"My dear minister, do you think my Chang'an can be defended?" The Xia emperor, as if nothing had just happened, took the prime minister's hand and asked.

"With Your Majesty and the generals here, Chang'an will surely be safe and sound," the Prime Minister said.

"Very well, with the Prime Minister's words, I feel completely at ease," the Emperor of Xia said happily, waving his hand.

An eerie silence fell over the entire city wall as countless people turned their gaze to the Beiyou camp not far from Chang'an.

After a long while, a unit was finally slowly pulled out of the camp. This unit looked dejected and was completely unrecognizable as the invincible elite of Beiyou.

The Xia emperor was also filled with surprise upon seeing this scene.

"General, isn't the Northern You Army supposed to be the most elite force on the continent? Why do you look like this now?"

“Your Majesty, you may not know this, but these soldiers are not the elite troops of Beiyou. They are troops that Beiyou used to conquer the country and were used as cannon fodder to deplete the empire’s military strength.” Ma Ruofei was clearly familiar with Beiyou’s siege tactics.

Although the troops were dejected, they quickly regrouped into formations. Their orderly formation showed that although the troops lacked morale, they must have once been an elite force.

As the military formation was fully deployed, a figure in black armor and a black robe rode out from the ranks and arrived below the city, speaking loudly.

"By order of the Great Ying Emperor, we are reclaiming our lost territory today. We urge the King of Xia to dismount and surrender, or the Xia royal family will become a legend from the day the city falls."

This general was only at the Life and Death Realm, but he faced the Xia Kingdom without fear, because behind him stood the million-strong army of the entire Northern You Empire, as well as countless experts.

As the general finished speaking, several powerful figures with the strength of Venerables from the Northern Nether Camp took to the air, their full aura pressing down on the Xia Kingdom.

The morale of the warriors on the Xia Kingdom's city wall immediately plummeted.

Seeing this, Chen Yuan knew he had to take action.

In an instant, he stood in front of His Majesty of Xia, unleashing his own aura to shield the emperor from the oppressive aura emanating from the Venerable One.

The black-armored general standing beneath the city wall, seeing the Xia Kingdom's ruler and ministers teetering on the brink of defeat under the pressure of his own experts, revealed a disdainful expression and once again loudly rebuked them.

"We urge the King of Xia to provide an answer as soon as possible."

The rebuking tone and imposing manner rendered the Xia emperor speechless for a moment.

"I, your humble servant, declare that my Xia Kingdom shall fight to the death!" A weathered voice rang out at that moment.

As the sound rang out, an old man appeared on the city wall. He wore a gray robe, but exuded an air of wealth and power.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Immediately, countless officials and ministers on the city wall knelt respectfully.

"Hmph, you don't know what's good for you. If His Majesty were here in person, would you still dare to be so presumptuous?" The black-armored general was completely unafraid of this ancestor of the Xia Kingdom's royal family.

Hearing the threat from the black-armored general, the old man was clearly furious, for he had been provoked by an ant, something he hadn't experienced in a long time.

"How dare an ant insult me!" The emperor was furious and blood flowed for miles. The old emperor unleashed a furious attack.

"Hehe, old sir, why are you trying to compete with young people at your age?"

As the sound rang out, the old emperor's attack vanished into thin air. At the same time, everyone on the city wall looked solemn, and even many timid officials trembled.

"Greetings, Empress of Northern You," the old emperor said solemnly, bowing with his hands clasped.

"Hehe, old sir, why aren't you reprimanding me?" Empress Beiyou said with a half-smile.

"This old man dares not presume to say such a thing. I do not know why the Empress has led her troops to seize my city of Chang'an," the old emperor said.

"Haha, it's nothing, just reclaiming lost territory. I wonder if the old sir dares to refuse?" Empress Beiyou said, unleashing her full aura without reservation.

Immediately, those of lower cultivation levels on the city wall knelt down.

There were very few people who could stand up.

Even the emperor of the Xia Kingdom was so frightened that he knelt down.

When the old emperor saw this, he cursed under his breath.

"waste."

However, the old emperor was powerless to refuse the coercion of the Northern You Empress, but he was unwilling to agree.

Therefore, they could only respond to the Northern You Empress with silence.

The morale of the soldiers on the city wall was getting lower and lower.

At this moment, Ye Yi suddenly spoke up.

