Chapter 102: Sword Riding in the Wilderness

Seeing the Jin Wu Guards emerge from the darkness, Yan Lan was not flustered, nor were the officials behind him.

An old official stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, although the Jin Wu Guards under your command are strong, their numbers are ultimately limited. Now that the Imperial Palace is controlled, you had best give up resisting. You can become the Retired Emperor, not the Former Emperor.”

His long eyebrows obscured his eyes, preventing anyone from seeing his gaze, but his words revealed his ambition entirely.

“You old things… half your bodies are already in the grave, yet how is your ambition growing ever larger?”

The Emperor’s voice came from the front, his tone sounding as if he had just woken up, without a hint of anger or killing intent.

Another old official spoke, “If the Nation were stable and the people lived in peace and contentment, why would we need to put on these official robes again? Zhao Zhi, you stole the imperial power from Zhao Yan. If you had governed diligently, that would be one thing, but look at how many wicked things you have done now. When you descend to the Nine Springs, how will you face the High Ancestor?”

When Yan Lan heard these words, his gaze became sharp again.

He knew that his actions today would surely lead to him being criticized by future generations, but for the sake of the people under Heaven, he was willing to bear this infamy.

“Descend to the Nine Springs? Hahahahaha—”

The Emperor seemed to have heard the greatest joke. His body shook violently with laughter in the darkness. Mysterious Duke, standing in front of him, remained motionless, his eyes beneath the mask like those of a fierce ghost, looking down upon Yan Lan and the others.

“I am someone who seeks Eternal Life. How could I descend to the Nine Springs? I will become the eternal Son of Heaven of the Great Li Dynasty. Throughout the long ages, I will lead the Great Li Dynasty toward unprecedented prosperity. To future generations, these years of turmoil will be nothing. They will only sing the praises of My greatness, and you, in the eyes of later people, will be ambitious individuals who obstructed the immortal Son of Heaven. You will suffer eternal infamy.”

The Emperor laughed with a frantic and paranoid tone, sending shivers down their spines.

All the ministers in the hall frowned, believing the Emperor had gone mad.

“Mysterious Duke, where are you!”

“Your subject is here!”

“Kill everyone except the Crown Prince! No one is allowed to keep a whole corpse!”

“As you command!”

After Mysterious Duke responded, he raised his right hand. All the Jin Wu Guards drew their weapons and charged toward the Heaven Protection Guards, the ministers’ retainers, and the regular guards.

Blood quickly splashed out over the threshold of Ganwu Hall.

The flash of blades and swords constantly flickered within Ganwu Hall. In less than ten breaths of time, someone frantically fled from inside Ganwu Hall.

It was Jia Yi.

His face was full of terror as he rushed quickly down the White Stone Long Steps, using his Lightness Skill the entire way. Other Heaven Protection Guards called out to him along the path, but he ignored them, as if he had experienced the most terrifying thing under Heaven… Clang!

A saber slid to the tip of Yan Lan’s foot. An old official behind him was clutching his neck, but he couldn’t stop the gushing blood. He was finally chopped down by a Jin Wu Guard, severing his legs. He let out a wail, collapsed in a pool of blood, and could never stand again.

Looking around, Yan Lan was surrounded by mutilated corpses, with Jin Wu Guards encircling him one by one.

Yan Lan clenched his hands inside his sleeves. He exhaled softly, and his panicked eyes became calm once more.

He looked at the Emperor, who was still hidden in the darkness, and said, “They all say I am too soft-hearted, that I dare not kill my father. In truth, I simply wasn’t confident, but you are forcing me, and they are forcing me. I have nowhere left to retreat.”

The Emperor laughed scornfully, “Those fools think the great achievement is right before their eyes. You, however, see clearly. Truly worthy of being My son. Kneel now, and I can let you die with some dignity.”

Yan Lan stared at his Imperial Father in the darkness and shouted sternly, “Imperial Father, have you truly been possessed by an evil demon, or have you simply become foolish? Do you truly believe in the concept of Eternal Life? The Fourteen Lands of the Nine Provinces have a historical foundation of seven thousand years, yet where in the world is there a person who has achieved Eternal Life?”

