Ye Fan's Road to Kingship and Supremacy

[At age 25, the Emperor Daoguang learned that the son of the Bordered Blue Banner's lord had once offended you at Shaolin Temple. He sent the banner lord to Shaolin Temple to apologize to you and tactfully aired his grievances, saying that martial heroes used their martial prowess to break the law. As the Righteous Path Alliance grew increasingly rampant, more and more jianghu figures had killed who knew how many legitimate merchants under the banner of robbing the rich to help the poor, and carried off who knew how many respectable women under the banner of heroes rescuing beauties. He asked you to bestow some Six-Revolution Golden Pills, but you flatly refused. To your surprise, Master Xingdian, usually a man of few words, turned out to be an undercover agent planted in Shaolin Temple by the Great Qing Dynasty, and he left with the banner lord. You thought he was a destined nemesis the plot had arranged for Ye Fan, so you did not pursue the charge of his defection from Shaolin Temple!]

[At age 26, to uphold the Great Qing Dynasty's rule, Master Xingdian visited the leaders of every sect and school in turn, asking them to withdraw from the Righteous Path Alliance. Since Master Xingdian had also been strengthened by a Six-Revolution Golden Pill, the Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters of the various sects and schools were no match for him and had no choice but to bow before his fists. The Righteous Path Alliance gradually became an alliance in name only. Fortunately, Master Xingdian took Shaolin Temple's reaction into account and never struck to kill, so there were no casualties. Jianghu figures were intimidated, and all manner of crimes fell sharply!]

[At age 27, Master Xingdian firmly believed it was better to be a dog in peaceful times than a person in an age of chaos. He urged Ye Fan to submit to the Manchu Qing court and work for the people's welfare. Ye Fan firmly believed that the Great Qing Dynasty brought nothing but corruption, backwardness, darkness, and despair, and that only by overthrowing the Manchu Qing court could there be a bright future. Their opposing convictions made them as irreconcilable as fire and water, and an earth-shaking decisive battle erupted. Master Xingdian knew all three Cultivation Methods Ye Fan principally practiced, while Ye Fan knew nothing at all of the methods Master Xingdian cultivated. With the advantage of knowing both himself and his enemy, Master Xingdian ultimately defeated Ye Fan!]

[At age 28, Ye Fan cultivated Heavenly Gang Fist Intent through the Heavenly Gang Thirty-Six Fists, raising his strength by a level, and challenged Master Xingdian to a duel. Ye Fan made a bold declaration: on the night of the full moon, atop the Forbidden City, he would take the emperor's head if he won and return the Imperial Seal of the Realm if he lost. Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters loyal to the Great Qing Dynasty and those hostile to it converged on the Capital. The earth-shaking battle lasted seven days and seven nights, yet neither side could overcome the other. It turned out that the Great Qing Dynasty had poured out its national reserves to support Master Xingdian's cultivation, sparing no expense. He ate thousand-year-old spirit medicines as meals and ten-thousand-year-old spirit medicines as snacks, and his strength had likewise risen by a level. This decisive battle divided the nation's Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters into two clearly distinct camps!]

[At age 29, Ye Fan rebuilt the Righteous Path Alliance and called on the Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters throughout the land who were hostile to the Great Qing Dynasty to join him in a great undertaking. More than three hundred gathered in short order. Fearing the Righteous Path Alliance's strength, the Emperor Daoguang named Ye Fan King of Penglai, ruler of the four seas. He hoped Ye Fan would stop stirring up storms within the Great Qing Dynasty's borders and instead establish a kingdom overseas and make trouble for the foreigners. Ye Fan refused to accept the Emperor Daoguang's grant!]

[At age 30, with the aid of Heavenly Gang Fist Intent, Ye Fan fused the intents of seventy-two martial arts and cultivated Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha Fist Intent, raising his strength by another level. Ye Fan challenged Master Xingdian once again and made the same bold declaration: on the night of the full moon, atop the Forbidden City, he would take the emperor's head if he won and return the Imperial Seal of the Realm if he lost. Anyone with clear eyes knew that the outcome of this battle would directly determine the future course of the realm, and Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters from across the country converged on the Capital without prior arrangement. The earth-shaking battle lasted three days and three nights. Ye Fan used Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha Fist Intent to severely wound Master Xingdian, but because the Emperor Daoguang had gone into hiding, Ye Fan failed to slay the dragon as he had wished. Ye Fan did not kill Master Xingdian, instead handing him over to Shaolin Temple for judgment. Shaolin Temple ultimately decided to confine Master Xingdian to the Demon-Subduing Pagoda under house arrest for life!]

