=== [Ding] [Daily Quest: Absorb 100,000 Qi.] [Status: Done.] [Reward: 1,000 bronze coins sent to the inventory.] === [Daily Quest: Killing 500 beasts or demon beasts in the Earth realm or above.] [Status: Done.] [Reward: Daily gift pack x1 sent to the inventory.] === When the night came, Zhang Xiaolong [3] finally stopped his training and met Zhou Xiaochuan, who had been waiting for him since morning. "Oh? Why is your condition like this?" Zhou Xiaochuan was naturally furious because Zhang Xiaolong [3] had kept him waiting for a whole day, but he did not dare to express his anger. On the other hand, the minister looked puzzled after seeing him, especially since he looked so young, but he dared to treat the Zhou emperor like that. Zhou Xiaochuan immediately replied to Zhang Xiaolong [3]. "Senior, I don't know what happened to my body, but I've been like this for the past four days. All the imperial physicians and an acquaintance of mine couldn't cure my illness, so I decided to come to you to ask for your help." 'Why did my emperor address this young man as a senior?' The minister wondered. "I see." Zhang Xiaolong [3] nodded in understanding before speaking. "You were exposed to something that caused all your meridians to become blocked and your motor nerves to become uncontrollable, so you can't move your body." "You're right, Senior." "Do you still remember our conversation five days ago, Zhou Xiaochuan?" The minister wanted to rebuke Zhang Xiaolong [3] for calling his emperor by his name directly, but the Zhou Emperor immediately stopped him. "Is your throne and authority worth more than your life and the lives of your six wives? I can cure all of you in less than an hour, but the choice is yours. If you prefer your throne and authority to your lives, you can return to your palace now, especially since I will only cure all of you if you are willing to exchange both for your lives. Otherwise, you can forget about asking for my help, and you guys will probably die in the end." "You—" The minister swallowed his saliva because Zhang Xiaolong [3] had suddenly moved behind him, with his hongxi dagger pressing on his neck, causing it to bleed. Zhang Xiaolong [3] pressed his dagger a little deeper. "I don't care about your identity or status in this kingdom, but I will kill you if you dare interrupt my conversation with Zhou Xiaochuan." The minister broke out in a cold sweat because of Zhang Xiaolong [3]'s threat, but Zhou Xiaochuan then spoke. "Please spare him, Senior. He is the best minister in my kingdom, and he has no ill intentions." Zhang Xiaolong [3] said nothing and returned to his seat. "So what's your answer?" "Forgive me, but I don't have an answer right now, and I—" "Go back now and don't come here until you have an answer." Zhang Xiaolong [3] instantly disappeared from their sight. Zhou Xiaochuan was furious and disappointed. "Bring me back to the palace." "Yes, Emperor." Zhang Xiaolong [3] just watched their departure from the inner area. Shang Xinyu then asked him. "How long are you going to toy with that fellow, Long'er? Why don't you just end things with him?" "That guy, all his wives, and his kingdom are already in your grasp. Rather than continuing to stall for time, I think it's better if you end your plans for them sooner." Shang Yifen added. [Master, I understand your desires for Zhou Xiaochuan, but these two women are right. You have been stalling for too long, and you should settle everything as soon as possible. Therefore, you don't need to bother with trivial matters anymore, and you can focus on all your personal affairs. Also, you still have to go to the Nine Hells Darkland and other realms, so don't waste time here. Once your business with the Zhou Kingdom is finished, you can continue with the Huangfu Kingdom directly.] Zhang Xiaolong [3] nodded to them. "You guys are right; I will take care of things in this kingdom right now. After that, we will focus on our dual soul cultivation, but we will do it while forging our bodies." "Eh?" Shang Yifen turned to Zhang Xiaolong [3] in surprise. "Do you really want to do that?" "Are you embarrassed, Yifen?" Shang Yifen nodded at Zhang Xiaolong [3]. "It will take too long to cultivate our bodies and souls separately, so we will do both at once." Shang Yifen let out a soft sigh before nodding. "You're right, but I think we should do it in Shang Xiaoyin's secret place, and the beast blood will have a more significant effect on our bodies." "Shang Xiaoyin's secret place is no longer useful because I have moved the blood of the beast to another place. I kept half of it in my private place and half on the western island, so we must go there." Shang Xiaolong [3]'s revelation surprised Shang Yifen, especially since she hadn't been to that place for a long time, so she didn't know that he had already removed the beast blood from that place. "Anyway, I will go to the Zhou Royal Palace now, and I will settle my business with Zhou Xiaochuan today." . . . 