“Got it!” Casey and the others responded in unison, drawing their swords and charging forward.
Arthur Fowler, Bessie Charleston, and the rest followed suit without hesitation, assuming battle positions.
“Kill!” The other side’s thirty or forty people didn’t waste any time talking. They raised their weapons and charged forward.
For a moment, the scene was engulfed in a fierce battle with flashing blades and flying debris.
“I’ve heard that Commander Gardner is a rare genius of the millennium. Today is my lucky day. Please teach me some tricks,” said the curly-haired old man from earlier as he looked at Billy with a serious expression.
“You came all this way to stop me from going up the mountain without first assessing whether you have that kind of strength?” Billy glanced at him dismissively.
Chuckled the curly-haired old man. “We already know about that aspect.”
“If our information is correct, Commander Gardner’s current cultivation level should be half-step supreme realm? Furthermore, I also know that Commander Gardner can challenge beyond his level. If nothing unexpected happens then you should be able to unleash a first-rank Sovereign realm combat power.”
“So do you think your late-stage of a first-rank Sovereign can spar with me?” Billy smiled slightly.
“Come on then! Let me learn some of your moves!” After saying this, he raised his hand and charged towards Billy. His aura instantly soared to its peak as his cultivation reached the second rank of Sovereign Realm.
“If you can take this blow from me then I’ll spare your life!” Billy spoke at the same time. As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist without any fancy moves and unleashed Bloodshadow Blade Technique for one slash. The blood-red blade energy carried thunderous force as it descended from above towards the curly-haired old man’s head.
“You’re shameless!” The curly-haired old man snorted coldly while unleashing ten percent of his power before punching out more than ten violent fist energies towards Billy’s blade energy while creating strong wind sounds around him in an attempt to block it off completely.
However, he next moment, his face stiffened up after seeing what happened next – Billy’s blade energy tore through all of his fist energies directly before slashing down on top of him leaving behind hundreds meters long gully on ground surface .
“How could this be…” The elderly man struggled to utter these words before blood spurted out like an arrow shooting outwards starting from forehead till waistline. Immediately after, the two halves of the body slumped to one side, blood and flesh scattered.
With Billy’s current cultivation level, if he didn’t deliberately suppress it, he would have already broken through to the supreme level. Killing an opponent at the first rank was no different from crushing an ant. After casually scanning the two halves of bodies on the ground, Billy dashed towards Casey and others’ battle circle.
The entire process lasted no more than seven or eight minutes. Except for the old goatee man earlier, all forty or so opponents were killed by him.
“How about it? Do you have anything else to say?” Billy strolled over to the old man.
“Humph!” The old man lay on his back on the ground with blood constantly flowing out of his mouth. “Even if you can pass our test today, what can you do? You are destined not to reach the peak of the Kun Lun Mountains!”
“You’re quite stubborn!” Billy shrugged before turning to Stout and saying, “Stout, I leave him in your hands. Make sure he explains where these people come from.”
“Okay!” Stout nodded in response before walking towards the old man. At that moment, three silver needles appeared in his hand as he flipped his wrist skillfully.
Soon after came a hysterical scream from the old man.
“Boss! We got some information!” After about three minutes or so later Stout walked up to Billy again and reported, “They come from five different countries, just like what you guessed, those Eastern Confucianists are from Oriana and Veridiania.”
“A few Westerners are from Xidengia and Occidenta, there are also two people from Shadowrealm!”
Billy nodded slightly in response.
“These surrounding countries really aren’t afraid of us,” Azure Dragon said with a deep voice: “When our national fortune arrives we will make them feel despair!”
“Let’s go up into mountains.” After saying that sentence, Billy led everyone toward the mountain passageway entrance.
Along the way, Arthur Fowler described in detail the series of processes for taking over the national fortune to Billy and others, giving them a preliminary understanding of it all.
“Boss! More people have arrived!” A short while later Casey quickly walked up next to Billy and said urgently.
With a slight squinting of eyes, Billy waved his hand at everyone, “Standby here!”
As soon as he spoke, five figures appeared three or four hundred meters away from everyone else. They were all dressed in Daoist robes and each person wore a mask on their face, making it impossible to see their true appearance.
From the breath of several people, it was evident that they all had reached the Sovereign realm of cultivation, with the strongest among them having half a foot in the third-rank Sovereign realm.
“Commander Gardner, we’ve been waiting for you!” The lead black-robed elder looked at Billy and spoke.
“People from Glavale?” Stout cursed under his breath. “No wonder they’re so unsightly. They’re just miscellaneous members of a super sect.”
“You’d better watch your mouth, or else we’ll make sure you can never speak again!” A gray-robed elder from their group glared at Stout and spoke furiously.
“If you can do such things, why are you afraid of what others say?” Azure Dragon responded coldly. “A bunch of parasites in our country have actually sent people to the Kun Lun Mountains!”
“I’m truly ashamed for you.”
“Commander Gardner, we’ve come to make a deal with you!” The black-robed elder from their group glanced coldly at Azure Dragon before turning back to Billy and speaking.
“A deal?” Billy responded calmly. “Tell me more.”
“You should know that taking on national destiny not only requires great luck but also martial arts cultivation strong enough to bear it,” said the black-robed elder as he looked at Billy.
“Although Commander Gardner is now a half-step Sovereign, you’re still somewhat weak if he wants to take on national destiny solely based on this level alone.”
“What kind of deal are you proposing then?” Billy asked while looking directly into his eyes.
“We can let you climb up the mountain and even give you ten millennium spirit fruits as gifts,” replied the old man from their group confidently.
“I believe that with Commander Gardner’s martial arts talent, after consuming several millennium spirit fruits in a short period of time, you will break through into the Sovereign realm without fail.”
“Only by truly reaching the realm will there be any chance for him to withstand national destiny when it arrives.”
“Otherwise, you would probably barely survive through even first wave attacks!”
“Do you parasites really have such good intentions?” Soul Chaser sneered coldly. “What are your conditions then?”
“If I guess correctly,” said Billy while squinting slightly towards them,”you must have come here because of Five Elements Passage roles.”
Since they weren’t here specifically trying stop him from climbing up mountainside anymore; obviously there must be some other motive behind their visitation today. And since taking over national destiny role was already an ironclad fact which couldn’t change anymore; only thing left open for negotiation would be opportunities related opening Five Elements Passage doorways itself.
As the country’s fortunes shifted, the direct beneficiaries were those in line to inherit, followed by those who opened up the Five Elements Passage. However, the ancient martial arts world clearly still had one last fight left in it.