Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

The atmosphere instantly turned cold. The other Zaisangs remained silent, none of them trying to smooth things over. Even Bu Li Zaisang, the most obsequious of them all, stood by and watched the two at the center of the conflict with indifferent eyes. He seemed unconcerned, but the occasional smugness beneath his indifference betrayed him.

But Li Yanxing, caught in the storm, had completely changed his tune from the flattery he had shown at the banquet; instead, he sarcastically remarked:

"Overestimating oneself is overestimating oneself; why use unity as an excuse? If you're scared, go back home and save yourself from embarrassment here!!"

"you!!"

Nurzaisang was caught in a dilemma. If he refuted, he would appear arrogant and unable to accept defeat. But if he didn't, these scheming bastards might look down on him. Thinking this, Nurzaisang suddenly drew his sword, drew a line in the grass, and glared fiercely at Li Yanxing, saying:

"If you have the guts, send your precious son to fight my warriors of Balkhash, life or death! Do you dare, Lee Jae-sang?!"

This wasn't a question, but a direct and affirmative conclusion, turning this impromptu duel into something that seemed inevitable. It made even the cunning old foxes present, Zaisang, turn their heads in surprise, wondering when this brainless guy had become so clever.

Li Yanxing, staring at the smug and ferocious face opposite him, spoke with a fierce look in his eyes:

"If that's the case, then there should be some kind of prize, right?"

"I think we should exchange it for a hundred households. I trust you won't be stingy, and the entire Balkhash tribe won't begrudge a mere hundred households."

This statement was also affirmative, which startled those Zaisang who were still watching the show and waiting for Li Yanxing to make a fool of himself. After all, if he really won, wouldn't the strength of Jinshan Prefecture, which was already the strongest and most powerful, increase even more? In that case, wouldn't the vast western grasslands near Altai be entirely under the control of the Dzungar Khan? At that time, wouldn't they have to call Li Yanxing "Lord" when they saw him?

This opportunity is truly rare. If the Balkhash tribe wins and loses Li Yuanheng, their prodigy, the Li family will struggle to prosper for decades to come. In that case, they will have the means and time to close the gap between themselves and the Li family.

Thinking of this, all the Zaisang focused their attention on Nur, who had been arrogant and domineering but was now somewhat stingy. Everyone hoped that he would agree at this moment, so that there would be a good show to watch.

Nurzaisang's forehead gradually broke out in sweat. As a Zaisang whose core household numbered less than 750, his power was actually the weakest among all the Zaisangs present. If he were to lose a hundred households at once, it would probably take him more than ten years to recover. However, his anger, his jealousy of the Li family's power, and even his impulse to eliminate Li Yuanheng made him hesitate.

"A hundred households? One son is worth a hundred households. I have five sons. According to your logic, wouldn't that make me worth five hundred households?"

"It's worth thirty households; come if you dare."

The other Zaisang chuckled inwardly at Nur's bargaining posture, but they also felt a surge of admiration. After all, this rough man had managed to disrupt things so cleverly several times today; how could they not have a bad impression of him?

"Thirty households are too few. Nephew Yuanheng is such a hero! He's a fine man who made the Jurchen bandits cry for their fathers and mothers. For such a person, it's practically impossible to have less than fifty households!!"

Bu Lizaisang's sudden interruption changed the situation once again. The shrewd Gekezaisang, observing Nur's resentful face and Li Yanxing's impending outburst of anger, quickly made his decision and then spoke up:

"If you ask me, thirty households are too few, and a hundred households are too many. Besides, we are all the Khan's right-hand men and the chief ministers of our Dzungar Khanate. How can we kill each other here? Today is supposed to be a wonderful occasion for families to reunite and make friends. You say you want to kill, and he says you want to torture. It's not good. In my opinion, it would be better to do this: fifty households, but we should stop here."

What does "stop when you've touched the nail on the head" mean?

Nurzaisang pressed on with questions, his eyes filled with suspicion. After all, Araker was the most cunning man, and he couldn't fall for his tricks.

Gekezaisang turned to Li Yanxing and said:

"Fifty households should be able to be saved, but lives must be spared."

"What?!"

Nurzaisang immediately objected, but Gekezaisang said:

"The loser shall also receive fifty households."

"I agree!!"

Li Yanxing quickly agreed. Although the other officials present also wanted to take this opportunity to weaken the Li family's power, they couldn't be too obvious about it, so they tacitly agreed to this "excellent" idea.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Gekzaisang had no choice but to agree. After all, if he won, he would gain fifty households for free. As for his sons, he had five sons, but none of them were worth fifty households. If he could use this as an excuse to increase the number of households in the entire Balkhash tribe by fifty, he would be considered a zaisang with eight hundred households.

Everything was there. Such a good deal, how could it not be done? As for losing, that was impossible, absolutely impossible. That was their tribe's tiger-hunting warrior. A kid who thought he'd gotten lucky, even if he had some talent in battle, could he possibly win in terms of personal martial prowess?

"Go quickly and inform the eldest son that he should be careful and admit defeat if anything seems amiss. We should treat these fifty households as if they never existed, and our Li family has no shortage of fifty households to support us."

Li Yanxing remained cautious. After all, compared to his son, fifty households were nothing. It was only that the thief Geke who treasured them. It was truly a case of the poor not being able to afford a banquet, or they would get diarrhea from eating too much.

