Heavenly Jewel Change Chapter 181-190

Chapter 181 Tian’er, I love you!

This was also not because he had such high regard for Zhou Weiqing, or placed so much importance on him. It was because he could not have his face thrown like that. He had set the rules, and under his watch, Gu Site had still dared to do such a thing. That was tantamount to slapping the face of the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord. How could he possibly continue on with this competition?

“Master.” With a loud thud, Gu Yingbing knelt down in front of Xue AoTian, his eyes reddening. “Master, please give me a chance. Since young, I have loved Tian’er for twenty years. I beg you, please give me a chance for this last ﬁght. My father was wrong, and I am willing to apologise for it, apologise to both you and Zhou Weiqing. However, I cannot just let Tian’er go like this, I am not satisﬁed.”

Gu Yingbing could be said to be raised and taught fully by Xue AoTian. Looking at the tears in his eyes, the ugly expression on Xue AoTian’s face eased up. However, since he had already spoken, he would not change it easily. With another cold humph, he waved his sleeve, motioning that they could leave. Gu Site did not expect that Xue AoTian would be so strict, even down to stripping him of his Lion King position. This was the power of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, and in the entire WanShou Empire, only the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord could dominate and control everything.

Although Gu Site was angry inside, he dared not say anything. He was clear that he had already severely angered Xue AoTian. If he continued protesting, even if Xue AoTian killed him or crippled him, the Heavenly Divine Earth Spirit Lion Tribe would not dare say a thing. Currently, his heart was only ﬁlled with sorrow and regret.

Seeing that his Master would not change his mind, all of a sudden, Gu Yingbing turned to Zhou Weiqing. Gritting his teeth, he said: “Zhou Weiqing, my father’s mistake, I will bear it. However, I beg you, please give me a chance to contest you one last time.” As he said that, he suddenly lifted his right hand to grip his left shoulder. Before the surprised looks of all the others present, there was a ripping sound, and he forcefully tore his entire left arm off.

“Yingbing!” Gu Site was shocked. Despite his injuries, he leaped forward to hold his son. Regret ﬁlled every nook and cranny of his mind. He had never imagined that a sudden rash decision of his would result in his son paying such a price. Seeing Gu Yingbing do something like that, even Long Shiya’s expression changed. Clearly, Gu Yingbing truly loved Tian’er, and it was not just a matter of the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord position.

Do not think that just because they had the Divine Attribute, they would be able to regrow his arm. That was an impossible feat. Even if they could re-attach his arm, the damage to his nerves and meridians could never be fully repaired. That was to say – Gu Yingbing’s actions had fully severed his future chance of ever reaching the Heavenly God Tier stage. No matter how hard he worked in the future, his future would only be the Heavenly Emperor stage.

Gu Yingbing stood up slowly, but he did not reveal any signs of pain. His eyes staring into Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, he said solemnly: “You are able to come all the way up to the Heavenly Snow Mountain to ﬁght for Tian’er, and I can see that you truly love Tian’er as well. However, I feel the same way. I do not wish to lose to you for some other reasons. Please give me a ﬁnal chance to compete with you. If you win, and Tian’er is willing to go with you, then the betrothal between myself and Tian’er is nulliﬁed. However, if you lose, then I ask that you do not tangle with her any longer. Even if she does not love me now, I will use my own love and feelings to touch her heart.” Seeing Gu Yingbing’s stubborn gaze, Zhou Weiqing’s eyes sparked with respect. Nodding to him solemnly, he said: “Although you are my love rival, I have to admit that you are truly worthy of respect. I agree. Let us use this ﬁnal round to determine the ﬁnal victor. However, before the third round

begins, ﬁx your arm ﬁrst. Otherwise, I will not feel happy with such a victory.”

Xue AoTian looked at Gu Yingbing, then sighed softly. “Child, why torture yourself like this?” As he said that, he waved his hand, and the torn arm at the side ﬂew into his grip. Carefully, he attached it back to Gu Yingbing’s shoulder, and in a brilliant ﬂash of gold, he personally started healing his disciple.

The Tiger King Xue Aoying watched from the side, nodding to himself inside. Compared to Gu Site, he approved of Gu Yingbing far more. No wonder Big Bro was willing to accept him as disciple and was willing to pass him the position of Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord in the future. Alas, it looks like everything has changed now. Who would imagine things would have turned out this way today?

The healing did not take too long; with Xue AoTian’s powerful Heavenly God Tier energy, it did not take long for him to reattach Gu Yingbing’s arm. Of course, even he was not able to fully heal the arm, and it would be a long time before he could even use it normally. Gu Yingbing would have to spend time to nourish it with his own Heavenly Energy for it to resume some working in the future, but it would never be the same again.

Xue AoTian looked at Gu Yingbing, then back at Zhou Weiqing, and he said solemnly: “No matter which of you becomes my son-in-law, I am very satisﬁed already. Alright, this last test will no longer be held by me. After all, you will be contesting to be Tian’er’s husband, so I will have her make the ﬁnal choice.”

Hearing those words, Gu Yingbing was extremely anxious. He knew how important Zhou Weiqing was to Tian’er, and if she was the one to make the choice, he would have no chance at all.

Naturally, Xue AoTian could see Gu Yingbing’s face change. Solemnly, he said: “Yingbing, do not be so anxious. This time, I am having Tian’er make the choice under a particular circumstance. I have temporarily Sealed Tian’er’s memories, and she only has her own instincts. Under such a circumstance, each of you has ﬁve minutes to profess your love to her, to use your words to move her. In the end, whoever she chooses will be her husband. This time, there is nothing to do with your cultivation level or ﬁghting capabilities, but whether or not Tian’er can accept you.”

Hearing Xue AoTian’s words, Gu Yingbing ﬁnally calmed down. Both he and Zhou Weiqing exchanged glances, their eyes ﬁlled with ﬁghting spirit. Neither of them would give up easily. Five minutes. They only had ﬁve minutes of time. Immediately, both of them lapsed into deep thought, thinking how they would use their words to move Tian’er.

Xue AoTian gave the Tiger King a signal, hinting him to keep watch of Gu Site and not allow him to cause anymore trouble. He then turned around and left the cavern, clearly going to bring Tian’er here.

The icy cavern turned silent once more. Long Shiya did not interrupt Zhou Weiqing. This ﬁnal test was a ﬁght between their charisma and attraction.

Zhou Weiqing closed his eyes, standing there silently. In his mind, the images of all his interactions with Tian’er ﬂashed by. There were sweet memories, warm memories, but also pain and suffering. Yet, all those were the memories between them! Zhou Weiqing was clear that if he truly wanted to move Tian’er, he could only depend on those memories. So what if they were Sealed away, that did not mean anything! Zhou Weiqing had conﬁdence that he could Awaken her.

It did not take long for Xue AoTian to return. When he came back, not only did he have Tian’er along with him, but also a beautiful, black clad middle aged woman.

Black was considered a taboo colour in the Heavenly Snow Mountain. The reason why Long Shiya wore black was because he was using it as a provocation to Xue AoTian. For this middle aged beauty together with Xue AoTian to wear black, her status must be quite unique.

As for Zhou Weiqing, he instantly recognized the middle aged lady to be Tian’er’s mother, the Entropic Nether Tiger, Phelia. Of course, this was her in human form now.

He quickly took a step forward, bowing respectfully: “Hello, Aunty.”

Phelia smiled faintly but did not say anything, remaining beside Xue AoTian, with her arms wrapped around Tian’er’s shoulders gently. No one else could imagine that this black clad beauty was actually a Heavenly God Tier powerhouse, no lesser than Xue AoTian or Long Shiya.

Zhou Weiqing’s gaze ﬂew from Phelia to Tian’er. Currently, she was dressed in her usual white gown, but her brilliant and moving purple eyes had lost all lustre. Zhou Weiqing had not seen Tian’er in such a long time, and seeing her so suddenly, he could not help but feel his eyes water.

Tian’er had lost weight… indeed, it was all his fault! She had actually lost so much weight. Originally, she had been buxom and well curved, but now she looked so emaciated, her face pale like she had gone through a major illness. Even her perfect skin had lost its usual glow and radiance.

Although they had not spoken, Zhou Weiqing could clearly sense that in this period of time, Tian’er had suffered so much. It was all because of him! Zhou Weiqing was ﬁlled with hate, hatred towards himself for not being able to protect Tian’er, that he had caused such a girl to suffer so much silently. In that moment, Zhou Weiqing set his resolve that he would not part with Tian’er here, even if he had to die here.

Seeing Tian’er, Gu Yingbing’s expression was agitated. He knew that this was his last chance to hold on to his ﬁancee, to continue being together with Tian’er. It all depended on the next ﬁve minutes. In truth, he did not have much conﬁdence in his heart, but he would never give up. Even if it was with his own lifeblood, he would ﬁght for every last possible chance.

Xue AoTian brought his daughter to the center of the cavern, turning to the two youths as he said: “In a moment, I will give each of you ﬁve minutes. As you each have your turn, the other will not be able to listen in. I will use my Heavenly Energy to block the other from listening. Since Yingbing is originally Tian’er’s ﬁance, he will go ﬁrst. Zhou Weiqing, do you have any objections?” Zhou Weiqing shook his head without hesitation, his gaze not leaving Tian’er’s face. “I believe in Tian’er. Besides myself, Tian’er will never fall for anyone else. If anyone can evoke her memories, it will only be me.”

Xue AoTian gave him a long searching look before turning back to Gu Yingbing. “Yingbing, this is your last chance. Although I know that you were originally Tian’er’s ﬁance and all of today’s tests may seem unfair to you… I have no choice but to admit that some of Zhou Weiqing’s words had been right earlier. I have not been a good father, and I have never really thought of her interests deep enough. As such, this time, in the ﬁnal choice, I want to leave the choice to her. I do not want her to suffer for the rest of her life. Do you know? This time, Tian’er had already made the preparation to marry you in order to cement to alliance between the relationship between the Heavenly Snow Mountain and the Lion Tribe… and then she would leave us forever… permanently. This is not something I wish to see. If today you can move Tian’er with your words and get her to choose you, then I will not unSeal her memories, and let her be your wife like this. Otherwise, Master can only say sorry to you. I hope you can understand.”

Gu Yingbing saw the hint of apology in Xue AoTian’s eyes, and nodded gravely. “Master, I can understand your feelings. I will do my best.”

Xue AoTian nodded and said: “Alright, let us begin then. I will give you ﬁve minutes ﬁrst.” As he said that, Xue AoTian raised his right hand, and a layer of faint gold light spread out, enveloping the family of three along with Gu Yingbing.

On the outside, Zhou Weiqing and Long Shiya could not hear anything, but they could still clearly see what was going on inside.

Five minutes. The last ﬁve minutes that would decide if he could spend the rest of his life with his love. In that instant, Gu Yingbing’s forehead was ﬁlled with sweat. Even when he had torn off his own arm earlier, he did not have such an expression, his eyes ﬁlled with hope, yet more unease and anxiety.

Taking a small step forward, Gu Yingbing knelt before Tian’er on a single knee. Right at that moment, Xue AoTian also released his spiritual control over Tian’er, allowing her to resume consciousness.

“Tian’er, it is me. I am your Big Bro Gu!” Gu Yingbing said softly. Tian’er looked vacantly at Gu Yingbing. Currently, her heart was at a loss, with most of her memory vanished. She only had the memory of everything before ﬁve years old, as well as her base instincts.

Originally, Xue AoTian had already set his resolve to allow Tian’er to marry Zhou Weiqing. However, when he saw Gu Yingbing tear off his own arm, it had affected him greatly. After all, Gu Yingbing was the disciple that he had raised all these years, and his actions proved that he truly loved Tian’er. Who was to say that Yingbing could not bring happiness to Tian’er? At least, he was not such a ‘playboy’ like Zhou Weiqing.

As such, Xue AoTian had decided to leave Tian’er with a ﬁve year old memory. This also meant that she would know who Gu Yingbing was, but not who Zhou Weiqing was. Without question, this gave Gu Yingbing an obvious advantage.

Towards her husband’s decision, the Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia did not say anything, allowing him to do as he wished.

“Big Bro Gu.” A tender voice rang out from Tian’er, sounding so moving and sweet to Gu Yingbing’s ears. Gu Yingbing was overjoyed, moving forward slightly in excitement. “Tian’er, it is me! I am your Big Bro Gu! Big Bro Gu loves you so much, do you remember? I brought you to catch those little snow wolves, you were so scared then, just not long ago. You promised Big Bro Gu that when you grow old, you will

become Big Bro Gu’s wife. You won’t go back on your word right?”

Tian’er looked absently at Gu Yingbing. “Become Big Bro Gu’s wife? But… Big Bro Gu, why have you become so old?”

Gu Yingbing started. Even Xue AoTian was helplessly left not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Indeed, he had only left his daughter with her memory of ﬁve years. However, that also meant that she had regressed to a mental age of ﬁve.

Now… at thirty years old, how could Gu Yingbing possibly looks like when he was ﬁfteen?

After a dazed moment, Gu Yingbing quickly said: “Because Big Bro Gu and Tian’er have both grown up!

“Papa, I am a bit scared. Big Bro Gu… he seems to have changed.” Tian’er muttered. Xue AoTian gently stroked his daughter’s hair. In that instant, he seemed to see the precious young daughter who had also stuck by his side, unwilling to part from him. Every time he entered closed door cultivation, she would pout and stare at him unwillingly. In that moment, his heart was ﬁlled with love and tenderness.

“Tian’er, then do you like your Big Bro Gu? Big Bro Gu treats you so well, will you be his wife?”

“I like Big Bro Gu.” Tian’er said without hesitation. “Big Bro Gu always protects me, so I like him!” Hearing her words, tears streamed down Gu Yingbing’s face in joy. “I… I… right? Let me always protect you forever.”

Tian’er blinked innocently. “But… liking Big Bro Gu means I have to marry Big Bro Gu? Papa, I do not understand.”

Gu Yingbing froze, the hope that had suddenly blazed in his heart crushed in such a massively heavy blow. He could only stare at Tian’er dazedly. For a while, he did not know what to say. Currently, she was just like a little girl, and no matter what he said, she would not leave her father’s arms to enter his. Zhou Weiqing was watching from outside the shield of light. The expression on his face was calm and conﬁdent, but in truth, his hands were gripped tightly in ﬁsts. In this ﬁnal moment, how could he not be nervous? No matter how much conﬁdence he had, how could it be absolute?

Although he saw that Tian’er was speaking, and that Gu Yingbing’s expression grew more ﬂurried and anxious, Zhou Weiqing did not grow relaxed at all.

Five minutes, why did it seem so slow!

It was as if an entire century had passed before Gu Yingbing ﬁnally seemed to be unable to control himself, standing up and moving right in front of Tian’er, pouring out his heart. Alas for him, almost at the same time, the Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia, who had been standing beside Xue AoTian, suddenly gave a soft sigh, clapping her husband’s shoulder. The ﬁve minutes was now up.

The gold light vanished, and Gu Yingbing was still standing there crying out anxiously: “Tian’er, I am your Big Bro Gu who will protect you forever! Why won’t you marry me? Big Bro Gu won’t force you, let me hug you please? Just like when we were young.” However, Tian’er seemed to be in a fright, refusing to leave her father’s arms as she clung tight to him, not even looking at Gu Yingbing.

At this point, the Lion King Gu Site’s face was ashen. Looking at his son, he sighed and said softly: “Foolish child, you were too anxious and impatient. Even if you had a chance, you have thrown it away now.” As the saying goes, ‘a bystander sees things with a clear mind’. Seeing his son’s anxious and ﬂurried look, and looking at Tian’er who had lost most of her memory and was in a fragile state. Being pressed like that, how could she not be afraid?

“Yingbing, enough. If Zhou Weiqing does not gain Tian’er’s approval, you will have a second chance later.” Xue AoTian sighed, trying to comfort him.

Gu Yingbing’s body swayed, his face paling suddenly. With a

*Wah* sound, he suddenly vomited out a mouthful of blood as he staggered back a few steps. He suddenly felt like Tian’er was leaving him further and further. If not for the Tiger King Xue Aoying quickly stepping forward to support him, he would have fallen to the ground.

Xue AoTian turned his gaze to Zhou Weiqing. To be honest, he did not wish to see this sight, the precious disciple that he had raised and groomed with all his effort, now taking such a huge blow from his daughter. Worse still, he might not be able to get back up from this setback. All of this was because of this young man in front of him, Zhou Weiqing. No matter how outstanding and talented he was, how could he easily replace Gu Yingbing in Xue AoTian’s heart, whom he had raised since

young! As such, Xue AoTian’s heart was truly complicated.

“It is your turn.” Xue AoTian said calmly to Zhou Weiqing.

Zhou Weiqing nodded, moving to ﬁve yards from Tian’er before he stopped. At this moment, his ﬁsts unclenched again, as he gazed tenderly at her.

Unlike Gu Yingbing, he did not seem agitated at all. On the contrary, he just stood there, staring at Tian’er calmly. Currently, Zhou Weiqing had already changed to a fresh new set of clothes, and he had reined in all his Heavenly Energy, not a hint of aura leaking out. He just stood there simply, looking at Tian’er, his gaze tender and clearly ﬁlled with love.

Originally hiding in her father’s embrace, Tian’er seemed to sense something, and she slowly lifted her head to look at Zhou Weiqing. In that instant when her gaze ﬁnally met his, her entire body trembled slightly. Although she still seemed puzzled and confused, her heart had somehow started racing. This strange looking person in front of her, whom she had no memory of, was somehow tugging at her heartstrings.

At the beginning, her gaze was trying to escape, until it slowly turned dull and sluggish. Tian’er just continued staring back at Zhou Weiqing, as if trying very hard to remember something, yet just being unable to do so. Slowly, a pained expression crossed her beautiful features.

“Fat Cat.” Zhou Weiqing said softly.

In that instant, amongst the entire group gathered there, four people froze at once.

As everyone knew, tigers were part of the cat family, perhaps the strongest amongst the cat family. Amongst the entire group, four of them were tigers! Besides Tian’er, the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord Xue AoTian, the Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia, and the Tiger King Xue Aoying, weren’t they all of a Tiger bloodline? With that single phrase ‘Fat Cat’, the three of them almost vomited blood out. The three powerhouses’ faces turned strange, especially Xue AoTian, whose face was twitching uncontrollably.

At the side, Long Shiya was trying to force a smirk down, as he looked at Xue AoTian with a strange expression on his face. Musing to himself: Fat Cat, Fat Cat, what a good phrase to use. Perhaps I should start calling Old Monster Xue that as well?

However, the same two words had a totally different feeling in Tian’er’s ears. Just like a heavy warhammer, smashing right into the closed and locked doors of her heart, causing her entire body to tremble violently. In her entire life, only Zhou Weiqing had called her that, and it was how he had called her in those few years they had spent together.

As Gu Yingbing had already failed, Xue AoTian had neglected to raise the sound barrier once more. As such, all present had actually heard Zhou Weiqing’s words.

Tian’er continued looking at Zhou Weiqing, her gaze turning from blank, to dazed, to a strange struggle. She was trying so hard to remember, to remember why this stranger in front of her looked so familiar, yet she did not remember anything about him. Subconsciously, she felt that this person in front of him should be important to her.

“Do you still remember how we ﬁrst met? You were always so mischievous, yet always loving to hide in my embrace.” Zhou Weiqing said softly. His voice was gentle, yet seemed to be ﬁlled with a strange magic, every word striking deep into Tian’er’s heart.

“Haha. I still remember the ﬁrst time I beat your buttocks. Although you were still a tiny little white tiger then, but your little buttocks were still so round and soft, anyone would be unwilling to let go.” Not far away, Gu Yingbing vomited out another mouthful of blood, as he stared angrily at Zhou Weiqing.

Xue AoTian’s expression also turned ugly. He truly wanted to send a slap into that little brat’s face! His daughter’s buttocks had been touched by this stinking little brat when she was in her main form!

The Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia was still standing at the side, covering her mouth as she smiled faintly. She couldn’t help but think to herself, no wonder this naughty little brat was able to attract her daughter. His bad boy look was easy to attract attention indeed. “At that time, I still did not understand why you were struggling so much. Weren’t you just a little tiger, what’s the big deal about touching you. At last, only after looking did I realise that you were a little female tiger.”

“Waah* Gu Yingbing vomited another mouthful of blood. This time, he couldn’t take it anymore, his entire body swaying as he fainted, before being caught by Xue Aoying.

“Bastard, are you trying to die? If you continue talking like that, you better get lost!” Xue AoTian was also unable to hold back any longer, and he growled angrily at Zhou Weiqing. He was starting to regret giving that stinking little brat any chance, such a wretched brat!

Long Shiya looked at Xue AoTian’s angrily face and he laughed heartily, saying: “This has nothing to do with me, it is his previous teacher who taught him that.”

It was as if Zhou Weiqing did not hear their words. All this while, his gaze was still ﬁxed upon Tian’er. Gently, he continued: “Later on, I still gave you a bath, and that time you struggled even harder. After that, you kept ignoring me for days. Yet, even then, you still did not leave me. From your body, I could vaguely sense some energy reverberations. Later on, many people told me that Tiger type Heavenly Beasts were the top tier amongst all Heavenly Beasts. By then, I already knew that you had your own goals and reasons for staying by my side.”

“Your goal was this… right?” As he said that, Zhou Weiqing waved his hands, the two glowing triangles once more, stacking, and in moments he had once again summoned his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation.

The concentrated light seemed to draw Tian’er’s attention, causing her eyes to dull slightly momentarily. The next instant, within the glow of six lights, only two auras remained. Time and Demonic. The two Saint Attributes!

Instantly, Tian’er’s body froze, before she started trembling even more. Subconsciously, her hands raised as well, gold and purple ﬂickering in them. The Divine and Spirit Attributes rose up, mingling with the Demonic and Time Attributes of Zhou Weiqing.

They had after all once had intimate relationship, and in that time the four Saint Attributes had gone through a major fusion. Even before that, they had cultivated and trained many times with the four Saint Attributes. In that moment, the attraction between their Attributes and Heavenly Energy was far stronger than anyone else. Even so, as soon as Zhou Weiqing released his two Saint Attributes alone, in that instant, both Xue AoTian and Xue Aoying felt a strong sense of benign warmth, as if they could not wait to step forward to cultivate together with Zhou Weiqing. Of course, due to the sheer gap between their cultivation levels, the feeling was diluted many times over, and they were clear that it was not a huge beneﬁt for them to cultivate with Zhou Weiqing.

Zhou Weiqing slowly walked towards Tian’er, step by step, his hands held out with the two Saint Attributes reverberating around.

As he walked, he continued speaking: “In truth, the time when I truly fell in love with you was on the Heavenly Jewel Island. Originally, I had always been wary of you, as I could sense that you had some purpose and goal for staying by my side. At that time, your cultivation level was far higher than mine, and I dared not do anything to you. However, after the events in the Lustre Spatial Realm of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, my view of you totally changed. After that, when I learned of the demise of my homeland, only you stood by my side. You were even willing to use your most precious possession to ease my despair and hurt. If not for you, I do not know how I could have walked out from that state of depression.” At that time, although my heart was mostly ﬁlled with vengeance, I could still clearly sense that it had also been seized by you. Tian’er, do you still remember? Just because you did not want to cause any further trouble for me, and you left me that letter before sneaking away. You signed off with ‘Your Tian’er, your Fat Cat.’, along with that last question. Now that I have ﬁnally seen you again, I must tell you those words that I owe you, the words that I failed to tell you long ago.”

As he spoke up to this point, he had ﬁnally reached Tian’er. Tears poured down uncontrollably from his eyes. A man does not easily show his tears, only if his heart is truly broken. His hands slowly grasped onto Tian’er’s hands, and in that moment, the four Saint Attributes swirled around, above their heads, without any sign of rejection or exclusion, as if they belonged together. Almost instantly, they seemed to fuse together, forming a four-coloured whirlpool spinning right over their heads.

“Tian’er, I love you.” As he spoke, Zhou Weiqing was already sobbing.

A spark seemed to enter the dazed orbs of Tian’er. As light slowly returned to them, a faint purple mist emitted from her head, and her body began trembling violently. Tears started streaming down her cheeks like the pearls from a broken necklace, following the curve of her cheek before dropping down.

“Tian’er, I love you. I am your Little Fatty! Please wake up!” Zhou Weiqing called out as he sobbed. His voice was not loud, but at that moment, it infected everyone present.

Gu Yingbing had managed to rouse from his faint with the Tiger King Xue Aoying’s help, just in time to see this sight. His already pale face turned even whiter, and he closed his eyes in pain.

“Little Fatty, my Little Fatty… Little Fatty, Little Fatty!” Light seemed to spring from Tian’er’s beautiful eyes, and with a sob, she sprang forward abruptly, her arms encircling Zhou Weiqing’s neck as she burst into tears.

At last, Tian’er had awoken, The faint cloud of purple mist was the Seal that Xue AoTian had used to Seal her memories.

Zhou Weiqing’s imprint in her heart was too deep, just too deep. How could a mere simple memory seal work to remove it? Zhou Weiqing’s words, the four Saint Attributes, all of it allowed the seed of memory to grow once more. The young couple who loved each other deeply, after all their trials and tribulations, they ﬁnally embraced each other again.

In that moment, all words and descriptions were useless, only the deep feelings and emotions, as if they were melding into one another’s body, tying their hearts together, forever.

The ugly expression on Xue AoTian’s face slowly relaxed. Sensing the feelings of his daughter bursting out like crazy, he knew that things were already set in stone.

At that moment, his hand was suddenly grasped by Phelia, who said: “Just wish them well… For our daughter to be able to ﬁnd true love, it is her fortune. Just like originally when we met each other. Although we had no choice but to separate for twenty years, although we also went through our own trials and tribulations, but I will never regret it. AoTian, hold me.”

The feelings that Xue AoTian had hidden deep in his heart for twenty years also burst forth, and he pulled his wife in for a deep hug. At that moment, his eyes were moist.

Long Shiya was beaming from ear to ear. Before coming up the Heavenly Snow Mountain, he had estimated that their chance of success was less than ten percent. However, they had done it, they had succeeded. It was not Zhou Weiqing’s cultivation level, power, ﬁghting ability or his bloodline, or even his teachings that had won the day… it was an invincible strength in the world – Love!

“Father.” After some time, Tian’er ﬁnally lifted her head from Zhou Weiqing’s chest. Looking at her parents in their own embrace, she leaped over to them, hugging them as well. Looking at this woman in front of her that she did not recognize, her beautiful face was ﬁlled with a sudden joy. Love, both of intimacy and kinship, this was what the world spun around for… and at this moment, she had ﬁnally received both of them at once. Currently, Tian’er felt like she was overwhelmed with joy, all the suffering that she had once undergone evaporating.

Xue AoTian held out an arm, enveloping his daughter into their joined embrace. At this point, he wished he could hold his wife and daughter forever like this, what an amazing thing that would be!

Unknowingly, Long Shiya had somehow appeared behind Zhou Weiqing. Giving him a kick on the buttocks, he said: “Little Fool! What are you still standing there for?!” Only then did Zhou Weiqing rouse to his senses, and he scrambled forward quickly. With a thud, he knelt down before Xue AoTian and Phelia, kowtowing three times. “This little son-in-law, Zhou Weiqing, greets his father in law, mother in law.”

Xue AoTian gave a humph and said: “Stand up. If you let me know that you ever bully my Tian’er… hmph, hmph, you know what will happen.”

Chapter 182 Returning with a beauty!

Zhou Weiqing wiped the tears off his face, smiling joyously as he said: “I can’t wait to dote on her, how could I possibly bear to bully her? Please rest assured.”

Phelia smiled faintly and said: “Rest assured? It isn’t that easy eh, young man, it is not a good habit to spread your love too much.”

Seeing Phelia’s eyes, Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine. He could only smile and nod, not daring to say anything.

Tian’er turned her head, her gaze moving past Zhou Weiqing to land on Gu Yingbing. She pulled back and turned to Gu Yingbing, bowing as she said apologetically: “Big Bro Gu, I am really sorry. I know that you feel for me, and you have always treated me well. However, my heart already has Little Fatty. I am sorry.”

By this time, Gu Yingbing had stood up straight again, his gaze ﬁxed on Zhou Weiqing. He bit his lip and said savagely: “Zhou Weiqing, remember this, it is not done between us. You are currently not strong enough, but you must protect Tian’er well. I will not admit defeat just like this, even if Tian’er marries you, I will not give up so easily.”

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “Bro Gu, if not for the fact that we are love rivals, I think that we can become friends. Thank you for loving and taking care of Tian’er all these years, you are a worthy opponent who can be respected. Even so, I will not give you any chance to steal Tian’er away from me. She is mine, this life, the next life, and forever.”

In that instant, Zhou Weiqing seemed to be giving forth an indescribable glowing power and presence. There were three Heavenly Emperor stage powerhouses and two Heavenly God Tier powerhouses present, but at that moment, it was as if Zhou Weiqing was the center of attention.

Originally, the lights of the four Saint Attribute which had been whirling above Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er’s heads suddenly fused together, forming a faint white light pillar which enclosed Zhou Weiqing, causing his entire body to give forth a light of treasure. Right in the middle of his forehead, a white stripe appeared.

This was longer an ordinary tattoo, perhaps using the phrase ‘line of god’ would be more apt. The white line seemed to form the ‘King’ word, yet like a dragon encircling it, with the outer circle of white light. Such a strange sensation, everyone around could feel it. At the same time, all the environmental energy of the entire icy cavern started rushing towards Zhou Weiqing’s body crazily.

“This… this is…” Not even Xue AoTian understood what Zhou Weiqing was going through. Only the Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia’s eyes widened in shock.

“Heaven and Earth Primary Tide! How is this possible… how could it be?!” Phelia exclaimed

Xue AoTian looked at his wife in surprise. “Heaven and Earth Primary Tide? What is that?” Without hesitation, Phelia replied: “Only for one that ascends above the Heavenly Dao will have the ability to summon and endure the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide. So, it seems that the legends of old were actually true… The gathering of the Four Saint Attributes can truly cause a miracle that transforms the heavens! After going through this baptism of ﬁre of the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide, his spiritual senses will transcend to Divine Senses, and he will be nearly immune to all forms of spiritual suppression. Furthermore, due to the fact his Divine Spirit will be far above his own Heavenly Energy, his future cultivation will be even faster. Even his body will slowly evolve to be above the Heavenly Dao Stage.” In truth, there were other reasons added together coinciding in this change that Zhou Weiqing was experiencing, and it wasn’t just as simple as Phelia mentioned. Otherwise, since Tian’er was also bathed in the whirlpool of the Four Saint Attributes, how did it not have the same effect on her.

Ever since Zhou Weiqing had bathed in the lava of the Fire Spirit Mountain, he had entered a unique state of cultivation. The fusion of the Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit and his Dark Demon God Tiger bloodline was already an existence that surpassed the Heavenly Dao. The reason was simple, both Dragons and the Dark Demon God Tigers could be considered existences that were at the maximum of the Heavenly God Tier, pushing beyond even. No matter how one looked at it, these two should never be possible to fuse together. Yet, someone Zhou Weiqing had done it, and it had been because of the Four Saint Attributes fusion he had gone through that allowed it.

When that fusion completed, it had already brought Zhou Weiqing’s new bloodline to a whole new level, a state that deﬁed the heavens.

That was not to say that Zhou Weiqing would suddenly become invincible or reach the Heavenly God Tier instantly. It was that his body and talent now had the strong potential to surpass the Heavenly God Tier in the future. Towards this point, even Long Shiya had not been able to make a judgement, let alone Zhou Weiqing.

After all that, Zhou Weiqing had then started training in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Formation, even going so far as to create his own Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation. That had allowed his connection to the world’s energies to grow even stronger, to bring him closer to nature; his body and Heavenly Energy both evolving in a qualitative change. Originally, at that time, Zhou Weiqing already had the potential to bring about the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide. However, at that time, Zhou Weiqing’s mind and heart had not been in harmony and understanding, ﬁlled with thoughts and worry about Tian’er. Furthermore, without the burst of energy from the fusion of the Four Saint Attributes, there was no push in aiding him breaking past the shackles of the heavens, and he could only remain status quo.

However, just in that previous instant, he had already succeeded in gaining back Tian’er. As he held her hands, the fusion of the four Saint Attributes had burst forth in power. With his mind and heart ﬁnally in harmony, along with all the previous conditions fulﬁlled, it had actually abruptly brought about the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide. From this moment on, the Heavenly God Tier’s door was already ofﬁcially wide open to Zhou Weiqing. That was to say, in his future cultivation, no matter the Heavenly King Stage, Heavenly Emperor Stage or Heavenly God Stage, there should be no large bottlenecks for him. Especially with the aid of the Four Saint Attributes, if he stayed together cultivating with Tian’er, there was the real possibility of him surpassing even the Heavenly God Tier stage… the Heavenly Jewel Change!

Even Xue AoTian couldn’t help but reveal a strong envy on his face has he looked upon the white light surrounding Zhou Weiqing… let alone the others.

However, no one dared interrupt Zhou Weiqing, even as Long Shiya stood anxiously not far from him. Zhou Weiqing was still undergoing the baptism of the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide, and all the powerhouses in the area, even those hidden Heavenly Beasts of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, were beneﬁting a lot from the fallout effects.

More than ﬁve minutes passed before the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide ﬁnally subsided. Zhou Weiqing’s originally bronzed skin now shone with an inner glow. Even stranger were his eyes, now black and shiny as a precious gem, his gaze deep and profound yet without any ﬁre. If one were to look closely, it gave an impression of unbelievable clarity and pureness.

The Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia looked at her son-in-law to be, a glow in her eyes. Only when the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide did she take a step forward and say: “Weiqing, do not forget the agreement between you and me.”

Zhou Weiqing nodded immediately: “Mother-in-law, do not worry, I remember it clearly.”

Phelia smiled faintly before turning her gaze to Tian’er. Her eyes turned gentle and loving, tears brimming as she said softly: “Tian’er, my child, can Mummy hug you, please?”

“Mummy?” Even though Tian’er had been with Phelia earlier, her memories had been Sealed and her consciousness suppressed. As such, she had not learned about Phelia. Now that she had regained her memories, she had vaguely guessed the importance of Phelia, but hearing her actually say the words, Tian’er couldn’t help but tremble uncontrollably.

From a young age, ever since she could remember anything, she only had her father, and not her mother. Seeing all those Heavenly Beasts having their mothers, she was so envious. Now that she ﬁnally met her own mother, she somehow did not know what to do or what to say.

Besides excitement, her inner heart was also dazed and confused. Perhaps, if not for Zhou Weiqing’s and the joy it had brought her, Tian’er might not even be able to accept Phelia. After all, for twenty whole years, Phelia had never even appeared once. If one were to say that Xue AoTian was not a great father, then Phelia was not even a passable mother.

