Chapter 296: 【Emperor? The Greatest Under Heaven?】

Just as the danmu said.

Xin Qiji's final cry represented more than just "slaying the thieves."

It also held his obsession of over 60 years, his unwillingness of over 60 years.

I fear even Xin Qiji himself did not expect that after wasting over 40 years of his life, when he finally had the chance to realize his ambitions, he would be lying on his sickbed with only one breath left.

I wonder if Xin Qiji had any regrets at this moment.

But the Blue Star netizens in the livestream could no longer bear to watch.

The livestream paused for a moment.

Fang Ming took out the screenshot of the ranking list again.

He looked at the rankings and continued scrolling down: "Let's not look at the tragic ones for now."

"Skip this one... skip this one too..."

"Is there a more 'refreshing' life on this screenshot of the rankings?"

"Everyone, tell me."

As his voice fell, the danmu in the livestream began to chatter.

【Zhuge Liang, obviously! And he's ranked so high!】

【How is Zhuge Liang refreshing? He exhausted his heart and strength until his death, and in the end, the Shu Kingdom was destroyed. His life's work was ruined in an instant; it's too tragic.】

【How about Cao Cao? Start: descendant of a eunuch; end: King of Wei.】

【Huang Chao, Huang Chao killed refreshingly!】

【It has to be Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor.】

【Zhao Kuangyin, I see the forums are discussing him very intensely right now. He is the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty.】

Fang Ming looked at the danmu. Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao were NPCs that players encountered frequently in the 【Huaxia】 series and were characters with whom they had many plot interactions.

So Fang Ming subconsciously ignored them, only becoming interested when Huang Chao and Zhao Kuangyin were mentioned.

Fang Ming's gaze swept over the list: "Hmm?"

"Zhao Kuangyin, there really is one."

Although figures like Huang Chao and Zhu Di were not on the list, the Zhao Kuangyin mentioned in the danmu appeared in the 40-something position.

(Note: The source text splits "40" and "something" across lines 296-24 and 296-25.)

Fang Ming glanced at the danmu again, seeing them say 【Zhao Kuangyin】 had already rushed into the top three of the current list, and he was somewhat surprised: "Already rushed to first place?"

"Is he that fierce?"

"Then the life experience of this founding emperor of the Song Dynasty must be quite impressive."

"However, the state of the 【Song Dynasty】..."

(Line 296-30 is empty.)

"... is very suspicious."

Some Blue Star netizens in the livestream nodded.

Indeed.

Just from everything 【Xin Qiji】 experienced in his life, they couldn't help but think the 【Song Dynasty】 should just be destroyed.

It was simply too stifling.

And the emperor was so muddled.

If someone capable of changing the world had appeared within a few decades, that would be fine; they could still hold him in high regard.

But Xin Qiji's 68-year life...

... didn't see a shred of hope at all.

It was hard to imagine what such a court and such a situation were like at the time of its founding.

After all, the lower limit had already been fully exposed.

Based on this lower limit, even if the upper limit were high, I fear it wouldn't be that high, right?

The Blue Star netizens in the livestream thought.

However, some Blue Star netizens who had read the forums were now discussing it excitedly; judging by the content of the discussion, Zhao Kuangyin was an extremely formidable existence.

And he was also the "greatest under heaven."

This piqued the interest of the Blue Star netizens in the livestream.

After all, there are many kinds of "greatest under heaven."

But looking at the danmu in the livestream, this "Zhao Kuangyin" seemed to be the greatest under heaven in terms of martial prowess?

Emperor? Greatest under heaven?

How could these two be connected?

While thinking this.

Fang Ming was also intrigued and found the viewing version titled 【Song Taizu】 in the 【Viewing Library】: "Brothers, it's starting."

"Let's take a look at the plot of this Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin."

"We really know very little about him."

"He has always been a background character, yet he actually has a title like 'greatest under heaven'."

(Line 296-56 is empty.)

"Let's watch first and see."

Saying this.

Fang Ming had already clicked on the viewing version of 【Song Taizu】.

The screen slowly lit up.

A courtyard with many weapon racks appeared on the screen.

A boy who looked seven or eight years old was currently standing in a horse stance in the courtyard; sweat was already streaming down his head, and his legs were trembling uncontrollably, but the tall, burly man beside him was watching.

The boy subconsciously straightened his body.

This boy was none other than Zhao Kuangyin.

And looking at the furnishings in the courtyard, as well as the attire of the tall, burly man.

The Blue Star netizens in the livestream also understood.

This could be considered a "tiger son of a military family," right?

And the 【Viewing Version】 also used a narrator to slowly introduce Zhao Kuangyin's background.

Zhao Kuangyin was born into a military family; his father, Zhao Hongyin, was a general of the Imperial Guard. From a young age, Zhao Kuangyin displayed extraordinary talent, practicing martial arts and archery, with arm strength surpassing others.

On screen.

As it continued to flow.

The 15-year-old Zhao Kuangyin was now standing shirtless in the middle of the snow.

He held a three-stone heavy bow in his hand, his gaze slightly narrowed as he stared at a pine branch in the distance.

Suddenly.

The sound of an arrow slicing through the air rang out; the snow on the pine branch a hundred meters away exploded, and a bird was pierced before it could even react, falling under the pine tree.

Seeing this scene, the Blue Star netizens in the livestream were also stunned.

【Holy crap? Is his eyesight a bit too good?】

【Is he really 15?】

【A three-stone heavy bow is (360 jin), right? Can a 15-year-old pull that?】

【What's that? Look at Xiang Yu, he could pull it at 12; that's even more outrageous.】

【That's the Overlord of Western Chu, can they be compared?】

【This one is also pretty badass, right? Didn't he reach the level of greatest under heaven later?】

【Including the Little Overlord?】

【Regardless, this talent is absolutely flawless.】

No one in the livestream had any objections.

