Chapter 47

Chapter 45: Shocking

The great general Tuoba Xiong has returned!

The southern border was shaken, and the news quickly spread throughout the Warring States, naturally reaching the capital as well.

"Great General Tuoba Xiong is alive, which is truly excellent. With someone to stabilize the southern border, I can finally rest easy!" Situ Bowu stood up, very excited.

"Your Majesty, the news has spread. Tuoba Jie left the southern border on his own to rescue the Great General, entering the Southern Wilderness alone. Should he be punished?"

"Tuoba Jie's filial piety is commendable, and he has saved Tuoba Xiong. His merits outweigh his faults, so there's no need to punish him. Let's not mention this matter again," Situ Bowu said.

...

In the Tuoba family, Tuoba Wei and Tuoba Zhong gathered at the Treasure Tower.

"Xiao Ye is truly remarkable, saving both Tuoba Jie and my brother. Our Tuoba family has a bright future ahead," after some time of reflection, Tuoba Wei gradually gave up the idea of competing for the family head position.

He now said these words with absolute sincerity.

"With my brother back, the Yuchi, Qian, and Du families will no longer dare to cause trouble for our Tuoba family. We should take this opportunity to crush them," Tuoba Zhong said excitedly.

Tuoba Wei smiled and said, "Competing with the three major families is meaningless, and the royal family does not want our Tuoba family to dominate. We should be more low-key. In the future, our Tuoba family should align with the cultivation families. Once our Tuoba family has cultivation experts, even the royal family will treat us with respect."

With a different perspective, the way of looking at problems has also changed.

Tuoba Wei now aims to align with the cultivation families and does not value secular power as much.

Xia Yuxuan was the most excited: "Brother Jie and Father are back, which is truly wonderful! Thanks to Xiao Ye, he is our family's lucky star!"

Tuoba Wei sighed, "Xiao Ye ventured into the Southern Wilderness and didn't stay long, but he not only found my brother and the others but also saved them. I wonder how he did it?"

"As long as they are back, everything else doesn't matter," Xia Yuxuan was now incredibly happy.

...

The Yuchi, Qian, and Du families, upon receiving the news, were immediately in a panic. The three family heads gathered together.

"Tuoba Xiong and Tuoba Jie are both alive and will soon return to the capital from the southern border. In the future, our three families will not be able to hold our heads high. If they start to investigate, our three families will be in big trouble," Qian Duoduo's face was pale, and he was drenched in cold sweat.

Yuchi Lingfeng said, "It's truly unimaginable. We secretly dispatched over two hundred先天武神 (Xiantian Wushen) level experts, plus the army in the Southern Wilderness, and such a formation still allowed Tuoba Xiong and the others to escape. Now we must come up with a way to deal with this, or else Tuoba Xiong, in his anger, might slaughter the experts of our three families."

Mentioning Tuoba Xiong, the three family heads were all afraid. They were contemporaries and knew how explosive Tuoba Xiong could be. Once he gets angry, it might be uncontrollable.

If Tuoba Xiong and the others had died, there would have been no issues. Now that they are alive, the situation is clear.

Du Yusheng sighed, "Fortunately, we didn't use the family's strength, or else we would have no way to defend ourselves if Tuoba Xiong had evidence."

"We should make more preparations. The three major experts of the Tuoba family are not to be trifled with. Tuoba Jie stabilized the southern border in just a year, which is even better than Tuoba Xiong when he was young. Xiao Ye is a prodigy; if he survives this time, once he reaches the capital, we won't have a chance to act against him," Yuchi Lingfeng said.

"Agreed. This time we must unite and also improve our relationship with the royal family. We absolutely cannot conflict with the Tuoba family again," Du Yusheng said.

They are all experienced people and naturally hope to use the royal family's authority to prevent the Tuoba family from acting rashly.

...

Ordinary people, upon learning that Great General Tuoba Xiong was alive, celebrated extensively, as if it were a major festival, filled with joy.

After Tuoba Xiong and the others arrived in the southern border and arranged some matters, they hurriedly returned to the capital.

Along the way, Tuoba Xiong and Tuoba Jie were warmly welcomed and deeply loved by the people.

On the journey, Tuoba Ye shared his thoughts with Tuoba Xiong, gaining his approval.

His idea was to split the Tuoba family into two parts. Tuoba Xiong's line would enter the cultivation world, responsible for earning gold coins to provide cultivation resources for the family disciples.

While Tuoba Wei's line would handle secular matters, including the position of Great General, which Tuoba Xiong and Tuoba Jie planned to step down from.

However, this matter still needed Situ Bowu's approval to reach a consensus.

The position of Great General is the most important in the Warring States and cannot be decided internally by the Tuoba family.

Moreover, Tuoba Wei's strength is still lacking, and he needs to improve, at least reaching the level of a nine-star Xiantian Wushen.

Of course, once Tuoba Xiong and Tuoba Jie are determined, Situ Bowu has no choice, and the matter is almost certain to succeed.

To help Tuoba Xiong continue to improve, Tuoba Xiong has already taught him the cultivation methods after the Qi Condensation stage.

With the cultivation methods, Tuoba Xiong is expected to make further progress.

