Chapter 84 - 77: Martial Dao Tournament

The Jianghu is too boring, so I will reshape the world’s Order...

What a grand vision.

What audacity.

Perhaps only a heaven-sent prodigy like Li Chang’an, who reached the Grandmaster Realm at age three, could say something so audacious and still be somewhat convincing.

Anyone else who uttered those words would have been laughed out of the room.

Though he knew Li Chang’an’s ambitions were immense, after hearing his reply, the old man couldn’t help but smile wryly and sigh. "Ai, I’m really getting old. I can’t keep up with the way you young people think. If you’re confident... then go for it. If there’s any way this old man can be of use, just let me know!"

The Dayan Dynasty seemed peaceful on the surface, but in reality, a dark undercurrent had long been churning.

Doing nothing might maintain stability for a while, but it would inevitably lead to a slow, chronic decline.

Therefore, rather than suffering the miserable fate of a slow death, it was better to stake it all on one bold move... while this group of old men could still act!

Saying this, he finally made up his mind.

With a pained look on his face, he took a token from his waist and handed it to Li Chang’an, though he couldn’t help but add with a nagging tone, "This is the token to mobilize the Shadow Guard. The Shadow Guard not only excels at gathering intelligence, but also at assassination, sabotage, and extracting confessions through torture..."

"Every single member of the Shadow Guard is a top-tier expert that the Imperial Family has poured its blood, sweat, and gold into cultivating. Losing even one would be a monumental loss, so you absolutely must use them with care!"

The Shadow Guard was the Dayan Imperial Family’s most elite secret organization.

To even pass the rigorous screening to join, a regular member had to be a Second-class Martial Artist. The Guard’s Centurions were First-class Martial Artists, and its senior Centurions had all reached the Innate Realm.

Above the senior Centurions, there were six commanders who reported directly to the old man himself. Each of these six was an expert at the Peak of the Innate Realm.

Ordinarily, when Jianghu People broke taboos, the Dayan Imperial Court would handle them via the Jinyi Guard. The Shadow Guard was only deployed for particularly tough cases.

It was no exaggeration to say that the Shadow Guard was one of the core forces the Imperial Family used to rule the realm, and it was the strongest conventional force the entire Dayan Imperial Family could field.

Now that Li Chang’an had taken over the Shadow Guard, the old man couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy, even though he had already made his decision.

After all, over the years, he had repeatedly witnessed Li Chang’an’s talent for causing trouble.

When children from ordinary families caused trouble, they might break a few things or waste some silver taels at most. But Li Chang’an was different. He tended to be quiet for long stretches, only to do something earth-shattering when he finally acted.

It was enough to scare a person to death.

But they were completely helpless against Li Chang’an.

After all, you couldn’t just say Li Chang’an was fooling around; he never was. He was just a bit audacious at times, which, strictly speaking, couldn’t even be considered a flaw.

It just made things difficult for this group of old men. They were all getting on in years, yet they often had to wonder if they should take something to lower their blood pressure.

...

From the old man’s perspective, handing this token over to Li Chang’an was the very definition of going all in.

Li Chang’an was still just a Prince and could not represent the official stance of the Dayan Dynasty.

But if he controlled the Shadow Guard, then his stance and that of the Dayan Dynasty would be completely bound together.

If Li Chang’an’s plan failed and the resulting chaos couldn’t be contained, the Dayan Dynasty would have to bear the consequences as well.

And those consequences... could very well mean... becoming an enemy to the entire world. Dayan’s thousand-year foundation could be destroyed in a single stroke!

Seeing his "all-in" expression, Li Chang’an couldn’t help but smile and tease, "Old man, you don’t seem to have much confidence in me, do you?"

The old man waved his hand dismissively. "Enough of your glib talk. I have literally bet everything on you. You’d better tread carefully. Don’t you dare make me a traitor to Dayan!"

Li Chang’an said nothing, only nodding silently.

Looking somewhat disheartened, the old man turned and left.

...

After Empress Li died, Emperor Yan quickly named Ye Xuan the new Empress. And in one fell swoop, Li Chang’an was appointed Crown Prince Dayan.

When this news broke, the entire world was in an uproar.

Countless people in the Jianghu discussed it endlessly, believing the Dayan Imperial Court must have lost its mind.

The Four Major Sects were still eyeing Dayan with avarice. The Imperial Court had finally managed to secure the Li Family as an ally, and not only did they fail to cherish that relationship, they’d gone and offended them to the point of no return?

Were they trying to make the Jianghu even more chaotic?

Weren’t they afraid the Li Family would break ties completely and choose to side with the Four Major Sects?

The discussions among the Jianghu people didn’t last long.

After half a month of silence, the Li Family indeed made its move.

Patriarch Li Sheng of the Li Family made a high-profile announcement: in six months, they would hold an unprecedented martial arts gathering with Western Buddhism, one of the Four Great Upper Sects. He extended an open invitation to Martial Artists from every major sect in the world to attend in Xihu Province.

The meaning behind this was obvious enough for a three-year-old to understand—the Li Family was clearly preparing to abandon the Dayan Imperial Family and align itself with Western Buddhism!

Moreover, the Li Family even leveraged its network as a First-class Major Sect in the Central Plains Martial World, inviting numerous allied Jianghu factions to join the Buddhist Sect’s side as well.

