This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder
chapter-217

The Tianyi imposter, as Daoyi had correctly guessed, was a Dragon Emperor clone. His name was Wan Zhanqi. He was a martial cultivator that originated from one of the islands that dotted the Endless Seas.

He was the son of a powerful cultivation clan. After failing the disciple acceptance ceremony to enter the island’s most powerful sect, Wan Zhanqi had thought he would continue to cultivate back in the clan. However, fate was fickle, and when he returned to his home, he discovered his clan massacred and his fiancee, Li Ai’lin, missing.

Vowing vengeance but with no target, Wan Zhanqi could only bitterly cultivate until he had the strength to flush out his enemies and exact revenge. However, his talent was only average, so he almost lost his life when he was competing against another cultivator for a treasure.

That was fortune amidst misfortune.

After his injuries healed, Wan Zhanqi discovered that inside his mind was a supreme cultivation method. The requirements were harsh, but he persevered, becoming far stronger than cultivators in the same realm.

After long and arduous trials, Wan Zhanqi discovered who massacred his clan and kidnapped his fiancee. After exacting vengeance on that force and taking back his woman, he was hunted down by the island’s most powerful sect. In truth, many massacres and events were secretly ordered by the sect that once rejected him in order to claim supremacy.

While on the run, Wan Zhanqi hid his fiancee, Lin Ai’lin. Only then did he begin his counterattack. After many battles, the other forces of the island banded together under the leadership of Wan Zhanqi against the tyrannical sect. It was a brutal war with many twists and turns, such as the sect discovering Lin Ai’lin and using her against him as a hostage, but the alliance eventually won.

Wan Zhanqi became the alliance head and married his fiancee, Li Ai’lin, and his childhood sweetheart, becoming a winner in life.

However, happy days did not last long. When Wan Zhanqi reached the peak of the Soul Nourishing Realm, he discovered that there was an external influence altering his personality. Desperate to rid himself of the danger, Wan Zhanqi brought his wives to search for the great continents spoken of in legends.

During the journey, the three of them almost died numerous times. In fact, they nearly died after encountering a true demon. Thankfully, a kindhearted immortal who was passing by saved them. After depositing them at the bank of the Heaven Continent, before disappearing without giving his name.

Unfortunately, their troubles didn’t end there. Wan Zhanqi entered a conflict with a disciple of the Leakless Sect and had his childhood sweetheart stolen from him.

Reliving the horrors of his earlier life on the island, Wan Zhanqi sought vengeance and killed the disciple. Unfortunately, although he succeeded, this led to him being chased for years. It was only by chance that he entered an immortal’s inheritance site that they escaped.

After receiving the immortal’s inheritance, Wan Zhanqi learned that this was all caused because of the lax management of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. The first-rate sects under them were free to do whatever they liked, resulting in an oppressive atmosphere.

Taking the deceased immortal’s token, Wan Zhanqi joined the Shadow Alliance, a force created to bring down the unjust system. There, Wan Zhanqi met the senior who saved him and his wives lives. He felt that it was fate that he joined the Shadow Alliance.

Under the Shadow Alliance’s orders, Wan Zhanqi began to impersonate the son of Grand Elder Xi. It went far more successfully than he thought it would. It was to the point that Wan Zhanqi even thought he really was the Vast Heaven Young Master.

However, his disguise was finally seen through, leading to his current situation.

Wan Zhanqi wasn’t as confident as he appeared to be. Since the greatest danger of being seen through was from first contact, he had been prepared for a battle today. ‘If only the two disciples from the Buzhou Immortal Sect had not appeared.’

He glanced at his wives. He had met his fourth at the Heaven Continent. She had been targeted by a lustful disciple of a first-rate sect, so he saved her, and love eventually blossomed between them.

Although Wan Zhanqi had confidence in his combat prowess, his wives’ cultivation had been forcibly raised by him, so their combat abilities were far weaker. Narrowing his eyes at Ling Lihua, Wan Zhanqi then glanced at Jiang Daoyi. In his eyes, aside from these two, there was no one else that could threaten him. Ling Haitang was also a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple, but how could an ordinary disciple compare to the Sword Empress’s disciple or a venerable?

Wan Zhanqi roared, and his body was instantly covered in golden scales, making him appear like a humanoid dragon. Compared to the scarce resources of his homeland, the Heaven Continent was like a cultivation paradise. Under such conditions, he had broken through into the World Merging Realm.

Ling Lihua instantly took a defensive posture in front of Fu Xiuyi, but Wan Zhanqi’s attack never came.

“Sister Jiang!” Ling Haitang cried out as the Dragon Emperor clone appeared in front of Daoyi and nailed her in the chest, sending her flying through the walls.

