The advance of the Transcendent faction troops was virtually unstoppable in both northern and southern China.
To the south, the troops led by Shangguan Bing Xue whose alias Blood Queen was now basically known by all factions in the area whether human or not broke through all opposition with such ease that those who were still on the list began to waver as to whether they should surrender or continue to put up resistance.
She showed no mercy to those that decided to be enemies of her Transcendent faction. Before attacking any base, Shangguan Bing Xue would first make sure to send a diplomat to inform the other side what the Transcendent faction demanded in exchange for not attacking the establishment.
The conditions Shangguan Bing Xue set were very simple, there were only 2.
1) Surrender unconditionally.
2) Full handover of the power of both the army and the government.
In addition, the diplomat(s) sent also made sure to make it clear that under the strict but relatively fair administration established by the Transcendent faction everyone, even normal survivors, had the opportunity to rise in the Noble ranks and even in the army. Everything depended solely and exclusively on one's ability to achieve.
Unfortunately, although the words of the envoys' diplomats sounded pretty to the ears, the reality was that the two conditions presented by the Transcendent faction were anything but sweet.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})After leading their own bases and factions for so long, no one would be willing to surrender the supremacy they enjoyed so easily.
Who would settle for breadcrumbs when they had the whole bread? No one!
Besides, most of the leaders of the different human bases were just normal people before the apocalypse and worked from dawn to dusk in order to make a living. After gaining power, these people who were frightened by the abrupt change in their lives finally released the demons that the past laws held locked in their hearts.
What leader had not used hard or soft methods to force a beauty to sleep with them? What leader had not eliminated one or two survivors just because they broke minor rules in front of them or to cover up the blemishes of a loved one? What leader had not used the classic strategy of snagging powerful soul evolvers through the use of beautiful women and unwilling but beaten virgins trained to obey?
With so many blemishes on their records, these leaders knew that the upper echelons of the Transcendent faction would not let them slip away once their wrongdoings began to come to light one by one. After all, the fact that the Transcendent faction had strict rules and policies when it came to the rights of every human was widely known to every faction in China with a radio as everyone had heard at least once the daily announcements of the Transcendent faction.
Therefore, the number of leaders willing to surrender was practically 0 during the first month and few days. In fact, there was a time when one of the most violent leaders belonging to a faction claiming to be The New Kingdom dared to kill the first diplomat envoy sent by Shangguan Bing Xue in response to his two conditions in exchange for not attacking.
It was then that Shangguan Bing Xue's already short patience hit rock bottom. To be honest, she was extremely furious!
Killing a diplomat was no different from peeing on the pride and honor of the Transcendent faction, which meant that the leader of the other party was peeing on the efforts not only of Shangguan Bing Xue and many others but also on that person's efforts.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Therefore, she completely broke loose and let her ice creations be unleashed mercilessly.
She together with her mother Shangguan Xinyue left the main army behind and charged straight towards the enemy's main base, crushing The New Kingdom soldiers with no chance of return. Shangguan Bing Xue and Shangguan Xinyue showed no pity and slaughtered all the soul evolvers to the point of leaving none alive before throwing the semi-frozen leader's body for a group of zombies to eat.
After this event, even the factions that had intentions to continue fighting began to waver. A small number of them even took the initiative to send a diplomat to one of the Transcendent faction's bases with the intention of at least negotiating a few favorable terms.
Shangguan Bing Xue accepted the terms that she considered were not extravagant; terms that would not affect the work of Wu Yijun and her people during the process of asserting the reins on each base. As for the terms she did not like, she rejected them and gave each of the leaders a 1-day ultimatum to surrender or be killed.
Bossy, oppressive, and arrogant.
Shangguan Bing Xue's every move, every action, and every word left no room for rejection from anyone.
Accept or say goodbye, simple.
No matter how displeased the various leaders felt, however, the power of the Transcendent faction had already reached a point where it could not be stopped.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Even those who tried to ally were crushed, and by the time the most powerful alliance in the east made up of the leaders of Qinghai Province, Tibet, and Gansu Province was defeated after 2 weeks of fighting, all resistance against the Transcendent faction completely collapsed.
After 1 month and a half of war and bloodshed, the Transcendent faction's domination over all of China except Inner Mongolia was almost 100% complete.
Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi... all provinces and districts had fallen to the Transcendent faction under the fierce assault of Shangguan Bing Xue and her leadership over 40% of the Blood Spear Legion, 50% of the Blood Whip Legion, and 50% of the Blood Sword Legion; leaving the rest to protect the bases of the already previously controlled territory.
...
In a building in the largest base in all of Qinghai Province.
Shangguan Bing Xue and Shangguan Xinyue had just arrived at the base riding a combat helicopter. Both were no different from goddesses as they walked through the streets of the base in the direction of the government building, but even though all the men wanted to get closer neither dared to take the slightest step forward as they felt every single cell in their bodies crying danger.
As they entered into a spacious room, the sight of Wu Yijun immersed in paperwork greeted the two women.
"Too much work?"
