Chapter 339: The Fall of Great Xia

Seeing Chong Li’s attitude and hearing Xuan Mo’s words, Yi Xiaoyao seemed to understand something.

Chong Li shot Xuan Mo a dissatisfied look and said, “Alright! You’ve seen what you wanted to see and saved who you wanted to save. Now, return with me to Lihuang immediately!”

“Master, I want to say goodbye to my brother before we leave,” Xuan Mo pleaded earnestly.

Chong Li didn’t say a word. He simply took a step away and began to wait at a distance.

Xuan Mo gave Yi Xiaoyao a sheepish chuckle. “Xiaoyao, my master won’t let me get involved in these conflicts. This is all I could do to help.”

Yi Xiaoyao understood that Xuan Mo felt apologetic for not being able to join him in the war against Great Xia, so he just shook his head and smiled.

“Xuan Mo, you’ve saved my life twice now. Especially this time—you played a crucial role in conquering Great Xia!”

Yi Xiaoyao then laughed. “Besides, we’re brothers. There’s no need for any of this.”

“Right! Xiaoyao’s right. We’re brothers!”

Jin Sanbao had run over at some point and chimed in.

Hearing this, Xuan Mo nodded emphatically.

“Sanbao, looks like you’re doing well for yourself following Xiaoyao, huh?”

As they were about to part, Xuan Mo became more talkative, especially with Jin Sanbao.

Jin Sanbao shrugged. “How could I compare to you? You’ve got such a powerful master. He scared off Xiaoyao’s mortal enemy with a single sentence.”

Xuan Mo smiled. “I have to go. Why don’t the two of you come with me to Lihuang?”

“No, no, absolutely not! Your master is too scary. I don’t want to have to face him all day,” Jin Sanbao said, waving his hands dismissively.

Xuan Mo shook his head and turned to Yi Xiaoyao.

“Xiaoyao, what about you?”

“Me?” Yi Xiaoyao hesitated for a moment before giving a slight shake of his head.

Xuan Mo was taken aback and frowned. “My master said that in the Great Yu’s Eight Desolates, Lihuang alone is far beyond anything in Great Xia. You once said you wanted to become the strongest man in the world. You should come with me and venture into a bigger world.”

‘Great Yu’s Eight Desolates?’

Yi Xiaoyao couldn’t help but recall Ink Owl’s parting words and smiled faintly. “Who said I’m not going? It’s just not the right time. I still have some things to take care of here. I’ll come find you there later.”

Xuan Mo could only nod. At that moment, Chong Li appeared by his side.

“You’re going to the Great Yu’s Eight Desolates?” Chong Li looked at Yi Xiaoyao with some surprise, then gave a slight nod. “With your talent, Great Xia is indeed too small a stage for you.”

Yi Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow and asked, “Do you have any advice, Senior?”

“By my count, I’ve been in Great Xia for nearly three months, which means the Sunken Spirit Island will be opening soon. Since you want to go to the Eight Desolates, you might as well visit Sunken Spirit Island first. You can get a feel for the strength of the young people your age in the Great Yu’s Eight Desolates.”

Chong Li then briefly explained more about the Sunken Spirit Island.

After listening, Yi Xiaoyao was lost in thought.

After a few more words, Chong Li took Xuan Mo, activated a Teleportation Rune, and left Great Xia.

As Chong Li and Xuan Mo departed, Yi Xiaoyao’s heart finally began to calm. His gaze, however, turned directly toward the Emperor’s Palace below.

The people in the Emperor’s Palace, especially Emperor Xia, were ashen-faced, completely drained of color.

He had pinned all his hopes on Ink Owl, but who could have expected that Yi Xiaoyao had an expert even more powerful than Ink Owl backing him?

In the end, Ink Owl had only made a token appearance before being berated and driven away by that expert.

In Ink Owl’s eyes, Great Xia was merely a tributary state, worth less than even Chong Li’s Spirit Insect. He had abandoned it without a second thought.

The hope that had ignited within Emperor Xia was utterly extinguished.

