Inside the palace of the Great Qian Empire, above the main hall.
Civil officials and military generals stood in two separate rows, the atmosphere solemn and imposing.
Below the throne, everyone was reporting military affairs.
Meanwhile, the cold and stunning woman in a golden dragon robe rested her chin on one hand.
She appeared to be listening carefully to the reports.
In truth, she was lost in thought…
Was that man actually not bad?
Especially when he took the initiative to care for her. Ye Qinglian’s heart stirred slightly, as if her heartstrings had been gently plucked from time to time.
However, she did not believe that just because of that one accident, Chu Ning would place all his thoughts on her.
Ye Qinglian did not quite believe it.
What if it was only for the children in her belly?
What if it was only for his wealth and glory?
Thinking of this, Ye Qinglian felt somewhat hollow inside.
That was true. She and Chu Ning had no real feelings between them to begin with…
“Your Majesty? Your Majesty?”
Forget it. This was fine too.
The two of them would each take what they needed. She needed the children to have a father, so they would not lack care and would not walk the same lonely path she had once walked.
What Chu Ning would receive was wealth and glory that countless people could only dream of…
Her beautiful eyes lowered, carrying a trace of dissatisfaction, yet it seemed there was nothing she could do.
She still could not bring herself to like Chu Ning, and Chu Ning was even less likely to like her. That much was certain.
She could only take things one step at a time…
“Your Majesty, regarding the Luohen Empire, what are your thoughts?”
That question finally brought Ye Qinglian back to herself.
“What thoughts?”
The officials exchanged glances.
Her Majesty, who had always been diligent in governance, had actually been distracted?
And during such an important matter?
The prime minister sighed helplessly and repeated the matter once more.
Ye Qinglian took a deep breath.
Recently, she kept losing focus. Could it be that pregnancy had made her mind slower?
What the prime minister spoke of was none other than an enemy Empire.
Among the five great Empires, the Luohen Empire was closest to the Great Qian Empire. It was located in the northwestern desert and had coveted the Great Qian Empire’s fertile lands for many years.
Now, it intended to declare war.
Either the Luohen Empire’s army would march south, or the Great Qian Empire would honor the Luohen Empire as its superior Empire and bow its head in submission.
“The Luohen Empire has two seventh-realm saints presiding over it, while our Great Qian Empire no longer has even one. They have all fallen…”
“And the enemy’s military strength is powerful and difficult to resist. Once war begins…”
Everyone knew what the outcome would be. It would be nothing more than a battle fought all the way to the royal city.
Ye Qinglian frowned and pondered for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly sensed something.
At that moment, it reached an extreme point, a bottleneck.
Her expression changed instantly.
Above the main hall, majestic spiritual Qi surged wildly in an instant. Many officials retreated one after another.
The prime minister widened his eyes and stared at Ye Qinglian in astonishment.
“This aura… Is Her Majesty about to break through?”
“But Her Majesty is already a sixth-realm cultivator. If she breaks through again, will she not step into the saint level? How is that possible?”
“A hundred-year-old saint. Even the Luohen Empire would have to think twice… It is real. Her Majesty is truly about to break through! Everyone, leave quickly!”
Above the sky, a lightning tribulation began to churn.
At that moment, Ye Qinglian was also shocked.
Where had that vast power inside her body come from? Could what she had sensed from yesterday until today not have been an illusion?
Something was continuously supplying her with a source of power.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning tribulation crashed down, directly shattering the main hall.
Ye Qinglian instantly realized that if she stayed inside the main hall, the entire palace would be struck apart.
Her figure vanished at once.
When she appeared again, she was already in midair.
Her body was also undergoing a wild transformation. Inside Ye Qinglian’s spiritual palace, it was as if the power of the Heavenly Dao was reshaping its appearance, turning it into a small world.
The second bolt, the third bolt!
Countless people were overjoyed.
“Her Majesty has actually broken through! Who would have thought Her Majesty was not only skilled at handling state affairs, but also never fell behind in cultivation? Haha!”
“With Her Majesty presiding over us, would the Luohen Empire still dare attack?”
“Look! Her Majesty has successfully broken through!”
In midair, Ye Qinglian’s aura changed.
Without needing to use any technique, she could step through the air.
The seventh realm, Void Sovereign Realm, the first realm of the upper three realms. In the cultivation world, one could be called a saint at this level.
Everyone cheered and congratulated her.
Yet at that moment, Ye Qinglian looked bewildered.
“This should not be possible. With Our cultivation, it should have taken at least fifty more years before We had a chance…”
“Could it be that because We have children, breaking through became easier?”
Ye Qinglian did not know why, but the fact that she had broken through was already certain.
Her gaze suddenly sharpened, and she descended.
“Pass down Our verbal decree. If the Luohen Empire wants to fight, then let them fight!”
“At worst, We will use the strength of the entire Empire to fight them and see who can laugh until the end!”
“We obey Your Majesty’s will!”
…
After returning to Bright Virtue Hall to handle state affairs, Ye Qinglian fell into another daze.
How had she suddenly broken through?
She immediately looked inward, and suddenly saw the state of the two little lives inside her lower abdomen.
A faint glow also shimmered around them, as if they were extremely cheerful.
Hm?
Could it be because of the fetuses?
As she was thinking, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this servant is Xiao Bing. This servant broke through!”
Hm?
After Xiao Bing came in, she looked at Ye Qinglian with an excited expression.
“Your Majesty, I broke through to the fourth realm. It happened just now. I have already begun condensing the Longevity Tower of the fourth realm!”
“Eh? Your Majesty, you also broke through?”
Xiao Bing stared at Ye Qinglian in astonishment, sensing the extremely oppressive aura coming from her.
Ye Qinglian found it unbelievable.
“Xiao Bing, did you not break through only last year? Logically speaking, it should have taken at least ten more years before you could break through again…”
How old was Xiao Bing? She had cultivated for more than thirty years. When Ye Qinglian was thirty, she had also been at the peak of the third realm, and it had taken her five years to break through to the fourth realm.
Did that not mean Xiao Bing was faster than her?
One had to know that Ye Qinglian’s constitution, bloodline, and resources far surpassed Xiao Bing’s.
Was this speed not a little too difficult to explain?
Xiao Bing shook her head hard, also looking confused. “This servant does not know either. But after Your Majesty left this morning, I suddenly felt as if I was about to break through…”
“And then I actually broke through… But Your Majesty breaking through to the saint realm is what we should be happiest about. Congratulations, Your Majesty!”
Ye Qinglian’s mind went blank.
She suddenly felt as if she was about to break through…
It was not only Xiao Bing. She had felt the same!
Both of them had experienced this situation?
She pondered for a while and began thinking about the recent changes. However, no matter how she thought about it, the only change seemed to be Chu Ning.
What ability did he have to make the two of them break through, one into the saint realm and the other into the fourth realm? What method had he used?
A mortal could not possibly do such a thing.
She could not figure it out. She truly could not figure it out…
“Forget it. Perhaps you and We have been cultivating rather diligently recently, so the breakthrough happened naturally.”
She gently held her forehead. No matter what, this was a good thing. At the very least, her strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, directly solving a major problem.
If the Luohen Empire wanted to fight, she would wait for them.
Xiao Bing also nodded hard.
Recently, she had indeed been cultivating very diligently!
“By the way, Your Majesty, this servant talked about you with Chu Ning today…”
Ye Qinglian’s heart suddenly fell into disorder. However, her expression remained extremely cold as she calmly glanced at Xiao Bing.
“Oh? You talked about Us?”
“Were you cursing Us behind Our back?”