However, currently Tian’er was in a state of joy and fortune from reuniting with Zhou Weiqing, and even the slight hatred she had felt for her mother was washed away.

Slowly, in a trembling voice, Tian’er said: “Mother… why… why do you not want Tian’er!”

Hearing those words, Phelia could no longer control herself. Taking an abrupt step forward, she enveloped Tian’er in her embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.

Xue AoTian quickly hugged both mother and daughter, and the family of three was immersed in a mix of sadness and joy, locked in embrace. Gu Yingbing looked deeply at Zhou Weiqing, but he did not say anything further. Turning around, he supported his father, and with the aid of the Tiger King Xue Aoying, they silently left.

It could be said that this time, the arrival of Long Shiya and Zhou Weiqing had caused the entire WanShou Empire to be thrown into disarray, their entire ruling structure in a mess. Gu Yingbing would no longer be able to inherit the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord position, and the Lion King Gu Site had also been stripped of his title of King, at least within the next month. For a short period of time at least, the entire WanShou Empire would be thrown into turbulence. However, no matter what the future lay for them, it would no longer have any connection with Zhou Weiqing.

Long Shiya stood beside his precious disciple, a faint smile on his face. This ending was perhaps the best possible ending for him, and he placed a fat palm on Zhou Weiqing’s shoulder, silently giving him a big thumbs up.

Without question, without Long Shiya, Zhou Weiqing would not even have the chance to ascend the Heavenly Snow Mountain, with neither the ability or right to do so. However, after that, everything else today had been the result of his own efforts and hard work. From setting up the entire scene, to provoking Xue AoTian and sparking that fatherly love in his heart, to the three rounds where he had spent his all in defeating Gu Yingbing… It could be said that Zhou Weiqing had far surpassed all of Long Shiya’s expectations and hopes. That was without even talking about him going through the Heaven and Earth Primary Tide and his limitless possibilities in the future.

…

The entire Heavenly Snow Mountain was soon thrown into a massive shock. The Lion Prince Gu Yingbing and the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord daughter’s wedding had been called off without warning, causing all the Tribe Leaders who had come as guests to be totally surprised. However, due to the authority and power of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, no one dared to say anything. Under the command of the Tiger King Xue Aoying, the Tribe Leaders slowly left silently. Of course, no one dared attempt to retrieve back the gifts they had brought…

Zhou Weiqing and Long Shiya were arranged to stay in the Heavenly Snow Mountain for a time. It was such a rare chance that Phelia was able to return, and she wanted to spend every second with her husband and daughter, and even Zhou Weiqing had to be placed behind in the ‘queue’. Besides a few short chances to see Tian’er every day, he spent most of his time in his own room cultivating. Naturally, he would not mind that too much. He had already done whatever he could have done, succeeded in everything he had come to do, and it was time to slowly wait patiently to reap the beneﬁts.

On the third day that Zhou Weiqing and Long Shiya had arrived at the Heavenly Snow Mountain, the entire mountain had ﬁnally quietened down as all the wedding guests had ﬁnally left. Phelia had also left silently, as she had her own responsibilities as a Guardian to tend to, and could not disappear for too long.

When Zhou Weiqing ﬁnally saw Tian’er again, her eyes were red from crying about her mother’s leaving. Although they had only been together for three days, after listening to her explanations and apologies, she had quickly forgiven Phelia. It was not all Phelia’s fault, but that set of responsibility was just too heavy.

“Little Fatty, Father is looking for you.” Tian’er stood at the entrance of Zhou Weiqing’s room, calling him lightly. Zhou Weiqing leapt to his feat, swiftly holding Tian’er in his arms and planting a kiss on her lips without warning. “So fragrant! Dearest, what is my Lord Father-in-Law looking for me for?”

Tian’er was originally full of sorrow from her mother’s leaving, but with Zhou Weiqing messing around, she couldn’t help but blush a deep red, and the sorrow in her heart lessened slightly.

“How would I know what Father is looking for you for. You naughty fellow, you’re here in the Heavenly Snow Mountain and you still don’t behave a little.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily, swiping a ﬁnger lightly across her cute nose as he said proudly: “Why should I behave? You are my wife. It is a natural thing for man and wife to be intimate, nothing to be ashamed of!”

Tian’er gave a humph and said: “I haven’t agreed to marry you yet. You have only passed Father’s test, not my test!”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily, giving her a perverted leer as he said softly: “Alright! Tonight I will let you test me all you want, how about that? Heh heh.” Tian’er blushed even deeper, giving Zhou Weiqing’s waist a savage pinch and twist before she said: “When we are still in the Heavenly Snow Mountain, you’re not allowed to do anything funny. Father’s senses extend throughout the entire area.”

Zhou Weiqing blinked innocently and said: “Heh, so that is to say that when we leave the Heavenly Snow Mountain, we can…”

“You terrible fellow, come on let’s go!” Tian’er’s face grew redder, but her eyes were mischievous and delightful, without any hint of rejection. She had always been a bold girl who dared to hate or love, and was also a Heavenly Beast cultivated to Human, without many of the bashfulness that female humans had. Love was love, and she was willing to do anything for the man she loved.

If one were to say that she previously had some ill feelings in her heart about Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er’s relationship, but this time after Zhou Weiqing had come to the Heavenly Snow Mountain at such a huge risk of his life just to snatch her back… such courage and resolution had already proven his love for her. Furthermore, Zhou Weiqing had used his own strength to defeat Gu Yingbing, proving himself even further to her! In Tian’er’s heart, her Little Fatty was already more perfect than her father!

Led by Tian’er, Zhou Weiqing was quickly brought to another icy chamber.

As soon as he entered, he immediately sensed the temperature drop drastically. The entire Heavenly Snow Mountain was already so cold, but this temperature was a whole level colder, and even with his physique and cultivation level, he couldn’t help but shudder slightly.

There was only a single piece of furniture in the entire room, a stone bed. Xue AoTian sat right upon it, and as he saw Tian’er walk into the room with Zhou Weiqing, hand in hand, his expression was gentle.

“Father, I have brought him here.” Tian’er told Xue AoTian.

Xue AoTian looked at Zhou Weiqing and said: “Tian’er, leave us for a while. I have some words to speak to this little brat alone.” Tian’er started momentarily, before she held onto Zhou Weiqing’s hand even tighter. Reproachfully, she said: “Father!”

Xue AoTian said exasperatedly: “A grown girl truly cannot be kept at home anymore… would I hurt him? Go go.”

Tian’er ﬂushed prettily, and she glanced at Zhou Weiqing before leaving reluctantly.

Xue AoTian looked at Zhou Weiqing. His expression was calm and unﬂurried, but from his brow and eyes, Zhou Weiqing could sense a hint of sorrow. Clearly, Phelia’s leaving still left his heart feeling extremely uncomfortable.

“Weiqing, Phelia has told me all about the agreement between you and her. To be honest, if you were an outsider, no matter what price I have to pay, I will groom you to do that. However, you are also Tian’er’s husband, and for my daughter’s sake, well-being and happiness, I will not force you to do so. Tell me, what do you think about the whole matter?”

Hearing Xue AoTian’s words, Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “Sir, Father in Law, my thinking is very simple. I will not take risks.” “Oh?” Xue AoTian arched a brow, looking at him in slight surprise.

Zhou Weiqing continued: “If I do not have absolute conﬁdence, I will not attempt to join in that matter… otherwise it is not only harmful to myself, but to others as well. Not only will it fail to let Mother-in-Law return to your side, Tian’er will also suffer as a widow. Something like that I will deﬁnitely not do. I have chosen to shoulder that responsibility and to work towards it, but I will not attempt it without absolute conﬁdence.”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, Xue AoTian smiled and nodded, saying: “With those words of yours, I can set my mind at ease. You little rascal, you are far more wiser and mature than any of your own age. However, you are trying to take away my daughter, and I cannot bear that as well… so how should we deal with that?”

A strange expression crossed Zhou Weiqing’s face, and he said tentatively: “How about… you come along with Tian’er. I don’t mind having you come along to guide us in cultivating.”

Xue AoTian said exasperatedly: “You’re trying to gain another bruiser to help you? Stop dreaming. Having the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor by your side isn’t enough for you?”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “I’m just joking around. However, Father-in-law, to be honest, aren’t you bored and lonely staying in the Heavenly Snow Mountain all day long just cultivating? As Mother-in-Law has already said, just like my Master does not have any possibility of breaking through to the Heavenly God Tier in his lifetime, you also do not have any possibility of breaking through past the Heavenly God Tier. What is the point of staying shut-in in the Heavenly Snow Mountain? The world outside is so huge, and even if you are already at the Heavenly God Tier, I’m sure you haven’t explored every nook and cranny of the world. Why not come on out and see the world, who knows if you relax and have a change of perspective, enjoy yourself, and it might even have a better effect on your cultivation?”

Xue AoTian started momentarily before laughing in spite of himself. “Only you, little brat, would ever dare to speak to me like that. For me to stay in the Heavenly Snow Mountain… it is not just because of cultivating… more as an awe or threat. Do you really think that the WanShou Empire is that stable? That easy to control? Especially with so many different Tribes? Without the Heavenly Snow Mountain above them all, even the grand WanShou Empire would splinter and break apart before long… and be destroyed.” Zhou Weiqing gave a bitter smile and said: “From a certain perspective, I am still enemies with the WanShou Empire. The war between the WanShou Empire and Humankind has gone on for years, decades, longer than even I know. Every year, countless of lives die, not just humans, but on both sides.

Father in law, is there a need for that?”

Xue AoTian looked at him passively before saying: “In this world, the law of the jungle is the ultimate law of nature. The weak are the prey of the strong, that is life. More importantly, the world needs a certain balance.”

Zhou Weiqing looked at Xue AoTian, puzzled. “Balance?”

Chapter 183 Oops!

Xue AoTian said passively: “Birth, Death, Illness, that is all the circle of life, the law of nature. In any world, the number of living beings that can be supported will always have a limit. For example, one day, if the WanShou Empire does not war with your human empires… your Human Empires will just start in-ﬁghting amongst each other. The death count will be no lesser. Do you understand my meaning?”

Zhou Weiqing scratched his head sheepishly: “Not really.”

Xue AoTian suddenly laughed. “It’s good that you don’t. You are not made out to be a politician, ruler or conqueror. Some things are not good to learn too early. You can leave now, bring Tian’er along, otherwise even if she stays here, her heart is no longer here. Every three years, I want you and Tian’er to return here, I will examine both your cultivation progress.”

Zhou Weiqing was overjoyed. “Thank you Lord Father in Law!”

Xue AoTian smiled faintly and said: “I can see a possible miracle on you, something I never thought I would see in my life. However, I do not wish that this miracle be just a passing or transient ﬂight like the ﬂowering of the broad-leaved epiphyllum. In this world, there are many geniuses and talents, but in the end they amount to nothing. That is because of the word – ‘Pride’.”

“With Fatty Long by your side, I do not have to worry too much about that. I also know that there is much pressure on you from all sides. However, for youths, no pressure means no motivation. I hope that you can let me continue seeing more miracles, until that day when I can no longer interfere in your business. Oh yes. One more thing, both of you are not allowed to appear on the borders of the WanShou Empire any longer. Otherwise, I will personally catch you back and smack your ass.”

“Uhh..” Zhou Weiqing looked at his father-in-law speechlessly, before ﬁnally running off dejectedly.

After Zhou Weiqing had left, Xue AoTian ﬁnally sighed softly. His wife had left, and now his daughter was also leaving, and even his disciple was gone. A sudden loneliness overwhelmed him. He sat there silently for a while, and all of a sudden his head turned in thought, and he muttered to himself: “That little brat does have a point… perhaps it is time for me to go have a walk outside. However, that will still have to wait until I settle everything here in the WanShou Empire…” …

The next morning, Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er said their goodbyes to Xue AoTian, before following Long Shiya to leave the Heavenly Snow Mountain.

Long Shiya did not bring Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er in ﬂying with him, instead letting Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er make their own way while he returned to the Peerless Battalion camp ﬁrst. To quote Long Shiya: “It’s too much for me to move along with you young folks. You two are always so intimate and affectionate, provoking this poor old man who is still a virgin at the age of hundred. Ahhh the inhumanity!”

And thus, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor ﬂed the scene. As for Zhou Weiqing, he entered the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, ﬂapping his massive wings as he carried Tian’er in a bridal-style, slowly ﬂying across the skies towards the northern border.

Soaring and tumbling in midair, Zhou Weiqing was deﬁnitely not in a rush to go back; after all the borders were already over by now. From his father-in-law’s words, Zhou Weiqing knew that his Peerless Battalion was deﬁnitely ﬁne, and had even caused quite some trouble for the WanShou Empire. Furthermore, Long Shiya would already be returning in advance. As such, he decided to take his time and put his focus on Tian’er as they made their return.

In the past few months, he had spent every waking hour cultivating and training with all his might. Now, he needed some relaxation time, to spend some time with his beloved Tian’er.

“Tian’er, what do you say… if we were to do ‘that’ high up in the skies, wouldn’t it be extra sensational?”

“You… stop dreaming!”

“Come on, let’s try it. It’ll be a unique experience.” A voice ﬁlled with temptation rang out in the air.

“No, what if I fall down, I don’t know how to ﬂy.”

“No you won’t… even if I fall down, I will never let you fall!” “No…” “Tian’er, your little buttocks are so perky. But… you have really lost so much weight. Come, let me help you rub them, your meat will grow back then.”

“Zhou Weiqing! You are truly a bad egg, rotten to the core!” “Tian’er, haven’t you heard of that line? “If a man is not bad,

a woman will not love him; if a man isn’t a rogue, women will

not go to bed with him. A good guy will always remain a virgin! Anyway… I was already forced by you last time, you must take full responsibility for me!”

“Who forced you! You… Wuuuu….”

A similar occurrence happened almost everyday. Luckily, they were ﬂying high above almost thousand metres into the sky. In the entire trip back, the greatest reward that Zhou Weiqing had was that his ﬂying technique grew by leaps and bounds.

…

North Border. ZhongTian Northwest Main Army Camp.

Peerless Battalion. “The Battalion Commander has been gone for so long, why isn’t he back yet!”

In the large headquarter tent of the Peerless Battalion, all the ofﬁcers were present. Hua Feng, Mu En, and the other Heavenly Bow Unit god archers, as well as the Chief Instructor Shangguan Fei’er, Vice Commander Wei Feng and the various Main Company Leaders.

The current Peerless Battalion, not only did they have an exalted status in the Northwest Armies, it was even in the entire ZhongTian northern border.

The site where the Peerless Battalion was camped at did not change, but now around the Peerless Battalion there were fully six Heavy Armoured Regiments encamped, four of which were Heavy Infantry Regiments and two Heavy Cavalry Regiments.

The entire Northwest Army originally did not have that many Heavy Armoured Regiments, and some of them had actually been moved over from the other Northern Armies. Their only mission was to defend and support the Peerless Battalion! In this year’s border wars, the Northwest Armies had met an unprecedented number and power of enemies; not just in terms of quantity but also quality. A whole seventeen Companies of the WanShou Empire! Not only that, it was including a powerful Mammoth Company and the invincible

ﬂying Eagle Company. Yet, it was also in this year’s border wars that the Northwest Armies had achieved an unforeseen and hitherto unknown success.

When the WanShou Empire armies had retreated, out of the seventeen Companies that had invaded them, only eight remained. And the only reason this had happened was because of this single new formation that the Northwest Armies had – the Peerless Battalion.

The strength of combat prowess of the Peerless Battalion had already been proven to the extreme in just the ﬁrst battle they had attended. In fact, it was only because of their brutal strength which had allowed them to turn the tide of the battle, forcefully turning a sure-loss into a shocking victory. The ﬁrst full force advance of the WanShou Empire had turned into a full rout, and the ZhongTian army had even been able to chase to further kill some more enemies. In the subsequent battles that happened, the Peerless Battalion had truly become the

stabilizing force and pillar 1of the Northwest Army. The WanShou Empire armies had tried all sorts of means and different offensive strategies, but besides the Mammoth Company, no other Regiment was able to withstand the rain of powerful Consolidated arrows.

Under the leadership of Hua Feng and the other leaders, the Peerless Battalion was truly able to make full use of all their advantages. Against the Mammoth Company, they would immediately move aside in avoidance. Although the other Regiments of the Northwest Army were no match for the Mammoth Company or the other Companies of the WanShou Empire, but they were able to risk their lives to hold off the Mammoth Company for some time. The Peerless Battalion would then seize the chance to attack the other weaker Companies of the WanShou Empire. Under the constant onslaught of their Consolidated Bows, the fatalities amongst the WanShou Empire was just too high, too quick. As a result, though their enemies had been the strongest, it had actually been the Northwest Border which had ended the annual border wars the soonest.

Being the linchpin of such an amazing victory, with countless military exploits under their belt in such a short time, it was no wonder that even the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord Xue AoTian quickly learned of their existence.

According to their military exploits, it was no problem for the Peerless Battalion to be upgraded to an actual Regiment. Let alone the Northwest Armies, even the main North Central Army Headquarters had sent several envoys in hopes of taking over the Peerless Battalion.

Alas, with the background of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace there, especially with Shangguan Fei’er’s presence as a stunning deterrent, how could the Peerless Battalion be given to anyone? The original Rufﬁans that were looked down upon by all had suddenly become the admiration and envy of all the ZhongTian Northern armies. Countless of people dreamed of entering the Peerless Battalion, even some of those Regiment Commanders or Vice Commanders were no exception.

The treatment of the Peerless Battalion was just too good. After discussion between all the ofﬁcers, Hua Feng had decided to swap all their military exploits and awards for gold and other necessary supplies. As for the Peerless Battalion side, in the last few months they had continuously been upgrading their gear, continuing their training without halt. It could be said that every day was an improvement to the entire Peerless Battalion, no matter how small. The only thing that remained unchanged was their numbers.

Seated at the head of the table, Hua Feng swept his gaze across all the ofﬁcers gathered. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly with emotion. It could be said that when they had left their dying Empire behind originally, the seven members of the Heavenly Bow Unit had been ﬁlled with despair and hopelessness. They did not contain any hopes of ever succeeding in their task of reviving their Empire, even thoughts of revenge seemed far off. Yet, now their hearts were

all ﬁlled with endless hope. The strength of the Peerless Battalion warmed their hearts, allowing them to see the possibility of actually reviving their homeland in this lifetime.

“I’m sure he will be returning soon. Since the Battalion Commander was brought away by Senior Long, I’m sure he has been in closed door cultivation. He must be in a critical period of his cultivation, otherwise he wouldn’t have left during such a period of war.” Hua Feng smiled faintly as he spoke.

Shangguan Fei’er sat not far from Hua Feng, and as she heard his words she pursed her lips. From the looks of things, she was clearly not very happy about it.

Wei Feng said: “Battalion Commander Hua Feng, the war has already ended for some time. Should we return to our original Peerless Battalion camp? If we continue staying here, I’m afraid the rest of the Northwest Armies might end up rebelling.” As he spoke up to that point, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Wei Feng was not even joking or being alarmist at all. Ever since the Peerless Battalion had proven their terrifying strength in war, countless of people had been trying all means to join the Peerless Battalion. This included the six Heavy Armoured Regiments that were camped around them… most

especially the Heavy Infantry Regiment that had actually

fought together with them in the war.

Only those who had actually fought together with the Peerless Battalion and seen them in action could truly know how strong they were. As soldiers, who did not wish to have such powerful friends and allies by their side? Who did not dream of being invincible on the battleﬁeld? Gaining military exploits and awards seemed to be as easy as picking things up from the ground!

However, such a situation was actually pointless to the Peerless Battalion. The Northwest Army Headquarter had actually sent several envoys in hopes that the Peerless Battalion would expand to become a Regiment, or even a Legion. They promised that their leaders and ofﬁcers would remain unchanged, and they would give them some strong Regiments to form a Peerless Legion, to become the strongest Legion in the entire ZhongTian Army as a deterrent threat against the WanShou Empire. This suggestion was actually made by the main ZhongTian Army headquarters, not just the Northern border armies. However, Hua Feng and the others had suppressed it.

Regarding this matter, the ZhongTian Army Headquarters had even gone all the way up to the ZhongTian Emperor, Shangguan Tianxin. When Shangguan Tianxin learned of the Peerless Battalion and their supposed background, he had personally taken a trip down to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. However, the ﬁnal result was a shock to everyone. The Heaven’s Expanse Palace had given the order that the ﬁnal decision would be left to the Peerless Battalion’s Commander – Zhou Weiqing. That was to say, if Zhou Weiqing was willing to set up the Legion, then they could go ahead. Otherwise, remaining as status quo would also be ﬁne.

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定海神针 – Literally translated would be the Godly Needle that Calms the Oceans. Another name for the Gold Heavenly Cudgel that Sun Wukong wields in legend. With the Heaven’s Expanse Palace speaking out, who dared to say anything else? Just like the status of the Heavenly Snow Mountain in the WanShou Empire, the Heaven’s Expanse Palace was also like a supreme ruler overlord in the ZhongTian Empire. Furthermore, in most people’s eyes, the creation of the Peerless Battalion had the shadow of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace behind it, and they were even more respectful towards the Heaven’s Expanse Palace.

As such, the Peerless Battalion remained with their ‘original’ Battalion formation, though it was no longer the traditional Battalion size. They now numbered a full ﬁve thousand soldiers, and the two thousand Heavy Cavalry Soldiers of the two powerful Tribes.

The greatest beneﬁciary of the border wars could be said to be the Gold Crow Tribe and the Berserker Tribes. Everything else aside, they now owned their own mounts. Naturally, they had all chosen the Unicorn Heavenly Beasts captured in the war.

Besides the new formation of two Main Companies each consisting of a thousand heavy cavalry soldiers, both tribes were also able to each gear up one more reserve Main Companies of cavalry. As such, one could say that the actual total strength of the Peerless Battalion was already at nine thousand soldiers, not much different from an actual Regiment. Of course, no one could tell for sure how powerful the Heavy Cavalry soldiers of the Gold Crow Tribe and Berserker Tribes could be.

These two Heavy Cavalry Main Companies had slowly been gearing up, and it was only recently that they had ﬁnally managed to ﬁnish equipping all two thousand men. For the past few days, they had actually been getting used to their new gear and ﬁghting with it.

Hua Feng thought for a moment and said: “This is indeed a problem. Yesterday, I have spoken with the Northwest Army headquarters… for the sake of the harmony and discipline of the rest of the Northwest Army, it is best that we return to our original campsite. Although the conditions there aren’t great, but we have already built up our strong network of tunnels, letting it go to waste is a bit of a shame. In any case, in the past our Peerless Battalion might be afraid of some sneak attacks from the WanShou Empire, but now, we are conﬁdent in facing those.”

“If the WanShou Empire dares come, without at least ten whole Companies, they will not be able to take us all out. Furthermore, amongst those ten Companies, there must at least be one Company that is of equal standard to the Mammoth Company or greater, only then will they be able to take us out.”

Shangguan Fei’er said passively: “In that case, let us leave quickly, lest our own soldiers are also affected by the other Regiments around. Too much pride causes people to lapse or even retrograde, and I think we need to give them a fresh ‘rap’ on the head. It has been a while since we had a martial tournament to undergo a change in our inner rankings… this time we can invite the Gold Crow Tribe and Berserker Tribe to participate as well?”

Hua Feng nodded and said: “That is indeed true, the Northwest Army camp does not have much binding force upon us. How about this, I shall give them a report, and tomorrow morning we shall set forth to return to our old camp. When Weiqing returns, we can see how we want to progress further.”

Early next morning, ignoring the various persuasion from the Northwest Army for them to stay or any offers to escort them, the Peerless Battalion packed up and headed towards their old original Rufﬁan Battalion camp further up in the north border. The current Peerless Battalion could be described as immensely wealthy. This was not just a description for the Battalion as a whole, but each and every individual Peerless Battalion soldier.

After so many ﬁghts in the war, every single one of the Peerless Battalion soldiers had accumulated wealth of at least hundred gold coins or more. More so, that was also after the Peerless Battalion would ‘take back’ some of their gold coins when issuing other beneﬁts; otherwise perhaps each of them would have at least a thousand gold coins!

Taking back some of the wealth was of course necessary – that had been the rule set long ago when the Peerless Battalion had ﬁrst been set up. In the rules of the Peerless Battalion, one of the main ones was that there was no gain without working for it. Of course, retrieval of those gold coins was because of the equipment and Consolidated Equipment of the soldiers, even heavily discounted as it were. At least for a long period of time, the soldiers would not be able to just grow rich like that.

As for the ‘propaganda teachings’ of the soldiers, Hua Feng had long started with it. This was one of the points that Zhou Weiqing had not thought of previously. As the saying goes, once someone grows rich, it is easy for them to turn ‘bad’. Hua Feng knew this very well, and the main thing he wanted to instill in the Peerless Battalion soldiers was this core thought – ‘Once you leave the Peerless Battalion, you are nothing.’

Of course, the truth of the matter was as such anyway. It was because of the existence of the Peerless Battalion as an organization that the Peerless Battalion soldiers could have the remotest possibility of having the power and status they had today. Having experienced the lowest of all status, only then could one treasure the new heights. It was also the reason why the cohesiveness of the soldiers was at such an unprecedented level. Of course, compared to the past, they held much more pride. Even so, that pride had been earned, and was worth encouraging. A powerful and cohesive force of soldiers, if they did not have pride in themselves, how could they call themselves a strongest force?

Just as the Peerless Battalion had just started moving out, far off in the distance, a large black dot encroached upon them.

Shangguan Fei’er was the ﬁrst to sense it. Subconsciously, she lifted her head to look into the distance, barely spotting the fact that it was two people, one carrying the other. “Incoming!” A loud shout from Shangguan Fei’er, and all the soldiers around her reacted instantly. At once, more than a hundred Consolidated Bows appeared, pointed into the skies.

“Stop! Wait, it’s me! I have returned!” Zhou Weiqing’s voice rang out from above. From the height of his ﬂying, it was at least a thousand metres away! However, his voice was still clear and loud as it rang down to the entire Peerless Battalion and all the ofﬁcers.

Shangguan Fei’er was the most surprised. After all, she was familiar with Zhou Weiqing. Ignoring the fact that Zhou Weiqing had somehow gained the ability to ﬂy, just that ability of voice transference he had shown just now proved that his cultivation level had improved by leaps and bounds since she had last seen him… a massive jump that she subconsciously thought was impossible!

When he had left, he had only been at the ﬁve-Jeweled stage, and had reached that not long ago too! How could he return at the six-Jeweled stage… it had only been slightly more than two months!

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s voice, naturally the Consolidated Bows would not ﬁre. Within moments, Zhou Weiqing had descended from the skies together with Tian’er. Previously, high up in the skies, he had seen the Peerless Battalion from a distance. Perhaps if it were any other army unit, he might not have recognized them from such a distance. However, the titanium mail of the Peerless Battalion was just too obvious and familiar to him, how could he mistake it? That was the reason why he had started heading lower and towards them.

As he landed upon the ground, Zhou Weiqing released hold of Tian’er’s waist as he strode forward in large strides. The group of Peerless Battalion ofﬁcials quickly dismounted to greet him.

“Little brat, you ﬁnally know to come back! You just threw the Peerless Battalion to us and ran off to chase chicks eh.” As soon as Mu En saw Zhou Weiqing, he went forward to give him an exasperated knock on the head. Howeer, as he did so, he gave a subtle signal with his eyes at Zhou Weiqing.

Zhou Weiqing was just too familiar with this teacher of his. With just that signal, he could fully understand what Mu En meant. Clearly, Mu En was taking the initiative to ease up any tension. After all, Shangguan Fei’er had been here all this time ﬁghting on his behalf, and he had disappeared for months, to return with another girl! The seven God Archers of the Heavenly Bow Unit had never seen Tian’er before, and it was without question that they would side with Shangguan Fei’er.

Shangguan Fei’er could be said to have played a huge role in the entire creation of the Peerless Battalion, as well as building it up to its current status. Compared to the Battalion Commander Zhou Weiqing, or the temporary commander Hua Feng, or even any of the rest of the commanders and ofﬁcers, she had done so much more. For a girl like her of noble birth and high status to stay here to help Zhou Weiqing train his soldiers, to ﬁght in wars with them, all of them knew what it meant. Yet, at this moment, Zhou Weiqing had actually brought another woman back. The rest of the Peerless Battalion ofﬁcers couldn’t help but show some discontent on their faces. Some of the others might only mutter a few words inwardly, but for the seven God Archers of the Heavenly Bow Unit, they would not hide anything, especially since they were considered his teachers and seniors. As such, Mu En had quickly stepped forward to give him a scolding ﬁrst, that was because in his heart his precious disciple was most important, and he was trying to cover for him as best he could.

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily, giving Mu En a big hug before turning to the others and saying: “What are you all doing? Heading back to our old campsite?” From Hua Feng’s face, one could not see any blame or anger, as he gave a quick and simple explanation about what had happened since Zhou Weiqing left. After which, he asked: “At least you are back, and I can ﬁnally give up this temporary Battalion Commander position. Well, what do you have planned in the future?”

Without question, Zhou Weiqing replied: “Let’s go along with what you all have decided for now, to return to our original camp and continue our training. After all, we still have a lot of our equipment that isn’t delivered or completed yet. Once we have ﬁnished all of that… we will return to Heavenly Bow.”

Upon hearing the last few words, the seven God Archers of the Heavenly Bow Unit revealed clear looks of excitement on their faces. Even the most stable Hua Feng was no exception.

The Heavenly Bow Empire had been destroyed for more than a year, and they had never imagined that they would have a chance to counterattack in such a short period of time.

Hua Feng smiled faintly and said: “Admiral Zhou will be so proud of you.” At that point, Tian’er walked to Zhou Weiqing’s side. Zhou Weiqing snuck a look at Shangguan Fei’er, who was standing near Hua Feng with an impassive look on her face. Only then did he introduce Tian’er to the others: “This is Lady Tian’er. From today onwards, she will be ofﬁcially joining our Peerless

Battalion.”

Upon hearing that introduction, everyone present had a strange look on their faces. Almost subconsciously, they all turned to look at Shangguan Fei’er.

Shangguan Fei’er and Tian’er’s gaze clashed almost instantly. Both girls did not say anything, but it was as if sparks were ﬂying between their eyes as neither backed down from the locked stare.

*Cough**Cough* “Let’s get back on the move then, we still have many things to do back in camp.” As he said that, Zhou Weiqing released his single-horned Ghost Demon Horse, mounting up together with Tian’er as he gave Shangguan Fei’er an apologetic look.

Shangguan Fei’er gave him a cold look back, a look so cold that Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but shiver in his heart. Even when he was facing a Heavenly Emperor stage powerhouse, his heart had not felt such a pounding unease. He coudn’t help but think to himself: It truly isn’t great to spread the love too much! How many brain cells will be killed again this time.

At this point, he did not know how he would deal with the relationship between his two loves, and he could only take things as they came.

In the midst of this strange atmosphere, the Peerless Battalion resumed their march towards their old camp in the border. When they ﬁnally reached, the soldiers began to unpack and re-set up the camp that they had once vacated.

Zhou Weiqing had barely caught his breath when he heard an icy cold voice ring in his ears: “Zhou Weiqing, come over here.” As the Battalion Commander, Zhou Weiqing’s large tent was one of the ﬁrst few to be completed. Tian’er was right by his side, and as she her that voice, she giggled and said: “Someone is breaking a whole jar of vinegar 1. Little Fatty, that shouldn’t be Shangguan Bing’er right, you can do it!”

With an embarrassed look in his face, he bowed humbly to Tian’er and said: “I’ll go have a look ﬁrst.” With a quick lift of the tent ﬂap, he disappeared.

Shangguan Fei’er was standing not far from the tent, and seeing Zhou Weiqing walk out, she looked at him icily. A cold killing intent caused goosebumps to appear all about Zhou Weiqing’s skin.

“Fei’er, listen to my explanation… I’ve mentioned this to you before…” Zhou Weiqing walked over with an apologetic smile on his face.

Shangguan Fei’er gave a cold humph and said: “Enough nonsense, come with me.” As she said that, she ﬂew off in the air towards the outskirts of the camp. Zhou Weiqing dared not delay, and in a ﬂash he had chased off after her. He had to explain things clearly now! Of course, whether or not he would succeed was another matter.

Shangguan Fei’er was moving very quickly in the front, every time her feet touched the ground, she would move almost ten yards ahead. Without using the Demonic Change State or Dragon Tiger Transformation, it took quite some effort for Zhou Weiqing to actually follow her.

Within the time for a few breaths, the two had already left the camp. In Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, Shangguan Fei’er did not want to argue with him in front of everyone, leaving him face. Such a thought also calmed him down, since Fei’er was willing to look after his face, that meant she wasn’t fully angry.

What should I do then? As Zhou Weiqing followed behind Shangguan Fei’er, his eyes rolled in their sockets in deep thought. He was indeed ﬁlled with guilt. Fei’er had stayed here to help me take care of everything and even ﬁght for him, yet he had ran off for Tian’er. This was indeed nothing to be proud of. Yet, at the same time, how could he not go ﬁnd Tian’er at that time? It was also impossible!

There was no good reason for it all, and when he is in the wrong, there was no point trying to reason or persuade Shangguan Fei’er… then the only option was to be shameless!

Thinking up to that point, Zhou Weiqing had already come up with a plan. With a sudden purple ﬂash in his eyes, he had silently entered the Dragon-Tiger Transformation. The wings behind his back unfurled as new strength ﬁlled him. With a silent beat, his entire body ﬂew like an arrow towards Shangguan Fei’er.

By this time, both of them had already left the Peerless Battalion camp for quite a distance, and the area was rather wide and desolate. Just as Zhou Weiqing made his move, Shangguan Fei’er had also thought this was a good enough place and had slowed down and started to turn around.

As soon as she turned around, a purple face abruptly appeared right in front of her. No matter how strong she was, Shangguan Fei’er was still a young lady, and being startled like that by such a strange looking purple face, she was given a fright and she yelled out loud.

Right at that moment, the owner of the purple face gave her a kiss right on her lips, arms tightening around her waist as a pair of huge wings encircled and covered them both. His arms were so strong, and lips invading with such ﬁery heat. Shangguan Fei’er only felt as if her head was dizzy before she had been pushed down to the ground by the muscular body, now atop of her.

“Wuuu, no!”

An indistinct cry came from Shangguan Fei’er as she struggled with all her might. However, under the onslaught of those ﬁery lips, her body was feeling soft and unable to use her full strength. Especially with those powerful arms that held her, one hand was on the Acupuncture Point on her back, also causing her to be unable to use her full strength.