“Why must you make an enemy of my Great Xia? Who is it? Who wronged you?”

Emperor Xia looked at Yi Xiaoyao and asked in despair. He wanted to at least know why before he died.

This question made Yi Xiaoyao pause, his sword poised to strike.

He couldn’t help but recall how his feud with Great Xia had all begun, long ago in the Black Mountain Ancient Tomb, when he had joined forces with the King of Shang and the King of Chu to kill the hook-nosed man from the Imperial Army Mansion.

Then came the destruction of the Cloud Transformation Sect, which brought men from the Imperial Army Mansion after him. Later, in Yunzhou City, a Bounty Order for one million Spirit Stones was placed on his head, forcing him into the Chaotic Alliance Domain. From that point on, his enmity with Great Xia had only grown deeper…

…until it culminated in this very moment, with him leading the army of the Chaotic Alliance Domain to conquer Great Xia.

“Let’s just say I’m fulfilling Cang Tianxing’s dying wish and avenging the forefathers of the Chaotic Alliance Domain!”

Yi Xiaoyao spoke indifferently to Emperor Xia. As his sword fell, both the Emperor and the entire Emperor’s Palace were instantly split in two. The magnificent structure collapsed in a heartbeat.

The Great Xia Empire had truly fallen!

This realization dawned in everyone’s mind.

A hundred years ago, Cang Tianxing had failed to achieve this, yet his name still went down in history.

But now, Yi Xiaoyao, having unified the Chaotic Alliance Domain, had finally conquered Great Xia. His name would be forever etched in the hearts of the people.

In this war, the three Lords of the Mansion and Emperor Xia had all been slain by Yi Xiaoyao!

“We greet the Emperor!”

The thunderous cry began with the members of the Carefree Alliance from the Chaotic Alliance Domain. The crowds below echoed the call, and it resounded throughout the entire Imperial Capital.

Yi Xiaoyao was slightly taken aback by this sudden acclamation.

He then raised a hand to the crowd.

“Sanbao, ever wanted a taste of being emperor?” Yi Xiaoyao asked Jin Sanbao.

Jin Sanbao’s eyes lit up at first, but a moment later he was frantically shaking his head and waving his hands. “No, no, no! I don’t want to spend my days worrying that some treacherous subject is always trying to assassinate me!”

Yi Xiaoyao smiled faintly. Jin Sanbao had no Cultivation. In a world like this, being a king would indeed mean living in constant fear.

And so, he announced to the crowd, “From this day forward, the Great Xia Empire is renamed the Great Shang Empire! The capital will be established in the Great Shang Dynasty, with Chi Fen serving as National Preceptor and holding supreme authority! All my brothers from the Carefree Alliance of the Chaotic Alliance Domain shall be ennobled as lords!”

Everyone was in an uproar upon hearing this.

‘Yi Xiaoyao is actually moving the Imperial Capital to a backwater place like the Great Shang Dynasty?’

‘And he’s letting Chi Fen be the National Preceptor with supreme authority?’

‘He’s giving up the very empire he just conquered! He’s abandoning the throne!’

Most people couldn’t understand Yi Xiaoyao’s decision. In response, he simply smiled, unconcerned.

He had renamed it the Great Shang Empire because Great Shang was his ancestral land, and one must never forget their roots.

An empire’s capital was its most prosperous city. By establishing the new capital in Great Shang, Yi Xiaoyao intended to fully develop the backwater region of the Great Shang Dynasty and transform his ancestral home into a flourishing, prosperous land.

However, the King of Shang’s power was insufficient to control such a vast empire.

That was why Yi Xiaoyao had appointed Chi Fen—the strongest person in Great Xia besides himself—to wield supreme authority.

As for why Yi Xiaoyao himself had relinquished this power—that was the most difficult thing for an ordinary person to comprehend. But for Yi Xiaoyao, it was the simplest of choices, one that required no thought at all.

Yi Xiaoyao, after all, was going to become the strongest man in the world!

How could his ambitions be limited to the throne of a single empire?