Ziqing was nearly gasping for breath before Jun Beiyue finally relented and let her go, the doting affection in his deep eyes still refusing to fade.

Once Ziqing caught her breath, she broke into a smile at once — a little mischievous, a little endearing. This woman was pure in her anger and pure in her laughter alike. Jun Beiyue always felt that, even now that he had her, he could never fully immerse himself in her world. She had a world entirely her own — her own values, her own standards of judgment — and simply belonging to him as his woman would never make her change any of it for his sake.

Perhaps that was precisely what drew him to her most.

She could never be tamed. She could never be changed.

“Has the ranking tournament begun?” Jun Beiyue finally remembered this crucial matter.

Ziqing gave a sly grin and shook her head repeatedly.

“What happened?” Jun Beiyue asked at once. He knew the rules of the tournament well, and knew exactly how important this contest was to their entire trip — if not for Ziqing, there would have been nothing else in the world that could have made him miss it!

The true purpose of this journey was Qinse Valley and the mulberry sacred tree, and the newcomers’ ranking tournament was the key to obtaining both!

He didn’t merely intend to claim first place in the tournament — he intended to overturn Liuxian Island’s entire clan-ranking system of governance. He meant to turn Liuxian Island into a privately held territory, with a single ruling family, rather than merely the foremost among equals!

Being “foremost” was something determined by ranking — just as the Gu clan being foremost meant that the island’s key resources, such as Liuxian Mountain and the harbor, would fall under the Gu clan’s control, and major affairs on the island would be led by the Gu clan — yet not as an autocracy, but through a council of clan heads, where the opinions of other families were still heard.

Being “ruler,” on the other hand, had nothing to do with ranking at all. To rule meant absolute authority — it meant a relationship of subordination, of total obedience!

What Jun Beiyue wanted wasn’t the position of foremost clan — he wanted the position of Lord of Liuxian Island!

Once he held the position of Lord, would there be any obstacle left standing between him and the mulberry sacred tree, or Qinse Valley?

This plan, in fact, had already been set in motion before they’d even arrived at Liuxian Island!

“It hasn’t started?” Jun Beiyue grew anxious. This mattered too much — a man who never relied on luck was, for once, hoping fortune would favor him.

“First tell me — besides having me lead troops to search for the mulberry sacred tree, what other arrangements have you made? The Gu clan’s combat strength is so weak, how can you guarantee a win?” Ziqing asked with a smile.

Situ Haonan knew all of Jun Beiyue’s plans, but she herself was in the dark — it seemed this man wanted to give her a surprise.

Try as she might, she couldn’t guess it. Having her lead troops off in search of the mulberry sacred tree seemed to bear on the ranking tournament somehow — and if it affected the Bai clan, it would surely affect the Yu clan and the Hai clan as well.

But the Gu clan’s own strength was so pitifully weak — they couldn’t even match the Hai clan!

Seeing Ziqing’s eyes sparkling with genuine curiosity, Jun Beiyue said helplessly, “Two words: a robbery.”

“A robbery?” Ziqing was baffled.

“Every great clan keeps a main hall, and behind the seat of honor in that hall hangs a portrait of the founding ancestor who established the clan’s lineage. This object is the clan’s most sacred treasure — it can never, under any circumstances, be lost,” Jun Beiyue explained.

Once a clan’s most sacred treasure was stolen, what heart would they have left to keep fighting?

At this, Ziqing immediately stuck out her tongue, looking exactly like someone who’d made a mistake.

Such an expression was rare on her, and Jun Beiyue grew suspicious. “You…”

“I…” Ziqing stammered.

“The ranking tournament…” Jun Beiyue said hesitantly.

“I… blew up the main halls of the Bai clan and the Yu clan. The fire will burn for at least three days and three nights before it goes out,” Ziqing confessed honestly.

At this, Jun Beiyue froze for a moment — but only a moment — before bursting into laughter, ruffling her bangs, utterly at a loss for what to say about this woman.

With their own strength hopelessly weak and no way to change the rules of the contest, the only way to change the outcome was to weaken the enemy instead.

Jun Beiyue had already planned to play dirty, sparing neither the Yu clan nor the Bai clan.

He simply hadn’t expected that, in the end, Han Ziqing would turn out to be even more ruthless than he was!

“Ha, this prince robs, you set fires — at this rate, we might as well just seize this mountain and this island for ourselves and become a couple of bandit lords!” Jun Beiyue joked, in high spirits.

“No, I’d rather you claim the whole realm of Longyuan and become a hero!” Ziqing said, quite serious.

“Then I promise you I will!” Jun Beiyue answered with commanding confidence.

The couple lingered in tender affection for a good while before Jun Beiyue finally asked about the two captives before them. By now, Jiao Cha’s scaled armor had nearly all fallen away, and he had already fainted from exhaustion, while Mu Fusang lay at the brink of death, his lips tinged purple — clearly poisoned as well.

Only then did Ziqing remember this important matter, and quickly explained both of their identities in full detail to Jun Beiyue.

“Guardians — meaning they know the secrets of Qinse Valley and the mulberry sacred tree!”

“The black shark guards Qinse Valley, and Mu Fusang is the guardian of the mulberry sacred tree. Let’s bring them back first and interrogate them thoroughly.”

“Ha, this really did come without any effort at all!” Jun Beiyue said with a cold smile. With these two in hand, the newcomers’ ranking tournament was sure to prove all the more interesting.

Just as the couple were about to personally carry the two men away, Situ Haonan and Yingzi arrived, leading a group of people!

The moment they saw Jun Beiyue, both of them froze.

“Beiyue, you… this…” Situ Haonan pointed up at the sky, looking utterly bewildered. Three days and three nights — how had this man already landed back on the ground? Was the power of love really that strong?

Jun Beiyue ignored his suggestive grin, simply handing Jiao Cha and Mu Fusang over to him. Ziqing was about to leave as well, but paused, instructing Yingzi, “I want every single one of the black shark scales — bring them all back, not a single one missing!”

Those scales would make perfect battle armor for her six subordinates. Such a rare treasure couldn’t possibly go to waste.

By the time they returned to Liuxian Mountain, the sky had already darkened.

Standing on Liuxian Mountain, they could see two distant blazes lighting up the sky over two separate valleys in the distance — the very locations of the Bai clan and the Yu clan.

“Seems your gunpowder packs quite a punch,” Jun Beiyue said with a smile. He hadn’t even known such a weapon as gunpowder existed until Ziqing taught him about it, and it had taken half a year just to gather all the raw materials before they could even begin production.

He’d originally planned to save it for use against the Xiongnu, never expecting to get to test it out here first — and its power had proven this astonishing.

Whatever the materials or construction methods used to build the great clans’ family compounds, they were nearly impossible to destroy by ordinary means!

Without gunpowder, it truly wouldn’t have been possible.

“We didn’t find much raw material, so what we can produce is limited. Let’s save the rest for later,” Ziqing said seriously. If not for her, this man would probably already be conquering the realm by now.

Never mind the ordinary military strength of each nation — just consider Nanzhao’s beast legions, Western Chu’s wild wolf army, the barbarian Xiongnu to the far north, and the savage Western Liang to the far west. The forces of these nations were not something ordinary troops could stand against!

This man had raced across the land, even risked his life, all for the sake of uncovering her origins.

Naturally, she had to think about his ambitions too, about his claim to the realm. Da Zhou had no elite troops of its own to rely on — the only path forward was through weaponry.

The two of them were chatting idly when Yingzi arrived to report that Mu Fusang and Jiao Cha had regained consciousness. It was time for interrogation…