Zhou Weiqing had no choice but to hold Shangguan Fei’er in place ﬁrst, otherwise with her anger and her terrifying close combat power, he knew he would not be able to take her on easily.

Under the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, Zhou Weiqing was light, speedy and with massive strength. Since he had purposely snuck up upon her, Shangguan Fei’er had not noticed until now, and it was already too late to struggle! How to be shameless? Of course, it was to make the waters murky before any discussion. Both he and Shangguan Fei’er also loved each other, though they had been intimate with each other, they had not crossed that ﬁnal line. In that previous instant, Zhou Weiqing had decided that actions were far stronger than words, let’s be intimate ﬁrst, then even if Fei’er blamed him, she wouldn’t beat him too hard right? Heh heh.

According to Zhou Weiqing’s original plan, he wanted to be intimate with Shangguan Fei’er for a while, to make her happy and calmer before he slowly explained things. However, when he kissed those cool delicious lips of Shangguan Fei’er, he could not control himself.

Those lips were like the best miracle drug in the world, so comfortable, so comfortable.

Especially now that it seemed that Shangguan Fei’er’s kisses had become more awkward. Zhou Weiqing had ﬁnally gone passed her teeth to ﬁnd that smooth litle tongue of hers. One hand of his was still suppressed on the Acupuncture Point of her back to prevent her from running, while the other was moving along the smooth curve of her back. The ﬁre in his blood rose, and a strong animal lust caused his breathing to deepen. If one had to point out a disadvantage of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, this would be it. No matter the Dark Demon God Tiger or Dragons, both were lustful beasts by nature. With the two bloodlines combined, that made things even worse, and in terms of basic ‘physical needs’, Zhou Weiqing now far

surpassed any ordinary humans. Traveling all this way with

Tian’er, even with her powerful physique she had almost been unable to keep up.

Currently, Shangguan Fei’er was feeling extremely hot. That Zhou Weiqing pressing down atop her was like a large furnace, trying to melt down her entire body, and her defenses were slowly being eroded bit by bit from this intense heat.

Zhou Weiqing’s kiss had moved to her neck, and he was still murmuring: “Fei’er, I love you.”

Hearing those words, Shangguan Fei’er’s body shuddered silently, her dazed eyes suddenly regaining consciousness. Once again, she cried out: “Let go, let me go now.”

“No, I won’t let go of you anymore, what if you run off?” Zhou Weiqing gave a helpless chuckle, ‘helping himself’ to one of the bountiful mounds in her front, caressing it gently. “Let go of me!” Shangguan Fei’er’s voice was trembling and tears started falling from her eyes.

Zhou Weiqing saw her tears and his lust instantly diminished greatly as he stared, startled. He had not imagined that Shangguan Fei’er would have such a huge reaction. Quickly he kissed the tears on her cheeks and said: “Fei’er, don’t cry. It is my fault, it is all my fault. I have spread my love too much, but I truly cannot live without each and every one of you. If I had not gone to bring Tian’er back, she would already be dead now. I cannot fail her, nor can I fail you. Can you understand my heart? I know I am being too greedy, but… that is me, a greedy soul. I want to hold you all tight, never let go.”

“You… you bastard…” Shangguan Fei’er said with a trembling voice.

Seeing her angry and trembling lips, Zhou Weiqing was ﬁlled with love. Once again, he capture her lips. Bastard it shall be. In that instant, Zhou Weiqing decided to ‘cook the rice ﬁrst’. That way, Fei’er could not run away!

As soon as that thought entered his mind, Zhou Weiqing’s actions became even more excited. This time, he would not let go of her lips so easily. Take advantage now, and even if he got beaten up later it would already be a win! Furthermore, would Fei’er bear to beat him up later?

Shangguan Fei’er’s clothes lessened one after the other, and the ﬂustered look in her eyes grew stronger. However, Zhou Weiqing’s hand on her back kept control over her, not allowing her powerful Heavenly Energy to blow up. After all, previously she had not have any precautions against him.

More so, Shangguan Fei’er was unable to control her body. Under Zhou Weiqing’s invasive and experienced teasing, even her soul was trembling as her heart’s defenses fell.

No, no no! Shangguan Fei’er was regretting her actions now, regretting that she had not spoken clearly when she had the chance just now. However, it seemed that it was all too late now…

Tears started pouring from her eyes, as her gaze was complicated. Anger, sorrow, pain… and despair.

Zhou Weiqing had originally been fully immersed in his enjoyment, his hand already in Shangguan Fei’er’s long pants, holding her round and perky buttocks, almost about to pull her pants down. All of a sudden, the wet tears touched his face, and he subconsciously opened his eyes, his gaze meeting hers.

Despair. Abruptly, Zhou Weiqing saw that strong despair in Shangguan Fei’er’s eyes.

A cold chill ran down his spine. Although he had been wanting to make Fei’er his own woman at this time before ‘facing the music’, now as he saw that despair in the depths of her eyes, his heart clenched in pain, and he forcefully pushed down the roaring ﬁre of lust in his blood.

Lifting his head subconsciously, his hands stopped totally. “Fei’er, you…”

Shangguan Fei’er’s tears streamed down even harder. “You… you bastard. I am not Fei’er.”

I am not Fei’er. Those words, in Zhou Weiqing’s ears, were like an explosion, blowing his mind into bits.

Not Fei’er? Then.. who? It couldn’t be Bing’er… with Bing’er’s character, especially since she had already known of Tian’er and him long ago, how could she have such a look of despair? If it wasn’t Bing’er or Fei’er… then it could only be…

She… She was…

Zhou Weiqing’s entire body ﬂew back as if he had been electrocuted, staggering back almost a dozen yards as his eyes widened in shock, a certain ‘evil tent’ below still at full mast.

“You… you… you’re Shangguan Xue’er?!”

TN: Phew, not an easy chapter to TL indeed. Anyway, the original title of this was ‘A Big Mistake’, but I thought ‘Oops!’ seemed more apt.

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Being jealous

Chapter 184 Boundless Inﬁnitum!

“You’re Shangguan Xue’er?” The moment Zhou Weiqing asked the question, he wanted to slap himself on the face.

Indeed, lying right there on the ground, her body huddled up in herself as she cried… it was the heir to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, the eldest sister of the Shangguan Sisters, Shangguan Xue’er.

Originally, when the border wars had ended and the Peerless Battalion was alright, Shangguan Fei’er had discussed with Shangguan Xue’er and left silently to return to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. Since Zhou Weiqing was not around, she wanted to head back to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace to talk to Bing’er ﬁrst, before returning to look for Zhou Weiqing.

Before she left, this mischievous Little Demon Girl had schemed a trap for her own sister…

“Sister, I am going back now, but I am still worried about the Peerless Battalion. Anyway, no one can recognize the difference between you and me. As long as you do not use your Consolidated Equipment, you’ll be exactly the same as me. Those Peerless Battalion fellows, without me to keep them in their places, who knows what they will end up doing? You take my place for now to suppress them and help train them ok?”

“Also, also… Little Fatty is such a playboy, you help me look after him. Don’t let me bring back another few more women. Big sis, help me please. For mine and Bing’er’s sake, you must keep watch on Little Fatty. Ok?” Just like that, after countless wheedling and begging, Shangguan Xue’er had ﬁnally agreed to take her position after she left. Just like Shangguan Fei’er had predicted, no one recognized her after that, especially since the close combat training of the Peerless Battalion was already on the right track, and Shangguan Xue’er’s cultivation level was even above Shangguan Fei’er’s, naturally they would not have any issues in that area. As such, in this period of time, Shangguan Xue’er had slowly eased into her sister’s position without any problems.

Today, when Shangguan Xue’er saw Zhou Weiqing bringing Tian’er back, how could she not furious? This little bastard had already seduced her two sisters, and was still going after other women?! Even though she had seen Tian’er in her ‘Fat Cat’ form before, she had never seen Tian’er before. As such, she had not been able to resist in calling Zhou Weiqing out. In her original plan, she would beat him up savagely ﬁrst before informing him of her identity, and getting him to dump Tian’er. Who knew that the heavens would play such a huge joke on her. Zhou Weiqing had truly taken her for Shangguan Fei’er, and with her Acupuncture Point suppressed, she had not been able to resist… and the events had played out as such.

Zhou Weiqing stood there staring at Shangguan Xue’er dazed, unable to even say a word. All his plans and shameless ideas for Shangguan Fei’er had suddenly turned into being against Shangguan Xue’er… and that was a whole different matter!

Oh Heavens! What had he done!

Shangguan Xue’er’s outer clothes had been thrown to the side by him, and she did not have much covering her any longer; even her pants were halfway down.

The heavens were falling, and the earth was sinking. That was his own sister in law!

No matter how intelligent and cunning Zhou Weiqing was, faced with such a scenario, he was totally at a loss. Having almost committed such an evil act, he wished that the earth would open up and swallow him whole. If Bing’er or Fei’er knew about this, he would truly be a goner! Shangguan Xue’er remained sobbing bitterly on the ground, even forgetting to wear her clothes. From young, she had always been the most hardworking, the most disciplined, as she knew the responsibilities that weighed down on her young shoulders. In the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, she was the First Young Miss, above all. Let alone anyone daring to violate her, most people would not even dare to look at her in the eye. Even Zhan LingTian, who had feelings for her, would keep some distance when he spoke to her.

Previously, when Shangguan Xue’er had lost her ﬁrst kiss to Zhou Weiqing by accident, she had already been in much pain and suffering. However, for the sake of her little sister, she had forced herself to tolerate it. However, that hate in her heart for Zhou Weiqing for stealing away her ﬁrst kiss had never disappeared, thus holding that grudge in her heart all this time.

Yet, just right now, Zhou Weiqing had actually even done far worse to her, doing all sorts of intimate things to her forcefully. Currently, the only thing left in Shangguan Xue’er’s confused heart was utter sorrow.

The two just remained there, one standing there at a loss, the other crying her eyes out. At last, it was Zhou Weiqing who recovered ﬁrst. The situation had already occurred, and it was no point in trying to avoid it. No matter what, he would have to face it. Carefully, he walked to the side and picked up Shangguan Xue’er’s clothes, carefully covering her with them. Bracing himself, he said softly: “I’m… I’m sorry. I really did not know it was you, I thought it was Fei’er…”

“How about… how about… you beat me up. Will that make you feel better? I will not ﬁght back at all, how’s that?”

With a sudden swoosh, Shangguan Xue’er’s head abruptly lifted, her eyes that were red from crying were ﬁlled with ﬂames of hatred. Her teeth gritting hard, she had already charged forward in a ﬂash. An intense killing intent burst forth like a sharp blade from a sheath. “I’m going to kill you!” Her eyes were bloodshot, and with a single palm strike to the chest, Zhou Weiqing ﬂew all the way out.

Zhou Weiqing had kept his word, allowing her palm to strike hard on his chest without any resistance, and he was instantly sent ﬂying back.

The powerful defensive capabilities of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation saved his life here; luckily he had been in that state all this while. When Shangguan Xue’er’s palm struck his chest, Zhou Weiqing’s entire body glowed in a purple light. If Shangguan Xue’er had been in a calmer state, she would have instantly sensed that her blow was scattered by the purple light, as if the strength behind the blow was separated to every inch of Zhou Weiqing’s body. As such, though it seemed like he had been savagely blown away by that palm strike, Zhou Weiqing was actually not injured at all.

The defensive capabilities of the Dragon race could be said to be top notch even amongst all Heavenly God Tier Heavenly Beasts, and they themselves were considered one of the strongest amongst all their peers. Furthermore, the Dragon- Tiger Transformation was not just the sole Dragon bloodline alone, but with the power of the Dark Demon God Tiger behind as well. With Shangguan Xue’er’s seven-Jeweled cultivation level, her palm strike wasn’t able to actually hurt Zhou Weiqing, even if he did not defend himself, and could only cause his chest to hurt.

Zhou Weiqing crashed onto the ground, skidding back almost a dozen yards before he came to a stop. At that moment, Shangguan Xue’er’s killing intent ﬁnally locked down upon him. Zhou Weiqing’s heart gripped in shock. She was really trying to kill him! If Shangguan Xue’er was going to beat him up, he would allow her to do so without any question, even if he was severely injured. After all, he was the one in the wrong! However, if she wanted to take his life, he couldn’t possibly lay his life down just like that!

Shangguan Xue’er’s body was like a gust of icy cold wind, and as Zhou Weiqing was struck back by her palm, she ﬂew forward in chase. In midair, her entire body suddenly burst forth with a brilliant dark-gold light. The three chi long snow- white sword that Zhou Weiqing had once seen before appeared in her hands, pointing right towards his chest.

Even though he was still in the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, even with that snow white blade only just pointing at his chest, Zhou Weiqing felt a slight sensation of pain.

The blade in Shangguan Xue’er’s hands was the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword from the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set. In the world today, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set was currently the only Legendary Set that consisted of eleven pieces, known as the God Set. It was also the greatest treasure of the entire Heaven’s Expanse Palace… how could it be ordinary? Currently, Shangguan Xue’er’s eyes were covered with a ﬁlm of blood red. Any pure and innocent girl who met such a huge shame and humiliation, how could one remain calm?

A snowy white light ﬂashed through the skies, drawing a beautiful arc that raced right towards Zhou Weiqing’s heart. In that instant, Zhou Weiqing could only sense that the distance between him and Shangguan Xue’er seemed to warp strangely. Even with his powerful senses, he was actually unable to sense which area Shangguan Xue’er’s Heavenly Energy was targeting and locked on to.

In the blink of an eye, the white light had reached Zhou Weiqing’s chest area.

A lean to the side, a sidestep, a Blink Skill. Only then did Zhou Weiqing escape instantly. At the same time, two triangles of bright light appeared on each of his hands, as he quickly released his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation.

He had no choice but to do so! Shangguan Xue’er’s cultivation level was higher than his, not just at simply a seven-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, but already at the maximum of the seven-Jeweled stage, barely a thread away from reaching the eight-Jeweled stage. More importantly, with the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set’s terrifying pressure, Zhou Weiqing could sense that without using the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, he would not be able to even survive. However, even at the same time as he used his Blink Skill, his heart relaxed slightly inwardly. That was because the position that the white light had been about to strike at his heart, but at the last split second before he blinked he sensed it move to the side very very slightly. It was only a slight movement, barely even noticeable, but if it had landed on him, it was the difference between a fatal wound and a severe wound. That was to say, although Shangguan Xue’er was in a berserk rage, she still held a thread

of sanity, perhaps not willing to actually kill him off.

Having her blow dodged by Zhou Weiqing and seeing the glow of the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation appearing below his feet, Shangguan Xue’er’s face grew even frostier. Six more bouts of dark gold light appeared, and in the cover of the Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura, the magniﬁcent looking Boundless Inﬁnitum Set appeared around her.

The pieces of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set that Shangguan Xue’er currently had were the two shoulder pauldrons, chestplate, girdle and belt, war kilt, and greaves for her right leg. Just like any Legendary Set which had not been completed, her current Boundless Inﬁnitum Set items were still dark-gold in colour, but the tattoos and inscriptions around them were one of the most beautiful that Zhou Weiqing had seen from any God Tier Consolidated Equipment or Legendary Sets. The tattoos and inscriptions around the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set items were like beautiful Cloud Dragon Tattoos, surreal and even ethereal. From the surface of the armour, these Cloud Dragon Tattoos seemed to come to life, like many little cloud dragons twirling around Shangguan Xue’er’s body. The important part about the beauty of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set was not its looks, but in its complicated intricacy. For example, just her shoulder pauldrons alone had six layers of tattoos and inscriptions, and even as she moved, the equipment seemed to give off a strange aura.

In the middle of the Heart Mirror area of the Consolidated chestplate, there was a huge gemstone embedded. Although the gemstone was current dark-gold in colour, there seemed to be a layer of mist deep within it, glowing and ﬂoating about.

The shoulder pauldrons extended down into bracers and all the way down to her ﬁngers, showing the beautiful curvature of her arms. Without question, the shoulder pauldrons and bracers were a single piece, only taking up a single ‘slot’ of equipment.

Seven pieces of Consolidated Equipment, all God Tier, all part of a Legendary Set. Furthermore, the one wearing it was Shangguan Xue’er, and in that instant Zhou Weiqing sensed that she was even more dangerous than Gu Yingbing.

This time, Shangguan Xue’er did not continue attacking Zhou Weiqing, instead ﬂoating back down onto the ground and closing her eyes.

Just as her eyes closed, a terrifying and ferocious pressure grew, causing Zhou Weiqing to step back subconsciously.

One had to know that currently Zhou Weiqing was in his Dragon-Tiger Transformation, and yet he had still been forced to move a step back. From that alone, one could imagine how intense and terrifying that pressure was. Even when he was facing the Heavenly King Stage Heavenly Beasts, such a thing had not occurred.

The pressure that Shangguan Xue’er brought to Zhou Weiqing was not from any bloodline, but from her own energy and aura.

The current Shangguan Xue’er, although she was standing there with her eyes closed, the feeling she gave Zhou Weiqing was like a naked blade unsheathed and ready to kill. That pressure was like the manifestation of her sword intent.

By this point, Zhou Weiqing had seen his share of powerhouses, even top quality ones like Long Shiya and Xue AoTian. Instantly, he made the judgement that Shangguan Xue’er was highly versed in swordsmanship, just like how Shangguan Fei’er had fully focused on close combat.

Compared to Shangguan Xue’er, the feeling Shangguan Fei’er gave was dangerous but not as lethal. On the other hand, Shangguan Xue’er gave him the feeling of violence bottled up. Once she unleashed her attack, it was deﬁnitely going to be unbelievably terrifying, far beyond what Shangguan Fei’er could unleash.

Who said that Gu Yingbing was the top in the entire young generation? Let him try and ﬁght against Shangguan Xue’er with her Boundless Inﬁnitum Set. Perhaps with the gap between seven-Jeweled and nine-Jeweled, she might not be able to match him fully yet, but do not forget she still had the Heaven’s Expanse Palace behind her! Once Shangguan Xue’er reached the eight-Jeweled stage and gained her eighth piece of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set, at least fully completing her leg armour… Zhou Weiqing was entirely certain that Gu Yingbing would no longer be a match for her then.

Right at that moment, Zhou Weiqing suddenly remembered how Shangguan Xue’er had originally told him – if he wanted to marry her sister, he would have to ﬁrst defeat her! Forcefully pushing down his guilt and apologetic feeling, Zhou Weiqing decided to take this opportunity to see how powerful this Boundless Inﬁnitum Set and Shangguan Xue’er were.

To any Heavenly Jewel Master, having a powerful opponent was deﬁnitely not a bad thing. With Zhou Weiqing’s experience in cultivation, it was often that a Heavenly Jewel Master’s improvement was much easier when facing powerful stress and opposition, only then were they able to draw out their potential. Just like this trip of his to the Heavenly Snow Mountain. When he had ﬁrst ascended the Heavenly Snow Mountain, he had only just broken through to the six-Jeweled stage. However, after all the events and stress he had suffered on the Heavenly Snow Mountain, even almost facing death, he could clearly sense that not only was his grasp on the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation far stronger, even his cultivation speed had risen, and his understanding towards the Heavenly Xu Energy stage had also improved drastically. Originally, according to normal speed, that was a progress that should have taken him at least half a year or more. This was the beneﬁt of facing such pressure (and surviving).

The instant that Shangguan Xue’er had closed her yes, she was fully treating Zhou Weiqing like an enemy. For survival’s sake, also for the pressure, Zhou Weiqing had to focus all his spirit to deal with it. The Six Elemental Jewels at his feet quickly formed the hexagon formation, and around his body, the six Attribute Heavenly Energies spun around, giving Zhou Weiqing the sensation that he was able to control everything around him.

On the Heavenly Snow Mountain, he did not have a chance to fully use the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation to its full potential. Facing the Lion King Gu Site, what he used most was his own judgement, strategizing and planning, as well as making use of Gu Site’s underestimation to gain a huge advantage in one fell swoop. However, facing Shangguan Xue’er at this moment, the pressure on him was even greater than when he had been facing Gu Site. After all, at that time, Gu Site had his cultivation level restricted and wasn’t able to use his Consolidated Equipment at all. Furthermore, there was the difference in mindset between the two now… How could both be compared then?

The wings behind his back spread open slowly once again. If anyone else was here, they would be able to sense the thick and heavy various Attribute Heavenly Energy that was gathering crazily towards Zhou Weiqing and into him. In this regard, he was beyond Shangguan Xue’er.

With the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, his Dragon- Tiger Transformation and the Immortal Deity Technique, even for Shangguan Xue’er with her Boundless Inﬁnitum Set, she was far from being a match for Zhou Weiqing in terms of drawing in atmospheric Heavenly Energy.

Of course, although Shangguan Xue’er’s Heavenly Energy regeneration might not be fast, the sword intent she had around her continued growing crazily.

The snow white Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword became brighter and brighter. In Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, there was no longer Shangguan Xue’er, only the sword.

The two of them faced off just like that. Shangguan Xue’er’s original messed up clothes, or lack thereof, were now totally covered. Only the left leg that was not covered by greaves, but at least her pants had not been removed by Zhou Weiqing.

Zhou Weiqing subconsciously eyed her left leg, and somehow his thoughts wandered back to the soft skin, and his heart heated up suddenly.

In that instant, Shangguan Xue’er made her move. Shangguan Xue’er’s senses were all locked onto Zhou Weiqing’s body. Though she was using swordsmanship, hers was not the speed/agility focused route, instead focusing on power, range, pressure, inertia and momentum.

Zhou Weiqing’s emotional ﬂuctuations were all within her sword intent. As soon as she detected a slight ﬂuctuation, she instantly seized the opportunity and attacked.

Sword and Body as one. Flashes of light ﬂew out of the snow white sword at an insane pace. Yet, at the same instant, Zhou Weiqing could actually only see a single point of the snow- white light.

Shangguan Xue’er’s entire sword intent was locked onto Zhou Weiqing, but at the same time, how could his attention not be on hers? Just as Shangguan Xue’er launched her attack, Zhou Weiqing had also seen some of the profound secrets behind her swordsplay, but that discovery did not let Zhou Weiqing feel a bit relaxed at all. Instead, he was even more stunned.

All around that huge gemstone of the Heart Mirror of Shangguan Xue’er’s breastplate, there were twelve grooves. At this point, seven of the twelve grooves were set with the seven Alexandrite Cat’s Eye Elemental Jewels of Shangguan Xue’er. From Shangguan Fei’er, Zhou Weiqing had learned some news about Shangguan Xue’er and her powers. After all, he knew that he would have to challenge her sooner or later.

Shangguan Xue’er’s Elemental Jewel was Four Attributes. Water, Fire, Earth, Wind. Although she was not as ‘disgusting’ as Zhou Weiqing or the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor with their six Attributes, she was already considered an ultimate talent and genius. Even She had even one more Attribute than Shangguan Tianyang.

Currently, her seven Elemental Jewels were embedded in her chestplate, which meant that she was actually giving up on using all her Stored Skills. Or perhaps more accurately, ever since Shangguan Xue’er had started cultivating, she did not Store any Skills. All of her training was focused on the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword in her hand.

This was an extreme form of training, chasing nothing but the purest form of swordsmanship.

This training method was something that Shangguan Xue’er had come up with herself. After she had Awoken her Heavenly Jewels, after she had gained her ﬁrst piece of Consolidated Equipment – the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword, she had come up with the idea and resolution. Shangguan Tianyang and Shangguan Tianyue had both tried to persuade her against such a training method. After all, for a Heavenly Jewel Master to totally ignore Storing Skills, it was totally against conventional thinking.

However, Shangguan Xue’er continued on her own path, resolutely sticking to her own decision. Even at such a young age, the only concession she would make was to say that it was only temporary.

As time went by and Shangguan Xue’er’s cultivation level grew stronger… by the age of ten she had already learned and mastered all the top sword mastery skills in the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. On her own, she came up with the Dao of Swordsmanship. In the next few years, the new and immature sword intent of hers was slowly shaped into her own creation, and it grew stronger and stronger. By the time she reached the six-Jeweled stage, no one tried to persuade her to give up this unconventional cultivation method. That was because the swordsmanship of the six-Jeweled Shangguan Xue’er was already at a height that shocked even Shangguan Tianyang and Shangguan Tianyue!

Not a single Stored Skill was required, and in her heart, there was only her sword intent. With the heart and path of the sword clear, her sword intent could destroy any Skill. This was Shangguan Xue’er’s unique cultivation path.

In embedding all her Elemental Jewels around that massive gemstone in her chestplate, it was not to activate any imbued Skills of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set. Instead, it was to simply provide her with more Heavenly Energy, fusing it all into her sword. For her swordsmanship, she had even given up the powerful imbued Skills of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set. One could imagine how persistent and resolute she was towards her swordcraft.

No matter if it were any ordinary Heavenly Jewel Master, if one focused on one thing to bring it to an extreme, it would bring a massive amount of power. A good example would be the Ultimate Defense Heavenly Jewel Master like Lin TianAo. Let alone Shangguan Xue’er, with such immense talent and the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set!

It could be said that Shangguan Xue’er was the total opposite of Zhou Weiqing. Instead of having so many different powers of so many different ranges, Shangguan Xue’er only had one single power. Her Sword.

At this very moment, when Shangguan Xue’er entered a state where her Body and Sword were as One, pointing towards Zhou Weiqing, he could only feel as if even his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation was being slowed down. Just in an instant, that single ﬂash of white light appeared right in front of him.

It was clear – Shangguan Xue’er’s intense and violent sword intent did not dissipate or scatter, fully focused on a single tiny point.

Zhou Weiqing’s expression changed. Shangguan Xue’er’s strength had greatly surpassed all of his expectations. The sheer terrifying power of that swordsmanship technique… he felt that even three Shangguan Fei’er’s added together was not even equal to it!

Instantly, the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set appeared around him. Five bouts of brilliant dark-gold light; ﬁve layers of protective shields, blocking in front of Zhou Weiqing.

Normally speaking, Shangguan Xue’er’s cultivation level was not that far above Zhou Weiqing’s, and her attacks should not be able to break past his Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura. However, in that single pinpoint of white sword-light, Zhou Weiqing’s Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura was pierced right through and destroyed.

Zhou Weiqing’s combat experience was rich and plentiful. Under such a disadvantageous position, the ‘crying-face’ Hammer in his right hand swept forward, a thick blue light exploding out from it.

A massive explosion. Only then did the snow white light rebounded away, revealing Shangguan Xue’er there, but Zhou Weiqing had staggered back six steps before he recovered his balance.

With a single blow from her sword, Shangguan Xue’er had not only broken through ﬁve layers of his Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura, she had even forced him back. More so, that intense sword intent caused Zhou Weiqing to feel a slight sense of numbness.

Currently, Shangguan Xue’er still had her eyes closed. As for Zhou Weiqing, even as he was staggering back, his dual Legendary Hammers were already in movement. The Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation glowed brilliantly, and balls of blue light ﬂoated out from the Legendary Hammers one after the other, blotting up the area as they ﬂoated towards Shangguan Xue’er.

This was the major advantage of the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, not only the nearly inﬁnite Heavenly Energy, but also the lack of a cooldown for those mimicked Skills. In his training, Zhou Weiqing had chosen his main offensive Attribute to be the Lightning Attribute.

Amongst his six Attributes, the Lightning Attribute was not the strongest. However, it was without question that the burst damage potential of the Lightning Attribute was one of the strongest, without too much Heavenly Energy expenditure. Zhou Weiqing’s choice was a constant stream of attacks that wouldn’t stop. If it were any of his other Attributes, that would not match his requirement. As such, he had chosen the Lightning Attribute. After all, do not forget that his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation also allowed him to Fuse Attributes.

With Zhou Weiqing’s current cultivation level, he would not be able to fuse all Six Attribute like Long Shiya could, but fusing two or three was no issue. At least several hundred of those Lightning pearls ﬂew out, and under the ﬁne control of Zhou Weiqing, it fully covered Shangguan Xue’er and any possible retreat or dodging options and angles.

Shangguan Xue’er’s eyes remained closed, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword was trembling slightly. That trembling was actually due to the strike from the ‘crying-face’ hammer.

Shangguan Xue’er’s sword skills and sword intent, along with the explosive power of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword, it was truly a terrifying power indeed. However, Zhou Weiqing with his ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set and all the pure physical strength he had was not something that could be easily dismissed as well, especially in his Dragon-Tiger Transformation state. Even Shangguan Xue’er at full power was not able to clash with him directly. The reason why Zhou Weiqing staggered back six steps was not because of the direct power, but the sword intent held within. If he had not retreated, he would have been injured by the sword intent.

Shangguan Xue’er’s expression remained impassive, as if those several hundred Lightning pearls were not a threat to her. In that next instant, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword burst into action. As compared to the previous ‘body and sword as one’, it was now a steady and smooth ﬂow of actions. All Zhou Weiqing could see was countless slim white threads burst forth from the sword.

Each and every strike landed perfectly on a Lightning pearl, as Shangguan Xue’er spun around in a move that seemed like a beautiful dance move, all the Lightning pearls had been swept aside, not a single one exploding.

This was not an easy feat indeed. In order to ensure that a Lightning pearl did not explode, the only way was to strike it right in the center heart of it, destroying its core before it could explode, not allowing the Lightning Element Attribute Heavenly Energy within to be unleashed.

More importantly, those several hundred Lightning pearls were all under Zhou Weiqing’s control. Yet, all of them had been dealt with by Shangguan Xue’er in a single instant. What kind of swordsmanship was that?! Let alone seeing anything like this before, Zhou Weiqing had not even heard of such a thing!

At this point, Shangguan Xue’er’s entire body was surrounded by a layer of blue light; after she destroyed several hundred Lightning pearls, the vast amount of Lightning Attribute Heavenly Energy had been released back into the atmosphere.

Thus far, Shangguan Xue’er had only showed her swordsmanship twice. The ﬁrst time was the simple piercing strike at the start of the ﬁght, a simple and seemingly basic move that was actually so boundlessly heavy. As for the second strike, it was a countless stream of ﬁne attacks.

With just two mere attacks, Zhou Weiqing, who had always thought of himself as invincible amongst any equal stage enemies, was left drenched in cold sweat. The only thing in his mind was – he had actually been intimate with such a beauty, was this luck?!

Shangguan Xue’er would not change her actions just because of Zhou Weiqing’s psychological changes. The Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword swirled around in the air, white light shining brightly. Abruptly, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword seemed to have a strange suction force, and the thick Lightning Attribute Heavenly Energy was drawn into it, turning the blade of the sword into a purplish blue.

A step forward, a forward pierce. All of Shangguan Xue’er’s actions seemed so basic, yet terrifyingly powerful. If Zhou Weiqing had to describe that attack, he would say it was simple, yet resplendent.

Indeed, simple but resplendent, and more so, he found he was unable to dodge it. This sword was not just with the powerful sword intent, but ﬁlled with all of the Lightning Attribute Heavenly Energy that Zhou Weiqing had summoned up earlier!

A path that brought the basics to the extreme. This was the core of Shangguan Xue’er’s sword mastery. She did not have any Stored Skills, everything used on the single sword, and with it she could destroy everything.

Zhou Weiqing was left with no other choice, and the only thing he could do was to lift up the ‘crying-face hammer’ in his hands to block the incoming blow

*BOOOM*

An explosion that seemed to almost shake the world, and Zhou Weiqing’s body was blown back instantly. Shangguan Xue’er’s body also ﬂew back, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword in her hands trembling once more. It was not that she did not want to press the advantage and follow up on the attack, but she was just unable to do so. The strength behind those Legendary Hammers were just too terrifying. Though she had been able to knock Zhou Weiqing back with her sword intent and the explosive power of the lightning elements, she was still unable to fully dissipate the power from those hammers.

At the same time, the defensive capabilities of the Dragon- Tiger Transformation was just too disgusting. Although Zhou Weiqing had been sent ﬂying back, he was actually totally unharmed. It was just that this was the ﬁrst time he had ever experienced a foe like Shangguan Xue’er, as such, caught by surprise and off balance, he had not been unable to react properly to such unfamiliar techniques. It was somewhat like how the Lion King Gu Site had felt when facing him indeed!

Zhou Weiqing did not rush into releasing other Skills, instead taking a stance with his hammers. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind and calm down.

Shangguan Xue’er’s power had far surpassed all of his expectations. Only if he calmed down, cleared his mind and focused with all his might could he stand a chance at all. The tip of her feet touching the ground lightly, Shangguan Xue’er ﬂew up into the air once more. As her body rose into the air, the sides of her shoulder pauldrons actually extended. Although they were not actually wings that could beat and ﬂy like Zhou Weiqing had after entering his Dragon-Tiger Transformation, those extensions enabled her to glide in midair. Her movements quick like lightning, the sword in hand warped into thousands of different strikes from all directions, slashing and piercing down towards Zhou Weiqing.

Clearly, Shangguan Xue’er knew that she could never gain any advantage by clashing directly. The pure physical strength behind the hammers were more than enough to close any gap from Heavenly Energy, even able to suppress a portion of her sword intent. As such, she switched to using her techniques, overwhelming him with her ﬁne swordsmanship.

In terms of ﬁne technique, even ten of Zhou Weiqing was no match for a single Shangguan Xue’er. The pure strength behind his hammers might be much more terrifying, but in terms of speed and agility, how could they compare with her sword?

Of course, Zhou Weiqing still had his own advantages. More so, he had always been a person who was extremely adaptable and able to use any advantage in the best possible way. Once again, an almost exact replica of the previous scene came into play, as several hundred Lightning pearls were unleashed from Zhou Weiqing’s hammers. To any Heavenly Jewel Master, using his Heavenly Energy so generously like that was pretty inconceivable. Yet, to Zhou Weiqing, it was no

big deal with his insane regeneration. Perhaps in that instant, he could not regenerate all the Heavenly Energy back, but his terrifying regeneration was a constant effect, and he was not using his Skills all the time. As such, Zhou Weiqing was not worried that he might run out of energy at all, especially since he was using his Lightning Attribute, not the Darkness, Spatial, Time or Demonic Attributes which were even more costly. For those, he would still have to take energy into account before unleashing too many Skills.

It was not that Zhou Weiqing had not thought of switching to other Attributes as his main offensive force, but Long Shiya had told him. In terms of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, at least before his cultivation level reached the Heavenly King Stage and beyond, it would be best for him to focus on one and train in it, and it would be far superior to trying to practice every single Attribute. After all, such training and usage of power all had their similarities, and once he had mastered a single Attribute to the extreme, when his cultivation level reached a certain level in the future, it would be easy to transfer that knowledge to using the other attributes as well. The reverse would actually be slower and detrimental to his overall growth. Furthermore, one of Zhou Weiqing’s strongest future power would be the widespread use of his Dark Demon God Lightning, akin to how the Dark Demon God Tiger had used it in his vision. Currently, using his Lightning Attribute as his main offensive tool in the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation was a suitable start for him indeed.

