Chapter 484: REFORGING THE SUPREME MASTERY BATTLE!

Ten thousand troops ahead, one man blocks the path.

Looking at the Qin Wang before him, even Mu Zhahe, who had just been tricked, could not help but admire inwardly: such aura, such boldness—no wonder the Qin Wang had earned such a mighty reputation in the Central Plains.

The Turkic Grand Khan laughed heartily: "Bold! Great spirit!"

"But we have no intention of chasing after your Fire Qilin."

"An eight-layer Heaven Fire Qilin—you abandoned such a mount. Surely, that peculiar Gu worm is in its possession, isn't it? I am truly curious: what is so important about this Gu worm that you would stay behind alone just to send it away?"

"But I know no matter how much I ask, you won't answer."

The Turkic Grand Khan raised his long weapon, pointing it remotely at Li Guanyi.

In the void, faint howls of wolves echoed—the war spirits converged, radiating extreme threat. The Turkic Grand Khan roared with laughter: "Qin Wang, what business do you have invading my territory?!"

Li Guanyi gripped the Tiger Roars to Heaven Battle Spear, gazing at the Grand Khan's righteous face, and said:

"Let's skip the accusations."

"Are you one of those rigid Confucian scholars from the Central Plains? Or do you think if I hadn't come here to provoke you, we wouldn't fight? Just nonsense."

"Let me be straightforward."

The Grand Khan froze, then burst into loud laughter: "Hahahaha! Refreshing!"

"Refreshing!"

"I heard you were the last disciple of the great Central Plains Confucian Wang Tong. I thought you'd be just as rigid and outdated—but you're just as direct and bold as my steppe sons."

"Actually, we don't have to fight."

The Grand Khan looked at the Qin Wang before him, his eyes filled with approval, and lowered his Tie Futu spear, saying:

"Become my son."

Li Guanyi's thoughts froze.

Huh???

The Grand Khan merely sat atop his divine steed, nodding:

"If you agree, all my younger daughters can marry you. Abandon your Central Plains name and surname, and from now on join the Golden Bloodline lineage. All the bravest sons of the steppe can serve under you."

The Tie Futu heavy cavalry began slowly gathering behind the Grand Khan, gradually forming a vast cloak-like aura—his aura as a supreme ruler was already coalescing, surging forth.

Li Guanyi scanned the scene, absorbing the terrain and positions into his gaze, then smiled: "Abandon my surname and name?"

"Join your family?"

His smile grew gentler, his eyes curving like Murong Qiushui's: "You're a man of the steppe, yet you sound just like those locksmiths who wander through Jiangnan's alleys, fixing locks and keys."

The Grand Khan chuckled: "Oh? Do I have the grace of Jiangnan?"

Li Guanyi replied with a smile: "Yes. Absolutely. More than enough."

"Especially just now—your words made you sound exactly like a Jiangnan locksmith. I almost wanted to tell you our usual saying."

Li Guanyi smiled: "Are you qualified?"

"How many keys do you even know how to make?"

The Grand Khan asked: "What do you mean?"

The Grand Khan's smile froze.

He finally understood.

Even such a supreme ruler's wrinkled face flushed faintly red, then rapidly turned crimson within a few breaths.

The Qin Wang roared with laughter. The Grand Khan's mighty face now bore a tinge of furious red as he sneered: "Enough. There's an old Central Plains saying: if you won't drink the respectful wine, you'll drink the punishment."

He raised his weapon, and a surging aura of murderous energy erupted.

It locked onto Li Guanyi.

"Then let's fight first."

"Break his limbs, pierce his meridians, thread his collarbones through a pole, bind him to my banner, and leave him exposed to the sun for three days and three nights. As long as he can still sire offspring, whether the Qin Wang survives or not doesn't matter."

The Tie Futu's murderous aura surged violently, instantly becoming a terrifying flame that shot skyward. Li Guanyi's gaze remained calm as he raised a finger and pressed it against several major meridians on his body.

Array patterns appeared, swirling in the void, then shattered slowly when expanded to their maximum.

