The young Water Monarch from Qing Jiang Shui Fu had already left, leaving the great hall empty and silent.

The Long River Dragon Monarch sat quietly, his face obscured, his expression unreadable.

There weren’t many people in the world who knew that a life-or-death struggle was inevitable between Zhuang Gao Xian and Jiang Wang.

And he, Ao Shu Yi, was one of them.

Although he had already surrendered control of the Long River, and had never truly commanded the world’s waterways, he couldn’t see the world as if looking at the lines on his palm. Even gathering information up and down the Long River was inconvenient for him.

But initially, Ku Jue had blocked Zhuang Gao Xian at the Long River. How could a battle between two contemporary True Persons blocking the river not alarm the Long River Dragon Palace?

Although he was stationed in the Dragon Palace, often not moving for hundreds or even thousands of years, he wasn’t a prisoner.

At that time, Zhuang Gao Xian was pursuing the youth named Jiang Wang; he knew about it. Or rather, he knew Jiang Wang even before Zhuang Gao Xian did.

Later, at Guan He Tai, he personally witnessed Jiang Wang claiming the top spot, and also witnessed how cowardly Lin Zheng Ren was, not daring to step onto the stage. The contradiction between Jiang Wang and the Zhuang Nation was simply laid bare.

Any person, if they were enemies with an absolute world prodigy like Jiang Wang, would certainly choose to eliminate them early and cut off their future, as long as they weren’t foolish.

Zhuang Gao Xian had always done so.

Du Ru Hui’s slander accusing Jiang Wang of colluding with demons, and his public flogging on Yu Jing Shan, while not widely publicized, were not secrets to the Long River Dragon Palace.

But to think that Zhuang Gao Xian was solely focused on Jiang Wang, solely plotting against Jiang Wang, would be to underestimate Zhuang Gao Xian, and underestimate this heroic lord of the flourishing Zhuang Nation!

Even with two True Persons from the Buddha Sect sealing their doors, and at the moment when Jiang Wang forged the golden body of a human hero, leaping towards Dong Zhen with terrifying cultivation speed… Zhuang Gao Xian remained full of ambition, advancing the Zhuang Nation’s expansion.

For a nation’s emperor, there is no better method than enhancing national power to increase cultivation.

The Long River Dragon Monarch saw Zhuang Gao Xian’s ambition, and didn’t mind engaging in some transactions.

But before that, Zhuang Gao Xian still needed to cross the Dragon Gate.

As for the scroll of yellow silk in his hand… Ao Shu Yi casually tossed it aside.

There was no need to read this letter again.

Zhuang Gao Xian’s intention to convey information had already been achieved by sending the letter itself.

He couldn’t possibly trust Song Qing Yue, nor could he trust the journey from Qing Jiang Shui Fu to the Long River, or the time it would take.

So, the letter couldn’t possibly contain any substantial content. If truly opened, it would only hold trivial family matters and courteous greetings.

The great hall remained cold and silent for a long time, then the Dragon Monarch’s voice rang out—

“I have not seen guests for a long time. You all select a time, make good preparations, and send an invitation to Xing Yue Ping, inviting the top contender of the last session’s Huang He, Jiang Wang, to attend the Dragon Palace banquet.”

A voice from outside the hall replied, “Only invite Jiang Wang?”

“Of course not,” the Long River Dragon Monarch slowly said. “All the prodigies from the main competition of the last session’s Huang He Assembly are to be invited. Several years have passed, how are the current world’s prodigies? I inherit the legacy of the Middle Ancient Human Emperor here, I should do my best to entertain, and also verify their quality.”

“What about the true disciples of those great sects of the world?” the voice from outside the hall asked again.

The Long River Dragon Monarch said, “Invite those with enough weight as well. I rarely have interest, I don’t mind it being a bit lively.”

“As you wish.” The voice from outside the hall rippled like water, dispersing in circles.

And this quite significant message would also spread in this manner—

After many years, the Dragon Palace banquet is indeed reopening!

People walked on the Jiu Qiao, like mosquitoes and flies carried on the back of a dragon.

They could particularly feel their own insignificance.

It was hard to imagine what kind of powerful existence Chi Kiss was in the past. To be able to directly refine its blood into a bridge, what kind of divine power did Lie Shan Ren Huang possess!

Qin Guang Wang had already walked for a long time.

He hadn’t walked on such a wide road for a long time, nor had he walked so slowly for a long time.

Given the vastness of the Long River and the length of Chi Kiss Qiao, ordinary people would have to walk for three days and three nights to cross this bridge.

He couldn’t verify this saying.

Because halfway through, he was blocked by an unruly customer seeking justice, and only after properly providing after-sales service was he able to get away.

Doing business this year was really very difficult. Deducting the organization’s operating costs and the employees’ appearance fees, the profit was only several dozen times, which was fundamentally not profitable. And clients still troubled him from time to time.

Alas, he often advised other assassin organizations to change professions, but good intentions were always met with little reward.

What was good about this line of work?

