All the heavens, starting with Little Li Flying Dagger

Chapter 204 Encirclement and reinforcements
Standing beside Li Shimin was a tall, slender man, elegant and refined. Most striking was his appearance, a naturally beautiful face, like a lotus emerging from clear water, unadorned and exquisite.
Her compassionate and empathetic demeanor made her seem like a celestial maiden descended to earth.
Clearly, this man was a woman disguised as a man, and she did not make any effort to conceal her female identity.

With just a gentle shove, even a king like Li Shimin felt his breathing quicken slightly, which shows that this Brother Qin was exceptionally handsome.

Even though Li Shimin had already guessed the identity of this Qin Chuan brother, he couldn't help but be tempted by worldly desires.

"As the Taoists say, reversal is the movement of the Tao; the Buddhists also say that the worm inside the lion's body eats the lion's flesh."

Qin Chuan sighed softly.
"The actions of this Demonic Emperor may seem absurd, but they are meticulously planned. If he only seeks to become king and dominate, he will be a formidable opponent for you, Brother Li."

"Most importantly, this Holy Emperor doesn't just want to be an emperor, but a god-king, with divine authority bestowed upon him himself."

"It's absolutely terrifying."

As a Buddhist, and also exceptionally intelligent, she was even more able to see through the true nature of Wang Gan's actions.

Wang Gan's goal was not merely to unify the world, but to unify 'monarchical power' and 'divine power', and to become the true 'god-king' who looked down upon all living beings!
Li Shimin's expression changed immediately, and he realized what was happening.

"This"

"Wouldn't that be going against all doctrines?!"

The desire to become the sole god, unifying monarchical and divine power, is something even Confucianism has failed to achieve, because Confucianism only focuses on governing the world and ignores gods and Buddhas, which is why it has lasted for so many years.

Nowadays, divine authority belongs to Buddhism and Taoism. If a king dares to unify divine authority and monarchical authority, he will undoubtedly be fighting against the three most terrifying forces in the world!
"That's why I said this person's ambition is terrifying, unprecedented in history."

Qin Chuan's expression was complicated.

As a representative of Buddhism, she naturally could not sit idly by and watch this situation happen. Therefore, Li Shimin's question about how a holy emperor should be a ruler was completely nonsense.

To Buddhism and Taoism, this Holy Emperor is clearly an unprecedented great demon king!
"But such ambition is more difficult than unifying the world; it is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

Li Shimin's gaze was deep, his heart equally filled with complex emotions.

"The moment Wang Gan emerged and reclaimed the Eastern Sea, he had already offended all the major powers in the land,"

"He also claimed to be a holy emperor, seized the Longevity Formula and Yang Gong's Treasure Trove, and even offended the Song Clan. So that's why he acted so extremely!"

Even with Li Shimin's magnanimity and ambition, he never imagined such an extravagant thing.
He naturally knew the way of a king: the fewer enemies, the more friends. But this king dared to do the opposite, clearly making an enemy of the world!

"Making too many enemies is not the way of a king. Putting everything else aside, let's see if this king can get through this hurdle before we talk about anything else."

Li Shimin took a deep breath.

Although he was amazed by Wang Gan's ambition, he didn't think Wang Gan could go all the way.

Qin Chuan did not respond to this, but instead gazed silently at the Dongming ships not far away.

Wang Gan's actions were nothing short of unorthodox; he would have to forcefully overcome each obstacle to live up to his divine kingly demeanor.

She felt a vague unease. If Wang Gan failed to pass this test, he would become a rat crossing the street. Even if he managed to escape, everyone would still want to kill him, and he would become the same kind of person as the Demonic Sect.

But if we get through this hurdle...
the other side,
Shan Meixian was initially relieved when she saw that the Li clan's ships hadn't followed, assuming that Li Yuan had gotten bored and given up on his idea.

But the report from her subordinates made Shan Meixian's expression change.
"Ma'am, it's not good!"

"Suddenly, many ships appeared ahead and surrounded us!"

"And they're all warships!"

Shan Meixian's expression changed slightly.
"What kind of force, what kind of people?!"

His subordinates reported back, and some were also somewhat panicked.

