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

A resolute glint flashed in Li Chengze's eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he issued the command directly in his mind.

"Ding! 1,000,000 reputation points deducted. Congratulations, host, you have successfully exchanged for the mythical item [Interdimensional Teleportation Portal (Beginner)]!"

As the system notification ended, Li Chengze felt a sudden burst of dazzling, seven-colored light erupt before his eyes.

This light did not originate from reality, but rather acted directly on his mental state. Immediately afterward, the space within the imperial study began to distort violently.

The once calm air seemed to be wildly stirred by some invisible force, forming a visible energy vortex.

The heat emitted by the earth dragon was instantly sucked away.

"Buzz—"

Accompanied by a deep and vast rumble, like the breath of an ancient behemoth, a huge archway, three zhang high and two zhang wide, slowly condensed and took shape in the very center of the Imperial Study.

This door has no physical material; its frame is woven from countless flowing, obscure silver runes. These runes seem to have a life of their own, constantly moving, combining, and transforming into various strange patterns in the void.

At the center of the door, instead of a door panel, there was an extremely deep vortex of starry sky.

The vortex spun slowly, twinkling with starlight, and occasionally a faint blue spatial rift would flash by within it.

Standing in front of the door, Li Chengze could even feel a strong sense of weightlessness, as if if he took a step forward, he would be completely sucked into the endless void and shattered to pieces.

"Is this... an interdimensional portal?"

Li Chengze slowly stood up, walked to the teleportation portal, looked up, and gazed at this incredible cosmic miracle with a dreamy look in his eyes.

He could sense a completely different aura of law emanating from behind the door; it was an ancient, mysterious, yet alluring scent.

[Ding! The interdimensional portal has been successfully deployed.]

[The system is randomly anchoring to an unknown world... Anchoring successful!]

[Currently connected world: Unknown (Code name: Boundary-001).]

Hazard level: Unknown.

[Energy Level: Preliminary detection indicates it is higher than the current world (the world of Joy of Life).]

[Activate teleportation immediately?]

Upon seeing the system's notification, Li Chengze's previously somewhat frenzied mind instantly calmed down.

"Energy level higher than the current world? Danger level unknown?"

Li Chengze narrowed his eyes slightly.

Although he yearns to conquer all worlds, he is by no means a reckless brute who acts impulsively without considering the consequences.

A son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof.

How could a supreme ruler lightly venture into dangerous territory?

Before figuring out what was behind the door, the emperor of Daqing would absolutely not personally risk his life.

What if there's a cultivation world behind the door, and he runs into a Nascent Soul stage monster who can easily kill him with a slap? Who can he complain to then?

Exploring the unknown world naturally requires vanguards who are sufficiently influential, loyal, and powerful.

A candidate instantly came to mind for Li Chengze.

He turned around, sat back down on the large dragon throne, straightened his casual clothes, and regained his imperial majesty and aloofness.

"Someone come here." Li Chengze spoke in a deep voice, which, though not loud, carried clearly to the outside of the imperial study.

The door was pushed open a crack, and Eunuch Hong, head bowed and body hunched, slipped in like a startled quail. He didn't even dare to look up at the huge teleportation portal in the center of the imperial study, which emitted a ghostly light; he just stared intently at his toes.

"What are your orders, Your Majesty?" Eunuch Hong asked in a trembling voice.

He could sense that the atmosphere in the imperial study had become extremely strange, but he knew that in front of this master, the only rule for survival was not to look at what he shouldn't see and not to ask what he shouldn't ask.

"Send the order to summon the Bad Commander to an audience immediately," Li Chengze commanded calmly.

"This servant obeys the decree!" Eunuch Hong felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly withdrew.

Before the time it takes to drink a cup of tea is up, a cold night wind suddenly swept up outside the Imperial Study.

Immediately afterwards, a ghostly black shadow appeared out of thin air in the center of the Imperial Study without making a sound or even opening the door.

"Your subject, Yuan Tiangang, pays his respects to Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Yuan Tiangang knelt on one knee, his voice low and hoarse, carrying a metallic quality. There was no emotional fluctuation in his tone, only absolute and fanatical loyalty to Li Chengze.

"Rise." Li Chengze raised his hand slightly.

Yuan Tiangang stood up, and his eyes, hidden behind the mask, immediately fell on the huge interdimensional portal.

Even with Yuan Tiangang's experience of living for over three hundred years and witnessing the vicissitudes of life, his pupils under the mask couldn't help but slightly contract when he saw this door.

He could sense the terrifying power contained within that starry vortex, a power that completely transcended the limits of martial arts and even surpassed the laws of nature.

"General, do you know what this is?" Li Chengze asked with a smile, observing Yuan Tiangang's reaction.

Yuan Tiangang withdrew his gaze, bowed slightly, and respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, I do not know. But I can sense that the power contained within this gate is vast and beyond the reach of ordinary people. Your Majesty's power is truly divine, and we could never repay even a fraction of it, even with ten thousand deaths."

Li Chengze laughed heartily, stood up, and walked to Yuan Tiangang.

"General, this door connects to another world. The world behind this door is a completely new and unknown world."

Li Chengze's smile faded, his gaze becoming deep and sharp: "I have unified the world, and this continent is now free of challenges. But my journey has only just begun. This door is my first step towards my dominance across countless worlds."

He turned to look at Yuan Tiangang, his tone becoming extremely solemn: "General, I am now entrusting you with a mission. A mission a hundred times more arduous than destroying Northern Qi or assassinating a Grandmaster."

Yuan Tiangang suddenly knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist, and said resolutely, "Your Majesty, please issue the decree! I will gladly die ten thousand times over! I will brave mountains of knives and seas of fire to level them for Your Majesty!"

"Good!" Li Chengze's eyes flashed with a sharp light. "I order you to immediately select the ten most skilled martial artists from the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals, those most adept at concealment and espionage, and personally lead them as the vanguard through this teleportation portal!"

"Your mission is not to kill, nor to conquer. It is to explore!"

"I want you to find out the basic situation of the world behind that door as quickly as possible! Its customs, power distribution, martial arts levels, and even the laws of heaven and earth! I need to know whether the people in that world use martial arts, immortal techniques, or magic? What realm in our world is their strongest equivalent to?"

"If that world is militarily weak, then establish a bridgehead there, and I will immediately lead the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry to incorporate it into the territory of Daqing!"

"If that world is teeming with powerful beings, perhaps even those surpassing you and me, then you should disperse, infiltrate, establish a foothold there, build an intelligence network, and await my next instructions!"

Li Chengze bent down and patted Yuan Tiangang on the shoulder, his tone unusually solemn: "Remember, the first priority is to protect yourself and send the intelligence back. I can lose a million soldiers, but I cannot lose you, the commander of the Bad Guys. Do you understand?"

Yuan Tiangang's body trembled slightly.

"Your subject obeys! I will not fail in my mission! If anything goes wrong, I will offer my head in retribution!"

Yuan Tiangang stood up abruptly, without the slightest hesitation, and stepped into the teleportation portal.