Time flew by.

  Su Chen turned twenty-three. That year, his cultivation broke through to the ninth layer of the Spirit Sea Realm, and he began preparing to advance into the Spirit Soul Realm. That same year, the Heavenly Wind Kingdom's national fortune vanished. And in that year, chaos engulfed the world.

  For centuries, the Great Plain Li Clan had concealed their ambitions. Now their fangs were finally bared.

  "If the Feng Clan could rule this land, why can't the Li Clan do the same?"

  The clan elders burned with fervor. The Heavenly Wind Kingdom fractured into countless warring factions. One heroic figure after another rose from the turmoil.

  Under Su Chen's relentless pressure, Li Yuanfa threw himself into training even harder. He took command of his own legion and captured several cities. His military record was impressive.

  Yet compared to Su Chen, the gap was vast. In his previous life, Su Chen had nearly annihilated the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Now, leading his generals and powerhouses, he conquered an entire commandery in less than two months.

  Li Jiangqun sighed with emotion. "I have a true qilin child. The future of the Li Clan rests with him."

  Li Yuanfa's hatred toward Su Chen deepened. Even his own father had begun to favor Su Chen. It would not be long before he—the publicly acknowledged eldest young master of the Li faction—was replaced.

  Li Yuanfa refused to accept it.

  "If I had Li Chen's soldiers and his powerhouses at my side, I would surely outperform him!"

  He refused to concede. He wanted to prove himself superior.

  Unfortunately, he was no legendary general. Driven by impatience and greed for merit, he advanced recklessly and walked straight into an ambush. His forces suffered devastating losses.

  The Li faction was profoundly disappointed. In the end, Su Chen cleaned up the mess, earning even greater admiration from the clan.

  Inside the residence, Li Yuanfa knelt before Li Jiangqun's door.

  "Father, I am the heir. I am the true heir of the Li Clan! Please, give your son one more chance!"

  Inside the room, Li Jiangqun's heart ached.

  This was his most beloved child. The one on whom he had poured the greatest effort. If he had any choice, Li Jiangqun would have passed the position of clan head to Li Yuanfa rather than Su Chen.

  But this was a world of cultivation. Even as clan head, he could not act freely. The Li faction elders refused to let Li Yuanfa squander any more resources. They would not grant him even a single opportunity.

  Li Yuanfa left in despair. He understood his father's decision.

  "The position of Li Clan heir belongs to me, Li Yuanfa! And it can only belong to me!"

  He had descended into madness.

  …

  At Su Chen's victory banquet, powerful cultivators gathered, laughing and conversing freely.

  Wan Miao'er sat beside Su Chen, watching the scene unfold. In a few more years, the world might very well bear the surname Li.

  While everyone dreamed of the future, a message was delivered into Su Chen's hands. His expression changed abruptly.

  The banquet fell silent in an instant.

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  The Heavenly Wind King had allowed the Azure Wave Kingdom's army to march straight into the kingdom's heartland. Clearly, he intended to drag everyone down with him in mutual destruction. The Azure Wave forces were dangerously close to the Li faction's main stronghold.

  Su Chen had no choice but to return and halt their advance first. With Su Chen tied down, Li Yuanfa was released from confinement. Along with his younger brother, Third Young Master Li Wenxuan. They resumed the campaign against the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.

  Only the combined might of the Li faction and the Myriad Treasures Merchant Guild—the strongest military power and the wealthiest organization in the kingdom—made such a rapid conquest possible.

  Su Chen had clashed with the Azure Wave Kingdom more than once. He knew their bravado was all bark. Once they were truly hurt and frightened, they would flee faster than anyone.

  This war lasted two full years.

  At twenty-five, Su Chen broke through to the Spirit Soul Realm. A twenty-five-year-old Spirit Soul cultivator shocked the world!

  Leading his five-hundred-thousand-strong Dawn Army, he crushed millions of Azure Wave troops. No matter how many merits Li Yuanfa accumulated, he remained utterly overshadowed by Su Chen, suffocating beneath the weight of his younger brother's shadow.