Another several hundred Lightning pearls against Shangguan Xue’er’s terrifying swordplay. Would the result be the same, with the pearls being destroyed, and their energy used by Shangguan Xue’er? The answer was a deﬁnite no.

With the ﬁne control over the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation towards the Lightning pearls, would Zhou Weiqing really make a similar mistake twice?

Just as the rain of light from Shangguan Xue’er’s sword was about to strike the sea of Lightning pearls once more, there was a strange energy ﬂuctuation from the pearls. At the same time, a layer of grey light sprang into existence around Zhou Weiqing’s body.

*Boom**Boom**Boom**Boom**Boom* A series of small explosions that seemed inﬁnite, combining into one massive major soundwave. In the seemingly small energy wave reverberation, the massive amount of Lightning pearls exploded in a series of chain reactions. Since you are able to disable them and prevent my Lightning pearls from exploding, I’ll just set them off before you do so! That was Zhou Weiqing’s current action. He controlled the energy reverberations of the Lightning pearls and caused them to explode as he willed. The terrifying explosion was the pushed outwards with the Ward of the Demon God he had summoned, causing the external force of the explosion to be magniﬁed. These two Skills might seem independent, but they had a surprising synergy indeed. Besides Blink, the Ward of the Demon God was the second Stored Skill that Zhou Weiqing had imbued into his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation this time.

As the Lightning pearls exploded, Zhou Weiqing ignored the sudden massive drain on his Heavenly Energy. At the same time, a purple-red light appeared above his head, forming a faint illusory ﬁgure… It was the Demonic Dragon Lady!

Chapter 185 If You Lose, Marry Me!

Anyone else might fail to recognize such a rare Heavenly Beast like the Demonic Dragon Lady, but how could Shangguan Xue’er not? Firstly, the Demonic Dragon Lady was from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and as the heir to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, her knowledge was deﬁnitely extensive and well informed indeed.

Sensing the presence and aura of the Demonic Dragon Lady, Shangguan Xue’er furrowed her brow, but her eyes still remained closed. In the midst of the terrifying explosion, the ﬂurry of sword thread attacks were swallowed by the burst. The sword intent was the soul of swordsmanship, but even so, against such a vast number of explosions, she could not just force her way forward, otherwise, even before she could strike Zhou Weiqing, her body would have been blown back by the explosive impact.

As she retreated from the explosion, though Shangguan Xue’er seemed like she had been in the advantage in this clash, she was clear that if she was not careful, this might lead to a massive disadvantage for herself. After all, without any Stored Skills, when she faced any top tier Skills, she did not have any Skills with Heavenly Skill Images of her own to cancel out her opponent’s. This was also the reason why Shangguan Tianyang and Shangguan Tianyue had originally been so against her method of cultivation. However, after so many years of being immersed in her path, Shangguan Xue’er had come up with her own ways of dealing with such situations. This was not the ﬁrst time she had faced such a situation after all. She was extremely clear that if she allowed Zhou Weiqing to unleash his Dragon Silencing Seal on her, she would lose her Boundless Inﬁnitum Set, and her combat strength would fall drastically. In that case, she would no longer be a match for Zhou Weiqing with his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation. Just in terms of recovery rate alone, Zhou Weiqing would be able to wear her down and defeat her.

As such, in that short moment, Shangguan Xue’er had already made her judgement and plan. In the midst of ﬂying back, her entire body glowed in a sudden brilliance as all the Consolidated pieces of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set lit up.

It was not the usual dark-gold colour, but a snow white light that was akin to that of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword in her hands. That was the colour that the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set would take after completion of all pieces! Yet, being able to do so before the actual completion… even the Heaven’s Expanse Palace Master Shangguan Tianyang had not been able to do such a thing! In all the generations of heirs to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, Shangguan Xue’er had been the ﬁrst to accomplish this feat. The reason was simple – purity and extreme. It was exactly because Shangguan Xue’er had put everything into her sword, all her focus, power and life into her sword, that was the reason why the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword was able to glow with such a colour, not the dark-gold light. It was that stubborn resolution in taking her own path that had allowed her to gain the approval and support of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set, a perfect conﬁrmation that surpassed any of her predecessors. As such, when she burst out with a full strength without holding anything back, Shangguan Xue’er was able to temporarily cause her Boundless Inﬁnitum Set to ﬂash with the light of completion.

Of course, this was not just a matter of the changing of colours. It was this exact change that allowed her, for the short moment, to use some of the Skills that could only be used when the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set was completed.

The massive gemstone at her chestplate lit up in resplendent white, just like a heart of ice, glowing brilliantly in all its splendour. In that very instant, the closed eyes of Shangguan Xue’er suddenly snapped open. Her eyes were actually glowing with the colour of ice and snow, her entire person seeming like a Goddess of Ice descending from the heavens. The white light did not represent the power of ice or snow, nor was it just Heavenly Energy… It was the Ultimate Secret Technique of the geerations of heirs of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace – the Ice Heart Arts of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Technique. For Shangguan Tianyang, it was only after he broke through the Heavenly King Stage that he returned to his original expressions and looks; as for Shangguan Xue’er currently, her cold outlook and disposition was a large portion due to this secret heavenly technique.

At this moment, she was wielding the Boundless Inﬁnitum Technique – Ice Heart Arts to the maximum, along with the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set. This was her strongest possible state that she could push herself to.

The piercing white light burst forth from her eyes and the gemstone at her chestplate, almost simultaneously. In that instant, Shangguan Xue’er’s body disappeared, and all Zhou Weiqing could see was massive Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword, almost ten times magniﬁed. All the white light was drawn in by that massive sword, and it struck out almost as Zhou Weiqing ﬁnished his Dragon Silencing Seal.

The terrifying white sword ﬂew towards Zhou Weiqing, and he could sense that it was fully locked onto him. Even if he used his Blink Skill, he would not be able to dodge it. At the same time, he also sensed that he would not be able to block this blow. This was truly power to the extreme! When Zhou Weiqing’s cultivation level had reached the six-Jeweled stage, and he had successfully retrieved Tian’er from the Heavenly Snow Mountain, his conﬁdence level had been boosted greatly. He had felt he was invincible against any Heavenly Jewel Master below the nine-Jeweled stage. Now, he realised how wrong he had been; he had underestimated the powerhouses of the world. This extreme sword of Shangguan Xue’er, in terms of overall power, he truly could not match it.

Is she going to kill me?

Facing such an ultimate extreme power, even his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation had limited use. If Zhou Weiqing was at the same cultivation level as Shangguan Xue’er, with one more piece of his ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set, further doubling his already considerable strength, perhaps he would have a good chance. However, the current situation was without a doubt highly disadvantageous to him.

Zhou Weiqing had faced death many times, been in so many tight spots. Under those conditions, he had always been able to reach deep into his potential and subconsciously react in the best possible way. Even if the best possible way did not allow him to beat his enemy, at least it could give him a chance of survival or minimize damage to himself. The six-coloured light below his feet dissipated. Facing Shangguan Xue’er’s strongest attack, Zhou Weiqing had actually dismissed his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation!

What was he trying to do? If there had been anyone else watching on the sidelines, they would have thought this fellow had gone crazy. Was he trying to commit suicide?

However, Zhou Weiqing did not think the same in his heart. What he was doing was to meet extremes with extremes, facing the extreme minimalism with extreme maximalism! You do not use any Stored Skills and focus all your power on your sword? Very well, I shall use my crazy amounts of Skills to face your Zero amount of Skills!

Without the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, Zhou Weiqing’s Heavenly Energy regeneration rate dropped drastically. However, at the same time, he became like a projection machine that ﬁred out Skills at an unbelievable rate. No matter what, he had after all already reached the six- Jeweled stage, and his Heavenly Energy was already at the Heavenly Xu stage, and even when using Stored Skills, he was able to sustain himself for quite a long time.

A ﬂash of green light, and the Fetters of Wind landed upon the huge snow-white Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword. Zhou Weiqing had lifted up his left hand, where the six Alexandrite Cat’s Eye Elemental Jewels were spinning about crazily.

All of this happened in just a matter of moments. As Shangguan Xue’er ﬂew back and opened her eyes, Zhou Weiqing had already dispelled his own Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation and Dragon Silencing Seal. As she turned into the giant sword and started moving, the Fetters of Wind already landed on it.

Even with Zhou Weiqing’s current power levels, the Fetters of Wind only managed to cause the giant sword to tremble slightly, not even slowing its speed. That was even after it had been unleashed through his Consolidated Dual Legendary Hammers boosting it, as well as in the Dragon-Tiger Transformation State.

Despite the seemingly uselessness of the Fetters of Wind, Zhou Weiqing did not seem to care. His Dual Legendary Hammers glowed brightly as Skill after Skill launched without a pause.

Close behind the Fetters of Wind was a Touch of Darkness, ten thick tentacles forming a web to block the giant sword under Zhou Weiqing’s control. However, within moments, they were broken apart into many tiny pieces. Even so, there was some effect as the giant sword continued trembling harder due to it.

As he threw out his Skills, Zhou Weiqing’s entire body ﬂew back in a retreat. This was open ground, and there were no obstacles. With the wings behind his back beating strongly, he retreated at an amazingly quick pace. Of course, his speed was no match for that of the incoming giant sword, but at least it could buy him more time.

The next Skill after the Touch of Darkness was another Control Skill, the Spatial Shackles. As compared to the ﬁrst two Skills, the defensive capabilities of this Spatial Shackles was much higher, and as such, it was actually able to have a noticeable slowing effect on the giant sword.

At the same time, the ‘crying-face’ hammer in Zhou Weiqing’s right hand was suddenly ﬂung out, and he instantly cut off his connection to it. This way, even if the hammer was destroyed, it would not affect him. Around the hammer, four glows of light shimmered, clearly four Skills had been imbued within.

Even though Zhou Weiqing was currently unable to fuse or merge the Skills together, this was one major beneﬁt of God Tier Consolidated Equipment. Even without Sockets, it could be imbued with several Skills, to be unleashed at once, or even one after the other. Even without a fusion effect, having a bunch of Skills activating nearly simultaneously – there was a certain stacking or supporting effect between them.

The Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword and the ‘crying-face’ Hammer slammed into each other. In the next instant, the hammer was swallowed up… or perhaps more accurately, it was quickly dismissed by Zhou Weiqing after impact. As long as the Skills imbued within were activated, Zhou Weiqing did not wish for his Hammer to be really damaged. As such, in the instant that the Skills had activated, his ‘crying-face’ hammer dissolved and reappeared in his hands. By now, Zhou Weiqing’s fale was pale white. After using so many powerful Skills in succession, even with the Immortal Deity Technique and Dragon-Tiger Transformation, it was starting to take a large toll on him. Yet, the effect was unquestionably good.

The four Skills imbued into the ‘crying-face’ Hammer were all close combat ones, otherwise Zhou Weiqing would not choose to unleash them like this.

The ﬁrst Skill was the Absolute Delay. With its Absolute properties, the giant sword ﬁnally slowed drastically. However, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword with the full power of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set behind it, and Shangguan Xue’er’s sword intent was just too strong. The Absolute Delay only lasted a second before disappearing. The Absolute properties had still been in effect, but the time it lasted was forced to be shorter. Just from that alone, one could see how absolutely terrifying that attack of Shangguan Xue’er’s was. However, the Absolute Delay was just the ﬁrst Skill. Besides that, the other three Skills also sprang into effect simultaneously. The three Skills were the Lightning Suffering, Silver Emperor Wing Slash and the Silver Emperor Lightning Pierce respectively. All were extremely powerful Skills, two of were Stored from the Silver Emperor. However, they all shared a certain characteristic – a strong explosive effect.

Stacked together, they were able to boost each other.

With the four Skills bursting out simultaneously, the white light around the giant sword was obviously weakened, and the speed slowed considerably, giving Zhou Weiqing even more time to react.

As he was retreating at top speed, Zhou Weiqing’s brain was working at top speed in the state of Icy Cold Senses. Besides focusing most of his senses on the terrifying giant sword and the various energy reverberations within, he was also clear about everything around in the surroundings, including the distance between the two, the difference in speeds, all win perfect judgement. With a faint smile, a cold light ﬂashed across Zhou Weiqing’s face. The Dual Legendary Hammers lifting in front of him once more. This time, he did not throw one out as he had earlier, instead his wings abruptly beat strongly and his entire body ﬂew up into the air.

Just as body ﬂew upwards, a layer of purple light ﬂamed out around Zhou Weiqing, staining all the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set Consolidated Equipment with that same purple hue, even the Dual Legendary Hammers in his hands. Deep within his purple orbs, there was a demonic light, and his ﬂying speed reached a terrifying height.

The giant sword ﬂying at him also increased speed abruptly. Previously, it was unable to do so due to the various Skills from Zhou Weiqing, and also because Shangguan Xue’er did not want to use too much energy just on speeding up. After all, the normal speed of the giant sword was already pretty fast. However, as she saw Zhou Weiqing ﬂy up, though her Boundless Inﬁnitum Set could let her barely ﬂy, it was more to let her maneuver in midair than ﬂying speed, deﬁnitely not comparable to Shangguan Fei’er’s Consolidated Wings.

Zhou Weiqing’s ﬂying speed was now fully displayed to Shangguan Xue’er, and she was clear that if she allowed him to accelerate and continue, then she would not have a chance to lock that rascal down. Left with no choice, she had to suddenly force an acceleration on the giant sword, hoping to take him down before he could take off.

However, much to her surprise, Zhou Weiqing only ﬂew up less than ten yards into the air before he came to a screeching halt. The next instant, he suddenly accelerated in reverse, ﬂying straight down like a meteor. A terrifying energy reverberated through the air, and Zhou Weiqing’s entire body was like a huge energy ball smashing down.

Indeed, Zhou Weiqing had ﬂown up not to escape. He knew that was impossible. What he wanted was the momentum and build up the edge to actually ﬁght.

All this time, facing Shangguan Xue’er’s giant Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword, he had been fully suppressed all the way. Under such a circumstance, even if he had one hundred and twenty percent power, he could at most use seventy percent. As such, he had to adjust his aura and momentum to be able to have a chance. Having ﬂown up into the air, he was able to at last throw off the suppression and have the advantage of high ground. Although it did not affect Shangguan Xue’er’s momentum, at least he was now able to bring his full power into play. As the Dual Legendary Hammers drew a short and quick arc in the sky, his entire body spun in a 360 degree spin before smashing down towards the giant sword which was chasing towards him.

Zhou Weiqing’s Dual Hammers were now almost purely covered by purple light, as he blew up with a huge number of Skills, as he ﬁnished up almost all remaining Heavenly Energy.

There were three main offensive Skills that were the backbone of his strategy. First was the Skill that Zhou Weiqing was most well-versed in, the Spatial Rend. Next was the Time Disorder Skill that prevented enemies from locking onto him. Lastly was the Lightning Explosive Palm. With the three main Skills exploding out, backed by his full strength and the sheer weight of the Legendary Hammers… in that instant Zhou Weiqing’s offensive power was unbelievably terrifying.

This was Zhou Weiqing’s plan. Facing a sword of such extreme singularity, he decided to utilize his own strength, the extreme multiplicity. Without question, this was an act of last resort, with nothing held back or left behind. All of his Heavenly Energy was drained from this ﬁnal blow, and unless he could Devour her Heavenly Energy, this would be his only chance. If this failed, he would be left totally at Shangguan Xue’er’s mercy, in absolute danger. As such, the only reason that he dared do this was that he felt Shangguan Xue’er would not actually kill him off. If one paid close attention, the Skills that Zhou Weiqing used so far had all been different. In such a short period of time, he had gone through all his Stored Skills and divvied out his Heavenly Energy to his selection in a series of actions that could bring about his strongest offensive power. Currently, with both hammers slamming downwards, ﬁlled with their

respective Skills, along with the earlier series of weakening

Skills, the large gap between two was no longer so obvious.

In mid air, the two massive energies smashed into each other. Strangely, there was no sound, but the effect on both was clear. Zhou Weiqing’s was perhaps the most direct. He felt as if his entire body, every inch of his muscles trembling, as if he had been immersed in the depths of her sword intent, and it was about to tear him into shreds. His body shuddered violently, and even his ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set was unable to handle such a terrifying blow.

After the moment of clashing ended, all of Zhou Weiqing’s Consolidated Equipment vanished just like that. At the same time, his body was sent ﬂying back up into the sky in a strange arc, temporarily losing consciousness as he ﬂew up and about.

Shangguan Xue’er did not come off easy as well. Both of Zhou Weiqing’s Legendary hammers were backed by all the terrifying physical strength he had, with the boost of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation and the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set. Added on that was the boosts of his many ‘disgusting’ Skills. At the ﬁnal instant, Shangguan Xue’er had clearly seen that Zhou Weiqing’s entire body had turned shadowy and illusory, and the last remnants of her sword

intent had not been able to continue hurting that fellow.

On her end, Shangguan Xue’er’s entire body was sent falling from the skies, smashing right into the ground, with her legs sent deep into the ground all the way to her knees. At her lips, a trickle of blood ﬂowed down, and the right arm which had been holding onto the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword was trembling uncontrollably. Although her Boundless Inﬁnitum Set did not vanish, it was clear that its glow was far dimmer than it had been, no longer shining with that snow-white lustre.

Currently, Shangguan Xue’er felt as if her entire innards were upside down, her bloodﬂow in a mess. If not for the protection of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set, perhaps the impact of the blow would have severely injured her.

Bastard! When did that bastard become so strong? To be able to receive that strongest blow of mine! In the distance, Zhou Weiqing’s body had completed a parabolic arc before falling to the ground. Shangguan Xue’er gritted her teeth, suppressing all the pain and uncomfortable feelings as she forcefully dragged her body from the muddy ground.

Before pulling herself out, it had not been so obvious, but as soon as she did so, she saw the entire right pants leg had been torn asunder, revealing her smooth white skin.

Shangguan Xue’er’s face turned red in embarrassment once more, almost instantly reminded of the incident that was the precursor of their ﬁght. Gritting her teeth once more, the hate returned, and with great difﬁculty she shifted the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword to her left hand before charging towards Zhou Weiqing again.

Although Zhou Weiqing had lost consciousness temporarily, it had only been for a short while, due to the incitement of Shangguan Xue’er’s sword intent. As he was falling from the top of the arc, he came to his senses only to see Shangguan Xue’er charging at him once more, shocking him fully awake.

Currently, Zhou Weiqing’s Heavenly Energy was barely a tenth of his maximum capacity. As the saying goes, a wise man knows not to ﬁght when the odds are against him, only a fool would continue ﬁghting with her. The enmity between them was not huge, or rather, was one sided, and he quickly regained control of his own body, the wings behind his back extending and preventing the fall before ﬂying back up again slowly, attempting to get out of Shangguan Xue’er’s attack range.

“Zhou Weiqing, you bastard! If you dare run away, I will immediately return to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace and tell Fei’er and Bing’er how you violated me. I will make sure you never see them again!”

Without question, that threat was the greatest threat Shangguan Xue’er could ever make. Zhou Weiqing’s body froze in midair, and he indeed did not dare to continue ﬂying up. Maintaining his position, he faced downwards towards her and said helplessly: “Big Sis, what do you want to do? Even if you really kill me, do you think that is satisfactory? After all, no matter what I am still your brother-in-law! I know, just now that was all my fault, but I had really made a mistake in recognizing the wrong person. Furthermore, even if we continued ﬁghting, you may not even win against me.”

“Bullshit! You think you can defeat me?! Zhou Weiqing, you have violated me and I will not let you go. Come down here. Don’t think I can’t see that your Heavenly Energy is almost out… you think you still can ﬁght?” Shangguan Xue’er did not relent, and from the looks of things she wanted to ﬁnish him off!

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “What if I defeat you then?

Can we drop what happened today?”

Shangguan Xue’er said angrily: “What if you lose then?”

Zhou Weiqing drew himself up imposingly and said in a stately tone: “If I lose, then I lose, so be it!”

In terms of being shameless, he had never been afraid of anyone!

“You…” Shangguan Xue’er was so furious that her entire body was trembling. She had never been the best at squabbling or bickering… how could she out-talk the master of these arts, Zhou Weiqing!

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “How about this, if I come down now and am still able to defeat you… you will no longer interfere between me, Fei’er and Bing’er in the future. How about that?” “Fine. But if you lose, then I want your life.” Shangguan Xue’er said savagely.

Zhou Weiqing started momentarily before saying with an aggrieved and wronged tone: “No need to be so savage right? Furthermore, such betting terms are totally unfair! If I win, I only get your agreement not to be involved in Bing’er and Fei’er’s relationship with me, but if I lose, I will have to die? How could I possibly agree with such terms?” Shangguan Xue’er was just too naive. In terms of interpersonal interaction, she was far worse than Shangguan Fei’er.

“What do you say then?” She subconsciously thought that Zhou Weiqing’s words did make some sense, and she actually asked out loud.

How could Zhou Weiqing not seize such a perfect opportunity? All this while, he had been talking nonsense to Shangguan Xue’er for a simple reason – to delay time. No one else knew how terrifying Zhou Weiqing’s Heavenly Energy recovery speed was. With just his Dragon-Tiger Transformation wings and his Immortal Deity Technique circulating at max speed, his recovery rate would truly shock the entire world. In just a matter of their short conversation so far, he had already recovered another ten percent of his energy. Naturally, he did not mind continuing speaking more. At the same time, Shangguan Xue’er was still dressed in her Boundless Inﬁnitum Set Consolidated Equipment, and instead of recovering Heavenly Energy, it was still draining from her… or at the very least an equilibrium that did not allow her to recover. With such a contrast, Zhou Weiqing’s current severe disadvantage could possibly be reversed! “Hmmm…. This… Well….” Zhou Weiqing looked to be deep in thought, and after some musing, he ﬁnally said: “How about this? You three sisters are triplets, and your relationship is so strong between each other. In the future, if Bing’er and Fei’er both marry me, you will be left alone. I will feel really bad about that. If I defeat you, why don’t you just marry me as well? How about that? Betting your future against my life… that is a fair trade right?”

Shangguan Xue’er truly wanted to give him a piece of her mind! Fair trade my foot! However, at this point, her mind was not even in a fully clear state. All she wanted to do was to get Zhou Weiqing down as quickly as possible and give him a savage beating before talking about anything else. Furthermore, he did not even have his own Legendary Set any longer, how could he possibly defeat her?!

Of course, this was also because Shangguan Xue’er did not know Zhou Weiqing well enough. If it were Shangguan Bing’er or Shangguan Fei’er here right now, they would never bet with him. That rascal, when had he ever lost out in a bet? Would he ever come up with a bet that he had no conﬁdence in winning? The answer was clear – a huge no! Alas, Shangguan Xue’er had slowly fallen in Zhou Weiqing’s trap. “Fine. I agree. Come down here and accept your death then!” Shangguan Xue’er cried out angrily.

It was actually Zhou Weiqing’s turn to be surprised. Originally, he had planned to give such an absurd terms of betting that Shangguan Xue’er would be enraged and argue with him further, letting him have more time to recover. He had not expected that it would actually backﬁre, and Shangguan Xue’er would just agree like that… not leaving him with any more time!

“You really said it yourself? Will you really live up to your words?” Zhou Weiqing asked tentatively.

Shangguan Xue’er was no fool, as she saw the cunning light in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, she instantly knew that this rascal was up to no good. At the same time, she quickly saw that Zhou Weiqing was doing his best to recover his Heavenly Energy, which was why she agreed so quickly. She planned to end this ﬁght quickly, not giving him anymore time to recover.

“I, Shangguan Xue’er, swear to the heavens. If today, Zhou Weiqing can defeat the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword in my hands, I will marry him. If I break my vow, may lightning descend from the heavens and destroy me body and soul, so that I will be cast out from the reincarnation cycle.” Shangguan Xue’er’s vow was vicious indeed, but short and sweet. In barely a moment, she had ﬁnished it, and she turned a disdainful and provoking gaze to Zhou Weiqing.

Zhou Weiqing was after all a man. With Shangguan Xue’er already agreeing so quickly to his absurd terms, how could he possibly continue running away and stay in the sky? He knew that if he really continued to ﬂy in the air to ﬁnish recovering his Heavenly Energy, Shangguan Xue’er would forever hold him in contempt, and who knows if she might even start using any secret arts to recover her own Heavenly Energy… and what the ﬁnal result would be from that again.

Gritting his teeth, Zhou Weiqing descended from the skies, landing not far from Shangguan Xue’er. His expression was grave, but he crooked his ﬁnger at her and said solemnly: “Come then.”

Seeing that he was really back on the ground, Shangguan Xue’er did not hesitate any longer. In a ﬂash, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword in her hands had pierced out towards him. At this point, Zhou Weiqing no longer had his ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set, and it was without question that his ﬁghting capabilities had dropped drastically, no longer with that terrifying physical strength. With her own powerful sword intent, though she had now swapped to her left hand, Shangguan Xue’er still had absolute conﬁdence in defeating ZHou Weiqing quickly.

In an instant, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword had reached Zhou Weiqing, striking out at his right chest.

Seeing the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword strike out at him, a faint smile appeared on Zhou Weiqing’s face. It was not a mocking one indeed, but one with a hint of appreciation and gratitude. No matter what her words were, even in such an angry state, Shangguan Xue’er’s actions showed that she was not truly trying to kill him. Otherwise, that sword would be aimed at his left chest, not the right.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Weiqing’s entire expression was grave and serious. However, to Shangguan Xue’er’s surprise, as her sword pierced right in front of Zhou Weiqing, he did not make any move to dodge at all.

With a sickening thud, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword pierced right into Zhou Weiqing’s body, shoving right through his chest. Yet, Zhou Weiqing’s only action was to suddenly raise both hands, grabbing onto the blade with his bare hands! Shangguan Xue’er was totally caught by surprise. When her sword had pierced right through Zhou Weiqing, she had already been shocked and dazed. No matter what, she had not expected that he would not even make an attempt to dodge.

It was not that she felt any heartache for Zhou Weiqing, after all she was still hating that fellow. However, just like what Zhou Weiqing said, no matter what he was still her future brother in law! It was concerning both her sisters’ future happiness. Both Shangguan Bing’er and Shangguan Fei’er loved Zhou Weiqing so much, and if she killed him with that single sword pierce, how could she account it to her sisters?!

As such, when the sword in her hands pierced through Zhou Weiqing’s right chest, she was totally dumbfounded. She did not realise that as the sword pierced through, there was no blood at all. At this point, Zhou Weiqing’s hands suddenly grabbed onto her Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword. Instantly, a terrifying suction force drew upon Shangguan Xue’er through the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword.

Demonic Attribute – Devour Skill!

Indeed, it was the Devour Skill that Zhou Weiqing had not had a chance to use all this while. When Zhou Weiqing reached the six-Jeweled cultivation level, his Devour Skill was already able to begin Devouring his opponent’s Heavenly Energy even with a small distance, instead of the previous requirement of having to touch his opponent. In fact, against a much weaker opponent, his

suction force was strong enough to just drag it to his hands to Devour. Of course, it was without a question that a direct touch was still the most effective for Devouring. Furthermore, unless the opponent’s cultivation level was far above Zhou Weiqing’s, otherwise once he touched the opponent, then the Devour Skill

was so strong that it could turn the tides of battle.

As soon as Shangguan Xue’er felt the strong Devour Skill burst out abruptly at her, she instantly realised what Zhou Weiqing’s plan had been. However, she had not expected that he would be so savage to himself, actually using his own body to take a sword right through his chest just to gain an opportunity to activate such a Skill.

What do I do? What do I do? In Shangguan Xue’er’s eyes, as long as vibrated the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword with her power, she could easily cut through Zhou Weiqing’s hands and kill him off. However, if she really did that, that would also be killing off her sisters’ happiness! Zhou Weiqing was gripping onto the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword so tightly that without cutting through his hands, or even slicing them off, she could not possibly free the sword. In terms of raw physical strength, Shangguan Xue’er was no match for Zhou Weiqing, and the only way she could end the ﬁght on her own terms was to totally destroy Zhou Weiqing’s hands and possibly kill him. However, Shangguan Xue’er could not bring herself to do so!

Without question, the rascal Zhou Weiqing was fully making use of Shangguan Xue’er’s kindness. As Mu En’s disciple, being so shameless was of extremely ease to our dear Zhou Little Fatty. With such a good method to use, why not use it? So what if it was shameless? Ordinarily speaking, beauties always fell for the bad boys after all, and the good guys would stay single! Shangguan Xue’er had already sworn such an oath, as long as he could gain this eldest sister as well, heh heh, the Heaven’s Expanse Palace would not be able to stop him in the future! More importantly, this was the only way he could see to get out of this current mess, and if he did not do so properly, how could he face up to Tian’er as well?

Seeing that strange smile on Zhou Weiqing’s lips, Shangguan Xue’er snarled angrily: “Let go, otherwise I will cut off your hands!” As she said that, she gave a gentle vibration in the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword. However, Zhou Weiqing continued holding on tight, as if the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword was not cutting into his ﬂesh.

At that moment, only then did Shangguan Xue’er see blood starting to ﬂow from Zhou Weiqing’s hands and chest. However, there was no hint of him slowing down or stopping the Devour Skill. In the series of ﬁghts, Shangguan Xue’er had already used quite a lot of Heavenly Energy, and currently as she was being Devoured by Zhou Weiqing, she felt a sense of weakness wash over her. She was clear that if this continued any longer, she would truly be losing.

“You… despicable!” Shangguan Xue’er said hatefully.

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “My Lady Xue’er, what is being shameless or despicable? In this world, the victor is the king, he is the one who writes the history books. Come on then, kill me! You only have two choices now… to kill me off or to marry me. Take your pick. Sigh… Bing’er, Fei’er, let us see how your big sister chooses. There is not much time left… I estimate about ten seconds more before I Devour enough Heavenly Energy to overcome you. Let me help you countdown. Ten… Nine…” Shangguan Xue’er almost fainted from sheer anger. This shameless… despicable… rascal!!! She glared angrily at Zhou Weiqing, and in that moment, she actually let go of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword, breaking free from his Devour Skill.

Chapter 186 Shameless… With Good Intent?

One had to know that, ever since Shangguan Xue’er had started training, this was the ﬁrst time that Shangguan Xue’er had let go of the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword of her own will. For Zhou Weiqing to be able to press her to such a state, he could already be proud of himself.

To Shangguan Xue’er, the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword was like her own life. However, she did not wish to lose the ﬁght just like this, and more so, did not wish to marry Zhou Weiqing. Yet, she also could not bring herself to kill him. Left with no choice, she could only compromise with this worst choice.

As the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword left Shangguan Xue’er’s hands, it vanished instantly. In the next moment, her right hand slammed savagely towards Zhou Weiqing’s face.

However, at that very instant, Shangguan Xue’er saw the crushing despair in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes.

Indeed, it was despair. Zhou Weiqing opened his mouth, and a mouthful of blood spat out, and his entire body fell back down before Shangguan Xue’er could even strike at him. His entire chest was stained red with blood.

“Ahhh… no good!” Shangguan Xue’er was caught by surprise, immediately realising that Zhou Weiqing had been severely injured by her sword. Not the sword that had pierced right through his right chest, but the strongest blow that she had struck earlier!

That’s right! Facing that strongest sword of hers, even a nine- Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master might not be able to take it head on, let alone Zhou Weiqing with his six-Jeweled cultivation level. Oh no… was he really about to die?

Shanggua Xue’er’s original palm strike turned into a grab, holding onto Zhou Weiqing’s left hand as she pulled the falling body back up. With a step forward, she held onto his body.

However, before Shangguan Xue’er could even examine his wounds, her hand had been counter grabbed by Zhou Weiqing. The Devour Skill appeared once more. This time, it was direct contact, and was far stronger than when it was executed through the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword. His legs lifted up abruptly, wrapping around Shangguan Xue’er’s waist in a clinging fashion and with a wrestler’s twist, he had forced her onto the ground below him.

In truth, after the previous period of recovery and the Devouring, his Heavenly Energy had already reached a point above Shangguan Xue’er. The reason why he continued using such shameless methods was because he did not want to face any more invincible techniques from Shangguan Xue’er if it wasn’t necessary.

Alas, by the time Shangguan Xue’er had realised it, it was already too late. The remaining Heavenly Energy in her body was being drawn out bit by bit by Zhou Weiqing, and her body was being pressed down by his. The masculine scent from Zhou Weiqing, along with the smell of blood, and the drain of Heavenly Energy… coupled with the fact that she was so angry, with a mufﬂed groan she actually fell unconscious.

It was Zhou Weiqing’s turn to be frightened, and he quickly stopped the Devour Skill. Subconsciously, he patted her on the face, ensuring that she was alright before he relaxed. At this point, he was panting hard, the intense pain from his chest and hands causing him to grimace. However, after that, he was still feeling smug. No matter what, he had won this ﬁght. Earlier, Shangguan Xue’er had even sworn that she would marry him… right?

Foursome… Triplets! Was there anything more joyous than that?! With such sudden evil thoughts coming to his mind, Zhou Weiqing suddenly felt like his chest wasn’t hurting as much anymore.

In truth, when he had descended from the skies, he had already prepared for this. Of course, he knew why Shangguan Xue’er was so quick to agree to his bet. In that circumstance, it would have been impossible for him to defeat Shangguan Xue’er with a direct clash. As such, he had came up with such a plan. If Shangguan Xue’er had pierced towards his heart, he had his own way of dealing with it as well.

Previously, up on the Heavenly Snow Mountain, the Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia had given Zhou Weiqing a present – a Stored Skill that belonged to her! This Skill did not have any offensive capabilities, but it was a miraculous defensive Skill. The Skill name was also a simple ‘Nether State’.

When he activated the ‘Nether State’, he would enter a state of being totally immune to any physical attacks for the next three seconds. Although it was just three seconds, but what did being immune to physical damage mean! That means any weapons could not wound him. If timed correctly, that was tantamount to three seconds of total immunity!

Previously, Zhou Weiqing had actually used this very Skill when he had clashed hard with Shangguan Xue’er, so that he did not take any damage from her sword intent as well. The greatest beneﬁt of the ‘Nether State’ Skill was that it could be instantly activated without any sign, and at his level he could use it a maximum of three times daily.

Since Zhou Weiqing had already used it once, if Shangguan Xue’er really tried to kill him, he could make use of the ‘Nether State’ Skill once more to protect himself as he activated his Devour Skill. It would still leave him with one more chance of using the ‘Nether State’ Skill in case of any unforeseen circumstances; for example if Shangguan Xue’er really tried to cut off his hands, he would have activated it instantly. As such, no matter what, Zhou Weiqing had a contingency plan for almost all possible outcomes.

