Two days later, the capital of the Jia Ma Empire was decked out in splendor. Lanterns adorned every major street, and the citizens poured out of their homes toward the largest plaza in the imperial capital. Everyone was filled with delight. Adults raised their hands and cheered, while girls lifted flowers and applauded.
Below the capital's walls stood four army formations. The armor worn by the soldiers was black, red, gold, and white respectively. They were none other than the soldiers of Jia Ma, Chu Yun, Mulan, and Yan Luo!
The bright, gentle sunlight shone over the vast earth. Flowers bloomed everywhere, and birds sang in unison. At this beautiful moment, a little girl of only five or six stood atop the city wall, picked up a megaphone, and loudly announced:
"By my authority, I hereby declare that the Misty Cloud Empire is officially established today!"
As soon as she finished speaking, some citizens below were moved to tears, while others cheered and jumped for joy. This would be the most unforgettable day of their lives.
Jia Ma had successfully unified the three nations of Chu Yun, Mulan, and Yan Luo, instantly becoming the nation with the broadest territory in the northwest. Yet everything had happened far too suddenly.
"Raise the Misty Cloud national flag and play the Misty Cloud national anthem!"
Yun Shan shouted. Below, a ceremonial unit composed of Da Dou Shi-level cultivators solemnly arrived at the flagpole and slowly raised a flag bearing SpongeBob.
At the same time, the exclusive national anthem of the Misty Cloud Empire rang out. The tens of thousands of soldiers on the field sang it with soaring passion.
"I like coming home to warm lights waiting for me.
"I like waking up to everyone's smiling faces.
"I like stepping out the door to fight for my family and my ideals.
"I like having my whole family gaze toward the same destination..."
The singing was loud and the melody melodious. It had tremendous unifying power, and the citizens in the city soon began singing along involuntarily.
"Because we're a family, a loving family. When there are blessings, we should share them; when there are troubles, we must face them together. Let mutual understanding and loyalty carry us through eternity!!!"
When the song ended, nearly all the soldiers were sobbing uncontrollably. After so many years of warfare, where it was either kill or be killed, they had lost countless comrades. They were tired of slaughter. If only things had been like this from the beginning.
Now that the situation had been settled and all three nations had submitted to the Jia Ma Empire, Emperor Gama, Jia Ma Qing, had, after a bout of madness, followed Jia Xingtian's advice and surrendered his authority, abdicating in favor of Ye Qianqian.
However, Ye Qianqian had refused. She ordered Jia Ma Qing to manage the territories of the four nations, while the Misty Cloud Sect only needed to control things from behind the scenes. The nation's name, however, had to be changed—to the Misty Cloud Empire.
"Ding!"
Congratulations, host, on successfully deceiving the surrounding nations into your possession within ten days and completing the system mission.
System reward: The Deception Grand Wheel is now available.
Upon hearing the system's notification, Ye Qianqian curiously opened the long-delayed reward.
A six-section wheel appeared in the system space. It was marked with various prizes, and each spin cost one hundred thousand Shock Points.
Of course, the wheel was only at the elementary level for now, so the odds of drawing a grand prize were not particularly high.
She focused on it and carefully examined the prizes. Her interest immediately grew.
The prizes included the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, third-grade Qi Gathering Powder, another spin, a B-Class Bodyguard Card, the Infinity Gauntlet, and more.
When she saw the Infinity Gauntlet, Ye Qianqian became extremely excited.
If she drew the Infinity Gauntlet, she would be unstoppable. No matter whether her opponent was a Dou Sheng or Dou Di, she could snap her fingers and wipe them out in minutes.
"System, I want to draw."
Ye Qianqian did not waste time. She had more than eight hundred million Shock Points, so spending one hundred thousand was nothing.
At her command, the large wheel before her began spinning rapidly clockwise, while the pointer on it started turning counterclockwise.
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You drew 'Free Play.' One hundred thousand Shock Points have been consumed."
Ye Qianqian: "..."
Free play?
Could someone tell her what the hell that was?