“Just because others cannot do it, doesn’t mean I cannot. I originally wanted you to be the Crown Prince forever. Unfortunately, your actions have greatly displeased Me. No matter, what is a son? I can have as many as I wish. Anyone who opposes Me must die.”

The Emperor’s tone became exceptionally cold, revealing boundless killing intent.

After hearing this, Yan Lan fell silent. He knew that further words were useless.

He gripped the personal sword at his waist, drew it, and pointed it at the Emperor. Even though he was surrounded by dozens of Jin Wu Guards and couldn’t possibly kill the Emperor, he wanted to show his attitude before his death.

“Mysterious Duke, kick his knees until they break! I absolutely must make him kneel!” the Emperor said chillingly.

“Yes!”

Mysterious Duke responded, then waved his hand, signaling the Jin Wu Guards to step aside.

Looking at Mysterious Duke, who resembled a fierce devil, Yan Lan’s eyes held no fear. He merely sighed internally: “Zhen’er, your father won’t be able to watch you grow up.”

Boom—

A terrifying blast of wind rose from the ground. Mysterious Duke leaped up, his foot about to strike him, causing Yan Lan’s eyes to widen instinctively.

Clang—

A crisp sword chime sounded. Yan Lan’s expression changed, and he instinctively opened his mouth.

He saw two swords cross in front of him, blocking Mysterious Duke’s kick. Mysterious Duke’s fierce Qi was terrifying, whipping up a gale that flapped his robes and fiercely pulled his sideburns back. He even saw a Qi shield appear in front of him.

He turned his head and saw one person standing on each side, holding swords to block Mysterious Duke for him.

Mysterious Duke’s pupils widened. He suddenly leaped backward, landing in front of the steps.

He looked at the two mysterious people in black and asked in a deep voice, “Who are you? In the Martial Forest, there are very few people with your level of cultivation. You are certainly not nobodies!”

Jiang Zhaoxia raised his other hand, grabbed Yan Lan’s shoulder, and leaped up, wishing to take Yan Lan out of Ganwu Hall like a Flying Immortal.

Mysterious Duke’s eyes narrowed. He immediately waved his hand, and dozens of Jin Wu Guards immediately charged forward.

Xu Ning stood still, rapidly swinging her sword. Sword Qi overflowed, sweeping in all directions, forcibly blocking the dozens of Jin Wu Guards.

Mysterious Duke passed between two Jin Wu Guards like a phantom and struck Xu Ning with a palm.

Xu Ning raised her sword to block. Both were repelled by their respective forces. Xu Ning used the momentum to fly out of Ganwu Hall, tracing a perfect arc in the air under the moonlight, landing below the White Stone Long Steps.

Jiang Zhaoxia and Yan Lan were behind her.

The palace gates ahead were already blocked by the Jin Wu Guards. Looking around, the palace walls in every direction were covered with the figures of Jin Wu Guards. They wore black brocade robes and evil ghost masks, and various weapons could be seen. In the dark night, they resembled fierce ghosts from the Underworld descending upon the human world.

Mysterious Duke appeared on the White Stone Long Steps as if flashing. He looked down upon Jiang Zhaoxia and the two others, saying chillingly, “Tonight, none of you will think of leaving!”

After speaking, he leaped up, raising his right palm high. Centuries of cultivation condensed within his palm, emitting streams of Qi flames, utterly domineering… The snow fell endlessly across the world, and the bright sun shone in the sky, yet it made the world of ice and snow seem warm.

At noon that day, Xue Jin returned with the Twelve Sword Li. He met Li Qingqiu alone.

“It was the Zhenyang Pei Clan sending people to ambush and kill our Sect Disciples. I don’t know how much money they spent or how many people they hired. To resolve this calamity, we can only destroy the Pei Clan. I ask Sect Leader to give the order; we Thirteen Sword厉 are willing to go to Zhenyang City and slaughter the entire Pei Clan!”

Xue Jin spoke rapidly, his tone revealing ferocity.

