Chapter 104: An Insanely Savage Slap!

“Even higher? Are there more?”

What the old man in black described utterly astounded Qin Li. The sheer number of powerful beings the old man knew left Qin Li feeling deeply shaken. Clearly, this world held vast, fundamental differences from Earth!

In that very instant, Qin Li completely discarded his mindset of being an outsider from another world and truly embraced becoming part of his new reality.

So I’m still at the very bottom of this world? Unacceptable! I absolutely refuse to spend my entire life confined to some forgotten corner, content as a rich commoner! I will march onto the Mysterious Island openly! I will stand before that ten-thousand-year-old hag and take back my wife, right in her face!

No one… can stop me from doing this!

The old man in black sneered mockingly, “Of course there are more. But they belong to a level utterly beyond your reach. Knowing about them is pointless for someone like you! What? Feeling envious? Oh, I admit you’re one of the rare geniuses I’ve ever seen. But don’t fool yourself. In this life, your greatest achievement will barely scratch breaking into the Heaven-Breaking Realm beyond the Heavenly Rank. You remain insignificant! Know why?”

A look of vicious satisfaction spread across the old man’s face. “Just who do you think those ancient families and sects hidden in the Secret Lands are? They control entire nations, wielding all power to serve their needs – a single family or sect! Some command the resources of multiple countries! Without absolutely terrifying influence, you’ll never lay hands on those legendary treasures! Never know what a Spirit Stone even is! You have no chance! You think refusing to grovel for some Crown Prince makes you some kind of hero? What a cosmic joke!”

The old man poured out his words furiously, his chest heaving violently, a wild, crazy light burning in his single eye.

“Hah! Know this—even if you annihilate the Azure Dragon Kingdom’s Imperial Family, wipe out the Zhao clan, you’d never become its emperor! Countless powers would tear you apart instantly! Because you’re a nobody—a little bastard! Hahaha!”

Qin Li actually smiled in response. “Old fart. Choosing to provoke me right now? That wasn’t very smart. Really, if I were you, I’d just sit quietly and wait for death. Maybe then I’d grant you a quick end. Yeah, you really shouldn’t have pissed me off.”

“Provoke you? I gave you nothing but truth! You think this was deliberate? If you truly crave standing at the world’s peak, then do what the Emperor of the New Qin Kingdom did—become a powerful ruler first! Well? Got the guts?! Hah!”

Laughing heartily, the old man in black reveled in his final moments. He’d already glimpsed Qin Li’s burning ambition. He knew, without needing to plant seeds, this devil-boy would never settle. He could vividly picture Qin Li’s future: publicly sliced to death for treason. The image brought him immense, perverse joy.

“Forget it,” Qin Li declared magnanimously. “Seeing as you shared so much… I’ll grant you a swift end!”

Relief washed over the old man’s face, mingled with resignation. This hero’s journey… finally… ends.

“However…” Qin Li blinked. “A quick end doesn’t mean you escape the flagpole! I need Zhao Xinghe to see what awaits those who cross me! Don’t worry—I won’t strip you naked. That’s mercy. Don’t you agree?”

“Qin Li! You motherless dog! Filthy swine! Bastard…”

Thwack!

Qin Li flicked his fingers. A surge of sharp force pierced the old man’s throat. The endless stream of curses died mid-sentence. The old man’s single eye bulged wide—filled with seven parts relief, three parts bitter hatred. Perhaps, deep down, he regretted it: lured by the Crown Prince’s promise of a priceless, ten-thousand-year Heaven-Returning Herb, he’d chosen to hunt this devil boy himself.

But everything froze at that final moment of death.

…

Early the very next morning, earth-shattering news exploded across the Imperial Capital, Azure Dragon City, spreading like wildfire through every alley and marketplace! Nobles and paupers alike buzzed about it.

Every single person discussing it wore shock, fury, excitement, fear, sorrow, glee, or utter indifference on their face—every expression imaginable!

The Crown Prince’s tutor, the Azure Dragon Kingdom’s high Retainer, Deputy Commander of the Royal Imperial Guard, a super powerhouse at Heavenly Rank Three with Nine Layers of Prime Force, Murong Tian… had been hung upon the colossal flagpole at the southern gate!

The pole’s base was thick enough for two men to barely embrace, soaring over a hundred meters high! And a white banner, three meters wide and over thirty meters long, unfurled beneath him. Blood-drenched characters screamed: Zhao Xinghe, this is your example! Next time, YOU hang here!

