Chapter 927 Fighting the Heavens

Zheng Fan had been stuck at the fifth-rank martial warrior realm for a long time.

From the very beginning, the devils were clear that their master’s constitution had nothing to do with those good-for-nothings;

Their master’s constitution was actually quite good.

Of course, it couldn't compare with those true darlings of the heavens, but if he were thrown into the martial world, he could still stand out a little.

In the early days, when Zheng Fan first started down the path of a martial warrior, his rapid progress had attracted a lot of attention. But later, as Zheng Fan's status and position continued to rise, and he had more and more troops and personal guards around him,

The world no longer talked much about the Pingxi King's own strength.

For those in the imperial court, what mattered more was his Jindong iron cavalry;

For those in the martial world, what mattered more were existences like the Sword Saint at his side;

For the common people,

Well,

The common people of Yan and Jin evaluated the Pingxi King's personal martial prowess as no less than that of the former Jingnan King. After a battle, storytellers in teahouses liked to tell stories of the Pingxi King fighting someone for three hundred rounds, causing mountains to collapse and rivers to flow backward;

The people of other countries, intimidated by the Pingxi King's battle achievements, compared him to a demon, the kind who couldn't wait to eat two pairs of young boys and girls raw for every meal. Naturally, they wouldn't be stingy in their descriptions of his personal martial prowess;

However, only those around the Pingxi King truly knew how obsessed he was with cultivation realms.

Because ever since he woke up,

Zheng Fan himself had been bearing the hope of one person cultivating and the whole team advancing.

The Sword Saint knew that Zheng Fan insisted on practicing his saber and exercising his body every day, no matter what. This perseverance hadn't changed because of his changing status and position;

Of course, this was also because the king was very free in the royal palace when he wasn't going on expeditions. If he didn't take half a day to practice martial arts, he would seem even more idle.

However, the fifth-rank realm was actually equivalent to the traditional "peak of a martial warrior";

To go further, it really wasn't something a master could teach.

Sometimes, it depended on accumulating enough energy until who-knows-when, plus a bit of well-timed luck.

And right now,

Zheng Fan finally broke through the barrier of his realm with a surge of willpower, stepping into the realm of a fourth-rank martial warrior.

At this moment,

The three... or rather, four devils present were all excited.

The higher one went, the more a single rank felt like a whole new world;

For the devils, this meant they could recover more of their strength, because the base ratio was there.

The simplest arithmetic problem was,

Under normal circumstances,

A devil who followed their master to the fifth rank could rely on their rich experience and special abilities such as bloodlines to fight a normal fourth-rank expert to a draw, and under certain circumstances, they might even be able to cut off their head;

But if they could follow their master to the fourth rank,

It would mean that the devils possessed the strength corresponding to the third rank.

Third rank,

In this world,

Apart from existences like the Sword Saint, and apart from those who might still be living in seclusion, it was already considered the ceiling level.

A strong person possessing strength no less than the third rank could go anywhere, as long as they didn't deliberately court death.

A'ming immediately drained the red wine in his glass,

In this atmosphere,

He couldn't continue to maintain that elegance and composure;

He even couldn't be bothered to let his tongue touch the wine a few more times to taste the flavor as much as possible when drinking the red wine this time, because his tongue had to save its strength to lick something more important next.

Xue San was so excited that he clenched his fists, wishing he could shout.

Fan Li's eyes widened like copper bells,

Then,

He thought of something.

At this moment, Third Master exclaimed in surprise, "A'Li, did you see that? Master has advanced, he has advanced!"

"Yeah, we're two steps behind."

"..." Xue San.

Third Master let out a sigh,

But he quickly perked up again,

And said;

"It's okay, it means we have more room for improvement than them."

…

The Emperor looked at Zheng Fan, a little puzzled,

"You advanced?"

"Yes."

"No, Zheng, all that buildup you just did, was it just to let me see you show off one last time before we parted ways back to the capital? Were you deliberately holding it in until now to advance?"

The King reached out and placed his hand on the Emperor's shoulder.

Then,

He exerted force.

"I..."

