Chapter 1: Sudden Calamity

  The princes of the three dynasties could not find Qi Yun, and they suspected that one of the other two dynasties had hidden him away. The princes of the Wei Dynasty and the Murong Dynasty even targeted Song Fei, the crown prince of the Song Dynasty.

  The princes are fighting, and the three emperors are also fighting. The Murong Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty have long coveted the position of the first dynasty on the continent of Song, and they took advantage of this incident to unite and send troops to attack the Song Dynasty.

  Chu Yun City, after Hong Jun returned, the remaining Wolf Tooth Army was scarce, and the Grand Marshal reassigned soldiers to him. The generals of the Pre-Heavenly and Post-Heavenly periods cannot have no troops under their command.

  Continuous battles, Hong Jun and his soldiers were exhausted, the three dynasties' military strength was greatly consumed. Five years later, Qi Xuan Huang, who had always been neutral, suddenly announced an alliance with the Wei Dynasty and the Murong Dynasty, sending troops to attack the Song Dynasty, which was on the verge of collapse.

  Three years later, the Song Dynasty signed a humiliating agreement, ceding territory and paying indemnities. The Qi Dynasty, which had made its final effort, became the biggest winner, suddenly becoming the most powerful dynasty on the continent of Qianlong, and a brief period of peace appeared on the continent of Qianlong.

  Hong Jun was entrusted by Emperor Song Hui to lead the escort team and send Crown Prince Song Fei to the Qi State as a hostage in exchange for a chance at peace.

  It turned out to be true what Hong Jun said that day, Song Fei left for the Qi Wang Dynasty in tears.

  The escort team arrived at the capital of the Qi Dynasty, Chengtianfu. The reception officials of the Qi Dynasty were cold and sarcastic towards them. For seven consecutive days, they did not receive an audience with Emperor Xuan of Qi. The soldiers in the escort team were quite resentful, but Hong Quan could only placate them. As a defeated nation, there was little room for demands.

  On the tenth day, Emperor Qi Xuan finally granted an audience to Hong Jun and Song Fei.

  As required, Hong Jun and Song Fei had to kneel down on both knees to pay homage to Qi Xuan Huang, but Hong Jun's proud heart only allowed him to perform the single-knee salute used in military ceremonies. Song Fei, on the other hand, performed the traditional three kneels and nine kowtows with great propriety.

  "How dare you! You saw His Majesty and didn't kneel down on both legs!" The military general beside Emperor Qi Xuan scolded loudly.

  "It doesn't matter, all of you can get up now!" Qi Xuan Huang said with a smile, intentionally making them wait for ten days to suppress their temper.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Hong Jun ignored the general and stood up directly. Song Fei followed suit, but suddenly froze there.

  "Qī Yún, Qī Yún are you here? Do you know how hard I've been searching for you?" Standing beside Emperor Qi Xuan was indeed Qi Yun. When Song Fei saw her, he wanted to rush forward but was stopped by the soldiers beside him.

  "Let me go, let me go quickly, Qi Yun, did they kidnap you? Don't worry, I'm here, no one can hurt you. General Hong, hurry up and rescue Qi Yun." Song Fei was blocked, anxious and jumping up and down, having already forgotten where he was, directly giving orders to Hong Jun.

  "Your Highness, calm down, Miss Qi Yun doesn't seem to be kidnapped. Take a closer look!" Hong Jun had already forgotten about what happened between Qi Yun and him at the Qingyun Tavern, but the clever him noticed that Qi Yun...

  He Zizhong and Emperor Xian of Han had an unusual relationship.

  "How dare you, actually daring to directly address Her Highness Gongzhu's name, and yet you still don't take me down!"

  Dozens of soldiers rushed up and tied Hong Jun and Song Fei up tightly.

  "Princess? Immortal?" Song Fei was instantly stunned.

  "Your Highness!" Hong Jun quickly understood the key to the situation and gave Song Fei a look, indicating that he should calm down.

  "Press them all down!" The military general continued to give orders.

