"Miss, are we leaving today?" Qing Yuan pushed open the windows while Hong Luan brought a basin of water so the empress could wash up.

"We aren't leaving," the empress said indifferently. In her mouth was a toothbrush from Earth that was much more comfortable to use compared to a branch.

In Qing Yuan and Hong Luan's eyes, a small toothbrush like that was considered a high-end product. At the very least, even the important officials in Dayao were still using branches to clean their teeth.

"What is it that you care about over here?" Qing Luan asked softly. The empress only stayed about two days in the previous cities she visited. It was only this city that she stayed in for seven days. That was why both Qing Yuan and Hong Luan were puzzled.

"I have seen what I needed to see. It's almost time," the empress said indifferently after was.h.i.+ng up.

"Almost time for?"

"It is about time for those remnant citizens of the Hao Nation to take action. I originally thought that they would do so a few days ago," the empress replied. As a matter of fact, after leaving Longshou City, she realized that there would be people paying special attention to her in every city she traveled to.

Some people were street vendors, some were pedestrians, and some were guards in these cities.

Since then, she knew that there there were people on her tail.

Originally, she thought that she would soon see some people. However, things were still unexpectedly calm.

Under this calm situation, there was actually a more turbulent undercurrent brewing.

The empress actually wanted to meet the experts among the remnant citizens of the Hao Nation. She wanted to see what they had to say to her as well as experience the kinds of tricks they had up their sleeves.

In addition, she wondered whether that fellow actually knew that she was in Tianjing Basin or not. Many people here should have already known about it, so he should have somewhat sensed it too?

By now, if he still didn't know that she was in Tianjing Basin, she would hang him on the wall when they returned to Dayao and whip him everyday.

After was.h.i.+ng up, the empress lost interest in going out. She stood by the window, spotted a mountain in the distance, and felt that it would be a pretty good place to bury people.

The so-called experts in Tianjing Basin ought to be content if they were buried over there.

After standing in front of the window for a long time, the empress turned around and said, "Play cards with me."

"I'll go get the cards. Sister Hong Luan will play with you." Qing Yuan rolled her eyes and quickly left the room. Neither of them were Princ.i.p.al Ren. As such, they didn't dare to beat Her Majesty when they played with her. Even if they did win, they still didn't dare to stick slips of paper on Her Majesty's face. In this case, it would be better if she viewed the game from the sideline.

The empress played cards from the morning to the afternoon, and Hong Luan was covered up by the slips of paper to the point that she looked like a mummy. At last, the empress was perfectly satisfied and went to sit on the bed.

Not long after, the empress's eyes lit up. In a flash, she disappeared from the room and appeared on top of the roof.

She looked around and saw five people standing around the rooftop.

There were both men and women, young and old. There was an elder who wore a green top, a beautiful middle-aged woman, and a dwarf who was half the size of an ordinary person.

The five people just stood there and didn't make any movements, but each and every one of them exuded an aura.

"Five Spirit Wheels. Much fewer than what I had expected. I wasted my energy waiting." The empress's cold voice could be heard clearly within a radius of a thousand kilometers.

"I'm Qingyun Sword, Tong Kai!" Naturally, it was the old village chief who Ren Baqian had seen before. Presently, he was no longer the same old and haggard man that carried a long sword while looking like a hooligan. With a sharp sword revolving around his body, his entire person seemed as if it was an extremely powerful sword.

"Manxing Pavilion's Shan Rou!" The gaze of the middle-aged beauty who just spoke was limpid and resolute. Following which, she smiled gently at the empress.

"I'm Liu Xiangdong!" The person who spoke was the extremely tiny dwarf.

"I'm Chang Tian!" This speaker an old man in his sixties who held a paper umbrella in his hand.

"The North Alliance's Tie Feng!" declared a buff, middle-aged man.

The five of them were courteous toward the empress. After all, this was a sign of respect toward an expert.

Only by attaining their level would one know how powerful this woman is.

"Please pardon us for not welcoming Your Majesty's arrival. The five of us came here a step early. A few of our friends are still behind us, and I'm certain that Your Majesty will be satisfied by them," Qingyun Sword said in a bright voice.

"North Alliance… I'll kill you first at that time!" The empress ignored Qingyun Sword's words and kept harping on the two words "North Alliance" as she diverted the conversation toward Tie Feng.

She had heard of the North Alliance and w.a.n.gbei City when she first arrived in Tianjing Basin. Including Longshou City and Gu City where she entered from, these regions were all under the sphere of influence of the North Alliance.

