The First Sage of Military Strategists

Haizhou.

This place borders the sea, and the state is crisscrossed by many rivers. Large areas of flat land are rare, so most people make a living by fishing.

Danqing City is the second largest city in Haizhou and the old stronghold of the Chen family branch in Haizhou.

It was late at night, the night wind was howling, and the city was brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Han Qing did not enter the city, but waited on a desolate mountain outside the city. According to the memory of the King of Mi, the imperial court was likely to take action against the Chen family in the next two days, and a great battle would break out in this city. He did not want to be involved.

He was merely passing through on his way back to the border to see if he could gain some advantage in the chaos of war.

Now, he is attempting to break through to the Rainbow Realm. At this stage, there are no longer any martial arts secrets that can be followed. He must be learned extensively, studying various advanced martial arts to deepen his knowledge. Only when he has accumulated enough knowledge can he break through and enter the Rainbow Realm.

Therefore, he has not been idle these past few days. With the help of the Seven Killings Stele, he learned several powerful martial arts secrets from the soul light spots of the Secret King, the Knife River King, and the Black Eagle King.

He learned the Secret King's signature Six Imperial Dao Techniques, and from the Dao River King and the other man, he learned a secret technique called the Mysterious Netherworld Ghost Transformation Technique.

This secret technique can transform a person's soul into a special state called Heavenly Ghost, which is the foundation of the Ghost Nether Sect.

Heavenly demons can cross world barriers and possess the bodies of others to descend, but they need to go through a series of complicated preparations.

After transforming into a celestial demon, the soul gained many special abilities, such as becoming ethereal and spitting ghost fire.

These powerful techniques all became part of Han Qing's accumulated knowledge, making his foundation even stronger and allowing him to steadily advance towards the Rainbow Realm.

He felt that as long as he continued to learn new secret techniques and deepen his knowledge, he would eventually be able to enter the Rainbow Realm, and that day would not be too far away.

As Han Qing pondered, he suddenly saw a caravan entering the city in the distance. In the darkness, many people held torches and galloped at high speed on horseback, like a fiery dragon crawling on the ground.

Even from a great distance, Han Qing's gaze swept across the carriage and he could already see what goods it was carrying: salt, or more accurately, smuggled salt.

The imperial court forbids the sale of smuggled salt, but the Chen family is deeply entrenched in Haizhou and has infiltrated every aspect of society. Therefore, they disregard the laws of the court and sell smuggled salt on a large scale, and the court has always turned a blind eye to it.

Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly sensed something: "Hmm?"

boom!
With a loud bang, a beam of moonlight descended from the sky, splashing onto the convoy and its entourage.

At second glance, it wasn't moonlight at all, but clearly a gleaming blade of light.

The swordsman was very strong, and the sword light was exquisite, like moonlight. It could draw upon the power of heaven and earth, covering all directions, and had reached an extremely refined level.

Then, an astonishing scene unfolded: the bodies of the warrior grooms, still galloping in the caravan, were silently sliced ​​to pieces, turning into a cloud of blood mist.

Thousands of people were reduced to a pile of blood and gore in the blink of an eye. A gust of wind blew, and a red mist seemed to rise from the horizon, carrying the stench of blood to an extremely distant place.

"Chen Liuyun!"

Han Qing uttered a name.

Others might not know, but he recognized that this strike had the shadow of the Liuyun Huanfeng Blade.

He used to use this sword technique frequently, but now that he has reached his current level, it is no longer sufficient, so he hasn't touched it for a long time.

Suddenly, a deep, powerful male voice echoed through the world.

"Selling contraband salt is a capital offense! Chen Yannian, get out here now!"

The sound was extremely loud, like ocean waves, and spread throughout the entire Danqing City in an instant, startling many people awake from their dreams.

Danqing City.

In a pavilion of the Chen family manor, Chen Yannian was discussing important matters with two people: one was the founding emperor of the Great Shun Dynasty, and the other was the Heavenly Wolf King.

