Starting as the young master of a medicine shop, he practiced swordsmanship for twenty years.

Chapter 368 The Legendary Land Immortal! I will settle everything!
Inside the palace, crimson flames soared into the sky.

With each step Peng Lie took, the gold bricks beneath his feet melted into scalding hot water.

The crimson energy swirling around him transformed into nine fire dragons, raging and wreaking havoc in the vast palace gardens.

The exquisitely carved white marble railings shattered under the high temperature, and the exotic flowers and plants in the Imperial Garden withered instantly.

"Run!"

"It's the Emperor's father-in-law!"

Upon witnessing this horrific scene, the imperial guards abandoned their armor and fled in all directions.

On the gilded corridor leading to the Golden Palace, a dozen guards who had no time to dodge were rolling on the ground.

Their armor was scorched red-hot, yet miraculously, their flesh remained unharmed.

"Humph!"

Peng Lie snorted coldly, and the fire dragon seemed to have a mind of its own, avoiding the soldiers who were lying on the ground groaning.

Although he was furious, he always adhered to the bottom line of not harming the innocent.

His only real target was the monster occupying the dragon throne inside the Golden Palace!

"Your Majesty! This old minister has come to seek your guidance!"

Peng Lie's roar was like thunder, causing the glazed tiles on the roof of the palace to fall in a rustling sound.

The next moment, he moved like lightning, and wherever he passed, nine fire dragons melted a crimson passage through the palace walls.

Some fearless imperial guards who tried to stop the attack were forced to retreat by the terrifying heatwave before they could even get close.

In the distance, Lu Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, silently watching Peng Lie display his divine power.

He deliberately lagged behind by half a step, wanting to let this old man, who had been holding back his anger for so long, vent his frustration.

"boom--!"

With a loud bang, the heavy vermilion gate of the Golden Palace, weighing a thousand pounds, shattered under Peng Lie's iron fist!

"How dare you, Peng Lie! You old scoundrel, are you trying to rebel?"

In an instant, a loud shout came from the sky, and Prince Shangwu's Marine Corps Division stepped into the air.

This old prince, who was the same age as Peng Lie, wore a dark gold python robe, his white hair was like a halberd, and his body was surrounded by golden dragon shadows that were as deep as the ocean.

He reached out and grabbed at the air, crushing one of Peng Lie's fire dragons!

"Shoot arrows at me!"

“Kill without mercy!!!”

At Prince Shangwu's command, thousands of archers suddenly appeared around the palace walls.

The arrows, gleaming with a chilling light, were all coated with a potent poison specifically designed to counter martial arts grandmasters: "Shattering Yuan Powder"!
"Marine Division!"

Peng Lie was furious, and nine fire dragons intertwined behind him to form a shield. He had no intention of giving Prince Shangwu any face.

"Are you senile? Can't you tell what's sitting on that dragon throne?!"

"presumptuous!"

Prince Shangwu, the Marine Corps Division commander, was furious, his white hair standing on end like sharp steel needles.

Within the golden vortex of energy that gathered between his palms, hundreds of ferocious golden dragon shadows appeared and disappeared, tearing and distorting the surrounding air.

"Peng Lie! You damned traitor, how dare you!"

King Shangwu's voice was like thunder, causing the nearby palace walls to collapse inch by inch.

He took a step forward, and the gold brick beneath his feet shattered with a deafening roar.

"First you trespassed into the forbidden area of ​​the palace, and then you dared to speak disrespectfully to His Majesty!"

"If we do not take your head today, our Marine Division will be unworthy of being members of the royal family!"

Peng Lie laughed loudly, his crimson flames surging three zhang around him: "Hahaha, you old scoundrel! Then let me see your strength."

"court death!"

Two martial arts grandmasters at their peak faced off across the distance, their violent energy causing the surrounding palace walls to crack.

At this critical moment——

"Uncle Wang."

A clear, cold voice suddenly rang out between the two.

Lu Xuan found himself standing in the center of the tense battlefield, his crimson dragon robe spotless.

With a mere wave of his hand, the thousands of poisoned arrows instantly turned to dust in mid-air!
"Are you sure..."

Golden light flashed in Lu Xuan's eyes, "You want to block my path?"

Upon hearing these five simple words, Prince Shangwu was struck dumb, staggering back three steps.

He stared in disbelief at Lu Xuan before him—was this still the gentle and refined crown prince he knew?

"Your Highness... Your Highness?"

The weapons in the hands of the imperial guards clattered to the ground, and everyone stared at Lu Xuan as if they had seen a ghost.

Those specially made arrows, which were said to be able to break through the Qi of a Grandmaster, were reduced to ashes with a casual wave of His Highness the Crown Prince!
This was completely beyond their understanding of martial arts!

"impossible.….."

