This visit to Qin Yun ended with both host and guests delighted.
Li Ruji came to understand what gave Meng Yiqiu his hubris. Perhaps only Xiahou Zhen, first on the God roll, could threaten him. At the very least, no one in their Chu Kingdom was able to do anything to Meng Yiqiu!
Such an existence could only be befriended, never antagonized!
…
After the new king ascended to the throne, the Duan family lived its days in a state of unease, afraid that their entire family clan would be raided and massacred!
The commoners of Sovereign Capital sighed in regards to this. It was likely that the Duan family’s Twins and Eight Allures would end up in abject states.
“Beauties have short lives.”
“The Duan family has thrived for so many years. It’s probably going to collapse this time.”
“Who else is to blame for the Duan family’s foolishness but themselves? They should not have taken the side of the former Crown Prince.”
There were many such discussions in Sovereign Capital.
But on the ninth of the same month, Li Cheng personally visited the Duan family. The Duan family felt fearful but then overwhelmingly flattered as they welcomed him. Li Cheng even expressed his reverence towards the Duan family’s patriarch, Old General Duan…
On the tenth, Duan Qiyu was promoted out of the blue. He was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the five divisions of Sovereign Capital, the Fiery Mountain Army! The Duan family also had many of its members who were officials promoted. It left many people in Sovereign Capital astounded. It was just days ago that everyone was sure the Duan family was doomed, but now they were prospering. It caught many people by surprise. As for the people truly in power in Sovereign Capital, they vaguely understood the reason…
The underlying reason was the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect Grand Elder staying in the manor beside Emerald Jade Lake—Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu.
******
Time passed and, after various storms and seasons, five years was over in a blink of an eye.
“Hahaha…”
Outside the Wei Kingdom’s capital, on Mt. Dao Excellence, there was laughter coming from the wooden hut on the mountain’s summit. A silver-haired elder walked out cheerfully from the hut.
“I’ve finally mastered the Ancient Black Fiendbody.” The silver-haired elder was feeling delighted.
“Lie’er, quickly come over.” The silver-haired elder directly transmitted his voice to Xiahou Lie, who was in the capital’s palace. Although it was very far, such that his Dao domain could not reach, it was still possible with a psyche release.
Sou!
In the distant capital, a stream of light rose into the sky and flew over at an extremely rapid speed. In an instant, it landed on Mt. Dao Excellence. It was Xiahou Lie, who was dressed in a black robe with golden patterns.
“Grandfather.” Xiahou Lie looked at the silver-haired elder in delight. “Grandfather, for you to exit seclusion now… does it mean you have mastered it?”
“Yes, I have mastered it.” The silver-haired elder nodded.
“Congratulations Grandfather. Congratulations!” Xiahou Lie immediately bowed reverentially. He shouted loudly with a trembling voice.
“Hahaha…”
The silver-haired elder roared with laughter. “I’ve waited for so many years, and finally this day has come.”
“Yes, we’ve waited for too long. This day is the day our Wei Kingdom will begin to unify and rule over the world.” Xiahou Lie was very excited as well.
“Back when I fought Li Ruji, he had an extremely strong body. Despite my realm being higher than his, I could not risk my life battling him,” said the silver-haired elder. “It’s different now. With my mastery of the Ancient Black Fiendbody, I am no longer afraid of life-and-death battles.”
“If his strength has increased sufficiently, allowing him to pose a threat to me, that’s good too! Perhaps he can aid me in improving. I would then have a chance of shattering the void and ascending.”
“If he has not improved, then he is doomed.”
The silver-haired elder was filled with fighting spirit.
Although unifying the world under one rule was one of his goals, what he coveted most a good battle with Li Ruji.
The reason was that invincibility was a form of loneliness!
“Grandfather, what do you plan on doing?” asked Xiahou Lie.
“Three days from now, I’ll directly set off for the Chu Kingdom’s Sovereign Capital,” said the silver-haired elder. “Using my Dao domain, I will be able to easily detect Li Ruji! His flying speed is inferior to mine, so he won’t be able to escape. I will execute him right in the Chu Kingdom’s Sovereign Capital.”
Xiahou Lie felt his blood boil as it coursed through his body.
The day he had waited for had finally arrived.
“Grandfather, once Li Ruji dies,” said Xiahou Lie. “The Chu Kingdom will fall into panic. All the leaders of the various regions and even the heads of some large family clans would pledge allegiance to our Wei Kingdom.”
“Without a mighty figure that has stepped into the Dao presiding over it, the Chu Kingdom will automatically collapse on itself even if we do not take action,” said the silver-haired elder. “Well then, I still need to make some preparations. I want to enter battle in optimal condition. After all, Li Ruji might have already had a great increase in strength.”
