoved. She looked coldly at Ruo Wen and said, “What is Your Majesty’s opinion of the former royal family of Masui?”
The room fell silent at her unexpected question. Ruo Wen smiled and replied, “Trash!”
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