Pushing the clock back, about half an hour earlier, at the Nightwatchers’ Constabulary.
Step by step, Xu Qi’an in his azure robe descended the stairs, surrounded by a crowd of clerks with complex expressions.
The Tower of Noble Spirit had always been Wei Yuan’s office, full of staff who relayed messages and analysed intelligence.
Yuan Xiong, as the new head, had only just begun his purge with the Nightwatchers; he had not yet got round to the clerks of the Tower of Noble Spirit. Had Yuan Xiong lived, that fire would soon have reached them, for they were all Wei Yuan’s trusted men.
Yet none of them had expected that, just yesterday, Yuan Xiong had succeeded Duke Wei and taken over the tower, only to die today at Xu Qi’an’s hand.
Clerks crowded every landing, silently watching him, watching this azure-robed figure descend step by step.
In every pair of eyes: reverence, sorrow, gratitude, glimmering tears.
They had witnessed all the recent turmoil in court, and yesterday’s events at the Nightwatchers’ Constabulary, they knew the truth in their hearts.
Nothing was said aloud, but grievances surely festered inside.
Yet those who could hold a brush could not wield a sabre, and those who could wield a sabre could not summon that instant of courage that flashes by.
Duke Wei had led the Nightwatchers for twenty-one years, bestowing his kindness on countless people. Now he was gone, his allies scattered, all cliques watching coldly from the sidelines.
In the end, it was this young man, who had been a Nightwatcher for less than a year, who rose in fury for his sake.
The clerks gazed at him, a silent sadness welling within them.
Xu Qi’an left the Tower of Noble Spirit and stopped before Yuan Xiong’s corpse, drew his sabre, and severed the head, carrying it away in his hand.
You would ruin Duke Wei’s name? I will not allow it!
Clerks rushed out of the tower, crowding the steps outside.
As Xu Qi’an turned to leave, a choked voice called out, “Silver Gong Xu, run…”
It was the young guard on duty at the front of the tower.
“Silver Gong Xu, just go, please.”
“Silver Gong Xu, you’ve lost your head, hurry and leave.”
“Please…”
As if they all foresaw what was to come, each called out in their own way.
The noise was chaotic, but every word was heartfelt.
Xu Qi’an paused for a moment, then left without a word.
He walked in silence towards the constabulary gate, Nightwatchers along the way focusing their gaze on him, no one spoke, no one dared to block him.
All eyes fell on the head he carried, before finally looking away.
The azure-robed figure soon left the constabulary, heading along the main road towards the imperial palace.
Amid the silence, a Silver Gong spoke up with a trembling voice, “This can’t go on.”
Storming the constabulary to kill a man, and not fleeing at once, but carrying a head and heading for the palace…
Someone suddenly screamed, “He’s going to make trouble at the palace!”
“This isn’t right. Duke Wei’s not here, no one can shield him like last time. He’s killed Yuan Xiong. That’s a capital offence, he mustn’t make more trouble. He needs to escape.”
“Who can stop him? No one can.”
He was too reckless. Last time he could kill the dukes only because Duke Wei and the ministers were there to bear the pressure, letting him walk away unscathed.
This time, it was different. If he dared to cause trouble, the army and experts would definitely be sent to suppress him.
Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, sabres in hand, rushed out after him.
The remaining Nightwatchers exchanged glances, not knowing what to do.
“We all have wives and children, we can’t act on impulse.”
“We’ll just take a look, only take a look.”
“In any case, we can’t just do nothing.”
As for what they would actually do, no one knew.
Having given themselves a reason, someone finally moved, rushing out of the constabulary.
Then another, then another… soon the whole crowd poured out.
…
A little past five, heavy autumn frost still lay on the ground, most commoners not yet risen.
At a breakfast stall by the street, the owner carried a steaming bowl of soy milk towards a table.
Suddenly, he glanced at the street and stared, eyes wide. The bowl slipped from his hands and shattered, hot soy milk spilling everywhere.
The customers followed his gaze. In the dim dawn, a figure in azure robes strode by, sabre in hand, carrying a severed head in his left hand.
Behind him followed nearly a hundred Nightwatchers.
The stall owner slowly drew his gaze back and asked the diners, “Isn’t that Silver Gong Xu?”
“Ah, he’s Silver Gong Xu?”
Some had never seen his actual face.
“No, no mistake, it’s him, Silver Gong Xu. What’s he up to?”
“Carrying a head, goodness, is Silver Gong Xu about to kill another corrupt official?”