He was traveling from the south bank of the Long River to the north bank. Not far after crossing Chi Kiss Qiao was the southern border of Da Qi. Of course, after crossing the bridge, one could also detour to Jian Ge, to Liang Guo, or to Xuan Kong Si. Some other small nations, sandwiched between Qi Guo and the old lands of Nan Xia, would sooner or later be swallowed, and there was nothing good about wandering there.

He simply retreated from the bridge again and detoured towards Li Guo.

Li Guo was also a small nation, historically weak in power and military, allowing strong nations to manipulate it. It was once exterminated by Xia Guo, but after the first Qi-Xia war, it was restored with the help of Chu Guo. After restoring the nation, it still cautiously maintained diplomatic relations with Xia Guo, regarding it as a “superior nation.”

Liang Guo, which was similarly invaded and swallowed by Xia Guo and successfully restored, had a much stronger sense of existence in the current world.

Because Liang Huang Kang Shao had raised the flag to restore the nation, and historically clearly opposed Xia Guo with military force, regarding it as an enemy, its national character was very fierce.

Fortunately, Li Guo produced a prodigy, Fan Wu Shu, who advanced to the top eight in the Wai Lou realm during the Huang He Assembly, but unfortunately lost to the Jing Guo prodigy Zhong Shan Wei Sun. This achievement earned them the qualification to enter the Ten Thousand Demons Gate after it opened, to contend for resources.

Li Guo was aware of its weak power and unable to support itself on the battlefield after the Ten Thousand Demons Gate opened, so they exchanged this qualification with Xia Guo. But Xia Guo also didn’t have time to fully utilize it before collapsing in the vigorous second Qi-Xia war.

Meanwhile, Li Guo truly obtained a large sum of resources, enriching its national foundation.

As for the future, perhaps it still depends on how far Fan Wu Shu can go.

Small nations were historically targets of exploitation by strong nations, and also the best hiding places for those on the fringes. In fact, in Yi Ning City, the capital of Li Guo, there was a very well-operating ghost market.

However, the leader of Wu Men Tian Zi Dia today was not here for inspection.

With his long hair, he idly walked on the long street, experiencing the unique style of this nation.

Throughout Li Guo, he had no opponents. Even the so-called foremost expert of Li Guo, Duan Si Gu of the Shen Lin realm, couldn’t last several rounds.

He could just walk all the way to the royal palace like this, and it would be no problem.

But he was not arrogant.

Walking in Yi Ning City felt no different from walking in Tai Ping City or Nan Wei City.

He even bought several boxes of snacks—Yi Ning’s special Zen Noodle Crisp—and ate as he walked.

Until a certain moment, the long street suddenly quieted.

He also stopped, turning back from the originally bustling crowd, and saw at the end of the long street, a person wearing a tiger head mask, slowly walking over.

The figure was upright, with a completely different demeanor than before.

But he knew, this was You Que.

“You’ve come at a rather inconvenient time.” He greeted, pushing the pastry box in his hand forward a bit. “Want some?”

The person with the tiger head mask said, “You can call me…”

“Stop!” Qin Guang Wang immediately interrupted. “You absolutely do not tell me your current identity. I’m not interested, and I dare not listen.”

“Sun Yin,” the person with the tiger head mask said. “You already know my identity, self-deception is meaningless.”

Qin Guang Wang sucked his teeth. “You are really stubborn!”

Sun Yin wore a pair of black gloves and calmly took out a wisp of green light from his chest. The green light twisted between his fingers like an insect, then was crushed.

“After killing me, you still repeatedly used curse techniques to probe. Guessing my identity was also a matter of time.”

“I can explain,” Qin Guang Wang said. “This is just professional quality, it doesn’t represent my personal attitude towards you. In fact, I respect you very much.”

As he spoke, he looked left and right. “…You aren’t planning to take action in the bustling market, are you?”

Sun Yin only slowly took a step forward. “Doing anything comes at a price. Since you chose to become a knife, you must be aware of being broken.”

“No,” Qin Guang Wang felt a great sense of ill omen. “You don’t care at all who found me in front of you and told me what?”

“Nothing but those people from Yi Zhen Dao. I could have found you first, but you chose to let them find you first.”

Sun Yin said emotionlessly, “If you told them I wasn’t dead, then I kill you, and you are justly killed. If you said nothing, then I kill you, and no one will know I’m not dead.”

Qin Guang Wang had a belly full of rhetoric, all choked up.

This Sun Yin was crazy, completely unpredictable.

Unreasonable!

The people from Yi Zhen Dao could talk, but you couldn’t?

He took a deep breath, spread his hands wide, his long hair instantly grew wildly, and both his eyes turned green. “Anyway, you all want to kill me?”

Sun Yin laughed. “You actually still want to resist—”

Suddenly taking one step forward, just one step, he was in front of Qin Guang Wang. That hand wearing the black glove lightly pressed forward—

The densely packed curse texts were crushed into a sky full of frantically scattering green flowing lights.

