"I failed to complete the mission!"
Zhang Qiqiao's tone was gloomy. He was still resentful that Qin Sirong, whom he had personally nurtured and always cherished, had betrayed him. So even now, facing the threat of death, he still harbored a deep hatred in his heart.
"Do you know the consequences of failing to complete the mission?" The Carefree King turned his head and looked down at Zhang Qiqiao.
"I don't want to die, I want to atone for my crimes!" Zhang Qiqiao didn't want to die, and he didn't want Zhang Junbao to have an easy time either. At this moment, his face was full of ferocious expressions.
"That's enough. The task of killing Zhang Junbao was not mine, but the Eighth Prince's. You've been with me for so many years, I can't just cripple you like this."
"I was originally going to punish you, but now we need capable people, so I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Get up!"
As for the Carefree Prince, he had a cooperative relationship with the Eighth Prince and Qin Hui. The Eighth Prince gave Zhang Qiqiao a task, and the Carefree Prince didn't care too much about whether he completed it or not.
Just now, it was only because Zhang Qiqiao seemed to be leaning towards Qin Hui in recent years that I took the opportunity to give Zhang Qiqiao a warning.
Sensing that the Prince of Xiaoyao was no longer blaming him, Zhang Qiqiao relaxed and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you, Master!"
Next, the Carefree King revealed his purpose for reappearing in the martial arts world: "I plan to unify the Central Plains martial arts world, establish the Martial Arts Alliance, unite all sects under the banner of the Martial Arts Alliance, collect all martial arts from all over the world, eliminate the weak and retain the strong, and from now on, the martial arts world will belong to me, the Carefree King."
With that, the Carefree King ordered the three men, "I'm having you help me complete this mission: capture all the sect leaders, renowned figures, and masters from various schools and bring them to the Heavenly Prison. Make them hand over their martial arts techniques and lifelong secrets. Anyone who refuses will be killed without mercy!"
Then Xiaoyao Wang looked at Zhang Qiqiao: "The other sects are not a problem, but there is one person we need to be careful with. He is Yi Jifeng of Mingjian Villa. I remember that your arm was cut off by him, right? Your task is to accompany me to Mingjian Villa and bring him back to me."
According to intelligence, Yi Jifeng has mastered the most powerful sword technique of the Famous Sword Manor, 'Eight Swords Flying Together,' making him virtually unmatched in the martial world. Therefore, I will personally take action this time!"
At this point, the carefree king's eyes were full of solemnity. Clearly, after learning that Li Ling had mastered the Eight Swords Flying Together, the carefree king had already regarded him as a lifelong rival.
The carefree king gazed into the distance and muttered to himself, "Back then, I had a great battle with Yi Yun of the Famous Sword Manor, which was one of the most dangerous battles of my life."
Today, let me see just how good the most outstanding successor of the Famous Sword Manor, as that old fellow Yi Yun claims, truly is! "Wish Star of All Heavens and Realms"
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Chapter 204: A Grand Sedan Chair Arrives at the Door
The Carefree King is a martial arts fanatic who has spent his life pursuing higher levels of martial arts. He plans to establish the 'Martial Arts Alliance', and ordinary people in the martial arts world would assume that he wants to unify the martial arts world and enjoy the supreme glory and power within it.
However, Li Ling, who also pursued the highest realm of martial arts, knew that the reason why the Carefree King did this was to collect the ultimate skills of martial arts masters in the world so that he could further improve his own martial arts.
This is also why, after he captured Yi Tianxing, he gave him the opportunity to comprehend the eighth form of the Eight Styles of Famous Swords.
However, while the Carefree King aspires to reach the pinnacle of martial arts, he is by no means an upright and honorable person. When faced with an enemy of equal strength, he will resort to despicable means to deal with him.
Meanwhile, Li Ling, who was aware of the imminent arrival of the Carefree King, was also working hard to consolidate his cultivation. After refining his true essence, Li Ling's power stabilized at the Innate Grandmaster level.
At this time, Li Ling began to familiarize himself with the Eight Forms of the Famous Sword. After all, he had just broken through and his application of the Eight Forms of the Famous Sword was still in its initial stage. However, the Carefree King had been cultivating for many years longer than Li Ling, so his current preliminary understanding of the Eight Forms of the Famous Sword was not necessarily a match for the Carefree King.
