In the two hundredth year, geniuses emerged one after another in the Heavenly Origin Dynasty.

  For fifty years, the thirteen nations that had once attacked the Heavenly Origin Dynasty attempted to placate Su Chen's anger with various resources.

  Su Chen merely sneered at their efforts. After fifty years of recuperation and rebuilding, his army was strong and his horses well-fed. Without hesitation, he launched an assault on the nearest enemy—the Azure Wave Kingdom. All the old grudges with the Azure Wave Kingdom were finally settled.

  Inside the Azure Wave royal palace, the Azure Wave King trembled upon hearing that the Heavenly Origin Dynasty had invaded. The Azure Wave Kingdom possessed no Profound Connection Realm guardian. Regret consumed him. Had he known the Heavenly Origin Dynasty would become so terrifying, he would have thrown every ounce of support behind the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and prevented its fall at all costs.

  But regret was useless now. In less than half a year, the Heavenly Origin army stood before the capital gates. The supposedly impregnable defensive array was nothing more than a joke in Su Chen's eyes—he shattered it with a casual strike.

  The Azure Wave Kingdom perished. The fall of Azure Wave sent shockwaves of dread through the neighboring kingdoms.

  When lips are gone, teeth grow cold.

  After this battle, Li Hongwen sensed his lifespan nearing its end. He bid farewell to Su Chen and set out beyond the Hundred Kingdoms in search of a final breakthrough opportunity. He was never heard from again.

  Su Chen chose not to pursue further conquests against the other nations. Li Hongwen's departure filled him with a sense of crisis. From that moment on, he focused entirely on strengthening his own foundation and preparing for the life to come.

  In the three hundredth year, Su Chen broke through to the third layer of the Profound Connection Realm. Even among Profound Connection cultivators, he now counted as a formidable expert.

  Yet he halted his cultivation there. He discovered that the deeper he advanced, the faster the memories of the Spirit Communion King spread through his mind. If he pushed to the fourth layer, it might very well be the moment the Spirit Communion King completely overwrote his identity.

  "I harbor ambitions to sweep the six directions under heaven, yet I am being schemed against by a dead man. How truly unwilling I am!"

  Su Chen murmured to himself. After destroying the Azure Wave Kingdom, he had no choice but to halt his expansion. He turned inward, nurturing his own power base and laying groundwork for his next reincarnation.

  That same year, a King Realm secret realm appeared near the borders of the Heavenly Origin Dynasty. Su Chen claimed it outright. Inside, he left behind a single token. Anyone who obtained it could make three unconditional requests of the Li Clan of the Heavenly Origin Dynasty—even demanding the throne itself. The clan would be bound to comply.

  When the news spread, the entire nation erupted in excitement. The secret realm's prestige soared to unprecedented heights. Countless young prodigies rushed to explore it.

  All of them failed.

  Su Chen had tampered with the token. No one except him could ever truly claim it. This was his preparation for the next life—three unconditional favors from the Heavenly Origin Dynasty would provide immense convenience. If he could not comprehend Li Shenhua's technique in this life, perhaps the next life would be different.

  Also, that year, Su Chen made a decisive policy change. The Heavenly Origin Martial Mansion opened recruitment to the children of commoners. Any common-born youth with outstanding talent could, through rigorous selection, enter the mansion.

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  Any governor who discovered and recommended a commoner genius would receive substantial rewards. All commoner geniuses accepted into the Heavenly Origin Martial Mansion would have their exorbitant tuition fully subsidized by the royal family.

  The move sparked fierce opposition from the dynasty's noble houses and great clans. The Heavenly Origin Martial Mansion had always been reserved for imperial descendants and children of powerful families. But the loudest voices of dissent were silenced when Su Chen executed several of the most vocal opponents.

  Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.

  In the three hundred and twentieth year, Su Chen's great-grandson was born. He possessed a legendary martial physique. The Ice Soul Martial Body.

  It was the first time Su Chen had witnessed such a fabled constitution with his own eyes. On the day of the child's birth, strange phenomena descended from the sky—bitter cold swept through the land, and lakes froze solid in an instant.