“And so many Nightwatchers behind him…”
Street vendors, merchants coming in early, and a few workers on their way out, those lucky enough to witness the scene.
Noticing Silver Gong Xu heading along the main road towards the palace, the onlookers couldn’t help but talk among themselves.
“Whose head is that in Silver Gong Xu’s hand?”
“Who knows? It can’t be a good person, otherwise Silver Gong Xu wouldn’t have killed him. With such a grand spectacle, the last time I remember was the public beheading of two dukes at the vegetable market, but I didn’t see that with my own eyes…”
Suddenly, the chatter stopped.
A few seconds later, someone shouted, “Let’s follow, let’s follow and see!”
At first only curious, the common folk suddenly realised the seriousness of what was happening. They called friends and relatives and trailed behind the Nightwatchers from afar.
As they walked, passers-by pointed and asked what was happening.
“What’s going on?”
“Why are you following those Nightwatchers?”
Someone in the group replied, “The man leading is Silver Gong Xu, don’t you recognise him? Are you blind?”
“Enough nonsense, we don’t know either. Just watch the show. Don’t forget, the last time Silver Gong Xu made such a stir was the massacre in Chuzhou.”
Others who didn’t know what was happening were shocked and joined the crowd.
…
The Imperial City, atop the city wall.
The Imperial Guard stationed at the South Gate saw from afar a vast crowd surging along the main avenue, seen from above, it was a sea of heads.
At the very front was a figure in azure robes, followed by a hundred Nightwatchers, and finally a loose throng of commoners.
A procession of nearly a thousand people, no small feat at this hour. The capital was prosperous, and its people languid and content, thus they awoke somewhat later, especially when the autumn frost came and the dawn was cold. Unless they had to work, people would still be sound asleep, wrapped snugly in their blankets.
To muster a thousand people at this time was already remarkable.
The Yulin guards quickly ignored the commoners and lingered on the hundred Nightwatchers, then fixed their gaze on the azure figure at the head.
Former Silver Gong Xu Qi’an, a human head hanging from his waist.
The commander of the South Gate, face grim, ordered, “Prepare the cannons, ready the crossbows. Await my command…”
Against such a fiend, one could not be too cautious, especially with the current tensions, and the court set to punish Wei Yuan. At this critical moment, Xu Qi’an was certainly not here with good intentions.
The commander stood atop the wall and shouted, “This is the Imperial City. No unauthorised entry!”
As he spoke, he raised his hand. Guards on the wall either adjusted the cannons for a show of force or raised their repeating crossbows, bows drawn.
All waited for the command to fire.
The azure-robed figure indeed came to a halt.
Seeing this, the commander breathed a sigh of relief. With Duke Wei gone, this defiant youth would finally have to rein in his lawless ways.
Then, he saw Xu Qi’an lift the severed head from his belt, raise it high, and shout,
“Twenty-one years ago, Wei Yuan led his army to Shanhai Pass, battling the Yao, the northern barbarians, the southern barbarians, and the Church of the Warlock God, and won a great victory. Without Wei Yuan, there would be no Great Feng. Yet, because his achievements threatened the throne, he was stripped of his cultivation and military command, forced to remain in the court.”
Behind him, the Nightwatchers were indignant, voicing their sense of injustice for Duke Wei.
Among the commoners, the young felt little, but the older folk knew that Silver Gong Xu spoke the truth.
The commander narrowed his eyes, hand still raised.
“Now, twenty-one years later, Wei Yuan again led an army against the Church of the Warlock God. The foolish emperor, fearing his triumphant return, colluded with traitorous ministers, cut off supplies to a force of a hundred thousand, and at Mount Jing City, joined with the Church of the Warlock God to kill Wei Yuan and destroy the army.
“Afterwards, with the traitor Yuan Xiong, they slandered his name and trampled the victory bought with the lives of these hundred thousand men!”
His voice rang out, loud and clear, reaching every ear among the people.
The crowd erupted, murmurs and unrest spreading.
It was widely known that the campaign against the Church of the Warlock God had been disastrous, everyone, even street hawkers, discussed how eunuchs had brought ruin to the realm.
But when Silver Gong Xu said it himself, it was something else entirely.
The emperor colluding with traitors, cutting off the army’s supplies… conspiring with the Church of the Warlock God to murder their own field marshal… For all who heard, it was a chaos of thoughts.
The Nightwatchers’ eyes went red, not from grief, but from fury.
If what Xu Ningyan said was true, this was a crime they could never forgive.
“Fire!”
The Yulin guard commander barked.
