Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

Chapter 229 In my opinion, it's not so...
"What? You're surprised to see me?" Li Xingyun walked slowly, ascending the steps from the underground palace to the surface, stepping from darkness into light. He absorbed the internal energy in his palm, and the Longquan sword in the groove was grasped in his hand. He glanced at the fake Li, then at Li Siyuan, and finally fixed his gaze on Russell, cupping his hands in greeting: "Mr. Li, I have long admired your name."

Russell nodded slightly. Zhang Zifan, Lu Linxuan, and the Bad Guys were not in the underground palace. They must have been sent by Li Xingyun to carry out some crucial plan. He was very curious about what kind of scheme Li Xingyun was planning.

"Traitorous minister, imposter of the emperor, imperial guards, seize him at once!" Li Siyuan waved his hand, and a squad of heavily armored soldiers stepped forward, archers drawing their bows, ready to fire.

bang bang bang!
Another squad of heavily armored soldiers stepped forward, but they stood in front of Li Xingyun, lined up in a row, and slammed their heavy shields into the ground.

They were Meng Zhixiang's bodyguards.

"King of Shu, what do you mean by this?" Li Siyuan glanced sideways, while Meng Zhixiang laughed and quickly came to Li Xingyun's side: "King of Jin, now there are two identical emperors who can both open the Longquan Treasure. How dare you say which one is real and which one is fake? I think this one is the real emperor."

Li Siyuan narrowed his eyes, finally realizing what was going on, and said sarcastically, "I was wondering why Brother Shu King was acting so strangely today. It turns out you've already changed sides."

Meng Zhixiang retorted, "That is incorrect. The emperor who ascended the throne this time is Li Xingyun, and we are following Li Xingyun. How can this be considered a change of allegiance?"

"The King of Shu is right," said King Yang Pu of Wu. The five hundred Wu soldiers accompanying him moved and stood behind Li Xingyun together with the Shu army.

“King Wu…” Li Siyuan clenched his fists tightly. Why did someone have to ruin his good fortune when things were going so well?

“And me too!” King Ma Yin of Chu then stepped out from the crowd and, supported by Ma Xisheng, walked to the opposite side of Li Siyuan.

For a time, the rulers of small states such as Yue, Minyue, Wuyue, and Nanping were unaware of the truth and watched from the sidelines. The states of Wu, Chu, and Shu had already sided with Li Xingyun and were now on equal footing with the fake Li supported by the states of Qi and Jin.

The only problem is that the Qi Kingdom did not bring a single soldier; only the King of Qi and the Empress were present, and the Empress's attitude remains to be seen.

"I can still manage to find some people." Li Xingyun leaned on his Longquan sword and let out a soft breath.

After realizing that the situation was out of Yuan Tiangang's control, he found Shangguan Yunque, who was also searching for them, and learned about Russell's existence from them. Afterwards, Ji Ruxue relayed information to him on several occasions.

After some simple speculation, they came to a strange conclusion—Li Chungang was inextricably linked to Yuan Tiangang, both in terms of his name and his motives.

He won over the Qi Kingdom, supported the fake Li to ascend the throne, and coerced Li Siyuan to hold a coronation ceremony. Yet he also allowed the Bad People to do as they pleased and tacitly approved Li Xingyun's secret plot. This shows that he did not care whether the fake Li ascended the throne or not. What he really wanted seemed to be nothing more than to make things difficult for Yuan Tiangang.

As for Li Xingyun, he didn't care. He even looked forward to Li Xingyun bringing him different surprises.

It can only be said that none of them were stupid; Russell's thoughts were indeed fairly well understood by them.

Just as Russell said at the beginning, the fake Li is not suitable to be emperor. After ascending the throne, all that is needed is to ensure that the person on the throne is "Li Xingyun". Who exactly he is is not important.

As for Li Xingyun, whether he tries to stop it or not is equally unimportant. In any case, he has already announced to the world that he doesn't want to be emperor, but there are plenty of others who do.

Didn't you see that outstanding student from Twelve Caves who studied abroad for sixteen years?

"Good! Good! All these traitors and rebels have gathered here today, so I can wipe you all out in one fell swoop!"

Since the pretense had been broken, Li Siyuan was no longer willing to feign compliance. In a battle where no rash action was permissible, he had no choice but to carry out the beheading.

Before he could finish speaking, Li Siyuan stomped his foot, unleashing a burst of pale blue true energy. In an instant, he arrived in front of Li Xingyun. Although his Supreme Heaven and Earth Technique was not yet fully mastered, it was still a genuine Great Heaven Realm, far superior to Li Xingyun's Middle Heaven Realm.

Li Siyuan spread his five fingers wide, stirring up a fierce and turbulent airflow, and grabbed at Li Xingyun's head. Li Xingyun, however, was not flustered at all. With a burst of air, a folding fan carrying strands of electricity slashed rapidly from a distance. Li Siyuan immediately felt a chill on his neck and forcibly stopped in mid-air, turning around to dodge.

