Peace and Prosperity, with Song and Dance (3,500 Words)

Odin charged at Lu Mingfei, raising Gungnir high. Today, he would avenge the slap to his face and the death of his horse!

Meng Chuan watched Odin rush toward him and smiled, as though watching an ant challenge the heavens.

Meng Chuan raised a hand, and Odin froze. Not by choice. The instant that mysterious man lifted his hand, space-time around Odin had been fixed in place, almost brought to a standstill! He could not move at all!

Odin stared at the hand. That palm even swayed from side to side, as if its owner wanted Odin to see exactly how he was about to slap him! Terror filled Odin's single golden eye. He could even feel sweat breaking out across his Dragon King body!

He tried to transform fully into a dragon, but he could not do it. He could not dodge! He could not block! Not even Gungnir, the Spear of Destiny, could stop that palm! He was going to die! All Odin could do was stand there and watch it draw closer!

Boom!

Meng Chuan reached out and pressed Odin straight into the ground. A series of thunderous crashes followed as Nibelungen shattered!

"So violent..." Lu Mingze trembled as he watched from the side and gave himself a mental thumbs-up for his wise decision.

Meng Chuan lifted his hand and looked at Odin, whose body was covered in cracks and on the verge of breaking into pieces.

"You're supposed to check who owns a dog before you beat it! And you wanted to kill him?"

Great Emperor, you're calling me a dog, aren't you? I can tell! Lying on the ground, Lu Mingfei felt rather miserable.

Odin said nothing. He could no longer speak. Where he lay was almost a pool of blood.

Lu Mingfei climbed to his feet. His injuries had already healed considerably; his bloodline was powerful, after all.

"Great Emperor, that Emperor Weapon?" Lu Mingfei sounded aggrieved. He had a faint idea of what had happened.

Meng Chuan looked at Lu Mingfei and gave him a perfect smile. "What Emperor Weapon? It was just a blade I made by casually drawing in the elements of heaven and earth."

"But if you want to call it an Emperor Weapon, go ahead. I'm the Heavenly Emperor who made it, after all. Calling it an Emperor Weapon isn't going too far, is it?"

Lu Mingfei froze at that seemingly airtight explanation. Could anyone in this world really be so shameless?

"Sure. It definitely counts." Lu Mingfei smiled, though he looked closer to tears.

"Then, Mingfei, did this battle teach you anything?" Meng Chuan asked solemnly.

"Did it teach me anything?" Lu Mingfei thought for a moment, then nodded. "It did."

"I got taken in! You're a Great Emperor over two thousand years old, and you came to trick and hoodwink me, an eighteen-year-old kid! Is that right? No, it isn't! I hope certain Great Emperors will mind their tails. Old people should have some martial virtue!"

Meng Chuan's face darkened. What lesson did you learn? How to lose your damn life?

"Look at the Chat Group!" Meng Chuan rapped Lu Mingfei on the head and healed his injuries while he was at it.

Puzzled, Lu Mingfei opened the Chat Group. Only then did he discover that Meng Chuan had started a livestream. The group had watched his entire battle with Odin.

Bibi Dong: Lu Mingfei's so strong now! He can even get the upper hand against a Dragon King from his world!

Fei Peng: He's nothing like the person in the fate scenario.

The Ancient One: That's a good thing, isn't it?

Bibi Dong: The Great Emperor's still the impressive one, though. One lousy blade was enough to ignite Lu Mingfei's fighting spirit!

Zhang Sanfeng: Indeed. The Great Emperor went to such lengths for him!

Meng Chuan: It was an Emperor Weapon! I made it myself!

Fei Peng: Hahaha.

Lu Mingfei stared at their messages, stunned. Then something rose from the depths of his heart.

"So I really have become that strong..." Lu Mingfei raised both hands and gazed at them blankly. A smile appeared on his face. He had known he was growing stronger, but he had still felt uncertain about facing a Dragon King. He had never imagined...

It was the smile of a confident man.

Meng Chuan watched Lu Mingfei with satisfaction. Lu Mingfei had gained power and no longer feared fighting small fry, but he had never been confident about facing an enemy on Odin's level. Meng Chuan had simply sped up the process of building that confidence.