“Alright.” Xiahou Lie nodded. “I’ll personally guard you for the next three days, Grandfather. I will not allow anyone to disturb you.”
The silver-haired nodded with a faint smile before he returned to the wooden hut and closed the door.
The silver-haired elder sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began composing his mind. He even began picturing the various attacks Li Ruji would throw at him in battle so as to make preparations for the most important battle of his life.
******
Sovereign Capital remained bustling, but no one knew that Sovereign Capital would be the stage for an astounding battle in three days.
That morning, in the Meng residence beside Emerald Jade Lake.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Qin Yun held his Frost Sword and practiced his swordplay on the practicing ground.
This was a daily morning ritual. Sword flashes would circulate, producing halos in the surrounding world. One could faintly see the creation or destruction of worlds in the halos, as well as countless nets. At other times, they would transform into surging tidal waves that piled over each other… The different kinds of phenomena represented Qin Yun’s different sword techniques.
And not far away, a white-teethed boy with red lips was watching Qin Yun practice his swordplay. Sitting beside him was Gong Yan’er.
Over these five years, Gong Yan’er had become even more ravishing.
“Huan’er.” Gong Yan’er looked at her son and felt her heart wince. “When Huan’er was younger, he was more active. Now that he has grown up, he’s turning quieter. However, he does like watching his father practice his swordplay the most.”
Meng Huan was watching Qin Yun practice his swordplay intently.
At this age, he did not know any sword techniques but he found his father’s swordplay very cool.
“Huan’er,” Gong Yan’er whispered. “We will be going to the Duan family today. Do you want to see your Big Sisters and Big Brothers?”
“Okay.” Meng Huan responded but his eyes were fixated on Qin Yun’s swordplay.
“Don’t you miss Big Sisters and Big Brothers?” Gong Yan’er continued asking.
However, Meng Huan did not say another word.
Gong Yan’er felt helpless.
After a long while…
Qin Yun finally ended his practice as he frowned slightly.
However, when he saw the distant Meng Huan, he could not help but beam. He walked over smiling. “Huan’er.”
“Huan’er enjoys watching you practice your swordplay so much that he doesn’t want to go out and play,” said Gong Yan’er helplessly.
Qin Yun pinched Meng Huan’s tiny face.
“Dad, your sword techniques just now were so beautiful. So powerful! So pretty! They were prettier than the clouds in the sky,” said Meng Huan immediately.
“Do you want to learn them?” asked Qin Yun with a smile.
“Yea.” Meng Huan nodded immediately.
To the side, Gong Yan’er was astonished as she immediately asked, “You want to start teaching him now?”
“He’s six. It’s about time to start teaching him,” said Qin Yun. “You plan on going to the Duan family today, right? Then go ahead. Huan’er’s sword training will begin tomorrow.”
“Dad, can’t you teach me now?” Meng Huan had already picked up a tree branch and quickly made a few poses with it.
“Haha, there’s no rush. Since you have a date with the Duan family, go to the Duan family first,” said Qin Yun with a laugh. His residence did not have any other children. Meng Huan still needed to play with children his age. As for Quelling Duke Manor, it was a large family clan with more than a thousand people. They obviously had many children.
With that, Gong Yan’er carried the somewhat reluctant Meng Huan away.
Qin Yun sat alone in the garden as a female attendant came to serve him tea.
After landing in this world, Qin Yun’s biggest priority was to cultivate!
He was dreaming a hundred years for the purpose of cultivation.
As for gaining dominance in this world or establishing an empire, he had never considered it.
“There are bigger and bigger problems with my Sword Dao.”
Qin Yun frowned.
“My Sword Dao had its foundations built up back in my homeworld! In the previous world, I took ten years to step into the Dao. And in the remaining years, it went deeper.”
“But after coming to this world, I realized that my foundations of my Sword Dao were insufficiently robust. There were many aspects I didn’t consider.”
This world was all about close combat.
Elites from every generation would evolve the old ways and push the various aspects of a sword technique to its limit.
After drawing on the cumulative wisdom of the numerous generations of this world, he made constant improvements to his Sword Dao.
“Back then, if I were to ask myself, I would consider my Sword Dao to be sufficiently perfect.”
“However, after drawing from the wisdom of this world’s sword techniques, I have fixed many flaws in various areas. My foundation is a lot better. But with an overly perfect foundation, the crudeness of my Sword Dao is only accentuated.” Qin Yun shook his head. “I originally believed that I could just improve it later. But the more I have, the more I find something amiss…”