Before he could even land, a disheveled figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere, charging forward like a wild bull, unleashing a powerful palm strike. Li Siyuan had no choice but to gather his inner energy to meet the blow.

With a loud bang, Li Siyuan and Li Cunyi retreated to their respective camps.

"Fan'er, Fifth Brother, you've come too, just as I expected," Li Siyuan said with a sinister smile.

“Having been away from home for so long, I also miss my godfather very much!” Zhang Zifan took the folding fan, looked directly at Li Siyuan, and his smile was much colder than Li Siyuan’s.

Li Cunyi remained silent, because he had nothing to say to Li Siyuan.

"So be it." Li Siyuan clapped his hands, and signal flares shot up. The rhythmic clatter of hooves echoed around the salt marsh, and groups of men poured in from all directions, surrounding Li Xingyun, Zhang Zifan, and the others. "Do you really think I'm unprepared? Today, I, the King, will cleanse the court and the countryside for the Emperor."

"Don't move!" Li Xingyun shouted. "Offending the Emperor? Do you want to die?"

Upon hearing this, the black-armored guards exchanged glances and hesitated.

"He is but a usurper who dares to claim the title of emperor. All soldiers, listen to my command! Today we will execute the usurper and reward him with a thousand gold pieces and a fief of ten thousand households." Li Cunli drew two thin swords and charged ahead of Li Xingyun.

Li Xingyun remained unmoved. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a firework. He yanked the fuse, and a firework with the image of a villain bloomed in the sky.

The next moment, there was a loud bang.

Amidst the earth-shaking tremors, the smell of saltpeter permeated the surrounding area.

From the direction where the Jin army was located, screams of agony rang out; countless soldiers were killed or wounded under the gunpowder.

Snapped!
Li Xingyun pulled the fuse again, and another firework exploded.

Another loud bang, and another section collapsed, with severed limbs flying everywhere.

Li Cunli abruptly stopped in his tracks, and the armored soldiers behind him also froze, daring not to make any further moves.

"I told you, don't move." Li Xingyun's fingers were hooked on the pull ring, his voice low.

"Li Xingyun, what have you done?" Li Siyuan looked at his guards in disbelief. Why were there explosives there? What exactly did Li Xingyun do?
"Isn't this what Prince Jin originally wanted to do?" Li Xingyun smirked, provocatively saying, "Now, this entire salt marshland is riddled with explosives. If Prince Jin makes the slightest move, Bang!"

Wow, not bad!

If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, Russell would have already started clapping.

People are indeed driven by necessity. Li Xingyun has no shortage of martial arts talent, strategies, or decisiveness, but he lacks only the ambition to conquer the world.

This gave the fake Li and Li Siyuan a jolt, and even vaguely resembled the Emperor Li from seasons five and six.

"Li Xingyun, I don't believe you dare..."

Snapped!
boom!
Before Li Siyuan could finish speaking, Li Xingyun's finger had already pulled down. Once again, the sound of the explosion shook everyone's nerves.

A bead of cold sweat slid down Li Siyuan's forehead.

Because the explosion had been very close to him, so close that he could clearly feel the heat wave washing over his face.

"Li Xingyun! Didn't you say you wouldn't fight?!"

At this point, the fake Li finally lost his composure. Ignoring Li Siyuan's attempts to stop him, he strode up to Li Xingyun, pointed at Li Xingyun's nose, and cursed:

"Didn't you say you aspired to a life of seclusion? Then what are you doing here today?! With me ascending the throne, you can continue to live your carefree life! You've seen it yourself, I also have the blood of the Li family flowing through my veins, I am qualified! You go back to your Sword Pavilion, live the life you want with your Ji Ruxue, I will sit on the throne, I will bear the burden of the world! It's clearly a happy ending for everyone, why do you have to come and stop it?"

"If I let you ascend the throne, would you still let me live?" Li Xingyun looked at the fake Li with astonishment, as if he were looking at a fool.

He just doesn't want to argue, but that doesn't mean he's mentally challenged.

Judging from the current situation, if the fake Li were to ascend the throne as he claimed, then a nationwide massacre would ensue, and he and all his friends and relatives would undoubtedly perish.

Everyone says that Li Xingyun is a hypocrite who pretends to be something he's not.

But no one has ever considered things from his perspective. It's not that he can't let go of the throne, but look at what kind of people want to become emperor.

Fake Li, Li Siyuan, Li Maozhen... which one of them wouldn't take action against Old Li if he became emperor? These people were suppressed too much by Yuan Tiangang. Once they became emperor, they would not hesitate to purge them. Don't you see that after Li Siyuan became regent, he began to massacre the Bad People?

"There's no point in saying more. Why don't we go up and talk?" Li Xingyun looked up, smiled at Ji Ruxue who was watching them from the artificial hill, and then said.

“Alright, let’s go up and sit down. It’ll be more lively with more people.” Russell made the decision, ignoring what the fake Li and Li Siyuan thought. He patted the Empress on the shoulder and together they stepped forward.