The martial legend aura of the Yu Langwang, suppressed by the Fishhook Guest's array, rose.

The martial legend aura of the Nine Tripods of Jiuzhou surged.

Two distinct yet equally legendary martial auras entwined, pushing Li Guanyi's own realm to its peak—dragon roars and tiger howls echoed endlessly around him.

The Grand Khan's expression hardened slightly. This state of the Qin Wang resembled his condition half a year ago when they fought—this man, a top commander, had indeed unleashed his full power instantly under such overwhelming odds.

"Let me end your legend, Qin Wang!"

As the Tie Futu army charged, their murderous aura blasted skyward.

The Grand Khan knew how formidable a Divine General could be.

The Turkic Grand Khan, the Second Divine General as auxiliary, and simultaneously the Seventh Divine General as support, formed a spearhead formation and surged toward Li Guanyi. Li Guanyi exhaled, stepped into the air, and charged forward.

Directly attacking the Turkic Grand Khan!

The gap between them was immense. The Grand Khan laughed: "Come on!"

He spun his divine weapon and slammed it down hard toward Li Guanyi.

Li Guanyi gripped the Tiger Roars to Heaven Battle Spear with both hands and blocked fiercely.

His own martial legend aura erupted—but he could not match the Grand Khan.

In an instant, Li Guanyi's blood churned violently; blood trickled from his lips. Just as the Grand Khan's taut spirit relaxed for a split second, he noticed Li Guanyi's eyes remained calm, unruffled.

He didn't know why, but in that instant, he sensed something was wrong.

Damn it!!!

As he prepared to crush the Qin Wang underfoot, a scorching aura suddenly appeared.

It was the embodiment of iron and fire.

As if it were the ultimate manifestation of a martial general's killing aura.

A crimson flame of qi surged upward, then in an instant collapsed inward.

In a daze, it seemed as if behind the Qin Wang, within that blazing aura, a towering, powerfully built man had taken form — head raised, roaring, letting out a long howl.

Beyond the Wolf King's aura and the legend of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, a third aura — unconnected to either yet no less domineering and murderous — erupted skyward, as Li Guanyi's own internal qi circulated and transformed into a black-red flame.

The aura of a Hegemon!

Li Guanyi's own speed and strength surged violently.

The Great Khan's pupils contracted sharply.

Another breakthrough in just half a year?!

The Tiger Howling Heaven-Halberd spun in his hands; the Great Khan pulled his weapon back, instinctively shifting to defense — yet Li Guanyi abandoned the Great Khan.

Instead he charged toward one flank of the Tie Futu army ahead, his weapon swung without hesitation, the Hegemon's aura and the other two martial legends' auras intertwining into a state of mingled dark gold and crimson.

He brought it down upon a Third-Layer Tie Futu heavy-armored cavalry Captain.

Boom!!!

The shockwave blasted skyward.

The surrounding Tie Futu heavy-armored cavalry instantly formed up, but after their instinctive reaction, they raised their heads — and in their pupils was reflected a figure wreathed in the roaring of the Crimson Dragon and Bai Hu, gripping a divine weapon in both hands, three invincible auras of the present age entwined upon it.

For an instant, it was magnificent — and yet utterly despairing.

In the very next instant after this move, the Great Khan realized what Li Guanyi intended to do.

It was the only choice a martial legend above Grandmaster faced when confronting an army.

This kid never intended to fight to the death at all?!

Qin Wang!

Where is your dignity?!

The world's peak martial man, fallen into an army, faces only the road to death — but the Whale-Catcher had once said that someone of this level, if they wished to leave, could not be completely held back either.

The Great Khan roared furiously: "Don't run!!!"

The killing aura of a martial general was drawn into his weapon; the army's soul detonated, transforming into a grey wolf's howl as he brought it down upon Li Guanyi.

The Second Divine General, three thousand killing auras.

The Hegemon's legend, two great legends.

An absolutely top-tier clash upon a martial general's battlefield.

And Li Guanyi did not even look back.

