If Wang Gan had hesitated for a moment in his final slap, Wei Changtian would not have let him leave alive.
It was precisely because he had a sense of determination to die at the time that Wei Changtian spared his life.
The reason was simple.
Not wanting to die meant there were still attachments, while being willing to die meant true release.
Since that was the case, whether Wang Gan lived or died was no longer important.
Alas, what a mess…
Sitting at his desk, Wei Changtian let out a long sigh.
Although life was unpredictable and the world was full of uncertainties, how could such twists of fate occur around himself and others?
If it were Xiao Feng…
Hmm? Why was he thinking of him again?
The person had been dead for two months… Now, the Heaven’s Chosen Son was Ning Yongnian and that East Sea fish demon, Yunlian.
Speaking of which… what was the standard for the Heaven’s Chosen Son?
Normally, shouldn’t it be someone who was poor, orphaned, and unknown?
Why did they choose Ning Yongnian?
Grandma’s…
“Rumble!!”
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and a thunderclap shook the heavens.
The new year had just begun, and the first rain in Shuzhou after the new year came without warning.
……
“Ha ha ha!!”
“Ha ha ha ha!!”
Surrounded by golden light, Ning Yongnian laughed loudly, his eyes flashing open, and his body bursting forth with an unprecedented emperor’s aura.
This was a kind of powerful pressure that was almost palpable.
Even if Ning Yongnian took off his dragon robe and dressed as a beggar, as long as he released this aura in front of others, it would be enough to make them feel an irresistible sense of submission from the bottom of their hearts.
Second-rank!
It was likely that even Ning Yongnian himself did not expect that his stagnant cultivation for nearly ten years would finally break through the bottleneck, like a giant wave, and reach the high second-rank realm in one go!
“Whoa!”
A fierce wind swept through the lamp-lit secret chamber, causing all the candles to flicker and extinguish in an instant, except for a few large night pearls that continued to emit bright white light.
Ning Yongnian slowly stood up from the golden silk couch, his inner power surging and churning, his expression gradually returning to calm.
He looked up at the front, where a massive map occupied the entire wall.
Mountain ranges, rivers, forests, oceans, dynasties, and sects…
The golden outline representing Da Ning was located in the lower left corner of the map, occupying only about one-tenth of the entire area.
However, there was still a large blank space around the map, clearly waiting to be filled in later.
“Tck, tck, tck……”
One step at a time, I walked up to the wall and slid my fingers from right to left across the thirty-six states of Danning.
Qingzhou, Tanzhou, Luzhou, Peizhou… When my fingertips had circled around, they landed on Shuzhou in the southwest corner, and Ning Yongnian paused for a moment.
Then, I continued to the left.
Beyond Danning’s borders, beyond the vast expanse of ten thousand great mountains, beyond the winding Black River, and finally, I landed on a city…
The Great Li Wangdu – Baiping.
“Baiping…”
Ning Yongnian murmured to himself, then lightly tapped his finger.
Under the vast sky, none are not the king’s subjects; by the riverside, none are not the king’s ministers… This should be the ultimate pursuit of all emperors.
However, Danning had not expanded its territory in nearly five hundred years.
But Ning Yongnian, the third ruler of the Danning dynasty to reach the second rank, was about to take this step again.
Only before that, he needed to gather all the power within Danning under his control.
Liu, Wei, Xu, and even the Buddhist temple that thought itself above “heaven”…
Who should he start with?
……
“Eldest Sister Xu, run quickly!!”
In Wangjia Village, a hundred miles outside Shuzhou City.
A shrill cry echoed through the night sky, accompanied by wails of pain and frantic footsteps.
“A monster has come!! A monster has come!!”
“Ah! Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me!!”
“Save me! Who will save me?”
“Lord, save us!!”
The villagers, with disheveled hair, fled in all directions amidst the blazing fire, while a seven- or eight-zhang-long red-scaled snake monster entwined with two silhouettes.
Judging from the current battle, this snake monster, despite being outnumbered, clearly had the upper hand, occasionally swinging its tail to sweep up an unfortunate villager, then tauntingly biting them in half.
“Whoosh!”
As Xu Qingwan watched a farmer being bitten in two before her eyes, she gritted her teeth, flashed forward, and struck down with her knife.
“Clang!”
The swallow’s cry and the red scales clashed, sending sparks flying, but only leaving a shallow white mark on the snake’s body.
A knife capable of cutting through gold, yet its killing power against this snake monster was almost zero.
This wasn’t a problem with the Returning Dust Knife or the swallow’s cry, but rather the enormous gap in strength between the two sides.
Eighty years of cultivation, equivalent to the human fourth rank.
This was absolutely not something Xu Qingwan and You Jia, both at the sixth rank, could handle.
If it weren’t for the snake monster’s lack of hands and feet, making it somewhat disadvantaged in combat, the two women would have likely been killed already.
“Whoosh!”
The snake tail, as thick as a water bucket, struck back ferociously, as if to cut Xu Qingwan in half.
However, she had anticipated this, and after striking with her knife, she quickly retreated, narrowly avoiding the sweeping snake tail.
“Eldest Sister Xu, let’s go quickly!”
You Jia, holding a short sword, breathed a sigh of relief and hastily urged, “We can still escape while the snake monster is eating people!”
“But what about these villagers…”
Xu Qingwan’s gaze was torn.
If it were Liang Qin, she would definitely risk her life to stop the snake monster and give the villagers more time to escape.
Although Xu Qingwan was kind-hearted, she wasn’t born with a silver spoon like Liang Jin, so she understood the importance of “living within her means.”
There were many things in this world that she couldn’t change on her own.
Knowing it was impossible yet doing it anyway… that wasn’t bravery, but foolishness.
“Let’s go!”
Aside from facing Wei Changtian, Xu Qingwan’s intelligence was still online, so she only hesitated for a moment before making a decision.
“Whoosh!”
The two girls quickly escaped the snake demon’s attack range, preparing to run back to Shu State City to gather reinforcements.
The snake demon, however, didn’t seem to have any intention of pursuing them relentlessly, its bright red eyes scanning the fleeing villagers, seemingly more interested in the easy prey that couldn’t resist.
The snake’s body was getting farther and farther away, and with just a few more breaths, the two girls would be able to rely on their speed advantage to completely escape.
From noble mtl dot come
But just then…
“Wow!!”
The crying of a baby on the side of the road made Xu Qingwan’s figure pause.
She glanced at the snake demon’s position, then immediately took a step forward, reaching out to scoop up the small bundle in her arms.
The baby’s parents were nowhere to be seen, and it was unknown whether they had escaped or fallen prey to the demon.
But Xu Qingwan didn’t have time to think about that.
Although carrying a baby wouldn’t affect her speed, picking it up had wasted some time.
Holding the baby tightly, she prepared to jump away.
But…
“Slap!”
A man who had been lying on the side of the road suddenly crawled over, using all his might to grab onto Xu Qingwan’s leg, his mouth trembling as he loudly begged:
“Please, save me! I don’t want to die!”
“Whoosh!”
Xu Qingwan didn’t hesitate, her unsheathed dagger immediately pressing against the man’s neck.
“Let go! You can still escape if you hurry!”
“I, I…”
The man was startled by the glinting blade, but his arms still refused to let go, even tightening their grip.
“Please, I’ve gone soft in the legs, I really can’t move!”
“You’re an official! How can you abandon someone to die?”
“I won’t let go! If I do, you’ll just kill me, and that’s better than dying at the demon’s hands!”