  As long as Su Chen lived, Li Yuanfa would never see the light of day. Not long after Su Chen defeated the Azure Wave Kingdom, Li Yuanfa suffered another crushing defeat.

  "Useless fool!"

  Su Chen cursed inwardly.

  Li Yuanfa possessed real ability. Yet his entire army had been annihilated, every last one of his trusted subordinates killed or crippled. All because of his third brother, Li Wenxuan.

  Ever since childhood, Su Chen had known Li Wenxuan's mind was dull. He would one day become the kind of teammate who dragged everyone down into the pit.

  Now, just as expected, it had come to pass. Indulging in wine, women, and song; chasing glory with reckless greed; listening to slanderous tongues. He had thoroughly sabotaged Li Yuanfa.

  With no other choice, Su Chen stepped in once more to clean up the wreckage.

  One year later.

  Su Chen returned to the royal capital. A thousand emotions surged through him. The Heavenly Wind Kingdom, prosperous for a millennium, had finally been destroyed—through two lifetimes of his own efforts.

  The Heavenly Wind King stood at the half-step Profound Connection Realm. The Li Clan's Great Ancestor was also a half-step Profound Connection powerhouse.

  "Seeing the Li Clan flourish like this, I can die without regret."

  Before the battle lines, the Great Ancestor climbed out of his coffin and gave Su Chen a kindly smile. The Great Ancestor had lived five hundred years ago. His lifespan had long since run dry.

  Su Chen bowed deeply with utmost respect.

  "A thousand years ago, our Li Clan ancestor Li Shenhua joined forces with the Feng Clan genius Ancestor Feng Tianxing to establish the Heavenly Wind Kingdom."

  The Great Ancestor's voice carried across the ten thousand soldiers and echoed into the royal capital.

  From within the city walls came the Heavenly Wind King's reply: "If that is so, why does your Li Clan rebel against Us? Why betray the Feng Clan?"

  "This realm has lost faith in your Feng Clan. If We allow you to continue your reckless rule, the foundation laid by Ancestor Li Shenhua and Ancestor Wind will be ruined by your hands!

  "Therefore, this world now belongs to the Li Clan. Heavenly Wind King, if you open the gates and surrender, for the sake of the friendship between our ancestors, I swear in the name of the Li Clan to preserve a single thread of your Feng Clan bloodline!"

  The Great Ancestor attempted to persuade the king to yield.

  The Heavenly Wind King laughed coldly. "Old monster, you speak so nobly—yet the truth is plain. With Ancestor Wind long gone, your Li Clan has eyed Us covetously for a thousand years. Ancestor Wind, out of old sentiment, refused to exterminate your clan root and branch. That mercy has now become the greatest calamity for my Feng Clan! Today, even if it means death, I will drag you down with me! Even if my entire Feng Clan is exterminated, I will tear a bloody chunk from your Li Clan!"

  Hatred surged like a tidal wave in the Heavenly Wind King's heart. If not for the chaos of the Eight Marquises that slaughtered nearly all the Feng Clan's powerhouses, how could the Feng Clan have fallen into decline?

  If not for that rebellion, how could Ancestor Wind have been forced to reveal himself, exposing the last of the Feng Clan's hidden cards? If Ancestor Wind had not been so merciful—if he had not spared the Li Clan out of old ties—the Li Clan would have been wiped out long ago. How could such a disaster have befallen them today?

  Given another hundred years, he might have glimpsed the Profound Connection Realm. The Feng Clan might have endured another millennium!

  What the Heavenly Wind King did not know was that the true architect of all this calamity had returned in this life to besiege the capital once more.

  Standing in the distance, Su Chen watched the final, desperate struggles of this fallen monarch with calm detachment.

  The Heavenly Wind King roared to the heavens.

  "How can the sons of my Feng Clan ever become slaves of a fallen nation?"

  One after another, the surviving powerhouses of the Feng Clan who had endured the great chaos charged out from behind the protective barrier.

  "We vow to follow Your Majesty to the death!"

  The Heavenly Wind King laughed wildly. Together with the Li Clan's Great Ancestor, he rose into the sky.

  Su Chen raised his arm. His voice cut through the air like ice.

  "Kill them. Leave none alive!"