Of course, he deﬁnitely would not wish to use such a contingency plan. Furthermore, he had strong conﬁdence that Shangguan Xue’er would not actually strike to kill. As such, he had gone through his daring plan that was almost like betting his life. More so, the smartest part of his plan that he would actually allow himself to be stabbed right through by Shangguan Xue’er, and she would never expect to what degree that Zhou Weiqing could control his own body and even innards.

With the toughness and power of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, although it seemed like Zhou Weiqing was entirely pierced through his right chest, due to the fact that he had more than sufﬁcient to prepare to receive that blow, in the instant that his right chest was pierced through, Zhou Weiqing had actually forcefully shifted his lungs to the side, allowing the sword to pierce right through the gap between his sternum. As such, although it was a thorough wound that looked horrifying, in truth it was not too serious. Zhou Weiqing had also managed to avoid injuring any of his important meridians as well!

This was the miraculous power of his body in the Dragon- Tiger Transformation state. Under Zhou Weiqing’s meticulous control, he did not even bleed at the start. It was only at the end when he wanted to delude Shangguan Xue’er that he controlled the blood to ﬂow out of those wounds, creating the illusion that he had been severely wounded. After he had forced out a decent looking amount of blood to cover all the wounded areas, he had actually closed off the wounded area once more. He did not even need anyone to help heal him, with just the regenerative powers of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation State, that horrifying looking wounds could be recovered fully in just a relatively short period of time.

Shangguan Xue’er’s loss could be said to be truly an unjust win, yet at the same time, not at all. She had lost to the sheer experience of Zhou Weiqing… not in terms of combat abilities, but experience in terms of being shameless and perfect acting skills. In this manner, perhaps no one else could compare with our dear Zhou Little Fatty. In a manner of speaking, it was no shame to lose to Zhou Weiqing like this… after all she was not the ﬁrst, or even the most powerful person to lose to him that way!

Zhou Weiqing lay down on the ﬂoor, recovering his Heavenly Energy at the same time as he healed his wounds. The Dragon- Tiger Transformation state was truly quite disgusting; his skin and muscles were originally already extremely tough and ﬂexible, and the damage taken was smaller than it seemed. As Zhou Weiqing lifted his hands, he could clearly see the muscles, meat and even skin knitting themselves together. It was the same scenario for the wound on his chest. Though he had lost quite some blood, with the toughness of his body it was not a big deal.

One could say that in the Dragon-Tiger Transformation state, his physical regenerative capabilities were almost as disgusting as his Heavenly Energy recovery rate! In just a short period of time, both wounds on his hands and chest were almost fully healed. His Heavenly Energy recovery was even more terrifying, with his tank almost back up to full. However, after that, he did not change to a fresh set of clothes, instead holding Shangguan Xue’er in his arms like before. This time, he did not

press down on her, instead laying on the ground and having

her lie atop him. He then closed his eyes and concentrated, slowly circulating a thin thread of Heavenly Energy into her body to rouse her back to consciousness.

Acting pitiful to gain sympathy. Such an ‘art’ had long since been perfected by Master Zhou…

Shangguan Xue’er was after all not injured at all; it was a mixture of an excessive consumption of Heavenly Energy as well as too much rage at once that caused her to faint. Her physique might not be comparable to Zhou Weiqing in his Dragon-Tiger Transformation State, but it was far stronger than any ordinary human, or even most Jewel Masters. With the aid of Zhou Weiqing’s Heavenly Energy, she quickly regained consciousness.

With a small movement, Shangguan Xue’er slowly opened her eyes. “Ahhh—” The ﬁrst thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a mess of red. That was because she was lying right on Zhou Weiqing’s chest, and was given a sudden fright by the blood soaked clothing.

In her fright, she did not even realise that those wretched hands of Zhou Weiqing’s were rested on her pert buttocks. Vaulting up into a sitting position, she pressed her hand onto Zhou Weiqing’s chest as she examined his heartbeat worriedly.

As the saying goes, acting had to come in a full package. Zhou Weiqing had released the Dragon-Tiger Transformation and was controlling his heartbeat to a feeble slow rate.

“Zhou Weiqing, Zhou Weiqing, how are you?” Shangguan Xue’er wanted to use her Heavenly Energy to help him heal, but at that moment she barely had any left, and she was unable to do anything. In such a state, she was extremely worried, helping his upper body up into her embrace as she tried to wake him up.

After a time, Zhou Weiqing gave a soft mumble as he slowly ‘awakened’, though the light in his eyes were dim, as if he was about to ‘go out’ at any time. “Xue’er… did…I… win…?” Zhou Weiqing said faintly and disjointedly.

Shangguan Xue’er held on this his hand and said urgently: “In this situation, you still can’t forget about all that? How are you feeling?” She was all too familiar with the power of her Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword. Once someone was struck by it, the boundless power would instantly destroy all meridians and internal organs in reach. That was the reason why Shangguan Xue’er did not have any suspicions about Zhou Weiqing being severely injured.

Zhou Weiqing shook his head gently, looking so horribly weak. “Xue… er… I… I don’t think I can make it. It… it doesn’t hurt, just… numb… Xue’er… it counts… as my victory right? Help… help me… tell Bing’er… and Fei’er… that I really love them. I might have some … philandering ways, but… I truly… love them… cannot control… my own… emotions…” “For… my… sake… Tian’er … was even willing… to give up… her life…, I cannot… abandon… her… Help me … apologise… to Bing’er… and Fei’er… Please… Also… to you… I sincerely… apologise as… well… I truly… did not… know it was… you… I did… not mean… to violate you… like that…”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words and seeing his feeble state, no matter how much hate Shangguan Xue’er had for him violating her, she couldn’t possibly ﬂare out now!

She truly did not mean to kill him!

“You… you… why didn’t you dodge! I didn’t mean to kill you!” Shangguan Xue’er choked out through her dry sobs, tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to fall.

Zhou Weiqing ‘forcefully’ squeezed out a smile, almost a grimace… such an amazing performance indeed, with just a faint hint of sorrow, with the right mix of apology, and a thick unwillingness to part with the world. In a soft voice, he said: “It was of my own will. I know, in your heart, I have never been a good person. I am not worthy of Bing’er or Fei’er. Just now, I even violated you… That sword, count it as a repayment to you. This way, I do not owe you anymore. Furthermore, now that I have won… you can’t interfere with me and Bing’er or Fei’er anymore right?”

“You can’t even keep your own life anymore, what’s the point of speaking about all that?” Shangguan Xue’er couldn’t help the tears starting to fall down quietly.

Zhou Weiqing shook his head slightly and said: “Of course there is meaning… Bing’er and I are already man and wife intimately. Please do not tell her that you were the one who killed me… just say that I have let them down, and that I took my own life. As for Fei’er, please help her ﬁnd a person who loves her more… I have not actually been fully intimate with her. As for you, although you made an oath just now, that was just me provoking you so that I can defeat you. Originally, I thought I could still survive, haha, I did not realise how much blood I had lost…”

“Don’t speak anymore… in such a circumstance, you can still laugh.” Unknowingly, Shangguan Xue’er was holding Zhou Weiqing’s body tightly as tears streamed down her cheeks, her entire body trembling violently. In her entire life, this was the ﬁrst time she had such a violent emotional ﬂuctuation. Zhou Weiqing continued laughing foolishly as he said stubbornly: “Let me ﬁnish speaking. If I do not get this off my chest, I am afraid I may not have the chance to say it in the future. Xue’er, I am sorry, can you accept my apology? You are a very good person and wonderful lady, Bro Zhan LingTian seems to like you a lot, you can consider him in the future. Alright, I am done… you can go now, please let me lie here to silently leave the world? I wish to leave my last time with my girls, let me think of them as I drift away…”

“No, no, you can’t die like this.” Shangguan Xue’er’s heart trembled, her emotions veering out of control. She circulated whatever Heavenly Energy she had with all her might, trying to infuse it into Zhou Weiqing’s body. Alas, she had already spent so much Heavenly Energy in the ﬁght, and at the end Zhou Weiqing had been just too thorough when using his Devour Skill earlier. Furthermore, only a short time had passed since she had awakened, and her emotions had been in such turmoil and turbulence since, how much could she have recovered?

Zhou Weiqing laughed and said: “Don’t waste strength anymore, Xue’er. Please don’t forget the words I said and help me pass them on. As for Tian’er, I…” Zhou Weiqing stopped at that point, pain ﬂashing in his eyes as the glint of tears showed, the deep orbs ﬁlled with unwillingness and sorrow. In Shangguan Xue’er’s eyes, the sight caused her heart to ache so much that she found it difﬁcult to breathe.

“I… I will not marry anyone else. I have already lost the bet, and I will keep that oath. I will be your wife as well. If you die, I will also accompany you in death. Leaving me alone here… how could I possibly face Bing’er and Fei’er? The words you said… I’m sorry, I cannot pass them on as well.” Shangguan Xue’er burst out crying as she fell upon Zhou Weiqing’s body. Luckily, she was not able to release her Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword now, otherwise who knows if she might even kill herself.

If Zhou Weiqing really died at her hands, how could she possibly face her two sisters, and even that Tian’er? She would never be able to get past that in her heart. To her, the easiest choice would be to follow Zhou Weiqing into death, with no other problems to face. At this point, Shangguan Xue’er set her resolve. Holding tight onto Zhou Weiqing, feeling his body grow colder, she thought to herself – as soon as he passed, she would follow suit.

Shangguan Xue’er did not see that Zhou Weiqing’s head suddenly turn slightly to the side, waggling his eyebrow as he threw a signiﬁcant look in signalling. Right at that moment, a sombre voice rang out of nowhere. “What are you two little fellows doing? What is going on?”

A ﬂash of light, and a massive ﬁgure descended from the skies, landing beside them. It was the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya!

Shangguan Xue’er was given a fright by his sudden appearance, before she was ﬁlled with joy. She immediately cried out: “Senior Long, quickly save Weiqing. He is almost dying. Please save him!”

Looking at Shangguan Xue’er’s worried eyes, Long Shiya almost burst out laughing. Almost dying? That little brat was still brimming with life. Shangguan Xue’er might not be able to see it, but how could he not?

In truth, when Zhou Weiqing had won Shangguan Xue’er, Long Shiya had already arrived. With such strong Heavenly Energy reverberations during their ﬁght, others might not have sensed it, but how could the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor not sense it? Long Shiya had long since returned to the Peerless Battalion, just that he had not shown himself much, staying together with Duan Tianlang and helping him with his Consolidating Equipment Scrolls. With his status, he normally did not mix around with the others too much. Just as he arrived, he had witnessed Zhou Weiqing’s wretched hands on Shangguan Xue’er’s buttocks moving around. However, the blood all over Zhou Weiqing had also given him a fright, and he quickly did voice transference to ask Zhou Weiqing. Upon hearing that his Master had arrived, Zhou Weiqing had quickly come up with a new plan, hence the scene that had occurred since. Long Shiya’s timely appearance now was naturally to ‘save the day’ and rescue him from death’s door.

Of course, this was all part of Zhou Weiqing’s master plan!

With a grave look on his face, Long Shiya unleashed a powerful Angel’s Blessing Skill. A thick gold light enveloping Zhou Weiqing’s entire body. Bathed in the gold light, Zhou Weiqing’s expression relaxed instantly, taking a favourable turn. Beside him, even Shangguan Xue’er felt her Heavenly Energy recovering quickly.

Watching Zhou Weiqing with a nervous and anxious look on her face, Shangguan Xue’er had never felt her heartbeat race so quickly before. The abrupt rise and fall in her emotions caused her to feel so tired, but her feelings for Zhou Weiqing had undergone a total upheaval, turned upside down altogether. In her eyes, a person so close to death was deﬁnitely speaking the truth, for there was no reason to lie. These words that Zhou Weiqing spoke to her had to be from his heart. Although this fellow was quite the playboy, and shameless to boot, but his feelings for those girls were all true and strong. The hate in

Shangguan Xue’er’s heart had evaporated, and as she thought how he had violated her, as well as the oath she had taken, a strange feeling rose in her heart.

It did not take long before Long Shiya slowly dispelled his Skill, taking Zhou Weiqing from Shangguan Xue’er’s hands. He breathed a loud sigh of relief, saying: “Luckily this old man came in time. How did Little Fatty sustain such a heavy injury? What were you two doing?”

Long Shiya’s voice was ﬁlled with anger, eyeing Shangguan Xue’er as if he was feeling enraged at her.

Right at that moment, Zhou Weiqing opened his eyes weakly and said ‘anxiously’: “Master, don’t blame Xue’er. It was my own fault for being careless when we fought, and I was injured by mistake. It is not her fault.”

Long Shiya gave an angry humph, glaring at Zhou Weiqing exasperatedly: “You little bastard, can’t you rest a bit. Previously, you already brought back one from the Heavenly Snow Mountain, and now you are provoking a new one. Hmph!” These words were at least extremely heartfelt.

Shangguan Xue’er ﬂushed deeply and she said softly: “Senior, it is my fault, I was the one who hurt Weiqing. Will he be alright?”

Long Shiya said solemnly: “His wounds have basically healed, but at a toll to his vitality. It will take a while for him to fully recover, but he is no longer in any danger. You guys, since you are duelling, why did you use the Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword? Don’t you know the power of your own Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword? Alright, you head back ﬁrst, I’ll still need to ﬁnish healing him, at least to ensure he recovers some vitality.”

Upon hearing that, Shangguan Xue’er heaved a sigh of relief. She asked sincerely: “Senior, can I stay to help take care of Weiqing?”

Long Shiya glanced at her and said: “No need, having me here is enough. You head back ﬁrst, if you want to take care of him, wait until he returns to the camp to rest.”

Seeing Long Shiya’s distant look, and Zhou Weiqing’s apologetic look at her, Shangguan Xue’er sighed before turning to leave. She did not rush off, looking back several times as she did so, as if imprinting Zhou Weiqing’s looks in her mind.

When Shangguan Xue’er ﬁnally disappeared into the distance, only then did Long Shiya dump his ‘precious’ disciple on the ground hufﬁly. He couldn’t help but scold angrily: “You little brat, bringing disaster to yet another good girl!? This old man is going to be angered to death by you in the future! Next time, don’t look for me to act like this! Such a good girl like her, how can you lie to her like that?!”

Zhou Weiqing smiled bitterly and stood up. “Haiz, I had no other choice, otherwise I would have been unable to get past that stage! Xue’er is the elder sister of Bing’er and Fei’er, and of the three of them, she is the one who truly represents the Heaven’s Expanse Palace.”

“If she does not give her consent, not only will my relationship with Tian’er be in deep trouble, even Bing’er and Fei’er will be extremely troublesome. Only if I gain her approval, can there be a resolution.”

Speaking to that point, Zhou Weiqing suddenly turned shameless once more. “Furthermore, Master, don’t you think it is a great thing to marry triplets? Your disciple will be marrying the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord’s daughter and the Heaven’s Expanse Palace Master’s daughters! Heh heh, two Great Saint Lands!”

Long Shiya couldn’t help but laugh as well. “You little brat, with those acting skills of yours, let alone that little girl, even I was given a big scare. If I had not gotten the voice transference from you, I would have known that you were totally ﬁne so easily. Well… what now? Keep up the act?” Zhou Weiqing scratched his head sheepishly and said: “Complete the acting package… Shangguan Xue’er might be cold on the outside, but she is warm on the inside. Just now, even when she was so angry, she did not strike any killing blow towards me. Master, you are right, she is really a good girl. Although I am lying to her now, I will deﬁnitely use my actions to pay her back in the future, treating her just as good as Bing’er and Fei’er. I will not let her down.”

Long Shiya gave a cold humph and said: “There are many good girls in the entire world. Furthermore, if you are too much of a playboy, how can you concentrate on cultivating?! With such a talent like yours, are you going to waste it just like that? Let me tell you, I will never allow such a thing! You better keep yourself in check, you’re not allowed to go ﬁnd other girls any longer, otherwise don’t blame your Master for teaching you a lesson.”

Zhou Weiqing quickly nodded his head repeatedly, grinning as he said: “Even if you asked me to ﬁnd more girls, I wouldn’t dare! I already have four, if I add on anymore, I wouldn’t be able to handle anymore! A man’s vigor is limited after all, and he shouldn’t attempt to go past his own limit!” “Bullshit, what four. It is ﬁve. Don’t forget that little girl that I agreed to when she helped you in the fusion of your Dragon- Tiger Transformation. That is the little girl from the Heavenly Demon Sect. Just this ﬁve. No more. Do you hear me?”

“Uhh…” Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but mutter inwardly: Master, you were the one to say not to add anymore, and you just added one yourself. Of course, he could not dismiss Little Witch. After all, she had become his Sacriﬁce that time, given him her most precious virtue, and he could not just abandon her like that.

Zhou Weiqing suddenly had an urge to cry to the skies – It is not this brother who is philandering, sometimes I am forced as well!

Of course, if he dared to shout it out, if Long Shiya did not beat him until his teeth dropped out, he would not be the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor!

When Zhou Weiqing reappeared in the camp, it had already been mostly set up properly once again. Currently, he had changed into a fresh set of clothing, and nothing seemed amiss besides a pale complexion. This was not an act; after all he had lost quite a lot of blood, and even for his physique, it would take him some time to replenish that blood loss. “Little Fatty, what happened to you? Why do you look so off colour?” Tian’er had waited so long for Zhou Weiqing to return, and she asked concernedly.

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly, held onto her hands and said: “Don’t worry, it is nothing. Alright, you go to our tent to wait for me ﬁrst. It has been a long time since I have returned, and I will need to hold some meetings with the Peerless Battalion. To round up our thoughts and discuss about the future.”

Although Tian’er was still slightly curious, she nodded and returned to the tent. Even before Zhou Weiqing had ascended the Heavenly Snow Mountain, he had already captured Tian’er’s heart; but when she actually saw him up the Heavenly Snow Mountain ﬁghting for her, he had totally conquered her heart and soul. Although Tian’er had a wild character, towards Zhou Weiqing she was mostly gentle and compliant.

Zhou Weiqing immediately sent an order for the upper echelons of the Peerless Battalion to gather for a meeting.

Before long, the group of ofﬁcers who had laboured for half a day had gathered. Of course, that included Shangguan Xue’er, still disguised as Shangguan Fei’er. All of them saw Zhou Weiqing’s pale face, but not many actually sympathized with him. Who asked him to two-time so obviously?

However, they were all quickly given a big surprise.

When Zhou Weiqing sat down at the front main seat, Shangguan Xue’er walked up, a bowl of hot soup in her hands which she placed down in front of him. Gently, she said: “I’ve made this for you, it will help enrich the blood. Drink it ﬁrst, the weather is cold here.”

Everyone else stared with jaws agape, not believing their eyes. All of them had experienced Shangguan Fei’er’s temper for themselves, and they believed that seeing Zhou Weiqing bring a woman back, having her not blow up on the spot was already giving him a lot of face! How could she possibly still cook soup for him?! Could it be… it was poisoned? A laxative or something perhaps?

That still didn’t seem right! Looking at their Chief Instructor and her gentle affection eyes, how could it be poison? What was this magic?! In an instant, the Drunken Rogue Luo Ke Di, who usually thought of himself as the greatest playboy, wanted to throw himself at Zhou Weiqing’s feet in admiration. He thought to himself that when the meeting was over, he would have to consult Zhou Weiqing to see how he had done it!

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly, taking the bowl of soup honestly, not even seizing the chance to touch her hands. Gently, he said: “Thank you.” Drinking a mouthful of soup, he found it delicious, and a jet of warm energy ﬂowed into his body, giving him a comfortable feeling. l

Shangguan Xue’er blushed slightly, and she retreated to the side with her head down slightly. Seeing Zhou Weiqing ‘come back to life’, her heart was ﬁlled with joy, so much so that she was not even angry about him bringing back Tian’er.

Just like that Zhou Weiqing had told Long Shiya, if he had not acted previously, there was no possible way that they could have resolved the issue today. Yet somehow, he had successfully passed through that ordeal, and the irreconcilable issues had been reconciled.

Zhou Weiqing turned to the others and saw the disbelief in their eyes, and he couldn’t help but reveal a hint of smugness. “Master Hua Feng, these few weeks it’s been a great trouble for you. I still do not know what our Peerless Battalion have accomplished during this border wars, and the state of the Northwest Army currently.”

Hua Feng said: “To our Peerless Battalion, the state is extremely good.” He then described to Zhou Weiqing all that had happened during the war, how the Peerless Battalion had helped save the day for the Northwest Army, and the status they had gained as a result.

Hearing his account, Zhou Weiqing kept nodding all the way. The current development had already far surpassed all his previous expectations and plans, and it was without question that the current Peerless Battalion had been forged into a formidable ﬁghting force.

At last, Hua Feng summarised: “At this current moment, our Peerless Battalion has already ofﬁcial gone through the baptism of war. Besides close combat experience, which has been relatively lesser, they are now very experienced in all other forms of combat. As for the the Northwest Army, or even the ZhongTian Army Headquarters, they wish for us to change formations to become a Legion, even offering to supplement with elite troops to form a Peerless Legion, to become the strongest Legion in the northern borders to face the WanShou Empire in the future. Battalion Commander, this decision is up to you.”

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly but he shook his head and said: “That is not possible. If we truly become a Peerless Legion, then we would not be able to leave this place. How could we leave the ZhongTian Empire in the future then, or break away from their control?”

“As you all know, originally I chose the Rufﬁan Battalion to begin my development was for very simple reasons. Firstly, rufﬁan soldiers would be more easily enticed by money and other beneﬁts. Secondly, to be able to become rufﬁan soldiers, they must have some degree of strength, power or other abilities. As long as I could bring them together as a proper team, their combat prowess would be something to be reckoned with. Perhaps more importantly, these rufﬁan soldiers have already gone through hell and back, faced with possible death all the time, and they would cherish their lives even more, knowing to treasure a last possible chance. Also, the fact that they were exiled to the Rufﬁan Battalion meant that they did not have any other backgrounds or connections. On the surface, they might be a bunch of useless rufﬁans, but the truth is they are the purest unit in the army, at least in my eyes. That was the reason why I chose the Rufﬁan Battalion.” “However, if our Peerless Battalion turns into the Peerless Legion, then the ﬁrst problem we face is how will be leave in the future? An entire Legion sounds very powerful, very tempting, but those new elites, how could they not have their own background and old leaders? More importantly, they would have families in the ZhongTian Empire. At this point, I will not hide anything from anyone, though most of you should know this already. I am from the Heavenly Bow Empire, and my homeland has been destroyed by the Kalise Empire and

Bai Da Empire. The reason I set up the Peerless Battalion was to eventually return to my homeland, to chase off the invaders. You all will be my future ofﬁcers of merit who restored the homeland. As such, I would ignore all the suggestions of the ZhongTian Empire.”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, those who already knew about this were impassive, but most of the newer Main Company Leaders were surprised. Leaving the ZhongTian Empire? However, just like what Zhou Weiqing had said, most of these rufﬁan soldiers did not have any connections or kin in the ZhongTian Empire, and thus after a short period of surprise, they were able to accept it with no problems.

Zhou Weiqing said solemnly: “In the near future, we will be continuing our training and integration of our entire Battalion, as well as completely outﬁtting all our troops. Once this is done, we will leave for the Heavenly Bow Empire.” One of the Main Company Leaders couldn’t help but ask: “Battalion Commander, it is ﬁne on our end, but will the Northwest Army actually let us leave?”

Zhou Weiqing smiled and said: “I have my own ways regarding this matter, so you all do not need to worry about it. Also, in this period of time, we do not need to worry that the WanShou Empire will launch any attack. Alright, Bro Lin, what is the current status of outﬁtting our troops currently?”

Lin TianAo stepped forward. It had been a few months since they had seen each other, and he looked even more stable and composed now, clearly his cultivation level had also improved.

Previously, when Long Shiya was in the camp and had nothing to do, he would give some pointers to these Peerless Battalion ofﬁcers. Amongst them, the one that Long Shiya placed most importance on was actually Lin TianAo, giving him several tips on his Assembly Shield Set, how to control and wield it in battle, and Lin TianAo had deﬁnitely beneﬁted greatly from it.

“Currently, the outﬁtting of our Heavenly Bow Unit is already at the later stages. Of our ﬁve thousand archer troops, all of them are already geared fully in the titanium mail. Those that sustained any damage in the war are currently being repaired, otherwise that is considered completed. We have also recruited around a hundred blacksmiths into our Peerless Battalion to join our logistics team, fully focused on repairs and crafting any spare equipment we need.”

“As for the Gold Crow and Berserker Tribes, for their Heavy Cavalry equipment the ﬁrst batch of ﬁve hundred sets have already arrived. Although the equipment is extremely expensive, it is truly worth it. The remaining one thousand ﬁve hundred sets should arrive within the next half year, even including the armour for their mounts. Currently, their two Main Companies of a thousand soldiers each already have their own Unicorn Heavenly Beast steeds, even their own reserve troops have their own Unicorn Heavenly Beasts. In fact, Battalion Commander, you are back just in the right time. I needed to ask you if we are going to gear their reserve troops as well?”

Without hesitation, Zhou Weiqing said: “Of course, we must gear them as well. These are all to protect our lives on the battleﬁeld. Every chance that increases our troops survival on the battleﬁeld, we do not need to save money on that. Bro Lin, this matter I shall leave it to you. I don’t care how you increase the order amount, but within half a year, I don’t just want to see that one thousand ﬁve hundred sets, but three thousand ﬁve hundred sets. By that time, we will be leaving, so I want everything to be settled by then. What about our Consolidated Equipment?”

Chapter 187 Visiting Fei Li!

Lin TianAo nodded. Though the mission that Zhou Weiqing had given him was not easy, he did not shirk from it. After all, as long as they were willing to spend the money, it was not impossible to complete it. Furthermore, they could also requisition some from the logistics department of the Northwest Army.

Towards the speciﬁcations of those heavy armour, they were not afraid of leaking them out. The reason was simple – they weren’t equipment that ordinary humans could easily wear, not even Jewel Masters would choose to wear such heavy equipment. Only the Gold Crow and Berserker Tribes with their immense innate physical strength were suited to wear them. More so, without sturdy and powerful mounts like their Unicorn Heavenly Beasts, no warhorses could actually carry them in battle!

Lin TianAo continued: “Regarding our Consolidated Equipment, the situation is going well. Currently, all ﬁve thousand archers of our Peerless Battalion already have their Consolidated Bows. As for the Consolidated Wings, we already have one thousand and seven hundred men who have succeeded in Consolidating them. In fact, I have some extremely good news to report regarding our team of Consolidating Equipment Masters, even as they are continuing their progress in creating the Consolidating Equipment Scrolls. Yun Li has already ofﬁcially succeeded in reaching the Grandmaster Consolidating Equipment Master stage, and Little Miss Muddle also broke through the Zong Stage Consolidating Equipment Master. Both their speeds at creating Consolidating

Equipment Scrolls have increased drastically. Furthermore, we currently have ﬁve more Consolidating Equipment Masters, all introduced by Senior Duan Tianlang; they are his disciples. With seven Consolidating Equipment Masters at work, even with a conservative estimate there should be enough

Consolidated Wings for all our archer troops. Of course, that does not include our two Cavalry Main Companies.”

Hearing Lin TianAo’s words, Zhou Weiqing was overjoyed. The Consolidated Wings did not just mean the power of ﬂight, it also meant that all the Peerless Battalion soldiers had reached at least the three-Jeweled stage! The Peerless Battalion had not been set up for a long time, and he was not surprised with all the investment they made that all of them had become Jewel Masters, but for all of them to reach the three-Jeweled stage was a whole different matter. Such a united force was a truly terrifying strength! In truth, he had not expected that in such a short period of time, his dream of completing all their Consolidated Wings would actually have the chance of success.

Zhou Weiqing nodded repeatedly in satisfaction before turning to Wei Feng, saying: “Vice Commander Wei, after this meeting, send word with my order that everyone should work hard in cultivating, to reach the three-Jeweled stage as quickly as possible. Although the Consolidating Equipment Scrolls of the Consolidated Wings might be complete soon, there is still quite a gap for everyone’s cultivation level. Our target is within

the next one to two years, our entire Peerless Battalion archers

can take ﬂight.”

Wei Feng was beaming happily as he agreed. He had also never dreamed that one day he would be leading such a powerful army. He was beginning to regret that he had completed his Consolidated Equipment so early, losing the chance for having his own set of Consolidated Wings.

Zhou Weiqing said solemnly: “In the next half a year, we will remain here. This remaining time is our ﬁnal burst in accumulating strength. Bro Lin, help me tell Yun Li and the others, once the Consolidating Equipment Scroll for the Consolidated Wings are completed, begin crafting those made to measure for personal troops. Focus on the Berserker and Gold Crow Tribe members. Do not save on money or resources, this should be of extreme priority.”

Lin TianAo nodded in agreement, before moving back to his position. Seeing the tent full of various talents, Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but sigh with feeling inwardly, a sense of accomplishment overcoming him. Not that long ago, he had just been a lonely fellow whose Empire had been destroyed, a man without a home, without friends. Yet, today, just a few days later, he now

had a powerful troop under his command, one that could even inﬂuence the results of the northern border wars. Everything seemed to have fell into place so nicely, but Zhou Weiqing knew how much strenuous effort and heart it had taken for all this to happen.

Right at that moment, Zhou Weiqing thought of Zang Lang and the other senior graduates that had parted from them before all this. After the Peerless Battalion meeting, he called Lin TianAo back and gave him a series of instructions regarding them.

According to Zhou Weiqing’s original plan, when he had ﬁrst sent Zang Lang and the others out, it was to have them become ofﬁcers in the army and to each pull in a few trusted elite soldiers, so that they could come with him in the end to the Heavenly Bow Empire. However, with the current situation, it was no longer necessary. Furthermore, pushing the envelop and taking more elite soldiers with them would inevitably bring about the discontent of the ZhongTian Empire, trouble that was unnecessary, and could possibly even cause Zang Lang and the others to be considered criminals or have a bounty set upon them.

As such, he gave Lin TianAo the instructions to contact Zang Lang about the change in plans. At the same time, he ordered Wei Feng to record a list of names to ask the ZhongTian Empire to transfer Zang Lang and the other dozen or so seniors to the Peerless Battalion, to become mid level core ofﬁcers.

It was indeed time to return soon. Half a year, just half a year more of accumulating strength, to fully grow into their own, then it would be the time to return to the Heavenly Bow Empire and ﬁght to regain it. As he thought about that, he couldn’t help but think of his parents and godfather, and his heart grew heated as his hands gripped in ﬁsts.

Father, wait for me, your Little Fatty will deﬁnitely rescue all of you!

The rest of the ofﬁcers had already left, and currently remaining in the main tent was the Heavenly Bow Unit God Archers, Shangguan Xue’er and Lin TianAo.

Under Shangguan Xue’er’s observation, Zhou Weiqing had unknowingly ﬁnished the bowl of hot soup through the meeting. Now, he looked towards Hua Feng and said: “Master Hua Feng, it is time for us to start planning for our return.”

Hua Feng nodded and said: “Yes, it is time to plan properly. Why don’t you tell me your thoughts ﬁrst, I believe you should already have a draft of a plan by now.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “Just a very simple outline, as for the details I still need to discuss with all of you. For us to succeed in reviving our Empire, it will not be an easy task, or a quick one, but it is not impossible. After all, our Heavenly Bow Empire has not been occupied for long by the Kalise and Bai Da Empire. From the Bai Da Empire’s perspective, the only draw our Heavenly Bow Empire has for them is the Stars Wood from the Stars Trees. As such, the main occupation of our lands should be by the Kalise Empire, and the Bai Da Empire should at most have a few army troops to help defend against the Fei Li Empire.”

“Our Heavenly Bow Empire and the Kalise Empire have been warring against each other for many years, and the enmity between our Empires means that it is highly unlikely that our Heavenly Bow Empire citizens will easily submit to the Kalise Empire. As such, the ﬁrst thing we need to do is to return to our homeland and set up a base of operations. We can start establishing that foothold, before starting to call upon the citizens to rise up against the errant occupants. Although our Peerless Battalion’s combat strength is extremely high, our numbers are just too low. Depending on ourselves alone to win a war will be slow and unlikely… so such a process is deﬁnitely needed.”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s detailed description, Hua Feng and the others nodded in agreement, their eyes ﬁlled with approval.

Hua Feng smiled and said: “Weiqing, for you to be able to think of such things, that is very good. I’m happy that you are not blinded by the strength of our Peerless Battalion and start overreaching beyond our means. Alright, in that case, where do you think will be the best place to establish a foothold?”

Without hesitation, Zhou Weiqing replied: “That is one of the details I have not thought of yet. However, it deﬁnitely has to be close to the Fei Li Empire border. That way, as long as we can gain the support of the Fei Li Empire, not only can we have an avenue of supplies and logistics, at the same time we can ensure one front is relatively safe. It will be a big step towards success.”

Luo Ke Di couldn’t help but say: “Little brat, are you that conﬁdent that the Fei Li Empire will not oppose us instead? Do not forget how they treated you the last time you were there.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “The current me is not the same as in the past. I am no longer alone. At that time, sacriﬁcing me was the expedient thing to do for them politically. Now, they will have to consider if it is worth it for them. More importantly, our target is the Kalise Empire, and possibly the Bai Da Empire. To the Fei Li Empire, that is of no harm to them, and can only be beneﬁcial. What reason would they have to attack us instead? In politics, there is no perpetual friend or enemy. Of course, at the same time, the Fei Li Empire is of high importance to us, and this is a visit we have to make. It is an important springboard for us to return to the Heavenly Bow Empire.”

Mu En asked: “You want to personally visit the Fei Li Empire?”

Zhou Weiqing nodded without hesitation and said: “I have to go. In the Fei Li Empire, there is still a class of my brothers. This time, I will bring them along. Our Heavenly Bow Empire used to be so weak because we lacked the talents, especially in terms of Jewel Masters and military talent. More importantly, I will also need to ensure that we have a good position for us to launch our counterattack, to begin our restoration of our Empire.” Hua Feng thought for a moment, then asked: “Are you going as a representative of our Empire on an ofﬁcial visit to the Fei Li Empire? That might not be too appropriate. Although you are the son of Admiral Zhou, but you still can’t fully represent the Heavenly Bow Empire.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “It has been a long time since I have seen Princess Difuya, I wonder how Her Highness is doing in the TianBei City?”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, the rest of their eyes lit up. Indeed, Zhou Weiqing’s status might not be sufﬁcient, but Princess Difuya deﬁnitely had sufﬁcient status. Besides the remaining Royal Family Sealed in the Heavenly Bow City, she was the only member of Royalty of the Heavenly Bow Empire still alive and active outside. If she was part of their delegation team, that would be sufﬁcient to represent the Heavenly Bow Empire.

