Transmigrated into Li Chengqian, he effortlessly ascended the throne and became emperor.

"You arrogant brat!"

Yeon Gaesomun was, after all, a powerful and ruthless man, and his reaction was extremely quick.

The two long swords behind him were drawn simultaneously, crossing in front of him to block Li Chengqian's thunderous attack.

The clash of metal produced a deafening roar, sending sparks flying.

The immense recoil force traveled along the blade, and Li Chengqian felt a numbness in his tiger's mouth and his chest heaving with blood and qi.

After only a few exchanges, Li Chengqian's breathing became heavy, fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and his hand holding the knife began to tremble slightly.

Of course, he was just pretending, since he couldn't kill them too easily.

"Hahaha! I thought it was a divine army descending from the heavens from the Tang Dynasty, but it turns out to be nothing more than a sickly weakling with a strong exterior but a weak interior!" Yeon Gaesomun noticed the decline in Li Chengqian's strength. "Li Shimin sent you deep into enemy territory alone, practically sending you to your death! Today I will cut off the head of the Tang Crown Prince and hang it atop Pyongyang!"

Yeon Gaesomun strode forward, his twin swords slashing down like a storm, forcing Lee Seung-gyun to retreat step by step.

"Your Highness!" Upon seeing this, Xue Rengui, who rushed into the hall, raised his halberd to rush forward to help.

"Step back! No one is allowed to interfere!" Li Chengqian swallowed the sweet, metallic taste in his throat and slid backward several feet using the force of Yeon Gaesomun's sword energy, his back slamming heavily against a red-lacquered gold pillar.

Just as Yeon Gaesomun raised his twin swords, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to Lee Seung-gyeon—

A disheveled, blood-covered phantom appeared out of thin air in front of Yeon Gaesomun.

The phantom had a grim face, black blood flowing from its eyes, and stared intently at Yeon Gaesomun, emitting a mournful wail.

"Gao Jianwu?!"

Faced with this sudden and deadly ghost, even someone as powerful as Yeon Gaesomun paused for a moment.

However, to Li Chengqian's surprise, Yeon Gaesomun's first reaction was not to retreat in fear.

The tyrant's astonishment instantly turned into extreme madness, and he swung his twin swords wildly at the ghost in front of him without hesitation.

"I can kill you once, and I can kill you a second time! I am the mandate of heaven; how dare you, a mere wandering ghost, haunt me! Die!!"

The long sword whistled through Gao Jianwu's afterimage, shattering the table and splitting the blue bricks, sending sparks flying everywhere.

Yeon Gaesomun acted as if he were possessed, pouring all his attention and energy into the non-existent phantom.

This is his biggest weakness.

"What a mad dog."

Yeon Gaesomun felt a chill run down his spine; the immense sense of crisis made him want to turn around.

But it was too late.

Before he knew it, Li Chengqian had already circled around to his back.

The sharp Tang sword easily sliced ​​through the gaps in the armor, precisely piercing Yeon Gaesomun's nape, twisting forcefully, and then slashing horizontally outwards.

Yeon Gaesomun's massive, mountain-like body froze on the spot, the twin swords in his hands clattering to the ground.

The head slowly slid down the neck, hit the ground with a thud, and rolled to Li Chengqian's feet. The eyes still held extreme madness and disbelief.

Crimson blood gushed out like a fountain from the severed neck, splattering onto the surrounding curtains in a horrifying sight.

Xue Rengui and the other assassins stared blankly at the scene.

No, huh?

How can it even summon souls?!

With a bang, Yeon Gaesomun's massive headless corpse finally collapsed.

Li Chengqian stood in the pool of blood, his face pale, his chest rising and falling slightly, but he slowly bent down, grabbed the hair bun with his well-defined hand, and lifted Yeon Gaesomun's head, which was still staring blankly in death.

"Hang this head at the highest point in Pyongyang."

Li Chengqian wiped the blood off his face with the back of his other hand, lifted the dripping head, and looked up.

Tell the Goguryeo people—

"Their father has arrived."

……

As dawn broke, the wind on the walls of Pyongyang seemed to pause for a moment.

As the first rays of gray-white dawn tore through the thick clouds, a head with wide-open, angry eyes and bristling hair and beard was already hanging high on the tallest flagpole at the Pyongyang city gate.

That was Yeon Gaesomun, the de facto uncrowned king of Goguryeo, a tyrant whom countless Tang soldiers gritted their teeth in hatred.

The Xuanjia Army quickly took over the defense of the city gate, and the chevaux-de-frise, crossbows, and rolling logs and stones were deployed in a very short time.

After all, this was deep inside the enemy capital. Once dawn broke, the tens of thousands of Goguryeo people in the city would surely riot if they discovered that Daemo Lizhi had been killed.

Five thousand against tens of thousands—even if the other side isn't very strong, such a large number of people attacking together would still result in an extremely brutal street battle.

The main hall of the Da Mo Li Zhi Mansion.

Li Chengqian sat quietly on the large chair made of animal skin, which represented the highest power in Goguryeo.

He pulled a snow-white handkerchief from his sleeve, lowered his eyes, and carefully and slowly wiped away the few drops of blood that had splattered between his slender fingers.

A series of suppressed coughs escaped from his pale lips. Li Chengqian frowned slightly, his handsome brows furrowing as his thin chest heaved violently.

After tossing and turning all night, his frail body was indeed at its limit in the eyes of outsiders.

Xue Rengui strode into the hall, carrying his blood-dripping halberd, and knelt down on one knee with a thud: "Your Highness! All four gates are sealed off, and the Xuanjia Army is on high alert! However... the people in the city seem to have noticed the commotion and are surging towards the mansion from all directions!"

"Your Highness, I swear to fight my way out of this encirclement! Even if I shed my last drop of blood, I will never let those Goguryeo rioters harm a single hair on your head!"

Xue Rengui's voice carried a sense of fearlessness in the face of death.

Li Chengqian casually tossed the blood-stained handkerchief into the charcoal brazier beside him, letting the flames engulf it instantly.

"Fight our way out? Now that I'm in, I have no intention of running away like a stray dog." Li Chengqian said coldly, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. "However, these Goguryeo people do have some guts. Yeon Gaesomun may be a mad dog, but he's also a ruthless hero. To be able to incite the entire city's people to avenge him, it's not in vain that I personally came to take his head."

"Come, come with me and let's go out and have a look."

"I want to see just how tough the bones of Goguryeo really are."

The gate burst open with a roar.

Surrounded by Xue Rengui and a hundred armored warriors, Li Chengqian slowly descended the high white jade steps of the mansion.

The cold wind lifted his pure white fox fur coat, making him appear like a stray ray of moonlight amidst the stark black armor.

The wide street outside the mansion was already packed with people.

It was a dark, endless expanse, filled entirely with people from Goguryeo.

Five thousand Xuanjia soldiers had already drawn their bows and drawn their swords. The cold arrowheads gleamed with the light of death in the morning sun. They were just waiting for the Crown Prince's order to unleash a bloodbath on this long street.