Qin Guang Wang’s feet sank into the ground bricks, and he continuously spat blood as he retreated, crashing out a deep ditch on the long street!

And the bustling crowd on the street, only at this moment discovering the two fighting, suddenly lost composure and fled in all directions screaming.

“If it weren’t to avoid harming innocents, you would already be dead.” Sun Yin calmly walked forward, while dividing his power to push away the crowd, while approaching Qin Guang Wang.

Qin Guang Wang only seriously looked at him. “No one should easily pronounce the word ‘death’ for me.”

The blood dyed the corners of his mouth very brightly, and the green light in his pupils was demonic and insane. “I curse you—”

He began to walk backward, he actively went towards Sun Yin. With every step, the green light on his body became more blazing. “I curse you, born without food! Wear without clothes! Walk without a road! Sleep without a house…”

This voice was demonic and evil, revealing terror, as if it unlocked some seal in the great thousand world, releasing some ghosts that could not wander in sunlight.

Each word was like striking a pot, as if it became the dark source, the endpoint of chaos, the essence of terror!

The sky full of green light turned, infinite and endless negativity wildly grew in all places where it could attach. Beauty coated with yellow mud, the human heart grew green moss. All things were so, once fallen, forever evil!

Sun Yin did not move, only reached his hand forward, covering his own face with his palm parallel, then lightly flipped, as if thereby flipping this world—

Just as they were fighting intensely, escalating the battle further, suddenly a figure descended from above. Face up and back down, limbs splayed out, smashing onto the ground! A loud bang echoed at the end of the long street, smashing out a deep human-shaped dent on the street stones.

A dog skin hat flew powerlessly in the air.

His black mask was actually intact, but it was firmly pressed down by a hand.

It was precisely this hand that protected his mask, pressed his face, pressed his head into the ground, and pressed his whole person into the stone street!

And the owner of this hand was a black-robed person who landed on the long street simultaneously, half-squatting.

This person’s aura was extremely cold, their gaze like iron.

They wore a completely black mask, only exposing their eyes and mouth, with a grim white door painted on their forehead. Inside the grim white door, blood characters were printed… “Bian Cheng”!

He was just like this, pressing down the protector of Ping Deng Guo, Chu Xu, half-squatting at the end of the long street, lifting his eyes towards here, and coldly saying, “I say, I’m not disturbing you all, am I?”

Qin Guang Wang’s curse voice hadn’t stopped, at this time instead becoming more and more intense. He strode forward, but between him and Sun Yin, there seemed to be an eternal chasm.

And Sun Yin, maintaining the posture of flipping his palm towards Qin Guang Wang, turned his body back and looked towards the suddenly appearing Bian Cheng Wang, his tone with some surprise. “You actually still dare to come up?”

Not only actively coming up, but also bringing Chu Xu, who was patrolling the Li Guo border. These people from Wu Men Tian Zi Dia, who dared to take assassination tasks in Jing Guo, were either blindly confident or had dog guts reaching the sky.

Facing such a powerful contemporary True Person, Bian Cheng Wang’s posture remained cold, only saying, “After killing Dong Zhen with one sword, I am indeed a bit more confident.”

Chu Xu’s voice under the mask sounded with difficulty, “Your Excellency, we have no grievances in the past, no enmity recently, why must you press my face to show off?”

He could still make a sound, which meant his life was safe and sound.

The fact that he made a sound was precisely a manifestation of his intelligence—he completely understood why Bian Cheng Wang had not killed him, and had even thoughtfully not lifted his mask, protecting his hidden hardship.

He also wanted to let Bian Cheng Wang know that this considerateness was useful.

“Sorry,” Bian Cheng Wang replied coldly in a tone that was not at all apologetic. “Just convenient.”

Sun Yin asked flatly, “You don’t think threatening me is useful, do you? We protectors, who fears sacrifice for our ideals? After he dies, you can go bury him.”

“Cough!” Chu Xu, being pressed into the pit, hurriedly said, “But, well, if unnecessary sacrifice, we can also avoid it.”

The previous Chu Xu had died very casually; he at least had to do something before dying, right?

Until this time, Li Guo’s city guard army finally urgently assembled, and various experts finally arrived late.

But seeing the sky full of flying green lights and the posture of the person with the tiger head mask lifting his palm to flip the sky, who dared to step forward again?

Only a figure in a wide robe with large sleeves and a jade belt holding a folding fan diagonally inserted, stepped forward, rapidly approaching the battlefield!

Li Guo’s prodigy, Fan Wu Shu!

He was still only at the peak of the Wai Lou realm, his cultivation even inferior to Chu Xu, who was being pressed into the broken stone pit, and he had absolutely no qualification to intervene in such a battlefield. But his clothes sleeves were like flags, his momentum forward without shrinking.

“Young Master, stay!” Someone shouted to stop him. “You are a body of a thousand gold, the hope of the nation, you cannot lightly risk danger!”

Fan Wu Shu did not turn his head. “Others are fighting chaotically in our nation’s capital. Even if the people of Li Guo are powerless to intervene, how can no one watch!?”