Aside from...
There, at the head of the countless army, was a great general mounted on a blood-red steed, Halberd in hand, a bright silver crown on his head adorned with pearls and pheasant-tail plumes that fluttered behind him. He looked imposing and majestic, every inch the heroic commander!
This man was the current king of the Man Kingdom, the son of the previous Man ruler A Yanda—A Kakin!
"Haha! Your Majesty's martial arts are unrivaled beneath heaven! You have reached the Legendary Realm at barely over thirty, achieving peerless martial prowess even greater than the old king's! In today's battle, you will surely capture that damned Ran Min alive, unite the Central Plains, and have your name echo through the ages, praised by countless generations to come!"
Before the Man army, as numerous as ants, a burly Man general in silver armor sat atop a tall horse and flattered A Kakin respectfully in the Man tongue, his eyes brimming with fervor.
"Heh! What is Ran Min worth? My ambitions do not end with him. Forget one insignificant Ran Min—even if Bodhidharma, the founder of Treasure Pearl Temple and the strongest being among the Yan people in all of history, were to return from a thousand years ago, I, A Kakin, would not place him in my eyes!"
Hearing the Man general's praise, A Kakin gave a scornful laugh, his face filled with disdain. A glint flashed through his eyes as he swung his Halberd. At once, a three-foot crimson blade of light sprang forth, slicing through the air and tearing apart endless currents of wind like lightning before crashing into a boulder over two meters tall ten paces away, reducing it to powder in an instant.
Roar! Roar! Roar!...
Sijada! Sijada!
Seeing A Kakin display such divine might, unleashing an attack like the wrath of a god from more than ten paces away, the countless Man soldiers were greatly inspired. Their morale soared as they roared in unison.
The Man general, meanwhile, was overcome with awe. An exaggerated look of astonishment spread across his face as he began praising him even more extravagantly:
"I... th-this... Your Majesty is truly a god descended into the world! This subordinate was blind and underestimated Your Majesty just now. How could Your Majesty's achievements possibly be compared to a mere Ran Min or Bodhidharma? In the future, even surpassing the pinnacle of martial arts and creating another realm above the Legendary Realm would be nothing beyond Your Majesty!"
"Enough. Stop buttering me up. Go challenge them at once and order Ran Min to come out! My Halberd cannot wait even a single breath longer. I can hardly wait to drink that thief's blood!"
Hearing the Man general flatter him again, A Kakin raised a brow, a cruel and bloodthirsty expression appearing on his face as he urged him on.
Ran Min. It was a name he could never forget for the rest of his life.
That man seemed born to suppress him. Ever since Ran Min had risen to prominence seven or eight years ago, he had been pressing down on him at every moment.
Whether in military strategy, martial arts, schemes, or tactics, that man always narrowly outdid him, defeating him time and again.
But now things were different. Under Ran Min's pressure, he had finally broken through Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi yesterday and entered the Legendary Realm before him, gaining the upper hand.
At last, at last he could take revenge!
A Kakin looked excitedly at the Man commander not far away, who was loudly cursing Ran Min in the Han language. Seeing Ran Min endure such abuse yet still not dare come out to fight filled his heart with boundless delight.
Meanwhile, atop the walls of Xiongyuan City, many defending generals had turned red with rage upon hearing the Man commander's curses.
"Heavenly King, that damned barbarian below has been cursing for half an hour already! This subordinate truly cannot bear it any longer. Please give the order and let me go down to fight him to the death!"
On the city wall, a burly general wielding twin hammers stood beside Ran Min, who was even more massive, like a giant. He roared in fury.
"No! That Man general below is an expert at Minor Accomplishment of Internal Qi, while you have only just broken through into Inner Qi. How could you possibly fight him?"
Hearing the burly general's words, Ran Min shook his head in refusal.
"Then why does the general not take the field yourself? If you acted, with your strength, killing that barbarian would be no harder than killing a chicken!"
As soon as Ran Min finished speaking, the twin-hammer general argued again.
"Alas, Li Jin, you do not understand. I received news last night that A Kakin had already broken through Inner Qi yesterday and entered the higher Legendary Realm.
"That realm is incomparably powerful. Though I do not know its mysteries, I have experienced its might at my master's hands. Its strength is simply inconceivable, far beyond what I am now! A Kakin had that barbarian curse me for no reason other than to lure me out of the city and kill me. If I truly left the city because I could not endure his insults, I would be walking straight into his trap."
Ran Min sighed upon hearing this and shook his head as he explained. Within his towering body lay indescribable bitterness and helplessness, carrying the desolation of a hero in his twilight years and a beauty grown white-haired.
Without seeing the Legendary Realm, one could never understand the terror of the Legendary Realm!
Although no trace of Legendary Realm experts remained in this world, and aside from Patriarch Bodhidharma, who was publicly acknowledged to have broken through that realm a thousand years ago, not one of the countless heavenly geniuses throughout the river of time in the following millennium had achieved it—
Yet Ran Min had happened to witness such an existence in action.
Ten years ago, he had just broken through Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi and reached the true pinnacle of Inner Qi—the level A Yanda had attained. He had intended to return to Qinghe City and tell his master, allowing the old man to take comfort in it, while also sparring with him to see what kind of existence his unfathomable master truly was.
But in that unknown duel, he, whose strength towered over all and who had long since fought across the world without finding an equal, had still been toyed with by his master as though he were a child again, utterly incapable of resisting. Forget one move—he could not even receive half a move!
At the time, his master had said that he was still too weak. Only when he truly broke through into the Legendary Realm one day might he perhaps be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
Now that A Kakin had broken through into the Legendary Realm and reached that inconceivable level, even if he had only just advanced and his realm was unstable, even if his strength could not compare to his master's, he was still far beyond anything Ran Min could match.
"What! Master? The Heavenly King actually has a master—and one who had long ago reached the Legendary Realm? Th-this, why have we never heard Your Majesty mention him? If we had invited him to act earlier, how could that barbarian A Kakin have remained arrogant until today?"
As soon as Ran Min finished speaking, the several generals beside him all revealed expressions of utter shock, no longer even caring that A Kakin had broken through into the Legendary Realm.
"Alas, my master is a true recluse beyond the world, always indifferent to worldly affairs. He once lived in seclusion at the Martial Lecture Hall within Prince Liu's Estate, researching various martial arts and cultivation methods each day without involving himself in secular matters. Besides, I was capable of dealing with A Kakin myself. How could I disturb the old man?"
Ran Min sighed again and replied helplessly.
"Th-this..."
"Even the Heavenly King cannot contact the old man? Must we truly allow that barbarian A Kakin to bully us at our very gates today, unable to resist?"
Hearing Ran Min's words, the gathered generals looked at one another in dismay, their hearts filled with anxiety.
"Alas, the cursing is a small matter. What I fear is that A Kakin will rely on his peerless martial strength to blast open the city gates, lead the barbarians into the city, and seize it!"
Thinking of his master's peerless might back then, Ran Min felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness rise within him.
Ever since he had taken his master as his teacher, everything had gone smoothly for him. Even when he encountered powerful enemies along the way, he could rely on his peerless talent and formidable martial skills to kill foes above his level and turn danger into safety. But having reached this point today, he truly had no solution left.
Unless, unless his master could appear.
Ran Min thought in despair. Yet at that very moment, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar face. That was... that was—
Master!
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