Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Two hundred nautical miles away from the Taiji Kingdom, there is a square island nation shrouded in clouds and mist, with a beautiful name—the Cloud Kingdom.

Aside from the pleasant-sounding name, the islanders living in this Cloud Kingdom have almost no connection whatsoever with the word "Cloud Kingdom."

The so-called "clouds and mist" are caused by smoke from the volcanic eruption.

Aside from volcanoes occasionally making their presence felt in the Cloud Kingdom, earthquakes and tsunamis also frequently visit this land.

Due to frequent natural disasters, the living environment in the cloud island nation is extremely harsh.

As the saying goes, "Bad people come from poor and remote areas."

The people of the Cloud Kingdom who live on this land are also highly abstract representatives.

In today's Cloud Kingdom, numerous feudal lords stand side by side. Within this land of several hundred thousand square kilometers, hundreds of forces of varying sizes vie for power and fight each other.

Because the power and status of the Holy King were greatly weakened by the shogunate, the emperor's orders did not extend beyond the capital, and imperial power did not reach the countryside.

This has led to a series of bizarre phenomena constantly recurring on this island nation.

If you're just a village chief with a few decent weapons, you'd dare to climb up a high place and shout, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?" and raise your banner to declare yourself king.

The islanders living on this land mainly do these few things from birth: eat, sleep, and kill people.

These things permeated almost their entire lives; their only form of entertainment was having children.

This leads to a strange phenomenon: despite the extremely harsh living conditions, the population of the Cloud Kingdom has miraculously exceeded ten million.

Although the living conditions are indeed harsh, and the arable land on the island cannot guarantee everyone's basic needs, the marine resources of Cloud Kingdom are extremely rich.

Islanders who lose their land turn their attention to the ocean, relying on fishing to support their families.

Of course, while the increase in the number of fishermen has led to the booming development of the fishing industry, it has also caused serious involution.

So, some ingenious fishermen, while fishing, would also dabble in being pirates, occasionally going to Taiji Kingdom to collect protection money.

Although this industry has a very high risk factor, and you need to be prepared to fall into the sea and feed the turtles to be competent, the returns are very considerable, and it is much more lucrative than fishing.

As a result, more and more fishermen began to join the pirates, a profession destined to be infamous for generations, which eventually formed an industry that generated extra income.

Many powerful families in the island today rose to power because their ancestors were pirates.

For example, the Shimazu family has eight pirate crews under their command, controlling two sea areas overseas. Other pirates who want to plunder in these areas must pay protection money.

Of course, these powerful forces have little to do with most of the islanders...

Inoue Village is an ancient village with about twenty households. Even in the vast Yunshang Kingdom, it is not particularly remarkable.

On the east side of the village, in front of a low thatched hut, a woman with bare legs was carrying a child on her back while doing farm work in the field.

Inside the thatched hut, a man dressed in a coarse cloth shirt and shorts was holding a large bowl of overflowing corn rice and frantically shoveling it into his mouth.

On the table were a plate of boiled vegetables whose names he didn't know and a steamed fish that had been eaten down to its bones; these were his side dishes.

Beside the low table where the man was eating, there was a katana without a sheath.

The man's name was Inoue Yuichi. He was a tenant farmer in Inoue Village. He gained the village chief's favor by being ruthless in armed fights and was rented three acres of land to his family.

"Bang Bang Bang..."

Suddenly, a series of rapid banging sounds rang out in front of the door.

Inoue Yuichi's pupils contracted, and he immediately stuffed all the rice in the bowl into his mouth in a few bites.

Just as he put down his chopsticks, a helper from the village chief's house stood at the door and shouted loudly, "Xiongyi, the village chief wants us to assemble immediately!"

The head of the Isshin-kai has trapped Ito Heiwa at Haryu-ji Temple and urgently needs our troops to block his retreat.

Upon hearing this, Inoue Yuichi decisively grabbed his katana: "Let's go!"

After saying that, he leaped out of the thatched hut, stepping onto the muddy road in front of the door, instantly splashing mud all over his calf.

But he ignored everyone and shouted to his wife, who was still busy in the field, "Steam another fish tonight!"

After all, fighting is physically demanding, so how can you manage without eating your fill?

After saying that, he and his helper ran out of the village.

"Ah~~"

"Sogga~~"

Along with them, a dozen or so other young men from the village ran out of the village entrance, shouting strange slogans as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

……

Meanwhile, at Halong Temple, located 20 miles away from Inoue Village, it is now surrounded by a group of monks wielding long spears and two thousand thugs armed with a variety of weapons.

Inside Halong Temple, a samurai general clad in bamboo armor, wearing a bamboo helmet, and wielding a cross-shaped spear, was leading twenty foot soldiers in a last-ditch effort.

With 20 against 2500, this battle presented Ito Heiwa with absolutely no chance of victory.

Faced with the overwhelming army of the Isshinkai, Ito Heibei and his subordinates could only retreat step by step.

Just when Ito Hyōe felt hopeless in this battle and was prepared to fight to the death for the honor of a samurai, an unexpected event occurred.

"Get out of my way!"

Suddenly a loud shout rang out, and a monk holding a staff stepped out from the crowd. He appeared to be around seventy years old.

When the monks and local ruffians saw the monk, they all made way for him, showing great respect and deep admiration in their eyes.

The monk's name is Master Yizang, and he is also the current leader of the Yixin Society.

With an arrogant look on his face, Ichizo jumped in front of Ito Heiwa and said coldly, "Ito Heiwa, you have no way out now, why don't you surrender?"

Ito Heibei shouted sternly, "Samurai, there is only death in battle, not surrender!"

"it is good!"

Izang shouted loudly, then flung his monk's robe off.

"Roar……"

In an instant, everyone let out a soft gasp of surprise.

Because Ichizo was also wearing a bamboo armor lined with iron leaves.

Just as Ito Heibei was bewildered, he saw Ichizo drop his staff and slowly draw a katana from his waist, aiming it at Ito Heibei.

The next moment, an extremely abstract scene appeared.

Ichizo said in a deep voice, "Ito Heibei, do you dare to challenge me to a duel?"

Upon hearing this, Ito Heibei decisively dropped the cross-shaped spear in his hand and drew his katana from his waist: "I accept your challenge."

"it is good!"

Ichizo shouted, then ordered everyone to step back twenty paces: "Today, I will have a one-on-one duel with Ito Heiwa. No one is allowed to come near me, do you hear me!"

"Hi~"

Yi Zang was highly respected, and no one dared to disobey him. So, after responding, they immediately retreated and formed a circle around the city, deciding to witness this battle of the century.

After a brief standoff, Ichizo raised his sword above his head with both hands and suddenly shouted, "Om Mani Padme Hum!"

Then he slashed directly at Ito Heibei.

Ito Heibei was also intimidated by this display of force. At only thirty-five years old, he was forced to retreat repeatedly.

puff-

In the blink of an eye, Ichizo suddenly slipped and lost his balance, crashing into Ito Heiwa's sword. The katana pierced through the gap in the bamboo armor and killed Ito Heiwa instantly.

The wind was blowing coldly.

The scene was deathly silent.

After an unknown amount of time, Ito Heibei slowly drew his katana.

"Ah, I've lost~"

Upon seeing Yizang fall to the ground and die, the remaining monks and thugs immediately scattered like birds and beasts.

Ito Heibei thus inexplicably turned the tide of the battle.

Such incredible and explosive scenes are quite common in this island nation.