The Emperor staggered, and then the King lifted him up, his body completely losing its balance.

Eunuch Wei's hands subconsciously twitched twice, and his chest rose and fell, but in the end, he chose not to intervene.

"Ji Laoliu," the King said.

"What are you going to do?"

"Actually, I don't really want you to die, and even if you do, don't die so soon."

"Oh, put me down."

Zheng Fan didn't let go,

Continuing to lift the Emperor like an eagle.

"Half a year, half a year at most, I'll send someone, or I'll go to the capital myself, to help you with your illness."

After saying that,

Zheng Fan let go.

The Emperor landed, his hands propping forward, steadying himself so he didn't fall flat on his face.

In this world, it was probably only the Pingxi King who dared to treat the Dayan Emperor in this way.

The Emperor stood up,

Turned around,

And kicked Zheng Fan's knee.

Then,

The King raised his leg,

And their legs collided.

"Hiss... Zheng, damn you, you actually dare to fight back!"

"Thump!"

The Emperor sat down on the ground, the area around his calf already red and swollen.

As an ordinary person, the outcome was already determined from the start when confronting a fourth-rank martial warrior's foot.

Eunuch Wei stood there, still unmoving.

As before, before crossing Wangjiang, it would be extremely easy for the Pingxi King to assassinate the Emperor. He had no reason to protect the Emperor in front of the Pingxi King at this time.

It was just that watching his master being bullied like this, he really felt a little bad, but his master seemed to be enjoying it.

Zheng Fan squatted down,

Putting his face close to Ji Laoliu's face.

Actually,

Helping Ji Laoliu with treatment wasn't without a solution, and it wasn't even without a way to increase the success rate.

That was to make the devils participating in the surgery,

Become stronger!

That way, the surgery could naturally be done more safely, and the only way to make them stronger was for him to advance.

Zheng Fan really hadn't deliberately chosen this time to advance;

It could only be said that Ji Laoliu's "last words" and "arrangements" had built up the emotions and atmosphere to that level, naturally giving him an opportunity.

He was always able to make the Sword Saint enter a state of enlightenment, which wasn't easy. This time, he finally seized an opportunity himself, and the effect was not bad.

Seeing how hard he had worked and put so much effort for his life, and this guy still didn't appreciate it, he really deserved a beating.

Ji Laoliu glared at Zheng Fan, rubbing his calf,

"Half a year," Zheng Fan said again.

"Zheng, I've said it before, I am the Emperor, my words are golden, my mouth contains the mandate of heaven. I said I'd rather have that solid five years than risk dying suddenly to seek more years, I..."

"Half a year later, it won't be fifty-fifty anymore, it might be eighty-twenty, or even ninety-ten, or even more likely, it'll be like catching a cold. Many people don't do anything and get better on their own, while many people drink a lot of medicine and still kick the bucket in the end.

If that's the case,

Are you still unwilling to be treated?"

The Emperor was silent,

Subconsciously swallowing a few mouthfuls of saliva;

"What you said... is it true?"

"Heh."

"If that's the case, I... I seem to be able to try."

When the success rate was only fifty percent, it was no different from flipping a coin. Under this probability, it was impossible for the Emperor to gamble;

But when the possibility of success could reach an overwhelming advantage, the so-called zero and one no longer applied.

Because if you really had bad luck, you could choke to death even when drinking water.

And the reason why Zheng Fan had to wait half a year was because he needed to spend time with the devils to raise their realms as well.

The devils' advancement was no longer as simple as it used to be, and now half of them were behind, so it was impossible to catch up overnight.

It could only be said that half a year was the longest time limit. What if the tumor in Laoliu's brain deteriorated?

"Zheng, actually, I've always believed what you said, really."

The Emperor sat cross-legged on the ground,

"You said my life wouldn't be long, that I'd have at most ten years, maybe five, you said the treatment method was only fifty-fifty, you said there'd be more certainty in half a year;

Whatever you say, I believe;

Even if the illness you're talking about, I myself don't know, but I just believe it."

This was probably the power of persona.