"This humble one greets Empress Beiyou. Empress Beiyou, please withdraw your divine might, for this humble one cannot bear it."

Ye Yi's casual tone surprised everyone present, because Ye Yi was able to speak so freely under the pressure of a supreme being.

This is quite surprising, considering that even the old emperor, a mid-stage Venerable Realm expert, couldn't refuse the Northern Netherworld Empress's imposing aura.

Seeing Ye Yi's casual demeanor, the Northern Nether Empress narrowed her eyes and parted her lips slightly.

"Kid, are you the lifeline of this Xia Kingdom? You're certainly no ordinary person."

"Hehe, I'm not Xia Kingdom's savior. I'm here on someone's orders to protect the life of Xia Kingdom's Prime Minister." Ye Yi casually waved his fan and then pointed to the Prime Minister beside him.

The ordinary martial artist, Shang Xiang, remained standing firm, his body trembling, but he did not kneel down.

"Very well, I will release you two after I conquer Chang'an. However, does the Prime Minister have any interest in serving as an official in my Northern You Empire? You may choose any of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers of my Northern You Empire." The Northern You Empress said approvingly, then turned her gaze to the Prime Minister.

Immediately, many of the Xia Kingdom's officials on the city walls looked at the Prime Minister with envy, and even a closer look revealed a hint of envy in the eyes of the Xia Kingdom's Emperor.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty, but I was born a citizen of Xia, and I will die a ghost of Xia," the Prime Minister said with unwavering resolve.

"Alright. Since we can't reach an agreement, let's settle this with our skills." The Empress chuckled first, then her face immediately turned cold, but her challenging gaze remained fixed on Ye Yi.

Because Ye Yi is the only person on this city wall whom the Empress cannot see through.

"Your Majesty, do not be anxious. Your opponent is not me." Ye Yi shook his head, like a flamboyant scholar, but no one underestimated him.

"Then who will be my opponent?" The Empress's expression was full of disdain, because apart from Ye Yi, who could interest her, everyone else was like an ant.

Ye Yi smiled but made no comment.

The Empress felt a surge of displeasure, and just as she was about to reprimand him, an aged voice rang out.

"Your Majesty, do not panic. This old man will be your opponent."

The Empress frowned immediately and said with displeasure.

"Daoist Cangyan, you don't have much time left to live, yet you dare to come out of the mountains. Are you courting death?"

The newcomer was none other than Daoist Cangyan. With Daoist Cangyan's appearance, the assembled rulers and ministers breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hehe, I was just entrusted with this task." Daoist Cangyan pretended to be non-aggressive, but those who knew Daoist Cangyan knew that he was not as gentle as he appeared on the surface.

"Let's have a go at it," the Empress said coldly.

He then immediately disappeared from the scene.

Daoist Cangyan nodded slightly to Ye Yi, and then disappeared into the air.

In addition, many experts from Zixiao Pavilion also engaged in battle with the experts from the Offering Hall.

With the disappearance of the experts, the people of Xia Kingdom finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Ma Ruofei quickly assumed the demeanor of a general of the Xia Kingdom and began to command his troops in a fierce attack on Beiyou Daying.

Ye Yi had to praise Ma Ruofei's command ability. The number of people from the Northern You Kingdom attacking the city was at least ten times that of the city wall soldiers, but Ma Ruofei was still able to command them steadily and without chaos.

However, just as Ye Yi was coldly watching the battlefield, the old emperor's voice rang out.

"Young friend, please join me at the palace."

Ye Yi glanced at the old emperor in surprise, then at the prime minister, who nodded slightly at Ye Yi without making a sound.

Seeing this, Ye Yi could only frown and follow the old emperor over.

As the carriage slowly passed through the palace gates, Ye Yi's doubts only deepened.

The war situation is so urgent that even the king himself is acting as a mascot on the city wall.

The fact that the old king, as the strongest fighting force in the Xia Kingdom, did not participate was indeed puzzling to Ye Yi.

"Young friend, you are probably not a citizen of my Xia Kingdom, are you?" the old king asked softly as he walked ahead.

"Yes, I am a man of a fallen kingdom," Ye Yi said, still using the same words he used to deal with Ma Ruofei.

Upon hearing this, the old king sighed softly and then spoke.

"Young friend, would you be willing to become a citizen of the Xia Kingdom? Our Xia Kingdom has been established for over three hundred years, and we have always treated our people with benevolence. What do you think, young friend?"