Though he bore the Hegemon's aura, he had grown up scrambling through the streets and alleys since childhood — he had none of a Hegemon's temperament. Murong Qiushui had tugged his ears since he was small, telling him not to foolishly charge straight ahead.

Li Guanyi's eyes fixed dead ahead on the Tie Futu; time seemed to slow. He could almost see, through the two eyes exposed in the Tie Futu's helm, a kind of terror and dread — and finally a despairing numbness.

He merely thrust out his spear on instinct.

The Great Khan was indeed formidable, bolstered by three thousand army souls.

The weapon crashed heavily into Li Guanyi's back.

What rang out, though, was the shrill cry of metal on metal.

Li Guanyi's robe parted, but beneath it on his back was armor of dark ink-black with dark-gold patterns —

The Jiuli divine weapon's metal!

The nine layers formed by this divine weapon's metal were all split open by that single blow.

But after all, it was the final lifework of the Jiuli Bingzhu from several thousand years ago.

Even with the blessing of three thousand troops led by a top-tier Divine General of this age, he failed to shatter the divine weapon.

Li Guanyi felt only his five viscera and six bowels churning.

He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, but borrowing the Great Khan's force, he lunged toward the Tie Futu ahead — a single collision sent the fully armored heavy cavalryman flying, and at the same time he mounted the Tie Futu's steed.

The Crimson Dragon Dharma Aspect appeared; the dragon's cry was low, and the warhorse — naturally fierce-tempered — instantly went rigid, then calmed.

Li Guanyi gripped the Tiger Howling Heaven-Halberd in one hand.

He gathered his force for an instant.

Dragon cry and tiger roar exploded violently at once.

More than ten heavy cavalrymen around him were shaken to death.

Li Guanyi had no interest whatsoever in lingering; riding this mount, he simply charged out wildly from the flank. Breath and circulation, brief exchanges, sudden as a rabbit's rise and a falcon's swoop — exploiting the Great Khan's ignorance of the Hegemon's aura and of the trait by which the Jiuli divine weapon's metal could transform into armor.

He seized a horse by sheer force and broke through from the flank.

Without the slightest hesitation, he left at once, pulling open the distance.

The Great Khan was nearly beside himself with fury, raging: "Qin Wang, how craven!!!"

"The Qin Wang famed across the land — is he a deserter?!"

"Pursue!!!"

The Great Khan led the Tie Futu in formation at full gallop; when in formation, these dragon steeds were extremely swift, closing the distance in an instant, and upon this grassland they seemed to receive some special blessing, akin to the Nine Tripod Cauldrons.

Their speed surged violently, then kept climbing.

Yet at the same time, Li Guanyi, seated upon his mount, actually turned about; the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow appeared directly in his hands, and in an instant he loosed — the arrow's shriek through the air was murderous, spinning and piercing through in a flash, murderous and surging, killing intent overwhelming.

Mu Zhahe bellowed: "Audacious!!!"

Mu Zhahe fired an arrow.

But the two men's cultivation was equal, and what Li Guanyi wielded was a divine weapon of sharpness.

The arrow of the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow pierced through Mu Zhahe's arrow in an instant.

A full-strength arrow from a Ninth-Layer Grandmaster bearing the aura of legend.

The Great Khan had been on guard against Li Guanyi and had not expected Mu Zhahe's arrow to fail.

This arrow was fierce and sharp, directly killing one Tie Futu among the great army. The warhorse neighed without cease. Li Guanyi sensed the Fire Qilin moving away, and in the instant that Tie Futu fell, drew back the bowstring and condensed a second arrow.

He kept firing arrows, all aimed at the formation's nodes, to break the opposing momentum and accelerate.

If the Great Khan did not intercept and forced an acceleration, the Tie Futu would be picked off; once the army's momentum nodes were destroyed, they could not catch up.

If he did intercept, the army's deployment would shift and change, and the speed would still drop, so they could not catch up.

Li Guanyi's lips were stained with blood, his breathing rapid, yet he wore a fierce grin.

It's done!

Damn it, who wants to fight you lot to the death.

Your daddy will go all out on you!

The cry of the Chixiao Sword rose in his ears.