At the rate Lu Mingfei's bloodline was improving, the day he could defeat an enemy like Odin head-on was not far away.

"So, do you still want an Emperor Weapon?"

Lu Mingfei grinned. With his face smeared in blood, his smile even looked a little frightening.

"Great Emperor, I still want one!"

Meng Chuan took a breath and decided he could not keep talking to this man.

Then something occurred to him. He smiled at Lu Mingfei. "An Emperor Weapon isn't out of the question. Once you surpass this world's limits, I'll give you one!"

Lu Mingfei's eyes lit up. "Really, Great Emperor? You'll give me one?"

"I wouldn't go back on my word over a single Emperor Weapon."

"Don't try to fool me with something like that blade!" Lu Mingfei thought it over and headed off that possibility in advance.

"I can't be bothered with you!" Meng Chuan choked on his reply, then took Gungnir from Odin.

"Once I'm done studying it, I'll give you this spear too!"

"Great Emperor, is Odin dead?" Lu Mingfei swallowed. He badly wanted that spear that never missed. Then he looked at Odin's wretched state and observed a second of silence for him.

Why did you have to show off and try to kill me? Didn't you know who had my back?

"He's not dead. I deliberately spared his life," Meng Chuan said. "He's your destined opponent, isn't he?"

Lu Mingfei paused. Thinking of what lay ahead, he nodded in agreement. "Right. Leave him for the person destined to kill him!"

Still, Odin will be able to boast that he survived a blow from the Great Emperor... Lu Mingfei looked at Odin as the thought suddenly occurred to him.

Surviving one blow was practically the same as having once fought the Great Emperor!

"Let's go!" Meng Chuan called to the two of them, ready to leave. At the same time, he sent out a ray of divine light that restored Odin's Nibelungen. The light then pinned Odin in place, leaving him unable to break free.

Lu Mingfei's eye twitched. For some reason, the scene looked familiar...

After leaving Nibelungen, Meng Chuan stayed in this world for a while longer. He waited until Lu Mingfei started school, then took him to Cassell.

"Today is the day our protagonist, Lu Mingfei, steps onto the ground where his destiny awaits. What will be waiting for him in that place called Cassell? An absurd youth? Battles that set his blood boiling? Or a love carved so deep he can never forget it?"

"We know none of these things. All we know is that the wheel of fate has begun to turn..."

Meng Qi: That's the voice of a seasoned narrator.

Zhang Sanfeng: Even this old Daoist's blood is stirring.

Yao Chen: To be fair, the Great Emperor's narration has improved a lot since he visited my world.

"Hahahaha, you flatter me. But Elder Yao, how are you doing now?"

Meng Chuan watched Lu Mingfei walk toward Cassell. He was livestreaming this historic moment to the group.

Yao Chen: After the Great Emperor left, I fused with that body. I'm a One-Star Dou Sheng now!

Meng Qi: A mighty Dou Sheng! How terrifying!

Fei Peng: Elder Yao keeps getting stronger. I look forward to sparring with you!

Yao Chen: General, are you going to bully an old man like me?

Fei Peng: ...

Zhang Sanfeng: @Yao Chen, the General is older than you.

Zhang Sanfeng: But the body the Great Emperor refined for you was made entirely from Dou Di-grade materials. How are you only a One-Star Dou Sheng?

Yao Chen: I held back my breakthrough. I want to experience each step along the way. I reckon that in the later stages, each star will take me as little as six months and at most a year.

Meng Qi: Another cheater?

Zhang Sanfeng: Shameful!

Bibi Dong: We've wandered off topic! We were talking about Lu Mingfei!

Bibi Dong: Great Emperor, aren't you going in with him?

Meng Chuan had been following the conversation. Seeing Bibi Dong's question, he replied, "No. I'm getting ready to go home. I've gained the insights I came for and done what I needed to do."

"This world really let me relax!"

Meng Chuan stretched and looked at the buildings around him. He had not seen architecture like this in more than a thousand years.

Lu Mingfei, who was about to enter Cassell, seemed to hear him. He turned around, waved, and shouted,

"Great Emperor! Goodbye! Come again sometime!"

