Chapter 399 288: Shangjing, Part 2

The moon was bright and the stars were few. Zhao Xuanqi stood on high, his clothes snapping in the night wind.

His eyes were slightly closed, his head tilted back, as if he were once again connecting with some great power that resided in the land itself.

Before, he needed to borrow from the world's momentum to break through to a new realm. Now, the world's momentum stirred because of him. The feeling was completely different.

Incredibly profound.

After a long moment, he slowly opened his eyes and gazed toward the distant city.

An ordinary person would only be able to make out a rough silhouette, but his eyesight was sharper than a hawk's, allowing him to clearly see the smoke from cooking fires and the glow of lamps within the city.

Two years ago, Shangjing, as the capital of the Divine Land, had been a picture of prosperity. At night, its streets were brightly lit and teeming with people.

But now, two years had passed. The Neon army had rampaged through the city—burning, killing, and pillaging. One hundred thousand civilians had perished. Countless treasures and historic buildings were put to the torch. Even the Forbidden City, the very symbol of the Divine Land's orthodoxy, was burned to nothing, leaving only scorched bricks and skeletal frames to tell a tale of endless desolation.

Even now, with Shangjing serving as the headquarters for the Neon Far East Army, the city had still not recovered its former vitality after two years.

"Back then, Yuan Tianhao gave me his aid, and I promised him I would help protect Shangjing. Later, before the crisis, I communed with the great momentum and bore the will of Shangjing's people, yet in the end, I failed to keep my promise."

"I am a man who keeps his word, yet this place has made me break it twice. What happened cannot be undone, but fortunately, my enemies still remain."

Zhao Xuanqi said calmly, his gaze fixed on Shangjing.

"Are you sure you want to make a move on Shangjing? It's true that a blood debt must be paid in blood, but you can't kill everyone. A wanton slaughter will likely provoke Neon into taking even more drastic measures. You have nothing to fear, but the many people of the Divine Land living in the Neon-occupied territories will be the ones to suffer."

"Honestly, with your power, you're strong enough to shock the world. We could force the Six Nations to the negotiating table—make them withdraw their armies, pay reparations, issue public apologies, and try the war criminals. The matter of you killing the Saint Sha Marshal has already created a massive public outcry among the Six Nations. Riots have broken out in the territories occupied by the Saint Sha Empire, and many of our Divine Land people have suffered for it."

"The dead are gone, and while we will never forget our hatred, the living are what's most important. Forgive me for being blunt, but your actions seem too hasty. Can you tell me why?"

Wang Sea of the Cyan Dragon Sect, who stood behind Zhao Xuanqi, asked this after giving him a long, searching look.

He had only just awakened, yet he immediately launched a surprise attack on the Pseudo-Government's founding ceremony. The battle in Jinling was barely over, its impact and the public reaction still taking shape, and now Zhao Xuanqi wanted to strike Shangjing. It all seemed incredibly urgent, and Wang Sea found it completely baffling.

"There are some things I cannot explain clearly. A much greater crisis exists in this world. The current situation is still being controlled by others. If we want to break the deadlock, the only way is to lure out the source of this calamity and extinguish it. Otherwise, the Six Nations will never retreat easily."

"I'm making these consecutive moves simply to send a message to a certain entity. If he doesn't show himself, then I will sever all of his tentacles in the shortest time possible."

Zhao Xuanqi said.

"The source of this calamity? I don't understand."

Wang Sea shook his head in confusion.

"You don't need to understand. And I didn't call you here to fight alongside me."

Zhao Xuanqi turned, smiled at Wang Sea, and said, "Are you interested in the complete Holy Beast Fist?"

"What?"

Wang Sea started, not understanding what he meant.

SWOOSH!

The next moment, Zhao Xuanqi was already in front of him, one finger pressed against the center of his brow.

BOOM!

Primordial Qi erupted, pouring into Wang Sea's body and taking over his every limb and vessel.

In that moment, Wang Sea felt as if his body was no longer his own. His limbs, his muscles—everything moved according to the will of that Primordial Qi.

His Qi and Blood surged, muscles and tendons twisted, internal organs whirred, and acupoints thundered.

A pained look crossed his face, and his body began to transform.

