The path of cultivation was never one of smooth-sailing. One would encounter many obstacles along the way.
Back when Qin Yun was fifteen, he traveled the world alone and experienced all sorts of dangerous encounters. He survived the northern borders with his brother-in-arms and did not have a master to guide him. With only his most basic sword techniques, Qin Yun eventually grasped the Misty Rain Sword Intent through Expertise Nearing Dao. Now, he was left befuddled during his dream of a hundred years. Qin Yun naturally felt unperturbed for he believed he could overcome all odds.
From the next day onwards, Qin Yun began happily teaching his son, Meng Huan, the way of the sword.
Outside the Wei Kingdom"s capital, on the summit of Mt. Dao Excellence.
Xiahou Lie, the reigning King Wei who was also the reigning Red Lotus Fiend Sect"s Sect Master, personally stood guard outside the wooden hut. Finally, he heard a sound. When he looked back, the silver-haired elder, Xiahou Zhen, had walked out of the wooden hut.
"Grandfather." Xiahou Lie immediately went forward.
Xiahou Zhen smiled and extended his hand casually. The gray saber embedded in the middle of the yard flew out together with its scabbard and landed in Xiahou Zhen"s hand.
"It has been a very long time since you have last tasted blood, hasn"t it?" Xiahou Zhen gently drew the saber out partially. The blade was silver-gray in color and had unique patterns. "You"ll be able to have a great feast this time."
"Grandfather, you are invincible. Li Ruji will face certain doom." Xiahou Lie was boiling with excitement as well.
"Li Ruji!"
Xiahou Zhen looked at the distant south. His voice sounded old but still magnificent. "In this entire world, only he can barely qualify as my opponent. I hope he will not disappoint me."
"Lie"er, I"m leaving." Xiahou Zhen hung the saber by his waist and immediately flew up into the sky and headed south.
Xiahou Lie watched from afar, his eyes filled with aspiration.
Once Li Ruji was dead, the Chu Kingdom would be finished! As for the Yan Kingdom? It was of little consequence. His Wei Kingdom would one day rule over the entire world! And he, Xiahou Lie, would be the emperor of it all!
Swoosh.
Xiahou Zhen flew all the way as a beam of light, going straight for the southern Chu Kingdom"s Sovereign Capital!
In the entire world, other than Qin Yun who had descended into this world from outside, Xiahou Zhen was truly the fastest when it came to flying. He set off in the morning and reached Sovereign Capital by afternoon.
"Sovereign Capital." Xiahou Zhen could clearly see the distant and ma.s.sive city. It was much bigger than the Wei capital.
"Li Ruji, I hope you will not disappoint me in this battle."
Xiahou Zhen felt his fighting spirit gradually boil as his will blazed with pa.s.sion.
Li Ruji was the only worthy opponent he had in the world!
He had to go all out!
He wished to make use of the upcoming battle to shatter the void and ascend.
"Whoosh."
Fueled by his boiling fighting spirit, Xiahou Zhen quickly arrived above Sovereign Capital. He stood in midair above the Chu Kingdom"s imperial palace.
His Dao domain enveloped the area.
Xiahou Zhen easily sensed Li Cheng who was frolicking with his concubine, as well as Li Ruji who was sitting cross-legged in meditation.
"He can"t sense my Dao domain? His realm is indeed lower than mine." Xiahou Zhen was a little disappointed. "Whatever. This Li Ruji is a freak of nature when it comes to talent. His body is extremely powerful and he is very skilled in close combat. I"m sure he will be able to give me a pleasant surprise when we fight in close quarters."
"Who?"
"Who is it?"
"Someone is in the sky."
The imperial palace had many guards. It wasn"t long before the guards discovered a person high in the clouds above the imperial palace.
Xiahou Zhen overlooked the imperial palace. The countless guards were as tiny as ants. He directly shouted, "Li Ruji! Quickly come out and accept your death!"
The voice rumbled like thunder. It reverberated throughout Sovereign Capital via the Heaven and Earth powers.
The millions of citizens in Sovereign Capital instantly turned quiet. Such a large city was shocked into silence despite it being broad daylight.
"Li Ruji…"
"Quickly come out and accept your death…death…death—" The world echoed.
The voice rumbled as though it were the heaven and earth speaking.
As the echoes reverberated, countless people felt chills run through their bones.
"Oh?" In the imperial palace, Li Ruji looked up towards the sky and instantly detected the silver-haired elder.
Instantly, Li Ruji"s eyes turned red as his fighting spirit likewise boiled.
It was the one person, the only opponent that could exert pressure on him.
"Xiahou Zhen! I have been waiting for you for a very long time!" Li Ruji"s voice similarly quaked through the world. All the Heaven and Earth powers in a several hundred kilometer radius resonated in response. Li Ruji extended his arm as a black spear in his house flew straight out and into his hand.
Sou!
Li Ruji similarly flew up into the sky.
A commotion broke out in the imperial palace.
Many experts hidden in the imperial palace were panicking. Even Li Cheng, who was busy enjoying his concubine, had a drastic change in expression.
"What?" Li Cheng pushed his concubine aside and stood up to look at the two figures in the sky. His patriarch, Li Ruji, had just flown up to meet a dangerous foe.
"Is that Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen?" Li Cheng felt a dark gloom overtake his eyes. "Didn"t the intelligence say that my patriarch"s body is extremely powerful, which makes Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen unwilling to risk his life battling him? Why did he storm here in such an obstreperous manner? Could it be that he is confident in dealing with Patriarch? If Patriarch were to die in battle, my Li family would be finished. The Chu Kingdom would be finished as well."