Upon hearing these words, the three reacted differently: the Wolf King remained expressionless, the Great Emperor of Da Shun frowned slightly, and Chen Yannian stood up.

"Someone's provoking me? I'll go check it out!"

The Chen family had been smuggling salt for decades, even centuries, and no one had ever spoken out. But now, suddenly someone was shouting and yelling. He wasn't afraid, but he was filled with murderous intent.

"Return immediately!" said the Great Emperor Taizu of the Great Shun Dynasty.

"it is good."

Chen Yannian picked up a pen and flew out of the manor, heading straight for the outskirts of the city, accompanied by several experts from the Chen family.

"So it was you, Chen Liuyun. You still haven't given up? My Chen family of Haizhou will never bow down to you. Although we share the same surname, Chen, we have no relation to each other anymore."

Chen Yannian stroked his goatee and recognized the enemy as Chen Liuyun.

There was no major conflict between the two, but the conflict between the Chen family of Haizhou and the Chen family of Kyoto was quite significant.

The Chen family of Kyoto called themselves the main family and wanted to lead the Chen family branches in various places. However, after the Chen family of Haizhou grew stronger, they did not want to obey the main family's orders, which led to many conflicts between the two sides.

At this moment, Chen Yannian glanced around and saw the corpses all over the ground. His face turned ashen, but he did not rush to take action because he felt that something was wrong.

Yesterday, the King of the Heavenly Wolf had just entered the city, and today Chen Liuyun came to cause trouble. Was Chen Liuyun here to rob this cart of smuggled salt? He didn't think so. If he wanted to rob it, he would have done it long ago. Why wait until now? Besides, it wouldn't make a difference. He could just push a few scapegoats out, and the imperial court wouldn't dare to really exterminate the Chen family of Haizhou.

In short, something fishy was going on here; it was too much of a coincidence. He decided to wait and see.

Unexpectedly, Chen Liuyun's next words sent chills down his spine.

"Colluding with the Great Shun Emperor is a crime deserving of death. Today, I am here on His Majesty's orders to kill you. You don't need to resist. Just surrender obediently and hand over to Danqing City. After I capture and kill the Great Shun Emperor, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll just give you a quick and decisive blow to send you on your way!" Chen Liuyun spoke calmly, stroking the knife in his hand. The blade was covered with fine dragon scales, which shimmered with golden light in the sunlight.

Chen Yannian's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself, "Have we been exposed?"
However, he remained calm and said, "Chen Liuyun, don't make false accusations. I am loyal to the Emperor and the court."

"Since you refuse to back down, don't blame me. Take action!"

With a low shout from Chen Liuyun, a dozen figures descended from the sky, each one extremely powerful, instantly surrounding Chen Yannian and the others.

Chen Yannian's expression changed drastically. These people were actually eunuchs in red and purple robes from the palace, and each of them was incredibly strong in combat.

However, he could not simply surrender, and a chaotic battle suddenly broke out.

Chen Yannian is quite capable. He follows the Confucian and Taoist schools of thought. Holding an ink brush, he writes with great skill, manifesting various scriptures and drawing upon the power of heaven and earth to create various spells to attack and kill powerful enemies.

However, Chen Liuyun came prepared and had an absolute advantage in numbers. These eunuchs were all highly skilled fighters kept in the palace. Under the siege of many, Chen Yannian was quickly suppressed.

In an instant, the sky outside Danqing City was in chaos, with flashes of bright light and streaks of fire falling from the sky, setting large swaths of forest ablaze.

The loud crackling noises startled the townspeople, causing widespread panic. Han Qing observed from a distance, making no move. He had a clear understanding of these people's strength; they were indeed powerful, but their strength depended on who they were compared to. Most of them were at the initial Martial Saint or Incense Realm level, whom he didn't take seriously at all.

Although these people are numerous, it is wishful thinking for Emperor Yu to think that he can capture or kill the Great Shun Emperor. Therefore, this is just an appetizer, and the real big shots have not yet appeared.

