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

The suspension bridge's iron chains creaked painfully in the cold wind, as if groaning under unbearable weight. The carriage wheels chugged and thudded against the frost-covered wooden planks.

"stop!"

Just as the carriage was about to cross the drawbridge and enter the black gate of Snowcloth Castle, which resembled the gaping maw of a giant beast, two cold and harsh shouts suddenly rang out.

Two Snowcoat Fortress guards, clad in heavy silver armor and their faces completely obscured by visors, stepped forward like lifeless ice sculptures. Two long halberds, gleaming with a chilling blue light, crossed, blocking the carriage's path.

"This is the most important territory of Snowcloth Fortress. Trespassers will die!" The guard on the left had a hoarse voice, exuding a chilling aura of perpetual darkness, as if he were a demon crawling out of hell.

Inside the carriage, the deep voice rang out again, this time carrying an undisguised chilling killing intent: "Your Majesty, these two ants are an eyesore. I will go and crush them right away."

"Wait a minute." Li Chengze's lazy voice came from inside the carriage, tinged with nonchalance. "Even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner. We're here as guests, not to slaughter a village. Since the host is putting on airs, we should naturally give them face."

As soon as the words were spoken, a slender, fair hand with distinct knuckles gently lifted the heavy windproof velvet curtain of the carriage.

Li Chengze was still wearing that expensive white fox fur coat. He didn't even stand up, but leaned against the soft couch in the carriage, slightly raised his eyelids, and glanced at the two guards through the crack in the carriage window.

Just one glance.

"boom!"

An indescribable terrifying aura emanated from Li Chengze's carriage, erupting like a volcano that had been suppressed for millions of years, sweeping outwards with a deafening roar!

The moment this aura erupted, the swirling snowflakes seemed to be paused, eerily suspended in mid-air.

Immediately afterwards, the wind and snow within a radius of ten feet around the carriage were instantly dispelled by an invisible force, forming an absolute vacuum zone!

"Snap! Snap!"

The two once arrogant Snowcloak Fortress guards didn't even have time to utter a scream before they felt a terrifying force, like Mount Tai crashing down on their shoulders.

Their incredibly tough steel armor was as fragile as paper in the face of this oppressive force, instantly becoming covered with countless cracks.

"Thump! Thump!"

The knees of the two guards slammed heavily onto the wooden planks of the suspension bridge, creating two deep dents in the hard ironwood.

Their bodies were pinned to the ground, unable to move, and their eyes beneath their helmets were filled with unprecedented terror, as if they had seen a god descend.

Li Chengze withdrew his gaze, picked up the wine glass on the low table, took a small sip of the warm Lanling wine, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

"Bai Yifei, I've come all this way to this godforsaken, freezing place to see you, and you're planning to send these two guard dogs to greet me? This is hardly the way to treat a guest."

Li Chengze's voice wasn't loud, but enveloped by his profound inner energy, it sounded like rolling thunder, piercing through the howling cold wind and the thick city walls, echoing throughout the vast and empty Snow Robe Fortress for a long time.

silence.

A deathly silence.

There was no response from within Snowcoat Castle, but the surrounding air was dropping at an alarming rate.

The snowflakes that had been hovering in mid-air suddenly turned an eerie scarlet red, like a rain of blood falling from the sky. Beneath the dark blue ice in the moat on both sides of the suspension bridge, something seemed to be surging wildly.

"Click click click..."

A chilling sound of ice forming echoed. Streaks of crimson ice, like living venomous snakes, rapidly spread from the depths of Snowcloth Fortress's gates, climbing along the iron chains and wooden planks of the drawbridge towards Li Chengze's carriage.

As the ice vines spread, a pungent, nauseating stench of blood, mixed with extreme cold, assaulted the senses.

"Interesting." Li Chengze put down his wine glass, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

A faint, yet seemingly gentle, sound of footsteps echoed from the darkness deep within the city gates.

A tall and slender figure gradually emerged from the darkness.

He had a head of snow-white silver hair, casually draped over his shoulders.