Bowstrings twanged, cannonballs thundered, a barrage flew at Xu Qi’an, heedless of any innocent bystanders.
The crowd screamed, scattering in all directions, seeking cover.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shells and arrows exploded in mid-air, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.
“It breaks my heart to see our ancestors’ six hundred years of legacy destroyed by a foolish emperor and traitorous ministers…”
Xu Qi’an stood firm, then hurled the severed head like thunder: “So today, a coarse man’s wrath, will spill blood five steps, and the world will mourn!”
On the wall, the cannons and crossbows exploded in turn.
Hurling the head over the Imperial City walls, the azure figure shattered the gates and charged towards the palace.
…
“Dog— Emperor—!”
Inside Jinluan Hall, as this deafening roar rang out, the Taiping Sabre howled through the air, about to nail the yellow-robed emperor to the throne.
All eyes followed the blade, to the sovereign who had ruled the court for nearly forty years.
They saw Emperor Yuanjing reach out, and with bare flesh, seize the blade of the divine weapon.
The Taiping Sabre spewed sword-light and trembled violently, but could not break the grip of that jade-white hand.
“Did you really think that after cultivating for twenty-one years, We are so feeble?”
Emperor Yuanjing looked at Xu Qi’an with a half-smile, his tone calm, like a god above all.
Across the vast hall, their gazes met, Xu Qi’an immediately understood: Zhende and Yuanjing had merged.
One qi transforming into three purities, the One as Three, the Three as One; able to split or combine.
“Do you really think I came to kill you out of nothing but a commoner’s rage?”
Xu Qi’an, equally calm, replied, “Former Emperor Zhende!”
“You even know Our true identity!”
Emperor Yuanjing frowned, seemingly rather surprised.
Buzz!
The Taiping Sabre pulsed with waves of blade energy, shattering the golden desk and carving gashes into the steps; one arc of blade energy broke the tiny Bagua talisman.
The talisman burst into a blinding light, and in the next instant, Emperor Yuanjing and the Taiping Sabre vanished from Jinluan Hall.
A teleportation artefact!
To kill the emperor was to kill not just Yuanjing, but Zhende.
Zhende was a Transcending Tribulation master; Xu Qi’an himself was also third rank, their battle could not take place in the capital.
Otherwise, millions would perish.
Xu Qi’an swept his gaze over the ministers, their faces stiff, eyes vacant.
“The emperor is without virtue, and I, Xu Qi’an, am here to strike him down. My lords should wait here for the outcome.”
With that, he took out a tiny Bagua talisman and crushed it.
A flash of light engulfed him, and he vanished.
…
Chaos erupted in the plaza before the Meridian Gate. Horns and drums resounded throughout the palace, and the imperial guards swarmed towards the gate.
Taking advantage of the weakened defences around the sleeping quarters, Huaiqing led her most trusted guards straight to Jingyang Hall, the emperor’s residence.
“Tie them up!”
The cold and noble eldest princess waved her hand.
Twenty elite guards easily subdued the imperial guards stationed outside the residence.
Huaiqing, holding a stack of official decrees to her chest, strode swiftly forward, her skirts billowing as she entered the emperor’s residence alone.
Stepping over the high threshold, she headed straight for the imperial study but stopped suddenly, as if she had sensed something, and turned towards the bedchamber, where she saw a formation drawn on the ground, a floating orb, and the golden dragon in agony, being slowly dragged out.
A golden dragon beneath the earth… the dragon ley? So this is the emperor’s plot, is was he trying to do?
Questions flashed through Huaiqing’s mind. Just as she tried to approach, she saw the eye within the orb turn to fix on her with a deep, penetrating stare.
Stared at by that eye, Huaiqing felt a chill in her heart. At the same time, her martial instinct, honed at the Refining Spirit stage, screamed in alarm.
Clever and decisive, Huaiqing turned and left at once, returning to the imperial study, where she spread out the official decrees and stamped them with the imperial seal.
The documents were of two kinds: the first, orders to close the city gates; the second, orders to mobilise the imperial guard.
The decrees already bore the grand seal of the cabinet; with the imperial seal added, they could now close every gate of the capital and pin all the troops inside.
Back in the Earth Book group’s earlier discussion, the Heaven and Earth Society had unanimously agreed that regicide required two conditions:
First, the battle must not take place within the city.
Second, the five imperial guard battalions, personally commanded by Emperor Yuanjing, must not be allowed to interfere.
