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As the Heavenly Sorrow Sect Master, Guan Chouhai’s presence was definitely notable no matter where he went. He was normally extremely prideful and arrogant. If it were anyone else saying those words, he would already have erupted into a violent rage. However, when it was Zhao Han saying it, his expression remained completely natural. He slowly said, “Your majesty is correct. I am obviously not worthy of making your majesty my enemy, and my task today is nothing more than dealing with some nobodies on the sidelines. As for your majesty, there will naturally be someone to face you.”
Zhao Han’s eyes narrowed slightly. He naturally knew that there was someone backing Guan Chouhai, but he still wasn’t sure exactly who it was.
Zhuxie Chixin suddenly asked furiously, “What are you staring at me for?”
Guan Chouhai smiled and said, “I have long heard that the Embroidered Envoy’s Chief Commander is his majesty’s most loyal dog, ruthless in his deeds and powerful in cultivation. All who hear your name shiver in fear. I came here to experience your prowess today.”
Zhuxie Chixin reflexively glanced at Zhao Han. Seeing as he wasn’t given the signal to stop, he knew that the emperor wanted him to give it a try. As such, he turned to Guan Chouhai with a cold gaze and called out, “Guan Chouhai, you actually dare to rebel against the empire? This official will make sure to dismember your body into ten thousand pieces today!”
A long iron chain suddenly lashed out from his hands as soon as he spoke. There was a sickle vaguely visible on the end of the chain. This was the weapon Zhuxie Chixin had used for many years to take the lives of countless people. Their appearance always left terror in their wake, as courtiers often said; many people were terrified of the weapon.
However, Guan Chouhai didn’t feel any fear. He raised his hands, and two streaks of golden light fired out from his wrists. The Twin Vajra Armbands knocked the reaper’s sickle away.
Both of their bodies trembled from the impact. Zhuxie Chixin sighed. As expected of the Heavenly Sorrow Sect Master, who had already been famous for many years! His cultivation was profound and exceptional.
Guan Chouhai was also shocked. According to his intelligence, even though Zhuxie Chixin’s cultivation was high, he was only supposed to be a pseudo-grandmaster who hadn’t truly entered the grandmaster rank. As such, he had thought that it would be easy enough to deal with the man. And yet, when they clashed, Zhuxie Chixin’s strength left him quite shocked.
What pseudo-grandmaster? This is clearly a proper grandmaster!
Even so, he was still someone who had already been famous for many years. Although he was surprised, he didn’t let it affect the fight. He immediately continued the assault on Zhuxie Chixin. After all, The Soul Reaping Chains were a long-range weapon. Fighting in close quarters was unavoidably their weakness.
However, Zhuxie Chixin didn’t feel alarmed at all. With a flick of his wrist, the Soul Reaping Chains rapidly withdrew and turned into a scythe. He slashed diagonally with it, and then even the space in front of him itself seemed to be sliced apart.
Guan Chouhai blocked with both arms in front of him, and a stone wall faintly appeared in midair. However, despite its exceptional defensive strength, the wall was actually sliced in half by Zhuxie Chixin’s scythe! Then, the sickle blade smashed into the Twin Vajra Armbands, causing blinding light to erupt.
The two were blown back a dozen or so meters from the tremendous impact. Guan Chouhai shivered. Why did Zhuxie Chixin have such a strong aura of death lingering around him? Even though it was rumored that many officials had died under his hands, it wouldn’t be enough to produce such a thick aura of death energy, right?
“Interesting!” Guan Chouhai roared, laughing. With a shake of his hands, the Twin Vajra Armbands turned into countless copies, then attacked from all sorts of different directions.
Zhuxie Chixin brandished the scythe in his hands, blocking the incoming armband attacks one by one. However, his face paled a bit whenever he blocked one of them. It was known that Guan Chouhai was a powerful earth element cultivator, and today, Zhuxie Chixin saw that it was indeed the case. The armbands looked small, but it felt as if there were a mountain behind each strike. If he hadn’t recently entered the grandmaster rank, perhaps he would have already collapsed after just two strikes. Even so, he could do nothing but defend against the Vajra Armbands that covered the sky. There was no chance for him to retaliate.