Li Cheng never expected that the crisis of his nation"s obliteration would come so soon!
"First on the G.o.d roll, Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen…" Li Cheng"s heart chilled as he panicked.
He idolized his patriarch but when the enemy was Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen, Li Cheng lacked confidence.
Not only did the imperial palace notice it, the entire Sovereign Capital witnessed this scene.
The Quelling Duke Duan family had been thriving the past few years. But at that moment, Duan Qiyu was looking high into the sky and heard the words, "Li Ruji! Quickly come out and accept your death!" and "Xiahou Zhen! I have been waiting for you for a very long time!"
The exchange made Duan Qiyu"s legs go limp.
"Master, it"s Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen." An elder standing beside him said with a stoic expression.
"Yes." Duan Qiyu had a pale expression. "Xiahou Zhen has come to Sovereign Capital. Since he dares to come, it"s probably because he"s confident! If he were to really kill the G.o.d of War this time… the Chu Kingdom would soon be finished. Chu Kingdom n.o.bles like us would be in trouble."
"Isn"t there Elder Meng backing our Duan family?" asked the elder.
Duan Qiyu shook his head. "The Zhou Mountain Sword Sect has always been supporting the Chu Kingdom. For that, the Wei Kingdom will definitely hold a grudge. And just years ago, Elder Meng killed a bunch of experts from the Blood Saber Palace. If the Chu Kingdom were to really fall, the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect would likely be wiped out by the Wei Kingdom… The only thing Elder Meng could do is hide. Not only would our Duan family be in trouble, we might even be implicated."
"What do we do? What do we do?" Duan Qiyu panicked.
"Qiyu." Matriarch had arrived quickly.
"Grandmother." Duan Qiyu calmed himself upon seeing her arrival. The matriarch was the true person in control of the Duan family. Matriarch waved her hand as the elder beside them took his leave immediately.
"Grandmother, what do we do now?" Duan Qiyu was fl.u.s.tered.
"Hope that the G.o.d of War will be able to hold back Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen," Matriarch said with a sigh. "If not, the over one thousand lives in our Duan family can only flee and hide all over the world."
There were many aristocratic family clans that were sharing similar feelings with the Duan family. In the Chu Kingdom, they wielded power and wealth. But if the Chu Kingdom were to fall, it would spell their demise as well. Even if they pledged allegiance to the Wei Kingdom, their standing would never be comparable to what it was in the Chu Kingdom.
"Quickly record every detail of this battle."
"A battle between the first and second on the G.o.d roll. It determines the fate of the three kingdoms and the world. It will also determine the fates of billions of people."
Peerless Manor also had people stationed in Sovereign Capital.
They immediately began making records excitedly.
It was rare to witness a battle of such scale in one"s life! After all, the ones ranked first and second on the G.o.d roll were the founding sovereigns of two kingdoms. It wasn"t common for such ent.i.ties to fight one another.
In the Meng residence beside Emerald Jade Lake.
Qin Yun was teaching Meng Huan the way of the sword. To his side, Gong Yan"er and Meng Yuxiang were chatting idly. Dong Wan and Liu Qingsha were also smiling as they watched Qin Yun teach.
"Your hand should go from here and thrust out! You are just off a little. Let me teach you once more." Qin Yun was guiding Meng Huan step by step. He used his domain to control Meng Huan"s hands and feet, allowing him to produce the perfect sword move.
"Have you learned it? Try it again yourself."
Qin Yun stood to the side.
"Yea."
Meng Huan nodded immediately as he began demonstrating the sword move with extreme seriousness. He held a wooden sword in hand which was personally carved by Qin Yun.
"Li Ruji! Quickly come out and accept your death!" Abruptly, there was a voice that boomed like thunder, resounding throughout the world. The sheer volume of it gave young Meng Huan a scare.
Qin Yun immediately controlled his domain and lowered the intensity of the voice.
"Xiahou Zhen! I have been waiting for you for a very long time!" The other voice echoed throughout the world as well.
"What?"
The idly chatting Gong Yan"er and Meng Yuxiang had changes in expression as they stood up.
"Xiahou Zhen and Li Ruji?" Dong Wan and Liu Qingsha felt their hearts clam up. They raised their heads and looked into the distance.
The four of them were either in the upper echelons of a large sect or from a big family clan. They naturally knew the legendary G.o.d roll! The person ranked first on the G.o.d roll was Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen, and second was G.o.d of War Li Ruji!
"The two of them are about to fight?"
"Xiahou Zhen actually dares to storm Sovereign Capital?"
"Are they going to determine who walks out alive?"
Gong Yan"er, Meng Yuxiang, Dong Wan, and Liu Qingsha were extremely nervous. They knew very well what a life-and-death between the two meant.
"Yiqiu." Gong Yan"er looked at Qin Yun. "Do you think the G.o.d of War will be able to withstand the attack?"
However, Qin Yun held Meng Huan to his side and said with a smile, "Since Xiahou Zhen came here, he likely has something to rely on."
"Brother, how can you smile at this critical moment?" Meng Yuxiang was distraught. "If the G.o.d of War is defeated, the Chu Kingdom is finished. The Duan family would also be finished. The Zhou Mountain Sword Sect would probably be destroyed as well."
"Don"t panic," said Qin Yun immediately.
"Elder, we need to make some preparations," whispered Dong Wan.
"Yiqiu, leave quickly and hide far away. I"m afraid Xiahou Zhen might really kill the G.o.d of War. Following that, he might deal with Old General Xue Chong, Abbot Fish, and you too," said Gong Yan"er hurriedly.