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞 Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaochuan had just arrived at his royal chamber, and the minister immediately left him there. His expression was truly angry because Zhang Xiaolong [3] kept forcing him to hand over his throne and authority for the sake of his recovery and that of his six wives. He had sacrificed too much to strengthen his power, and he had also made many plans to become the sole ruler of the human island, but various changes in the situation that occurred recently caused all his plans to fall apart. Zhou Xiaochuan pondered about everything seriously, and he felt that the situation started at the same time as Zhang Fei appeared in the Nine Stars Realm. His second son died in the Star Tower, and his other four sons disappeared without a trace. Zhou Shenxin and Jiang Tingxi betrayed him, and his ambition to rule the two demon kingdoms failed miserably because of the beast rampage. Upon his return from the demon island, a mysterious illness immediately affected his six wives." Despite having no concrete evidence, Shou Xiaochuan felt that his guess about all the troubles that had fallen on him was correct. 'I'm sure those two people have something to do with Zhang Fei, but I don't understand how he could have a relationship with two powerful people. That guy has a relationship with the Yun and Xian Kingdoms; I'm sure they're blocking Zhou Hanling and the others from attacking the Yun Kingdom.' "Are you still confused about your situation?" Zhou Xiaochuan was shocked when he heard that and looked at Zhang Xiaolong [3], who had just appeared in his room. "How did you manage to infiltrate here?" "Haha." Zhang Xiaolong [3] laughed. "Your protection is too weak to stop me, and I can come in here whenever I want." "Did you do all this to me and my six wives on purpose?" "You finally realized it, huh?" Zhang Xiaolong [3] returned to his true form, shocking Zhou Xiaochuan. "We never had any problems in the past, but Zhou Tong wanted to kill me in the Star Tower. Unfortunately, he failed because Xiang Changyue was by my side, but I couldn't kill him either because he was stronger than me at that time. After that, you sent Zhou Shenxin and Zhou Hanling to capture me, and I heard from them that you wanted to control me with the help of the demons behind you. Therefore, I tracked down the whereabouts of Ju Yingzhi and refused. In the end, they both joined my organization, your daughter became my lover, and your aide became my slave." "You—" Zhang Xiaolong [3] immediately suppressed Zhou Xiaochuan with his killing intent, causing cold sweat to begin to drip down his forehead. 'This bastard! His killing intent is more terrifying and oppressive than Ju Yingzhi's!' "To tell you the truth, I ordered Xin Yanluo to send you to the demon island, and I also made the demon beasts rampage because I needed time to take you down." Zhang Xiaolong [3] then opened a portal to the training space, shocking Zhou Xiaochuan, especially once Zhou Shenxin and Jiang Tingxi walked out of it. "You may not be aware of the real situation yet, but Zhou Tong, Zhou Fang, Zhou Fenghu, Zhou Fanshi, and all your generals are already subject to me. Oh! Zhou Meiling and your other four sons are also in my hands, and I lock them up in a special place. Additionally, the Yun and Xian Kingdoms' troops have already taken over three-quarters of your kingdom's territory, so your status as emperor is empty because only your ministers remain, and I will force them to submit soon." All of this shocked Zhou Xiaochuan further, but he then shouted at his concubine and daughter. "You two are traitors!" Zhou Shenxin simply smiled at that. "Father, I have endured everything for decades, but I will not hold myself back anymore. Since I was a child, I have been aware of my situation, as I was born a woman. Despite this, I didn't want to give up, and I strove hard to be the best. In the end, I became even better than Zhou Tong, but you never appreciated my hard work, and you kept treating me as a tool because I was a woman. You knew that I would never be able to win against Zhang Fei, but you still sent me to him, which means you wanted to sacrifice me. Fortunately, he didn't kill me, and he offered me a better opportunity, so I agreed to join him and become his lover. I knew you would realize my strangeness after I refused to follow your orders, and I knew you would vent your anger on my mother, so I asked him to save her." Jiang Tingxi also spoke to him. "Husband, I don't want it to happen, but I have no other choice. I have never questioned or challenged your attitude toward me because I don't have the strength to do it, but I was disappointed that you want to sacrifice our daughter to fulfill your ambition. Unfortunately, you don't have the chance to regret it because all your important people are already in Zhang Fei's hands, and he will push our daughter to the throne to replace you." "Hahaha!" After hearing all that, Zhou Xiaochuan laughed loudly, as the truth dealt a heavy blow to him. He had always been confident in himself and his strength, and he had also always believed that no one would dare to betray him, but his wife and daughter had already betrayed him. "Are you going to end up a lunatic, Old Zhou?" Zhou Xiaochuan