Chapter 457: Welcoming the Lord! Welcoming the Grand Xia Army!

“What!? The Grand Xia Army!?”

Lord Lin was surprised. After a careful inspection, his face suddenly turned red and he started panting heavily like a bull. “It really is the Grand Xia Army! It's the Grand Xia Army!”

“Grand Xia soldiers, follow me home!” a voice rang out, and in the next moment, Fang Chen transformed into a sword and soared into the air. He looked at the officials on the city tower and smiled. “Open the city gates. I'm sending my comrades home.”

“It's Divine General Fang!!!”

The officials' faces flushed with excitement, and they immediately knelt down as they bowed continuously to Fang Chen.

Lord Lin shouted down, “Open the city gates. Divine General Fang is sending the Grand Xia soldiers home. Don't stop them!!”

“Grand Xia soldiers!”

The defending soldiers finally snapped out of their daze and hurriedly opened the city gates. Suppressing their fear, they carefully observed the skeletons and finally recognized them.

“They are Grand Xia soldiers! I recognize their uniforms!!”

“These... could they be the Grand Xia soldiers who died at Three World Mountain!?”

“It must be them! Divine General Fang has returned, and he's sending them home!”

In an instant, the entire city buzzed with excitement as countless people rushed out of their homes. The soldiers and guards in the city took on the responsibility of maintaining order, not allowing the civilians to block the path.

The six hundred thousand soldiers passed through the streets in an orderly manner, drawing astonished, fearful, confused, and excited looks from the watching crowd.

Suddenly, an elderly woman on the street became extremely excited as she cried and rushed to the street in a struggle.

"It's my son! My son has returned! Son, I'm your mother!"

"Stop!" Fang Chen’s voice rang out.

The Blood Corpse Sect cultivators quickly controlled the bones of the soldiers from Grand Xia, stopping them in their tracks.

Fang Chen swiftly appeared in front of the elderly woman.

The Valiant Saber Guards knelt and paid their respects. "We pay our respects to Divine General Fang!"

They were visibly moved, never expecting to be in such close proximity to the legendary Divine General Fang.

"Auntie, which one is your son?" Fang Chen asked gently.

"It's him, it's definitely him. I wouldn't be mistaken. Look at the bell hanging on his waist, I made it for him before he went to war. I thought that if he died on the battlefield and returned, I would hear the bell and know he was back."

The elderly woman pointed to one of the skeletons; it had a bell tied with a thick rope around its waist, treasuring it, in fear of it being lost.

Fang Chen nodded gently. "Auntie, you can take him home now."

The elderly woman and her family quickly stepped forward and carefully took away the skeleton. At the same time, many other people around also recognized their loved ones.

After several hours, the army of white bones left the city and headed toward the capital.

Several thousand soldiers from Grand Xia had already been claimed by their families.

Fang Chen's plan was simple - those recognized by their families would return home, while the rest would be placed in the Eternal Cemetery. The people of Grand Xia would then come to claim them. For those whose identities couldn't be confirmed, they would reside in the Eternal Cemetery.

Lord Lin and his subordinates watched the skeleton army leaving from afar with excited expressions.

Lord Lin ordered suddenly, "Quick, send messages everywhere, let them be prepared, and don't obstruct their path!"

Several officials immediately rushed off to prepare to send the messages.

"Six hundred thousand, a whole six hundred thousand... these are all our good sons of Grand Xia, and now they've finally returned home," Lord Lin muttered to himself, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

"Lord Lin, not only have the sons of Grand Xia returned this time, but Divine General Fang has also come back. The current General Fang should be considered a legendary figure, right?" a cautious subordinate asked.

Lord Lin wiped his eyes and smiled. "Of course. Didn't you see those hundreds of living people? They must also be cultivators, but the way they look at General Fang is full of reverence."

"That's great..." the subordinate muttered to himself.

In the capital of Grand Xia, in the Taihe Hall, Xia Yuanduan sat on the dragon throne. Over the past decade, he had grown into an adult. Standing below were some familiar faces - Jiang Yushu, the fifth king, Ye Dongming, the Minister of War, Tao Mingsheng, the Minister of Rites, and Huang Sihai.

Huang Sihai was now the commander of the Valiant Saber guards, second only to Xia Yuanduan in power within Grand Xia. However, everyone knew that although Xia Yuanduan was the emperor, the one who truly influenced the fate of Grand Xia was none other than Divine General Fang.

After reading the memorials, Xia Yuanduan's face relaxed into a smile as he addressed the officials below, “Not bad, not bad. Nowadays, both the northern and southern regions are prosperous, and the people are all well-fed. Every year, the tributes from empires like Qingsong and Longdu are more or less the same.”

"Throughout history, an emperor as relaxed as I am should be as rare as scorpions pooping, right?" he joked.

"Your Majesty, this is a good thing," Minister Ye hurriedly responded.

"Yes, it is indeed a good thing," Huang Sihai echoed with a deep smile.

Xia Yuanduan nodded with a smile and then looked at Huang Sihai, his eyes revealing a hint of anticipation. "Pacifier Huang, when will Divine General Fang return? I miss him."

Huang Sihai remained composed and replied softly, "The lord has embarked on the path of cultivating immortality now, perhaps he's busy with various matters. Once he resolves everything, he will naturally come back."

Jiang Yushu and the others exchanged glances, their eyes showing a hint of concern. It had been over a decade, and Divine General Fang had not returned. Moreover, they occasionally heard some unfavorable rumors.

Just then, a Valiant Saber Guard rushed in, his expression filled with excitement. "Your Majesty, esteemed officials, our Grand Xia army has returned! Divine General Fang is personally bringing them back!"

The court officials were taken aback, and they grew confused.

Huang Sihai was shocked, and he sternly shouted at the guard, "Calm down and speak clearly! Explain the situation."

"Yes, yes, don't get too excited. Explain the situation clearly first," Xia Yuanduan urged.

"Your Majesty, Pacifier Huang, it's like this. We received news that someone is leading tens of thousands of skeletons toward the capital. These skeletons are the Grand Xia army that had died in Three World Mountain. The one escorting them here is precisely Divine General Fang!"

Huang Sihai stepped up to the Valiant Saber Guard, his eyes as deep as the sea. "Has someone seen it with their own eyes? It's really the lord!?"

The guard nodded repeatedly. "It's absolutely true!"

"Hahaha!"

Huang Sihai burst into uncontrollable laughter, inadvertently causing his aura to leak a little, making many martial generals in the hall feel uneasy.

Terrifying!

They deeply understood that Huang Sihai had stepped into the path of immortality, and his methods were unfathomable!

"Spread the order: all Valiant Saber Guard, wherever they may be, must come back immediately to welcome the lord and the Grand Xia Army!" Huang Sihai commanded, then looked at Emperor Xia Yuan. "Your Majesty, let's go welcome the lord."

"Let's go, let's go!" Emperor Xia Yuan immediately stood up, ran to Huang Sihai, and urged him, "Hurry, let's depart!"