Gu Dulong's face was extremely fascinating at this moment. Even for him, a group of twenty peak martial masters was a sizeable force, and losing them would be an immense loss. Even if he wanted to save them, in this massive battle, the fifth prince could only silently watch as the twenty martial masters he sent die perish under that adorable girl's poor excuse of a sword.
Gu Dulong's originally ugly expression turned into one of interest as the battle continued. From his vantage point, he could see that Fenghua was using some sort of strange ability or technique. It was as if the area ten meters around Fenghua became another dimension.
With Fenghua as the center, whenever she swung her sword, her attack would always connect. When she unleashed flames, they would always connect with her target. When the martial masters unleashed their attack, they would seemingly avoid Fenghua. Worse, those attacks sometimes resulted in friendly fire. It was as if the space around Fenghua would twist and curve to help her.
Each of these little details could be attributed to being lucky and unlucky, but when viewed as a whole, it appeared as if there were some sort of strange force acting around Fenghua. However, Gu Dulong wasn't frightened by these abnormal circumstances.
"Magic technique, it's definitely a magic technique!" He muttered in excitement.
The so-called magic technique in the fifth prince's mouth was simply spells in the Huang Realm. Although Fenghua's attack wasn't a spell, its effect was categorized as magic techniques in the Allfist Realm. In truth, she was using the fame Heartless Sword Art created by her main body's mother, Xi Mengfei, and combined the Heartless Sword Arts with the heat mirage and spatial tricks.
The Allfist Realm was a lower-ranked realm that was ruled by martial arts. Even with the inheritances discovered by Ancestor Allfist, most of the abilities were based on physical techniques. All the mystical techniques were essentially strong punches or kicks. Only those at the peak of the Acupoint Opening Realm could unleash spell-like attacks such as slicing wind, explosive fire, or penetrating water.
The martial grandmasters could replicate spells, but it was only a flashy shell with no substance. Rather than a technique, it would be closer to call those techniques parlor tricks.
Once Fenghua got rid of the twenty martial masters, she returned to her floating carriage. Her battle didn't take too long, but the consequences were far-reaching. After displaying her mighty prowess, the Li Dynasty army had a massive boost in morale, while the Gu Dynasty army was the complete opposite.
After the battle of the fourth day, the Li Dynasty lost one field general while the Gu Dynasty lost three, and their casualties were five times greater than the Li Dynasty. Sometimes, morale was a strange thing. Even if nothing major actually happened, the change in mood greatly affected the end result.
Gu Dulong ignored all this. In fact, his feelings could even be described as 'excited.' "Investigate! I want all the information concerning that girl in my hands by the end of this day."
The newly assigned adjutant could only bitterly smile. They were on the battlefield at the moment, so just ordering the spies would take several hours since the messenger had to travel by horse. Not to mention that they had to go to the Gu Dynasty to order the spies. Directly going to the spy in the Li Dynasty was a foolish decision and would only expose them.
As the adjutant expected, it took the spies three full days before a report was in the fifth prince's hands. During these three days, the battlefield entered a queer state of peace with neither of the two armies engaging in battle.
Even when the Li Dynasty provoked them, the Gu Dynasty only retreated a hundred meters. Emboldened by this, the Li Dynasty 'scared' the Gu Dynasty army back by a thousand meters, but they made a fatal mistake and fell into a trap. The Li Dynasty lost over ten thousand soldiers without the Gu Dynasty even lifting a finger.
After this, the Li Dynasty army didn't dare to chase after the retreating Gu Dynasty army as carelessly as before. As a result of this, the morale of both sides returned to equilibrium.
In truth, using traps in a battle between two armies was a stop-gap measure at best and couldn't be continuously used, but Gu Dulong didn't care. The time stalled was enough.
After reading the report, Gu Dulong sank into thought. The report was embarrassingly small and only detailed the target's actions after entering Chang'an. The biggest piece of information was the girl's name. Juedai Fenghua.
Peerless Phoenix Flower of a Generation, what a fitting name. Gu Dulong thought before he focused on the main subject. It seems that the Li Dynasty isn't as weak as we had initially thought, especially since they were able to limit my spies' investigation to this extent. In my conjecture, this Fenghua must be a secret grandmaster the imperial family had been raising. Hmpf, that Teng Shifang isn't as great as Emperor-Father makes him out to be.
In truth, Gu Dulong was overestimating the Li Imperial Family and underestimating the abilities of his spies. It was true that a martial grandmaster needed countless years and resources to nurture, so it was logical to think that Fenghua was the secret grandmaster of a force. Coupled with Fenghua's appearance in the Gong Ducal Establishment that was loyal to the emperor, it was a logical conclusion. The reality of the matter was that Fenghua was an outsider that unluckily fell into the Allfist Realm.
If I could lure her to my side, my chances of succeeding the Dragon Throne would be that much greater. However, how should I realize my plan and grasp her heart? After some calculations, the fifth prince settled on a plan. That lass better be obedient and accept my offer. I won't even mind if she wants to be my princess consort. My current one is already old anyways, and I already absorbed her family's power, so divorcing her isn't a big deal. As long as I can get her support and her magical technique, I won't mind even if she wants to be the empress, but if she dares refuses, hmpf!