His skin was so pale it was almost transparent, devoid of any color, like a vampire who had never seen the sun. He wore an extremely ornate blood-red robe, with black sable fur trimmed at the collar and cuffs, and exuded an eerie, noble, yet extremely dangerous aura.

Bai Yifei, the Blood-Clad Marquis, is the leader of the Four Fiends of the Night, the commander of the 100,000 White-Armored Army of South Korea, and the master of Snow-Clad Fortress.

Bai Yifei's hands hung naturally at his sides, and two swords hung on his waist, one on each side.

One was deathly white, radiating a chilling aura; the other was crimson, as if formed from congealed blood.

He stopped three zhang away from the carriage, his eyes, cold and devoid of any human emotion, like those of a venomous snake, fixed on the languid figure inside.

"Your Excellency has quite the grand entrance and such domineering cultivation." Bai Yifei's voice was deep and magnetic, yet it carried an icy chill that kept people at a distance. "You are the first person to dare to be so presumptuous in front of Snow Robe Fortress. I'm curious, is the blood in your head sweeter than that of ordinary people?"

Faced with Bai Yifei's undisguised murderous intent and threat, Li Chengze suddenly laughed.

He was laughing so hard that his shoulders were even trembling slightly.

"Bai Yifei, Bai Yifei, you're good in every way, except you love to play tricks too much." Li Chengze casually picked up a crystal-clear grape and threw it into his mouth, mumbling, "You really think that by sucking the blood of a few women and practicing some low-level evil skills in Snow Robe Fortress, you can become invincible?"

Upon hearing this, a tiny crack finally appeared on Bai Yifei's perpetually icy face. His pupils contracted sharply, and a killing intent ten times more terrifying than before instantly locked onto Li Chengze.

Drinking the blood of young girls to maintain his youth and cultivate his evil arts—this is Bai Yifei's biggest secret, and also the most crucial secret of Snow Robe Fortress! Besides him and his cousin, there could never be a third person in the world who knows this!

"Who exactly are you?" Bai Yifei's hand slowly gripped the hilt of the scarlet sword at her waist. Instantly, countless sharp, blood-red ice spikes condensed in the surrounding air, pointing directly at the carriage.

"Who I am is not important." Li Chengze finally sat up straight, his languid expression vanishing, his gaze becoming deep and sharp, as if he could see through Bai Yifei's soul. "What is important is... reading 'Joy of Life: I, the Second Prince? Summoning Yuan Tiangang!' and enjoying the reading time. I know who you are. I know your mother's secret, I know the flaws in your martial arts, and I know even more... you, Bai Yifei, are, at heart, an extremely proud nobleman."

Li Chengze paused, a hint of sarcasm in his voice: "So, I've never understood. Someone as proud as you, commanding 100,000 White-Armored Soldiers, with unfathomable martial arts skills, why would you willingly submit to that crude butcher Ji Wuye? Nightfall? Heh, in the end, it's nothing more than a tool Ji Wuye uses to amass wealth and eliminate dissidents. You, Bai Yifei, are you really willing to be a knife in Ji Wuye's hand for the rest of your life?"

Bai Yifei sneered inwardly.

What is Ji Wuye? Just a lowly soldier! Bai Yifei, on the other hand, is the oldest and noblest hereditary marquis in Korea! If it weren't for covering up the secrets of Xueyi Fortress, and if it weren't for obtaining a continuous supply of cultivation resources, how could he possibly bow down to Ji Wuye?

"Since you know so much, you should understand that the more you know, the faster you'll die." Bai Yifei took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart, her voice returning to its icy tone, "You came here today just to sow discord between me and the General?"

"Sowing discord? Ji Wuye doesn't even deserve it!" Li Chengze sneered disdainfully. "I'm here today to show you the right path. Ji Wuye's ship is about to sink. Someone has already set their sights on him, and I don't mind adding fuel to the fire behind the scenes. If you continue to follow Ji Wuye, you'll be buried with him sooner or later."

"so what?"

"Therefore, submit to me." Li Chengze stared intently at Bai Yifei, his tone filled with domineering arrogance. "Become my subordinate. I can not only help you resolve the backlash issue of your cultivation technique, freeing you from the dependence on that disgusting blood; I can also give you a vast world beyond your wildest dreams! There, your talent, your ambition, and your army can truly be unleashed!"

