The Empress’s Gigolo

How would it feel to have a mountain crash into you?

Earth-shattering!

Catastrophic!

Even though the empress’s punch wasn’t that powerful, it made one feel as if a mountain was crashing down on them.

The empress’s fist was like a mountain.

This was what the bystanders felt, let alone the crow general.

Boom!

The four meter tall crow general vanished in an instant.

A large pit with a radius of around 100 meters appeared in the ground.

The deepest part was about 30 meters deep.

The empress’s fist sent the crow general smashing down to the bottom of the pit and caused it to throw up lots of blood.

Even though the crow general had a body of metallic feathers and steel-like bones, it couldn’t withstand this blow. There was no telling how many bone fractures it had suffered.

“Bring it up!” the empress ordered faintly as she stood beside the large pit with her hands behind her back. The purple veins on her face began to vanish, revealing the bright complexion that she originally had.

“If Teng Yue were to face off with you now, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be able to withstand your attack!” Ren Baqian remarked.

Even though the empress was already extremely strong in the past, it wasn’t as terrifying as it was at present.

There was no telling what had happened during her flash of realization last year that made her strength actually improve so much.

However, she didn’t look happy at all. She turned to Ren Baqian and said, “The reason why Teng Yue was the fourth most powerful expert in the world was because no one could match up to him with the spear he possessed! Even though I have improved a little, it would still take me quite a bit of effort to defeat him! Now that you have his Golden Spear and have inherited his insights, with enough practice, it isn’t impossible for you to attain his level!”

The empress had truly put in a lot of effort for Ren Baqian!

However, Ren Baqian simply replied shamelessly, “Mastering [The Great World] itself would already be sufficient for me. Fighting doesn’t suit me!”

He truly didn’t have much interest in fighting.

However, he was still interested in learning martial arts because it would at least lengthen his lifespan!

“Your Majesty, what shall we do with this crow general?” Ren Baqian asked.

“I heard that its wings are pretty tasty!” the empress said as she looked at the people lifting the bird up. Even an emperor wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to taste such a rare delicacy.

One would require a lot of luck to even see a crow general.

Lin Qiao squatted by the side and drooled as she stared at the bird’s neck…

The battered crow general shrivelled when it heard what the empress said as it was being carried up. It was afraid that it might really get eaten up this time around!

“Your Majesty, in any case, it’s still a Cardinal Heaven beast. Wouldn’t it be a waste if we just eat it like that?” Ren Baqian asked.

If the crow general had the ability to nod its head, it would definitely be nodding as rapidly as a woodpecker. Unfortunately, the empress’s punch had fractured a countless number of its bones. At present, it was almost half-dead and didn’t even have the energy to keep its head up.

“What’s your opinion?” The empress sensed that Ren Baqian was thinking of something.

“If we can subdue it, we will have one more beast at our disposal. It will be good to use it as a mount as well!” Ren Baqian felt that it was truly a waste to devour it.

He would have long since prepared the wok himself if eating this crow general could increase his strength or extend his lifespan.

However, it merely contained a little more energy and a few extra benefits compared to other beasts. In fact, eating it would do nothing for someone powerful like the empress or even for Ren Baqian.

It would be just like that giant crocodile.

If this was the case, there was no harm in trying to subdue it.

The empress looked a little regretful. She was looking forward to tasting its meat more than she desired to subdue it.

She wanted to experience for herself if the crow general’s flesh was indeed a legendary delicacy.

However, seeing that Ren Baqian was interested in it, she said, “You go ask it then. If it’s willing to surrender, I will spare its life. Otherwise, I’ll kill it. It has pretty large wings. We can grill one of them and steam the other!”

The empress had even thought of how to go about cooking it.

This crow general had originally been timid, which was why it behaved like such a tyrant. It wasn’t merely because of its incredible strength.

If the empress was willing to spare its life, it would naturally agree.

At present, after hearing about how the empress was planning to eat its wings, it was extremely frightened. It wanted to surrender, but it was too weak to do so. All it could do was helplessly throw up blood.

Ren Baqian looked at the crow general. In any case, it was still a Cardinal Heaven beast. It would not necessarily surrender simply by talking with it.

He had to come up with a plan.

After they carried it back to the village, Ren Baqian got some people to catch and bring back some birds.

The crow general created a stir when it was brought back to the village. If not for the winged cavalry, the villagers would have clobbered it to death with stones. It was eventually placed in a corner of the village. The people tied it up tightly in case it decided to go all out with its remaining energy.

After some time, Ren Baqian approached the crow general as it anxiously awaited him.

It thought, If you were to ask me, I would definitely surrender. I’m still able to muster up enough energy to nod my head…

However, Ren Baqian didn’t even show any intention of asking it to surrender. He simply got someone from the imperial kitchen to bring over two large birds and started a fire in front of the crow general. They first placed the birds on a rack and roasted them for a short while. They then proceeded to clear the burned feathers off the birds and prepare them for cooking.

One pair of the bird wings were taken and roasted over the fire.

The other pair of wings were placed in a pot to marinate in preparation for making honey wings.

One of the bird necks would be cooked with spices, whereas the other would be smoked.

Ren Baqian then got someone else to spread some stones over the fire to increase the temperature before frying the sliced-up breast meat.

One pair of bird thighs was deep-fried in oil, while the other pair was stewed in herbs.

The remaining parts, which included the head, liver, heart, and stomach were then chopped up and made into 16 dishes. He occasionally instructed the people of the imperial kitchen on how to deal with those ingredients as well.

Finally, even the bones of the birds were used to make a rack…

The crow general trembled as it watched them cook the birds.

It was trembling uncontrollably.

Why won’t you just ask me to surrender?!

Simply ask me!

Ask me!

The crow general’s eyes were almost spitting fire! If it could break free, it would definitely fight it out with Ren Baqian.

Ren Baqian actually noticed its behavior as well.

Even though it couldn’t move, he could see the anger in its eyes.

He sighed to himself and mused that it indeed wasn’t easy to subdue a Cardinal Heaven level beast.

Soon after, the fragrance of roasted meat began to permeate the air. Lin Qiaole suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started drooling as she squatted by the fire and looked at the roasted bird wings. She occasionally glanced over at the crow general’s neck and imagined what it would taste like.

Ren Baqian ordered someone to take a roasted wing to the empress and threw the other one to Lin Qiaole. He then went to fry the breast meat.

After an entire afternoon of effort, they managed to whip up more than ten dishes, and a portion of them were sent to the empress. Ren Baqian devoured the remaining food in front of the crow general.

After all, no matter how strong it was, it was still considered a bird.

It would definitely feel mournful after seeing how Ren Baqian treated the birds.

Simply put, he was making an example out of the birds to frighten the crow general.

After whipping up an entire feast made out of poultry, if the crow general still didn’t surrender, it would end up like these birds.

However, after seeing how angry the crow general was, Ren Baqian felt that it had a pretty strong moral backbone!