[At age 31, Ye Fan became the only peerless expert in the jianghu to enter the Dao through martial arts. He used his fists to persuade Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters from every corner of the jianghu, giving him an overwhelming advantage over the Great Qing Dynasty in high-end power at the Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmaster level. With the Righteous Path Alliance's headquarters as his base, Ye Fan continually expanded his territory, nibbling away at the surrounding lands. He had clearly become a grave threat to the Manchu Qing court!]

[At age 32, the Emperor Daoguang watched Ye Fan grow ever stronger, with the means to carve out his own domain and proclaim himself king and overlord, and once again proposed peace. The Emperor Daoguang wanted to name Ye Fan King of the South and grant him the former lands of the Three Feudatories, directing him to expand toward Tianzhu rather than continue nibbling away at the Great Qing Dynasty's territory. After careful consideration, Ye Fan ultimately agreed!]

[At age 35, Ye Fan had brought the lands of the Three Feudatories into excellent order and trained enough capable people!]

[At age 36, Ye Fan felt the time was ripe and launched an offensive toward Tianzhu. He advanced like a splitting bamboo, and the various small foreign states crumbled at first contact. The situation was favorable on all fronts!]

[At age 36, the British colonists of the East India Company saw their interests harmed and called on the experts of Southeast Asia's nations to unite against Ye Fan. However, the East India Company underestimated and overestimated the foundations of Southeast Asia's nations, and also underestimated the might of the Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters from more than half of Huaxia. The decisive battle ultimately turned into a one-sided slaughter. The experts of Southeast Asia's nations were almost wiped out and could no longer pose any threat. Wherever Ye Fan went, they nearly always surrendered at the mere news of his approach!]

[At age 38, Ye Fan occupied all of Southeast Asia, ruling a territory no smaller than that of the Great Qing Dynasty!]

[At age 40, Gang Force National Martial Arts grandmasters from all quarters hoped Ye Fan would soon return to the Central Plains and overthrow the Manchu Qing court's dark rule. But conditions in the nations of Southeast Asia were extremely complicated, and the integration of their different cultures and customs was proceeding very slowly, so Ye Fan ultimately decided to govern internal affairs first. Qin Shi Huang's standardization of writing, carriage axles, weights, and measures became the central principle behind Ye Fan's governance of Southeast Asia!]

[At age 48, the territory Ye Fan had occupied had been built up into something as impregnable as walls of bronze and iron. The vast majority of the people had accepted Ye Fan's rule from the bottom of their hearts. Ye Fan sent the small number of stubborn, unyielding hardliners to temples in Tianzhu, where eminent monks brainwashed them!]

[At age 50, the Emperor Daoguang died and the Emperor Xianfeng succeeded him. Taking advantage of the Great Qing Dynasty's imperial succession, Ye Fan launched an all-out attack against it. The Great Qing Dynasty's court was thrown into violent turmoil. The pro-war faction swore to fight Ye Fan to the death and defend the dynasty's rule with their lives. The surrender faction believed Ye Fan was unstoppable and urged the Emperor Xianfeng to send envoys to negotiate peace. The middle faction, intent on preserving their own importance by keeping the enemy at large, used the pressure Ye Fan brought to demand greater power from the Emperor Xianfeng. The Great Qing Dynasty's imperial authority began to shake, and the Emperor Xianfeng was almost reduced to a puppet. The ministers were busy fighting for power and profit, unable to concentrate the strength of the whole country against Ye Fan!]

[At age 51, Ye Fan breached the Capital, and the Emperor Xianfeng fled beyond Shanhai Pass. Ministers of the surrender faction took control of the Great Qing Dynasty's court affairs and sent envoys to propose peace to Ye Fan. After careful consideration, Ye Fan ultimately signed a nonaggression treaty, with Shanhai Pass as the boundary. Hardliners loyal to the Great Qing Dynasty fled beyond the pass to join the Emperor Xianfeng, and the Central Plains soon regained stability. Ye Fan issued a hair-cutting decree, forbidding the people of the Central Plains from continuing to wear the coin-and-rat-tail queue, and called on them to revive the culture of the Han and Tang!]