  "Slow, these two people directly called my name, should be put to death. Song Fei is a hostage and was spared from death penalty, hand over the other person to me to kill!" Qi Yun coldly snorted, Song Fei's sly eyes were what she hated the most, but Song Fei couldn't be killed, only Hong Jun could be killed to vent her anger.

  "Yes, Princess!" The general directly jumped beside Hong Jun and swung his sword down towards Hong Jun's neck.

  "How unreasonable!" Hong Jun struggled free from his bonds and dodged Wu Jiang's slash.

  "How can the princess be so unreasonable? Two armies are at war and yet you don't behead the envoy, I merely called out the princess's name in a moment of passion, is that a crime punishable by death?"

  "Hmph, dare to resist? I'll have you die!" Qi Yun stretched out his hand and shot out a beam of light, directly striking Hong Jun's heart.

  Qī Yún struck out with the weapon given to him by his master, a low-grade spiritual artifact called the Drilling Heart Needle. Even if a Golden Elixir cultivator were stabbed by this needle, there would be no chance of survival.

  The needle pierced Hong Jun's body, and the powerful impact force made him retreat three steps.

  "General Hong, it's an honor for you to die at the princess's command. Why don't you hurry up and take your own life, lest the princess be displeased!" Song Fei was completely enchanted by Qi Yun at this time and began to feel fortunate that he could come to the Qi kingdom as a hostage.

  "Your Highness!" Hong Jun's anger surged, his throat sweetened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. All the way to escort the prince to the Qi Wang Dynasty, Hong Jun had not suffered less, and in the Qi Wang Dynasty, he was even ridiculed by others. Now Song Fei actually made him kill himself for a woman, all the resentment he had accumulated over the past few days completely erupted.

  "Huh!" Qiyun was surprised, hit by her piercing needle, Hongjun didn't die, could it be that Hongjun had a protective spirit artifact on him. Thinking of this, Qiyun's eyes lit up, only a protective spirit artifact could withstand his piercing needle.

  Protective spirit devices are harder to come by than weapons. Her master, the first sage king of the Qi Wang dynasty, didn't even have one at the beginning of his ascension to heaven.

  Qī Yún's killing intent grew stronger, and Hóng Jūn could already sense the murderous aura emanating from Qī Yún's body from a distance.

  Hong Jun's body suddenly shook and he rushed to the side of the martial general, a fist hit the general's head, snatched the general's knife and ran out.

  That martial general had just entered the Pre-Heavenly stage when he was directly smashed by Hong Jun's iron fist, causing his brain to burst open and die on the spot.

  Hong Jun still knew the ferocity of Shang Xian, and before Qi Yun caught up, he specifically escaped to a crowded place, dancing with his knife and killing wildly along the way, but no one could stop him.

  "Seize him, he killed General Liu......" Instantly, the Qi Wang's palace was thrown into chaos, all the soldiers rushed after him.

  Qī Yún's face was the ugliest, under her eyelids, Hóng Jūn had killed their people and ran out. Qī Yún ordered a team of soldiers to protect Qī Xuān Huáng, the piercing needle grew larger, Qī Yún jumped up and flew after him in pursuit.

  "Get out of my way!" Ziyun shouted loudly in the sky. The surrounding soldiers saw the princess chasing after him and stopped, the people around Hongjun were getting fewer and fewer, but he still hadn't escaped the palace.

  "Die!" Qī Yún shouted, flying down and striking Hóng Jūn's head with his palm. Hóng Jūn fell to the ground, rolling several times before getting up and continuing to flee.

  Qī Yún was stunned this time, his head had no spiritual tool protection, and Qī Yún truly felt the palm force hitting his head without any obstruction. However, with the 70% strength of this palm, an ordinary Post-Heaven cultivator would have their skull shattered and die instantly. But Hóng Jūn got up like nothing was wrong and continued to run.

  Zi Yun was stunned when Hong Jun had already run to the city wall of the imperial palace, took a leap and jumped over the wall, escaping outside the imperial palace.

  "Could he be practicing external skills? That's not right either, external skills can't withstand my palm even if they're strong. How strange!" Qiyun thought to herself as she quickly chased after him, determined not to let Hongjun get away.