Tuoba Ye specifically examined Tuoba Xiong's body and found that he had a spirit vein, and it was a three-attribute spirit vein, much better than Tuoba Ye's balanced five-attribute spirit vein. Without the spirit vein, it would be almost impossible for Tuoba Xiong to advance to the Qi Condensation stage.

Moreover, Tuoba Jie also has a spirit root, though not as good as Tuoba Xiong's, it is a four-attribute spirit root, barely sufficient for cultivation.

Having a spirit root is a good thing. In his previous life, Tuoba Ye did not have a spirit root but still managed to cultivate to the Qi Condensation stage.

He plans to help Tuoba Xiong and Tuoba Jie become cultivators, so that the Tuoba family will become a cultivation family.

Before long, Tuoba Xiong, Tuoba Jie, and Tuoba Ye, along with the Iron Blood Guard, returned to the capital.

They had not yet entered the city when Situ Bowu, accompanied by many ministers, came to the city gate to welcome them. The heads of the three major families, important figures in the Warring States, were also present.

Situ Bowu was very happy, while the heads of the three major families were somewhat nervous.

When Tuoba Xiong saw the three family heads from a distance, his originally good mood was ruined.

"The three major families took advantage of my disappearance to plot against our Tuoba family. They truly deserve to die!" Tuoba Xiong said coldly.

"Grandfather, I suspect that your deep entry into the Southern Wilderness and Father's solo entry were both influenced by the three major families. They likely colluded with some experts in the Southern Wilderness, trying to kill us through others. However, we have no evidence, so we cannot use this as an excuse to act against the three major families," Tuoba Ye said.

Tuoba Xiong smiled, "With the Emperor here, it's impossible to kill them, but giving them a lesson and making them lose face is still possible."

"Of course, the Emperor hopes that our Tuoba family and the three major families balance each other, and he absolutely does not want our Tuoba family to dominate," Tuoba Jie said.

"Leave it to me," Tuoba Xiong seemed very excited.

They quickly moved forward and bowed to Situ Bowu.

"Stand up. The Great General's return is a cause for national celebration!" Situ Bowu laughed heartily.

"Your Majesty, my return is all thanks to your blessings," Tuoba Xiong smiled.

"Great General, why have you become so formal after being gone for a while?" Situ Bowu said.

Tuoba Xiong replied, "Not at all, but being trapped in the Southern Wilderness for so long has made me feel much older. I heard that during my absence, some people plotted against us, trying to make our Tuoba family decline. It's truly disheartening!"

His eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, scanning Yuchi Lingfeng, Qian Duoduo, and Du Yusheng, making them sweat profusely.

Tuoba Ye did not收敛 (restrain) his aura at all, and his overwhelming aura burst forth, making the present experts struggle to resist. Even the mysterious nine-star Xiantian Wushen by the Emperor's side was trembling with fear.

He whispered to Situ Bowu, "Your Majesty, the Great General seems to have broken through, his strength far surpassing a nine-star Xiantian Wushen."

"No wonder his aura is so powerful, truly impressive!" Situ Bowu was deeply shaken.

He was about to speak to ease the tension between Tuoba Xiong and the three family heads, but after learning of Tuoba Xiong's breakthrough, he decided not to intervene.

Du Yusheng quickly calmed down, "Great General, what do you mean by looking at us like this?"

"Ha... You know exactly what I mean. Don't think I don't know about your little tricks," Tuoba Xiong sneered. "Today, I'll just give you a lesson. If you plot against our Tuoba family in the future, I'll take your heads."

As he spoke, Tuoba Xiong quickly moved, reaching the three family heads and delivering a punch to each of their faces, sending them flying and unable to get up for a long time.

Then, he clapped his hands, as if nothing had happened, with a calm and composed demeanor.

Almost all the ministers of the Warring States were present, along with countless people welcoming them. Seeing Tuoba Xiong's invincible might, they were all stunned.

Some ministers, who had close ties with the three major families, were trembling and could hardly stand.

The three family heads were helped up by their family members, looking disheveled and not daring to say a word, leaving in a hurry.

"Great General, you've vented your anger. Come with me into the city, and tell me what happened in the Southern Wilderness," Situ Bowu smiled.

Seeing that the Emperor did not speak up for the three family heads, Tuoba Xiong was very satisfied and walked forward with Situ Bowu, recounting the events in the Southern Wilderness.

"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome the Great General back to the capital!..."

As soon as they entered the city, the people cheered loudly, their voices shaking the sky.

Seeing this scene, even Tuoba Xiong was a bit excited.

He had fought in the southern border for over twenty years, won many battles, and made great contributions, but enjoying such treatment was a first.

"Great General, your return brings joy to the millions of people in the Warring States, and as the Emperor, I am also relieved," Situ Bowu said.

"Your Majesty, you flatter me. I am old, and in the future, the matters of the southern border should be handled by others," Tuoba Xiong smiled.

Situ Bowu was greatly surprised, "Great General, what are you planning? You are in excellent health and have formidable strength. You are the only choice for the position of Great General. Since you have returned, the position of Great General will always be yours."

"Your Majesty, I will give an explanation. Although I will not be the Great General, I will not ignore the matters of the southern border," Tuoba Xiong smiled.