Zheng Fan was a very lazy person, and the thing a very lazy person disliked the most was pulling down his pants to fart (doing something unnecessary).

Therefore, no matter how outlandish he spoke, no matter how difficult it was to understand, the Emperor's first reaction was... okay, I believe it.

"Actually, it's pretty good." The Emperor pursed his lips. "The taste of being alone is not good. With you around, even if you're in Jindo and I'm in the capital, there's always someone in my heart."

"I don't want you to leave so early, because I don't want to delay the plan to wipe out Qian and Chu."

"Yes, yes, yes, I know, I know."

The Emperor struggled to get up from the ground. At this moment, Eunuch Wei was finally able to get close and help his master up.

"Zheng, sometimes I imagine, if I hadn't met you when I went to the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion to deliver gifts that time, what would Dayan be like?

Hard to imagine, right?"

Zheng Fan really wanted to say, I can imagine it;

You hang up,

Then your son ascends the throne,

Then your son, judging by his looks, couldn't stop being overthrown either, and was probably killed by Tiantian himself.

Dayan is destroyed,

Several generations of effort are wasted.

This,

Is the ending if I didn't appear.

"Qiu Ba (soldiers), generally don't believe in fate, right?" The Emperor continued, "I, actually, don't believe in it either."

Eunuch Wei helped the Emperor into the carriage, and half of the Jinyi guards followed the carriage to continue escorting the Emperor across the river.

As the carriage started to move,

The Emperor lifted the curtain,

Holding a cigarette in his hand, with Eunuch Wei beside him clumsily striking a fire stick to help light it.

The Emperor turned his head,

Looking at Zheng Fan standing outside,

He smiled:

"I don't believe in fate, because I think the so-called Mandate of Heaven is not as wonderful as you, Zheng!"

The Emperor left,

The carriage left,

The team left.

Zheng Fan stayed where he was, standing for a long time;

Pixiu came over and gently rubbed against Zheng Fan, asking if he wanted to return home.

Zheng Fan didn't get on its back,

Instead, he reached out and took a set of chessboards from the specially made saddle,

Then,

He shouted to the Sword Saint standing not far away;

"Lao Yu, play a game with me."

…

A bonfire was lit,

The chessboard was set up;

Tonight, the stars were shining;

The Pingxi King forcibly dragged the Sword Saint to play ten games of Go.

After the tenth game was decided,

The King leaned back on the ground with both hands and breathed a long sigh of relief, as if he had let go of some burden.

"Because of the Emperor's illness?" The Sword Saint asked.

The King shook his head and said, "Yes, and no."

"Your relationship with the Emperor is really good."

"Actually, I'm a very cold person."

"Are you?"

"Yes."

"Then what about this time?" The Sword Saint asked while cleaning up the chessboard, "The feeling today, I'm afraid it has the meaning of when I drew my sword in front of Xue Haiguan that year.

I'm very curious, what kind of fiery emotion can push you to this point."

"Not just emotion, it's like this game of chess."

The King pointed to the black and white pieces still scattered on the chessboard;

"Chess is like life, and the chessboard is like a destiny that has already been divided into distinct angles."

"It's Gomoku," the Sword Saint reminded again.

"It's the same, it's the same, don't worry about these details."

The King looked up at the starry sky,

"Lao Yu, have you ever felt that you are like a chess piece on this chessboard, and everything is destined by fate?"

"No."

"..." Zheng Fan.

When the Sword Saint was young, he depended on his younger brother for survival. Later, he obtained a master, entered the Sword Sect, and quickly rose to prominence from then on.

In his spare time, he traveled around the martial world, went to Chu to ask the sword maker for a sword, and went to Yanguo's Beifeng County to spar with Li Liangshen, enjoying himself very much;

He had even killed more than one so-called "Emperor."

He had truly achieved carefree wandering in the martial world.

There's a saying that one is involuntarily involved in the martial world, but if your martial arts are strong enough, at least in the martial world, you can really do whatever you want.

"Cooperate a little," the King reminded.

"If I had to say there was, it would probably be after entering Shengle City."