A deputy commander of the Imperial Guard muttered to himself, "This...this is no longer martial arts..."

Prince Shangwu turned pale as he suddenly realized a terrible truth.

Peng Lie's crazy actions just now were not about taking the Crown Prince hostage... but rather...

"Uncle Wang is right."

Lu Xuan spoke as if he could read minds, his voice carrying a chilling calm: "All of this today is my doing."

"Your Highness! Do you know what you are doing?"

Prince Shangwu, the Marine Corps commander, had his hair and beard bristling, and his voice was hoarse and indistinct due to his extreme anger.

He raised a trembling finger and pointed towards the Golden Palace, his eyes filled with disbelief: "That's your father! The supreme ruler of the Wenjing Dynasty!"

King Shangwu staggered forward two steps, his dark gold python robe fluttering in the air.

On that wrinkled old face, anger and heartache intertwined: "This empire will be yours sooner or later, why... why did you do such a treasonous thing?"

He abruptly turned his head and glared at Peng Lie, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "It must be this old scoundrel who bewitched you!"

"The Peng family are wolves in sheep's clothing, and they have long coveted the imperial power of my Lu family!"

When he got emotional, Prince Shangwu burst into tears.

He knelt down on one knee with a thud, clasped his hands in a pleading manner, and said, "Your Highness! It's not too late to turn back! His Majesty is benevolent and will surely forgive you..."

These words, spoken with heartfelt sincerity, only made the golden light in Lu Xuan's eyes shine even brighter.

He stepped forward slowly, each step creating a golden ripple on the ground: "Uncle Wang..."

The voice was soft, yet it sent a shiver down Prince Shangwu's spine: "Do you really think that the person on that dragon throne... is still my father?"

King Shangwu's pupils contracted sharply, and his aged face was contorted with rage.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked under the strain.

He couldn't understand at all; King Shangwu really couldn't understand what the Crown Prince meant!
"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

King Shangwu's voice was terribly hoarse, as if it were squeezed out from the depths of his chest: "Your father is just old!"

"Your injuries are the result of your youthful battles and conquests; you're simply suffering the consequences now!"

As he spoke, tears welled up in his cloudy eyes.

His once powerful elder brother will always be the supreme figure in his heart: "Back then, outside the Northern Border Gate, he fought alone against the eighteen grandmasters of the Northern Wilderness!"

"When the five kingdoms of the Western Regions rebelled, he single-handedly terrified their chieftain!"

"These wounds... these wounds were all for the sake of Wenjing's empire!"

King Shangwu suddenly sprang up, his golden aura erupting like a volcano.

He glared at Lu Xuan, his eyes filled with heartache and disappointment: "And you... you, as a son, the crown prince of the Wenjing Dynasty, actually chose to listen to the slander of outsiders!" "Is it because you see your father is old that you can't wait to sit on that throne?"

The last sentence was almost shouted out, the sound so powerful that the surrounding imperial guards fell silent.

Prince Shangwu trembled all over, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

In his mind, the crown prince had now become a power-hungry rebel...

Lu Xuan said no more, but simply flicked his sleeve.

In an instant, the world changed color, and the wind and clouds reversed!

"Roar--"

A dazzling golden dragon shadow roared out from his sleeve, transforming into a mysterious golden chain in the void.

Wherever the golden chains passed, space itself distorted, emitting a squeezing sound as if it were about to collapse under the weight of the chains.

"This is.….."

King Shangwu's pupils shrank sharply, and the hairs on his body stood on end. He had never felt such terrifying pressure before.

The golden chains seemed to carry the will of the entire world, making it impossible for anyone to feel any desire to resist!
"Destroy this king!"

King Shangwu roared, his hair and beard standing on end.

He unleashed all his life's cultivation, and hundreds of golden dragon phantoms shot into the sky from his acupoints.

Each golden dragon phantom embodies the essence of his sixty years of arduous cultivation!
however--

"laugh.……"

With a gentle sway of the golden chains, the seemingly mighty golden dragon phantoms burst one after another like bubbles.

The martial arts skills that King Shangwu was so proud of were utterly useless in the face of these chains!
"No... Impossible!" He muttered to himself, his face pale, and staggered backward.

King Shangwu watched helplessly as the chain passed through his defenses with impunity.

Finally... it gently wrapped around his wrist.

There was no pain, no harm, only a vast, star-like will surging into my mind.

In an instant, King Shangwu felt the true power of the golden chains!

That power is not something that humans should possess; it comes from the vastness of heaven and earth.

"Your Highness, you are...."

"How can this be!"

In an instant, King Shangwu trembled violently!
The moment the golden chain wrapped around his wrist, a vast, star-like will poured directly into his consciousness.

That's not the kind of power a human martial artist should possess.

It lacks the violence of Gang Yuan and the flow of Gang Qi, but rather... a mysterious rhythm that is almost like the Dao of Heaven!