As expected, Chen Liuyun seized an opening and suddenly unleashed a bright blade of light, cleaving through Chen Yannian's protective spirit armor and severing one of his arms to the ground.

Chen Yannian was greatly alarmed and shouted loudly, "I beg the King of Chuang to lend a hand!"

At this moment, he no longer cared about pretending to be a loyal subject of the court. He knew that the court must have found out everything and that today they wanted to take his life and the life of the Chen family of Haizhou.

As he shouted, Chen Liuyun continued his actions, raising his hand to unleash another bright blade of light, aiming to kill him.

At this critical juncture, a figure suddenly soared into the sky from within Danqing City. He was tall and wore a flat-topped crown. Thick blood mist floated around him, resembling a sea of ​​blood. It was none other than the Great Emperor Taizu of the Great Shun Dynasty.

He suddenly threw a punch from a distance, using his signature secret technique, the King Chuang Fist.

With this punch, a tremendous force surged forth from the fist, instantly transforming into a vortex that distorted space. The blade light vanished in an instant, and Chen Liuyun and the others dodged. However, two eunuchs were a beat too slow and were suddenly drawn into the vortex, turning into a vortex of flesh and blood.

These two, one a beginner Martial Saint and the other a Saint of Incense Offering Realm, were instantly killed, shocking the palace eunuchs so much that they dared not make another move. Chen Yannian thus gained the opportunity to escape and turned away from Chen Liuyun and the others.

Emperor Taizu of Da Shun swept his gaze across the sky, first landing on Chen Liuyun, then slightly raising his eyes upwards, his gaze seemingly piercing through the clouds and mist, seeing the scene above the heavens.

"These few pieces of trash think they can capture or kill me? That's wishful thinking! Han Yi, come out here!"

Emperor Taizu of Da Shun could sense that someone was spying on him from the sky, but he was unsure who it was or how many there were, so he casually called out Han Yi's name.

"Li Chuang, you should have died in the past long ago, why do you still linger on in this wretched state?"

Suddenly, a figure descended from the sky, his voice extremely cold; it was Han Yi.

His posture was upright, with his hands behind his back, wearing a red crown, and his eyes were like a deep abyss, showing no sign of joy or anger.

"I didn't expect it to really be you. If you were in your true form, I would be somewhat afraid of you, but since it's just an avatar, I don't take it seriously at all." Emperor Taizu of Da Shun sneered.

Not far away, Han Qing watched the battle with great interest. He couldn't see the outcome of this battle. Compared with the last time they met, the Great Shun Emperor's strength had increased again, but he didn't know exactly how much. He just felt that his aura had become deeper and more powerful.

The one facing Han Yi was indeed an avatar, but how strong this avatar was depended entirely on the original body's will. If it was divided into three parts of its heart and blood, that would be three parts of its combat power; if it was divided into seven parts of its vital energy, that would be seven parts.

"You insignificant ants, you stray dogs, dare to call yourselves emperors? This is utter disrespect! I will kill you!"

A murderous glint flashed in Han Yi's eyes, and with a whoosh, he flew out, his aura seemingly disappearing into the world. Apart from Han Yi, no one else could detect his presence.

"open!"

With a low shout, Han Yi appeared at the edge of the rolling sea of ​​blood and threw a punch.

In an instant, a terrifying force shot out from his fist, rushing forward at high speed through the sea of ​​blood. Countless Yin soldiers hiding within it collided with this immense force, becoming as fragile as paper, and were utterly shattered and collapsed.

Visible to the naked eye, a passage several feet wide appeared in the sea of ​​blood, rushing toward the Great Emperor Taizu of the Great Shun Dynasty at an extremely fast speed.

Emperor Taizu of Da Shun narrowed his eyes and threw a punch, another King Chuang Fist.

The two fists collided violently in mid-air, and with a thud, the center of the sea of ​​blood suddenly exploded, dispersing a large amount of blood-red mist and revealing a hollow area.