"Again."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You drew 'Free Play.' One hundred thousand Shock Points have been consumed."
Free play again. Ye Qianqian's face darkened. Twenty thousand Shock Points had been consumed, yet she had not drawn a single prize. Why was this system's draw rate even more rigged than Old Ma's game?
"Again."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You drew 'Another Spin.' One hundred thousand Shock Points have been consumed."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You drew 'Another Spin.' One hundred thousand Shock Points have been consumed."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You drew 'Free Play.' One hundred thousand Shock Points have been consumed."
Unwilling to accept defeat, Ye Qianqian drew a hundred times in a row. Nearly every result was either Free Play or Another Spin, and she was so furious that she burst into tears.
Ten million Shock Points had gone straight down the drain. The gaming experience was atrocious.
"Ding!"
Since the host has spun more than one hundred times in a row, the system rewards her with one free spin.
"Uh..." Ye Qianqian was dumbfounded. What kind of lousy reward was this? Even if the spin was free, wouldn't she just get Free Play again?
"Spin."
It was free, after all. There was no reason not to use it. The Deception Grand Wheel began spinning at lightning speed once more.
But this time, things were different.
"Ding!"
Congratulations, host. You have obtained one B-Class Bodyguard Card. Please check it.
This counted as a little consolation. Although she had failed to draw the Infinity Gauntlet, the bodyguard card was not bad either.
She decided that she would never touch this thing again. With so many Shock Points, she might as well use them to increase her cultivation.
Speaking of which, Saber was still in the First Release state. She needed to unlock the Second Release seal to increase Saber's strength, and that would also require a considerable number of Shock Points.
At present, Ye Qianqian was a one-star Dou Zong. Based on the cost of increasing her cultivation, advancing to two-star Dou Zong required twenty million, while reaching three-star required thirty million, and so on. Reaching the Dou Zun realm would require a full five hundred and forty million. After reaching Dou Zun, however, each star would cost more than one hundred million.
"Wait." Ye Qianqian voiced her confusion and could not help raging, "System, why did it only cost twenty thousand Shock Points when I raised Yun Shan by two stars back then, but raising me costs tens of millions? Are you deliberately screwing me over?"
"It is as follows, host. Your aptitude is abysmally poor, so raising another person's cultivation and raising your own are two entirely different concepts and cannot be compared. According to the system's assessment, you need to consume tens of millions of Shock Points."
Ye Qianqian's face was covered in black lines. What the hell do you mean, my aptitude is abysmally poor? You're obviously just cheating me.
"Fine, fine. I'll accept it. System, raise me to the three-star Dou Zun realm."
In an instant, Ye Qianqian seemed to activate a cheat once more. The Dou Qi throughout her body boiled like water, surging and expanding without end. At the same time, she gained a new understanding of the world around her.
She extended one finger and lightly swiped at the air before her. The space abruptly tore open, and endless gales poured into the fissure. Slowly, the torn space closed. This was the spatial power unique to Dou Zun experts.
Only after reaching the Dou Zun realm did Ye Qianqian understand what it meant for one day to be like heaven and the next like earth.
With that casual move alone, she could probably defeat several Dou Zong experts with ease. No wonder those Dou Zun experts all acted so arrogantly.
She had finally reached the pinnacle of the Dou Qi Continent. The days ahead would likely be even more dangerous. The establishment of the Misty Cloud Empire had seriously disrupted the balance in the eyes of certain factions. Who knew whether some great expert would appear and wipe them all out?
It seemed she needed to gather more prodigies. Only then could she add to her strength. Right, according to the system, Mo Youyou seemed to possess a special bloodline. If she focused on nurturing her, perhaps Mo Youyou could become one of her major sources of power in the future.
"Ancestor, the Heavenly Poison Girl of the Poison Sect requests an audience."
Na Lan Yan Ran suddenly reported from outside the hall.
"Xiao Yi Xian is here?" Ye Qianqian was delighted. It really comes when you mention it. She guessed that Xiao Yi Xian had come because her Calamity Poison Body was becoming impossible to control.