"This is... the legendary power of heaven and earth that transcends mortals?"

The aged face of King Shangwu became extremely shocked and complicated!

He could clearly feel that the power contained in the chains completely transcended the realm of martial arts, as if it were constantly expounding the ultimate truth of heaven and earth.

"Crown Prince...you..."

Prince Shangwu's voice trembled, and his cloudy eyes stared intently at Lu Xuan.

At this moment, His Highness the Crown Prince was enveloped in a faint golden glow, and a dragon-shaped pattern was faintly visible between his brows.

That's not a characteristic that an ordinary person should have!

An absurd yet uniquely plausible guess suddenly surfaced in King Shangwu's mind: "Land... immortals!!!"

The moment he uttered those four words, he couldn't help but shudder.

That's a legendary realm that only exists in ancient classics!

Since the founding of the Wenjing Dynasty, no one has ever truly reached the pinnacle of martial arts!

King Shangwu couldn't help but kneel down, his aged body trembling uncontrollably.

He gazed at Lu Xuan, who was enveloped in golden light, his eyes filled with indescribable shock and complexity.

"Transcendent and detached...comprehension of heaven and earth..."

Prince Shangwu muttered to himself, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

These descriptions, which I had only ever seen in ancient books, were now vividly appearing before my eyes.

Moreover, this person was his own nephew, the future emperor of the Wenjing Dynasty.

King Shangwu suddenly remembered his elder brother, the once spirited Emperor Zhenwu.

Countless nights, the two brothers would sit in the imperial study by candlelight, talking and dreaming of the celestial realm on earth while looking at the incomplete ancient books.

“Using the creation of heaven and earth… to shape the meridians of the physical body…” King Shangwu stared at Lu Xuan with fascination, his withered fingers digging deeply into the cracks of the gold bricks.

For many years, he had watched his elder brother go from being full of hope to gradually despair.

That once arrogant emperor, who looked down on all others, eventually bowed his proud head before the passage of time.

"Those who undergo a complete transformation... are truly immortals on earth..."

Tears streamed down his wrinkled face, and King Shangwu suddenly burst into a bitter laugh.

How ironic!
The realm that the brothers had failed to reach in their entire lives has now been achieved by Lu Xuan, a junior.

"Brother...did you see that...?" He looked up toward the Golden Palace, his voice choked with emotion.

Peng Lie appeared beside him at some point, his eyes also red, and patted his old rival on the shoulder.

The two arch-enemies suddenly felt a sense of mutual respect—they both knew all too well how hopeless that insurmountable barrier was.

Lu Xuan looked quietly at the two old men, the golden light in his eyes dimming slightly.

He knew better than anyone that this seemingly "half-step" distance was in fact the eternal chasm between mortals and immortals...

If it weren't for the system's stat-boosting panel, wouldn't Lu Xuan also be one of those "millions" yearning to pursue the supreme Dao?

"You don't need to come in."

Lu Xuan's voice was very calm, echoing in the empty palace garden.

He strode forward without looking back, his crimson dragon robe remaining perfectly still in the fierce wind.

With each step, a golden ripple spread across the ground.

"I will put an end to all of this myself."

As the words fell, the golden chain wrapped around Shangwu King's wrist suddenly shone brightly, gently pushing him to a safe distance.

Upon seeing this, all the imperial guards lowered their weapons and silently retreated.

Even the Martial King, a Grandmaster of Martial Arts at his peak, was powerless to resist. How could these lowly soldiers dare to act recklessly?

The interior of the Forbidden City was pitch black, with only a writhing, black shadow faintly visible in the direction of the dragon throne.

Lu Xuan stepped inside without hesitation.

The palace gardens were deathly silent.

King Shangwu, Peng Lie... everyone held their breath, watching Lu Xuan's disappearing figure.

They knew—this was no longer a conflict between father and son, but a transition between old and new eras, a change of supreme imperial power.
Regardless of the outcome, from this day forward, the fate of the Wenjing Dynasty... is about to change!
A chilling wind blew through the hall, and the faint candlelight flickered, threatening to go out. Lu Xuan stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the hall, surrounded by darkness.

Strangely, the sunlight outside the palace gates seemed to be blocked by some invisible barrier, unable to penetrate even a fraction of it.

The entire Forbidden City seemed to be isolated in another world, with only a few dim lamps casting a pale glow.

"You've arrived... Your Highness..."

A chilling voice suddenly rang out from the right.

Without turning around, Lu Xuan sensed that the Zhenwu Emperor had silently appeared three steps away.

The "emperor" had a livid face, pale, pupil-less eyes, and the hem of his bright yellow dragon robe hung empty.

He wasn't standing on the ground at all; he was eerily suspended in mid-air!

(End of this chapter)