The First Lackey Under The Empress

Returning to Heaven…

Years ago, he was a famous figure in the capital, full of vigor, but the genius swordsman, whose martial artist's heart was broken by Ma Yan, who was then an unknown, calmly spoke these words.

The sword in his hand, covered with a faint layer of frost, was swung out without a trace of worldliness.

Chi chi…

The cold air spread wantonly. He did not choose to close in and chase after Zhao Du'an, who was retreating rapidly.

He simply flicked out an arc of sword energy.

Shaped like cold mist, the condensed sword energy left the blade, like a life-reaping ghost, silently sweeping along the long street.

Crack, crack…

The blue brick ground along the way was covered with a line of white frost, straight and slender as a thread.

In his haste, Zhao Du'an lowered his body, his feet braced against the ground, taut as a bow. The saber in his hand was slashed down, colliding with the sword energy.

In an instant, the long saber issued by the Imperial Secret Service, forged by the royal swordsmiths of the Weapon Forging Bureau, was frozen.

Accompanied by a crushing, sharp, and immense force.

The metal, tempered a thousand times in the raging fire, let out a low wail, trembling uncontrollably.

Zhao Du'an's expression changed slightly, and he decisively abandoned his saber.

The next second, the saber fell straight to the ground, snapping into three pieces.

The remaining sword energy struck his chest, and a faint golden glow flashed and disappeared.

At the critical moment, Zhao Du'an used the 'Gathering Dawn Breathing Technique' taught by the Great Ancestor to block the lingering power of the sword.

So strong… Even though Zhao Du'an was prepared, he was still shocked.

"Oh?"

In the distance, Gao Li, wearing a mask, exclaimed in surprise.

It seemed he hadn't expected that this pretty boy, whose realm was more than one major level below his own, would be unharmed.

When he caught a glimpse of the faint glow, he briefly realized something and said quietly:

"You actually walked the path of the imperial family's enshrined martial arts."

In the Society's assessment of Zhao Du'an's strength, it was marked that he was suspected of being an enshrinement, but the specific details had not yet been clarified.

And Gao Li happened to know a lot about "enshrinements."

In his youth, he was proud and arrogant, challenging the masters of the inner palace, but he was defeated by an unnamed eunuch. In that duel, Ma Yan had used this martial art.

Zhao Du'an smiled arrogantly:

"You have good eyes. Then I'll let you experience the number one martial arts cultivation path in the world."

His body was like an arrow released from a bow, advancing instead of retreating, attacking again.

As he moved, the rhythm of his breathing changed, his steps widened, and his arms stretched out.

In his mind, the 'Martial God Diagram' appeared, in which the Great Ancestor of the Great Yu Dynasty led him on the mountaintop, practicing the 'Nameless Fist Technique' for a whole month.

It was also the first time he had used this fist in 'reality'.

As soon as the fist was delivered, the dantian qi sea roared and boiled, and the rolling qi followed the thick meridians, attacking the enemy in its path with an extremely domineering and wild posture.

In a trance, his figure seemed to overlap with the Great Ancestor in the painting.

A mortal martial artist dared to throw a fist at the Divine Seal Realm, his momentum not decreasing but increasing. Only the Xu family's secret technique could do this.

"Mountain-Attacking Fist…"

Under Gao Li's indigo mask, a look of remembrance appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, he seemed to have returned to that martial arts competition in the imperial palace years ago.

However, Zhao Du'an was not Ma Yan of that time, and Gao Li was no longer the same as he was then.

"Hmph!"

At this moment, Gao Li actually leisurely placed his left hand behind his lower back, using only one hand to wield the long sword like a staff, meeting Zhao Du'an.

"Clang!"

The fist, wrapped in a light golden glow, was as strong as fine steel, directly hammering on the soft sword body.

The blade suddenly bent, and then rebounded swiftly. The powerful force also fed back into Zhao Du'an's body, causing him to groan and feel a faint pain.

Zhao Du'an ignored it, his fists as dense as a net, almost creating afterimages.

But Gao Li always kept his left hand behind his back, sometimes retreating and sometimes advancing.

Using his footwork in combination with his one-handed sword, he blocked all of Zhao Du'an's dense, storm-like fists.

Heavy rain fell, but he didn't get a drop on him.

And when Zhao Du'an's momentum weakened, Gao Li decisively counterattacked, slashing sword after sword, forcing Zhao Du'an to turn to defense.

The situation of offense and defense had changed!

Only the sound of metal colliding, "clang, clang, clang," never ceased, like the rapid drumbeats on the battlefield. Every collision was a contest between life and death.

While slashing, Gao Li said coldly:

"The stance is imitated well, already having five or six parts of the Great Yu Ancestor's spirit. Your body is also tempered thickly, and your martial arts foundation is solid, but it's a bit new, looking like it hasn't fully adapted yet.

What? Could it be that you recently reforged your martial arts foundation?