The five battalions comprised: the Shenji Battalion (with advanced cannons and war machines); the Cavalry Battalion (elite, fast-moving cavalry); the Assault Battalion (heavy cavalry for charges); the Hundred Battles Battalion (elite heavy infantry); and the Navy.
The five battalions were: the Divine Mechanism Battalion, which had advanced cannons, ballistae, and war machines; the Cavalry Battalion, with its elite, fast-moving and well armed riders; the Assault Battalion with its heavy cavalry, the Hundred Battles Battalion with its elite heavy infantry, and finally the Naval Battalion.
These were the empire’s finest troops, unmatched in equipment, skill, and martial experts.
Should they sally forth in full force, there were few armies even in all Jiuzhou that could match them.
Their sole purpose was to protect the capital, to ensure that the imperial city could never be taken.
After affixing the imperial seal, Huaiqing dashed out, summoned the captain of the guards, and commanded:
“Hurry to the imperial camps and deliver these five decrees to each battalion commander.
“As for the rest, have them sent to the cabinet for the Prime Minister.”
She issued her orders in an orderly fashion.
…
The southern gardens, in the outskirts of the capital.
A formation engraved outside the woods flared into light, and Emperor Yuanjing appeared, robed in yellow and gripping the Taiping Sabre, calmly surveying his surroundings.
The Southern Gardens!
With a single glance, he recognised the royal hunting grounds, two hundred and sixty li of vast forest, an excellent battlefield.
Emperor Yuanjing’s gaze settled on a spot in the distance, his eyes full of malice. He flicked his hand, hurling the Taiping Sabre.
A flash of light, Xu Qi’an appeared, and the sabre shot towards him as if he had charged into its path.
Clang!
Golden light burst forth; the Taiping Sabre was knocked aside, then happily returned to its master’s hand.
Emperor Yuanjing narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply.
“Third rank already? I see… no wonder Wei Yuan’s vitality wasn’t at the second rank that day, so he left a trump card. Tch, if I didn’t know him so well, I’d have to suspect you were his bastard.”
Polluted by the Daoist Leader of the Earth Sect, he made no effort to hide his jealousy, which soon turned murderous.
Jealousy was among the worst of human vices. This emperor, who had endured humiliation and meditated for twenty years to become a transcending tribulation master, now genuinely envied this young man.
Compared to his own suffering, Xu Qi’an had risen swiftly, gathering fame and fortune, with even Wei Yuan paving the way for him.
In just one year, he had gone from nothing to a third-rank martial artist.
Xu Qi’an sheathed his sabre, gathering his power, and sneered, “If I told you Huaiqing and the Fourth Prince were his blood, would you believe me?”
Emperor Yuanjing’s expression slowly hardened, turning cold. “You’re provoking Us.”
Xu Qi’an’s response was a savage slash.
A dazzling blade arc cleaved forth.
Taiping Sabre + One Blade from Heaven and Earth + Sword Heart + Intent Cultivation + Buddhist Lion’s Roar!
Broken Jade!
With the sabre light came a deafening lion’s roar, shaking the very soul.
Emperor Yuanjing sensed the power of the attack, his figure vanished, flickering at incredible speed, golden-yellow afterimages flashing in and out of existence, but he simply could not dodge the blow.
He reached out, both palms swirling with golden and black light, and caught the blade’s energy.
Hiss…
Amidst the dissolving force, the blade-light faded away.
In Daoism, the Yang Spirit was said to be the immortal body, a further refinement of the Golden Core’s invulnerability to all techniques.
Once someone reached the first rank Earthly Immortal, the Yang Spirit merged with the physical body, so even close combat with a martial artist was possible.
Of course, such a body was less powerful and less durable than a martial artist’s.
Xu Qi’an appeared behind Emperor Yuanjing and struck down with his sabre, he never expected a fourth-rank’s “Intent” to harm a transcending tribulation master.
Intent required cultivation too.
For a martial artist, Intent was only sublimated at the second rank. Third rank was the undying body; it had little to do with fourth-rank Intent.
Just as in Confucianism, fourth and third rank didn’t have much to do with each other.
What Xu Qi’an wanted was to use this blow to close the distance and land a combo attack.
Emperor Yuanjing threw his head back and gave a silent howl.
Xu Qi’an’s mind buzzed, he felt dizzy and lightheaded. For dozens of li around, from the smallest insects to large elk and wild boars, all dropped dead, their bodies intact.
Taking advantage of the shake in his spirit, Emperor Yuanjing’s sleeve shot forth with rays of light.
The Mirror of Illumination, capturing the soul and prolonging control.
