Chapter 29: The Joseon Dynasty (Part 5)

Under Su Chen's persuasion, Li Hongwen agreed to intervene.
Li Ming then began a deal with the Twelve Great Fiends, agreeing on a location.
The Twelve Great Fiends went to the meeting place without any restraint.
In their view, as long as they didn't encounter a powerhouse above the seventh level of the Spirit Soul Realm, escaping if they couldn't win would be no problem.
However, they didn't expect this.
The second clan of the prestigious Li Group, one of the top five powerhouses in the world, would actually personally intervene for a 'trivial matter'.
Li Ming's great-grandson was rescued.
The Twelve Great Fiends couldn't believe it even in death, letting out a furious roar of resentment.
"Li Hongwen, how could you be here...you couldn't possibly be here!"
Li Hongwen beheaded all twelve Great Fiends, hanging their heads neatly in the wilderness, writing: 'Those who offend the Li clan, though far away, shall be punished.'
When the world learned of this news, it was utterly uproar.
The Twelve Great Fiends had only dominated the Tianfeng Kingdom for a few decades.
The crimes committed over these decades were countless, enough to fill three days and three nights' worth of recounting.
Now, these twelve villains have been executed by the Li family.
The Taiyuan Li family has reaped a huge reputation.
As Su Cheng predicted, the principle of "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones" applies everywhere.
Seeing this example, the branch families became even more loyal to the main branch.
Su Chen, the second young master of the Li Group, was also thrust into the limelight.
Many powerful figures began to pledge their allegiance to Su Chen.
This was an unexpected bonus.
Shortly after rescuing Li Ming's great-grandson, Li Ming came to see Su Chen again, saying he was thanking him and had specially prepared a banquet.
Su Chen thought to himself, "This old fellow is quite polite," and gladly accepted the invitation.
At the banquet, a girl who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old followed behind Li Ming, secretly watching Su Chen.
After two cups of wine, Li Ming revealed his true colors.
“Damn it, Li Ming, how can you face me in the afterlife?”
“I treated you like a brother, and you actually want to be my patriarch!”
Su Chen mentally raged.
He decisively refused.
The girl behind Li Ming's eyes reddened.
Su Chen remained unmoved.
‘Little sister, blame your great-grandfather.’
Li Ming was somewhat disappointed.
He felt that this second young master of the Li family was no ordinary person; he was destined to be a true dragon in the future.
Unfortunately, the second young master seemed to look down on his great-granddaughter.
This left Li Ming somewhat regretful, and he never mentioned the matter again.
Some time later, news spread throughout the Tianfeng Kingdom.
The Xuan Yuan Holy Sect had begun its selection process across a hundred kingdoms; those with outstanding talent could join the Xuan Yuan Holy Sect.
Su Chen was also extremely surprised upon receiving this news.
In his third life, amidst his pursuit of revenge, he also glimpsed a corner of this vast world through the ancient texts left behind by the Feng clan.
He knew that the world they inhabited was called the Eastern Wilderness.
Su Chen estimated that this wasn't the full name of the world, but rather the region where the Tianfeng Kingdom was located, called the Eastern Wilderness.
The Eastern Wilderness was ruled by those Holy Lands.
Powers that had produced Saint Realm experts were called Holy Lands.
Sacred Realm experts... were the lifelong aspiration of countless martial artists.
The Xuan Yuan Holy Land was one of the Holy Lands in the Eastern Wilderness.
The Tianfeng Kingdom was merely an insignificant kingdom under the rule of the Xuan Yuan Holy Land.
Several highly respected elders looked at Su Chen.
Su Chen blinked. "So, the elders hope I'll participate in the Hundred Kingdoms Trial to see if I can enter the Xuan Yuan Holy Land?"
The elders nodded.
Su Chen thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
He also wanted to see the outside world, what geniuses were like.
The Tianfeng Kingdom posed no challenge to him.