"Let her in."
A short while later, a pale-faced, white-haired girl slowly entered from outside the hall.
Xiao Yi Xian was wrapped tightly in a black robe. She looked extremely listless, as if enduring excruciating pain. Her silver teeth were clenched tightly.
"This junior, Lin Zhixian, greets Senior."
This was Xiao Yi Xian's second meeting with Ye Qianqian, but her eyes were filled with incomparable shock. The last time they had met, Ye Qianqian had only been a Dou Shi, but this time she was completely different. Xiao Yi Xian could not see through her at all.
If she had not recently heard that Ye Qianqian had single-handedly intimidated the surrounding nations and forcibly merged them together, Xiao Yi Xian probably still would not have come to the Misty Cloud Sect.
"Don't be so formal." Ye Qianqian sat in her chair and waved her hand. The space rippled slightly, instantly lifting Xiao Yi Xian, who was kneeling on the ground.
"Spatial power—a Dou Zun expert?" Xiao Yi Xian's beautiful eyes narrowed sharply, and she was secretly astonished.
Before she could recover, Ye Qianqian had already arrived before her and said, "Back then, I and your ancestor became sworn siblings after eliminating the swelling. You count as family to me, so there's no need for formalities from now on."
"Yes, yes. This junior understands." Xiao Yi Xian hurriedly nodded, and half of the wariness in her heart finally faded.
"Senior... Ancestor, this junior came here to ask you to help control my Calamity Poison Body."
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Yi Xian finally revealed the truth. Recently, she had vaguely sensed that her Calamity Poison Body was about to erupt. If things continued, it would cause a tremendous disaster sooner or later. That was why she had thought of Ye Qianqian.
"So that's why you came. I thought you missed me and had specially come to the Misty Cloud Sect to visit me. Sigh!" Ye Qianqian put on the air of an elder, shaking her head one moment and sighing the next, leaving Xiao Yi Xian extremely embarrassed.
"I told you before that your Calamity Poison Body is nothing. Compared to your ancestor's Electronic Addiction, it's merely a minor trick. Come, I'll help you control your poison body now."
"Thank you, Ancestor." Xiao Yi Xian smiled happily. Her smile was like a blooming lily, both beautiful and elegant.
Ye Qianqian had once asked the system about the Calamity Poison Body, and the system had provided several methods of control.
Besides using Heavenly Flames, there was also the method of using poison to counter poison.
That was to find a poison source Xiao Yi Xian could command, fuse it into her body, forcibly assimilate the toxins of the Calamity Poison Body, and turn Xiao Yi Xian into a genuine poison human.
Thus, Ye Qianqian exchanged a Devil Fruit from the system space. It was called the Gas-Gas Fruit, a Logia fruit belonging to Caesar from the world of pirates.
This fruit's power could manipulate all kinds of poisonous gases to kill enemies, control combustible gases to detonate targets, or manipulate the surrounding air, such as emptying out the oxygen nearby.
It could also purify the air around its user, compress nearby gases, or extract oxygen from the atmosphere, extinguishing flames and suffocating opponents. It could even manipulate flames that fully consumed oxygen as an attack.
With this fruit combined with Xiao Yi Xian's Calamity Poison Body, she would practically become a BUG.
"Eat this." Ye Qianqian flipped her right hand and handed Xiao Yi Xian the Devil Fruit, which had cost more than a million Shock Points.
Because Devil Fruits were afraid of seawater, Ye Qianqian had asked the system to strengthen it, increasing the fruit's power as well as its fear of seawater, ensuring that after eating it, Xiao Yi Xian would become even more formidable than with the Calamity Poison Body alone.
"What is this?" Xiao Yi Xian asked with the curiosity of a child.
"Eat it. It's delicious. I guarantee that after you eat it, you'll want another one. It even has beautifying effects." The woman gave a mischievous smile.
As soon as Xiao Yi Xian heard that it had beautifying effects, the silly girl immediately took it in her hand and bit into it without hesitation.
"Blegh..."
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