The Soul-Calling Banner, sweeping out waves of dark light, attacking the soul.
Three Soul-Piercing Nails shot forth, aiming for Xu Qi’an’s vital points, but bounced harmlessly off his martial body.
Two copper rings locked Xu Qi’an’s wrists.
A daoist seventh rank was called “Guiding Qi”. Here one could manipulate magical artefacts, including flying swords. At Emperor Yuanjing’s level, wielding multiple treasures at once was effortless.
Furthermore, apart from arcanists, Daoists were among the few who could refine magical artefacts, though not as skilled as arcanists, who could create almost anything.
While attacking with artefacts, Emperor Yuanjing summoned a silver-blue longsword, which swept forward, sword-light blazing.
He walked the Human Sect’s path, and as a second rank human sect daoist, his offensive power was no less than that of Luo Yuheng.
In the three daoist sects, the human sect had the strongest offensive techniques.
Beneath the sword-light, Xu Qi’an’s Vajra divine technique lasted a few breaths before failing, and the sword pierced his heart.
Bright red blood spurted from Xu Qi’an’s back.
Emperor Yuanjing frantically unleashed sword energy, trying to extinguish the life force of this newly advanced third-rank, his eyes flickering with the same malice as the Earth Sect Daoist, grinning savagely:
“A mere martial artist who’s just reached third rank, how dare you challenge Us?”
He had been at second rank for years, cultivating with the resources of an entire nation. How could this upstart, newly advanced to third rank, possibly stand against him?
“Got you,”
Xu Qi’an said with a sly, victorious smile and roared, “Shenshu!!”
A vast, terrifying aura awoke within Xu Qi’an.
A demonic mark like a flame appeared on his brow, his skin rapidly turning jet black, and a flaming halo appeared behind his head.
Xu Qi’an’s aura surged, shooting from early third rank straight to its peak.
This was not Shenshu’s strength alone, it was the fusion of two powers.
Bang!
The copper mirror artefact exploded.
The soul-calling banner exploded.
The copper rings exploded.
“I’ll take the lead now!” Xu Qi’an declared.
Now a true high-rank martial artist, he had mastered Transforming Force, capable of killing experts from other systems without needing Shenshu to take control.
“Good!” came Shenshu’s deep voice from within.
Shenshu had been forcibly awakened. Only another supreme expert could rouse such a being from slumber.
When he had first awoken, Xu Qi’an had asked the Jianzheng for one thing: to help him awaken Shenshu.
But the Jianzheng refused, without explanation, only telling him to visit Cloud Deer Academy first.
After receiving the blood pill Wei Yuan had left him from the Dean, Xu Qi’an understood the Jianzheng’s intention.
Shenshu was a bottomless pit that could never be satisfied, if awake, he would have devoured Wei Yuan’s blood pill for nothing.
In the next instant, a storm of blows rained down on Yuanjing, shockwaves exploding in every direction.
Yuanjing felt as if enemies surrounded him from all sides, above and below. Attacks came from every angle, as dense as rain, unavoidable and irresistible.
That, was a high-rank martial artist.
Crunch!
Xu Qi’an brought both hands together, pierced Yuanjing’s chest, and tore him apart.
Dismembered!
Blood splashed on the jet-black, muscular body, making him even more demonic and ferocious.
At this moment, Emperor Yuanjing died, truly, completely.
A figure wreathed in gold and black light fled, hovering in mid-air, face dark as he looked down at Xu Qi’an.
It was the former emperor, Zhende.
Xu Qi’an silently regarded the corpse, images from the past flickering through his mind: Yuanjing’s cold, dignified visage; the emperor on the dragon throne.
Though Zhende had long since replaced him, though the real emperor had always been Zhende, Xu Qi’an still felt a wild sense of satisfaction.
He had personally killed this dog emperor. From this moment, Yuanjing became history, never to return.
Zhende’s face twitched. Yuanjing’s body, though limited in power, had truly been a real life to him.
Three-in-One meant three lives for one man.
In just a quarter of an hour, he had lost one.
Warily eyeing that divine, demonic figure, Zhende suddenly realised something, pointed at Xu Qi’an, and roared:
“So it was you, it was you! You’re the mysterious figure who appeared in Chuzhou, you have the sealed thing from beneath Sangpo!”
His face twisted in hatred and resentment.
So it was him, Xu Qi’an had killed the Zhenbei King.
“If I’d known it was you, I’d have torn you to pieces when you returned to the capital! I’ve missed so many chances to kill you. You only escaped my notice because the Jianzheng shielded you from Heaven’s secrets!”