Meng Chuan took one last look at the world and said to the Chat Group, "Look at how peaceful this world is. Even when people fight, it's just a little scuffle on the surface. Everywhere you look, it's all song and dance, peace and pros—"

Meng Chuan did not finish the last word. Expressionless, he raised his head and looked toward the moon.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!"

At that moment, Lu Mingfei received a system notification too.

System notification: A space-time anomaly has occurred in the world of group member Lu Mingfei. Group member Lu Mingfei, please investigate it yourself.

System notification: The precise location of the space-time anomaly has been identified. Group Task issued!

System notification: Group member Lu Mingfei, destroy the Space-Time Passage immediately when it appears or extract the Space-Time Origin immediately. Do not confront the Space-Time Passage, much less enter it, without a guardian accompanying you!

Yao Chen: @Meng Qi, the Great Emperor's cursing you.

Meng Qi: Elder Yao, the river flows east for two hundred years, then west for two hundred! Never mock a Heavenly Emperor for being poor!

Zhang Sanfeng: What happened to the Great Emperor?

Meng Chuan posted a screenshot of what was happening on the moon directly to the group.

It showed something exactly like the space-time anomaly in the Shrouding the Heavens World!

The Ancient One: Another Space-Time Passage?

Bibi Dong: Huh? Does that mean four Supremes might come out again?

Fei Peng: No. This Space-Time Passage probably connects to another world. The Great Emperor's situation was unusual.

Zhang Sanfeng: Good thing the Great Emperor hasn't left. If a powerful world lies on the other side, Mingfei probably couldn't handle it.

Meng Qi: But...

Meng Qi: What a lovely scene of song and dance and prosperity!

The group members online saw Meng Qi's message and remembered what Meng Chuan had said just before he was going to leave.

Song and dance and prosperity...

System notification: Administrator Meng Chuan has muted Administrator Meng Qi.

Lu Mingfei: Help help help!

Lu Mingfei: [Task details]

Lu Mingfei: I don't even know where the space-time anomaly is! How can it say it's identified the precise location?

Bibi Dong: Scroll up! @Lu Mingfei

Lu Mingfei ran toward Meng Chuan while following Bibi Dong's advice and scrolling up through the chat history.

Thud.

In his rush, Lu Mingfei tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face. He seized the chance to cling to Meng Chuan's leg and steady himself.

Zhang Sanfeng: He looks very practiced at that pose.

Yao Chen: There's no need for that. Get up, get up.

"Save me, Great Emperor!" Since he was already clinging to the leg, Lu Mingfei simply refused to let go. He dabbed two fingers at his mouth, then touched the corner of his eye and began wailing theatrically.

Then he tried to wipe his hand on Meng Chuan's trousers.

Meng Chuan yanked his leg free and stared at Lu Mingfei's hand in disgust.

"What do we do, Great Emperor?" Lu Mingfei stood up and dusted off his backside. He looked toward the moon, worry in his eyes. "You have to help me. I can't do anything about something up on the moon!"

Meng Chuan reassured him. "Don't worry. As your guardian, of course I'll help you!"

Zhang Sanfeng: The word "guardian" in that task notification...

Zhang Sanfeng: It has some interesting implications!

Yao Chen: Hahahaha (-^〇^-)

Bibi Dong: The guardian means the Great Emperor, right?

Meng Chuan had no objection to the Chat Group calling him a guardian.

The kid was a member of his group, after all. Watching over one or two of them was no trouble.

But as he looked at the two uses of "immediately" in Lu Mingfei's task, and the warning not to let Lu Mingfei even confront the passage without him, Meng Chuan grew uneasy.

It all suggested that the world on the other side might be far from simple.

"Great Emperor, look, shall we go now?" Lu Mingfei rubbed his hands as he looked at Meng Chuan. As the owner of a face thick enough to weather any storm, he had seen plenty. Having a nominal guardian was child's play!

"All right. I want to see what's come to ruin this peaceful world of song and dance." Meng Chuan was uneasy, but he also spoke through gritted teeth.

Thanks to Anyi Qingkong and Youdang de Wang for your generous gifts, and thanks to all you handsome readers for your recommendation votes! Please vote and bookmark! Today's chapter is over 3,500 words, so how about giving me some serious support?