The Gold King paused for a moment before bursting into laughter, slapping his own knee hard as he leaned back in his chair.
"Sit down and grab a rod, hahaha..." He said, gesturing to the empty chair. "You knew that lock was a test, right?"
"Yes." Qingyi nodded, sitting next to the Gold King and picking up the bamboo rod.
His eyes fell on a small box of bait, from which he took a single worm.
’Hm... how long has it been since I’ve touched something so filthy?’ Qingyi wondered, hooking the worm and casting his line into the water.
"Good... it was a test created by a deceased master of formation about three thousand years ago. I paid a fortune for it, and from time to time, I test my guests. Do you know how many people have been able to pass it?"
"No, father-in-law."
"Four," the Gold King replied. "I was the first, the First Shadow was the second, and then the Emperor. None of us managed to pass it in less than ten minutes, with one exception."
"Meilin." Qingyi interrupted his father-in-law, eliciting a smile from him.
"She was only twelve years old. Still, she was able to pass that test in less than five minutes, something that even an expert from the Astral Body Realm, like the Emperor, was unable to do so quickly."
The Gold King smiled, feeling a tug on his hook.
With a quick movement, he pulled the fish out of the water: a blue-eyed spirit carp.
A small knife appeared in his hands, tearing open the fish’s belly and removing its guts and scales in a single motion. A second gesture salted the fish, which immediately went onto the grill.
All this in less than three seconds.
"You are not wrong in saying that she can turn even an ant into a dragon... She did it with the Burning Red Pavilion and with all the branches of my enterprises she touched."
The Gold King sighed, clutching his chest. "I have had many children in this world, thousands of them. Almost all of them died, some unable to overcome the millennia of cultivation life, others simply too untalented to even take their first steps."
A short pause followed those heavy words.
"Meilin is my greatest pride as a father." The Gold King’s eyes focused on Qingyi. "Tell me, son-in-law, when did you begin your cultivation journey?"
"About four years ago. I left my master’s protection when I was still in the sixth stage of the Qi Refining Realm," Qingyi replied directly, looking at the man with confusion.
Where was he possibly going with this?
"Four years... I’ve seen others like you. No, not like you, but close. The First Imperial Prince was one of them, forty thousand years ago."
"He reached your level after ten years of cultivation, and at the age of fifty, he ascended to the Celestial Heaven.
The second was a young master of the Beast People, who reached your level after fourteen years of cultivation, and before the age of one hundred, he ascended to the Celestial Heaven."
The voice of the king of gold fell silent for a moment, followed by a question: "What is the greatest ambition of every cultivator?"
"To rule everything under the heavens." Qingyi replied directly.
That wasn’t a difficult question.
The Gold King looked up. "I am Jin Hao, the King of Gold. Millions and millions of enemies have died by my blades or at my command."
"Still, there is something over which I have no control: my own talent and that of my offspring. Tell me, Long Qingyi, son-in-law, what will you do when your first child is born?"
"What else could I do besides protect them, love them, and educate them?" The handsome young man turned his face, a strange emotion spreading across his eyes.
"And when you ascend to the highest heavens and take on too many responsibilities to be able to care for them and train them?"
Qingyi froze at those words, unable to find a clear answer. He had never thought about it.
Ruling everything under the heavens naturally brought responsibilities, which he would need to shoulder in order to fulfill his greatest ambitions.
"What if I just appoint someone to rule in my place?" Qingyi said.
"Then there will be corruption," Jin Hao replied. "All it takes is one wrong appointment, one man who shouldn’t be in power, one sword drawn, and one neck cut."
"That’s all it takes to corrupt a system. You must understand this if you wish to rule everything and everyone. Your eyes are the heavenly judgment; if they fail, countless innocents die."
The Gold King stood up, setting his rod aside as he watched Qingyi pull in another carp.
With a deft movement, the young man gutted and scaled it, tossing it onto the grill, where Jin Hao salted it.
"This one is ready," the Gold King said, taking the carp he had caught earlier and placing it on a plate at a small table just in front of the grill.
With an excited grunt, he took a bite of the fish, tasting the sweet flavor of its soft white flesh.
"Even with all my power and influence," Jin Hao removed a fishbone from his mouth, "I do not rule everything under the heavens. Only the Enlightened Emperor has the right to declare that."
"Still, when we meet, everyone kneels. Everyone except me."
Qingyi watched as his father-in-law stood up. The white marble beneath his feet was overtaken by a deep gold, while tiny particles, like liquid gold, rose into the air.
"In my entire life, son-in-law, I have never seen a young man as talented as you, and I am sure that this will not change, not even in the Celestial Heaven."
The Gold King continued, his Qi falling upon Qingyi as the gold particles around them became sharp razors.
Under the young man’s feet, the gold began to rise, sinking into his skin.
That was the domain of the Gold King, one of the most powerful in all of existence.
"Before I give my daughter to you, I need to know." Jin Hao took a step forward, grabbing Qingyi’s shoulders.
All the power of an Peak Ancestral Emperor fell upon the young man.
"Are you the man who will rule everything under the heavens, or the man who will never kneel to anyone?"
The Gold King’s voice echoed throughout the room, followed by a powerful tremor.
Qingyi’s eyes rose with an intense glow.
"The one who will rule everything under the heavens, or the one who will never kneel to anyone?" Qingyi growled, moving his own Qi. "What nonsense."
The moment his voice echoed, the world around them seemed about to end. The roar of a dragon engulfed the entire royal capital as a black-scaled beast appeared on Qingyi’s back.
"I will rule even the heavens themselves."