Hua Feng thought for a moment, then asked: “When will you move out?”

Zhou Weiqing said: “As soon as possible. I plan to just bring the First Main Company and our Chief Instructor. The rest of you will stay back and continue training the remaining troops. As soon as I come to an agreement with the Fei Li Empire, I will send word back, and we can directly join up in the Fei Li Empire as a good springboard to return to our Heavenly Bow Empire. Chief Instructor, I will have to trouble you to send a letter to the ZhongTian Empire, there are some things which we might need their aid.”

Shangguan Xue’er looked at Zhou Weiqing, actually feeling as if this was the ﬁrst time she truly knew him. This was also the ﬁrst time she had really been at work together with Zhou Weiqing, and though he was the youngest amongst all those gathered here, but he had been at the head of the meeting, taking up the reins without any hitch, arranging everything neatly and in proper order. The light of wisdom in his eyes was far more suave than his usual shameless self!

All this while, Shangguan Xue’er had always thought that the majority of the Peerless Battalion’s formation and success was due to her sister Shangguan Fei’er, but Fei’er had always lauded Zhou Weiqing to her. At this moment, only then did she realise that her sister’s praise was not because of her love for Zhou Weiqing, but he truly did have his own genuine skills.

Shangguan Xue’er nodded slightly, expressing her agreement. Seeing her nodding, a ﬂash of happiness appeared in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes. Shangguan Xue’er’s status was different from even Shangguan Fei’er’s. As the future heir of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, her word and authority was far greater than Shangguan Fei’er’s, and she could inﬂuence both the

ZhongTian Empire and the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. In Zhou Weiqing’s plan, both were of extreme importance that could not be neglected.

As long as they had the support of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, there would not be any danger in visiting the Fei Li Empire. At the same time, it would also allow the Peerless Battalion to leave the northern borders without a hitch in half a year’s time, beginning their return to the Heavenly Bow Empire. Hua Feng frowned in thought and said: “Little Wei… just bringing ﬁve hundred men, isn’t that a bit too little?”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily as he replied: “It isn’t that few, after all the First Main Company are the strongest amongst all our soldiers. How about this, I’ll have Crow and Ma Qun join me as well, with each of them bringing ﬁfty of their elite Heavy Cavalry soldiers. In such a case, though we might only number six hundred, I am conﬁdent of facing even an entire Regiment and still be able to break their ranks. Furthermore, our main purpose of visiting is to establish a diplomatic relationship, not to ﬁght with them. A sufﬁcient show of strength is all we need, and to bring too many might actually have the reverse effect.”

Hua Feng nodded and said: “Very well, we’ll go according to your ideas. The combat prowess of the First Main Company should be sufﬁcient to protect you all, or at least bring you both back alive no matter what. Hmmm… in fact, let’s have them be your elite personal guards in the future. Oh right, regarding Princess Difuya, you better go personally. She is after all your ofﬁcial ﬁancee.” Hearing the word ﬁancee, Zhou Weiqing’s expression grew strange, and he couldn’t help but glance at Shangguan Xue’er guiltily. Luckily, this time, she remained calm and impassive, as if she did not hear it.

Zhou Weiqing quickly changed the topic and asked: “Chief Instructor, how long do you think it will take you to send the letter and get a reply?”

Shangguan Xue’er replied: “Ten days would be the fastest, slowest half a month or so.”

Zhou Weiqing’s eyes lit up and he said: “That is very fast already. Alright, so including all the preparations for the visit, let us set our ofﬁcial departure date to head to the Fei Li Empire to be one month from now. Master Hua Feng, I’ll have to trouble you to help make the arrangements.”

Hua Feng said: “That is no trouble at all. I have never thought that you would let us see the hope of restoring our Empire so quickly.”

… After a few more discussions about details, the meeting ended, and they all headed back to their own personal tents, leaving Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Xue’er alone in the main tent. By now, Zhou Weiqing’s wounds were fully healed, but he dared not make it too obvious. He stood up slowly, about to walk to the exit when he was stopped by Shangguan Xue’er.

He lifted his head to look at her, and her eyes were still as cold as ever. However, in that moment, they were reddening, as two lines of tears slowly dropped down, causing Zhou Weiqing’s heart to grip and twist.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I really did not mean to…” Zhou Weiqing was at a loss, and he could only offer such a line. At this point, he dared not act shamelessly; it was clear that currently Shangguan Xue’er was in a very fragile state.

Shangguan Xue’er said sobbingly: “You… you are really a bastard! If you really died, how could I possibly account to Bing’er and Fei’er? How could I ever face them again? Why did you do that? Why? Why did you just take my sword like that?” Zhou Weiqing subconsciously opened his arms, wanting to embrace her, but in the end he did not dare to. She was after all not Shangguan Bing’er or Shangguan Fei’er! Although he had already ‘taken advantage’ of her previously, that was in an unknowing state, and now his courage suddenly failed him. Shangguan Xue’er looked at him with tears still in her eyes, her chest rising and falling with ragged breathing. Lifting her hand to wipe the tears away, she grit her teeth and asked: “You… you really want to marry me?” Such a question caused Zhou Weiqing to start and stare dazedly. Of course he was willing! Triplets! However, at that moment, he discovered that looking at that beautiful face that was so similar to Bing’er and Fei’er, he could not bear to bully Shangguan Xue’er anymore.

However, he dared not nod his head, instead scratching it sheepishly as he said: “I… At that time, I was only trying to anger you. I never really thought I would win. This…”

Shangguan Xue’er’s eyes ﬂashed with a complicated look. “But you still won. Do you think that I am a person who would break her oath? I hate you, hate you, hate you!” After saying that, she turned and ran, charging out of the tent.

Zhou Weiqing stared at the tent ﬂap with his jaw agape. Although he had always thought of himself as intelligent, alas the heart and mind of a woman was on a level of its own, and he was unable to even begin to fathom it. He did not know what Shangguan Xue’er was thinking at all. Was she willing or unwilling? Perhaps, more on the unwilling side? Wha… what could he do now?! Headache. Zhou Weiqing truly felt his head aching terribly. For the ﬁrst time, he felt that having so many girls at once was truly not a good thing. However, things were already in motion, and he would never bear to give any up!

Just as he was still trying to think of what to do, Shangguan Xue’er’s voice came from outside. “No matter what you do, you’re not allowed to stay with that Tian’er. At least until my sisters come back. Otherwise…. Otherwise… Hmph Hmph!”

Hearing Shangguan Xue’er’s domineering words, Zhou Weiqing’s headache grew stronger. Not allowing him to stay with Tian’er, that… that was… not possible! If it were any ordinary circumstance, he would have replied with ‘Not allowing me to stay with Tian’er, how about you stay with me then?’ Of course, at this current moment, he dared not say so.

“Xue’er, wait, don’t go! Listen to me! The reason I’m staying with Tian’er, uhh, is because we need to cultivate together!”

Outside, Shangguan Xue’er had already been prepared to run off as she did not want to face Zhou Weiqing directly. However, upon hearing his words, she started. The tent ﬂap lifted, and she went back in, glaring at Zhou Weiqing with her tear- streaked cheeks. Zhou Weiqing gave a helpless look and said: “It really is for cultivation! Both Tian’er and myself have two Saint Attributes of different types. When the four Saint Attributes come together, our cultivation speed is much faster than when we are alone. Furthermore, it is also the only way to have the possibility of breaking past the limit of twelve Heavenly Jewels, through to the Heavenly Jewel Change!”

Shangguan Xue’er was momentarily stunned. Twelve Jewel Limit? Although her emotions were currently unstable, as the heir of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace she naturally knew what that signiﬁed. Despite her previous hatred for Zhou Weiqing, she had personally seen how insane the speeds at which his cultivation level had risen. He was not even twenty years old yet, and already at the six-Jeweled stage. More importantly, his cultivation speed was just so quick, and his combat prowess was even higher than his cultivation! Even if she wanted to defeat him, it was not any easy task. Still… breaking past the twelve Jeweled limit, was that really possible?

Zhou Weiqing continued explaining hastily: “We have tested it before, as you know, my cultivation level has reached the six- Jeweled stage in such a short period of time, and the main factor in that is because of the four Saint Attributes. Previously, I went up the Heavenly Snow Mountain to get Tian’er, and regarding the four Saint Attributes, even the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord approved of it, and he hoped that we can achieve a breakthrough in the future past that legendary stage. Of course, you need not worry, I will not interfere between any of the Great Saint Lands, no matter what my cultivation level reaches in the future. Ok?”

Shangguan Xue’er’s mind was currently in a turmoil, and she could not easily calm down to think clearly. Biting her lip lightly, she glared at him and said hufﬁly: “Whatever you say, I’m leaving.” As she said that, she disappeared in a ﬂash once more.

Seeing that she had left once again, Zhou Weiqing rubbed his face and temple wearily before heaving a sigh of relief. At least he had passed this barrier, if only barely. However, there was only Xue’er and Tian’er here right now, if Bing’er and Fei’er, or even Little Witch, were all here, how would he spend his days in the future! Thinking up to that point, he felt a conﬂicted feeling of pride and worry. It was truly not going to be an easy thing to handle.

Never mind, I shall not care about all that now. The cart will eventually ﬁnd its way round the hill when it gets there, things will eventually sort itself out!

This was one of the advantages of Zhou Weiqing; once he met something that he couldn’t ﬁgure out, he would not spend too much time dwelling on the matter. Sometimes, overthinking was useless, and it would be better to spend limited time on doing more important things. As for any of the dilemmas, there would eventually be ways to solve them.

Returning to his tent, perhaps due to Shangguan Xue’er’s warning, or because he was still not fully recovered, Zhou Weiqing did not have intimate relations with Tian’er, instead starting to cultivate immediately.

This was actually Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er’s ﬁrst time cultivating together with the four Saint Attributes. Previously, they had been ﬂying back and did not cultivate, but now they were able to actually focus on it.

Zhou Weiqing’s mother-in-law, the Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia – besides gifting him with the ‘Nether State’ Skill, she had also taught him the cultivation method of joining the four Saint Attributes. Of course, this cultivation method was conceptualized by Phelia with her own experiences, and for the actual speciﬁcs, Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er still had to fumble about themselves.

Both of them sat cross-legged on the bed, facing each other, holding hands as they circulated their Heavenly Energy. A thick Heavenly Energy reverberation soon enveloped their bodies. According to Phelia’s teachings, they unleashed their Saint Attribute auras to the forefront. As expected, they did not need to control it too much, and the four Saint Attributes were quickly drawn to each other. All they needed to do was to ensure the Heavenly Energy they were circulating was in

proper rhythm and with the ﬂuctuations in tune. In this way, the four Saint Attributes would be stabilized, without any being stronger than the other.

As the two of them circulated their energies carefully, the four Saint Attributes began to spin in a clockwise manner, forming a whirlpool. Instantly, a strange sensation spread to both Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er.

However, the sensations they felt were actually very different. Tian’er felt the icy cold sensation of the Demonic Attribute and the strange warping sensation of the Time Attribute. As for Zhou Weiqing, he sensed the light-ﬁlled Divine Attribute and the strong Spirit Attribute reverberations.

The four Saint Attributes crisscrossed in the whirlpool, and soon both youths were fully immersed in the cultivation experience, forgetting themselves.

Not long after they began cultivating, at the center of the Peerless Battalion, Long Shiya walked out of his own tent, looking in their direction. A delighted and gratiﬁed look ﬂashed across his face. The presence and ﬂuctuations of the Four Saint Attributes were just too obvious; let alone for Long Shiya, any Jewel Master above the three-Jeweled stage would sense something. If anyone observed closely, they would be able to see a faint light forming above Zhou Weiqing’s tent, reaching almost a hundred metres tall, vaguely appearing and disappearing in the bright sunlight.

As Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er continued cultivating, this circle of light grew stronger and more obvious, ﬁlled with the four – White, Gold, Purple and Grey colours, forming a faint whirlpool of colours after a time. Naturally, Shangguan Xue’er could also sense the powerful Heavenly Energy reverberations. Looking at the whirlpool in the sky, she thought to herself that Zhou Weiqing did not lie to her after all; they were indeed cultivating!

However, his wounds had just barely recovered slightly, would cultivating now affect him? Unknowingly, Shangguan Xue’er did not even realise that the hatred in her heart towards Zhou Weiqing had vanished, and she was instead ﬁlled with anxiety and worry. Her character was after all quite different from Shangguan Fei’er’s, and the burden on her shoulders was also far greater. Furthermore, she had a psychological barrier and burden due to her sisters falling for Zhou Weiqing ﬁrst. Every time she thought about what happened between Zhou Weiqing and herself, she would feel extremely weird, as if she were trying to steal her sisters’ man.

Forget it, I shall not think about it any more for now. Shangguan Xue’er returned to her tent and started writing a letter to her uncle, the Emperor of the ZhongTian Empire, Shangguan Tianxing. As for the relationship between her and Zhou Weiqing, she currently just wanted some distance from him. Although she had agreed to marry him, she had not stated a date… at most, she could just refrain from marrying the rest of her life… …

Time passed just like that, day after day. Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er spent most of their time cultivating; once they entered the deep meditative state, they would almost forget the time outside, usually staying in a cultivation trance for three days or more at one go.

On the surface, they did not have much feeling about that. However, every time a training session ended, both of them were pleasantly surprised to sense the sheer growth in their Heavenly Energy. Another area of marked improvement was in their degree of compatibility, unity and integration.

In this matter, Zhou Weiqing’s improvements were even more obvious than Tian’er. Firstly, he had the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, and his bloodline was even more superior than Tian’er, and his growth was thus faster. Secondly, he was leading force during their cultivation, and his cultivation level was still currently lower than Tian’er’s. With all those factors combined, it was no surprise that his improvement was faster than Tian’er.

Of course, there were some things that Shangguan Xue’er did not know of. For example, after a round of training with the Four Saint Attributes, they would subconsciously have a bout of intimate relations, causing the training to become even more perfect… Of course, that would be the reason if Zhou Weiqing were the one to describe it. If Tian’er were to describe, it would be that ‘a certain person’ would not be able to control himself shamelessly after every cultivation, and would make use of the excuse of ‘completing their training’……

In any case, while they were focused in training, time passed swiftly, and soon a month had passed. The Heaven’s Expanse Palace and ZhongTian Empire had both replied Shangguan Xue’er with a clear-cut answer. By the third week, Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er had stopped cultivating, and started to prepare for their trip. At this point, it was almost time for them to head out.

This time, as they set off for the Fei Li Empire, Zhou Weiqing brought the ﬁve hundred men from the First Main Company, as well as Shangguan Xue’er and Tian’er.

He had originally wanted to bring only one of the two ladies, but did he dare do such a thing? Of course not! Otherwise, he would be in big trouble! Left with no choice, he could only bring both of them.

Besides Shangguan Xue’er and Tian’er, after some consideration, Zhou Weiqing also decided to bring Lin TianAo along. The reason was simple, his pure ultimate defense was that powerful, and combined with Zhou Weiqing’s Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, it would allow him to unleash his offensive capabilities to the max. As for the coordination of outﬁtting equipment and training which had been Lin TianAo’s primary responsibility, it was temporarily passed to Little Four and Drunken Bao. All this time, both of them had been helping Lin TianAo with the matter, so it was not too difﬁcult for them to take over.

Besides that, there was also Crow and Ma Qun coming along. Originally, Zhou Weiqing had only wanted them to bring ﬁfty elites from each of their individual tribes. However, the ﬁnal decision was to bring a hundred elites each. This decision was not Zhou Weiqing’s, or even the two of them, but by the two Tribe Leaders. After all, Zhou Weiqing’s safety could be said to be of paramount importance to the entire Peerless Battalion, not to mention the two heirs of the tribes were also going along.

As such, the large party of seven hundred moved out, almost a ﬁfth of the entire Peerless Battalion’s strength. Furthermore, these were deﬁnitely the cream of the crop amongst all the elites of the Peerless Battalion. Led by Zhou Weiqing, they struck off towards the Northwest Army camp. After all, they had to return to the ZhongTian Empire in order to reach the Fei Li Empire. As for the ZhongTian Empire, they had already sent word to the Fei Li Empire regarding the diplomatic visit of the Heavenly Bow Empire, showing their support. This was arranged by Shangguan Xue’er and the ZhongTian Empire.

Towards the Peerless Battalion, the ZhongTian Empire was extremely supportive.

The Peerless Battalion had truly shown their power in the ﬁght against the WanShou Empire armies during this year’s border wars. However, to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, what they saw was not just the result of a single border war, but the potential that Zhou Weiqing had.

Before this war, they had already seen the vast individual talent and potential that Zhou Weiqing had. However, after the Peerless Battalion’s showing, they truly understood Zhou Weiqing’s boundless potential was not restricted to his individual strength.

If it were just one person, no matter how powerful he was, he was still a single person. However, Zhou Weiqing’s inborn leadership qualities and unrestrained and creative styles of thinking… that was something that the Shangguan brothers truly admired. To be able to form such a powerful army from a mere group of rufﬁans… although a large amount of that was a massive amount of wealth that Zhou Weiqing had accumulated, further supported by the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor, but without proper command, leadership and his various amazing ideas,

none of this could have succeeded.

Even though Zhou Weiqing had not indicated that the Peerless Battalion would join the ZhongTian Empire, even wanting to bring the Peerless Battalion away to the Heavenly Bow Empire, their training methods could still be duplicated! They only needed to do some slight modiﬁcations, and the ZhongTian Empire could possibly train a similar, new powerful unit. After all, in terms of wealth, how could Zhou Weiqing compared with the entire ZhongTian Empire! Furthermore, even his creation of the Peerless Battalion had been done with a lot of help from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace.

When Shangguan Fei’er had returned to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, she had been requested to detail the training program of the Peerless Battalion. This was something that Zhou Weiqing did not know of.

As such, when the three Shangguan brothers had received Shangguan Xue’er’s letter, after a simple discussion, they decided to back Zhou Weiqing’s efforts in restoring his homeland.

They had all seen Zhou Weiqing’s immense potential, let alone now with the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya behind his back. With all these factors in mind, supporting Zhou Weiqing was an investment that could only lead to beneﬁts, and with no harm to them. Furthermore, they did not even have to expend anything, not even needing to send out any other troops or logistics, as they would not be actually ﬁghting on his behalf, just using their words to pave the way for him. They would allow Zhou Weiqing to ﬁght as he willed, and this would be also another way to further test his potential. As such, to a certain extent, they would continue supporting Zhou Weiqing.

In the recent times, it was not just the northern borders which had broke into war. Even the Dan Dun Empire and the Bai Da Empire seemed to be stockpiling and preparing for something; and the Blood Red Hell seemed to be plotting something. In fact, there seemed to be something brewing up in the entire South.

Normally, the focus of the ZhongTian Empire armies were more towards their northern borders, and they would not want to see problems occurring to the south. With Zhou Weiqing stirring things up there with his Peerless Battalion, who could foresee what would happen in the future? Of course, with chaos came opportunity, and who knew what achievements he could accomplish? After all, before he came to the northern borders, who could have imagined he would build something like the Peerless Battalion?!

As such, the ZhongTian Empire acted swiftly, and in less than a month, all the preparations had been complete as per Zhou Weiqing’s arrangements. The Northwest Army Camp had also received the order that no matter what the Peerless Battalion’s movements were, they would support it. With such an order present, the Peerless Battalion could easily leave and head out to wherever they needed to.

Currently, Zhou Weiqing was mounted upon his single- horned Ghost Demon Horse, with Shangguan Xue’er and Tian’er each to the side of him. Shangguan Xue’er was still with a cold, impassive bearing, while Tian’er would glance towards Zhou Weiqing from time to time. Occassionally, if she looked at Shangguan Xue’er, she would immediately lift her head proudly, giving a disdainful expression.

In their month of cultivation, Tian’er and Shangguan Xue’er had barely spoken at all. Luckily, the two girls were able to control themselves, and at least they did not break into a ﬁght – that was already giving Zhou Weiqing a lot of face. After Zhou Weiqing’s explanation, Tian’er had already learned that it was Shangguan Xue’er, not Shangguan Fei’er. Towards her Little Fatty’s philandering ways, Tian’er was actually the most accepting of it. After all, in the Heavenly Snow Mountain, or perhaps the WanShou Empire, it was a very common sight. The more powerful one was, the more wives or concubines they would have. Even her father, the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord, had many concubines, though he had only taken one wife, the Entropic Nether Tiger Phelia. At the same time, he would not have any children with his other concubines, using them only to sate his physical needs.

However, accepting was one matter, but Tian’er would not back down on her on position. Besides Shangguan Bing’er who she knew could never be replaced in Little Fatty’s eyes, she would never back down from anyone else. After all, Shangguan Bing’er was Zhou Weiqing’s ﬁrst woman, and the one he loved the most. Furthermore, her character, her gentleness and kindness, that was something Tian’er had seen and approved of. However, this Shangguan Xue’er was always so cold and impassive, added on to the fact that the two ladies represented the two opposing Great Saint Lands, it was natural that they did not have a harmonious relationship.

Zhou Weiqing had already grown used to that atmosphere between them. Currently, he ignored them both, his gaze landing on the seven hundred Peerless Battalion warriors in front of him.

There was little more to be said about the ﬁve hundred men of the First Main Company. These ﬁve hundred had gone through countless screenings and competitions, trials and tribulations before they had ﬁnally been together as the First Main Company. In the Peerless Battalion, there were always various competitions, duels, discussions and more, both individually and between Main Companies. Those who had constant outstanding performances would eventually be transferred to the First Main Company, and it was truly the elites amongst the elites. They also shouldered the greatest responsibilities on the battleﬁeld.

Amongst the current First Main Company warriors, there were actually more than twenty Heavenly Jewel Masters. Furthermore, all ﬁve hundred of them were equipped with Consolidated Wings, and the average cultivation level of them were at the ﬁve-Jeweled stage or higher. Of course, that was mainly the Physical Jewel Masters, not the Heavenly Jewel Masters.

Even so, having an average of ﬁve-Jeweled Physical Jewel Masters for an entire Main Company, that was already a shocking phenomenon. Under such a circumstance, one could just imagine their sheer combat prowess.

Furthermore, each and every one of the First Main Company soldiers had been issued a Unicorn Heavenly Beast as their mounts. After all, during the border wars, the Berserker Tribe had focused their attentions on capturing these powerful beasts, and had succeeded in capturing a large number. Even though both tribes had taken on the majority of the Heavenly Beasts, there were still sufﬁcient remaining, and naturally the First Main Company had ﬁrst pick.

Chapter 188 Powerful Peerless Seven Hundred!

The powerful Unicorn Heavenly Beasts were covered in custom crafted titanium mail, the joining links all treated specially. Titanium alloy was light but with extremely strong defensive capabilities, and thus it greatly improved the survivability of these powerful mounts without restricting their speed and agility. Furthermore, with the strength of these Unicorn Heavenly Beasts, it was no problem carrying these ordinary weighted soldiers with their own titanium mail gear.

Of course, the rest of the equipment of the First Main Company was also top notch and fully complete. On each side of Unicorns, there were two quivers full of titanium alloy arrows. When Zhou Weiqing planned the outﬁtting of his Peerless Battalion, he had never cared about cost. After all, what was the point of hoarding money for nothing? Furthermore, with those Heavenly Cores that Long Shiya had given him, his funds could still last a long while more.

Besides the four quivers which held two hundred of those titanium alloy arrows, each of them also had six javelins on their back. These javelins were about three chi long each, and were crafted speciﬁcally for throwing. Besides that, each of them had a long bow, and hanging on their mount’s bridle was a four metre long lance. One could describe them to be armed to the teeth. Besides their insane long range combat prowess which they were now renowned for, even their close combat abilities were not to be underestimated. With so many Physical Jewel Masters, that was an extremely terrifying force to be reckoned with.

Of course, while these First Main Company soldiers were ﬁnely equipped, but if they were to compare to the two Tribes’ Heavy Cavalry, their equipment would suddenly seem extremely light.

The heavy cavalry of the two tribes numbered two hundred in total, and their equipment was almost totally the same, with their weapons being the only difference.

Their Unicorn Heavenly Beasts were also protected by similar titanium mail of the First Main Company, but seemed slightly thicker and heavier. As for the Gold Crow and Berserker Tribe members, their armour was not crafted from titanium. More accurately, it was not fully crafted from titanium.

In their heavy armour, both Tribe Warriors looked like a moving fortress of steel. A simple black exterior, but if one examined closely, the thickness of the armour was a shocking half chi. Only the physique of these Gold Crow and Berserker Tribe soldiers allowed them to actually ﬁght in such an insanely heavy armour. If it were any ordinary humans, even Jewel Masters, perhaps they would not even be able to move.

That armour was actually crafted out of a mix of top quality Frozen Steel, Titanium alloy and other precious metals that were extremely tough and durable. The cost of construction was enough to take one’s breath away. At the same time, the defensive powers had been tested and proven; even for a six- Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, without any extremely overpowered Skills they would not even be able to break through the armour.

For the two powerful Tribes and their warriors, Zhou Weiqing had spent a staggering amount of money, and this armour had been the original brainchild of both him and Lin TianAo.

When the two Tribe Leaders had received the ﬁrst piece of such an armour, they fully committed themselves and their Tribes to Zhou Weiqing. In their eyes, Zhou Weiqing was truly a leader worth following, totally thinking about their safety! Wearing such an armour on the battleﬁeld, even if they just stood there not moving, it would be tough to sustain much injuries! Furthermore, no matter the Gold Crow or Berserker Tribes, they had their own considerable defenses even naked, and the addition of this armour could only be like a tiger growing wings 1. Of course, that was with two caveats. Firstly, their own sheer physical strength which allowed them to actually ﬁght in

such an outﬁt. Secondly, the Unicorn Heavenly Beast mounts;

without these powerful mounts who could carry their weight and these terrifying armours, any other mount would just collapse under that! In any case, it was safe to say that both tribes were delighted with this current state of their outﬁtting.

Originally, the height and stature of the Tribesmen from both Tribes were already massive, and upon wearing such an armour, they looked even taller and bulkier. This was especially so for the Berserker Tribe warriors, as their armour actually had some space for them for entering their Berserk state. Once they entered the Berserk state, they were truly moving killing machines.

In terms of weaponry, both Tribes did not bother with any shields. In the ﬁrst place, not many could even get through their armour, what need was there for a shield? That would just be a useless burden.

As such, they only focused on weapons. In terms of weapons, both tribes ﬁnally differed. For each of the Berserker Tribe warriors, they held a large spiked mace in each hand. The large spiked maces were two metres long each, with a thick end that was already thicker than a grown man’s thigh. The short deadly spikes around the end weren’t too long, but thick and sharp. Each spiked mae weighed almost two hundred jin!

As for the Gold Crow Tribe, they used their traditional war axes, all uniform in creation with the Legendary Gold Crow Axes that Crow used as a blueprint. Furthermore, they were fully crafted with Frozen Steel… deﬁnitely no skimping in terms of crafting and material.

These two powerful units, even if they stood there unmoving, it was already a sight that would strike fear in any enemies’ hearts.

Of course, it would be a long process and difﬁcult task to fully gear all the warriors of these two Tribes. After all, no matter how much money one spent, the fact remained that it would still take a long time just to craft a single piece of armour. Furthermore, there was a lack of raw materials or blacksmiths who were skilled enough to work these. It was only with the help of the entire Northern Army that would possibly give them the chance of completing it in half a year. Looking at the seven hundred soldiers in front of him, Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but grin maniacally. With such a powerful army… it was even more beastly than any Beastman army!

For the Gold Crow and Berserker Tribe warriors, when they were mounted, they were Heavy Cavalry Troops. Dismounted, they were Heavy Infantry Troops! Besides the Mammoth Warriors of the WanShou Empire, Zhou Weiqing had never seen any stronger than them. With the gear outﬁtted, their weight surpassed a thousand jin in total, even those Tyrannical Bear warriors of the WanShou Empire could barely match them in comparison.

Zhou Weiqing was currently dressed in a titanium mail armour of his own, and after a moment of contemplation, he ﬁnally laughed heartily and said: “Move out!” Ever since he had moved to the northern borders, he had not seen Princess Difuya. One reason was of course he had been extremely busy, but the other main reason was that she had never held any place in his heart. The reason he left her in the TianBei City was, at least on the surface, for her own safety. In truth, it was also because Zhou Weiqing did not want her trying to interfere and attempting to order him around.

… Very quickly, they had reached the TianBei City.

As expected, with such a large troop of soldiers marching towards the TianBei City, it immediately raised many alarms.

The City Gates were immediately shut, and a Battalion of soldiers were sent out to scout who they were and to stop them if necessary.

Luckily, the Northwest Army had made preparations for this. They had sent along a company of soldiers to escort Zhou Weiqing’s party, and they moved forward with the necessary documents to clear the way. Furthermore, Zhou Weiqing and the others did not need to all enter the TianBei City together.

In the end, Zhou Weiqing and Lin TianAo decided to enter the TianBei City alone, escorted by some of the Battalion soldiers.

For Zhou Weiqing to personally receive Princess Difuya, it was already giving her a lot of face.

… On the top of the city walls, the city guards and soldiers above could see the Peerless Battalion warriors in the distance, and looks of shocks appeared on all their faces.

“Are these our ZhongTian army soldiers? Why don’t they have any ﬂags? Who are they?”

“Stupid, don’t you know anything? That is the Peerless Battalion. Haven’t you heard of their legend!”

“Ahh? So they are the Peerless Battalion! They look so valiant indeed! No wonder they can even defeat the WanShou Empire armies. Hey, are those calvary soldiers in front actually human? They look so unbelievably tall… even those Tyrannical Bear warriors of the WanShou Empire are just about that height right?”

“Shhhh, be quiet. Don’t get us into trouble. The matters of the Peerless Battalion is considered a top level secret in our Northern Armies, we better not discuss too much about them. Sigh… I’ve heard that their treatment is truly the best, each of the soldiers have at least ten thousand gold….”

… Naturally, Zhou Weiqing did not know that the ‘Legend’ of the Peerless Battalion had already started spreading through the ZhongTian Empire. Currently, he and Lin TianAo were heading towards the temporary quarters that the Peerless Battalion had purchased in the TianBei City.

It was not far from the entrance of the city, and before long the duo had arrived.

The door to the courtyard was open, and as soon as they entered, both Lin TianAo and Zhou Weiqing spotted Xiao Yan.

Currently, Xiao Yan was chatting with a young lady beside him, smiling as he did so. Wasn’t that lady… Princess Difuya?

The current Difuya did not look any different from previously. Her age was about the same as Zhou Weiqing, and she was deﬁnitely in the prime of her beauty. Of course, her dressing was much different now; the ﬁnery in the past replaced by simple cotton clothing. However, her head of bright ﬁery red hair was just too striking, and cotton clothing could not hide her beauty, instead giving her a more gentle, noble air than before. Abruptly seeing Zhou Weiqing and Lin TianAo appear in their military attire, Xiao Yan started momentarily. The next instant, Zhou Weiqing saw a ﬂash of embarrassment on his face, while Princess Difuya’s face turned pale beside him.

Ever since Zhou Weiqing had started building up the Peerless Battalion, he had been constantly running about doing things. Either his own affairs or the Peerless Battalion’s, and besides his own cultivation time, there was almost no chance for him to relax. Currently, seeing Xiao Yan, only then did he suddenly realise that it had been ages since he had seen this brother of his. At this moment, from the sudden changes in expression in both Xiao Yan and Difuya, Zhou Weiqing saw many things.

“Weiqing, you are here.”

Xiao Yan quickly came up to greet them, still slightly embarrassed and awkward.

After a moment of surprise, Zhou Weiqing recovered as well. Laughing heartily, he said: “Xiao Yan, it has been a long time!” After a simple greeting, he strode towards Princess Difuya.

Previous ChapterNext Chapter Literal translation – basically means making someone/something strong even stronger Seeing Zhou Weiqing’s actions, Xiao Yan’s face changed slightly. Just as he was about to follow suit, he was suddenly stopped by Lin TianAo who had grabbed his wrist. As he lifted his gaze to look, he saw Lin TianAo’s strict and ﬁerce piercing look.

“Weiqing, no! It’s all my fault, if you want to blame someone blame me!” With a sudden thud, Xiao Yan knelt down on the ground, gritting his teeth as he looked towards Zhou Weiqing, his face ﬁlled with shame.

Zhou Weiqing started in surprise, turning to look at Lin TianAo. Seeing the fury in Lin TianAo’s eyes, he suddenly understood. All of them had misunderstood him.

Indeed, although Zhou Weiqing had never been together with Difuya, she was still his ﬁancee in name. From Difuya and Xiao Yan’s actions and expressions, it was clear that they had a special connection. Yet, to ‘steal’ a brother’s wife, that was something that was truly shunned. An idea sparked in Zhou Weiqing’s heart, and he suddenly turned to Xiao Yan, his gaze cold, but he did not say anything.

Normally, Xiao Yan was quiet and did not speak much, but currently he was choking on his words as he wept: “It’s all my fault, Weiqing, I was the one who fell for Her Highness. It is not her fault, please blame me instead. Nothing has happened between us… I…”

Zhou Weiqing said passively: “Xiao Yan, you are truly a good brother of mine!”

“Don’t blame him! I was the one who fell for him!” Difuya somehow garnered the courage, abruptly moving in front of Xiao Yan, standing in front of Zhou Weiqing with her arms spread open, just like a mother chicken protecting her chicks.

Tears rolled from her cheeks as she said angrily: “What right do you have to judge us? Just because you are my ﬁance? I have never agreed to that, and even if you are, we have been here for so long… have you even come to see me once? Big Bro Xiao Yan is here to take care of me everyday, he is a good person.”

“If you have the ability, just kill me, it has nothing to do with him. I have always encouraged him to look for you to lay our cards on the table, but all this time he has not been willing to accept me fully. It is all because of you, because of you! Kill me if you wish!”

Zhou Weiqing gave a cold humph and said icily: “That is to say, you are willing to die for him?”

Difuya started momentarily, a look of disbelief ﬂashing in her eyes. “You really want to kill me? I am the Princess, you are my subject. What right do you have?!”

A mocking look crossed Zhou Weiqing’s face as he said: “You still remember you are a Princess? Besides losing yourself in love, do you still remember that your Father is Sealed in the Heavenly Bow City? Princess… very good… very good.”

Difuya’s face turned white. All of a sudden, she yelled in rage: “I am just a woman, is it wrong for me to want a home? To want someone to love me and take care of me? Why must you keep following me like a devil! Kill me then! As long as you let Big Bro Xiao Yan go, kill me. I am willing to die for him.”