Hearing her good sister's voice, Wu Yijun smiled slightly and her eyes sparkled with joy as she put what she was doing aside.
When Wu Yijun looked up from the papers and her black eyes met Shangguan Bing Xue's blue eyes, the two shared a moment of silence during which they communicated solely through their gaze.
"Congratulations, Bing Xue. You have succeeded in making our faction the most powerful faction in all of China just as you promised." Wu Yijun heartily praised, "You are truly amazing!"
To say that Bai Zemin had built the vehicle and Shangguan Bing Xue had driven it was not wrong when it came to the Transcendent faction's current achievement.
While it was true that building a terrifying and abnormally firm base was harder than anything else, building on such a base still required a lot of effort. Bai Zemin had built the base and had also raised some wall, however, everyone agreed that the one who had laid more stone blocks during the raising of the skyscraper was Shangguan Bing Xue.
"Only among humans though." Shangguan Bing Xue smiled back at her and sat down beside her before taking her hand and saying softly, "Besides, none of this could have been accomplished without you. Don't you think I'm right, Nature Queen Wu Yijun?"
"I don't want to hear name-calling from you, Bloody Queen Shangguan Bing Xue." Wu Yijun rolled her eyes before both friends giggled to each other.
Shangguan Xinyue silently watched the practically overflowing joy of both girls. Her lips curved upward slightly at the sight of her daughter's smiling face and her sky-colored eyes flashed with boundless maternal affection.
As a single mother, Shangguan Xinyue knew how difficult her life had been for the past 22 years. However, she never once complained and definitely did not plan to do it now. She loved Shangguan Bing Xue with every cell of her existence, and seeing her daughter finally being able to smile like any normal girl even though the world had stopped being normal a year ago was certainly very gratifying to her as a mother.
Moreover, Shangguan Xinyue knew that at least 70% of the reason behind that smile was that young man who was currently far away fighting in the north to take the last missing piece of land.
'I can't wait to have some time to sit and chat with the little King.' She found this very funny and couldn't help but chuckle, drawing the attention of the two girls.
"Ah, Aunt Xinyue." Wu Yijun stood up and bowed her head slightly, "I'm glad to see you're well."
"Girl, this old lady is for better or worse a level 157 soul evolver you know? It will be hard for me to be bad even if I wanted to." Shangguan Xinyue smiled in response as she looked at Wu Yijun's chest area. Her eyes glistened strangely and her voice was even stranger as she slowly said, "Then again... Are those two still getting bigger?"
Still getting bigger? Wu Yijun didn't understand right away what she meant, but when she noticed where Shangguan Xinyue's eyes were looking at Wu Yijun finally realized what was going on and couldn't help but blush slightly.
"Aunt, you..."
Shangguan Xinyue sighed dramatically and cupped her small breasts with both hands as she said with feigned sadness, "It seems like everything that was good around here went to my little daughter when I gave birth to her. Although come to think of it, when I was breastfeeding Bing Xue these two little ones were at least twice as big... Shall I give birth to a new child?"
"Mom, you..."
Both Wu Yijun and Shangguan Bing Xue were speechless when they saw the naughty cat smile on Shangguan Xinyue's face.
Shangguan Xinyue chuckled and put the jokes aside as she took a seat.
"So, what's left for that child to become the next and hopefully the last King of China?" she asked as she looked at the two young girls.
Bai Zemin becoming the next King of China was inevitable in Shangguan Xinyue's eyes, it would happen regardless of how many objected; no one could stop him now that he had not only become so powerful but had cleverly forged a deep friendship with a group of talents impossible to describe.
As to whether or not he would be able to keep his throne for a lifetime... Only the future would tell. Shangguan Xinyue hoped that would be the case since this would mean that all of them who had helped him not a little to reach that position would also be able to continue living comfortably and without so much hassle.
"Most of the humans from all over China are now part of our faction." Shangguan Bing Xue pointed out with a serious expression. She continued, "Only two things are missing for the Soul Record to consider China as a unified country under the same flag. One of those things is that Bai Zemin needs to take control over most of the human survivors who were in Inner Mongolia when the apocalypse began."
Taking advantage of her friend's pause, Wu Yijun added, "As for the second and final requirement... That would be to have sufficient control over the various captured bases in such a way that the Soul Record identifies the leader of those bases as unique and undisputed."
"I see... Which means that the second and final requirement could be short or long, and the one who has the power this time is you, isn't it girl?" Shangguan Xinyue rested her chin on her palm as she rested her elbow on the wooden table and a Cheshire cat-like smile appeared on her face as she said softly, "Be sure to charge this favor to our Little King."
Wu Yijun blushed prettily as she heard her words. She surprised Shangguan Bing Xue a little when she did not refute anything Shangguan Xinyue said but instead took a deep breath and nodded confidently.
"Half a month. In half a month from now on, the second requirement should be completed." Wu Yijun looked at all the papers on the table and said in a firm voice, "There are only 7 provinces to go, I will do whatever I have to do to make the over 19 bases fall firmly into his hands within two weeks no matter what."
* * * * * * *