After all, if he's this badass at 15, one can imagine what he will grow into later.

In any case, he could definitely take on ten of them.

The screen continued to flow.

Zhao Kuangyin was now an adult and chose to travel alone, which made the Blue Star netizens in the livestream sigh at Zhao Kuangyin's boldness born of high skill.

You have to know.

This was the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, where warlords, powerful clans, and bandits were everywhere.

An era that made Blue Star players feel uncomfortable just reading the records and some of the plots; it wasn't just talk that there were bones scattered everywhere on the roadside.

On screen.

Zhao Kuangyin's journey was naturally not smooth sailing.

He encountered bandits and was hunted down.

But Zhao Kuangyin had grown up in a military family since he was a child, especially with his father being a commander of the Imperial Guard; just by standing there, he was a head taller than those malnourished bandits opposite him.

Not to mention that burly physique; often, it was Zhao Kuangyin chasing and killing a dozen or so bandits.

Unless the other side had bows and arrows or the like, Zhao Kuangyin would temporarily avoid the sharp edge.

Just like this.

Zhao Kuangyin traveled and fought all the way until he reached Luo Yang.

Subsequently.

Zhao Kuangyin chose to join the army.

He joined under the command of Guo Wei, the Privy Councilor of the Later Han.

During the new recruit selection, he defeated ten people in a row by himself, becoming famous.

The screen flowed through Zhao Kuangyin's military life.

Although he was a new recruit.

He was at the forefront of every battle, not only getting promoted but also gaining a great deal of prestige.

Many soldiers wanted to join under Zhao Kuangyin's command.

Because with such a leader, even if they only had soup, they would be full.

Soon.

The time came to 951.

At this time.

On screen.

Late at night.

Under the city gate of Chanzhou.

Zhao Kuangyin led several death-defying soldiers, sneaking to the foot of the city wall; seeing the guards not far away, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly burst into action, charging in front of the guards in an instant.

With one slash, he directly severed the neck of that guard soldier.

Before the guards could react.

Zhao Kuangyin brandished his saber, killing three people in an instant, even shattering the iron armor on the soldiers; this scene was terrifying.

And the death-defying soldiers behind Zhao Kuangyin also rushed over, controlling the iron chains at the city gate, and the hidden army outside the city rushed in quickly.

Zhao Kuangyin on the screen did not stop.

He hacked at the guards with his saber, and seemingly feeling the saber wasn't satisfying enough, Zhao Kuangyin snatched a long spear, piercing the chest of a guard soldier with a casual strike.

With a push of his foot.

The long spear carried that soldier into the city, and the sounds of slaughter continued throughout the night.

Until dawn.

The screen returned to Zhao Kuangyin; at this time, Zhao Kuangyin was covered in blood, having severed the enemy's flag, and his direct superior, Guo Wei, was also enthroned amidst the support of the crowd, establishing the Later Zhou.

Only the gaze of the Blue Star netizens in the livestream was not on Guo Wei, who was enthroned to establish the Later Zhou.

But on Zhao Kuangyin, whose battle robe was stained with blood.

Fierce.

Simply too fierce.

From the moment Zhao Kuangyin led the death-defying soldiers to sneak over and then burst out to shatter three soldiers with three slashes, the Blue Star netizens in the livestream were dumbfounded.

They knew Zhao Kuangyin's martial arts were high, but they didn't expect them to be this high.

Shattering three people with three slashes.

That's right.

It was literally shattering; the first soldier he encountered was beheaded with one slash.

The subsequent two slashes were even more slanted downward.

Directly shattering the iron armor on the soldiers; one can imagine the state of the flesh beneath the iron armor.

This was also Zhao Kuangyin's first full-force outburst.

After a night of bloody battle, he was only slightly out of breath.

And the battle robe and armor on his entire body were already dyed red by the blood of the enemy soldiers.

This was a whole night of killing.

The Blue Star netizens now understood a bit; was this "refreshing" life of Zhao Kuangyin purely because he was too fierce?

That's why it looked like a refreshing story.

With this kind of martial prowess.

Throwing him into any dynasty would result in a "refreshing" life.

Regardless of why the 【Song Dynasty】 was so weak, this 【Founding Taizu】 Zhao Kuangyin was truly fierce.

A casual slash, and the iron armor was shattered like that...

Even in history, he ranks among the best.

On screen.

With Guo Wei's enthronement, Zhao Kuangyin, who had made great contributions, was promoted to Commander.

It's just that he left the center of power.

Four years later.

Guo Wei, who established the Later Zhou, passed away, and his biological son had been killed along with the entire family by the Later Han emperor years ago due to suspicion, so the throne of the Later Zhou fell to his adopted son, Chai Rong.

After Chai Rong ascended the throne, Zhao Kuangyin was again heavily reused, entering the core of the Imperial Guard.

It was also this year.

Northern Han allied with the Khitan to launch a massive attack on the Later Zhou.

The screen shifted.

The characters 【Battle of Gaoping】 slowly emerged.

The perspective appeared above the battlefield.

The characters representing the Later Zhou and Northern Han floated above both sides.

Only at this time, the situation on the Later Zhou side was not optimistic.

The Northern Han cavalry had already crushed the Later Zhou's right flank defense; the perspective flowed above the battlefield, and the Blue Star netizens in the livestream even saw Chai Rong personally commanding at the front line, but he still couldn't stop the momentum of the rout. ===== CHAPTER 297 =====