After entering Shengle City,

His life seemed to have become a chess piece on this chessboard;

He had all kinds of ties, and he could always be moved by one person, and that person happened to have a very thick skin;

But these ties were his own choice;

After the chess piece had been carefree outside for a long time, he really missed this small world of the simple chessboard.

"I'm actually fighting against the heavens. The heavens seem to dislike me a bit."

The Sword Saint reminded, "Not a bit, but very much."

"So, since that's the case, then I want to go against him even more. If the heavens want someone to die, then I'll make sure they live. I'll rebel, and I'll rebel against him completely."

The King picked up a black chess piece,

Raised it,

Towards the sky,

Squinting his eyes.

The Sword Saint smiled, "But the ultimate destination of a chess piece is still on this chessboard."

"Hahahaha..."

The King laughed loudly,

Calming down after a while,

Wiping away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes,

He said:

"But I, on the other hand, don't belong to this chessboard at all."

…

Not far away, Xue San, A'ming, and Fan Li, who were also sitting around the bonfire, were whispering about countermeasures.

Xue San said, "I think that next, in order to save that Emperor, Master should spend a lot of time focusing on us and helping us advance.

How can I be missing from the surgery?"

Xue San looked at his hands.

When the Master had a stronger subjective initiative, things should be less difficult.

"I can control blood flow and complete blood transfusions and control various indicators."

A'ming felt that he should also be of some use.

Everyone should try to get into the operating room. In this round of upgrades, obviously, whoever could get a position on the operating table would have an advantage.

Fan Li slapped his head,

And said:

"I can too."

Xue San and A'ming both looked at Fan Li,

Third Master even laughed directly;

"What can you do, you silly fool?"

Fan Li picked up the axe on his knees,

Gently waved it,

And said:

"I can perform a craniotomy."

…

The Emperor's return to the capital did not bring any substantial impact to Fengxin City.

The soldiers and civilians of Fengxin City were still doing what they were supposed to do.

When the framework and details had been laid out in advance, the entire Jindong entered a state of rapid recovery and operation. At the same time, it began to attract people from all directions to enter it and become a part of this operation.

Cuiliu Fort was just a starting point, Shengle City was just a pilot, and Xue Haiguan was just a blueprint;

After arriving in Fengxin City,

Everything was gradually transforming into reality, condensing into a true atmosphere.

The Blind Man, wearing a dark blue long gown, stood on the city wall.

Not far away was the returning master and his party.

Si Niang stood beside the Blind Man. Usually, she rarely saw Si Niang holding her own son. Most of the time, she really just let Mowan and the Princess of Fu take care of him.

"Blind Man, the Emperor's Eastern Tour this time seems to have been very effective for the Ji family."

The Blind Man nodded and said:

"It doesn't matter anymore. I've already put my mind on your son. Taking the small to see the big, your son won't be willing to be inferior to others after he comes of age.

Under this premise, or during this period, unifying the Xia is a natural thing.

The chessboard is bigger, and playing chess or overturning the chessboard is more exciting."

"Hehe, you've also made concessions," Si Niang smiled.

"The master is the master after all. How can we subordinates really disobey his wishes?"

At this time,

The team was already entering the city, and Qu Peiluo led the city patrol guards to maintain order at the city gate.

Xue San and Fan Li were very excited, sitting on horseback and gesticulating.

"Seeing them so happy, even A'ming's drinking movements are a little frivolous..." The Blind Man smiled, "I'm afraid the master has advanced to the fourth rank."

Si Niang also noticed this detail.

However, she wasn't worried. As the master's wife, and also the mother of the master's son, her position had long transcended the other devils.

But,

When Si Niang was about to turn around and go down to greet her child's father,

She stopped again,

Turning her back to the Blind Man and asked:

"Is the Emperor's surgery really fifty-fifty?"

The Blind Man held out one finger,

Pointing to his forehead,

And said:

"The tumor in the Emperor's brain is benign, and the location is excellent and the structure is very safe, so the surgery is not difficult."

"You're playing with fire."

"Any surgery has risks.

Since the essence is zero and one,

Then what's the difference between fifty-fifty and other odds?"