It's a pity that such a good fist technique, such a naturally gifted martial artist's body, has been used by you like this, loose and without any strength.

If you encounter a martial artist who is also in the Mortal Realm, you can still act fierce.

But if you want to deal with me, you're far from it. Which of the imperial palace's enshrinements isn't more solid in their fist techniques than you?"

Zhao Du'an remained silent, only focusing on resisting the tricky and strange sword strikes.

He was indeed not proficient in this fist technique and could not compare with the inner palace's enshrinements.

But he was not discouraged because Gao Li did not know that this was only the first time Zhao Du'an had used this fist.

Even more, he did not know that Zhao Du'an had only stepped onto this cultivation path for a short two months.

And the majority of his free energy was invested in other directions.

If Gao Li knew that the person in front of him had only used the "Mountain-Attacking Fist" for the first time and already had such results, he didn't know what he would think.

However, Zhao Du'an had no need to explain. Although he was at an absolute disadvantage, the light in his eyes grew brighter.

A martial arts expert cannot be raised in a greenhouse. True understanding and progress must be achieved in life-and-death battles.

At this moment, Zhao Du'an even felt some gratitude for Gao Li's arrogance.

In this back-and-forth of offense and defense, he frantically absorbed nourishment from this former genius swordsman.

His posture in resisting the opponent also gradually became more composed from the initial panic.

"Hmm?"

Gao Li also noticed this change, his eyes shifted, and the blade in his hand suddenly became sharp.

But Zhao Du'an seemed to have noticed it in advance and suddenly retreated violently, opening the distance.

His boots rubbed against the ground, and he suddenly put his left hand behind his lower back as well.

His right hand flipped over and pushed out a palm in an instant.

"Woo woo--"

A gust of wind suddenly rose. At this moment, the dark clouds above the long street seemed to be stirred as well. As Zhao Du'an pushed out his palm, countless wine flags and lanterns on both sides of the long street fluttered.

Sand and stones flew…

In his mind, a scene appeared of the Great Ancestor of the Great Yu Dynasty unleashing a palm wind on the edge of the desert, blowing down the stars in the sky.

The Milky Way hung upside down.

At this moment, even with Gao Li's experience, he squinted his eyes in surprise.

The biting palm wind swept over, blowing off his bamboo hat, scattering his hair, and causing his indigo mask to tremble.

But his legs were firmly rooted on the ground, like an old tree in the forest, its roots deeply embedded in the earth.

Even if a storm passed, it could not shake it.

However, the true power of this palm technique passed down from the Great Ancestor of the Great Yu Dynasty did not lie here.

The palm wind was only one aspect, blowing the divine soul was the second.

At this moment, although Gao Li's body was rooted and unmoving, one could vaguely see a blurred shadow of his divine soul being struck by the palm wind, faintly about to leave his body.

"Come back!"

Gao Li suddenly shouted, his martial artist's qi and blood boiling, a faint red light showing above his head, forcibly dragging his spirit back into his body.

He stood against the wind, gently shaking his head, thinking, 'So, this is your trump card?'

As expected of the Xu Dynasty's secret teachings, at the mere Mortal Embryo Realm, you already possess such methods. With this palm strike alone, you can run rampant among your peers.

However, the gap between major realms cannot be bridged by a single martial art.

Martial artists in the Divine Chapter Realm have stable souls, but it's not…

Just as Gao Li was thinking, a strong premonition of danger suddenly arose in his heart!

Alarm bells rang in his mind, his alertness as a Divine Chapter martial artist preceding his five senses and six consciousnesses, smelling the aura of danger.

Gao Li's pupils suddenly contracted.

In his ears, faintly masked by the sound of the wind, he caught a trace of a slight sonic boom.

Deep within his pupils, he also saw a dark golden flying knife, as swift as lightning, trembling with excitement, constantly enlarging!

The Flying Knife Golden Crow!

At this moment, the superior-grade divine weapon, hidden in Zhao Du'an's sleeve and secretly charged for a long time, under the cover of the palm wind, struck out with terrifying speed.

In the past, Zhao Du'an had used a flying knife to launch a sneak attack, cutting off Haitang's hair.

At that time, he had judged that as long as the opponent lacked vigilance, he would have the possibility of seriously injuring a Divine Chapter Realm expert.

Therefore, from the moment he saw Gao Li, he had been plotting this strike.

Everything before was a feint, even the inverted Milky Way, only serving as cover for the flying knife.

And at this moment, the long-planned flying knife, after叠加了马阎教给他的 “蓄力” 法门 (叠加了马阎教给他的 “蓄力” 法门), was charged with the "Power Accumulation" method taught to him by Ma Yan.

Carrying the strongest power of his current realm, it tore through Gao Li's robe like a meteor, his white swordsman's uniform, and stabbed fiercely into his chest!

The wind stopped!

The long street suddenly fell silent.

Gao Li stood in place, slowly lowering his gaze, somewhat stunned as he looked at the knife hilt in his chest.