In the crater that had resulted in her body crashing, Daoyi spat out a mouthful of blood, but her face was eerily calm as she gazed at Wan Zhanqi, who was rushing over, surprised that she had survived his punch.

Wan Zhanqi’s attack wasn’t a simple punch. When the attack connected, his qi would be deployed into the enemy’s body and cause internal damage. Those caught unaware would have their spiritual core and nascent soul injured.

Daoyi didn’t waste any time bringing out her lifebound artifact, a guqin. When Wan Zhanqi’s punch connected, a repulsive force sent him flying back, causing him to show a shocked expression.

All of Daoyi’s lifebound artifacts were crafted from immortal ranked materials. Although she could not bring out their full power, their defensive abilities were still top-notched. An eery silver glow began to emit from Daoyi’s blue robes, her defensive lifebound artifact that Mengfei had forged.

Wan Zhanqi narrowed his eyes. He could clearly detect that Daoyi’s two artifacts were at the Nascent Soul Realm, but he felt that they weren’t so simple, so he decisively switched targets towards the empress.

“Your Majesty, please retreat!” Ling Lihua shouted as she used up all her strength to block Wan Zhanqi’s attack. Spiritual cultivators like her were at a disadvantage against martial cultivators, especially one who cultivated a top-tier method like the Dragon Emperor Fist.

Wan Zhanqi didn’t miss this interaction. Whether it was out of love or duty, it didn’t matter. The Dragon Emperor clone changed his method and started to attack the retreating Fu Dynasty emperor.

Ling Lihua gritted her teeth and used her body to block Wan Zhanqi’s attacks. When a palm or fist struck her body, pear flower petals would scatter, mitigating the damage and reflecting some back to the attacker. To Wan Zhanqi, these attacks neither hurt nor itched, so he ignored them all.

The Fu Dynasty empress could not stand Wan Zhanqi’s assault for long and revealed an opening in her defense. Wan Zhanqi’s eyes flashed with brilliance as he capitalized on this chance. He punched out and released a fist-shaped projectile towards Fu Xiuyi.

“Your Majesty, watch out!” his guards cried out as they used their own bodies to block the incoming attack. Unfortunately, as core formation masters, they were too weak, and their bodies exploded upon contact from Wan Zhangqi’s attack.

Luckily for Fu Xiuyi, the brave sacrifices weakened the attack enough so that he only spat out blood and didn’t die. However, the situation wasn’t optimistic as Fu Xiuyi felt that his whole body was paralyzed. He didn’t even have the strength to utter his last words. The proud emperor could only glare hatefully at Wan Zhanqi while full of despair.

“Xiuyi!” Ling Lihua cried out. At this critical juncture, she did not bother with formalities and directly called out the emperor’s name.

“You shouldn’t be distracted.” Wan Zhanqi advised even as he focused all his attack on her, causing her to fall limply onto the ground.

Although both of them were at equal realms, Ling Lihua was at the early Unity Realm while Wan Zhanqi was in the mid World Merging Realm. Not only that, Wan Zhanqi had been baptized by blood, so their combat intuition could not be compared at all.

“If I kill him, will you lose the will to live?” Wan Zhanqi asked. Although he defeated Ling Lihua, killing her was another matter. It was extremely hard for those in the Unity or World Merging Realm to kill the other completely. At the very least, it would take some time, so it was better to break the other’s spirit if possible.

Ling Lihua’s despair-filled eyes gave the answer Wan Zhanqi wanted.

Wan Zhanqi unleashed another fist-shaped projectile. This time there was no one else to sacrifice their lives for Fu Xiuyi. His death was all but decided in the Dragon Emperor clone’s eyes.

At this moment, a tornado consisting of the distinct red petals of crabapple flowers appeared. Amidst the flower, a woman’s figure clad in red appeared.

Ling Haitang grunted as she dissolved Wan Zhanqi’s attack. Her eyes turned back and glanced indifferently at Fu Xiuyi before looking mockingly at her half-sister.

Ling.Hai.Tang! Fu Xiuyi roared in his mind.

“Elder Sister, thank you!” Ling Lihua said, her eyes expressing gratitude at Ling Haitang’s actions.

“Don’t thank, I didn’t save that scum for you.” Ling Haitang directed her gaze towards Wan Zhanqi. “Only I can bring you two cheating couple despair and no one else.”

Wan Zhanqi showed leisurely smiled and asked. “Do you really want to go against me? You’re not my opponent.”

“I can still buy some time,” Ling Haitang smiled back, a certain pride in her voice. “But can those women that came with you withstand my junior sister’s attack?”

Wan Zhanqi’s face froze as he whirled and, sure enough, saw his four wives desperately defending against Daoyi. Daoyi was flying in place, playing her guqin, but no sounds came out. On the opposite side, blood was leaking the four women’s orifices.

