Joy of Life: Me, the Second Prince? Summon Yuan Tiangang!

Despite Si Gu Jian's desperate attack, Emperor Qing's face remained completely calm.

His gaze was as cold as if he were looking at a moth drawn to a flame.

"Grandmasters?" Emperor Qing's lips curled into a disdainful sneer. "In my eyes, you are nothing more than slightly stronger ants."

The moment the words left his mouth, Emperor Qing made his move again.

He did not retreat, nor did he draw any weapon.

He simply extended his right hand slowly, his index and middle fingers joined together, transforming into an invisible sword finger, and gently pointed it out to meet Si Gu Jian's earth-shattering sword strike.

"bite--!"

A crisp, melodious sound, yet seemingly capable of piercing eardrums, rang out in mid-air.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Fan Xian stared wide-eyed at the scene before him, forgetting even to breathe.

What did he see?

He saw the terrifying sword light of Si Gu Jian, powerful enough to cleave mountains, stop three inches away from Emperor Qing's brow.

Emperor Qing firmly pinched the invisible sword energy between his two fingers!

Si Gu Jian's face turned bright red. He frantically urged his internal energy, trying to push the sword energy forward another inch, but those two fingers were like two insurmountable mountains, firmly restraining his power.

"Your sword is too weak."

Emperor Qing gave a casual comment, and then a dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth from his fingertips.

That's the manifestation of domineering true energy!

"Bang!"

The sword energy that Si Gu Jian had condensed to the extreme shattered inch by inch under Emperor Qing's fingertips, just like fragile glass!

The powerful recoil force surged back along with the invisible sword intent. Si Gu Jian let out a muffled groan, feeling as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer. He staggered back more than a dozen steps, each step leaving a deep footprint on the hard bluestone slab.

When he stopped, shocking blood was seeping from his seven orifices.

Two moves!

Just two simple moves!

Both of the world's most renowned grandmasters were severely injured!

This overwhelming power, this despairing disparity, shattered the pride in Ku He and Si Gu Jian's hearts.

They finally realized that they were not facing an opponent of the same level.

Emperor Qing's strength was beyond their imagination!

"So that's how it is... so that's how it is..." Ku He laughed bitterly, his laughter filled with desolation and self-mockery. "We've schemed our whole lives, thinking we've seen through the ways of the world, but we never imagined that from beginning to end, we were just pawns on your chessboard. You deliberately revealed your weaknesses, deliberately came to this Taiping Villa, just to lure us in and wipe us all out!"

Emperor Qing slowly withdrew his hands, placing them behind his back. He looked down at the two injured Grandmasters, his eyes showing no joy of victory, only a deep loneliness.

"I have said before, fishing is the ultimate test of patience." Emperor Qing's voice echoed in the wind and rain, carrying an all-encompassing majesty. "You think you are the players, but you do not know that in this grand game of the world, only I am the sole player."

Emperor Qing ignored Ku He and Si Gu Jian. In his eyes, these two once high-ranking grandmasters were now no different from the dead.

He walked back to the lakeside, looked at the turbid water that had become murky due to the surge of true energy, and frowned slightly.

Are you still observing?

Emperor Qing's voice was not loud; in the midst of the stormy, thunderous Taiping Villa, it even sounded somewhat faint.

However, these words struck Ku He and Si Gu Jian like a thunderbolt from the heavens, causing their already wounded minds to surge violently once more.

Ku He clutched his broken right arm, his pale face filled with disbelief.

Si Gu Jian gritted his teeth, letting the blood flowing from his seven orifices spread in the rain. For the first time, a trace of confusion flashed in his wild, unruly eyes.

Wait and see?

Who is watching from the sidelines?

They are already at the pinnacle of martial arts in this world.

However, there was a rare hint of... apprehension in Emperor Qing's tone just now!

Emperor Qing is actually wary of someone lurking in the shadows?

Is there anyone in the world stronger than them?

Suddenly, as if a bolt of lightning had cleaved through the thick fog, a flash of inspiration struck both Ku He and Si Gu Jian. A terrifying name, buried deep within the intelligence, which they had always considered nonsense or deliberately ignored, weighed heavily on their hearts like a mountain.

Net!

Bad Boy!

Yes!

There has always been a rumor in the world that the Bad Marshal is the fifth Grandmaster who is separate from the Four Grandmasters!

However, this person's whereabouts are too mysterious, appearing only briefly and never returning.

Could it be that he came too?

……

Meanwhile, a few miles away from Taihei Bessou, on a very tall abandoned watchtower on the outskirts of Kyoto.

The wind howled and the rain poured down.

However, two figures stood quietly on the eaves of this watchtower.

However, two figures stood quietly on the eaves of this watchtower.

The wind and rain seemed to encounter some kind of terrifying force field when they came within three feet of them, silently vanishing into nothingness, not even a drop of water could touch the hem of their clothes.

Li Chengze stood on the left, holding an exquisite white jade plate with several crystal-clear purple grapes on it.

And beside Li Chengze was Yuan Tiangang.

Yuan Tiangang slightly raised his head, and his deep, ancient eyes, hidden beneath the mask, pierced through the heavy rain and landed precisely on the lakeside of Taiping Villa, which had been reduced to ruins.

He sensed the domineering true energy in the air that had just reached its peak and then instantly subsided, and a hoarse sound, like the friction of metal, came from under his mask.

"Your Highness, it's over there."

Yuan Tiangang's tone was calm, so calm that it seemed as if he were recounting a trivial matter. The fall or serious injury of two world-renowned grandmasters seemed to him no more shocking than crushing two ants.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengze tossed the peeled grape in his hand into his mouth and chewed it gently.

The sweet juice burst in his mouth, but his eyes became incredibly sharp at that moment, even revealing a hint of crazy pleasure.

"Yes, it's over."

Li Chengze casually tossed the white jade plate in his hand, and the plate was shredded into powder by the strong wind in mid-air.

He stuck out his tongue, licked his lips, and the smile on his lips gradually widened.

"In this play, in the first round, Father Emperor won."

"General, it's time for the second round."

Yuan Tiangang did not speak, but simply bowed slightly.

"Buzz—!"

At that moment, space seemed to be violently distorted.

The two figures on the abandoned watchtower, like phantoms, twisted and stretched in the raging storm, and then vanished without a trace.

They left no trace, not even disturbing the surrounding raindrops, as if they had never existed.