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

Deep within the Taiping Villa, the wind and rain continued, but the violent true energy that was capable of destroying the world had completely subsided.

Emperor Qing's body lay quietly amidst the mud and ruins, devoid of all life and power.

This emperor, who had schemed and dominated his entire life, ultimately ended his reign in an extremely abrupt way.

Not far away, Ku He and Si Gu Jian collapsed to the ground.

The two grandmasters were now completely exhausted. They had witnessed the fall of Emperor Qing and the unfathomable, terrifying strength of Li Chengze.

Ku He looked at Li Chengze, who was slowly descending from mid-air, with his cloudy eyes, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

He knew that their era, the era of grandmasters standing high above and looking down upon all living beings, had come to a complete end today.

"Second Prince..." Ku He gasped, his voice so weak it was almost drowned out by the wind and rain, "This old man...is utterly convinced of his defeat. Northern Qi...from now on..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Chengze had already landed on the ground.

Li Chengze ignored Ku He's last words and didn't look at Si Gu Jian's eyes, which were filled with resentment and despair.

His face was as calm as a still well, showing neither the elation of victory nor pity for these peerless experts.

He simply raised his right hand casually, the wide sleeves of his purple robe fluttering slightly in the wind and rain.

Then, he waved it gently.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two extremely muffled explosions rang out almost simultaneously.

There was no grand fanfare, no dazzling brilliance.

With a wave of his hand, Li Chengze unleashed two extremely refined and domineering streams of Heavenly Gang True Qi that instantly traversed the distance of space and accurately struck Ku He and Si Gu Jian in the chest.

The two grandmasters, who had been renowned throughout the world for decades, didn't even have time to utter a scream before their heart meridians were instantly shattered by this unparalleled power.

Their bodies stiffened abruptly, then collapsed limply into the muddy water, their eyes wide open, completely lifeless.

After doing all this, Li Chengze slowly turned his head and cast his gaze at another person at the edge of the ruins.

Hong Siyang.

This Grand Eunuch, the most loyal shadow by Emperor Qing's side, was kneeling not far from Emperor Qing's corpse.

He was soaked to the bone, tears streaming down his face, his body trembling violently from extreme grief and despair.

When Li Chengze's gaze fell on him, Hong Siyang immediately felt a chilling killing intent that seemed to have a tangible presence.

He raised his head and met Li Chengze's deep and indifferent eyes.

Hong Siyang neither begged for mercy nor attempted to resist.

He was a clever man, but also a complete lackey.

He knew that even His Majesty and the three Grandmasters had died here, and his broken body had no chance of resistance.

More importantly, his world had collapsed. His Majesty was dead, and his life had lost all meaning.

Hong Siyang looked at Li Chengze and suddenly smiled bitterly. A look of relief appeared on his wrinkled old face.

"This old servant... shall go and attend to His Majesty."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hong Siyang suddenly raised his right hand, gathered the last of his domineering true energy in his palm, and without the slightest hesitation, slammed it hard onto the top of his head.

"Snap!"

A chilling sound of bones cracking rang out.

Hong Siyang's skull shattered instantly, and blood flowed from his seven orifices. His body swayed, then he collapsed heavily at Emperor Qing's feet, just as he had countless times knelt before Emperor Qing throughout his life, and then fell silent.

Li Chengze watched silently as Hong Siyang committed suicide, his eyes showing no emotion. He then turned to look at Yuan Tiangang behind him.

"General," Li Chengze said calmly. "The Northern Qi National Preceptor Ku He and Dongyi City Si Gu Jian joined forces to infiltrate Taiping Villa, intending to assassinate my Southern Qing Emperor. To protect the foundation of Southern Qing and for the sake of all people, my father, together with Eunuch Hong, fought bravely and risked his life to engage in a life-or-death struggle with the two grandmasters from the enemy country."

Li Chengze paused, a cold smile curving his lips: "In the end, Father and Eunuch Hong perished together with them."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Tiangang immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your subject understands."

"Get started. Do it cleanly, don't leave any flaws," Li Chengze instructed.

"Yes, ma'am."

Yuan Tiangang immediately sprang into action. He was a top-tier expert himself, with extremely rich experience in the use of true qi and the disguise of corpses.

He first went to Emperor Qing's body and treated the fatal finger hole between Emperor Qing's eyebrows.

He used his true energy to simulate the incomparably sharp sword energy of Si Gu Jian, enlarging the finger hole to make it appear as if he had been pierced through the head by an extremely sharp, invisible sword energy and died.

Then, he moved Si Gu Jian's body over and placed it directly in front of Emperor Qing.

He picked up the broken sword that Si Gu Jian had dropped and stabbed it into Emperor Qing's left shoulder. At the same time, he grabbed Emperor Qing's hand and pressed it against Si Gu Jian's chest, forcing out the remaining domineering true energy in Emperor Qing's body, creating a huge, collapsed area in Si Gu Jian's chest, as if it had been shattered by a heavy palm strike.

Afterwards, Yuan Tiangang walked towards Kuhe.

He placed Ku He's corpse to the side and behind Emperor Qing, making it appear as if Ku He had attacked from behind. He placed Ku He's hands on Emperor Qing's back, and at the same time, he faked a fatal wound on Ku He's throat, as if it had been severed by the backlash of Emperor Qing's domineering true energy.

Finally, there was Hong Siyang. Yuan Tiangang moved Hong Siyang's body to Ku He's feet, pretending that Hong Siyang desperately clung to Ku He's legs to stop Ku He's sneak attack, only to have his skull shattered by Ku He's palm strike.

Throughout the entire process, Yuan Tiangang performed with extreme care. He even meticulously adjusted the traces of the churning soil, the properties of the residual true energy, and the direction of the blood splatter.

It took a full incense stick's time before Yuan Tiangang finally stopped.

"Your Highness, the arrangements are complete," Yuan Tiangang said respectfully as he returned to Li Chengze's side.

Li Chengze stepped forward and carefully examined the scene before him.

Emperor Qing stood proudly, maintaining his imperial dignity even in death.

His left shoulder was pierced by Si Gu Jian's broken sword, and his back bore the brunt of Ku He's palm strike, but his right hand was firmly planted in Si Gu Jian's chest, while Ku He's throat suffered a fatal counterattack. Hong Si Yang died loyally to the side.

This scene was a tragic picture of four unparalleled martial arts masters fighting to the death, ultimately perishing together. Anyone who saw this scene for the first time would imagine a magnificent and moving battle to protect the nation.

"Very good." Li Chengze nodded in satisfaction. "The General's skills are indeed unparalleled."

"Your Highness flatters me."

"Let's go, there's a flock of frightened sheep in the front yard waiting for us to calm them down."

P.S.: The story will likely continue down the multiverse route. Whether the next world will be "Snow Sword and Martial Arts" or "Nine Songs of the Sky," you guys can choose. Hope you all continue to support this book!