Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

Three days later.

The teams from the five factions arrived at the perimeter of the Azure Dragon Society headquarters.

The Antarctic Sword Sect arrived first.

Master Xuanbing stood with his hands behind his back, followed by Ling Yunzi, Ling Xiaozi, and two elders. The five of them exuded a unified aura, like an ice peak pressing down, causing the temperature within a radius of several miles to drop to freezing point.

"This is the headquarters of the Azure Dragon Society?" Master Xuanbing looked at the complex of buildings in front of him with an indifferent gaze and a hint of disdain on his lips. "Nothing special."

Ling Yunzi stepped forward and said respectfully, "Elder, Li Chenzhou is inside. According to intelligence, he is a Grandmaster at the fifth level, and his fist intent is domineering. However—with your cultivation at the seventh level, Elder, taking his life would be as easy as taking candy from a baby."

"Fifth Heaven?" Xuanbing Zhenren scoffed. "Mere ants."

He raised his chin, his voice not loud, yet clear and resounding like shattering ice, echoing throughout the entire world: "Let him out."

Before he finished speaking, the doors of the Azure Dragon Society headquarters slowly opened.

Li Chenzhou came out.

He was all alone.

He stood with his hands behind his back, clad in a black robe, his face as calm as a still pond. His steps were unhurried, each one following the same rhythm, as if he were not preparing for battle, but strolling leisurely.

Master Xuanbing sized him up, frowning slightly—he couldn't quite fathom the young man's true strength. But his pride as a Seventh Heaven cultivator quickly suppressed that doubt.

"So you're Li Chenzhou?" Xuanbing Zhenren said coldly. "A fifth-level Grandmaster, you're not bad. But you're nothing compared to me."

"Whether it's good enough or not, we'll know after we fight," Li Chenzhou said calmly, his voice neither loud nor soft, revealing no emotion.

"Hand over the Dragon Blood Ginseng King and the Yin-Yang Life and Death Dew, and I may spare your life," said True Man Xuanbing. "Otherwise, you will be expelled from the Azure Dragon Society today."

"Want the treasure—" Li Chenzhou slightly raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife, "Come and take it if you have the ability."

A chilling glint flashed in Xuanbing Zhenren's eyes: "You're courting death!"

He unleashed a palm strike, a full-force attack from a Grandmaster at the seventh level. The palm wind was like a glacier collapsing, changing the color of the sky and earth. The biting cold air condensed into an ice dragon, roaring as it rushed towards Li Chenzhou.

Li Chenzhou did not move.

He didn't even take a step back.

The ice dragon roared in, the wind whipping his black robes into a fluttering sound. Just as the chill was about to engulf him, he slowly raised his right hand, his fingers loosely clenched—

He threw a punch.

Rule the world!

The intent of his fist was as solid as a mountain, as majestic as a peak, like an emperor looking down upon all living beings from the heavens. That domineering and unparalleled aura was even more magnificent and arrogant than the ice dragon of True Immortal Xuanbing.

boom--!

Their fists and palms collided, producing a deafening roar.

A surge of air swept through the air, scattering a whole layer of bluestone slabs into countless fragments. Ling Yunzi and the other three paled in shock, desperately trying to defend themselves, but were still forced back more than ten steps by the shockwave.

And Xuanbing Zhenren—

It flew backwards.

He tumbled through the air like a thrown pebble, rolling seven or eight times before crashing heavily to the ground, sliding dozens of feet away. His clothes were torn at the chest, revealing a deep fist-shaped gash, and blood gushed from the corner of his mouth.

"You...!" Xuanbing Zhenren struggled to his feet, his pupils shrinking, his voice trembling, "You're not a Fifth Heaven cultivator!"

Li Chenzhou did not answer.

He strode forward.

With a single step, the overwhelming pressure of a Grandmaster at the eighth level was released without reservation. The heavens and earth changed color, the wind and clouds swirled, and the air within a hundred feet radius became as thick as syrup. Xuanbing Zhenren felt as if he were being crushed by a mountain, making it difficult to breathe.

"Eight...Eighth Heaven?!"

Xuanbing Zhenren's voice was almost squeezed out of his throat.

He never imagined that the Azure Dragon Society leader, who was rumored to be only at the fifth level of the Heavenly Realm, would actually be a terrifying eighth-level being. And he, at the seventh level, was like a cat standing in front of an elephant compared to an eighth-level being.

