"I began cultivating at the age of three."
"At five, I officially entered the heavenly pivot realm!"
"When I ascended the throne at twenty-two, I reached the heavenly jade realm!"
"At sixty-eight, I broke through to the heavenly balance realm!"
"At one hundred and forty-eight, I attained the heavenly authority realm!"
"At six hundred and twelve, I attained the jade balance realm!"
"Now I have reached the mid-stage jade balance realm. Sect Master Fang, do you still wish to fight me?" Emperor Shao asked imperiously.
"Interesting." Fang Ling smiled. "With cultivation like yours, why have you allowed those sects and great clans outside to keep growing stronger?"
"Those are all trivial matters," Emperor Shao replied. "I have never cared about them. I can deal with them whenever I wish."
"The only reason I conceal my strength... is to lull those above us into complacency."
"Those above you? You mean the Great Qian Dynasty?" Fang Ling asked.
Emperor Shao nodded. "Yes, them."
"But they're the reason your Li family can sit securely on the throne of the Southern Sun Kingdom." Fang Ling could not understand.
"Do you know how much tribute our Southern Sun Kingdom must pay them every year?" Emperor Shao asked gravely. "At least two billion spirit stones!"
"They need do nothing but hold out their hands, and our Southern Sun Kingdom must obediently present them with two billion spirit stones."
"Two billion spirit stones! Who knows how much suffering our people must endure, how many must die, to scrape together that sum!"
"Every sovereign of my Li family has seethed with anger over this, yet none dared speak..."
"So, from childhood, I swore to change all of this, and I cultivated as though my life depended on it."
"Sect Master Fang, do you know why I am telling you so much?" she asked.
Fang Ling shook his head. "No."
Emperor Shao sneered. "Because I already consider you a dead man!"
"Before meeting you, I still clung to a shred of hope. Killing you was not necessarily the only option."
"But after that brief encounter just now, I learned exactly what kind of man you are."
"If I do not kill you today, sooner or later you will cause an even greater stir."
"The more trouble you make, the more attention the Great Qian Dynasty will pay to this place. The strength I have amassed over so many years may be exposed as a result!"
"So, to prevent such an accident, I can only snuff you out."
"I had people investigate your identity long ago, but none of the heirs of the major powers in the Southern Dipper Domain matched you."
"Back in my bedchamber, I was still uneasy, so I asked again. Judging by the look in your eyes when you answered, however, you probably were not lying."
"Since you have no backing, there is no harm in killing you."
"If you must blame anything, blame your own youthful arrogance and unbridled recklessness!"
With that, Emperor Shao flicked a finger at Fang Ling.
A razor-sharp arrow of wind shot from her finger.
With a single whoosh, the wind arrow struck Fang Ling's chest at tremendous speed.
Emperor Shao had thought that one flick would be enough to kill Fang Ling, but the result surprised her.
Fang Ling stood motionless and took the blow, yet remained completely unharmed.
"It seems you are even stronger than I imagined!" Emperor Shao narrowed her beautiful eyes and quietly drew a steadying breath.
With a beckoning motion, an exquisite longsword appeared in her hand.
"Ride the Wind and Break the Waves!" she cried, unleashing her sword technique.
Empowered by the wind, her sword moved as fast as lightning.
Even Fang Ling could not help nodding in admiration at such a swift strike.
In terms of speed alone, there was something in that strike worth learning from.
The sword flashed, but it did not strike Fang Ling.
In that instant, he used the Divine Movement Step to shift positions and appear behind Emperor Shao.
"What swift footwork!" Emperor Shao's expression changed slightly, and two streams of sky-blue wind immediately appeared beneath her feet.
She primarily cultivated wind-based arts and abilities, so her speed was naturally impressive.
This ability that raised wind beneath her feet was a signature technique she had painstakingly practiced for years.
She immediately flashed aside as well, putting distance between herself and Fang Ling.
"Want to compete with me in speed?" Fang Ling smiled and immediately gave chase.
The two seemed to have become locked in a contest, no longer exchanging lethal blows but competing in speed instead.
Before long, however, Emperor Shao gave up and stared at Fang Ling opposite her, her face livid.
At some point, Fang Ling had swiped her hairpin. Had he chosen to attack her instead of taking it, she would probably already be dead...
"What ability was that?" she asked.
"My cultivation is higher than yours, and I have practiced the Wave-Treading Step for five hundred years, yet I still cannot match you..."
Fang Ling merely smiled without answering.
Before leaving the mountain, all his masters had warned him not to reveal what he had learned, lest he invite trouble.
Although Emperor Shao had lost that exchange, she had no intention of stopping.
She pressed her palms together and unleashed another ability.
Fang Ling was instantly trapped inside a barrier formed from astral wind.
The Astral Wind Barrier kept shrinking, leaving less and less air inside. Soon, he could no longer breathe.
All the air had been drawn out, leaving him in a vacuum.
Fang Ling began to feel uncomfortable and glared at Emperor Shao.
"Have you had enough?!" He clenched his fist and threw a punch.
Terrifying power shattered everything, sending visible ripples trembling through space itself.
The Astral Wind Barrier naturally collapsed in an instant, and the force of his punch swept onward without weakening, blasting Emperor Shao away as well.
Emperor Shao slowly rose, watching Fang Ling with a grave expression.
She could not imagine why the young man before her was so powerful. His strength was simply absurd!
Remembering her earlier display of supreme confidence only made her feel more ashamed...
But even if she was no match for him, as a sovereign, she would never submit.
Seeing that defiance still lingered in her eyes, Fang Ling could not help feeling surprised.
Most of the people he had encountered before had bowed in awed submission after witnessing his strength.
"Still not convinced?" he asked.
"You're clearly no match for me. You can't even break through my defenses."
"Be as strong as you like. What is that to me?" Emperor Shao replied.
"It has come to this. If you want to kill me, then kill me. Why waste words?"
She snorted coldly, raised her sword, and charged at Fang Ling again.
Fang Ling had no intention of killing her, however. Doing so would bring trouble upon him.
As Mister Mo had said, she was the ruler of Nanyang. If anything happened to her, the Great Qian Dynasty would not sit idly by.
With his current strength, he was not yet prepared to make an enemy of such an overlord-level power.
Thus, his only purpose in coming to the Imperial City had been to give Emperor Shao a warning.
He had not expected things to turn out like this.
Still, he had more or less achieved his purpose. He had done enough to show her what he was capable of.
Yet her continued defiance irritated him slightly.
Why not try that move? He suddenly remembered the Scent-Stealing Finger that his master, Flower Thief, had told him about.
He still remembered how smug his master, Flower Thief, had looked when mentioning that move back on the mountain.
Fang Ling had never tried it before. With such a perfect opportunity before him today, he might as well give it a go.
He turned his wrist and thrust out a finger.
That single touch instantly transformed the previously ferocious Emperor Shao.
Before you continue