The blizzard swept through the land, blurring everything. Only the figure of the dragon stood like a mountain as its roars rumbled like thunder.
He was the lord of a country that had gathered the power of its citizens, the general of a million-strong army, and this world’s chosen son of the heavens. He represented the heavens to eliminate the foreign kind, so who stood a chance against him?
Everyone on the walls of Xuanwu city could not help but think of the same question. Against such an undefeatable opponent, would the hero king still come?
A clamour rose up in the wind and snow, going from gentle to loud. It seemed to be cheering, coming from the base of the World’s society.
“The hero king is entering battle!”
Li Qingshan carried the blade on his back as his cloak drifted through the air. He strode ahead alone!
The blood-red asura army qi condensed on him, turning his hair and pupils a bloody-red. In the snowy world, he was like a droplet of blood on white paper. He was extremely eye-catching.
The dragon’s eyes locked onto him, bending its body and pulling its head back. The light in its mouth reached a limit and surged out.
Boom!
A crater three hundred metres across appeared in the ground. The dissipation of the power twisted the air. The fierce wind swept up the ice and snow, which all melted and vapourised with the snow in the air. The surroundings cleared up.
“What is this power!?”
The spectators were all stunned. They felt Xuanwu city tremble under their feet as broken rocks fell down as if the city could collapse at any moment.
The cheers from the base of the World’s society halted as well. The only fate awaiting anyone who received that strike was death. Was the hero king fine?
Soon afterwards, everyone saw it. A lonely figure continued to advance ahead at a steady pace, having dodged the attack somehow.
The dragon was infuriated. It swung its head, and a blurry stream of light swept across the ground.
Rumble!
Li Qingshan was unfazed. Within the noise and chaos, he seemed to be teleporting around as he was always one step ahead. He let the terrifying stream of light tail behind him, but it was unable to touch even a hair on him.
“Zhang Yuntian, so much for giving you sixteen years. Is this all you’re capable of?”
Abruptly, the light shattered, sweeping across five kilometres like it was rinsing the land.
A battle like this had already exceeded everyone’s imaginations. They felt like it was a battle between gods. Probably only Gu Yanying and Rāhu Xiaoming were the exceptions.
Right as everyone from the World’s society worried for Li Qingshan’s safety, Gu Yanying shook her head. “And I thought it was a trap. I didn’t expect it to be so bad!”
In terms of power alone, Zhang Yuntian had already far surpassed Li Qingshan, but he was unable to control this power very well. As a result, he seemed enormous and clumsy. Even his thought process had been disturbed.
Of course, he was still an invincible existence in this world. Even if there were thousands of masters, they would only be crushed if they went up against him.
However, his opponent was Li Qingshan!
Rāhu Xiaoming just lay on the saddle and fell asleep. If he could hear everyone’s thoughts, he would definitely crack up. What kind of battle between gods was this supposed to be?
The violent power rinsed the land again and again, but Li Qingshan’s figure had vanished. Some people discussed in doubt, “Don’t tell me he’s fallen in battle?” However, others cried out, “He’s in the sky!”
Beneath the heavy clouds, a figure stood in the air. That was Li Qingshan.
The dragon let out a roar at the sky, which contained Zhang Yuntian’s question, “Hero king, do you only have the courage to dodge?”
“Let’s put an end to this farce!”
Li Qingshan sighed. He gripped the blade behind him and tightened his fingers, pointing the blade at the sky!
The heavy clouds were cleaved in half. Glorious sunlight fell onto him, like the only spotlight on a dim stage. He also captured everyone’s gazes.
His body shone with colourful light as he suddenly turned into a rainbow and descended from above, landing on the walls of Xuanwu city before turning back into Li Qingshan’s figure. The battlements beneath his feet had not cracked at all, demonstrating his absolute control over his power.
“Argh!”
The spectators on the city walls all leapt in fright, scrambling away from him to form a clearing.
His cloak fluttered forwards. The colossal, frightening head of the dragon suddenly appeared behind Li Qingshan. It lunged down with teeth that resembled jagged rocks.
With that bite, a great big hole would appear even in the large, sturdy walls of the city.
The city walls were in an uproar. Many people directly leapt down in fright.
Li Qingshan did not move. He did not even look back. He let his cloak flutter in the air as he snapped his fingers. “Die!”
Right when the dragon’s teeth were about to touch him, they abruptly collapsed. A flood of power rushed past the entire city like fierce winds, blowing off the roofs of countless houses.
“No!” Zhang Yuntian’s growl filled with reluctance rang out in the wind, but it immediately weakened and dispersed away.
“You’ve got it wrong. It’s not always better to have more power. It’s always better to be more powerful!”