"Submit to you?" Bai Yifei seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world. He raised his head and let out a low, cold laugh. "You are far too arrogant. You think you can make me, Bai Yifei, bow down and submit to you based on just a few words? Who do you think you are?"

"Looks like you won't learn your lesson until you see the coffin." Li Chengze sighed, seemingly helpless at Bai Yifei's stubbornness. "Fine. A proud wolf like you won't listen unless you're really beaten."

Li Chengze slowly stood up, lifted the curtain, and stepped out of the carriage.

He stood in the wind and snow, his white fox fur fluttering in the cold wind. He carried no weapons, simply standing with his hands behind his back, quietly watching Bai Yifei.

"Come on, let me see just how much the infamous Blood-Clad Marquis of Korea really is. If you can withstand three of my moves, I'll turn tail and leave immediately, never to set foot in Korea again. But if you lose..." A cold glint flashed in Li Chengze's eyes, "you, and your Snow-Clad Fortress, will forever bear the name of Li Chengze!"

"Extremely arrogant!"

Bai Yifei was completely enraged.

As one of the strongest people in South Korea, how could he have ever been looked down upon like this?

"Clang!"

A clear, crisp sword cry resounded through the sky.

Bai Yifei drew her red and white swords simultaneously from her waist!

In an instant, the world changed color.

The already frigid air seemed to freeze completely at this moment. A thick layer of frost instantly formed on the ground within a hundred feet of Bai Yifei.

"Blood dried up, bones chilled!"

Bai Yifei let out a low shout, and her figure instantly transformed into a red and white afterimage, charging towards Li Chengze at an incredible speed.

His white sword flashed, stirring up a flurry of ice and snow, transforming into a roaring frost dragon that opened its blood-red maw to devour Li Chengze; while his red sword was hidden in the shadow of the ice dragon, transforming into countless thin, yet incredibly sharp, blood-red sword energies, sealing off all of Li Chengze's escape routes.

With this attack, Bai Yifei held nothing back, unleashing his strongest killing move! He intended to tear this arrogant young man to shreds in the most brutal way possible!

Faced with this devastating attack, Li Chengze didn't even blink.

He remained standing with his hands behind his back, as if he hadn't seen the roaring frost dragon at all.

Li Chengze finally moved just as the ice dragon's claws were about to touch his face.

He didn't draw his sword, nor did he use any fancy moves. He simply raised his right hand slowly, extended his index and middle fingers, brought them together like a sword, and then casually pointed forward.

"break."

A very ordinary word came out of Li Chengze's mouth.

However, this seemingly casual gesture seemed to contain the purest and most domineering power in the world!

"Boom!"

A terrifying surge of true energy, visible to the naked eye, erupted from Li Chengze's fingertips. This true energy had no attributes, no color, only pure, ultimate "force"!

Faced with this domineering true energy, Bai Yifei's seemingly indestructible frost dragon was like crashing into an insurmountable ancient divine mountain, instantly letting out a mournful cry.

"Snap! Bang!"

The enormous ice dragon shattered from its head down, turning into countless ice shards that flew wildly in all directions.

"What?!"

Bai Yifei, hidden behind the ice dragon, suddenly narrowed his eyes, his heart filled with shock. He never expected that his proud, deadly attack would be so easily broken by the opponent with just two fingers!

But Bai Yifei was, after all, a top-tier expert who had experienced countless battles. Despite his shock, he reacted extremely quickly. The red sword in his hand suddenly spun, transforming into a scarlet lightning bolt, aimed straight at Li Chengze's throat.

"Good speed, but unfortunately, too weak power."

Li Chengze chuckled lightly, and instead of retracting the finger he had pointed out, he flicked it with his finger.

"clang!"

Li Chengze's fingers struck the spine of Bai Yifei's red sword with perfect precision.

A terrifying, overwhelming force surged wildly into Bai Yifei's body along the sword.

Bai Yifei felt a jolt in his hand, the intense pain making it almost impossible for him to hold the sword. He felt as if he had been struck by an invisible giant hammer, letting out a muffled groan as his body flew uncontrollably backward, covering more than ten zhang before he managed to stabilize himself in mid-air and land on the frozen moat.