“No! It is all my fault. Weiqing, kill me instead, she is the Princess of your Heavenly Bow Empire! You can’t take action against her.” Xiao Yan forcefully tore away from Lin TianAo’s grasp, rushing towards Zhou Weiqing and pulling Difuya behind his back.

Zhou Weiqing swept his gaze coldly across the two of them, before he turned to Difuya, saying: “Xiao Yan does not need to die, and I can spare your life as well. However, from now on, you have to listen to all my orders. If you can do that, I will spare both of you.”

“I’m willing!” Difuya agreed without hesitation.

Seeing the resolution in her eyes, Zhou Weiqing was ﬁnally unable to continue acting. A faint smile appeared on his face and he said: “It looks like the passage of time, and the destruction of our Empire had truly allowed you to grow up at last. At least, you know how to bear responsibility for your actions. Although you are still that stubborn princess, not able to contribute to the Empire, but at least the current you I no longer bear any enmity.”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, Difuya started, not understanding what he meant at all.

On the other hand, Xiao Yan understood slightly. After all, he wasn’t as naive or sheltered as Difuya. “Weiqing, you… you…” Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “Stand up. Congratulations you both. However, Bro Xiao Yan, I must warn you that Difuya is not a good tempered woman, you will have your work cut out for you in the future. Anyway, just like how she has never thought of me as her ﬁance, I have never thought of her as my ﬁancee. At least, you both were able to hold yourselves back before I agreed, and she is also willing to die for you. With that, I can set my mind at ease to have you two together.”

“You were fooling around with us?!” Difuya’s eyes widened. Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “As your ﬁance,

shouldn’t I test you both ﬁrst? Do not forget what you agreed

to just now. Anyway, the important thing for us to do now is to annul our the betrothal between us. Otherwise, if Master Hua Feng and the other teachers see that you have betrayed that betrothal, they won’t be as nice as I am.”

As he said that, Zhou Weiqing took out a piece of parchment and pen from his Spatial Ring, writing a simple contract of annulment. Signing his name, he passed it to Difuya.

Seeing Zhou Weiqing do all this, Difuya was stunned momentarily. Without knowing why, a small but strange sense of loss came over her for a while. Although she had not seen how Zhou Weiqing had built up the Peerless Battalion, but from the discussions of the others, she knew how much Zhou Weiqing had proven himself. Looking at his stern and resolute face, she did not know if she had made the right choice.

Seeing the contract of annulment in front of her, Difuya gave Zhou Weiqing a complicated look before taking the pen and parchment, adding her signature to it.

Zhou Weiqing heaved a sigh of relief, he had at least solved a big problem he had always had.

This way, even after he rescued his godfather from the Seal, he wouldn’t be able to blame him! After all, this was Difuya’s own choice. If that Princess had really stuck to him, Zhou Weiqing would have no choice. After all, his godfather had been Sealed, and she was the only remaining Royal Family outside. What else could he do? Now, all issues had resolved themselves peacefully.

Zhou Weiqing carefully kept the contract in his hands and smiled, saying: “Alright, you guys pack up. Follow me.”

Difuya’s expression tightened and she looked at Zhou Weiqing warily. “What, what are you doing?” Zhou Weiqing said exasperatedly: “In your eyes, am I such a monstrous fellow? Relax… for godfather’s sake, I couldn’t possibly do anything to you. Besides losing yourself in love, it is time for you to contribute to the Empire. Our grand plan to revive our Empire is beginning. As the only remaining Royal Family, you will have to be the ﬁgurehead of our revival plan. Come on, Your Highness.”

Difuya looked at Zhou Weiqing in shock: “Reviving our Empire? Did you say reviving our Empire? How is that possible? Are you just sending me to my death?”

Zhou Weiqing looked at her speechlessly: “You are still that brainless bimbo! I truly don’t know how Xiao Yan can fall for you. Enough rubbish. Hurry up and come with me, don’t make me have to force you.” As he said that, Zhou Weiqing turned and left.

Up until now, Xiao Yan was still in a daze. Subconsciously, he looked towards Lin TianAo, a pleading look in his eyes.

Lin TianAo glared at him coldly. “You are really my good brother.” After saying that, he also turned to leave, following behind Zhou Weiqing. Although Zhou Weiqing said he did not mind, Lin TianAo could not possible feel the same. He was the one who had introduced Zhou Weiqing to Xiao Yan and brought him along, yet Xiao Yan had now stolen Zhou Weiqing’s ﬁancee. How could he feel good about that?”

Difuya looked at Xiao Yan nervously: “What do we do?”

Xiao Yan sighed and said: “Follow Weiqing’s words.” The two of them returned to their rooms to pack up.

Lin TianAo stood behind Zhou Weiqing’s back. He sighed and said: “I’m sorry, Weiqing. It is my fault for not paying attention, I never thought…”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “Big Bro, it is okay, I really do not mind. To be honest, Difuya is just a burden to me. It is great that Xiao Yan is helping me take care of this burden. I do not blame him at all. Love comes after spending time together, that I can understand.”

Upon hearing his words, Lin TianAo did not know what to say. In his eyes, even though Zhou Weiqing said he did not mind, but no matter for any man who met something like this, how could he really not mind? In truth, Zhou Weiqing really did not think much about this. In fact, he was happy and relaxed that this has ﬁnally been solved. He already had so many women that he truly loved, how could he possibly care about that Princess Difuya that he did not even like? The reason he did not state things clearly

like that was so that he could gain an upper hand in controlling the situation, using it to ensure that the road would be peaceful. At least, if he acted like the victim, Shangguan Xue’er and Tian’er would also treat him better. Of course, such a thinking he would not share with Lin TianAo… he had to maintain his image… right?

Very quickly, Xiao Yan and Difuya had packed up their things and left the courtyard. Both of them had their own Spatial Rings, and they did not have to carry any luggages. As the two of them looked at Zhou Weiqing, they were still slightly uneasy.

The four mounted up and moved out of the city directly.

When they left the city gates, only then did Xiao Yan and Difuya see the Peerless Battalion soldiers waiting on the outskirts, like a wall of steel greeting them. In that moment, a look of utter surprise crossed their faces. The Gold Crow and Berserker Tribe soldiers in front were just too ferocious and valiant looking. Their terrifying bodies and stature, if one did not look closely, they would think it was an army troop from the WanShou Empire!

With a wave of his hands, Zhou Weiqing signalled for the entire group to start moving out, following the main road towards the center of the ZhongTian Empire.

As soon as Zhou Weiqing exited the city gates, his acting skills turned on once again, an ugly expression on his face as if he was extremely vexed. When he returned to Shangguan Xue’er and Tian’er’s side, he did not say anything, just leading the troop as they moved out.

Just as he had predicted, when Shangguan Xue’er and Tian’er deduced what had happened in the TianBei City, they were clearly more gentle towards Zhou Weiqing, and they even stopped being so prickly towards each other.

Just like this, Zhou Weiqing led the seven hundred mounted soldiers southwards. They would have to pass through the ZhongTian Empire before entering the Fei Li Empire. Towards the upcoming talks and negotiations, Zhou Weiqing was not too worried. With the support of the ZhongTian Empire, as well as the beneﬁt that they could bring to the Fei Li Empire, he was conﬁdent that this diplomatic visit to the Fei Li Empire could only be successful. The only thing they had to ﬁght for was exactly how much support they could gain from the Fei Li Empire.

The border wars had just ended. Due to the fact that the ZhongTian Northwest Region had taken up a huge amount of this year’s WanShou Empire forces, even the Fei Li Empire borders had far less pressure than normal.

…

Fei Li Empire.

Cai Cai sat on her seat in the Principal’s ofﬁce of the Fei Li Royal Family Military Academy, leaning back with a furrowed brow as she was lost in thought. On her desk, there was a ﬁle. It was labeled top secret, and only the top echelon of the Fei Li Empire had access to it. If Cai Cai did not have the status of Princess, even her position as the Vice Commander of the armies did not allow her to have access to this ﬁle so quickly.

“The Heavenly Bow Empire is coming for a diplomatic visit… Princess Difuya?” Cai Cai muttered to herself. She sensed something off about all this. After all, the Heavenly Bow Empire had been destroyed for quite some time. During this period, the Fei Li Empire had received news of some small pockets of resistances and rebellions, but they were usually quickly quelled by the Kalise Empire with the aid of the Bai Da Empire. Yet, they were sending an envoy from the ZhongTian Empire now, how could the Fei Li Empire not be surprised?

Could it be that the Heavenly Bow Empire had a hidden force in the ZhongTian Empire? But, they had never heard any hint about such news before!

It was no wonder that Cai Cai had such suspicions. After all, the Heavenly Bow Empire was such a tiny Empire, how could they possibly attract the attention of the ZhongTiann Empire? Yet, this was a missive that had been sent from the ofﬁcial channels of the ZhongTian Empire, even going so far to hint that they were fully supporting the Heavenly Bow Empire.

If one were to consider the past relationship between the Heavenly Bow Empire and the Fei Li Empire, it would be like a vassal state. In comparison, though the Fei Li Empire was not a vassal state of the ZhongTian Empire, they were still highly dependent on the ZhongTian Empire for many things. As such, even though the Fei Li Empire was a very powerful Empire, they still had to place much importance on the ofﬁcial missives

and conformations of the ZhongTian Empire.

After much discussion of the upper echelons of the Fei Li Empire, the ﬁnal decision was for Princess Cai Cai, representing the Vice Commander of the Fei Li Military, to be in charge of receiving the diplomatic party. As for the scale of the reception, it would be according to the previous bearing towards the Heavenly Bow Empire. Although they needed to give the ZhongTian Empire face, they still had not decided upon a ﬁnal verdict regarding this current diplomatic visit. After all, the Fei Li Empire was not too clear what the visit was about. The missive from the ZhongTian Empire only vaguely described that they hoped the Fei Li Empire could help aid and support the Heavenly Bow Empire in restoring their homeland.

After much discussion, the Fei Li Empire had decided that besides sending out troops, Cai Cai would have the ﬁnal say on how much other aid they gave. As for the actual amount, they would have to wait and see what the diplomatic party was like and how the discussion went. All of a sudden, a name suddenly sprang out in Cai Cai’s mind. “Zhou Weiqing?” Cai Cai exclaimed abruptly as the name escaped her lips.

Right at that moment, a lazy voice rang out from outside her ofﬁce. “You have also thought of that brat?”

A tall ﬁgure pushed open the door and entered. With Cai Cai’s identity, status and position, it was nearly impossible to ﬁnd someone who would just walk into her ofﬁce without knocking on the door. Yet, this youth dressed in black just strolled in casually, as if walking into his own house. Still, Cai Cai did not show any sign of annoyance or anger.

Seeing him, Cai Cai gave a beautiful smile, standing up and walking to the front of her desk, leaning upon it as she said: “It’s good that you’re here, just in time. Come and help me analyse this. Could it be really that brat Zhou Weiqing has stirred something up?”

The youth nodded, a faint smile on his face as he said: “If I have not guessed wrongly, it should be that little rascal. If I were you, then this time you should use the highest reception in receiving the Heavenly Bow Empire…” “Ohh? Why is that? Just because of a Zhou Weiqing… ?” Cai Cai looked at the black clad youth curiously. “The only reason I thought of him was because that Difuya was brought away by him previous… what about you? How did you guess that this time this diplomatic visit has him in the background?”

The black clad youth smiled and said: “I have actual proof.” “Do you really think a single Zhou Weiqing does not warrant

such a welcoming party? If you really think that, then I must

tell you that you are very wrong. Even if there was no diplomatic party, and it is only Zhou Weiqing visiting alone, for the sake of the Fei Li Empire, I recommend that you welcome him with the highest possible honours, to mend the torn relations from when he left the Fei Li Empire.”

“Ming Yu, this is not like your usual arrogant self! It is truly the ﬁrst time I have heard you hold anyone in such high esteem. Furthermore, if I do not remember wrongly, you have only met Zhou Weiqing once personally right?” Although Cai Cai was rather surprised, her speech was still elegant and poised.

The man standing in front of her was the famed, or even notorious, Fei Li God General, having just returned from the frontlines on their border wars with the WanShou Empire, leading the Fei Li Empire to victory once again.

All these years, Ming Yu had accumulated many victories and military awards, and by now he had risen to the rank of Major General. In the Fei Li Military, his rank and status was unshakable. Facing such powerful enemies like the WanShou Empire, even if he had always been censured and criticized for the methods he used, such a military genius like him could not remained unused unless the Fei Li Royal Family were fools.

Looking at Cai Cai, Ming Yu gave a soft sigh and said: “If I had not gotten news from reliable sources, I would also be unwilling to believe that Zhou Weiqing would actually grow so powerful in such a short period of these few years. All I can say is one simple line, but that should be sufﬁcient for you to realise why I hold him in such high regard. Zhou Weiqing has a Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouse backing him up…”

“What?” Cai Cai couldn’t help but exclaim in shock, her usual grace and poise actually disappearing in that moment as she stared at Ming Yu in surprise. Her voice was almost trembling as she said: “Are you certain of what you’re saying? How could Zhou Weiqing possibly have a Heavenly Emperor powerhouse behind him?” Ming Yu gave a bitter smile and said: “That is not the only thing. Do you still remember that Shangguan Bing’er who entered the academy together with him? That little girl has an extraordinary background after all… she is actually the long lost third daughter of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace Second

Master Shangguan Tianyue! You and I know very well her connection with Zhou Weiqing… and it is without question that the support of the ZhongTian Empire, or even the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, to Zhou Weiqing could very well originate from this.”

Ming Yu’s news, let alone for Cai Cai, it was truly news of utmost importance to the entire Fei Li Empire. In that moment, Cai Cai’s expression changed several times. She understood that their plans for receiving the Heavenly Bow Empire diplomatic party had to be changed drastically.

“Why didn’t you report it up the command structure?” Cai Cai looked at Ming Yu, a hint of blame in her eyes.

Ming Yu pursed his lips, taking a step forward and holding Cai Cai’s hands, roughly pulling her into his embrace. “Why should I report it up? If not for the fact that you told me about it, would I even know about this diplomatic party? What bullshit Fei Li God General… In the eyes of your Royal Family, I am just a mere dog that is currently useful.” Cai Cai’s face froze, but she allowed him to continue hugging her. An apologetic look appeared in her eyes as she said softly: “I’m sorry Ming Yu… As you know, we are also under a lot of pressure. Your ﬁghting style is just too unique… and not everyone can accept it.”

Ming Yu said passively: “Enough, don’t I know enough about what your Royal Family thinks about me? If they truly placed any importance on me, they would have already allowed me to marry you. Would you still have to wait until today, to remain unmarried at the age of forty? We do not need to discuss this any further… As I have once told you… If one day, I have to leave the Fei Li Empire suddenly, don’t be too surprised.”

Cai Cai drew a deep breath, suddenly hugging Ming Yu back with all her might. In a low tone, she begged: “No, I won’t let you go. For my sake, can’t you please stay?”

Ming Yu sighed softly and said: “… If not for you, I would have already left a long time ago. I have never hid my background from you… because I trust you. However, you do after all belong to the Royal Family, and there are too many things you cannot put down. You can hide my background, but when you are faced between a choice of the interest of the Royal Family, in the end you will not be standing by my side.” Cai Cai fell silent. She knew what Ming Yu said was true. One side was the man she loved… the other was her family, her homeland, her Empire… It was truly too difﬁcult for her to make any choice.

“I will listen to your suggestion and treat the Heavenly Bow Empire diplomatic party with utmost importance. Do you have any other news about Zhou Weiqing? I will have to report upwards that he has the support of Shangguan Tianyue from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace.”

Ming Yu suddenly laughed, pulling away slightly from Cai Cai. “Did you really think that the Heavenly Emperor stage powerhouse I was referring to earlier was Shangguan Tianyue? No, you are wrong. The Heaven’s Expanse Palace and the ZhongTian Empire do indeed support Zhou Weiqing, but the Heavenly Emperor supporting Zhou Weiqing is someone else indeed.”

“Someone else?” This time, Cai Cai found it impossible to believe. She recalled that honest looking youth who had been so cunning… how could he be such ‘wanted property’ now?

Ming Yu nodded and said: “I am not trying to scare you. That person backing Zhou Weiqing… even the entire Fei Li Empire cannot afford to offend him. No matter what, do not attempt to ruin the relationship with the Heavenly Bow Empire… otherwise, you cannot guess the possible dire consequences.”

Cai Cai’s face turned an interesting sight indeed. “Do… do you know who that person behind him truly is?”

Ming Yu shook his head and said: “Yes, I do know, but I cannot tell you. You should understand the source of the news…”

Cai Cai inclined her head slightly and said: “Thank you for telling me all these. However, why do I feel like your heart is slowly leaving me bit by bit?”

Ming Yu looked at her deeply, a complicated look in his eyes. Finally, he sighed and said: “Perhaps… the Fei Li Empire is not truly suited for me.”

…

Fifteen days later. Dawn.

The East Gate of the Fei Li City was open wide early in the morning, with more than a thousand soldiers gathered there to maintain order. The streets had been washed and cleared up, and currently the Royal Family Cavalry were arrayed in perfect formation, looking impressive indeed as they gathered there.

Under the shelter of silk umbrellas, the Fei Li Royal Princess, Principal of the Fei Li Military Academy, Cai Cai, led a contingent of Fei Li ofﬁcials standing at the gate, personally waiting to receive the incoming party.

Author’s Note: One thing – Previously, some readers have mentioned that the multiplier I mentioned for the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set is wrong. At that time of writing, I did not think there was any error, that was because I treated the ﬁrst piece of equipment as ‘1’ not Zhou Weiqing’s strength as the ‘1’. As such, when you are counting the boost of the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set, the multiplier is outside of his personal strength! Regarding this matter, I apologise about any confusion caused.

Chapter 189 ‘Rolling-Knife Meat’!

Today, Cai Cai was dressed in ofﬁcial clothing as usual, but they were her ﬁnest. Her face was expressionless, even stern, as she stood waiting.

Behind the separation of the soldiers, there was a gathering of Fei Li Empire citizens who were watching in curiosity. They did not know what was happening, to have such a parade now.

The Royal Family Cavalry personally out in formation, with Princess Cai Cai at the head of the parade, waiting outside the City Gates. Such a formality could be said to be extremely rare in the Fei Li City, and only when welcoming honoured guests from the main large empires would this happen, second only to having the Emperor personally welcome someone. After all, Princess Cai Cai had a rather high status even in the entire Fei Li Royal Family, and she also had a good reputation and high popularity amongst the citizens.

Time passed, minute after minute. By the time the sun had risen three poles high 1, and the welcoming party had already waited for quite some time, but they still did not see any sign of the diplomatic party. “Report—” A scout from the Royal Family Cavalry rushed towards Cai Cai, kneeling down in front of her.

“Speak.” Cai Cai said passively. Currently, she was impassive but digniﬁed, showing her noble and elegant demeanor of a princess from a large Empire.

“Your Highness, the Heavenly Bow Empire diplomatic party is about to arrive. Later, should we allow their escorting troop to enter the city as well?”

Cai Cai waved a hand and said: “Yes, of course they can enter. The Heavenly Bow Empire is our allied Empire, how can we leave them at the door?”

“Yes.”

These few days, Cai Cai had been receiving much news about the Heavenly Bow Empire party, of which many of them were describing how astonishing the seven hundred men troop was and how imposing their presence was.

Towards such reports, Cai Cai had not paid much attention to. In her eyes, Zhou Weiqing had the support of the ZhongTian Empire, and it was not surprising that the ZhongTian Empire would send a couple hundred elite soldiers as a show of support. No matter how strong they were, they only numbered seven hundred after all. After Ming Yu’s suggestions, she had already greatly increased the welcoming

party towards the Heavenly Bow Empire diplomatic party.

Right at that moment, a huge ﬂag could be seen in the distance.

It was truly a massive ﬂag indeed, even from the distance one could estimate that the ﬂagpole was at least twenty metres long, as thick as a water bucket, rising high up in the skies. Above, an eight metre long, ﬁve metre wide huge ﬂag hung upon it, swaying gently in the wind.

The ﬂag was lined with gold thread, with the main symbol upon it a huge Star Wood Bow. Four large letters were inscribed below, clearly visible even in the distance – Heavenly Bow Empire 2

Seeing such a massive ﬂag, the members of the welcoming party couldn’t help but exchange looks. What was this? Even the ZhongTian Empire main army ﬂag was just a match for it? Could such a thing actually be used as a military ﬂag for the Heavenly Bow Empire? In actual fact, their guess had been accurate. That ﬂagpole was exactly the same as the ZhongTian Northwest Army main one, just that Zhou Weiqing had commissioned someone to craft an exact replica.

Almost after seeing the ﬂag did the members of the diplomatic party start coming into vision. At the head of the entire contingent was a single rider, mounted upon an massive horse. The horse was totally covered in black scales, its snout area like a lion’s maw, a single horn shimmering with faint light on the top of its forehead, while its eyes were faintly red. Its massive muscles bulged, looking savage and ferocious, and even a male lion would pale in comparison to it.

The rider on its back was fully dressed in gold armour, a blindingly scarlet cape billowing behind his back. From the side view, they could see that a similar Star Bow insignia was stitched upon the cape; the logo of the Heavenly Bow Empire.

Gold helmet, gold armour and ﬁne red robes. As soon as this general appeared in their sights, he immediately became the focus of all attention. At ﬁrst impression, his dressing seemed boorish, almost vulgar. Gold armour… that was not something that could be found on a battleﬁeld. No matter how conﬁdent a general or military leader was, one would never wear a gold armour. Besides the fact that such gold armour was just too eye- catching, easily drawing the attention of all enemies to become a target… just the fact that gold was actually a very soft metal was a huge problem. Besides being useful for showing off, there was no practical use for such an armour at all!

In the eyes of most of the onlookers, this gold clad general was like some rich upstart who didn’t know anything. However, in the eyes of Princess Cai Cai, it was vastly different.

Was this really an armour made of gold? The answer was actually a resounding no!

With a single look, Cai Cai could tell that this gold armour was more than it seemed on the surface. The colour was slightly more faded than gold was, but in the sun it somehow seemed even more resplendent.

Could it be crafted out of reﬁned gold? How much would that actually cost? Cai Cai’s heart wrenched slightly as the thought came to her mind.

Reﬁned gold was so valuable that even titanium alloy could not compare to it. Any ordinary weapon, if one just added a tiny bit of reﬁned gold, it would immediately transform into a top quality weapon. Furthermore, Reﬁned Gold was extremely good at conducting Heavenly Energy, even able to amplify or magnify it. Its weight was about the same as titanium alloy, but its toughness and ﬂexibility was far superior, almost ﬁve times that on titanium alloy. Of course, the price was more than a hundred times more expensive than titanium alloy! To craft an entire set of armour out of Reﬁned Gold, that was already far beyond being luxurious or extravagant… even considered wasteful! Yet, Cai Cai had no choice but to admit, besides Consolidated Equipment, an armour crafted of Reﬁned Gold was the strongest possible.

Perhaps no else besides Cai Cai could tell it was an armour made of Reﬁned Gold, but they were still shocked with their jaws agape. That was because the immense ﬂag that they had seen earlier was actually being held in a single hand by that leading general. More so, it was with that single hand extended out in front of him! As the single-horned Ghost Demon Horse advanced, the immense ﬂag moved along so steadily, the ﬂag swaying lazily in the wind. Such a presence was truly able to capture everyone’s sight.

Right behind this leading general, there were four others right behind in an array. Some were dressed in armour, while others in simple clothes. However, even from just a single look, it was without question that these were no ordinary folk as well, especially two top beauties who drew even more attention.

Right behind them was a large and luxurious horse carriage, pulled on by sixteen ﬁne horses. The driver of the carriage was a ferocious looking warrior clad in black full heavy armour, reaching almost two and a half metres tall, cutting a majestic and imposing ﬁgure indeed. That warrior held the reins to all sixteen horses in a single hand, controlling them all with just his wrist, and they mighty horses were obedient as they moved slowly along.

Originally, when they had been choosing a driver for this horse carriage, the only selection marker was stature. In the end, even the Young Master of the Berserker Tribe Ma Qun failed to gain the position; the person there was actually his elder cousin – renowned amongst the entire Berserker Tribe for his height, stature and vigor.

As their gaze wandered past the horse carriage, it was as if they could suddenly sense a strong aura of killing intent.

At this moment, everyone watching suddenly made the same action, as if in unison. Rubbing their eyes. Indeed, all of them thought they had suddenly been hallucinating. What were they looking at?! Behind the massive horse carriage, the array of cavalry soldiers behind were actually not riding upon warhorses… there were no warhorses in existence that were so tall and mighty, more so… those wings at the side and the majestic horn on their heads!

Heavens above! Those were Unicorn Heavenly Beasts from the WanShou Empire! All the cavalry soldiers were actually mounted upon Unicorn Heavenly Beasts! Seven hundred cavalry soldiers… seven hundred Unicorns!!

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Ancient chinese method of telling time using shadows of a wooden post. Basically means late morning

天⼸帝国 in Mandarin As she looked upon the imposing sight before her, Cai Cai was starting to feel some regret… regret about the words she had just said earlier. These people… was it truly wise to allow them to enter the Fei Li City?

Those two hundred soldiers at the front, where were they from? Mounted upon the Unicorn Heavenly Beasts, their total height reached almost four metres tall? Were they actually human? Looking at those weapons… massive spiked maces, immense battle axes… were those really fully solid?! If so, how heavy were they!?

Cai Cai couldn’t help but feel a wrench in her heart, thinking to herself that the ZhongTian Empire’s support for Zhou Weiqing was beyond even her expectations! Were they even sending the most hidden treasure and ﬁnest elites along with Zhou Weiqing? Even after all these years, the Fei Li Empire had never even heard of the ZhongTian Empire having such an army unit!

Very quickly, under the leadership of the gold clad general in front, the entire troop reached the front of the Fei Li City, stopping around thirty yards from Princess Cai Cai. The general halted his mount, and before anyone could see his actions, he had already dismounted in a ﬂying motion. The ﬂag in his hands actually ﬂew back steadily, landing ﬁrmly in the hands of one of the four behind him, a large youth with a similarly massive stature. Just from that show of power alone, he had to be at least six-Jeweled or higher to be able to do so with such ease.

The gold general took a few steps forward, removing the helmet from his head, revealing a honest and digniﬁed, though young, face. He bowed slightly in respect towards Cai Cai before saying: “Heavenly Bow Empire, Peerless Regiment Commander Zhou Weiqing, leader of our diplomatic party here, greets Your Highness.”

Indeed, the Peerless Battalion had been ofﬁcially renamed by Zhou Weiqing to a proper formation of Regiment. Since they were returning to the Heavenly Bow Empire, they did not need to restrict themselves as previously. Now that the Peerless Regiment numbered more than nine thousand men, it was no problem to call themselves a Regiment. Of course, their internal formation did not change, still using their Main Companies instead of Battalions.

Looking at Zhou Weiqing, a far-off look ﬂashed in Cai Cai’s eyes as she almost slipped into a trance momentarily. It was only about two years since they had last met, and Zhou Weiqing had already grown and matured so much after leaving the Fei Li Empire. Without knowing why, in that instant, Cai Cai felt a strong sense of regret, regret that she had not been able to ﬁght against all the opposition to do as she had wished in the past, to allow that youth to remain in the Fei Li Empire safely.

Looking at Zhou Weiqing, Cai Cai smiled and nodded, saying: “Regiment Commander Zhou, you’ve traveled far with your diplomatic party indeed. May I know if Princess Difuya is here as well?”

Hearing Cai Cai’s question, Zhou Weiqing’s brow furrowed slightly. In truth, for Cai Cai to actually have such a grand welcoming ceremony, even involving the Royal Family Cavalry… that was something that was far beyond Zhou Weiqing’s expectations. After all, they were only a diplomatic party from a currently-dead Empire, but they were still given a welcoming of such high standards. However, as soon as Cai Cai spoke, he could instantly sense the superiority feeling of a large Empire. Both were princesses, but her tone was such that Princess Difuya was of much lower status than her.

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “Her Highness is currently resting in the horse carriage, Princess Cai Cai. How about we enter the City ﬁrst before we chat more?” Cai Cai stared momentarily. She did not expect Zhou Weiqing to reply her like that. Today, she had personally come here to receive the Heavenly Bow Empire contingent with such high honours, and they had waited for such a long time. In her view, no matter what, Princess Difuya should personally come out to thank her. After all, even if it were the Kalise Emperor coming here personally, he would not get such a welcoming reception! Yet, looking at Zhou Weiqing, it seemed like he was not satisﬁed with this, even that Princess Difuya was not

prepared to come out personally yet. This was tantamount to

slapping her face!

Of course, what Cai Cai did not know was that Zhou Weiqing’s thinking was just very simple. His entire purpose of having this diplomatic visit was to act ‘13’ 1, or to show off their might.

Zhou Weiqing knew that with the support of the ZhongTian Empire, the Fei Li Empire would deﬁnitely support their Heavenly Bow Empire as well. However, the problem was that it was probably just a token support to ‘satisfy’ the ZhongTian Empire, not substantial at all. From how they had reacted after the Heavenly Bow Empire had been destroyed and the subsequent warrant issued for his own arrest after that… he could deﬁnitely tell that. As such, if he wanted to squeeze more beneﬁts from the Fei Li Empire, he had to display the true strength and worth of the Heavenly Bow Empire, to let the Fei Li Empire feel that they could actually change the situation in the entire south… to be actually worth investing in and supporting. Only then would the support of the Fei Li Empire be truly sincere.

Although Zhou Weiqing was still very rich, he could not possibly just depend on that amount of money alone to totally fund the war in restoring his homeland. In the ﬁrst place, the sheer amount required to fund such a war was astronomical; not only would he have to gather more troops, treat the Heavenly Bow Empire citizens well… all of which would cost money. As such, this time not only was he here to ‘act cool’, but to do so up to a certain level, with style! With that said, this fellow was just here to show off the strength of his Peerless Battalion. No, wait, it should now be called the Peerless Regiment.

Before Cai Cai could respond, an ofﬁcial beside her had already stepped forward, saying coldly: “Commander Zhou, our Princess has personally come to receive your Heavenly Bow Empire Princess Difuya, surely it doesn’t mean that Princess Difuya won’t even show her face to us? Could it be that after the Heavenly Bow Empire was destroyed, you all have even forgotten the most basic courtesy?” This ofﬁcial was a man who looked to be about forty years of age or so, dressed in a striking silver armour with some intricate gold tattoos making it seem a magniﬁcent sight. Behind his back was an aquamarine green cape, billowing back in the wind as he spoke sharply.

Zhou Weiqing’s face instantly changed. “Princess Difuya might also be a Princess, but she is currently the only member of our Royal Family. She represents our Heavenly Bow Empire. Though we are working to ensure otherwise, if we are unable to rescue His Majesty in the future, Princess Difuya will become the new Queen of our Heavenly Bow Empire. The future Queen of our Empire is here, but your Empire has only sent a Princess here to receive her, so why should Her Highness come out to see you?”

The entire contingent of Fei Li Empire ofﬁcials gathered behind Cai Cai had their jaws agape upon hearing those words. In their eyes, it was already so unbelievable that they would receive this Heavenly Bow Empire contingent with such high honours, yet this youth who didn’t even look to be twenty years old actually dared say that their welcome was not good enough. That was utterly unfathomable!

In that instant, even Cai Cai’s expression turned ugly. Even asking herself, she felt that she treated Zhou Weiqing pretty well, but this little brat was acting up like this. If not for the fact that she was in front of so many people, she really felt like asking Zhou Weiqing: “Damn little brat, are you here just to cause trouble?”

That ofﬁcer who had walked out to scold Zhou Weiqing was totally stunned by his words. He had never expected Zhou Weiqing to reply so rudely and forcefully. His anger rose and he yelled in rage: “What is your Heavenly Bow Empire, a mere dead little Empire, let alone that Difuya isn’t Queen yet, even if she is, can she compare with our noble Princess? You still want our Emperor to receive her?” To be able to refrain from cursing, he was already showing considerable restraint.

Zhou Weiqing looked at him coldly and said: “May I know who you are?”

The general said proudly: “This general is the Fei Li Empire Royal Family Cavalry Troop Vice Commander, Shen Wang.”

Zhou Weiqing nodded towards him, then he lifted his hand along with the gold helmet he had taken off earlier. In a solemn tone, he said: “Vice Commander Shen, you have insulted my Empire. I challenge you to duel of mortal combat. Let us use our fresh blood to wash away that shame. Do you dare accept?” Shen Wang was enraged, and he was just about to speak, but was stopped by a single gesture from Cai Cai. Looking at Zhou Weiqing and his unreasonable yet unyielding look, she couldn’t control herself any longer. Lowering her voice, she said solemnly: “Zhou Weiqing, did you come here just to cause trouble?!”

Zhou Weiqing said coldly: “What do you mean I come here to cause trouble? If someone insults your Empire, shouldn’t you retort or ﬁght back? There is no mediating this. If he does not accept my challenge, we will not enter the city… and you all can be responsible for your own actions. Although our Heavenly Bow Empire might currently be occupied by others, that does not mean we will allow anyone else to insult us.”

“If you wish to ﬁght, I am willing! Your Highness, please allow me to teach this young upstart who doesn’t know how high the sky is and how thick the earth is2.” Shen Wang said angrily.

Currently, Princess Cai Cai was in a state like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. In the history of the entire Mainland, she was sure that there had never been any diplomatic visit that started off with a ﬁght before they even entered the door. If they actually started ﬁghting outside the city gates, what would the ordinary citizens think?! Cai Cai glared at Zhou Weiqing and said angrily: “Fine, if you want to ﬁght, so be it. We shall do so in the drilling ground, not at the front of the city gates. It will cause too much trouble and chaos here.”

This time, Zhou Weiqing did not insist. Without hesitation, he agreed: “Very well, the drilling ground is ﬁne. Principal Cai Cai has always treated me well in the past, such face I will deﬁnitely give.”

Cai Cai glared at him again, as if saying If you’re giving me face then why are you causing trouble here?!

This disturbance resulted in the Heavenly Bow Empire contingent not even entering the Fei Li City, instead the whole group headed towards a drilling ground further out on the outskirts of the city.

The Fei Li City was the capital of the entire Fei Li Empire, and its importance was without question. Not only was it the center of its political might, it was also the center of its economic might. As such, there were a large number of elite troops stationed all around the Fei Li City in encampments not far off, and there were drilling grounds beyond each of the city gates. Of them all, the one to the south was the largest, with the one at the east the just slightly behind. Escorted by the Royal Family Cavalry Troop, Cai Cai led the group of Fei Li ofﬁcials while Zhou Weiqing led the Peerless Regiment soldiers directly towards the drilling ground. This was also because Cai Cai was at the head of this entire contingent, otherwise it would not have been possible. She had been given full power over how to treat this current diplomatic party, and in the end she could do as she pleased without anyone questioning her. The actual Commander of the Royal

Family Cavalry Troop was usually stationed at the Palace to guard the Royal Family, and only the Vice Commander Shen Wang was here escorting her. In fact, he actually belonged to her faction politically.