Li Qingshan’s swing had already destroyed the dragon’s “heart”, the leader of the martial arts alliance, Zhang Yuntian. Then he extended his hand and caught the Jade Seal of the Divine Dragon that had been blown over.
This was the difference between two worlds. In the past, when an embodiment of Qiongqi descended on the nine provinces, Li Qingshan had thoroughly experienced it as well. Even when Qiongqi was overwhelmed by the nine provinces, even when the power he could utilise was no greater than his, he stood absolutely no chance!
The difference in quality was already so great that it could not be made up with quantity. He thoroughly understood the harshness behind the promise of five hundred years.
The difference involved definitely could not be made up through step-by-step cultivation, but in this world, he found a possibility.
By the time the gales had settled down, everyone raised their heads, still badly shaken. A figure with golden hair and eyes stood on the city walls. The sky cleared up and shone brightly with sunlight, illuminating the surroundings.
It was just like the legends, the hero defeating the dragon.
“Long live the hero king!”
Suddenly, someone raised his arms and cried out, and that rapidly spread through the entire city. Even the army of a million soldiers outside the city began to cheer as well, both out of their sincerity to support him and their irrepressible fear. The momentum carried away even the leaders of the clans and sects that whole-heartedly wanted Li Qingshan dead, forcing them to cheer him on. They only hoped he would forget about their hostility towards him.
Their hostility had truly vanished as well. With their delicate hearts as mortals, could they develop hostility towards an existence like that?
Li Qingshan gazed at the sky and muttered to himself, “Damned heavens, this is just an appetiser!”
Gu Yanying led the elites of the World’s society into the city on horseback. When she passed through the gates, she looked up at him. They smiled at each other.
With sixteen years of preparation, the world had gradually grown accustomed to the changes brought on by the World’s society. They no longer viewed it as the source of chaos and fear. The World’s society had accumulated sufficient strength as well. They could rapidly gain control of the entire world.
At this moment, the ten great beauties played a special role. They were all treasured daughters and disciples of their respective clans and sects, and they had also become the hope in the eyes of the sects and clans. As it turned out, perhaps the arrangements and cooperation from the various clans and sects had played a role in why Li Qingshan had managed to gather the Ten Great Beauties of the World back then so successfully.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Li Qingshan to coincidentally take Nangong Wan’er away successfully right before her marriage. If he were late by a day or two and waited until they crossed the point of no return, he would have been forced into nominating another beauty again.
The reason why Nangong Wan’er father could remain firmly as the leader of the Nangong clan for sixteen years was exactly because of this.
Now, they had finally reached the point for their protective charms to come into effect. The various clans and sects expressed that they would pledge their loyalty as long as the World’s society did not exterminate them all.
Li Qingshan did not disappoint them either. He did not want to plant any more seeds of hatred and give the damned heavens another opportunity to toy with people, so he accepted their pledges.
The next morning, in the inner city of Xuanwu city, the various leaders all came to apologise and accept punishment. Only the leaders of the Divine Wind sect and the Abstruse temple were not present.
The leader of the Divine Wind sect, Zhang Yuntian, had fallen in battle. Zhang Xuanfeng succeeded him as the leader, turning the Divine Wind sect into the Divine Wind hall. Xue Bing had become the leader of the Snow Mountain hall a long time ago as well. The other sects and clans all followed that example, stepping down and changing into halls so that they could preserve a little more of their power when any upheavals happened.
Only the leader of the Abstruse temple retreated back to the Abstruse temple, holding his ground stubbornly until the end.
A month later, Yang Miaozhen entered the temple alone and faced the leader of the Abstruse temple in a game of chess.
A single branch of plum blossoms defied the snow. Beneath the branch, a game of chess lay sprawled out.
Regardless of what Yang Miaozhen said, the leader of the Abstruse temple only responded with silence. Only in the end did he suddenly ask, “Do you have his child?” He could hear the feeble heartbeat in her belly.
Yang Miaozhen nodded. After sixteen years of arduous cultivation, her strength was completely different from the past. She did not have to worry about him suddenly attacking her and taking her as a hostage.
“Alright. From now onwards, you are the leader of the Abstruse temple- no, the Abstruse hall.” The leader of the Abstruse temple took off the sect master’s ring and tossed it onto the chessboard. From that moment onwards, he entered secluded cultivation, never to emerge again.
Yang Miaozhen touched her belly and sank into her thoughts.
From then onwards, all of the leaders of the major clans and sects were members of Li Qingshan’s harem.
Achieving supremacy in the world was nothing more than this.
Everyone could foresee that their children would become new masters of the world once the hero king ascended.
Right when he was invincible throughout the world, a great battle for the throne had already begun brewing.