“Stay your hand!” Wan Zhanqi roared. He had consciously paid attention to Daoyi with his spiritual sense, but it seemed that she had tricked his senses.

Daoyi ignored Wan Zhanqi’s roar. If anything, she increased the levity of her assault. Soon, one of the women spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.

“Ai’lin!” Wan Zhanqi roared as he rushed towards Daoyi with a punch, but just as his fist was about to connect, Daoyi’s figure turned ghostly, and his fist passed through her harmlessly.

Wan Zhanqi grunted as he felt something brush against his soul. His face tightened as he retreated, appearing in front of his wives. “Take Ai’lin away.”

His three conscious wives nodded. They knew they would only drag him down, so they obeyed and started to leave. Neither Lin Haitang nor Daoyi moved to stop them. Ling Lihua was another story.

“You!” Wan Zhanqi roared angrily.

“What, only you can attack bystanders?” Ling Lihua mocked.

Her eyes contained a trace of madness that even frightened Wan Zhanqi. He knew that she would not relent no matter what. Furthermore, Wan Zhanqi ascertained that Daoyi was a soul cultivator. Soul cultivator posed a significant risk even to Unity and World Merging Realm experts. It had to be known that their connection with heaven and earth relied on their soul. If their soul were damaged, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Don’t regret it.” Wan Zhanqi coldly said as he retaliated, causing the injured Fu Dynasty empress to be even more injured. Before he could incapacitate her, red petals assaulted him.

“Annoying!” Wan Zhanqi waved his sleeves, and the red petals scattered into nothingness. Then Daoyi appeared in front of him, her palm reaching out. “Overestimating yourself!”

Wan Zhanqi unleashed a punch full of true qi of dragons, and once the punch landed, Daoyi’s figure stilled. Then her body turned into an eerie silver and dissipated into a fog.

‘So that’s how she did it.’ Wan Zhanqi finally found the answer as to how Daoyi fooled his senses. It was clear to him that fog was a technique Daoyi used to create an incarnation of herself, but his spiritual sense registered that incarnation as the real one.

Wan Zhanqi dispersed the fog, but he discovered that his soul would become dizzy whenever he touched the fog, forcing him to retreat backward. Just as he thought he escaped the danger, he suddenly became nauseous. Willing himself to endure it, Wan Zhanqi quickly cut off the silent soundwaves that were assaulting his innards.

“You have some tricks, but try mine.” Wan Zhanqi said as he pulled out a saber covered in a baleful aura. This saber had accompanied him in slaughtering thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives.

With the appearance of the saber, the fragile equilibrium instantly turned. Wan Zhanqi slowly and steadily began to overwhelm Daoyi, Lin Haitang, and Ling Lihua.

Ling Haitang pulled out a talisman. She never expected to use it so soon after arriving at the Fu Dynasty. Daoyi held out her hand and stopped. Ling Haitang glanced at Daoyi while holding the talisman in hand, ready to unleash it at any time.

“Since you’ve impersonated my senior brother. Do you know my master’s name?” Daoyi suddenly asked out of the blue.

Wan Zhanqi raised his guard at Daoyi’s sudden question. He pondered on whether to answer or resume his assault but ultimately chose the former. “Naturally.”

“Then, what is my master’s name?” Daoyi asked, her lips forming a slight smile.

Alarm bells went off in Wan Zhanqi’s head. He raised his saber and prepared to attack Daoyi. He feared that if he delayed any longer, an unexpected situation would occur.

Daoyi didn’t mind Wan Zhanqi’s silence. “Since you don’t want to say it, let me.”

A flash of decisiveness flashed through Wan Zhanqi’s eyes as he unleashed his saber, intent on silencing Daoyi.

“Xi Mengfei.” That was all Daoyi said.

Nothing happened.

A flash of ridicule appeared in Wan Zhanqi’s eyes as his saber neared. Did she think that I would spare her just because she said Sword Empress Xi’s name?

However, Wan Zhanqi’s ridicule did not last long as heavy pressure descended onto the surrounding area, causing everyone to freeze. No one, not Wan Zhanqi, Ling Lihua, Ling Haitang, or even Daoyi, was an exception. It was as if everyone remaining in the banquet had been encased in amber, unable to even twitch their eyes.

Wan Zhanqi’s heart frantically beated as he sensed a pair of terrifying eyes zeroing in on him. Worse, those eyes contained a trace of bloodlust. He wanted to struggle, but he was utterly powerless, and his face was frozen with decisiveness, not even able to reveal an expression of terror.

A black, translucent crystalline sword materialized above the Fu Imperial Palace. The sword tip descended, and that was the last thing Wan Zhanqi had ever witnessed.