Cai Cai entered her own horse carriage, and Zhou Weiqing remounted his single-horned Ghost Demon Horse, moving alongside the carriage as they headed towards the drilling ground. All of a sudden, he heard Cai Cai’s voice in his ear.

“Zhou Weiqing, what are you trying to do?” Cai Cai used her Heavenly Energy to do voice transference, not allowing anyone else to hear it.

Zhou Weiqing’s expression remained impassive, and he also said in voice-transference: “I’m not trying to do anything in particular… I am only trying to get the respect that my Empire deserves, is that wrong?” *TN: Regarding the title, it is a literal translation of 滚⼑⾁.

Or meat that would cause a knife to roll off it while trying to

cut it. Describing a person that is extremely tough to deal with

/ pain in the neck. ie. with unreasonable demands etc.

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Literally 装⼗三, or 装13. Chinese internet slang where 13 looks like the english letter ‘B’ – equating to 装逼 (zhuang bi) which means acting cool/acting pretentious

Literal translation, basically means to not understand how the world works

Chapter 190 Three out of Five?

Cai Cai said solemnly: “Zhou Weiqing, in the past, even before your Heavenly Bow Empire was destroyed, if your Emperor personally came to the Fei Li City, I would not even personally receive him. This time, I am already giving you a lot of face… What else do you want?”

Zhou Weiqing said passively: “You are not giving me face, you are giving the ZhongTian Empire face right? It is not what I want, but that for the current us, even this reception is not sufﬁcient. Principal Cai Cai, when I was studying at the Fei Li Military Academy, you have always treated me well and given me many opportunities, and I truly do respect you. As such, I must inform you about something serious… please do not let your Fei Li Empire do something they will regret.”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, Cai Cai fell silent. She suddenly felt that Zhou Weiqing’s words were just so similar to what Ming Yu had said to her previously. Could it be that there was some connection between him and Ming Yu? That should not be possible… after all Ming Yu was from the Heavenly Demon Sect. This Zhou Weiqing already had some connection with the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, how could he possibly have any connection with the Heavenly Demon Sect? There was nothing much left to be said, and Cai Cai subconsciously maintained her silence. Although she had been given control over the entire situation, there was a limit to it, and what Zhou Weiqing wanted was not something she could just decide on a whim. To have the Fei Li Emperor come out personally to receive them, that was nearly impossible. If the Fei Li Empire did that, wouldn’t it be tantamount to admitting

weakness to the Heavenly Bow Empire?

The drilling ground was not far from the east gate, and both sides were mounted. Before long, they had reached it. Currently, the entire drilling ground was empty, as some of the Royal Family Cavalry had ridden ahead to clear the zone. Under Shen Wang’s command, besides those who had originally already been there to escort the diplomatic party, another ﬁve thousand of the Royal Family Cavalry Troops had also arrived there. If the Heavenly Bow Empire party attempted to do anything against the Fei Li Empire, he was conﬁdent that their numbers were sufﬁcient to take care of them.

The Royal Family Cavalry troop was no ordinary army unit; for a soldier to enter such a formation, not only did they have an absolute clean background, their family had to be of Fei Li descent, and to be clean as well. More so, they had to have participated in the border wars against the WanShou Empire, to have achieved sufﬁcient military awards before they even had the chance to be accepted. Even after that, there would be a series of very strict tests and training before one could ﬁnally become an ofﬁcial member of the Royal Family Cavalry troop. Amongst the entire Fei Li Military, they had the best pay and treatment, and could be said to be the ﬁnest elites amongst them. The entire Royal Family Cavalry troop consisted of ﬁfty thousand warriors, and were the ace troops that were only under the command of the royal family.

The ﬁve thousand soldiers of the Royal Family Cavalry were arrayed in a formation around the drilling ground, split into ﬁve formations of a thousand men each, covering the four viewing stands and the center VIP platform, fully enclosing the entire area.

Towards this, Zhou Weiqing did not really care much. Cai Cai brought the other ofﬁcials to the VIP stand, but Zhou Weiqing did not follow. Up until now, Princess Difuya had not left the carriage.

Naturally, Cai Cai could tell that Difuya was just a ﬁgurehead in this scene, and the true leader of this diplomatic party was Zhou Weiqing.

Shen Wang did not follow the Fei Li contingent up into the viewing stands, remaining at the bottom of the drilling ground. He was mounted upon a tall, sturdy warhorse, his silver armour giving him a suave and noble air. His ﬁerce gaze rested upon Zhou Weiqing. As the Vice Commander of the Royal Family Cavalry troop, it had been ages since he had been provoked like this. Towards Zhou Weiqing, he only felt a sense

of disdain. A mere youth of less than twenty years of age, just because he had some strength, he actually dared to challenge me? He is virtually asking for death!

Zhou Weiqing jumped off his Ghost Demon Horse steed. Turning around, he took a long look at the large Heavenly Bow Empire ﬂag swaying in the gentle winds. Taking a deep breath, he quietly reminded himself in his heart, his ﬁsts gripped tightly in resolution. It is time to begin the revival of my homeland!

Striding in large steps towards Shen Wang, Zhou Weiqing only stopped when he was about thirty yards from him. Extending his right hand, he made an inviting gesture.

Right at that moment, Cai Cai’s voice rang out from the VIP stand. “Commander Zhou, you are after all here for a diplomatic visit, and since you are already here, it is not a fortuitous sign if blood is drawn. How about making this a duel about exchanging pointers. If you are really able to defeat Vice Commander Shen, I will get him to apologize to you, how about that?”

Zhou Weiqing looked towards the VIP stand and said arrogantly: “In that case, I will give this face to Your Highness. However, this Vice Commander Shen has insulted my Empire. If I win, he has to kowtow towards my Empire’s ﬂag when he apologizes.”

Before Cai Cai could open her mouth, Shen Wang had already said coldly: “Fine. If you can defeat me, I will kowtow and apologize!” He was an old hand on the battleﬁeld, and he could naturally tell that Zhou Weiqing was trying to rile him up. In such a case, he might as well just agree to his terms; not only could he present the generosity and bearing of a general of a large Empire, it would also show his absolute conﬁdence in himself. In truth, he did not think he would lose at all.

At last, a faint smile ﬂashed across Zhou Weiqing’s face. “Very good, simple and direct, I appreciate that.” As he said that, Zhou Weiqing’s hand slashed across the air, and the two triangles appeared in midair.

Being much older and stronger, Shen Wang would naturally not attack ﬁrst. Especially since he was in front of Princess Cai Cai and so many other ofﬁcials, how could he not want to show off? Towards Cai Cai, he had always harboured feelings towards her, but Ming Yu’s performance in the military was just too outstanding, and he had never had a chance to display his own talents. However, just in terms of personal strength, Ming Yu was no match for him!

Although Shen Wang did not attack ﬁrst, that did not mean he would be careless in front of Zhou Weiqing. After all, he was an experienced soldier. His nine sets of Heavenly Jewels appeared, glowing brilliantly as the swirled around his respective wrists.

The Physical Jewels on his right wrist were the same type as Zhou Weiqing’s, the Icy Jade Jewels that denoted the Strength Attribute. As for the Elemental Jewels on his left wrist, they were the Tourmaline that denoted the Wind Attribute. A Wind and Strength Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master, at the nine- Jeweled stage. He truly had the strength and right to be conﬁdent and proud. It was no ﬂuke that he was the Vice Commander of the Royal Family Cavalry troop, and it was not because of any special background that allowed him to advance to such a position. He had fought his way to this position, and it was his strength that allowed him to do so.

After releasing his Heavenly Jewels, Shen Wang could also see that Zhou Weiqing had also done the same, with his six sets of Heavenly Jewels. Around his right wrist, there were the six Icy Jade Jewels, the same type as his own. However, around Zhou Weiqing’s left wrist, Shen Wang also saw six Tourmaline Elemental Jewels of the Wind Attribute.

Naturally, this was due to the Ring of Concealment that Tang Xian, the mother of the three Shangguan Sisters, had given him in the past. Zhou Weiqing knew that the Fei Li Empire did not know much about his true power, most of them not even linking him to the Zhou Weiqing that had led the Fei Li Battle Team to victory in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament! As such, he would deﬁnitely seize any opportunity to mislead his opponent.

As Shen Wang saw that Zhou Weiqing was only at the six- Jeweled stage, the onlooking ofﬁcials on the viewing platforms could also see it. For a time, looks of disdain, contempt and scorn ﬁlled their gazes as they looked at Zhou Weiqing, some even whispering to each other about how these young whippersnappers were reckless and foolish, asking for death!

Of course, whether or not Zhou Weiqing was foolish, asking for death, or not… one could only know after an actual ﬁght. However, it was unfortunate that Shen Wang had also been fooled by Zhou Weiqing’s outward appearance… just like he had expected. Of all the Fei Li Empire onlookers, only Cai Cai frowned and furrowed her brow when she saw the six Jewels of Zhou Weiqing. She clearly remembered the time when Zhou Weiqing had led the Fei Li Battle Team to win the Heavenly Jewel Tournament years ago. At that time, his cultivation was only at the four-Jeweled stage… in fact most of the

Tournament had been spent with him at the three-Jeweled

stage!

Cai Cai was all too familiar how difﬁcult the Heavenly Jewel Tournament was, and what kind of monsters of the younger generation they would face there. Those were all the ﬁnest elites of every single Empire, especially the cream of the crop of the younger generation in the Five Great Saint Lands. Under such a circumstance, the mere four-Jeweled Zhou Weiqing had still been able to create history and lead the Fei Li Battle Team to defeat all these powerful opponents, bringing back the championship. Now, at the Six-Jeweled stage, how far had his power grown then? If he did not have any conﬁdence, would he dare come here to cause trouble? To actually challenge Shen Wang?

Indeed, that little brat’s cultivation speed was just too astonishing. It hadn’t even been two years since he had left the Fei Li Empire, and his cultivation level had already jumped unbelievably, from four Jewels to six Jewels! That was totally shocking, almost unprecedented and unheard of in history! At this moment, Cai Cai was truly starting to believe Ming Yu’s words. Coming into conﬂict with Zhou Weiqing was truly not a wise idea.

However, things had already developed to such a stage… and by now they had no choice but to ﬁght ﬁrst. Furthermore, even though Cai Cai had a very high opinion of Zhou Weiqing, she still did not see how it was possible that a six-Jeweled stage Zhou Weiqing could defeat the nine-Jeweled Vice Commander Shen Wang.

After all, as the cultivation stage of a Heavenly Jewel Master grew further and further, the gap was greater and greater! The difference between six Jewels and nine Jewels was far greater than four Jewels to six Jewels! Not to mention, Shen Wang was an experienced ﬁghter in his own right even amongst the nine- Jeweled stage, otherwise how could he reach the rank of Vice Commander?

Shen Wang did not disappoint Cai Cai. Although he did not attack ﬁrst, he did not wait to summon out his Consolidated Equipment.

The moment Shen Wang released all his Consolidated Equipment, Zhou Weiqing’s mouth curled upwards in a hint of disdain. This was no longer him acting, but it was truly him looking down upon the Equipment. After all, do not forget the kind of people he had been mixing around with!

Without question, with Shen Wang’s status in the Fei Li Empire, he would have all nine pieces of Consolidated Equipment for his nine Jewels. However, just from his Consolidated Equipment, one could tell how lacking the Fei Li Empire was in the profession of Consolidating Equipment Masters, and the lack of resources and actual Scrolls.

The nine Consolidated Equipment that Shen Wang was wearing were also Set Equipment, however they were three pieces per set, three sets in total, with some Socketed as well.

Amongst the three Sets, one was clearly crafted by a Zong Stage Consolidated Equipment Master, while the other two were just Grandmaster stage ones. Even so, from Shen Wang’s expression, it was clear that he was extremely proud of his equipment. Indeed, in the Fei Li Empire, for a Upper Level Zong Stage to have such a gathering of Consolidated Equipment, it was already extremely good.

Although Shen Wang’s Equipment was separated into three Consolidated Sets, it was already sufﬁcient to cover most of his body protectively. Helmet, two shoulder pauldrons was a set. Chest, girdle and Kilt another Set. The ﬁnal Set was the Zong Stage one, which included his weapon, a longsword, and the two greaves respectively. It appeared that this Set was not complete, probably lacking two combat boots. Of course, his cultivation level was far from reaching that. Indeed, for him to reach Heavenly Emperor Stage was highly unlikely, perhaps even impossible.

Looking at Shen Wang release all nine pieces of Consolidated Equipment without hesitation, Cai Cai secretly relaxed slightly, sighing in relief. Earlier, her words to Zhou Weiqing were undoubtedly to regain some goodwill, but it was also to tell Shen Wang not to underestimate Zhou Weiqing, but also not to kill him. Zhou Weiqing did not release his own Consolidated Equipment. Instead, at the moment which Shen Wang unleashed his Consolidated Equipment, the two triangle formations in front of Zhou Weiqing stacked upon one another and fused together, forming his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation.

A strange light instantly burst out in an overpowering glow, and the six light hexagon settled into place below Zhou Weiqing’s feet, which were now positioned right in the middle of the hexagon. As the light glowed below his feet, the shimmer of gold reﬂecting on his armour caused him to look like a god that had descended from the heavens. Just from outlook alone, Shen Wang had lost terribly.

A hexagon made of six lights?!

Looking at the strange formation of light, all the Fei Li Empire members present were stunned and puzzled. In fact, even most of the Heavenly Bow Empire side, besides Shangguan Xue’er and Tian’er, were just as puzzled.

What was that hexagon formation of lights? What did that mean? Why were there the six Elemental Jewels at each of the end peaks of the hexagon?

No one actually recognized it. After all, in the entire Fei Li Empire, no one was worthy of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya to personally go and challenge him. Furthermore, the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation that Zhou Weiqing was using was his own customized version, and it was the ﬁrst time it was on display for such a large number of people.

Although Shen Wang was surprised, but the longsword in his hands still pointed towards Zhou Weiqing, giving a gesture inviting him to attack ﬁrst.

Zhou Weiqing smirked coldly. He was in no rush at all. Letting me attack ﬁrst? Trying to show how powerful you are? Well, if you want to act, I’ll see how long you can act for!

Zhou Weiqing did not charge forward in attacking, instead a purple-red light began to gather above his head. You want to act right? Not attacking me ﬁrst right? Fine, just wait then!

In the next instant, Shen Wang’s expression changed, and he no longer dared to wait at all. The reason was simple, he could clearly see the illusory image of the massive Demonic Dragon Lady appearing above Zhou Weiqing’s head.

As Zhou Weiqing’s cultivation level had grown, the Heavenly Skill Image of the Demonic Dragon Lady had also grown clearly and more solid. The top half of an absolute beauty, and the bottom half of a serpent, both clearly deﬁned like the legend of the naga of old. The purple-red light of the massive image painted the skies, causing the clouds to look different. The aura and pressure that Zhou Weiqing was giving out was even suppressing the nine-Jeweled Shen Wang!

Heavenly Skill Image?! Cai Cai almost exclaimed in shock. The next moment, she suddenly recalled Ye Paopao’s description years ago. Indeed, Zhou Weiqing had used this very Skill two years back in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, and it was this Skill that had allowed him to defeat the genius Zhan LingTian of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace… snatching the ﬁnal championship of the Heavenly Jewel Tournament for the Fei Li Battle Team!

However, even Ye Paopao did not fully understand what that Skill of Zhou Weiqing’s was, or its effects… he could only say that it was deﬁnitely very powerful. At this moment, as Zhou Weiqing unleashed it, it could be said that the entire audience was shaken. He dared not wait any longer. Naturally, Shen Wang could no longer care about face and wait for Zhou Weiqing to ﬁnish that move. He might not know exactly what Skill Zhou Weiqing was using, but it was without question that any Skill with a Heavenly Skill Image was unbelievably strong. He might be at

the nine-Jeweled stage, but he did not own any such powerful Skill! He did not come from a Great Saint Lands, and a Skill with a Heavenly Skill Image was not so easily gotten.

In a ﬂash, Shen Wang had charged towards Zhou Weiqing, a thick green light bursting from his body, causing his speed to rise abruptly more than three times. The sword in his hands leading the way, he was like a bolt of lightning barrelling down at Zhou Weiqing.

Attacking ﬁrst might be shameful for one of his age and status, but it was not as shameful as losing.

Seeing that Shen Wang had used a Skill, Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly. It was a Skill he was just too familiar with – the Silver Emperor Lightning Pierce from the Silver Emperor!

Even if he used his toenails to think, Zhou Weiqing could easily know that this Shen Wang should have Stored it from the Silver Emperor that had been in the Fei Li Heavenly Skill Palace, the same one he had Stored many of his own Skills from. Of course, that Silver Emperor had been set free by Tian’er later. It looked like this Shen Wang had succeeded pretty early on!

The distance between the two was barely thirty yards, and with the speed from the Silver Emperor Lightning Pierce, Shen Wang reached Zhou Weiqing almost instantly. He could still remember Princess Cai Cai’s warning, and he did not try to go for any killing blow, striking out at Zhou Weiqing’s left shoulder.

Facing such a blow from Shen Wang, Zhou Weiqing did not even bother dodging. In an almost instant reaction, he shocked the entire audience once more. Five bouts of dark-gold light sprang into place around him, like waves of light expelling out from his body.

The Silver Emperor Lightning Pierce was an extremely powerful Skill, and with Shen Wang’s cultivation level and that Consolidated Sword, he should be able to break through Zhou Weiqing’s Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura. However, that was if it were only a single Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura. Currently, Zhou Weiqing did not hesitate to unleash ﬁve at once, how could he possibly break through them all?! In the audience’s eyes, all they saw was Shen Wang charging towards Zhou Weiqing at breakneck speed, and in the next instant, light sprang up around Zhou Weiqing, and Shen Wang bounced off it and was sent ﬂying back. As for Zhou Weiqing, he remained standing in place impassively, equipment appearing around his body.

The Reﬁned Gold armour seemed to have disappeared somehow, to an unknown place, and Zhou Weiqing was instead in an ordinary cloth attire. In his hands, there were two immense warhammers, gleaming dark gold gauntlets tipped with scary looking claws, extending all the way up to his arms and shoulders until the thick dark-gold Heart Mirror that drew everyone’s attention, glowing with chilling light. The dark-gold would continue spreading all the way to his waist before it stopped. All around his body, a powerful Heavenly Energy ﬂuctuation burst forth.

The hammer in his right hand pointed forward, and an array of purple-red light ﬂew out from the crying-face hammer, chasing right towards Shen Wang who had been thrown back from the impact earlier.

Although Zhou Weiqing needed time to unleash his Dragon Silencing Seal, it was already much faster than previously. Added to the fact that Shen Wang had spent some time waiting, and the delay of his own Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura, it was enough time for Zhou Weiqing to ﬁnish completing it.

The purple-red light instantly caught up to Shen Wang’s body, enveloping him in it. The Absolute Effect that it was meant he had no chance of evading it, and under the gaze of the thousand onlookers, Shen Wang’s nine Consolidated Equipment vanished like snow in the summer sun. Above his head, a strange purple-red symbol rotated slowly.

Zhou Weiqing’s eyes also turned a similar purple-red. However, he did not chase forward to strike, instead both his hammers pointed at Shen Wang. In an instant, thousands of blue Lightning Pearls appeared in the air, forming a web of lightning pearls which ﬂew towards Shen Wang, surrounding him.

The instant Shen Wang had been hit by the Dragon Silencing Seal, he had been given such a huge fright that he paled instantly. He had never imagined that Zhou Weiqing’s Skill would be so overbearing, instantly crippling all his Skills and Consolidated Equipment! Although he could guess that this situation should not last long, but as a Heavenly Jewel Master so used to his Consolidated Equipment, in a short period of time it was very hard for him to adjust. As his feet struck the ground and he retreated backwards, he suddenly saw the blanket of lightning pearls cover the skies around him.

Shen Wang did live up to his rank as the Fei Li Royal Family Cavalry Vice Commander. Facing such a vastly unfavourable scenario, he did not panic. Both his hands circled in motion, and a thick Heavenly Energy reverberation appeared, forming a thick layer of faint white light around his body.

His Heavenly Energy cultivation level had already reached the maximum of the Heavenly Xu Stage. Although it was still far from reaching the Heavenly Dao Energy, it was clear that his total Energy was already beyond that Upper Level Zong Stage Master that Zhou Weiqing had faced long ago, Ming Yu’s father Ming Wu!

Explosions started to ring as Zhou Weiqing’s lightning pearls began to smash into the shield of white light.

In Shen Wang’s eyes, Zhou Weiqing should have been a Wind Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master! However, when the lightning pearls exploded, he realised he had been fooled. However, even as he realised he had been tricked, he did not know how or what happened.

The strength of the Lightning Attribute was in its explosive offensive power, and those lightning pearls that Zhou Weiqing had summoned was under his ﬁne control through the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, allowing him to channel out as much Lightning Attribute Heavenly Energy as possible at

once. With the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation’s powerful control and regenerative rate, those lightning pearls were not so easily taken on.

One… two… even ten lightning pearls would not be able to hurt Shen Wang at all. However, the current Shen Wang was after all unable to use any Skills or Consolidated Equipment. It could be said he was fully in Zhou Weiqing’s battle rhythm.

Both were at the nine-Jeweled stage, and in terms of Heavenly Energy cultivation level, Shen Wang was even higher than the Lion Prince Gu Site. However, if one would compare both their total strengths, he was far far far from Gu Site. Even the Lion Prince had not been able to gain an advantage over Zhou Weiqing, let alone Shen Wang!

Several hundred lightning pearls surrounded him from all directions almost simultaneously, and the terrifying explosions rang out one after the other in unison. Shen Wang channeled his Heavenly Energy with all his might to protect himself, but every single lightning pearl explosion would take over some Heavenly Energy. Let us not speak of counterattacking; in this series of massive explosions, both his body and hearing were greatly affected, as if he were a tiny little boat ﬂoating in the vast ocean, being smashed around by

the waves of the lightning pearls, tossing and turning around

turbulently.

Ever since Zhou Weiqing had completed training in this ‘Flying Lightning God Technique’ of his, this was only the second time he had ever used it in actual combat. The ﬁrst time was naturally against Shangguan Xue’er. Of course, Shangguan Xue’er had broken it apart the ﬁrst time with her Boundless Inﬁnitum Sword, but upon the second time even with her supreme sword skills, she had not been able to take them too easily. Let alone now for Shen Wang, without his Skills and Consolidated Equipment!

The most shocking thing to the audience was actually Zhou Weiqing himself. In their eyes, they could all still see him standing there simply. Since the ﬁght had started, he had not even moved a step, and all he had done was to lift his hammer and point twice. Even now, his hammers were still pointed forward, lightning pearls still swarming out of them crazily! In those ofﬁcials’ eyes, Shen Wang was extremely powerful, yet currently in the midst of the ‘Flying Lightning God Technique’, he was barely hanging on, as if on the verge of collapse. Anyone could see that Zhou Weiqing clearly had the upper hand, but perhaps more terrifying was the fact that no one could understand how Zhou Weiqing was winning.

Wasn’t that just too powerful? That’s crazy! Similar thoughts appeared in every single onlooker. However, at that very instant, all of them were struck speechless. All of a sudden, Shen Wang sensed his body feeling lighter. At once, he understood that the restriction on his Consolidated Equipment and Stored Skills was about to end!

He had held on for so long just for this chance, and though his Heavenly Energy was almost used up more than seventy percent, the opportunity had ﬁnally arrived. In his eyes, though Zhou Weiqing was currently in an advantageous position, but for a six-Jeweled stage Heavenly Jewel Master to continuously attack for so long, his Heavenly Energy should be drained as much or even more than his own. He might have been humiliated previously, but the chance for winning had come!

In fact, as Shen Wang felt the pressure upon him lessen, it was because all the lightning pearls attacking him had stopped for a moment. However, a temporary stop did not mean that they had disappeared.

The current Dragon Silencing Seal timing was one minute, and towards such a timing, how could Zhou Weiqing make a mistake? Hope had just sparked in Shen Wang, but when he saw the sight before him, his heart sank in despair.

The halt of attacks from the lightning pearls was because they were actually gathering together, pressing close to each other. In that short period of time, another several hundred lightning pearls had coalesced into existence. This time, as compared to all the previous attacks, all the lightning pearls swarmed together as one, striking out at every single portion of his body at once in a ﬁnal simultaneous strike.

Another massive explosion. Shen Wang’s body shuddered violently, and turned a burned charcoal black. Originally, the beautiful silver armour had been kept when he had released his Consolidated Equipment, and he hadn’t had the time to wear it back. Currently, his clothes were pretty much in shreds, and his beautiful locks of golden hair were all frizzled and burned. In the mass of explosions, he was blown back almost ﬁve metres before landing heavily on the ground.

Zhou Weiqing did not continue attacking, twirling the Dual Legendary Hammers in his hands before turning in a suave, smooth motion. Acting cool indeed! 1

Compared to Zhou Weiqing’s acting cool, currently Princess Cai Cai’s expression was very interesting. She was not vexed or depressed at all; she was not that shallow, and this minor setback was nothing in her eyes. Instead, what were in her eyes was pure shock. Indeed, utter shock.

Nine Jewels versus Six Jewels, yet it was as if he he did not have a chance at all, losing before he could even display his own strength. It was truly a tragic loss, not even able to force his opponent to take a single step. What kind of power gap was that?

Zhou Weiqing was feeling his own ‘Flying Lightning God Technique’ more and more, especially as he grew more familiar with using it in combat. Ever since he fought with Shangguan Xue’er, the more he liked the idea of focusing on training a Skill to the utmost. With his Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, he could easily mimic any Skill and transmute energy between each Heavenly Energy Attribute. However, each and every Attribute has its own unique characteristics, and there are deﬁnitely differences in manipulating them well. In order to boost his current combat ability, to improve his current control, Zhou Weiqing decided to temporarily give up practicing his control of the other ﬁve Attributes while in the Six Ultimate Godly Light Formation, fully concentrating on the ‘Flying Lightning God Technique’. In truth, he had already been on this path even before ﬁghting against Shangguan Xue’er, but it had just afﬁrmed his notions. After all, even if in the future he had more Heavenly Energy to start Fusing his own multiple-Attribute Skills, by training his control of the ‘Flying Lightning God Technique’, it would also help in his future control (as long as Lightning was part of the Fusion).

The silence was deafening. Perhaps more accurately, the entire audience was dumbfounded, especially the group of Fei Li ofﬁcials who were staring with their jaws agape.

Zhou Weiqing walked slowly towards Shen Wang who was lying on the ground. At that moment, Cai Cai’s voice rang out urgently: “Commander Zhou, please spare him.”

Zhou Weiqing lifted his head to look at Cai Cai on the VIP stage before smiling as he said: “Your Highness, please do not worry. Since I have already agreed it is just a duel, I naturally will not kill him. Furthermore, I am still waiting for his apology. Tian’er.”

Instantly, Tian’er understood what he meant, and a faint gold light shimmered around her hands. From her seat to where Shen Wang was lying, it was at least forty yards away, but the gold light just ﬂew across without any problems, landing accurately upon him. A thick divine aura formed a circle of light around Shen Wang’s body, and his unconscious body started twitching before he actually roused up.

Shen Wang was after all a nine-Jeweled Upper level Zong Stage Heavenly Jewel Master. Although his defenses had been breached and overwhelmed by the mass explosions of numerous lightning pearls, his inner muscles, bones were all sturdy, and his injuries were not too deep. It was just that his Heaenly Energy had all been used up, and he was unable to continue ﬁghting any longer.

As soon as he woke up, Shen Wang immediately saw Zhou Weiqing standing right in front of him.

*Waah* Shen Wang vomited out a mouthful of blood; not because of any injury, but because he was totally ashamed and embarrassed, wishing a pit would open in the ground and swallow him up.

In front of his goddess that he secretly loved, in front of all those ofﬁcials, even in front of so many of his subordinates… he had actually lost to Zhou Weiqing, a mere six-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master. More so, he had lost so terribly, his opponent not even moving a step before winning. The word ‘shame’ was not enough to describe his current feelings. Zhou Weiqing did not say a word, instead pointing to the ﬂag behind him before looking at Shen Wang. His meaning was clear – ‘You have lost, please fulﬁll your promise.’

Shen Wang grit his teeth, enduring the massive pain on his body as he slowly stood up, looking at Zhou Weiqing as his face twitched. Finally, he sighed, lifting his right hand, gathering the ﬁnal remnants of his Heavenly Energy into his palm, and in a lightning strike his palm slammed towards his own head.

As the Vice Commander of the Royal Family Cavalry troop, he represented the honour and dignity of his own Fei Li Empire. If he were to kneel and kowtow to the Heavenly Bow Empire ﬂag like in the bet, it would not just be a mere representation of himself, but the entire Fei Li Empire. As such, he would rather choose to die for his Empire than to kneel.

Right at that moment, Shen Wang’s body froze in place. His hand had already reached his head, but did not manage to land ﬁnally. He heard Zhou Weiqing laughing at the side before he said: “Bro Shen is a staunch man with strong morals indeed, a man of sentiment and emotions.”

“However, it is not necessary to die for your Empire. After all, our Heavenly Bow Empire is still a friendly ally of the Fei Li Empire, it was only because Bro Shen insulted my Empire earlier that I had no choice but to ﬁght for honour. Regarding the bet, let us call it off, but I hope that Bro Shen can please choose your words carefully next time.” Zhou Weiqing said generously as he pulled Shen Wang’s hand away from his own head; at the same time, he used the Devour Skill to drain away the last bit of Heavenly Energy.

Shen Wang couldn’t help but clench his teeth as he looked at Zhou Weiqing’s smiling face. That fellow had acted as both the bad guy, then the good guy. Now, it even seemed as if he was the one who caused trouble, and Zhou Weiqing was the generous fellow who forgave him!

At this point, Cai Cai had already personally come down from the VIP Stand, leading the group of ofﬁcials to quickly come before Zhou Weiqing. Currently, her expression resumed its usual calm; not only was she not angry, she had a look of gratitude on her face. Smiling gently at Zhou Weiqing, she said: “Many thanks to Commander Zhou for showing mercy. We have indeed lost this round, and I represent General Shen to apologise for his previous remarks to your Empire.” As she said that, she bowed slightly towards the Heavenly Bow Empire ﬂag. “Your Highness!” Shen Wang knelt down in a loud thudding sound before Cai Cai, his face ﬁlled with shame.

Cai Cai laughed heartily, supporting him up as she said: “General, your loss is not because of your own cultivation level. Please do not make light of your own life in the future, our Empire still needs to depend on General to defend us.”

Zhou Weiqing was standing opposite Cai Cai, and as he looked at this Princess, he couldn’t help but feel his heart grip tightly. With just a few simple words, Cai Cai had totally reversed the terrible situation that they had been in. Not only did she not lose any pride from this, she showed the generosity of an Empire, also sealing any other possible avenues for Zhou Weiqing to continue on those lines. More so, she had taken the opportunity to further afﬁrm Shen Wang’s loyalty. It could be said that she had killed many birds with a single stone!

As expected, Shen Wang’s face was ﬁlled with gratitude, his gaze towards Cai Cai almost fanatic, as if he would be willing to die for her anytime.

Princess Cai Cai, she is truly formidable indeed! Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but praise her in his heart, but also felt wary at the same time. Shen Wang retreated to the side, and Cai Cai’s gaze naturally landed upon Zhou Weiqing as she said in praise: “I never expected that Commander Zhou would give me such a good surprise after more than a year. Today, we have been rash and hasty indeed. Well, would Commander Zhou be interested in making a bet with me?”

Zhou Weiqing started momentarily. All along, it had always been him asking others to bet with him, and this time, Cai Cai was actually the one to take the initiative to do so. Along with Cai Cai’s previous series of actions, he couldn’t help but be on the guard.

“Your Highness, what kind of bet are you looking to make?”

Cai Cai smiled faintly and said: “No matter the relationship between humans or between Empires, power has always been an important factor. How about our two Empires hold a simple friendly competition, ﬁve rounds, and whoever wins three rounds will be the victor. Just now, that would be considered the ﬁrst round, and you have won. If in the end, the victor is the Heavenly Bow Empire, then I will immediately return to the Palace and request for His Majesty to receive your Empire’s diplomatic party with the highest honours. However, if we are lucky enough to win, then I would invite Commander Zhou to take the difﬁcult task of inviting Princess Difuya to enter the Fei Li City together with me. Commander Zhou, what do you think?”

Cai Cai’s words were indeed skillful. On the surface, to the Heavenly Bow Empire, no matter winning or losing, there was no actual loss to them. If they won, they could even gain more honour, and even if they lost, it didn’t seem like any big loss. This bet fully displayed Cai Cai’s generosity and the grand display of the Fei Li Empire as one of the great Empires.

However, in truth, if they really lost this bet, then in this diplomatic visit and in the upcoming negotiations, the Heavenly Bow Empire would be at a big disadvantage. In such a case, no matter what Cai Cai was discussing with Zhou Weiqing, she would be able to play a leading role. At the same time, she was able to use this ‘three out of ﬁve’ competition to erase the dejected feelings that any of their side might be feeling, and seize the opportunity to suppress the Heavenly Bow Empire.

Zhou Weiqing asked impassively: “What, and how, would the next four rounds be then, Your Highness?”

Cai Cai laughed heartily and said: “Very simple, the current round’s losing side will propose the next round’s competing rules, so on so forth, until one side wins three.” If not for the current subtle and tricky relations between both sides, Zhou Weiqing really wanted to give Cai Cai a big thumbs up. She was truly impressive! With just a few words, not only did she turn a disadvantageous situation into a strong opportunity for her side to gain the advantage, greatly lowering the victory gains that Zhou Weiqing had already won. This Princess Cai Cai was extraordinary indeed, no wonder she had risen to her status and rank from the rest of the Royal Family.

After a moment of thought, Zhou Weiqing nodded, Smiling at Cai Cai, he said: “Very well, as Your Highness says. Please set our next round topic then.”

Zona Novel Online

Heavenly Jewel Change Chapter 181-190

Chapter 181 Tian’er, I love you!

Chapter 182 Returning with a beauty!

Chapter 183 Oops!

Chapter 184 Boundless Inﬁnitum!

Chapter 185 If You Lose, Marry Me!

Chapter 186 Shameless… With Good Intent?

Chapter 187 Visiting Fei Li!

Chapter 188 Powerful Peerless Seven Hundred!

Chapter 189 ‘Rolling-Knife Meat’!

Chapter 190 Three out of Five?

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