"It looks like Du Fuwei's warship, and the Sea Sand Gang too!" Shan Meixian frowned deeply.
Du Fuwei was famous for his "Universe in the Sleeve" technique. He was extremely skilled in martial arts and was a formidable figure among grandmasters. After revolting and establishing himself, he swiftly unified the Jianghuai region and became a powerful warlord who controlled a region. He also had some business dealings with the Dongming Sect.

This person is ruthless and decisive, and he won't do anything without a profit. This time, his siege of the Dongming faction is probably not aimed at Dongming, but at Wang Gan!

As for the Hai Sha Gang, they are lackeys of the Yuwen Clan and naturally came to cause trouble for Wang Gan. The Yuwen Clan did not dare to openly use their private troops, but instead used the name of the Hai Sha Gang. It is unknown when these two guys got together.

"It's Li Yuan!?"

Shan Meixian instantly realized why Li Yuan hadn't come along earlier.
It was he who leaked the location of the Dongming ships, giving the information to Du Fuwei and his group, which allowed them to set up such a trap!
"That old bastard! He's truly treacherous!"

Dan Meixian looked grim as she gazed at the imposing warships surrounding her, with rows of elite soldiers lined up on them—probably numbering in the tens of thousands. She knew that they had laid a trap to deal with Wang Gan!

Shan Meixian sighed.

"I only hope that the Holy Emperor will learn of this conspiracy and take good care of Wanjing."

Knowing that Bian Bufu had become a cripple, Shan Meixian had no regrets in this life. The only thing she couldn't let go of was her daughter.

After Shan Meixian's ships were completely surrounded, the surrounding warships remained motionless, and a silent stillness spread across the river. It was clearly an open and obvious strategy—to besiege a point and then attack reinforcements!

The aid they received was naturally from Wang Gan, who was not far from here and located in Dongping County!
"With nearly ten thousand elite troops surrounding them, and still on the water, how could Wang Gan be so stupid as to just barge in?"

Yuwen Wudi spoke, his tone somewhat uncertain.

Although he also wanted to avenge his brother Yuwen Huaji, he was also worried that Wang Gan would not fall for it.

After all, this was Du Fuwei's veteran camp and the elite troops secretly stockpiled by the Yuwen family. They were all battle-tested and well-equipped. Even if the three grandmasters came, they would have to suffer greatly before they could leave.

Not to mention, if Wang Gan were to come to rescue people, he would have to bring a bunch of burdens with him.

Indeed, with such a large army, even a top-tier expert would be nothing more than a burden, unable to cause any trouble.

Only top-tier experts at the Grandmaster level have a chance to escape. In fact, if they are assisted by several top-tier Grandmasters, it would not be surprising if the Grandmaster were ambushed and killed on the spot.

The so-called grandmaster's ability to influence the course of battle is merely to assassinate generals or lead small elite troops to advance into local battlefields.

However, the grandmasters of this world are all of extremely high spiritual realm, with a divine connection between heaven and man and divine enlightenment. It would be almost impossible to trap them in such an encirclement.

A stern-looking man, about fifty years old and wearing a tall crown, spoke up, his expression carrying a depth that didn't match his appearance.

“This Wang Gan has acted so arrogantly all the way, offending most of the powers in the world, yet he makes no attempt to conceal his tracks. I knew he was an extremely arrogant person.”

Du Fuwei sneered, confident of success.

"I guessed right, he will definitely come to rescue Shan Meixian, and he'll be all alone,"

"But you'd better remember what we said back then: you want your secret to immortality, and I want my Yang Gong Treasure Trove!"

Yuwen Wudi snorted coldly, his tone chilling.

"What talk of immortality? It's just that Yang Guang has gone mad and insisted on throwing my brother's life into it."

"All I want now is for that Wang Gan to die!"

Upon hearing this, Du Fuwei felt even more mocking.

This Yuwen Wudi is clearly a reckless brute, far inferior to Yuwen Shang. He's still working under Yang Guang, yet he dares to speak so rudely.
Since that's the case, he not only wants Yang Gong's treasure trove, but also the Longevity Formula!

(End of this chapter)