Li Maozhen, however, remained motionless, still preoccupied with his bet with Russell. The matter of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion was minor, but the Elixir of Immortality was of utmost importance. He stared at Li Xingyun's hand, calculating whether he could capture the man before Li Xingyun pulled the ring.

“Prince Qi, I advise you not to act rashly.” Li Xingyun noticed Li Maozhen’s gaze, casually tossed the fireworks in his hand aside, and laughed, “After all, this thing is just something I used to tease that big-eared thief. It should still be set off.”

"I underestimated you." Li Maozhen gave Li Xingyun a deep look, then turned and climbed the artificial hill as well.

A few seconds later, the small pavilion was packed with people.

From the real and fake emperors to the lowly maids of the Illusionary Sound Pavilion, their identities are complex.

"Hou Qing, you ancestor, how did you end up with Mr. Li? Have you defected to the enemy?" Li Xingyun teased Hou Qing. Hou Qing shrugged and pressed down on his sister's tiger-head hat with one hand: "I can't help it, my sister is here, and besides, I just became a disciple."

"Become an apprentice?" Li Xingyun's lips twitched. This was something Hou Qing was really capable of doing. He couldn't help but be curious: "Learn what? Martial arts?"

"Fortune telling," Hou Qing replied earnestly. "I think I have a good talent for it."

"As long as you're happy, Corpse Ancestor." Li Xingyun bowed admiringly, then quickly moved closer to Ji Ruxue and whispered something to her, ignoring everyone else.

"Are you trying to stall for time?" Russell asked casually as he used his internal energy to shake the watermelon seeds out of the watermelon and handed them to his older sister.

"As expected, you can't hide it from Mr. Li." Li Xingyun chuckled awkwardly. "How about we just pretend we don't know?"

“Okay.” Russell nodded with a light laugh, then asked, “Did you bring the books that Li Chunfeng left on the deserted island with you?”

"Mr. Li is incredibly insightful," Li Xingyun complimented, then immediately took an antique book from his pocket and handed it to Russell.

Russell immediately began to read through the book. Hou Qing, seeing this, also moved closer to Russell. His elder sister was also curious, so Hou Qing picked her up and carried her on his shoulder. The Empress, seeing this, also became interested and came to Russell's other side.

Time just passed by minute by minute.

After a while, and calculating the time, Russell felt it was about time, and then asked, "Now that things have escalated to this point, how do you plan to handle this?"

"To be honest, I haven't thought it through yet." Li Xingyun shook his head: "Li Xingyun has already ascended the throne, and the world has been unified again. Even if I don't want to become emperor, I can't let the new dynasty split up again."

"so?"

"So we can only trouble Brother Qi to sit on this throne for a while." Li Xingyun turned his gaze to Li Maozhen. Looking at everyone present, there was no other suitable candidate besides Li Maozhen. At least until now, there was no life-or-death enmity between them.

"Li Xingyun! We are brothers!" the fake Li exclaimed in shock and anger. "How could you just hand over the Li family throne to someone else like that!"

"Isn't the Emperor afraid that the young prince will fight to the death if he acts like this?" Li Siyuan also spoke up. If he couldn't let the fake Li secure the throne, he, Li Da'er, would be dead.

"A fight to the death? On what grounds?" Li Xingyun asked strangely.

"Just based on the ten thousand elite troops I've deployed inside and outside Jieliang!" Li Siyuan said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you mean this?" Li Xingyun smiled again upon hearing this. "Prince Jin, why don't you guess where the Bad Guys who had gathered in Taiyuan have gone, where my junior sister has gone, and why I'm stalling for time here?"

"Li Xingyun!" Li Siyuan was shocked and furious. The next moment, they felt the ground shake.

The sound of horses' hooves and the beating of drums filled the air, and imperial banners fluttered in the wind, standing out prominently against the artificial hills of the salt marshland.

This is not the era years later when Yuan Tiangang died and Li Siyuan became regent, leaving the Bad People leaderless. Now, the Bad People are everywhere and infiltrate every corner of the country. What Li Siyuan considered to be an impregnable internal control is nothing but a joke to the Bad People.

"My men have arrived." Li Xingyun stood up, stretched, and calmly looked at Li Siyuan and the fake Li: "Longquan has changed, the underground palace has collapsed, the emperor has passed away, the Prince of Jin has died, and his will stipulates that the Prince of Qi should ascend the throne, with the three kings of Chu, Wu, and Shu assisting in the government. What do you all think?"

"In my opinion, it's not a good idea."

Just then, a deep, resonant voice suddenly rang out, and everyone present, except Russell, felt as if they had been electrocuted, their hair stood on end, and an immense sense of fear rose in their hearts.

"The Bad Guys respectfully welcome the Great Commander!"

On the shore of the Salt Marsh, the voices of Jing Xinmo, Meng Po, Duan Chengtian, and other Tiangang Captains rang out in unison. Fake Li and Li Siyuan turned pale and felt utterly hopeless.

(End of this chapter)