  Su Chen doted on the boy immensely and named him Li Xuanbing.

  Li Xuanbing's cultivation path showed no sign of lagging behind Su Chen's own. His progress was astonishingly swift. Reaching the Profound Connection Realm was only a matter of time. Even glimpsing the realm beyond Profound Connection was not out of the question.

  At eighteen, Li Xuanbing participated in the Profound Origin Sacred Land's entrance examination and successfully entered the sect. An ancient, reclusive supreme being of the sacred land took him as a direct disciple.

  Once Li Xuanbing joined the Profound Origin Sacred Land, the Heavenly Origin Dynasty's status among the surrounding kingdoms rose dramatically.

  In the three hundred and fiftieth year, another genius emerged within the Li Clan—Li Xuanyuan. Though he lacked Li Xuanbing's heaven-defying potential, his steady temperament and calm disposition won Su Chen's deep favor. Su Chen began grooming him as his successor.

  Among the commoner class of the Heavenly Origin Dynasty, a representative figure also rose: Ji Changping. Exceptionally talented, he broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm at the age of twenty.

  Li Xuanyuan and Ji Changping came to be known together as the Twin Dragons of the Dynasty.

  In the four hundredth year, at the age of four hundred, Su Chen abdicated the throne. His grandson—Li Xuanyuan's father, Li Ping'an—ascended as the new sovereign.

  Su Chen left the Heavenly Origin Dynasty and set out to seek opportunities for further breakthrough. With Lin Wu and Li Xuanbing watching over the dynasty from above, and Li Xuanyuan and Ji Changping supporting it from below, the realm remained stable.

  Fifty years remained.

  Su Chen wanted to witness just how vast the Eastern Wasteland truly was. The Eastern Wasteland was far larger than he had ever imagined. What Lin Wu had described was merely one tiny corner. Geniuses were far more numerous than he could have conceived.

  There were those born with mastery over the laws of thunder, prodigies with divine physiques who swept through their generation invincible, and even infant desolate beasts whose casual breath could obliterate an entire dynasty.

  In fifty years, he traversed only a fraction of the land.

  Su Chen felt the memories of the Spirit Communion King nearing complete takeover. On the day his lifespan reached its end, he returned silently to the Heavenly Origin Dynasty. He stored all his possessions in a small secret realm, set unbreakable seals to ensure absolute security, and then quietly departed.

  In that instant, outside the small secret realm, a faint spiritual rain fell sparsely across a ten-li radius. After the fresh mountain rain, no one knew that in a remote, ancient forest, a Profound Connection Realm powerhouse had passed away in meditation.

  …

  Back once more in the Reverse Fate Scripture space, Su Chen eagerly opened the book to examine the results of this life.

  The Reverse Fate Scripture turned to the fourth page.

  [Fourth Life: You were a genius of the Great Plain Li Clan. The entire clan placed immense hopes upon you. You rose to fame in your youth, shining brilliantly while geniuses of your generation dimmed in your shadow. You participated in the Profound Origin Sacred Land's entrance trial and could have entered, yet you chose to forgo it—better to rule as a chicken's head than follow as a phoenix's tail. A wise decision.]

  [You led armies to destroy the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, swept the four seas, and achieved unparalleled merit. In a single battle, you settled the fate of the realm. Your father envied your talent; your siblings envied your ability. For fifty years you schemed, sweeping away disloyal brothers and sisters with unstoppable momentum, seizing absolute control of the court and ascending the throne as king.]

  [After taking the crown, you governed with diligence and wisdom, pacifying the four seas. Your rise drew the fear of others. When national calamity struck, you successfully broke through to the Profound Connection Realm and single-handedly turned back the tide.]

  [Your life was half-glorious. Though you fell into the millennia-old scheme of an ancient existence and ultimately chose to scatter your cultivation to perish together with your enemy, you still lived the magnificent life of a true king.]

  [Evaluation: Six Stars (Cyan)

  [Reverse Fate Points: 600]