Within the Hegemon's Mystical Realm, the Chixiao Sword, having devoured the aura within the Scarlet Emperor's Seal, had now advanced further than before; at the same time, the two Hegemon divine weapons, driven by the Hegemon's power, now displayed an even sharper edge.

With the Hegemon's power, he shot forth the Scarlet Emperor's qi fortune.

Self-created second technique—Shooting the Celestial Wolf.

He could faintly sense that the firing range reached a hundred zhang, with a coverage of three hundred zhang.

The clash of the two auras would be more powerful than when he had dealt with Yu Langwang before, but unfortunately, this technique had only one seemingly trivial problem.

Li Guanyi himself could not escape it either.

The distance was still not far enough.

Li Guanyi suppressed the manifestation of the Chixiao Sword, intending only to find an opportunity later to deliver one devastating strike to these people, while condensing arrows with internal qi and firing them without cease.

At his Current Realm, in single combat, he would be surrounded and killed by the great army.

But if he truly cast everything aside and broke out to leave, the great army would find it hard to hold him. As the Great Khan led the army forward, Li Guanyi would immediately loose arrows to halt the opposing momentum; the Great Khan, using his own Wu Gong, forcibly shattered every single arrow in midair.

Then another domineering strike came chopping down heavily toward Li Guanyi.

The Second Divine General, the gathered might of three thousand Tie Futu.

The Great Khan's face flushed red with rage.

Without the army formation's augmentation, Li Guanyi's own mount was already foaming at the mouth, nearly unable to sustain the high-speed charge. Li Guanyi's experience clashing with Hegemons kept surfacing in his mind—an arrow loosed, the Tiger Howling Heaven Battle Halberd sweeping horizontally.

Clash, collision—Li Guanyi spat fresh blood, his own aura surging violently.

He abandoned his mount, using his own lightness skill to pull away the distance.

The Immortal Undying Art's body circulated frantically, his weakened aura beginning to recover.

The body-art self-created by the Green Robed Immortal Guest was merely troublesome on Zhang Ziyong himself, but now, falling upon the extremely offensive Li Guanyi, it revealed the true ferocity of this ultimate art.

Li Guanyi stamped the ground, his eyes slightly lowered; the clear cry of the Blue Luan rang out, a fresh breeze swirling. Li Guanyi rode the gale forward at great speed, beginning to constantly move in wide arcs—a mode of movement this heavy cavalry was unskilled at.

When heavy cavalry formed ranks, their speed was extreme; once they gathered momentum, it was like a tidal bore in the south—surging like thunder, irresistible. Just as before, beneath such surging momentum, even Li Guanyi and the Fire Qilin would have their trail caught.

But they were extremely unskilled at turning.

It was only that Li Guanyi had been unwilling to stake his great-grandfather's life in a gamble.

The Cloud-Splitting Heaven-Shaking Bow in Li Guanyi's hands howled without cease, almost becoming a tiger's roar.

The bow weakened and diverted, and at the same time, he had no interest at all in clashing with the Great Khan.

The Great Khan roared in fury: "Qin Wang, what cowardice is this!!!"

"A true man, if he is defeated then he is defeated—do you only know how to flee?!!"

Within Li Guanyi's body, three domineering, blazing auras tangled together.

They had already begun to exert pressure on his own body, and once that pressure appeared, under the effect of the Green Robed Immortal Guest's Immortal Undying Art body, it rapidly recovered, faintly becoming a sliver stronger than before—constantly tangling, breaking down, reassembling, growing stronger.

Yet he burst into loud laughter on his own:

"What damn nonsense are you spouting!"

"I'm one person fighting against a whole bunch of you—wouldn't I definitely lose?"

"If you've got the guts, wait eighty years for me, until I'm as old as you are now. Then we'll fight it out again and see who wins and who loses!"

The Great Khan choked on his words.

Li Guanyi, holding the divine weapon war-bow, sensed the Fire Qilin moving far away, and merely said: "I am the great-grandson of Master Jiankuang Elder Murong, a disciple of Ancestral Master Zuwen, a disciple of Master Wang Tong, a student of the Academy, and a wandering knight-errant of the jianghu—Li Yaoshi."