"Tick-tock...tick-tock..."

A trickle of bright red blood slowly slid down Bai Yifei's pale lips, dripping onto the pristine white ice surface, appearing exceptionally glaring.

one move.

With just one move, the world-renowned Blood-Clad Marquis was already injured internally!

Bai Yifei stared intently at Li Chengze, her eyes no longer showing the previous disdain and arrogance, but instead filled with deep fear and disbelief.

"Extremely arrogant!"

Bai Yifei was completely enraged.

As one of the strongest people in South Korea, how could he have ever been looked down upon like this?

"Clang!"

A clear, crisp sword cry resounded through the sky.

Bai Yifei drew her red and white swords simultaneously from her waist!

In an instant, the world changed color.

The already frigid air seemed to freeze completely at this moment. A thick layer of frost instantly formed on the ground within a hundred feet of Bai Yifei.

"Blood dried up, bones chilled!"

Bai Yifei let out a low shout, and her figure instantly transformed into a red and white afterimage, charging towards Li Chengze at an incredible speed.

His white sword flashed, stirring up a flurry of ice and snow, transforming into a roaring frost dragon that opened its blood-red maw to devour Li Chengze; while his red sword was hidden in the shadow of the ice dragon, transforming into countless thin, yet incredibly sharp, blood-red sword energies, sealing off all of Li Chengze's escape routes.

With this attack, Bai Yifei held nothing back, unleashing his strongest killing move! He intended to tear this arrogant young man to shreds in the most brutal way possible!

Faced with this devastating attack, Li Chengze didn't even blink.

He remained standing with his hands behind his back, as if he hadn't seen the roaring frost dragon at all.

Li Chengze finally moved just as the ice dragon's claws were about to touch his face.

He didn't draw his sword, nor did he use any fancy moves. He simply raised his right hand slowly, extended his index and middle fingers, brought them together like a sword, and then casually pointed forward.

"break."

A very ordinary word came out of Li Chengze's mouth.

However, this seemingly casual gesture seemed to contain the purest and most domineering power in the world!

"Boom!"

A terrifying surge of true energy, visible to the naked eye, erupted from Li Chengze's fingertips. This true energy had no attributes, no color, only pure, ultimate "force"!

Faced with this domineering true energy, Bai Yifei's seemingly indestructible frost dragon was like crashing into an insurmountable ancient divine mountain, instantly letting out a mournful cry.

"Snap! Bang!"

The enormous ice dragon shattered from its head down, turning into countless ice shards that flew wildly in all directions.

"What?!"

Bai Yifei, hidden behind the ice dragon, suddenly narrowed his eyes, his heart filled with shock. He never expected that his proud, deadly attack would be so easily broken by the opponent with just two fingers!

But Bai Yifei was, after all, a top-tier expert who had experienced countless battles. Despite his shock, he reacted extremely quickly. The red sword in his hand suddenly spun, transforming into a scarlet lightning bolt, aimed straight at Li Chengze's throat.

"Good speed, but unfortunately, too weak power."

Li Chengze chuckled lightly, and instead of retracting the finger he had pointed out, he flicked it with his finger.

"clang!"

Li Chengze's fingers struck the spine of Bai Yifei's red sword with perfect precision.

A terrifying, overwhelming force surged wildly into Bai Yifei's body along the sword.

Bai Yifei felt a jolt in his hand, the intense pain making it almost impossible for him to hold the sword. He felt as if he had been struck by an invisible giant hammer, letting out a muffled groan as his body flew uncontrollably backward, covering more than ten zhang before he managed to stabilize himself in mid-air and land on the frozen moat.

"Tick-tock...tick-tock..."

A trickle of bright red blood slowly slid down Bai Yifei's pale lips, dripping onto the pristine white ice surface, appearing exceptionally glaring.

one move.

With just one move, the world-renowned Blood-Clad Marquis was already injured internally!

Bai Yifei stared intently at Li Chengze, her eyes no longer showing the previous disdain and arrogance, but instead filled with deep fear and disbelief.