Soon, news of the duel spread like wildfire, attracting almost all the men and women who met, including many self-important tribal princes and rare beauties from the tribe on the grasslands.

Before the duel even began, it was already more lively than the entire matchmaking event.

--------

"That's Li Dalang, he's really handsome. Why didn't I see him yesterday?"

Do you think he can win?

"Who knows, if I win, I'll marry him."

"You—"

Amidst the throng of women, giggles filled the air. But one young woman, dressed in a green robe and adorned with a flower in her hair, her eyes, as pure as jewels, remained silent, watching the man with his arms crossed. Her amber eyes flickered with a mixture of anticipation and worry, especially when she saw his opponent, the supposedly powerful Sutai'a, who boasted strength comparable to a bull and a record of hunting three tigers. Her heart nearly leaped into her throat, and she could only silently pray for him.

"Great Tengri, please bless him, and grant him victory like a war god—"

On the sidelines, scrutiny and curiosity coexisted, admiration and jealousy were intertwined, while on the court, the burly, shirtless speedster, holding a wooden stick, glanced at the person opposite him, his tone arrogant and sarcastic:

"White-faced baby, go back to your milk! You're just as vulnerable as you look!!"

On the sidelines, upon hearing this, Gekezaisang proudly puffed out his chest and then provocatively glanced at Li Yanxing sitting on the other side. However, the latter did not even look at him, simply staring straight ahead at the field, leaving everyone wondering what he was thinking.

Li Yuanheng simply flicked the wooden stick bound with black cloth in his hand, and casually swung it around:

"I heard you hunted three tigers??"

"It was your grandfather who did it. You can still wet your pants now."

Sutai arrogantly stared at Li Yuanheng, simply pointing his stick at him:

"After you've wet your pants, or do you want to pee now?"

Li Yuanheng's expression remained unchanged. He glanced at the other man's bear-like stance, then stood with his staff in hand.

"If you can hunt tigers, then I can eat you!!"

"Trash!!"

With a furious curse, Sutai'a raised his stick and charged towards them, his imposing presence sending chills down the spines of the onlookers. Someone exclaimed in alarm:

"Truly possessing the power to hunt tigers!!"

Li Yuanheng, who was being targeted by the wild beast, simply parried with his stick, taking only two steps back to deflect the fatal blow, causing the onlookers to gasp in astonishment.

"ah!!"

The amber girl was too frightened to look until others cheered, at which point she opened her eyes and was relieved to see that her beloved was alright.

"Die!!"

A loud shout rang in their ears. Li Yuanheng, wielding his stick, blocked and thrust left and right, striking three times in succession, which made the cheers from the sidelines even louder, especially from the women.

Hearing the irritating cheers and shouts of "marriage" around her, the amber girl's previous worries vanished. She drew her short sword and shouted sharply:

"A bunch of bastards, daring to steal my man! If they dare come, I'll shove them through the belly and leave no corpse behind!!"

Witnessing all this, some people were too afraid to shout anymore, while the other group of women drew their knives and stood against him, ready to fight to the death. This fueled the anger of those who admired Li Yuanheng to the extreme, and their support for Sutai A grew even stronger. They wished he would kill this Jinshan scoundrel who was disturbing their happiness.

Inside the arena, the fight between Li Yuanheng and Sutai'a had reached a fever pitch. If the opponent had any underestimation of him just moments before, now only:

"How can this burly man be so strong? What did he eat to grow up like that?"

Feeling the vibration in his tiger's mouth, Su Tai A felt "torture" for the first time in his life, while Li Yuan Heng opposite him remained calm and composed, searching for a weakness.

With horizontal and vertical strikes, left and right parries, he wielded the stick with dazzling skill, causing the Zaisang who had been watching to look on in astonishment. The most thoughtful of them all, Geke Zaisang, frequently glanced at the composed Li Yanxing, trying to find a hint of panic on his face.

However, Li Yanxing was, after all, a prime minister who controlled the lives of tens of thousands of people in Jinshan. Even if he was flustered inside, his face was always expressionless, flat and neat, without the slightest wrinkle.

[It includes affiliated tribes.]

"You little beast, you're so strong! You must be the offspring of your mother and a savage, otherwise why don't you and your father look alike?"

Perhaps out of desperation, Sutai directly launched a personal attack in an attempt to make the strange man stop.

However, Li Yuanheng's mind was incredibly resilient. The mere provocation did not enrage him. Instead, his movements became even more refined, causing Sutai A on the other side to be repeatedly embarrassed and almost lose his hand.

With a "crack," the stick made contact again; if it hadn't been made of sturdy wood, it would have broken long ago.

Sutai's hands trembled and ached. His anger gradually dissipated, replaced by an unprecedented desire to avoid battle. His movements became increasingly conservative, unlike his previous ruthlessness.

This gave Li Yuanheng an opportunity. He feigned a horizontal strike, startling his opponent into immediately blocking. But just as the blocking motion was halfway through, the horizontal strike suddenly turned downwards:

*Smack!*

Everyone present heard a shattering sound, and then saw Sutai, who had been standing, suddenly kneel down, clutching his groin in a pitiful state. In the dim light, everyone could see the blood seeping through his trousers.

Everyone understands:

"The egg broke!!"

Meanwhile, outside the arena, a sudden, joyful shout drew everyone's attention:

"I've fallen for him, he's my future husband!!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes were fixed on the girl in the green robe.