immediately looked at Kong Zhi, who had just arrived. "Have you also decided to join them, Old Kong?" "I didn't join them, but I had no other choice because Zhang Fei is my master now, and it happened the night after we returned from the demon island." "Amazing! You are truly amazing, Zhang Fei!" Zhou Xiaochuan said to Zhang Xiaolong [3] in a high tone. "I have been an emperor for several hundred years, but I never thought that I would fall into the hands of a brat like you." "Heh!" Zhang Xiaolong [3] snorted and moved beside Zhou Xiaochuan. "Age has nothing to do with this, foolish emperor. We are both arrogant and always confident in ourselves, but I am not overconfident like you, and I have always believed that there is another sky above the sky. Unlike you, I prefer to operate in the background, ensuring that my adversaries remain unaware of my actions." Zhou Xiaochuan stared at Zhang Xiaolong [3] for a while. "Kill me." "Kill you? Aunt Tingxi already told you that I would push Shenxin to the throne to replace you, so I still need you to help her." Zhang Xiaolong [3] turned to Zhou Shenxin, who immediately approached him and released her soul. Zhang Xiaolong [3] then pulled Zhou Xiaochuan's soul out of his body, replicated it, and merged it with Zhou Shenxin's soul. After that, he planted his demon slave mark into his original soul before returning it to his body. "Starting today, you are my slave, and you must prepare everything for Shenxin to ascend the throne." Zhang Xiaolong [3] then forced Zhou Xiaochuan to swallow an antidote so his condition would return to normal. "After her reign stabilizes, you can die at that time." Zhou Xiaochuan's face was deathly pale as he imagined himself as an emperor becoming the slave of a brat like Zhang Xiaolong [3]. Jiang Tingxi also let out a soft sigh after witnessing all that. "Send me back to your place, Zhang Fei." Zhang Xiaolong [3] sent Jiang Tingxi into the training space, but Zhou Shenxin decided to accompany her because she understood her mother's feelings. He then turned to Kong Zhi. "I want you to stay here and help this foolish emperor to prepare everything, and Shenxin will ascend the throne in five months." "Yes, Master." After Zhang Xiaolong [3] left the room, Kong Zhi spoke to Zhou Xiaochuan. "He's right, Old Zhou. We both used to be arrogant and overconfident, and we never realized all his actions until it was too late. Unfortunately, regret always comes too late, and we are both his slaves now. Even if he didn't enslave us, we would never be able to fight him, especially since many people on his side were too powerful for us." Zhou Xiaochuan said nothing to reply to Kong Zhi, and he regretted all his carelessness that had caused him to fall into such a situation. 'Bastard! I won't let myself end up like this!' After he left Zhou Xiaochuan's room, Zhang Xiaolong [3] went to Dong Feiling and the others' room to heal them. He decided to use his memory manipulation on them, but he did not alter their old memories. Instead, he added a little new memory to them, and they would fully support Zhou Shenxin when she ascended the throne to become the empress, so no one would be able to fight him. Zhang Xiaolong [3] returned to his residence in the Zhou Kingdom, and he sent Wu Lianzhi into his training space. However, he did not let the little girl train because her body was not ready to face the greater gravity, and he asked her to stay with Xu Ling'er, who was the same age as her. Since he didn't know the situation in the Wasteland Realm, Zhang Xiaolong [3] brought Shang Yifen and Shang Xinyu into an invisible state before bringing the two of them into that realm. Upon their arrival at the small beast blood pond on the western island, Zhang Xiaolong [3] and the two women immediately soaked in it. They were not only tempering their bodies, but they were also cultivating their souls. On the eastern island, Tianguo, who was in his black fox form, noticed Zhang Xiaolong [3]'s return. 'Hmm? That heavenly fox brat left this realm not long ago, but his strength has increased quite significantly, especially his soul power. Moreover, I could feel that he was also monitoring me, so I thought our meeting wouldn't be long. If he thinks he can conquer me, I will teach him a harsh lesson he will never forget.' . . . === [Ding] [Daily Quest: Absorb 100,000 Qi.] [Reward: 1,000 bronze coins.] === [Daily Quest: Killing 500 beasts or demon beasts in the Earth realm or above.] [Reward: Daily gift pack x1.] === Two weeks passed quickly, and the blacksmith competition was nearing its peak. Unfortunately, two of Duan Zhou's four disciples, An Hu and Gang Zhishou, were defeated by the blacksmiths from the Divine Flame Realm, but Xian Xian and Lu Zhong managed to secure victory, making the score even. Since the seniors had finished competing, the young blacksmiths from both realms took turns competing with each other, including Zhang Fei [5], who faced off against a young male blacksmith. "Since your blacksmith ranks are still at the spirit rank, you will compete to create a spirit-grade weapon." They nodded at Li Yanzhi. "Let's begin." - To Be Continued -