Of course, Li Ling wouldn't be afraid of him. After all, the Eight Forms of Famous Swords are the application of eight different artistic concepts. Even if he lost the battle against the Lightning Artifact of the Carefree King, it wouldn't be a big problem.
Moreover, this is only a difference in martial arts skills, while life-or-death duels never rely solely on the strength of martial arts skills. For example, Li Ling's mental power, which he has never used; or explosives.
Li Ling's mental power has been enhanced by the World Essence Liquid. He is not sure what level of power it has reached. After breaking through to the Grandmaster level, he compared the strength of mental power with that of physical power. What he can confirm is that the power of his Eight Forms of Famous Swords is not as great as that of his mental power.
Of course, Li Ling did not want to rely too much on mental power. Excessive reliance would only create obstacles in his martial arts advancement and would be detrimental to his future cultivation. The path to enlightenment is long and arduous, and Li Ling wanted to climb to the peak of cultivation.
Now, Li Ling's next step in cultivation is to comprehend the other six realms of intent to the third level, so that the chaotic realm formed by the fusion of Yin-Yang and Five Elements intents can reach perfection, and reach the highest level of the Eight Forms of Famous Swords.
Li Ling has been cultivating for nearly ten years, studying the martial arts manuals collected by his ancestors in the manor's books. Moreover, he comes from modern society and has experienced the information explosion. Recently, whenever he comprehends the essence of a concept, countless ingenious ideas and techniques will pop into his mind.
Whether simple or complex, yang or yin... there are no fewer than a hundred different paths and concepts, but none of these ideas ultimately brought Li Ling any gain.
Especially after recently learning that the Carefree King was about to appear, Li Ling felt a little anxious, which hindered his comprehension of the artistic conception. He wished he could practice in the Sword Repository every day, sometimes for seven or eight days straight.
It wasn't until later, when Li Ling suddenly realized something was wrong, that he woke up with a start and realized he had fallen into a martial arts slump.
"My spiritual practice has been too short, and my mental cultivation is insufficient!"
Once he regained his senses, Li Ling couldn't help but sigh inwardly, realizing that his unknowing obsession with breaking through immediately had backfired.
Having undergone trials and tribulations across several worlds, his temperament had been tempered. After realizing the problem, he pondered for several hours and finally calmed his mind.
After leaving the Sword Storage Room, Li Ling said goodbye to Xueyan and his son, who were still recuperating, and then went to find Yu'er and said to her, "Yu'er, shall we go out for a stroll together today?"
"Really? Brother Yi, is your cultivation alright?" Yu'er couldn't help but ask happily upon hearing Li Ling's words.
"Grandpa said you were in seclusion, so Xueyan and I didn't dare to disturb you. My mother came back yesterday, and I didn't even have a chance to tell you!"
"Auntie's here? That's wonderful! Let's go see her together!" Li Ling said with a smile.
"It was truly impolite of me not to greet her immediately upon her arrival at Mingjian Manor; I should hurry and apologize!"
"Don't worry, my mother won't hold it against me. She met with my grandfather yesterday. I was just about to go out for a walk with my mother. Brother Yi, didn't you say you were going out? Why don't you come along too?"
"Alright, let's do as you say, Yu'er!"
Soon after Li Ling met Yu'er's mother, he went to the street with Yu'er and her daughter. Yu'er bought whatever she liked on the street, and soon she had bought a lot of things, so Li Ling had to hire a horse-drawn carriage to transport them.
Seeing Yu'er's behavior, Yu'er's mother couldn't help but admonish her, "Yu'er, why are you buying so many things!"
Yu'er said dismissively, "Mother, what's the big deal? You went through so much trouble to come all the way from the desert, what's wrong with your daughter buying you some things?"
Yu'er's mother looked slightly worried and scolded, "What do you mean, 'What's wrong?' You're spending Young Master Yi's money. You're spending so extravagantly. I bet you've spent several hundred taels of silver in no time. Aren't you afraid that Young Master Yi will be unhappy?"
Yu'er didn't care at all when she heard this. Instead, she comforted her, "Mother, don't worry. Brother Yi won't be unhappy. This is just a small amount of money for Brother Yi."
Besides, I don't always do this. Now that you're here, Mother, you haven't returned to the Central Plains for so many years, I should at least buy you some useful things!