My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

Li Chen turned around and glanced at him, as if he were looking at an honest, simple-minded fool.

"Send people over to dig? Crossing the vast East China Sea, doesn't that cost money? A ship sank along the way, Old Li would be heartbroken."

Li Chen slowly rolled up his sleeves, revealing his fair and muscular forearms.

"Since we're here, there's no reason to leave our things here."

With one step, he detached himself from the deck of the spirit boat and hovered above the enormous silver mountain.

The generals and soldiers on the deck all held their breath, wondering what earth-shattering method this immortal venerable was about to unleash.

Li Chen took a deep breath.

The golden core within his dantian, riddled with cracks and seemingly on the verge of breaking open, trembled violently.

A massive amount of true energy surged wildly into his right arm through the eight extraordinary meridians. His originally wide, moon-white right sleeve swelled violently like an inflated sail under the infusion of true energy, and a deep void vortex faintly appeared at the cuff.

Great supernatural power, a universe within a sleeve.

Li Chen hovered high in the air, leaning forward, his right arm aimed at the continuous silver mountains below, his five fingers spread, and suddenly he lifted upward.

"rise!"

A loud shout echoed through the valley.

Rumble!

The earthquake trembled violently, ten times more intensely than the previous earthquake.

Countless thick cracks spread wildly outwards from the center of Silver Mountain, and the hard rock layers emitted ear-piercing cracking sounds under this irresistible suction force.

Cheng Yaojin, clinging tightly to the ship's railing on the deck, leaned half his body out to look down.

Below, a pure silver vein stretching for miles and weighing hundreds of millions of kilograms was forcibly pulled out of the earth's crust by an invisible, enormous force!

The soil churned, and rocks fell with a rustling sound.

The enormous silver vein, like a silver dragon stripped of its bones, struggled and writhed violently in mid-air.

However, as the vortex in Li Chen's right sleeve deepened, the massive mountain was drastically compressed by the power of the laws the moment it approached the cuff.

One mile.

Hundred feet.

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Finally, it transformed into a dazzling silver streak and was absorbed into the depths of Li Chen's sleeve without any hindrance.

The gale subsided.

Heaven and earth returned to silence.

Li Chen lowered his sleeves and clapped his hands.

And at his feet.

In the center of what was once a continuous mountain range, a terrifying, bottomless crater suddenly appeared, spanning several miles in circumference.

Groundwater is gushing out wildly through the cracks in the rock strata, rapidly filling this area into a lake.

The deck of the Sumeru Spirit Boat was deathly silent.

Li Jing swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing rhythmically. Qin Huaidao's knife fell onto the deck with a sharp clang.

Two thousand five hundred Tang Dynasty assassins stared at the white-clad figure standing in mid-air, their minds filled with only one thought.

That's truly divine skill!

"Alright, everything's ready."

Li Chen flew back to the deck, ignoring the way everyone looked at him like he was a monster, and casually snapped his fingers.

"Return to Chang'an."

……

Half a month later.

The Great Tang Dynasty, Chang'an City, outside Mingde Gate.

A ten-mile-long red carpet was laid out on the main road leading to the city gate.

On both sides of the road, hundreds of thousands of Chang'an residents were kept outside the cordon by the Imperial Guards, a sea of ​​people, tiptoeing and looking eastward.

Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty wore a black imperial robe symbolizing the highest majesty and a twelve-tasseled flat crown.

He did not sit in the imperial carriage, but stood with his hands behind his back outside the gate of Mingde Gate.

Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and other civil and military officials lined up on both sides according to their rank, their faces filled with undisguised excitement and anticipation.

"Report—!"

A fast horse galloped from the distant post road. The messenger dismounted ten paces away from Li Shimin, knelt on one knee, and his voice was so excited it crackled.

"Your Majesty! Prince Qin's hearse has landed thirty miles outside the city! The eastern expeditionary army is escorting the supplies and heading towards Mingde Gate!"

Li Shimin took a deep breath and clenched his fists tightly inside his wide sleeves.

"Beat the drums! Welcome the army!"

Boom!Boom!Boom!

On the city wall, three hundred large cowhide drums sounded simultaneously. The deep, resonant drumbeats, like thunder, rolled and echoed over Chang'an.

The earth began to tremble slightly.

At the end of the line of sight, a long black dragon appeared.

Leading the way were five generals, including Li Chengqian and Li Jing, riding tall horses.

Closely following behind them were 2,500 Tang Dynasty Xuanjia soldiers marching with firm steps.

They didn't remove their armor, and they didn't even wipe off the dark red bloodstains on the nail plates.

Two thousand five hundred men walked with the imposing presence of an army of one hundred thousand. The terrifying aura forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, as they approached, was like a chilling current, instantly enveloping the entire Mingde Gate.

The cheering people of Chang'an who had been lining the road were suddenly silenced by this menacing aura.

Many of the more timid ones were so frightened that they sat down on the ground, not even having the courage to look the soldiers in the eye.

The civil officials following behind Changsun Wuji felt their breath catch in their throats, their legs go weak, and they subconsciously took two steps back.

This is hardly a victorious army returning home; it's clearly an Asura crawling out of hell!

As Li Shimin looked at the army, his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and the flush on his face deepened.

This is the army he wanted! This is the invincible iron cavalry that can expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty and crush all those who dare to resist!

The army halted in perfect unison ten paces from the emperor.

boom!

Two thousand five hundred people simultaneously slammed one knee to the ground, the crisp sound of the armor plates colliding was like a thunderclap.

"We, your humble servants, have been honored with our mission! We have destroyed the traitorous kingdom, beheaded the traitorous king, and returned victorious!"

The five generals dismounted and knelt before Li Shimin.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Li Shimin exclaimed "Good!" three times, strode forward, and personally helped Li Chengqian and Li Jing up.

He looked at his eldest son, who was covered in blood, reached out and patted his broad shoulder, his eyes full of admiration.

"Chengqian, in this battle you beheaded the rebel king, upholding the prestige of our Great Tang Dynasty. You deserve the greatest credit!"

Li Chengqian was so excited that his face turned red, and he was about to say a few words of modesty.

From behind the crowd, an extremely ornate carriage slowly drove up and stopped beside the army.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and Li Chen yawned as he slowly jumped down from the carriage.

He held several exquisite sandalwood brocade boxes in his hands. Before the lids were even opened, a refreshing and pleasant fragrance, which made one feel comfortable with just one breath, wafted into the nostrils of all the civil and military officials.

Li Shimin's gaze was instantly drawn to the brocade boxes.

Not only him, but all the dukes and generals in the court were green with envy.

Li Chen walked to the front of the formation and casually tossed the box to Li Chengqian, Li Jing, Qin Qiong, and Yuchi Gong.

"As promised, once you reach the required points, your lifespan will be extended by five years."

Li Chen had just finished speaking.

Before anyone could react, Cheng Yaojin, who had been standing impatiently to the side with bloodshot eyes, snatched another brocade box from Yuchi Gong's hand.

Without even looking closely, he opened the lid, picked up the pill that was emitting a hazy glow, and threw it into his mouth without even drinking any water.

"Gulp."

Old Cheng swallowed the pill.

The next instant, the strange phenomenon that erupted from his body almost made all the officials' eyes pop out onto the bluestone slabs in front of the city gate.