On the white swordsman's robe embroidered with light-colored cloud patterns, crimson slowly spread, like a rose blooming on the snow.

Gao Li was stunned in place, not expecting that he would be breached by a mere Mortal Embryo junior.

Success… Zhao Du'an felt a moment of joy, but then frowned slightly.

"Chī!"

At this moment, the power contained in the dark golden flying knife belatedly exploded, instantly tearing a fist-sized hole in the blood-stained robe.

Revealing the skin underneath.

The flying knife did embed itself in Gao Li's chest, but it was far shallower than expected.

Only to see, between the robe and the skin, on Gao Li's body surface, a thin layer of "qi shield" was covering it.

That was the unique "Body Protecting Astral Qi" of Divine Chapter martial artists, similar to Zhao Du'an's mastery of the Radiant Light.

The power of the flying knife was blocked and weakened by this thin layer of astral qi.

Eliminating most of its power.

Zhao Du'an's heart sank, his mind raced, and the "Golden Crow Flying Knife," as if summoned, instantly pulled out and flew back into his hand.

Then, accompanied by the infusion of qi, it expanded into a dark golden short blade.

The wound on Gao Li's chest began to heal at a slow pace.

Only then did he raise his head, his face filled with indifference:

"A very beautiful strike, I admit, you are more cunning than I imagined.

But unfortunately, I am not who I was back then. Heh, you should be surprised, because most Divine Chapter martial artists, although they can support astral qi to protect their bodies, ultimately need enough time to react.

With the suddenness of your strike, I should have been unable to prop up my astral qi in time."

After a pause, Gao Li said with a somewhat complicated expression behind his mask:

"Back then, when I competed with Ma Yan in the palace, although he never used hidden weapons, the reason he was able to defeat me was also by using a method of attack and kill.

And at that time, I could have blocked it, but I was just a little too slow, and I was defeated miserably.

Later, I left the capital and hid in the pugilistic world. I pondered hard, repeatedly deducing in countless days and nights, how I could defeat Ma Yan if I did it again.

I found that the biggest difference between the martial arts of the royal family and other martial arts is that domineering swiftness.

So I re-cultivated the way of the sword, figuring out how to deal with your protective radiant light and mountain-attacking boxing.

Most importantly, I spent eight years cultivating my body-protecting astral qi to instantaneous activation, so that it would spontaneously prop up the moment I sensed danger."

Zhao Du'an narrowed his eyes.

His mind frantically recalled, constantly searching from the records he had seen and the original owner's memories.

Suddenly, he locked onto a name:

"Gao Li! You were a retainer recruited by the Second Prince back then, and later joined the Kuangfu Society, Gao Li!?"

Gao Li smiled, raised his hand, and took off the indigo ghost face mask.

Revealing the face of a middle-aged swordsman with a blue-black stubble and a slightly vicissitude appearance.

"Pa ta."

Casually throwing down the mask, he picked up the Frostwind Sword in his hand, and walked towards Zhao Du'an step by step, with a cold smile on his face:

"Congratulations, you guessed right. But unfortunately, it's time for you to be on your way."

At this moment, an unspeakable aura of swordsmanship permeated the air.

Zhao Du'an suddenly felt his body sink, as if locked by an invisible force.

He held the short blade, but knew that with Gao Li's vigilance and no longer holding back, he could not resist him with his mere two months of cultivation.

This was not a fair contest in the first place.

However, there was still no fear on Zhao Du'an's face, he just gently exhaled and smiled:

"It's taken up a lot of time, and it's indeed time to end it."

"What do you mean?"

Gao Li, who had already stepped within ten feet of him, suddenly stopped and raised his eyebrows.

"It's nothing," Zhao Du'an shook his head, suddenly blinked and asked:

"By the way, are you good at dealing with warlocks?"

Gao Li was taken aback.

Only to see Zhao Du'an suddenly open his empty hand.

In his palm, he was clutching a silver talisman that was soaked with sweat.

At this moment, the divine talisman, imprinted with the emblem of the Tianshi Mansion and depicting the Taoist decree in azure cinnabar, was quietly torn apart.

On the talisman.

Strands of aura, like green qi, escaped and rose into the sky.

Like the curling green smoke when large yellow incense sticks are burned in front of the main hall of a Taoist temple.

Zhao Du'an spoke:

"Imperial Decree!"

In an instant, a vast, ethereal, and boundless majestic power descended upon this hidden street.

Gao Li's pupils suddenly constricted.

Subconsciously raising his head, he saw countless green clouds frantically gathering in the sky.

Behind Zhao Du'an, in the curling green smoke, silently, a Taoist priest appeared, hundreds of feet tall, wearing a five-colored Taoist robe, wearing a yin-yang crown, holding a whisk, and overlooking the world.

There was no joy or sorrow in the Taoist's eyes, Heaven and Earth were ruthless.

It was the manifestation of the "Heavenly Dao," the Supreme Taoist Venerable!