【“Whoosh!”】
【You took one step forward, starlight blazing, and appeared directly among the soldiers of the bridal escort.】
【“This guy is a Martial King!!”】
【The soldiers were scared out of their wits, not daring to attack you.】
【Not that it would have mattered. They belonged to the two Martial Kings’ command, and the system had marked them as enemies.】
【“Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding...”】
【Countless blacksmith-like sounds rang out above the heads of the soldiers within a hundred meters of you.】
【Once the marks were complete, you started throwing punches with a rhythmic “thud, thud, thud.”】
【Of course, you were holding back. You made sure each punch left them too weak to get up, but didn’t take their lives.】
【Li Jin and the other Martial King pursued you relentlessly. The imperial martial arts were exquisite and incredibly powerful—every move they made carried the terrifying force of splitting mountains and cracking the earth.】
【Too bad your training from the Shen Family and the Holy Lands was at least as strong as the imperial clan’s, if not stronger.】
【The two of them kept attacking, pulling out all kinds of treasures, determined to kill you.】
【But after fighting for a while, their killing moves all ended up hitting their own people.】
【You hadn’t killed a single person, but those two had killed quite a few of their own.】
【You didn’t engage them in direct combat. Instead, you weaved through the soldiers, frantically going “thud, thud.”】
【One layer, two layers, three layers...】
【Ten layers, twenty layers, thirty layers...】
【A hundred layers! Two hundred layers! Three hundred layers!】
【Your body kept growing bigger, and Li Jin and his companion grew more and more panicked.】
【“Is this the Holy Lands’ technique?”】
【“Hmph, it’s just increasing in size! What’s there to fear? The bigger the body, the clumsier it gets! Martial arts isn’t about who’s the tallest!”】
【Li Jin’s words made sense.】
【But unfortunately for him, it wasn’t just your size that was increasing. Each layer of Heartsteel stacked 1% of your full combat power!】
【When your stacks reached a thousand layers, you stopped.】
【By then, you were like a towering ancient tree, over twenty meters tall. The Blazing Extinction War Armor had adapted to your size, growing along with you.】
【The Blazing Extinction War Spear, however, hadn’t grown, so it was no longer useful.】
【But that didn’t matter. You only needed your fists.】
【“Kid, why aren’t you running? Out of steam? Foolish! Getting this big only drains your stamina faster! If the Holy Lands teach this kind of garbage technique, they’re not much to write home about!”】
【A slight smile tugged at the corner of your mouth. You were barely holding back your laughter.】
【Yes, the gap between realms couldn’t simply be measured by combat power.】
【But the problem was that right now, you were at the same realm as them.】
【With a thousand layers of Heartsteel stacked, your base stats were multiplied by ten!】
【And after being amplified by your martial arts and technique, the power you could unleash went far beyond just ten times.】
【“Earth-Shattering Heavenly Star!”】
【You stomped your feet hard, and the ground instantly shook as if an earthquake had struck.】
【You raised your hands, and the sky immediately darkened.】
【You were executing the Stellar River Divine Art.】
【Li Jin, who was quite knowledgeable, recognized it at once.】
【“The Shen Family’s technique?! I thought you were from the Holy Lands?!”】
【The other Martial King rolled his eyes.】
【“This kid was obviously lying through his teeth! Why bother with where he’s from?! This is a Heaven-Grade martial art! Even the two of us working together might not be able to block it!”】
【“Hmph! All Heaven-Grade martial arts are profound. He probably only knows the surface of it! No need to fear him!”】
【Surface?】
【How about Transcendent Mastery level, huh!!】
【The ground shattered on all sides, turning into countless cascades of rubble that shot into the sky. They gathered in the clouds to form blazing meteorites, which then plummeted down with unmatched destructive force.】
【Li Jin and his companion initially tried to tough it out against the meteor shower, but they quickly realized the meteors were endless. You could continuously transfer earth and rock from the ground to the sky to create more.】
【You also controlled gravity, making them feel like they were bouncing on a trampoline—it was incredibly unpleasant.】
【Soon, the two of them were dodging left and right, trying to escape from the unending barrage of molten meteors.】
【“Where do you think you’re going!”】
【At twenty meters tall, you were still incredibly agile. With the Seven Divine Starry Steps activated, your movement was ghostlike as you drifted through the mountains.】
【“Shattering Star Ripple Finger!”】
【You flicked your finger, and a beam of light several meters wide shot toward them, leaving Li Jin and his companion utterly dumbfounded.】
【Incredible.】
【A martial art that was meant for assassination had, in your hands, become a brute-force method of sweeping everything away.】
【Who has fingers as thick as a tree trunk!】
【The two Martial Kings managed to survive your relentless assault, but it was more through luck than skill.】
【Actually, it wasn’t luck. You had been holding back.】
【For the sake of the bigger picture later, you had no intention of wasting valuable Martial King-level combat power. You just didn’t want them to stop you from taking Li Lingyue away.】
【The two Martial Kings finally admitted defeat and decided to flee.】
【To prevent them from turning back, you chased them for over a hundred miles, nipping at their heels.】
【In the end, they couldn’t withstand the terrifying power of Heartsteel. You beat them severely, ensuring they couldn’t get in your way anymore.】
【Fortunately, you were using Long Yang’s identity. No matter how far-reaching the Li clan’s influence was in the Five Regions, they wouldn’t be able to trace this back to you, because the Long family wasn’t even in the Five Regions.】
【After finishing up, you quickly caught up to Sun Cheng’en and snatched Li Lingyue away from him.】
【“Could it be that the two Martial Kings have already...”】
【Sun Cheng’en stared at your retreating, gigantic back, cold sweat beading on his forehead.】
【You were still in your giant form, cradling Li Lingyue in your palm.】
【“Wow...”】
【This was Li Lingyue’s first time flying.】
【The ground fell away beneath her, and white clouds rushed toward her face.】
【She reached out to touch the clouds, only to find them cool and moist, with no real substance.】
【“So these things floating in the sky are just some water vapor.”】
【Li Lingyue looked up and saw the sharp lines of your jaw.】
【Her cheeks flushed, and she lowered her head as she spoke.】
【“Thank you, Hero Long, for helping me gain my freedom. But may I ask, who ordered you to help me?”】
【You didn’t answer. Instead, you looked at the terrain below, found an uninhabited spot, and landed.】
【“Boom!!”】
【The moment you hit the ground, the earth shook, and startled birds flew in every direction.】
【You slowly crouched down and gently set Li Lingyue down from your hand.】
【Heartsteel’s stacks could either be allowed to fade slowly or be released voluntarily.】
【Since you had some things to clarify with Li Lingyue, you chose to return to your normal size.】
【In Li Lingyue’s eyes, your massive form quickly shrank back to normal.】
【“My name isn’t Long Yang. It’s Chen Yi. And no one ordered me to do this.”】
【As you spoke, you removed your makeup and revealed your true appearance.】
【Li Lingyue’s face turned even redder.】
【“Lingyue has never met Young Master Chen before... Why would Young Master Chen help me escape?”】
【At this moment, fates that had walked different paths across different timelines miraculously converged once again.】
【You reached out your hand to Li Lingyue and spoke the same words you had said in the Fourth Simulation.】
【“Li Lingyue, do you want to take control of your own destiny?”】

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