Su Chen went to participate in the Hundred Kingdoms War, accompanied by Li Hongwen as his protector.
Upon learning of Su Chen's departure for the Hundred Kingdoms War, Li Yuanfa was overjoyed, his smile never fading.
"Brother Chen, oh Brother Chen, you're finally gone!"
These past few days, the elders' gazes towards him had become increasingly strange.
Even his father had begun to favor Su Chen.
Li Yuanfa lived in Su Chen's shadow every day.
But he knew.
This shadow would eventually dissipate.
Su Chen was gone, and the sky cleared.
Li Yuanfa felt completely refreshed.
...
Inside the capital
Besides Su Chen, those from the Tianfeng Kingdom participating in the Hundred Kingdoms Trial included Feng Zhengqi of the Feng Clan, Wan Miao'er and Wan Yuanbao of the Wanbao Merchant Guild, Kong Gaoyu of the Chengping Kong Clan, and Song Wuque of the Lingwu Hall.
Of course, there were other geniuses as well, making a group of ten.
These individuals were all among the most outstanding geniuses in the Tianfeng Kingdom. If the Tianfeng Kingdom were to create a genius ranking, the top ten would undoubtedly be these ten.
However, Su Chen wasn't interested in these people.
None of them were at the Spirit Sea Realm; the highest level was only the seventh level of Spirit Patterns.
A seventh level of Spirit Patterns under twenty years old was indeed monstrous.
Unfortunately, they were no match for Su Chen, whose current cultivation had reached the fourth level of the Spirit Sea Realm.
Although their forces operated independently,
they all represented the Tianfeng Kingdom in this Hundred Kingdoms Trial.
This was the last vestige of dignity for the Tianfeng Kingdom.
The Trials of a Hundred Kingdoms all required a journey to a place called Xuanling City.
Xuanling City was far from the Tianfeng Kingdom; even with a Spirit Soul Realm expert leading them, the journey would take half a year.
Teleportation arrays were unavailable in the kingdom.
Therefore, the trip would take half a year.
Su Chen's cultivation level broke through from the fourth to the fifth level of the Spirit Sea Realm.
Through numerous trials and tribulations, Su Chen witnessed many things he had never heard of before.
The world was vast, far exceeding what he saw before him.
Upon arriving in Xuanling City, he found the city to be far larger than he had imagined.
The Spirit Soul Realm experts, normally unattainable, were practically everywhere here.
There were even some extremely terrifying auras.
Those were true Transcendent Realm kings.
The descendants of these kings were also brought along, either to participate in the trials or to broaden their horizons.
There were also some of Su Chen's age who had broken through to the Spirit Sea Realm.
"Chen'er, what do you think?"
Li Hongwen smiled and looked at Su Chen.
Su Chen took a deep breath and murmured, "The Tianfeng Kingdom is really too small..."
Li Hongwen nodded in agreement and sighed softly, "Yes... the Tianfeng Kingdom is really too small!"
The Hundred Kingdoms World is but a corner of the Eastern Wilderness.
Everyone was patiently waiting for the trial to begin.
Before the trial even started, Yuan Wanbao found Su Chen.
"Please, Brother Li, save my sister!"
Yuan Wanbao found Su Chen, knelt down, and slammed his head heavily on the ground, causing Su Chen to frown slightly. He quickly helped Yuan Wanbao up.
During their journey over the past six months, the siblings from the Wanbao Chamber of Commerce had interacted with Su Chen and could be considered friends. Su Chen knew Wanyuan Bao's temperament; for him to kneel and beg him, something truly momentous must have happened.
Wanyuan Bao's face showed anger and anxiety: "Today we encountered people from the Canglan Kingdom and the Moman Kingdom on the road. They verbally insulted my sister, and I couldn't stand it, so I fought them. My sister and Grandpa Geng were captured by the Canglan and Moman Kingdoms while protecting me. They want our Tianfeng Kingdom to engage in a genius battle with them!"