"Great Khan, let's do things the jianghu way!"

…………………

The Fire Qilin flew outward at its fastest speed. It only hoped to see the Scarlet Dragon as soon as possible. It did not know how far it had run, and a long time had passed, before it finally heard the sound of a dragon's cry.

The Primordial Scarlet Dragon discovered the Fire Qilin and descended: "Hm? Why is it only you?"

"Where is that boy?!"

The Fire Qilin recounted the earlier situation. The Primordial Scarlet Dragon frowned and merely said: "Humans really are troublesome. If the great army didn't need to eat or drink, or need logistics, I'd just lead the army straight in."

"And they go on about how mobilizing the army affects the people's livelihood, how the situation of the world is changing—you stay here, let me have a look."

The Fire Qilin was stunned.

The Primordial Scarlet Dragon, drawing on the wisdom of the older generation, said with composure: "Are you two fools? That old fellow Elder Murong can't die right now. You stay here watching this thing, I'll go fight first, and when I come back I'll take you to find Elder Murong—wouldn't that work out perfectly?"

"You two don't understand fighting at all!"

"Such a good opportunity—the thing can be delivered later."

The Primordial Scarlet Dragon was not like Li Guanyi; the life and death of Elder Murong was not the top priority for it. It let out a long cry soaring to the heavens, glanced from afar, and had originally been eager to fight, but then paused.

The Primordial Scarlet Dragon watched Li Guanyi leading the great army in circles, its pupils narrowing slightly as it sensed a familiar feeling.

"…………Eight hundred years ago, the Hegemon."

"This kind of change."

The Primordial Scarlet Dragon could sense that within Li Guanyi, Yu Langwang's baleful aura, his own legendary path, and the Hegemon's aura—under the immense pressure exerted by the Great Khan—had begun to be forged and fused together.

And this forging process, augmented by the Immortal Undying Body, proceeded at high speed.

Mobilizing three streams of Qi simultaneously for combat — this was something Li Guanyi would not have done lightly in the past. Under normal circumstances, Li Guanyi, leading his great army, would never have been pushed to such an extent.

The Ancient Crimson Dragon opened its eyes and saw Li Guanyi.

But when it closed its eyes, the Ancient Crimson Dragon seemed to see a person from eight hundred years ago.

Yet, within its perception, that very hegemon was, in the manner of a man of the jianghu, leading his great army in a wild sprint, then turning back to shoot down enemies with the divine bow of the Bai Hu Da Zong, preventing the enemy's speed from increasing and disrupting the accumulation of military momentum.

After breaking the enemy's military momentum buildup, he once again rapidly circled around.

Moreover, the direction Li Guanyi circled toward was…

Hmm???

The grassland Turks' own settlements?

Hiss, this kid…

Who raised him?

A hegemon with no character weakness and inexhaustible vitality?

The Ancient Crimson Dragon's slit-pupil gaze fixed on Li Guanyi. Its own brain and eyes began to reconcile like balancing accounts, and finally the flames of battle actually subsided, and it descended once more. The Fire Qilin anxiously said: "Why have you come down again?"

The Ancient Crimson Dragon remarked: "This kid is slippery."

"He blocked the enemy but didn't fight to the death, only buying you time. Such a long stretch, and he still hasn't gotten hurt."

"He has plenty of experience fleeing. That Tian Kehan miscalculated on three points — misjudged this kid's archery, underestimated this kid's bottom line, and underestimated Li Guanyi's current strength."

The Ancient Crimson Dragon smacked its lips. With its vast experience, it recalled that hegemon — at the same age, he was exactly like this. Thinking of how troublesome a nineteen-year-old hegemon was, the Crimson Dragon gave its assessment: "Three thousand Tie Futu — brought too few."

"Ten thousand. Ten thousand would be about right."

"If it were ten thousand elite Tie Futu, Li Guanyi wouldn't be able to circle around like this."

"After this battle, if that Great Khan doesn't die, he'll carry the regret for the rest of his life."

