Of course, perhaps Meng Zhao was even stronger than Beitang Gong. After all, back then, martial arts across the Divine Continent had already begun to decline. Now, however, the golden age of martial arts was about to arrive. Whether Meng Zhao or Shen Tianci, their achievements in martial arts were destined to surpass those of their predecessors.
Back when Beitang Gong formed the Mount Tai Alliance, his skills overwhelmed all heroes, and he was chosen as emperor. Warlords and separatist powers, including the Shen Family's ancestors, brought their own forces to buy into the Great Yong Dynasty, creating the present-day order.
Now, Shen Tianci and Meng Zhao might well reenact those events and determine the hero through martial prowess.
One was in the south and the other in the north. They could first carve out realms of their own, then, once their troops were strong and their horses stout—or when battle became unavoidable—follow Beitang Gong's example and convene an alliance at Mount Tai for another contest of martial arts. Whoever proved stronger would be chosen as the common ruler of the world.
Of course, though Beitang Gong had been formidable back then, he ultimately could not sweep across the entire realm. Thus, he left behind enormous hidden dangers. Many powers not only survived, but grew vastly stronger through careful management and the passage of time.
Take the Shen Family, for example. In those chaotic, war-torn years, the land of the Divine Martial King had been their territory and their base. Later, when Beitang Gong founded the Great Yong Dynasty, however unwilling he might have been, he could only grant Jinling to the Shen Family once more and restore their fief there.
Today, Jinling and its surrounding regions were wholly dominated by the Shen Family. The Imperial Court and other forces