In the vast mountain forest, a golden dragon chariot rolled along the road back toward Fengtian City.
"Uncle, I'm about to break through."
Yang Cheng spoke up suddenly.
Back inside the Ancient Desolation Tower, he had already refined the Blood Sea Sword Talisman. He could have broken through then, but he held back, planning to catch the other prodigies off guard.
Before entering the tower, he'd expected he'd end up fighting them. So his plan was to break through during combat and gain an edge that way.
But in the end, that preparation was completely unnecessary.
He didn't even need a breakthrough to crush all eleven prodigies.
Yun Jinghuai straightened up. "Go ahead and break through. I'll guard you."
Not just Yang Cheng, but Tang Xingyu and Lin Shu were both at the edge of breaking through too.
With Yun Jinghuai standing guard, nothing unexpected happened.
Right there in the golden dragon chariot, Yang Cheng completed his advancement without a hitch.
He stepped into the Martial Master realm and directly reached the third stage.
Right after, Tang Xingyu and Lin Shu also broke through.
Tang Xingyu leapt from the late Xiantian stage into the half-step Martial Master realm.
Lin Shu advanced from peak Houtian into mid-stage Xiantian.
"These two little girls are freaks too."
Yun Jinghuai couldn't help but marvel.
Because Yang Cheng's brilliance had been too blinding, Tang Xingyu and Lin Shu had been overlooked.
But now, it was clear—both of them had terrifying talent, absolutely on par with the top prodigies.
Especially Tang Xingyu.
Yun Jinghuai could sense she held a frightening amount of potential.
In fact, most of it hadn't even been tapped yet.
He secretly passed this insight to Yang Cheng via voice transmission.
Obviously, he was trying to build solid support for Yang Cheng's future.
Yang Cheng had to admit Yun Jinghuai's instincts were razor-sharp.
In the future, it really was Tang Xingyu who would shine the brightest.
You could even say, if not for his appearance as a wild card in this life, she would have been the most terrifying one among all the prodigies in the Ancient Desolation Tower.
Meanwhile, as the cultivators from all the major forces returned, what happened in the tower spread like wildfire across the Eastern Wastes.
Within moments, all the Eastern Wastes kingdoms knew that Great Zhou had birthed a monstrous Crown Prince.
He possessed the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body and, at just three years old, had wiped out eleven prodigies.
Far northeast of Great Zhou, on a peninsula, stood the Sky Feather Empire.
At the center of this empire was a great mountain blanketed in peach trees and blossoms.
This was the famous Taoshan.
Boom!
That day, thunder roared across Taoshan. A terrifying pressure swept across countless miles.
"It's the Taoshan Sect Master raging. Who's bold enough to make him this mad?"
Nearby cultivators were all shaken and on edge.
The whole atmosphere on the mountain turned oppressive.
All the top figures gathered.
At the head sat a middle-aged man with greying hair.
"The Crown Prince of Great Zhou must die."
"And Yun Jinghuai is even worse—he killed one of our Taoshan elders."
"I can't swallow this!"
All of Taoshan's senior members were seething with rage.
"You'll have to swallow it whether you want to or not."
A calmer elder said, "Look at what happened to Great Yan. Are you really not afraid of Yun Jinghuai's army storming Taoshan?"
That one sentence made everyone go silent.
Great Yan wasn't some small nation—it was one of the strongest countries in the Eastern Wastes.
And the Sky Feather Empire wasn't even on par with Great Yan.
So how could they not fear Yun Jinghuai leading his troops right into their territory?
"If we want revenge, brute force won't work."
Another elder chimed in. "Why not pass the word to Tian Congxuan? Baili Guan was his most beloved junior brother. If he learns that the Crown Prince of Great Zhou killed Baili Guan, he won't let this go."
"With Tian Congxuan's strength, killing the Crown Prince would be easy."
"He could challenge the Crown Prince to a formal duel—use martial rules to kill him fair and square."
Everyone's eyes lit up.
"No."
The Taoshan Sect Master finally spoke. "Congxuan is still in Peach Blossom Abyss. He's trying to break through to Martial King. We must not distract him with outside matters."
"Then we'll hold back—for now."
"Once Tian Congxuan leaves seclusion, the Crown Prince will pay the price."
The others had no choice but to agree.
At the same time, in Great Zhao—
"Miss Lu, I've let you down."
Nangong Yi said bitterly, "You told me ahead of time about the Innate Sword Talismans, and I still failed to get one."
"Divine Son, don't be discouraged."
Lu Jingshu said calmly, "A hero isn't measured by a single win or loss. With your potential, missing this chance won't put you below the others."
In truth, she knew missing out this time was a huge loss for Nangong Yi.
His future achievements would likely fall short of his past life.
But even so, Nangong Yi's talent still gave him vast potential.
He remained valuable.
Her words perked him up a little.
"Divine Son, come with me. I'll take you somewhere."
Lu Jingshu said.
The next day—
Lu Jingshu brought Nangong Yi to the coast of the Great Zhao Empire.
Deep within a fissure on a seaside island, Nangong Yi discovered a skeleton of a sword cultivator.
Inside that skeleton remained fragments of a powerful ancient cultivator's memories.
"These are divine memories!"
Nangong Yi was thrilled. "Hahaha, turns out blessings and misfortunes really go hand in hand. I, Nangong Yi, lost the Innate Sword Talisman, but gained a huge opportunity instead. Just wait, Crown Prince of Great Zhou. Our battle isn't over. Who wins in the end is still up in the air."