Upon hearing this, Li Qingqiu couldn’t help but roll his eyes and snapped, “You want to exterminate entire clans at the drop of a hat? Do you think the Qingxiao Sect is a Demonic Sect?”

Xue Jin fell silent, thinking, *Has the Qingxiao Sect destroyed few Forces?*

“Zhenyang City is not as simple as you think. You can stir up trouble in the Martial Forest, but in the Imperial City, be careful of being assassinated by the city’s experts in the alleys.”

Li Qingqiu said leisurely. He needed to properly discipline Xue Jin; this young man thought reaching the Nourishing Origin Realm Fourth Layer meant he was invincible under Heaven, which was unacceptable.

Xue Jin opened his mouth but dared not refute the Sect Leader.

“You should rest well now. Before you reach the Nourishing Origin Realm, Fifth Layer, I won’t let you lead a team down the mountain,” Li Qingqiu continued.

Xue Jin asked dejectedly, “Are we just ignoring the Pei Clan then? They are still killing our Sect Disciples.”

“Who said we’re ignoring them? I will have others handle it.”

Hearing this, Xue Jin was immediately relieved. He had been worried that the Sect Leader had reservations.

Fortunately, the Sect Leader still maintained the decisive and resolute style he admired.

“Your Master is not here, so you don’t need to visit him. Go down and rest.”

“Yes!”

Xue Jin bowed and withdrew.

Li Qingqiu walked toward the back mountain. He went all the way to the edge of the cliff, leaped up, and the heavenly rainbow sword flew out, riding the sword ahead, carrying him through the mountains and vast snow mist.

This was the Sword Riding Technique created by Jiang Zhaoxia, which Li Qingqiu had improved.

Traveling by Stepping on the Sword is certainly handsome, but having the sword blade in front, pulling him along with Sword Qi, saves more Origin Qi and is faster.

With his current Origin Qi, he no longer needed Little Eight as a mount. Little Eight couldn’t even fly as fast as him.

Only when flying in the air did he truly feel like an Immortal Cultivator.

He wondered when he could let all the Sect Disciples Master Sword Riding Skill.

How spectacular would the scene be if a thousand Disciples rode their swords together?

Before long, he flew into the billowing miasma, traveling all the way to the Thousand Spirit Blessed Land. He descended from the sky, landing on the snow in front of the thousand spirit tree. The heavenly rainbow sword circled him twice, then drilled back into its sheath.

This scene made Zhao Zhen’s eyes light up. He called out, “Master, that move was so cool! Can you teach me?”

“Your cultivation is not enough yet.”

Li Qingqiu responded casually. Currently, only Zhao Zhen, Yuan Li, and Ji Ya were under the thousand spirit tree, which was why he dared to fly all the way here.

If other Disciples were present, he would land in the forest midway and walk over.

Li Qingqiu walked under the tree and began meditating. He also needed to Cultivate, striving to reach the Nourishing Origin Realm Eighth Layer as soon as possible.

As he closed his eyes, time passed quickly.

After an unknown period, Zhao Zhen and Ji Ya got up and began sparring.

Since there were no outsiders here, Ji Ya held nothing back, directly using the Mountain Lord Divine Incantation to summon a majestic Mountain Lord whose shoulder height was two *zhang*.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhen grinned, leaped up, used the Divine Dragon Transformation, and his Origin Qi transformed into a Dragon that circled his body. Then, he lunged toward Ji Ya.

The Dragon and the Tiger collided in the air, constantly kicking up fierce winds, causing Yuan Li, who was meditating under the tree, to show envy.

Li Qingqiu opened his eyes. Seeing Yuan Li’s expression, he couldn’t help but ponder how to help Yuan Li Awaken the Indestructible Hegemon Body.

Should he give him some stimulation?

Recently, Li Qingqiu had been contemplating the methods of the Soul and had made some progress. He could use the Soul Capturing Incantation to make Yuan Li enter a certain illusion, where reality and falsehood would be indistinguishable.

Thank you, Flowing Cloud Sword Master, for the 500 Qidian Coins tip~

Fourth update!