  To escape with his life, Hong Jun used all his strength to run as fast as he could, dashing through the streets at incredible speed. People on the street didn't even notice him, only feeling an inexplicable gust of wind. He didn't stop until he reached the outskirts of the city, where he finally slowed down to catch his breath. Even with his superhuman endurance, running at top speed through the entire city was exhausting.

  "Keep running, let's see where you can run to!" Qi Yun sneered at Hong Jun from mid-air, as there were too many people inside the city and it wasn't convenient to make a move. It wasn't until they chased him out of the city that Qi Yun appeared.

  "Your Highness, Hong Jun has no grudge against you, why are you forcing him so hard?" Zou Tong didn't fly fast enough, and seeing that he couldn't escape, Hong Jun also stopped trying to flee.

  "You have no grudge against me, but ten years ago, at the Qingyun Tavern in Bianliang City, everyone who watched my performance applauded, except for you. You didn't even glance at me. Was I really that ugly? Qi Yun surprisingly still remembered things from ten years ago. No wonder they say women's hearts are like needles at the bottom of the ocean. Qi Yun couldn't stand any of those men, but Hong Jun not looking at her was something she remembered. He was the only one who didn't look at her straight in the eye when she performed on the Pudong Continent. This time, taking advantage of Hong Jun escorting the prince, she took revenge on him."

  At that time, Hong Jun was still Qin Shuang. Qin Shuang didn't take her seriously, which was normal. The gap between them at that time was really too big. Not to mention Qi Yun, but even in the entire Zixuan Star, there was no one who could enter Qin Shuang's eyes.

  "Ten years ago? What happened ten years ago? I don't remember!" Hong Jun looked up at Qi Yun with a bewildered expression. The matter of the Qingyun Tavern ten years ago had long been brought into the Sealing Gods List along with the previous change, and now he really didn't know.

  "How dare you pretend to be garlic, die for me!" Qi Yun's eyebrows glared, and he flew down from the air at extreme speed, continuously striking out a dozen or so palms, directly blasting Hong Jun into the ground several meters deep.

  "Look at you, still not dead!" After a dozen or so slaps in a row, Qi Yun also consumed a lot of energy and took a slight rest. Only then did he pull Hong Jun out from the pit.

  Brushing off the dirt on Hong Jun's body, Qi Yun's delicate small hands began to search his body for his 'Protective Spirit Artifact'.

  "Your Highness, men and women should not be so intimate, please stop!" Hong Jun's dizzy head shook back and forth as he hid to the side, saying to Qi Yun.

  Zi Yun was startled and hastily retreated a few steps, looking at Hong Jun in surprise: "You, you didn't die?"

  "Princess, your strength is too weak, you can't kill me." Hong Jun's physical body had been cultivated for millions of years and was comparable to the strength of a mid-grade divine being. Not to mention Qi Yun, even a 9th-level Immortal Emperor without a divine artifact couldn't harm Hong Jun. In the imperial palace, Hong Jun was so angry that he spat out blood. This fake appearance also deceived Qi Yun, making him think that Hong Jun had been injured.

  "I'm going to kill you!" Qiyun thought of the big man from earlier, her face turned bright red with anger and shame, and she started crazily hitting Hongjun.

  He had been hit by Qiyun's dozens of palms, and Hongjun retreated hundreds of steps. He was used to taking a beating without fighting back, but it wasn't his usual style. At this time, he didn't care that Qiyun was a woman, and the fists in his hands also struck out at her.

  "Bang, bang, bang", the two exchanged several punches, and Qi Yun's arm went numb. Hong Jun's strength was not great, but his body was hard as iron, and fighting him was like hitting an iron plate, unbearable.

  "This kid's physical body is really that formidable!" Qi Yun suddenly realized that Hong Jun wasn't relying on his protective spirit artifact, but was instead using his physical body to block her attack. Wanting to kill Hong Jun wouldn't be as easy as she had imagined.

  Zi Yun began to regret not bringing her master along to deal with him, now she alone was no match for Hong Jun.