It took them a full hour to climb to the top, where they looked down and saw all the other mountains below.

The entire northern frontier, Ningzhou, and even the more distant northern barbarians and Mengzhou were all within sight.

The mountaintop turned out to be a flat ice field, with some houses built on it, enough to hide several thousand people.

Looking north, there are vast snow-capped mountains and sheer cliffs; I wonder how the people of northern Xinjiang managed to climb up there.

Shi Jiaowu ran around and checked the surroundings. "Your Highness, there is an ice cave here."

These excavated ice caves still contained remaining food supplies and equipment.

They were all discarded and unused; clearly, they had no intention of returning from here.

Xiao Zhixing looked at the winding snow-capped mountains, his eyes flickered, and a smile appeared on his face.

The mountaintop was windy and cold, so the three of them didn't stay long. After cutting the ropes, they used their daggers and the vines on the cliff, relying on their superior skills, to leap down.

Shi Jiaowu, being the daring one, found it amusing and jumped down while shouting, "Your Highness, we need to be careful of this place."

Those of the same Heavenly Rank as them are simply unstoppable.

The soldiers stationed at Yixiantian are all ordinary soldiers; if someone were to sneak up from above, they would surely be unable to resist.

Xiao Zhixing gracefully leaped down, saying, "Wei Zhao will be stationed here."

Once he reaches the peak of the Earth Rank, he can enter the Heaven Rank, which is enough.

The entire Mengzhou and Ningzhou area will be under the control of Xiao's army. She will expand her army extensively and continuously send people to the entire line.

In addition, signal flares, communication towers, and daily cross-checking of coded patrols at three adjacent outposts allow for mutual monitoring and coordination.

Finally, hunting dogs were introduced to patrol the mountains.

She wanted to turn this place into her training ground and hiding place for troops, and incidentally, make the border impregnable.

With the borders of the three states teeming with Xiao family troops, she wanted to see how the Northern Barbarians and the Northern Frontier would manage to launch sneak attacks.

Having acquired a map of all the continent's mineral resources, Prince Yuansheng was incredibly wealthy and powerful; she wasn't afraid of not being able to support even a large number of soldiers.

Seven days later, upon receiving a reply from Shengjing, Bai Fengchang shamelessly came to Yixiantian to pay his respects.

"This humble general pays his respects to Your Highness. May Your Highness live a thousand years!"

He immediately knelt down as a grand gesture of respect upon her arrival.

Xiao Zhixing laughed and said, "Lord Bai, there's no need for such politeness. You are of the same generation as my father. How could I possibly accept such courtesy from you?"

Bai Feng smiled obsequiously, not daring to get up at all. "I am honored, I am honored. Your Highness descended from the sky to save my third son and save Yixiantian. I am extremely grateful and wish I could erect a longevity tablet for you."

Xiao Zhixing turned to Bai Zhixian and said, "Help your father up. By the way, General Bai, are you and your father really father and son?"

It's quite a sight to see one person as a virtuous gentleman and the other as obsequious.

Bai Zhixian went to help Bai Fengchang, his face slightly flushed, "My father is old and a little senile, please forgive him, Your Highness."

The muddled Bai Fengchang shook him off, knelt there, and burst into tears. "Yes, yes, Your Highness, this humble general is old. I always want to do my best for the country, but I am often powerless. Now I have almost made a big mistake in guarding the border. This humble general, this humble general, will be at Your Highness's mercy!"

Xiao Zhixing's smile remained unchanged. "Oh, General Bai, you flatter me. You are not under my command, so how can I presume to punish you? Your matter must be decided by His Majesty and the court."

Bai Fengchang really cried, "Your Highness Yuansheng, this humble general is willing to follow the example of General Liu Yufeng and beg you to station troops in Ningzhou to jointly defend the border."

Xiao Zhixing smiled but did not speak.

Bai Fengchang hesitated for a moment upon seeing this, then gritted his teeth and said, "This humble general is willing to relinquish his position as governor of Ningzhou, please save me, Your Highness."

"General Bai, please get up." Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhixing personally helped him up, patted his shoulder firmly, and smiled warmly.

"You are advanced in years, yet you have devoted yourself to the defense of Ningzhou. In the Battle of Yixiantian, your young General Bai led his men to fight to the death against the enemy's sneak attack and risked his life to seek rescue. You are a role model for our army."

"I have explained the whole story to Your Majesty. The Northern Frontier is coming with great force, led by a Heavenly Realm expert. It is not that you were negligent, but that the enemy is too strong. You have done your best to fight back."

"His Majesty is benevolent and has pardoned your crime, allowing my Xiao family army to guard the border with you."

She gave him the letter from Shengjing: "General Bai, please don't blame me for acting like a petty person. The northern defense line must be absolutely secure."

After reading the emperor's letter, Bai Fengchang breathed a sigh of relief to find no reproach. He then smiled sincerely, "How could this humble general dare to blame Your Highness? It is all thanks to Your Highness's intercession that His Majesty has spared my life."

"Now that the Xiao family army is stationed here, I can finally get a good night's sleep. From this day forward, I will follow your lead."

Xiao Zhixing laughed and said, "General Bai has made great contributions. You will have to take on the role of Governor of Ningzhou. The focus of my Xiao family army will be on defending the border, and you will be in charge of the defense of the entire prefecture."

She glanced at Bai Zhixian and said, “I wish to recruit the Third Young General into the Xiao family army, and work with Wei Zhao to ensure the stability of Ningzhou. I wonder if General Bai is willing to do so?”

You have to give someone a sweet treat after you've hit them with a stick.

Bai Feng was overjoyed. "Take it, take it. It is a great honor for my Bai family that he can join Xiao Family Army."

And so everyone was happy.

Before parting, Bai Fengchang said again, "That year, the strategist and I had a very pleasant conversation. In the future, I will definitely consult with him more on the internal defense of Ningzhou."

Xiao Zhixing smiled and said, "General Bai is an old hand, he should teach the younger generation more. Cheng Han is good at politics, but you'll have to make the decisions on military matters."

Before Bai Fengchang arrived, Nian Chenghan's letter had already arrived. He was very sensible and made it clear that he would never interfere in Ningzhou's military affairs, but only wanted to focus on doing a few good things for the people.

Xiao Zhixing naturally returned the favor and instructed Bai Fengchang, "Although Wei Qi, the cousin of Prefect Wei, is our classmate and will certainly take care of Cheng Han, the local tyrant is still the local tyrant. You will still need to help keep an eye on him."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!