Upon hearing those words, Tie Feng wasn't the slightest bit angry. Instead, he laughed heartily and said, "It's my honor to be remembered by Your Majesty. Before I came, I already made plans for my funeral arrangements. All my bets are placed on this battle."

"How much more time do you need to prepare?" The empress looked at Qingyun Sword. It seemed that he had the highest authority among them.

"We will all arrive tomorrow night. The day after tomorrow will be fine," Qingyun Sword said sincerely.

Since the empress was waiting for them, this meant that everything was obvious. There wasn't any need for him to conceal anything.

"We'll be waiting for all of you on Mount Wu the day after tomorrow. Show me what you all have to offer," the empress said indifferently. After she finished speaking, she disappeared from the rooftop and reappeared in her room.

Similarly, the five experts vanished from the rooftop.

However, at this time, the streets were already in chaos. After all, the voices of the experts weren't quiet because they didn't have the intention of hiding from anyone.

There weren't many people who knew of Qingyun Sword, Chang Tian, and Liu Xiang Dong, but when the name of the North Alliance's Tie Feng was heard along with the words "empress" and "your majesty," it was as if a huge hammer had crashed into the hearts of the commoners.

The North Alliance's Tie Feng and Dayao's empress were actually in Wu City?

Furthermore, they were going to compete?

This was an extremely important matter.

In everyone's hearts, this was going to be a battle.

It was hard for an ordinary person to imagine that the empress alone could actually gather all the experts in Tianjing Basin just for one battle.

They were already frightened out of their wits when they heard the conversation from the rooftop, so much so that the innkeeper's legs were still s.h.i.+vering.

He had heard that icy-cold voice before…

After all, n.o.body would easily forget such a beautiful woman.

Who could have known that a top expert was currently residing in the inn and that the innkeeper was so clueless? He already had the idea of abandoning the inn and escaping to his house. That same night, he packed his belongings, prepared to go home, and planned to return here after a few days.

After all, in the hearts of the Hao Nation citizens, there wasn't a good impression of the aboriginal ruler.

The result of this incident was that the empress enjoyed the entire inn for two nights. There was no one else in the inn except for the three of them, and even the mice ran away.

On the third morning, the empress got out of bed and washed up before sitting in front of the table. She then faintly said, "Help me to dress up."

Qing Yuan and Hong Luan took about an hour to dress up the empress. Only after looking in the mirror and feeling satisfied did the empress stand up and drape a big red coat over her body.

After they left the inn, they traveled far to have their breakfast. The innkeeper and the cook had already fled. Even the other shops on the same street were closed. The empress had no choice but to travel quite a distance just to have her breakfast.

When she finished consuming her breakfast, the empress acted as if nothing had happened and took a stroll in the city.

It seemed like she was strolling, but she moved a few meters with every step she took. It was as if the ground beneath her feet was shortening.

Once they left the city, the empress crossed more than ten meters with every step she took, causing Qing Yuan and Hong Luan to exert all of their strength just to barely keep up with the empress.

At the same time, with each step she took, her aura was on the rise. When she arrived at the foot of the mountain, her aura was already as dense as the peak of the mountain. It was overwhelming and hard to match, causing everyone to sense their insignificance and feel that they were only capable of looking up at her. At the base of Mount Wu, thousands of people stopped in their tracks. When they felt suppressed by the aura that was radiating from the woman dressed in red, they retreated to both sides just like running water. Fear could be seen from each and every one of their gazes.

These people were all the accompanying disciples of the various sects or the guards of the three major factions.

As if she didn't see any of these people, the empress advanced forward.

Those who were standing or sitting on the mountainside got up one by one and looked down. As the empress approached them, everyone subconsciously gave way to her.

Ren Baqian saw this scene from the crowd and repeatedly recited a sentence in his heart, It's all worth it when a person gains such prestige in their lifetime.

All of a sudden, the empress's footsteps came to a halt. She turned, scanned through the crowd, and took a glance at Ren Baqian.

Ren Baqian smiled gently and swiftly gave a thumbs up before retracting his gesture almost immediately. Following which, he lowered his head.

The empress was thrilled to see him, but her words were ice-cold as she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Everyone turned their heads to look in Ren Baqian's direction!

Ren Baqian even wanted to vomit blood…

Your Majesty, can you wise up…? You think it's that easy to sneak in? Can't you see that I'm undercover?