Chapter 579: Completion of Unification

In the time that followed, Mu Ying, serving as the commander of the Cavalry Battalion, began leading a massive army of two hundred thousand, marching grandly toward the capital of the Dali Kingdom.

It had to be said that the combat effectiveness of the Ming Empire's army was quite astonishing. In less than a day, the capital of the Dali Kingdom was breached. For a time, the Dali Imperial Palace fell into utter chaos.

Duan Zhengming, the Emperor of the Dali Kingdom, was in his sleeping quarters, silently chanting sutras.

At that moment, his imperial brother, Duan Zhengchun, burst directly in. Simultaneously, Duan Zhengchun spoke to Duan Zhengming in an urgent tone: "Your Majesty, Grandmaster Kurong of Tianlong Temple and the four great high monks have all been killed by the Ming Imperial Grandson."

"Now, the entire capital has been breached by the Ming Empire's army. I expect it won't be long before they charge into the Imperial Palace."

To be honest, at this moment, Duan Zhengchun's mindset was facing utter despair.

Especially after seeing that Grandmaster Kurong and the four great high monks had also been killed by Zhu Ying. He understood that in this world, no one was left who could contend with Zhu Ying.

Thus, Duan Zhengchun also understood that seeking revenge was simply impossible.

However, as soon as Duan Zhengchun finished speaking, Duan Zhengming, the Emperor of the Dali Kingdom, resolutely stripped off his imperial robes.

At this moment, Duan Zhengming's eyes were filled with killing intent. He spoke slowly to Duan Zhengchun: "Since things have come to this, it seems I must take action."

"Ah?"

Hearing this, Duan Zhengchun hurriedly tried to stop him: "Your Majesty, I know you are a peak martial arts expert, but this Ming Imperial Grandson is incredibly powerful. Even Grandmaster Kurong was no match for him."

"Even if you come out of seclusion, I fear you will be unable to kill this Ming Imperial Grandson."

Truthfully, Duan Zhengchun did not want to see his elder brother killed by the Ming Imperial Grandson.

Therefore, Duan Zhengchun's first instinct was to dissuade Duan Zhengming from acting on impulse.

However, Duan Zhengming's mind was already made up!

He knew very well that as the Emperor of the Dali Kingdom, if he did not dare to fight this Ming Imperial Grandson, he would be ridiculed by the people of the world!

Thus, Duan Zhengming directly cast off his imperial robes, deciding to fight a decisive battle to the death with the Ming Imperial Grandson!

"Your Majesty, you absolutely must not! If you engage in battle with this Ming Imperial Grandson, the consequences will be unimaginable. Even if you aren't killed by him, you will be heavily wounded!"

"Since things have come to this, our only choice is to surrender!" Duan Zhengchun pleaded desperately.

Thinking back to when the Ming Empire's army was first approaching, the Emperor of the Dali Kingdom, Duan Zhengming, had actually wanted to surrender.

However, at that time, Duan Zhengchun had disagreed, even wanting to unite with the Ming to jointly oppose Zhu Ying in order to avenge the death of his son.

But now, the mindsets of Duan Zhengming and Duan Zhengchun had undergone a world-shaking change.

Duan Zhengchun knew the situation was settled. With the many martial arts experts of Tianlong Temple killed by Zhu Ying, the Dali Kingdom had no chance of turning defeat into victory.

Therefore, for Duan Zhengchun, he naturally wanted to join the Ming Empire to reduce unnecessary sacrifices.

It was just that he never expected his brother, Duan Zhengming, to reject this proposal.

Suddenly.

Duan Zhengming vanished from before Duan Zhengchun.

A moment later, the Emperor of the Dali Kingdom appeared outside the Imperial Palace, beginning to engage in combat with the Ming Empire's army.

"Six Meridian Divine Sword!!"

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Duan Zhengming was frantically unleashing the Six Meridian Divine Sword. It had to be said, Duan Zhengming did indeed possess a certain level of strength.

For a time, he successfully heavily wounded several Ming soldiers, but this situation did not last long.

A moment later.

Zhu Ying appeared before Duan Zhengming.

To be honest, when Zhu Ying saw Duan Zhengming, his expression was somewhat surprised.

"You are the Emperor of the Dali Kingdom?" As Zhu Ying's voice fell, Duan Zhengming responded: "Indeed!"

"My Dali Kingdom and your Ming Empire have always minded our own business. Why must you do this to my Dali Kingdom?"

Facing Duan Zhengming's questioning, Zhu Ying burst into laughter.