Insanity gripped the city!

Almost everyone seemed crazed, most faces alight with schadenfreude-filled excitement. Not because Crown Prince Zhao Xinghe was particularly disliked, but because people were stunned and intrigued by this mysterious person daring to defy imperial power so brazenly and directly!

How many years since something this monumental rocked the Azure Dragon Kingdom?! This event hadn’t just pierced the sky—it had torn a gaping hole in it!

The Crown Prince’s teacher… was destined to be the Emperor’s future mentor! A Royal Family Retainer bearing a Duke’s title! Though merely honorary, carrying no real land, this position represented immense glory!

Searching the entire nation, martial artists surpassing Murong Tian in status barely numbered twenty!

And his strength—Heavenly Rank Three, Nine Layers of Prime Force—was enough to intimidate thousands! He alone could have crushed dozens of small to medium-sized clans! Yet he’d been killed—legs severed, one eye destroyed—before being displayed on the Empire’s tallest flagpole! With a written message targeting the future sovereign, Crown Prince Zhao Xinghe!

What sheer audacity! What terrifying psychological impact!

Too satisfying! Absolutely thrilling!

In that moment, countless hearts roared with secret triumph. Innumerable aristocratic families tied to the Crown Prince felt their world darken, faces pale with shock. While commoners saw a spectacle, they sensed the blade pointed directly at the Crown Prince.

Who possessed the might to kill Murong Tian? What disastrous consequences would follow? Could the Crown Prince withstand the Emperor’s terrible wrath? What if he were deposed? Where would that leave them? That was their deepest fear.

Heavenly Rank Martial Artists could fly long distances through the air using their Prime Force, but they couldn’t soar like eagles. That enormous southern gate flagpole stood a hundred meters tall, atop a tower just as high, perpetually guarded by soldiers day and night!

It was sacred. Erected by the Azure Dragon Kingdom’s founding Emperor, Zhao Longteng, himself! Fashioned from a colossal hundred-thousand-year South Ironwood log! Legend claimed immense effort transported it northward—and only Zhao Longteng, who supposedly broke into the Heaven-Breaking Realm beyond the Heavenly Rank, possessed the strength to hoist it alone! He abdicated soon after, vanishing without a trace.

This flagpole bore monumental significance for the Imperial Family, the Zhao clan, indeed, the entire Kingdom itself!

Only on the most sacred holidays did they raise the enormous Azure Dragon flag upon it, requiring two Heavenly Rank Martial Artists to painstakingly climb up. At two hundred meters above ground, fierce gales whipped past. Any mistake could hurl one from the pole—though a Heavenly Rank warrior wouldn’t die falling, humiliation was guaranteed.

Now… someone had desecrated it by hanging a corpse! How immense must that power be?! This wasn’t just an attack—it was a devastating, public slap across the entire Royal Family’s face!

The white banner? Its source was promptly tracked. The outraged shopkeeper, protesting his stolen cloth from the night before, instantly regretted his loud complaints upon discovering where it was displayed. Fear consumed him—if the Royal Family blamed him, exterminating his clan seemed likely!

It was an ultimate insult—to the Royal Zhao Family, to Founder Zhao Longteng himself!

Swiftly, the shopkeeper and his family vanished. Soldiers guarding the gate that night simply… disappeared. The event became Azure Dragon City’s ultimate street gossip for months to come.

In the shadows unseen by common folk, powerful currents swirled into immense whirlpools, threatening to engulf countless households. Only the man upon the dragon throne truly knew the scope.

Qin Li himself, the source, never anticipated his actions causing such an earthquake. Like a butterfly flapping wings far away, his deed triggered a colossal storm! Not only had he slapped Zhao Xinghe senseless, but he’d landed a brutal slap upon the face of the Azure Dragon Kingdom’s Imperial Family itself! The ripples profoundly disturbed the Kingdom’s future imperial succession!

Qin Li, had he known, would have chuckled giddily, utterly delighted.

Instead, disguised anew, Qin Li became a dashing seventeen/eighteen-year-old Young Master: handsome, clad in finery, casually waving a fan. He strolled through Azure Dragon City’s busiest avenues, ogling pretty girls with obvious approval.

With a few lackeys trailing him, he’d have perfectly embodied the image of a pampered noble—a wasteful playboy.