One could only imagine how grievously the Dayan Imperial Family had offended the Li Family this time.

Without a doubt, this news was another considerable blow to Dayan.

It was one thing for a former ally to become a current enemy, but it was another for them to act as a bridge for that enemy, turning even more neutral parties against the throne.

As one side waned and the other waxed, the losses were incalculable.

However, to the surprise of all Jianghu Martial Artists, the Dayan Imperial Family remained unusually silent on the matter. It was unknown whether they truly didn’t care or if they were plotting some major move behind the scenes...

But regardless, it was clear the Jianghu was about to descend into chaos!

As countless eyes eagerly awaited the upcoming Martial Dao gathering and discussed it with great fervor, nearly half a year flew by.

During this time, Li Chang’an’s days were quite carefree.

He didn’t remain in the Library Pavilion, but instead returned to West Mansion Hall where Ye Xuan lived. Every day, aside from accompanying Ye Xuan on leisurely outings, he spent the rest of his time locked in his room, consolidating his cultivation and realm.

He had now reached the peak of the late-stage Grandmaster Realm.

He was only one step away from becoming a Great Grandmaster.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t break through directly, but that advancing to Great Grandmaster required absorbing a Heaven and Earth Divine Object to forge one’s Dao Foundation. The rarer the Heaven and Earth Divine Object used, and the higher its affinity with the world, the greater the benefits after the breakthrough.

To give a simple example.

The Buddhist Sect’s Bodhi Fruit was known in the Jianghu as the only peerless holy relic capable of fundamentally altering a Martial Artist’s Acquired talent.

After an ordinary Martial Artist consumed a Bodhi Fruit from the Bodhi Divine Tree, it could cleanse their heart of ignorance, greed, and hatred, leaving their mind perfectly clear. From that point on, their cultivation speed would skyrocket. It could even allow a Martial Artist, whose natural talent would have otherwise capped them at the early-stage Grandmaster Realm, to forcibly cultivate to the late-stage Grandmaster Realm.

If one’s own talent was sufficient and they had already cultivated to the late-stage Grandmaster Realm, then consuming a Bodhi Fruit would allow them to directly forge the Dao Foundation of a Great Grandmaster.

The effects were even more incredible; the Power of Heaven and Earth they could command would be more than a cut above that of a Great Grandmaster who had forged their Dao Foundation without a Bodhi Fruit!

This demonstrated the miraculous nature of Heaven and Earth Divine Objects.

The Inner Treasury of the Dayan Imperial Palace contained many Heaven and Earth Divine Objects for forging a Dao Foundation, but they were a notch inferior to the Divine Objects of the Four Top Sects.

This was one of the core reasons why the Four Top-tier Upper Sects had thrived for millennia without decay, while the Dayan Imperial Family, rulers of the realm, was the one beginning to falter.

’Of course, I can’t allow any imperfections in my breakthrough. So I won’t just use the best Heaven and Earth Divine Object—I’ll use the Divine Objects from all Four Great Sects!’

...

On this day, Li Chang’an was in meditative cultivation.

A commander of the Shadow Guard appeared silently, knelt on one knee, and said, "Your Highness, we have thoroughly investigated the matter you assigned us!"

Hearing this, Li Chang’an opened his eyes, a sharp glint in their depths. His tone was chilling. "You have? Bring it here for me to see!"

The commander respectfully handed a letter densely covered in tiny characters to Li Chang’an, but his voice was hesitant. "But with just this evidence, are we really going to make an enemy of one of the Four Great Upper Sects...?"

Li Chang’an took the letter and glanced over it, the coldness in his eyes deepening. He stood up. "This world doesn’t belong to you or me. It doesn’t belong to any single sect or faction. This world belongs to its people!"

His words were somewhat abstruse, and the commander did not understand.

Perhaps few in the entire Jianghu could have understood.

But Li Chang’an knew what he meant, and that was all that mattered.

He rose to his feet, shrugged off his outer robe, and declared, "Bring this Prince a Python Robe. Isn’t the Jianghu holding a martial arts conference recently? This Prince might as well go join the fun!"

Upon hearing that he actually intended to attend the martial arts conference, the Shadow Guard commander was terrified and hurriedly protested, "Your Highness, this martial arts conference is being held by the Li Family in conjunction with the Buddhist Sect! How can your precious self walk into such danger?"

The conflict between the Li Family and Li Chang’an was already irreconcilable.

Under these circumstances, for Li Chang’an to attend the martial arts conference was no different from willingly walking into a death trap. Never mind that the Shadow Guard was unaware of Li Chang’an’s true strength—even if they knew, they wouldn’t dare agree!

If anything happened to Li Chang’an, the newly appointed Crown Prince, the commander wouldn’t just be "winning" the grand prize of having his entire clan executed; the whole of Dayan would likely be plunged into turmoil.

Li Chang’an shot him a cold glance and said flatly, "You will do as I say. Do not meddle in matters that do not concern you... As for the Old Man, I will explain everything to him before I depart."

With those words, Li Chang’an took the Python Robe brought by a Palace Maid and put it on.

He shook out the wide, Four-Clawed Golden Dragon Robe, his heart surging with emotion. ’This vast Jianghu,’ he thought, ’you’d better not disappoint me!’

...