The reason was simple: in his view, Duan Zhengming's question was quite naive.

*Why must I do this to your Dali? I will tell you: because the Ming Empire intends to unify the world.*

*I will give you one last chance. If you submit to me, I will naturally grant you a way to live, and I will no longer attack the capital of the Dali Kingdom.*

*Make your choice.*

As Zhu Ying's words fell, Duan Zhengming did not hesitate for a second.

In an instant, he forcibly activated his Martial Domain.

Truthfully, Duan Zhengming was merely a peak expert; he was still some distance away from the Divine Ability Realm.

But at this moment.

In order to defeat Zhu Ying, Duan Zhengming had truly thrown everything on the line.

He forcibly released all the True Qi within his body. For a moment, this powerful True Qi transformed into a domain, completely enveloping Zhu Ying within the void.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Ying's face remained filled with disdain.

After all, at this time, Zhu Ying was a master of the Astral Qi Realm; the current Duan Zhengming did not even have the capacity to hold a conversation with him.

*Is that it?*

After letting out a cold snort, Zhu Ying directly unleashed the Six Meridian Divine Sword.

It had to be said that the Six Meridian Divine Sword unleashed by Zhu Ying was far more powerful than that of the Duan clan experts.

In an instant, six streaks of golden-glowing Astral Qi stabbed directly toward Duan Zhengming.

Since this was Duan Zhengming's first time clashing with Zhu Ying, he was momentarily stunned upon seeing that Zhu Ying could also perform the Six Meridian Divine Sword.

He failed to react in time.

Consequently.

The six streaks of golden-glowing Astral Qi stabbed directly into the Dali Emperor.

"Ah!"

With a blood-curdling scream from Duan Zhengming that echoed through the sky, he felt as though his internal organs had been pierced through.

In an instant, the Martial Domain that Duan Zhengming had so painstakingly formed collapsed completely.

Immediately after, Duan Zhengming fell directly from the void.

"I gave you the chance to choose. Unfortunately, you made the wrong choice," Zhu Ying said in a tone that brooked no argument.

At this moment, although Duan Zhengming had suffered heavy injuries, he did not give up.

He was seen slowly rising from the ground once more.

Then, using the last of his True Qi, he unleashed the Six Meridian Divine Sword.

And in the void above, Zhu Ying did not even bother to dodge.

The sword qi of the Six Meridian Divine Sword sped toward Zhu Ying, but at the very instant it was about to pierce his body, the sword qi vanished completely.

This was the strength of a martial arts powerhouse in the Astral Qi Realm.

To be honest, Zhu Ying had no intention of even making a move, yet despite this, the Six Meridian Divine Sword unleashed by Duan Zhengming could not harm Zhu Ying in the slightest.

"Die."

As Zhu Ying uttered those three words, another invisible wave of Astral Qi charged directly into Duan Zhengming's chest.

*Boom!*

With a loud explosion, the Emperor of the Dali Kingdom perished.

At that moment, Duan Zhengchun also charged at Zhu Ying like a madman, seemingly wanting to avenge his brother.

Unfortunately, Duan Zhengchun's martial cultivation was far inferior to Duan Zhengming's; naturally, he was no match for Zhu Ying.

Thus, as Duan Zhengchun charged violently toward Zhu Ying, his body was instantly swallowed by the Astral Qi emitted by Zhu Ying.

Just like that, the Dali Imperial Family was completely exterminated.

In the time that followed, Mu Ying led the army of the 200,000 Mountain Battalion in a frenzied slaughter throughout the Dali Kingdom.

In less than an hour, the capital of the Dali Kingdom had become a sea of blood.

Simultaneously, Mu Ying rushed to Zhu Ying's side with an excited expression to report: "Reporting to the Imperial Grandson, the Dali Kingdom has been completely annihilated."

"Now, the Dali Kingdom belongs to the territory of our Ming Empire."

Hearing Mu Ying's report, Zhu Ying nodded silently.

Then, he issued a new command.

"From this moment on, rebuild the Dali Kingdom!"

"Since the Dali Kingdom is now part of the Ming Empire's territory, we must naturally ensure the people of Dali live good lives."

"Immediately begin infrastructure construction and livelihood security work, so that the people may live in peace and prosperity!"

As Zhu Ying's voice fell, Mu Ying hurriedly responded.

To be fair, although Zhu Ying was ruthless and a master of the Astral Qi Realm, he was quite good to the common people.

Whenever the Ming Empire conquered a territory, Zhu Ying would undertake reconstruction, and it would even involve modernization.