Many loyal Embroidered Envoys launched their Soul Reaping Chains at Guan Chouhai when they saw what was happening. They were soldiers who would give up their lives for the emperor and had been personally promoted by Zhuxie Chixin, so they naturally didn’t care as much about honor as the martial world’s warriors.
Guan Chouhai’s expression changed a bit. At any other time, even though the Embroidered Envoys were tricky by the standards of normal cultivators, he wouldn’t treat them as a big deal at all. However, he and Zhuxie Chixin were facing off intensely. If these Embroidered Envoy elites joined in and activated a formation centered on Zhuxie Chixin, things would become much more difficult.
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Just then, eight flying swords flew over, each charged with electricity. They instantly passed through the very center of the group of Embroidered Envoys. The Envoys didn’t even have a chance to assemble into an array before exploding into a bloody mist.
As he watched his own trusted aides being murdered, Zhuxie Chixin felt as if his eyes were splitting apart. However, he was completely preoccupied with his opponent and could only endure his anger as he fended off Guan Chouhai’s attacks.
“Xuan Bajing?” Zhao Han muttered. He had been watching the fight, silent and expressionless. The death of such low-ranking guards wasn’t enough to make him feel the slightest emotion. He was curious about just who else was involved in the scheme.
A streak of lightning flickered and the Kunlun Void Sect Master appeared out of thin air. Eight sword cases fanned out behind him like a peacock’s tail. He cupped his hands toward Zhao Han and said, “I greet your majesty.”
Zhao Han’s expression was ice-cold as he said, “Seeing as you have all rebelled, you must be quite dissatisfied with how your statuses have fallen over the years.”
Xuan Bajing smiled and said, “We naturally cherish our past days more. Even though we are unworthy, we do not wish for our daoist sects to ultimately fall in another hundred or so years under our management.”
If the current trend continued, then among the daoist sects, perhaps only the Righteous Sun Sect would remain. Meanwhile, the other great sects would only decline day after day until nothing remained.
Zhao Han looked at him coldly and said, “Perhaps your sects would have fallen in another century if you all did nothing. But now that you’ve done something so disgraceful today, there is a greater chance that your sects might vanish into smoke this very day.”
Xuan Bajing sighed and said, “If we are fated to be destroyed, we might as well give it our best shot while we still have some strength.”
Zhao Han frowned and remarked, “Just the two of you alone wouldn’t even have enough strength to struggle.”
Xuan Bajing smiled and replied, “Your majesty is supremely clever, as expected. You will naturally know the truth soon.”
Eunuch Wen said in a rather dark manner, “I have long heard of the wonders of Sect Master Xuan’s eight swords. This humble one wishes to experience then for myself.”
He had just witnessed his majesty injured by explosives, followed by Wang Wuxie’s ambush. Even though the emperor looked fine on the surface, that wasn’t necessarily the case in reality. As such, Eunuch Wen wanted to buy some time for him to recover.
Zhao Hao didn’t stop Eunuch Wen. He stood there with his hands behind his back, calmly watching everything that was happening.
Xuan Bajing said, “In earlier years, before the emperor made such breakthroughs in his cultivation, assassins often infiltrated the palace. However, they were all killed by an expert in the palace. Now that I think about it, Eunuch Wen was most likely that protector. I really must experience your skills for myself today.”
After he spoke, eight flying swords swiftly rushed at Eunuch Wen. They suddenly disappeared mid-flight, and only the electricity left in the air proved that they were still there.
Eunuch Wen roared, and his arms spread out. A blue barrier of light immediately appeared around him. In that instant, eight swords attacked his vitals from eight different directions, but all of them were blocked by the barrier.
Xuan Bajing exclaimed in shock, “Pure Yang Art of Youth? So there was actually someone who cultivated that technique!”
The power of the Pure Yang Art of Youth was tremendous, but extremely few people were able to cultivate it. The main reason for that was the strict condition it required. One had to cultivate the method from their youth, and if they ever lost their purity, no matter how accomplished in the method they were, it would become worthless.
Who would want to remain a virgin their entire life, even if it meant having unmatched martial prowess?
Even the temple monks who never took wives could run into instances in which they inadvertently lost their yang origin. To lose all those years of cultivation because of a single night… That really would be a tragedy.
In the end, it seemed only someone such as Eunuch Wen was suited to the skill.