"I have no further thoughts on this matter, please forgive me, Your Majesty," Ye Yi said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Enough. I know that my Xia Kingdom is on the verge of collapse. I still hope that you, young friend, can lend a helping hand to Xia Kingdom." The old king said with a hint of sadness.

"Since the king already knows that the Xia Kingdom is doomed, why doesn't he take action to change that doom?" Ye Yi asked softly.

"Cough cough." As soon as Ye Yi finished speaking, the old king coughed a few times and then his breath became weak. Ye Yi saw that he no longer had the aura of a master and looked like a dying man.

"Hehe, I wish I could too. But the Heavenly Sovereign's Heaven-Slaying Blade also severed my immortality," the old king said, half indignant and half admiring.

Ye Yi immediately fell silent, for he was none other than the Ruler of Haotian.

"Then may I ask you a favor, young friend?" the old king continued.

Ye Yi frowned immediately, but still asked a question.

"Please explain first, sir."

"Please, young friend, save the life of our Prime Minister!" After saying this, the old king bowed and clasped his hands in supplication to Ye Yi.

Ye Yi quickly helped the old king up and said.

"The Prime Minister is the head of all officials in your country, why would you need me to save you?"

Upon hearing Ye Yi's words, the old king was stunned for a moment, and then said softly.

"Very well, if you have the ability, young friend, please save the Prime Minister's life."

Only then did Ye Yi nod with a light smile.

The old king then pulled Ye Yi into a national treasury, which contained the accumulated wealth of the Xia Kingdom over five hundred years and was filled with numerous treasures.

The old king said that to thank Ye Yi for his help, Ye Yi could choose three items from the national treasury.

Ye Yi casually selected three items, even though the Xia Kingdom's treasury was full of treasures for ordinary people.

However, for Ye Yi, the controller of this fantasy world, these things were nothing more than trivial matters.

Therefore, Ye Yi was not particularly greedy or avaricious when it came to these things.

After Ye Yi finished taking the items, the old king arranged for an old eunuch to escort Ye Yi out of the palace.

Looking at the returning old eunuch, the old king asked sharply.

"What do you think of this man who led his country to ruin?"

His sharp features showed no trace of his impending death and despair.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, this young friend is not someone to be trifled with. I have screened hundreds of talented individuals for the Xia Kingdom, but none have ever been so unfathomable." The old eunuch's sharp voice was somewhat grating, and the old king fell into deep thought.

After leaving the palace, Ye Yi went straight back to the Prime Minister's residence. Although the battle outside Chang'an was fierce, Ye Yi said that it had little to do with him.

For Ye Yi, his focus now is more on the vanished Cangyan Daoist and the Northern Nether Empress.

These two can be said to be the pinnacle of this world right now, which is why they piqued Ye Yi's interest.

Ye Yi immediately activated his administrator privileges and began to observe the battle between the two through the Eye of the World.

The two were locked in a fierce battle in the void. The surrounding space shattered after their collision, but quickly recovered.

The Empress fought bare-handed, but she was not at a disadvantage at all, because flowers were flying all around her, and each petal was full of threat, each one capable of easily taking the life of a Venerable.

However, Daoist Cangyan was quite adept at handling the Empress's attacks. With a sweep of his whisk, most of the petals vanished into thin air.

At the same time, the whisk in her hand would occasionally transform into three thousand deadly white threads that enveloped the Empress.

Seeing how fiercely the two were fighting, Ye Yi knew that they were just testing each other, or rather, neither of them had any intention of fighting to the death.

For two world-class individuals like these, it's not worth fighting to the death over something so trivial.

Who knows if there are three other peak experts secretly watching from the side?

So how could they possibly fight freely and unrestrained?

"Hehe, I'm very curious, were you injured by the Jade Emperor, which is why your lifespan has been shortened?" The Empress attacked while verbally harassing him.

"Of course not, I was glanced at by someone even more powerful than the Sovereign." Daoist Cangyan was clearly not well-intentioned either.

"Hmph. If such a powerful figure truly existed, how come I've never heard of him? If he wanted to deceive me, why would he need to tell such a blatant lie?" The Empress paused noticeably after hearing Cangyan Daoist's words.

Daoist Cangyan quickly seized the opportunity, and his three thousand white hairs suddenly enveloped the area.

The Empress reacted quickly and defended against the incoming white silk.