This was actually a great blessing for the local populace.

Half a month later.

The entire world had been occupied by the Ming Empire.

At the same time, Zhu Ying issued orders to establish various provinces.

The former Tibet was renamed Tibet Province, the Mongol-Yuan was changed to Mongol-Yuan Province, and the Dali Kingdom naturally became Dali Province.

On this day, within the capital of Ming Province.

In the Imperial Palace Hall.

The civil and military officials of the Wuxia World had all arrived.

And upon the high dais.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Ying sat there.

Zhu Ying was the first to speak to the crowd: "It has been a full year since the Ming Empire entered this Wuxia World."

"Within this year, you officials have not failed my expectations."

"Now that the world is unified, it is all thanks to your contributions."

As Zhu Ying's words fell, Guo Zhen, the commander of the Imperial Guard, was the first to step forward.

Guo Zhen spoke respectfully to Zhu Ying: "Reporting to the Imperial Grandson, this general believes that the reason our Ming Empire was able to complete unification in just one year..."

"...is most certainly due to the Imperial Grandson."

"If it were not for the Imperial Grandson killing so many martial arts experts single-handedly, our Ming Empire would never have been able to achieve great unification in such a short time."

Just as Guo Zhen expressed his thoughts, the Emperor of the Ming Empire, Zhu Yuanzhang, was also not stingy with his praise for Zhu Ying.

"I believe Guo Zhen has a point. If it were not for Xiongying, it would have been no easy feat for our Ming Empire to unify this Wuxia World."

"Xiongying, you are truly the most meritorious person of our Ming Empire."

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial praise, Zhu Ying smiled slightly: "Imperial Grandfather, you overpraise me. As the Imperial Grandson of the Ming Empire, it is only natural for Xiongying to contribute effort and labor."

"This is merely Xiongying's duty."

At this time, Zhu Biao also pressed Zhu Ying: "Xiongying, since this Wuxia World has achieved unification, is it time to return to the Main World?"

"It has been a year since we left; I wonder how that child Wenxi is governing the Main World."

After Zhu Biao finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "Wenxi is a naturally brilliant child and is very proficient in handling state affairs."

"I believe that with Wenxi presiding over the Main World, there will naturally be no problems."

"So, Biao'er, do not worry. Stay here in this Wuxia World with us for a while longer."

"It won't be long before my realm can break through to the Divine Ability Realm as well."

Clearly, for Zhu Yuanzhang, he did not seem to want to leave this Wuxia World so soon.

After all, this Wuxia World possessed a massive amount of spiritual energy.

Now that Zhu Yuanzhang was only one step away from the Divine Ability Realm, he naturally did not want to leave prematurely.

Hearing Old Zhu say this, Zhu Biao also felt it made sense.

"Father is right. Although this Wuxia World has achieved unification, there is still much follow-up work to be done."

"Furthermore, there is a large amount of reconstruction work to be carried out, so there is no rush to return to the Main World."

Zhu Ying also nodded, saying indifferently: "Indeed. Although this Wuxia World has been unified, many places have not yet completed modernization."

"And there are only a few railways."

"Therefore, it will take some time before we can return to the Main World."

"Moreover, Imperial Grandfather and Father can take these days to intensify your cultivation."

Then, Zhu Ying continued to address the civil and military officials before him: "From now on, the primary task of the Ming Empire is reconstruction."

"We must ensure the people of this Wuxia World also live good lives, so that they will be fiercely loyal to the Ming Empire."

"Only in this way can the national destiny of the Ming be prosperous."

As Zhu Ying's voice fell, the civil and military officials all responded in unison.

They shouted "Long live" one after another.

...

Meanwhile, in the Central Plains region.

Dugu Qiubai, who had been in secluded cultivation for a long time, slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, his gaze was filled with sharpness.

As a half-step Astral Qi Realm expert, Dugu Qiubai's current attempt at secluded cultivation had ultimately ended in failure.

He sighed helplessly and said: "In the end, I still cannot break through to the Astral Qi Realm?"

But just as he finished saying this, Dugu Qiubai suddenly sensed the emergence of a powerful Astral Qi.

"How is this possible?"

"To think there would actually be an Astral Qi Realm expert in this world."

Clearly, Dugu Qiubai immediately sensed Zhu Ying's presence.

At the same time, a look of disbelief appeared on his face.

Afterward.

Dugu Qiubai went to the homes of the commoners to inquire about recent events.

When he heard that the world had been unified, he was stunned once again.