Muscles twisted, joints cracked, and his entire body seemed to warp into a Beast Form.

Then came the transformation of his internal organs.

Finally, a subtle connection formed between his acupoints.

"How much you comprehend is up to your own destiny. Consider it a small repayment for the Cyan Dragon Sect watching over me for two years."

Zhao Xuanqi withdrew his Primordial Qi. The transformation on Wang Sea's body disappeared, and he fell to his knees with a THUD, gasping for air. But a flash of enlightenment shone in his eyes.

Li Zhenyuan had never passed down the complete Hundred Beasts Fist. Zhao Xuanqi didn't know why. It might have been due to the unique nature of the Hundred Beasts Fist itself, but more likely, Li Zhenyuan had feared that with the Bloodline Species lurking in the shadows, passing down his complete Secret Transmission would allow them to analyze it, find its weaknesses, and cause unnecessary complications.

But Zhao Xuanqi was fearless. He was confident that he could remain undefeated and crush any enemy.

If the Hundred Beasts Fist truly had the miraculous qualities he suspected, then this could be considered a spark he was leaving behind, a way to honor the fate that had brought him to this world.

At this very moment, a faint premonition bloomed in Zhao Xuanqi's mind.

'This trip to Shangjing will not go smoothly.'

'And in this world, who could possibly stop him now?'

'The answer was obvious.'

'But he wasn't afraid. In fact, this was exactly what he wanted.'

'It was time to settle this tangled web of grievances.'

"You..."

Wang Sea looked up at Zhao Xuanqi, his eyes flashing with surprise. The man was in his prime; moreover, the current situation hardly seemed like the right time to be passing on his techniques.

"I'm leaving."

Zhao Xuanqi's voice echoed in the air, but his figure had already vanished like a wisp of smoke.

...

...

「Within Shangjing City. Neon Far East Army Headquarters.」

All the top brass had gathered in the conference room for a meeting to address the Jinling incident.

Seiichiro Shintani sat at the head of the table, his face exceedingly grim.

What had happened in Jinling left him utterly shocked... and terrified.

Zhao Xuanqi hadn't just reawakened—he had broken through to a new realm. He had defeated two of the Four Marshals working together and had even killed one of them on the spot!

Such terrifying power was beyond their capacity to deal with.

Aside from the Neon Three Saints, two other restricted-level Neon masters sat in the next-highest seats. There were only seven such masters in the entire Neon Nation, and five of them were now gathered within the Divine Land.

And yet, even with such a force, they were still considered one of the weaker powers among the Six Nations.

The power of the Four Marshals was deeply etched into the minds of every high-ranking official in the Six Nations, yet now, even one of their number had been slain.

"We have old grudges with Zhao Xuanqi. With his current power, it's hard to say if he'll come after us. He even killed Dino. Even if the five of us joined forces, I doubt we could stop him. In my opinion, the headquarters should secretly relocate. We should lie low and wait until we've negotiated a counter-strategy with the other nations before making our next move."

Mitsuro's expression was grim, tinged with a hint of relief. He was originally supposed to attend the ceremony in Jinling as Neon's representative, but something had delayed him, and another high-ranking diplomat had gone in his place. Otherwise, had he been there, he was certain Zhao Xuanqi would not have let him escape alive.

"Indeed. The man's power is unfathomable. We cannot face him head-on..."

Oono Bonan said, nodding in agreement.

BAM!!

However, before he could finish speaking, the conference room door was violently thrown open by a guard. The sudden intrusion startled everyone, making their hair stand on end as cold sweat beaded on their skin.

The pressure from the Jinling incident was simply too immense.

"What is it?!"

Seiichiro Shintani demanded, his expression dark.

"C-Commander! Sir! We... we just received a report! An enemy smashed through the city gates and has forced his way inside! The city guard are no match for him! Casualties are heavy! We just confirmed the intruder's identity... It's... it's the man behind the Jinling incident—the Qilin Divine General, Zhao Xuanqi!"

The soldier stammered, his voice tight with panic.

WHOOSH!

Everyone in the conference room shot to their feet, their faces masks of unconcealable terror.

'He... how could he have gotten here so fast?!'