"Ling Yunzi! Ling Xiaozi! Elders! Attack together!" Xuanbing Zhenren shouted sharply, "No matter how strong he is, he's only one person!"

The four men exchanged a glance and simultaneously drew their swords.

Four sword energies pierced the air, striking Li Chenzhou from four directions—Ling Yunzi at the fourth level, Ling Xiaozi at the third level, and the two elders each at the fourth level. The combined power of the four swords was enough to threaten even a sixth-level expert.

But in the face of the Eighth Heaven, it's nothing but a joke.

Li Chenzhou didn't even glance at the four sword energies.

He simply flicked his sleeve.

The wind from his sleeve was like a knife, shattering all four sword energies. Ling Yunzi and his companions were struck as if by lightning, spitting out blood as they flew backward and crashed heavily to the ground, unable to get up again.

"Next, it's your turn."

Li Chenzhou's gaze fell on Xuanbing Zhenren.

Master Xuanbing's face turned deathly pale; he knew he couldn't escape. But as the tenth elder of the Antarctic Sword Sect, he was absolutely unwilling to surrender and await his death.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

He bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood essence that turned into a blood mist that enveloped his body. That was the forbidden technique of the Antarctic Sword Sect—the Ice Blood Burning Heaven Technique, which forcibly raised one's cultivation level by a small realm at the cost of burning one's blood essence.

Peak of the Seventh Heaven!

Xuanbing Zhenren's aura surged, his eyes turned blood red, and his entire body transformed into a streak of blood light, rushing towards Li Chenzhou with the force of a collapsing glacier.

Li Chenzhou looked at the streak of blood, his eyes showing no emotion, only a faint trace of pity.

"Even burning his life essence, he's only at the peak of the seventh level."

He raised his right fist.

This punch had no fancy moves, no techniques, only pure power—a full-force strike from the peak of the eighth level of the Heavenly Realm.

The Emperor reigns supreme, but the land is shattered!

A punch is thrown.

It seemed as if only this one punch remained in the world.

Wherever the fist's force passed, the air was torn apart, and a deep trench was plowed into the ground. The moment the blood-red light collided with the fist's force, Master Xuanbing let out a shrill scream.

Then, the blood dissipated.

Xuanbing Zhenren's figure fell out of the blood mist, a fist-sized bloody hole running through his chest. He glanced down at the hole, then looked up at Li Chenzhou, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.

In the end, he didn't say anything.

He fell straight down and died.

Grandmaster of the seventh level, tenth elder of the Antarctic Sword Sect, Xuanbing Zhenren—dead.

震慑

Li Chenzhou withdrew his fist and stood with his hands behind his back.

His gaze swept over the four people, including Ling Yunzi, lying on the ground. Although they were not dead, they were severely injured and unable to get up, their eyes filled with fear and despair.

"Go back to the Antarctic Sword Sect." Li Chenzhou's voice wasn't loud, but it pierced the four people's ears like an ice pick. "Tell your sect leader—the Azure Dragon Society—that not just anyone can come and trample on him."

Ling Yunzi struggled to his feet and, with the help of the other three, scrambled away from the battlefield.

They didn't even dare to look back.

Li Chenzhou stood alone outside the headquarters gate, his black robe fluttering in the wind. At his feet lay the corpse of Xuanbing Zhenren. Behind him stood the silent, mountain-like headquarters of the Azure Dragon Society.

On a distant mountaintop, the imperial spies put down their pens.

His hands were shaking.

It wasn't the cold, but the fear. He had witnessed a Grandmaster of the Seventh Heaven Realm be killed by Li Chenzhou with three punches—the first punch severely injured him, the second shattered his sword, and the third killed him. The whole process took less than ten breaths.

"Eighth Heaven..." the spy muttered to himself, "The leader of the Azure Dragon Society is actually at the Eighth Heaven..."

He quickly wrote the last line on the secret report: "Li Chenzhou, a Grandmaster at the eighth level, killed Xuanbing Zhenren with a single punch. The Azure Dragon Society is unfathomable; I suggest the court reassess it."

On a distant mountaintop, a monk from Qinglong Temple clasped his hands together and chanted Buddhist mantras, but the cold sweat on his forehead betrayed the shock he felt.

"Amitabha..." he murmured, "The dragon head of the eighth heaven, and those two swordsmen at the peak of the fifth heaven... just how deep is the Azure Dragon Society's foundation?"

No one could answer him.