Emperor Taizu of Da Shun had a solemn expression. He felt an immense pressure rolling in from the front, as if he were carrying a mountain.

If even a mere clone possesses such terrifying combat power, he doubts he would have any chance of winning if the real body were to come in person, and he wouldn't even have a chance to escape.

Not far away, Han Qing frowned. He vaguely felt that Han Yi had become stronger. It wasn't that he was referring to the punch, but rather that the martial arts intent had become more magnificent and irresistible.

Although he wasn't involved in the battle, Han Yi was too strong. When he threw a punch, the world was filled with white light, and even those tens of thousands of miles away could feel the immense power of his attack.

To judge the strength of a martial artist, in addition to observing their qi and blood and their aura, one can also observe and feel their true martial arts intent. The more magnificent and oppressive it is, the higher their realm and the more terrifying their combat power.

However, Han Qing quickly calmed down. It was normal for Han Yi to become stronger; he was a martial arts genius to begin with.

But no matter how strong he is, he is not afraid. With the help of the Seven Killings Stele, it won't be long before he becomes like Han Yi. No matter how fast he grows, he can't compare to him.

At this moment, Han Yi came up with a new move, spreading his five fingers forward and suddenly grabbing at something in the air.

Click!

Thunder rumbled in the sky, and chains of lightning appeared out of thin air, weaving together to form a net that sealed off the Great Emperor of the Shun Dynasty from all directions. Then, the net suddenly contracted, attempting to bind him.

Han Qing was very familiar with this move; it was a signature secret technique from the Heavenly Punishment Technique, capable of forcibly locking the enemy's soul, and was extremely domineering.

Emperor Taizu of the Great Shun Dynasty made a grabbing motion from afar, and a blood-red battle axe appeared in his hand. Its name was Zhu Huo, which was one of the important national treasures of the Great Shun Dynasty.

He held the axe in both hands and suddenly cleaved it through the air, the axe blade striking fiercely at the chains of lightning that filled the sky and earth.

In an instant, the interwoven chains collapsed, turning into wisps of electric arcs that scattered across the heavens and earth.

But taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Yi suddenly flashed away, creating countless figures that flew towards Emperor Taizu of Da Shun from all directions.

With a low shout, the latter unleashed a surge of blood, launching an attack on the figures from all directions. Most of these figures collapsed and were annihilated, but one figure managed to charge right up to the Great Ancestor of the Great Shun Dynasty and deliver a punch.

Emperor Taizu of Da Shun was unable to dodge in time. His magic weapon was knocked into the air by a punch, and even his protective armor could not withstand the domineering force of the punch. It suddenly collapsed and turned into fragments that scattered in the Milky Way.

The Great Ancestor of the Great Shun Dynasty turned into a cloud of blood mist, his soul was even scattered, and wisps of his divine thoughts flew everywhere.

Chen Yannian was shocked; he hadn't expected the difference in strength to be so great.

Han Yi, standing not far away, remained calm. Han Yi was already a mid-level Martial Saint, while the Great Shun Emperor was only a beginner. This was the consequence of being approached at close range.

The movement techniques and fist skills that Han Yi just displayed contained boundless mysteries that he could not even see clearly. Naturally, the Great Emperor of Da Shun could not resist them unless he could restore his full strength and transform.

Having succeeded in his attack, Han Yi reached out and grabbed all 70,000 descending magical thoughts.

In the blink of an eye, he took away 30,000 Dharma thoughts. When the remaining 40,000 were about to be gathered and taken away, the situation changed again.

Suddenly, a huge phantom of a wolf's claw appeared out of thin air and slammed down on Han Yi from above.

Han Yi's gaze sharpened, and he raised his hand and threw a punch. Boom! The Wolf-Slaying Claw was shattered in mid-air, turning into a gust of wind and scattering between heaven and earth.

Sure enough, within a few breaths, Han Qing had arrived at the very center. There was a huge plaza here, paved with layers of gray-white bone plates with blood-red patterns on them, and in the center of the plaza was a pool of blood. (End of this chapter)