Gu Dulong was that confident in his charm. Ignoring his brutish appearance, he did have some basis for his narcissism. His ambition wasn't only the Dragon Throne and the Li Dynasty, but all of the Allfist Realm. Once he reached that seat, he planned to conquer everything under heaven, including the remaining great clans descended from Ancestor Allfist. So in his eyes, giving a chance to a mere woman to become the empress of such a nation was the highest honor!
As for whether he would depose her years later? In his eyes, it was already enough to allow a single woman to sit in that position for even a day!
On the seventh day of the battle, Fenghua was leisurely reading a novel she had someone brought to her. Her peaceful aura made a stark contrast against the tense atmosphere of the army. Without any battle, her cultivation came to a halt as well, but to her surprise, both armies started battling.
Putting away the book, Fenghua lay on her side, entering a state of meditation. However, Fenghua's state did not last long, and she scrunched her brows as she scanned the elderly man who had appeared in front of her.
Duke Gong and his guards had already paled at the appearance of the man. Even though the man didn't fly, just his physical prowess alone revealed his status as a martial grandmaster. Against a martial grandmaster, peak martial masters were just fish on the chopping block.
"Lass, His Highness Fifth Gu Dulong invites you to join his faction." The martial grandmaster said. "Whatever it is that you wish for, His Highness will grant."
The martial grandmaster's words were domineering and even had a hint of loftiness. He had also seen Fenghua's battle on the fourth day, but his eyes were far worse than the peak martial master Gu Dulong and couldn't discern the uniqueness of Fenghua's Heartless Sword Art. In his eyes, the little girl before him should beg to join the fifth prince's faction.
In complete contrast to the martial grandmaster's thoughts, Fenghua had to stop her lips from twitching using all her willpower. Anything I want? Grant me? Hahaha, that's the funniest joke of all. A yokel from a lower realm dares to say this to me? Should I expose my true identity and scare him?
Fenghua quickly rejected that idea. Even if she was confident in defeating one acupoint opening master, she dared not fight tens or even five. Her injured state meant that she couldn't exhibit her peak fighting ability for long. Once she exposed her status as a foreigner, all the major powers would try to capture her.
Still, not stifling that arrogant man before was not her style. "Anything? Haha, the things I want, a mere prince or even emperor, isn't capable of granting. Scram back to your master like a good little dog."
Duke Gong felt his heart physically stop after hearing Fenghua's words. In his eyes, both were martial grandmasters, so neither should be so extreme in their words. But Fenghua's were a complete dismissal of the other party!
The duke could only hope that he wouldn't get into the crossfire in the battle between the two grandmasters. However, to his surprise, a battle didn't start. He looked, and all blood drained from his face.
The martial grandmaster's face was red from anger, and veins visibly throbbed near his temples. He could only maintain himself from erupting due to Gu Dulong's orders. He was a martial warrior who had received a lot of aid from the fifth prince, so he was extremely loyal.
"Good. Good!" The martial grandmaster spat out through his gritted teeth. After taking a moment to calm down, he spoke again, but he couldn't hide the simmering anger that was ready to erupt at any moment. "His Highness said that he won't mind giving you the position of princess consort and future empress if you join him."
Duke Gong's heart sank again. The allure of the future empress of the Gu Dynasty was simply too great, so he prayed with all his heart that Fenghua would reject it. Fenghua did indeed reject the proposal, just in the worse possible way for his heart.
Hah? Marry a man? You shittin me!? Although I'm currently female and identify as a female, I'm still only interested in other females! Goddamn pedophile. Even if I'm strong, I only look like a ten-year-old. That so-called fifth prince really has the gall to propose to me?! I should do the world a favor and make him a eunuch.
Fenghua revealed a sneer. "Make me the future empress? Hmpf, not speaking of whether I'm willing or not, the current him does not have that ability."
Fenghua didn't care for the undercurrents of the Allfist Realm, but that didn't mean she was totally clueless on the general matters of the world. "Besides, proposing to me who has this appearance, does your prince have some special interests? Perhaps he's already taken in a lot of young girls. I heard that he has a whole yard of beauties, but he rarely visits. Is it because they've gotten too 'old' for him?"
The martial grandmaster was stunned by Fenghua's blatant disrespect before his face turned into an angry purple. "You wench! Whether I have to break your limbs and drag you back, you are going to beg for forgiveness from his highness!"
Like an erupting volcano, the martial grandmaster leaped at Fenghua with his hands stretched to capture the little girl in front of him. Unfortunately for the martial grandmaster, if he was an erupting volcano, then Fenghua was a simmering star. How can a volcano compare to a star?
"Quick, flee!" Duke Gong ordered as a massive explosion of fire occurred. He felt the sweat leak out of his pores only to evaporate due to the shear temperature. The hair on his head had been seared by half, and all his body hair had been burned away. At the very least, his clothes were made with superior material, so he wasn't almost nude like the martial masters protecting him.
"What's wrong with you guys?"
Hearing the incredulous voice, Duke Gong turned around to see Wang Meilin covering her face and her face red. Her eyes could be seen peeking out between her fingers.
Duke Gong was speechless. Compared to them, Wang Meilin was completely unharmed. He turned around to gaze at Fenghua with an aggrieved expression, like a bullied little girl.