Zhende was furious, seeing how this nobody had grown into a threat under his very nose, he had raised a tiger only to be bitten.
Only now did he realise that the one who killed his other self had always been close by.
Xu Qi’an hadn’t just killed his body, he’d brought the corpse back to the capital, killed a duke, and publicly denounced him before the people.
Utter humiliation! Utter humiliation!
Zhende was both shocked and enraged, consumed by venomous hatred: “You won’t get another chance!”
Xu Qi’an said lightly, “Yuanjing is dead. After today, the Great Feng’s throne will change hands.”
Hearing this, Zhende revealed an arrogant, triumphant smile: “You’re right. After today, the throne will change hands, the Great Feng will become a vassal state of the Church of the Warlock God!”
So, the late emperor’s goal was to make the Great Feng a vassal to the Church of the Warlock God, to follow Sarun Agu… Xu Qi’an frowned:
“What’s your plan?”
Zhende inhaled qi from heaven and earth, recovering his strength. Spreading his arms as if to display his greatness, he said:
“Do you know what a dragon ley is? In ruling the Central Plains, a dynasty controls not just people but the land itself. People’s hearts gather fortune, while the dragon ley is the very essence of fortune and territory.
“If I extract the spirit of the dragon ley and offer it to the Warlock God, the Central Plains will be struck by endless disasters, yet because the dragon ley is not destroyed, uprisings will never succeed. The Warlock God, with control of the dragon ley, will hold Heaven’s Mandate and take the central plains with ease.”
“So that’s why you helped the Church kill Duke Wei?”
Xu Qi’an didn’t know much about dragon leys, but he understood fortune. After losing half its fortune, the Great Feng’s national strength had steadily declined, drought here, flood there, never a smooth year.
Yet ever since he’d gained fortune, he’d always turned misfortune to blessing, lucky encounters time after time. His rapid progress in just a year, though seemingly due to powerful patrons, was really the mark of fortune itself.
If the dragon ley fell to the Warlock God, the consequences were obvious.
“Wei Yuan had to die. If he lived, I’d be facing him now. And a second-rank martial artist is far more formidable than you.”
Zhende went on, “Wei Yuan was a general seen only once in centuries, if he lived, Sarun Agu would have no peace. Even if the Church seized the dragon ley, it could never take the Central Plains easily. Of course, I have a third reason for killing Wei Yuan, which you’ll soon learn.
“Oh, and during court this morning, I already activated the formation to sever the dragon ley. Are you going back to try and stop me? I don’t mind fighting in the city.”
I do… Duke Wei should have forseen all of this. At Mount Jing City, it had also been a trap set by the Church, yet Duke Wei had no choice, if he’d let the Warlock God break free, not even his skill could win against a Beyond-rank… Xu Qi’an asked,
“You want to take the dragon ley, will the Jianzheng allow it?”
As a first rank arcanist, no one understood fortune better. Did Zhende really think he could snatch the dragon ley under the Jianzheng’s nose?
The Jianzheng might not be able to kill Zhende, but he could definitely stop him taking the dragon ley.
Zhende laughed wildly, “The Jianzheng is the greatest obstacle to my immortality plan. If I couldn’t delay him, how could I dare take the dragon ley?”
Xu Qi’an’s brow furrowed.
…
Lingbao Temple.
Luo Yuheng walked out of her meditation room into the courtyard and stretched a pale hand towards the little pond.
A rusty iron sword burst from the water and flew into her hand.
Luo Yuheng took a step and vanished from the courtyard.
…
Stargazing Tower.
Ripples appeared in the air. A figure in a warlock’s robe stepped out of the emptiness.
It was an old man holding a shepherd’s whip, hair and beard white, gaze calm and gentle, yet with his arrival, black clouds rolled overhead, and lightning crawled through the sky.
At the instant he appeared, the Bagua Platform lit up with patterns, attempting to kill him.
But the old man seemed not to belong to this world, no attack could touch him.
“Grand disciple, if you had Duke Wei’s power to break formations, I’d leave right now,” Sarun Agu said with a smile.
The Jianzheng sipped wine, unhurried.
“How much power do you have left, now that Great Feng is in decline?” Sarun Agu asked, sitting at the desk.
The Jianzheng sneered, “Arcanists use their heads. Martial artists only know brute force.”
As he spoke, a chessboard appeared on the table.
“Let’s play a game.”
“Will Go decide the outcome?”
The Jianzheng replied calmly, “No. When this game ends, so does everything else.”
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