Seeing that the Ancient Crimson Dragon was only discussing fighting, the Fire Qilin grew anxious and also irritated. It raised its front paw and slammed the ground heavily: "If you won't go—"

"Then take this casket back. I'll go find Guanyi!"

The Ancient Crimson Dragon laughed heartily: "Fine, hahaha. If you go, that kid will enjoy circling around even more."

The Fire Qilin said: "Don't you care about fighting?"

The Ancient Crimson Dragon suddenly let out a proud, long laugh, and said unhurriedly: "You're still young — you don't understand my kind of transcendent wisdom accumulated over several thousand years."

"Between a satisfying fight right now, and being able to enjoy countless satisfying fights for a long time to come, I can still tell the difference. Besides, this old one suddenly thought of a brilliant method."

"What?"

"A brilliant method to make that old thing use this Gu!"

…………………

Elder Murong quietly wrote his scrolls. He was recording all of his swordsmanship experience, along with his reflections and considerations on the martial Dao, intending to leave them for Li Guanyi and the others.

At the same time, the aged Master Jiankuang had already finished writing his will.

Fifteen days remained.

His vitality was about to snap completely. He would, after all, never again see snowflakes falling over Jiangnan, never see the spring of the coming year. But regarding this, Elder Murong took it very lightly, very calmly.

Even his will was simply left on the desk. His sword had already been sealed.

The aged Master Jiankuang had only one final sword left. Gazing at the Jiangnan wind and rain outside, the willow branches sprouting, his heart was peaceful and calm. But just at such a moment, the sound of a dragon's cry suddenly rang out. Elder Murong paced out and said with a smile:

"Ancient Crimson Dragon, you've come early this year."

"Here for a game of chess?"

The Ancient Crimson Dragon lowered its head, its massive dragon head descending from the clouds into Elder Murong's courtyard. Beside it was the pale-faced heir of the Wu Gu lineage. The Ancient Crimson Dragon said: "I have brought something for you…"

It opened its mouth, and a stream of primordial Qi sent the wooden casket out before Elder Murong.

Elder Murong examined it for a moment and said: "This is… a Life-Extending Gu?"

The Ancient Crimson Dragon said: "Yes."

Elder Murong reached out his palm, stroking the casket. Thinking of his great-grandson toiling for this thing, his expression softened considerably. He said: "Guanyi found this… well, let me think." The Ancient Crimson Dragon knew that Elder Murong did not care much about whether to extend his life.

Elder Murong said gently: "Where is Guanyi right now?"

The Ancient Crimson Dragon said slowly: "For the sake of this thing, he has been trapped by the Great Khan of the Turks."

The Ancient Crimson Dragon paused: "The Great Khan has deployed thirty thousand Tie Futu!"

"Even I could possibly be surrounded and killed!"

"Right now, both Li Guanyi and the Fire Qilin have been left behind on the grasslands."

"They want me to bring this thing back."

The Master Jiankuang's warm expression froze, bit by bit.

The Ancient Crimson Dragon, through marvelous means, replayed the scene the Fire Qilin had described — including Li Guanyi's rearguard action. The Master Jiankuang, Elder Murong, watched this scene in silence, then looked at the disciple of the Wu Gu lineage beside him and said:

"Explain this Life-Extending Gu once more."

Miao Ziling was stunned, instinctively recited it once, then said: "This is an untransmitted method of our lineage. It's very difficult to cultivate."

After listening, Elder Murong said:

"Within your lineage, has any martial Dao legend ever cultivated this method?"

Miao Ziling said: "Ah? No."

She was about to say more, but saw the Gu worm in Elder Murong's hand emit a faint flowing light, which then slowly drew inward. Her expression froze.

Elder Murong said calmly: "Cultivated."

Martial Dao legend.

Fifteen days of dissipating vitality.

In an instant, it was halted.

The Master Jiankuang's sword.

To be continued.

Elder Murong looked toward the Ancient Crimson Dragon over there, casually picked up a wooden sword lying beside him, and said concisely:

"Lead the way."

?? Begging for monthly tickets, friends~