At the same time, he felt even more grateful toward Lu Jingshu.
In Great Zhou.
Fengtian City.
Yang Cheng had returned.
The moment he entered the city, he was startled.
Crowds filled both sides of the streets like an ocean.
The citizens of the capital had already heard the news about the Ancient Desolation Tower.
Their Crown Prince had faced eleven foreign prodigies all by himself and ended up killing seven of them.
It might be terrible news for other nations, but for the people of Great Zhou, it was an incredible morale boost.
To them, Yang Cheng had become a little hero.
Though he was only three years old, his fame was already soaring.
Inside the palace, all the imperial clansmen and court ministers had gathered too.
Because they'd learned that the Crown Prince's physique wasn't just the Divine Dragon Sword Body, but the even more defiant Ancestral Dragon Sword Body.
"I knew something was off back during the bone aptitude test."
"Yeah, that day I vaguely saw a nine-clawed golden dragon, but the Royal Clan Patriarch covered it up immediately. When they later said it was just the Divine Dragon Sword Body, I didn't question it. Thought I was just seeing things."
"Hahaha, turns out we weren't imagining anything. The Crown Prince really did awaken the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body."
The core officials of Great Zhou were all fired up.
Yang Cheng came back with a smile on his face, but deep down he stayed calm.
He knew these people's attitude wasn't really about him, but about the potential he had shown—and the benefits he could bring to Great Zhou in the future.
These same people treated Yang Xiu like this in his past life.
They didn't value him as a person, just the status of being heir to the throne.
Only his mother and uncle cared about him as a person.
If one day he became a failure, these people who were so eager today would turn cold and toss him aside without hesitation.
But his mother and uncle would still stand by him no matter what.
That was the difference.
In the Radiant Sunlight Hall.
Yang Xiu sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes shut.
His consciousness was immersed in his sea of awareness.
"The Taichu Sword Talisman? It's far weaker than the Taiyi Sword Talisman, but I'll give you a pass."
Lin Xinglan spoke indifferently.
Yang Xiu finally let out a breath of relief. Just before, he'd been worried Lin Xinglan wouldn't be satisfied.
"Yang Xiu, do you know why I told you to get either the Taiyi or Taichu Sword Talisman?"
Lin Xinglan asked.
"I do not."
Yang Xiu answered.
"My beginner cultivation method needs a strong enough Sword Talisman as its foundation."
Lin Xinglan said, "If you didn't have one, you wouldn't be qualified to be my disciple. I couldn't take you in."
Yang Xiu seemed to sense something coming and said excitedly, "Senior…"
"Yang Xiu, are you willing to enter my tutelage and become my disciple?"
Lin Xinglan asked.
"I am."
Yang Xiu knelt down and bowed. "This junior—no, this disciple greets Teacher."
"Good. Today I'll teach you the Supreme Sword Canon."
Lin Xinglan said, "From this moment on, your cultivation will soar. You'll finally begin walking the true path of cultivation."
Meanwhile.
Outside in the main hall of Radiant Sunlight Hall.
Noble Consort Zhuang was meeting with a high-ranking lady of the court.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
This woman was Zhuang Wanrong's sister-in-law, the wife of her elder brother—Lady Zhuang Han.
"Sister-in-law, no need to be so formal with me. What's the matter the family asked you to bring up?"
"This time, the clan really pulled off something major. It might turn your situation around, Your Highness."
Zhuang Wanrong's eyes lit up. "What is it?"
Lady Zhuang Han smiled. "Recently, the demonic beasts of the Wasteland Realm have been stirring. Luofu Mountain intends to set up a Four Symbols Formation in the Eastern Wastes to monitor the demons and prevent chaos.
Thanks to our Zhuang clan's efforts, they've agreed to place the formation within Great Zhou."
"This will raise our Zhuang clan's standing in Great Zhou."
Zhuang Wanrong wasn't very interested. She felt it would help, but not enough to truly reverse her current position.
Right now, the momentum over at Splendid Radiance Hall was too strong. It was suffocating her.
Seeing through her thoughts, Lady Zhuang Han added, "There's one more thing. Since Luofu Mountain is placing the formation in Great Zhou, one of their elders will be selecting a disciple here."
That made Zhuang Wanrong jump up in excitement. "Really?"
Luofu Mountain was a Central Wastes powerhouse—one of the top martial sects in the Wasteland Realm.
It was viewed by countless martial artists as a sacred land.
Rumor had it a Martial True God resided there.
And the elders of Luofu Mountain were way above figures like Master Mingxin in status.
If Yang Xiu could become a disciple of one of Luofu Mountain's elders, the situation in Radiant Sunlight Hall could flip completely in an instant.
"It's true."
Lady Zhuang Han said, "Get ready. The elder from Luofu Mountain will probably arrive within the next two days."
Two days later.
A grand banquet was being held in the Ningshou Palace.
Today was Empress Dowager Meng's sixty-third birthday.
Many princes and princesses were present—including Yang Cheng and Yang Xiu.
"Empress Dowager."
Suddenly, Chief Eunuch Su Jin hurried in. "The Seventh Elder from Luofu Mountain has arrived."
Not long after he spoke, a sedan chair approached from the distance.
The curtain was pulled open.
A stunning young woman with an ethereal beauty stepped out.