New discovery

Concealing his presence and figure, Lin Shi stood on the city wall of a small city and witnessed Qin Yuan, the city lord of Qinglong City, personally leading his troops to conquer a rebellious vassal city.

What Lin Shi witnessed was the final siege battle, which lasted several days. Siege battles are essentially brutal wars of attrition, a flesh-and-blood meat grinder. On the flat ground in front of the city gates, there were initially small-scale skirmishes. Heads severed from their bodies, bodies cut in half, severed limbs, and so on were scattered everywhere after the brief clashes. While feeling the cruelty, Lin Shi used the Rebirth Technique to send the souls of the fallen soldiers back to life, and at the same time, she took the opportunity to learn about real-world battle formations such as square formations, circular formations, sparse formations, numerical formations, cone formations, goose formations, hook formations, Xuanxiang formations, water formations, and fire formations, and incorporated them into her killing formations, illusion formations, and combination formations.

After besieging the small town for a month, Qinglong City mobilized a massive force of elite armored soldiers. Using every conceivable method—fire, flooding, digging tunnels, trenches, and building high platforms—they forced the town's lord and his family to surrender, in exchange for the lives of all the town's inhabitants. Finally, the Qinglong City lord, accompanied by his elite troops and guards, escorted the surrendered lord and his family back to the main city of Qinglong City in a grand procession.

Lin Shifei watched from mid-air, not far from the city lord of Qinglong City, as he led his swarm of men through the city gates in a majestic manner, and then was greeted by the cheers of the entire city's people.

Qin Yuan, the city lord of Qinglong City, was a very tall and handsome young man, only 29 years old. He was half a head taller than the male soldiers around him, his posture upright as a mountain, his face handsome as jade carving, yet possessing a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes, his gaze piercing and resolute. Although he was a true beauty, his aura was powerful. Anyone who was looked at by him dared not act rashly, and would stand there obediently with their hands at their sides, obeying his orders.

After Qin Yuan entered his city lord's mansion, Lin Shi took a stroll around Qinglong City and heard more interesting news.

While the people of Qinglong City praised the city lord for being "brave and skilled in battle, benevolent and loving towards the people," they couldn't help but add, "If only the city lord's wife could give birth to his child soon."

"Of the five major city lords, only our Azure Dragon City lord currently has only one wife and has not yet given birth to an heir. The other four city lords all have many children."

"The city lord and his wife are deeply in love. Perhaps it's because the city lord has been away fighting for the past few years and has had little time to spend with his wife. Now that the city lord has conquered another small city, he should have more time to spend with his wife in the future and try to have children as soon as possible."

"Sigh, let's hope so. The city lord is deeply in love with his wife and has not been willing to take any other women into the city lord's mansion in recent years. We can only hope that the city lord's wife can help the city lord have children as soon as possible, so that some small cities will not be tempted to rebel and usurp the throne because of the city lord's problem of having children."

"Let's wait a little longer. The city lord is wise and powerful. He has his own plans. You and I are just ordinary people. There's no use in being anxious. It's already good enough that the city lord allows us to discuss this and doesn't punish us."

"That's true."

Similar discussions were everywhere. Besides the love life of the Lord of Qinglong City, some commoners also talked about his childhood experiences, marveling at his innate intelligence, perseverance, and natural talent as a warrior.

That afternoon, the Lord of Qinglong City, accompanied by his wife, rode in an open-top carriage, taking a stroll through the city's main streets and alleys, enjoying the festivities with the people. On either side of the carriage were guards dressed in uniform black attire embroidered with eagles on the front and back, riding horses to clear the way and protect the luxurious carriage in the middle.

The City Lord of Qinglong City had changed out of his black armor and into a black and gold lord's robe embroidered with ferocious dragon totems. He sat in a carriage, his wife beside him, also dressed in black and gold attire embroidered with dragon totems. The two sat side by side, legs close together, intimately connected, yet maintaining a very dignified and elegant posture. The man sat with a commanding air, his hands resting on his lap. The woman's legs were together, her hands demurely placed on her lap.

The city lord's wife had a beautiful face, almond-shaped eyes, and rosy cheeks. Although her expression was somewhat aloof overall, her eyes were gentle. The young and beautiful city lord's wife and the handsome city lord sat in an open carriage, looking like a match made in heaven.

Lin Shi, however, was mingling in the crowd, staring at the City Lord's wife in utter astonishment. She never imagined that Ye Ruxue would become the City Lord's wife of Qinglong City.

Sitting in the open carriage, Ye Ruxue felt a familiar gaze on her. She turned her gaze and met Lin Shi's eyes directly. She smiled, then casually looked away.

Qin Yuan, the city lord of Qinglong City, followed Ye Ruxue's gaze, only to see the figure of a mortal woman with her head bowed respectfully. He glanced at her briefly before turning his gaze back, then looked at his wife beside him with a smile, sensing her joy, which had been amplified many times over.

Qin Yuan's expression remained unchanged, but he held Ye Ruxue's right hand in his left. Their skin tones, one pale and the other tanned, complemented each other perfectly, large hand clasped small. Even after their open carriage had circled the entire city and entered the City Lord's Mansion, Qin Yuan never let go of Ye Ruxue's hand. Only when the carriage stopped did he take Ye Ruxue's hand, step onto the footrest, and alight first. He then turned back and, not forgetting, put his arm around her waist, half-lifting her down.

Lin Shi followed behind their carriage, concealing her figure and aura, hovering in mid-air, observing all the interactions between Qin Yuan and Ye Ruxue.