The First Lackey Under The Empress

The capital city bustled with activity on its prosperous streets, a constant flow of people and carriages.

Yet, unbeknownst to them, a battle between warriors was erupting beside them, within the invisible seams of reality.

Jin Jian strode forward, her body in a semi-transparent state, passing through the crowds.

Before her, a bizarre "staff," topped with a single, fixed eye, bounced along the ground.

"Tap… Tap…"

The staff led her into a secluded, narrow alleyway.

The alley was deserted and silent, devoid of human voices, as Jin Jian walked through it.

The single eye at the top of the staff rolled around, suddenly spinning in confusion.

"Is it here?"

The maiden priest, with her mysterious aura and seemingly absent-minded demeanor, asked solemnly.

She formed a hand seal, and in the next second, a vast and ethereal aura emerged, enveloping the entire district.

Jin Jian was stunned, instinctively raising her head to look at the sky above, only to see azure energy gathering into clouds in the narrow strip of sky framed by the eaves of the buildings on either side of the alley.

Accompanied by the sound of thunder, a familiar and dreaded power descended from the heavens.

On the nearby bustling streets, the common people also noticed this unusual celestial phenomenon, stopping in surprise to watch and discuss it.

…

Eight Directions Opera House.

Inside Wu Ling's private room.

At this moment, a group of rebels cloaked in gray robes sat quietly around a round table.

These were the subordinates that Gao Li had brought with him.

"At this hour, I wonder if the Chieftain has succeeded. It's a pity that he didn't take us with him today, so we couldn't witness that Zhao's death on the spot," one of them said.

Another person said seriously:

"There are many strong individuals in the capital, especially during the daytime. Too many people would be troublesome and easily attract attention. With the Chieftain's cultivation, supplemented by the talisman, assassinating a pretty boy will be a piece of cake."

Everyone was in good spirits, chatting casually.

They did not feel that there would be any unexpected events in today's mission.

Wu Ling, who was also in the room, felt somewhat uneasy, but this rising star of the capital couldn't quite put his finger on the source of his unease.

"Perhaps it's the shadow of my previous failed assassination," Wu Ling mocked himself in his heart, lamenting that he had become once bitten, twice shy.

For this ambush, Gao Li had learned from Wu Ling's previous failure and specifically chose the time when the imperial court was in session.

At this moment, the Great Yu Empress was holding court, and Ma Yan was also in the Golden Luan Hall.

The eyes of the entire court were focused on the imperial palace.

It was the best opportunity to deal with Zhao Du'an.

They had even taken into account Jin Jian, who had appeared in the case of the Zhang brothers, the secret agents of Prince Jing's mansion.

— It was well known that Divine Official Jin Jian only traveled at night and mostly slept during the day.

From any angle, it was a foolproof assassination.

"Everyone, we must not be too complacent. That Zhao Du'an is by no means a pushover. If something goes wrong with the Chieftain's plan, we should also follow the plan, create chaos, and attract attention," Wu Ling said.

In the center of the round table, there was a wooden plaque with a mother-child talisman attached to it.

The so-called "mother-child talisman" consisted of two talismans.

They could be held separately within a certain distance and used to transmit signals.

As agreed, the number of times the talisman lit up represented different orders from Gao Li.

One flash meant the assassination was successful.

Two flashes meant they had to move immediately.

Three flashes were a distress signal, requiring them to create chaos to buy Gao Li time to escape.

"Heh, Wu Ling, could it be that you are exaggerating Zhao Du'an's abilities too much because of your last failure?"

One person said indifferently:

"Even if this person has some cunning, today's assassination is a contest of martial arts. Even if he is cunning, deep-minded, and knows how to plot, what use is it?"

Another person also laughed:

"I'm afraid you've been lying dormant in the capital for too long and have lost your courage."

Everyone laughed.

This group of members who had recently entered the capital from other places looked down upon the Kuangfu Society branch members in the capital, represented by Wu Ling.

Wu Ling was secretly annoyed.

He thought to himself, 'A bunch of idiots, the capital is the base camp of the false emperor, fraught with dangers. How can it be compared to other prefectures of Great Yu?'

Just as he was about to argue, a sudden change occurred!

The talisman on the wooden plaque in the center of the round table suddenly flashed.

Someone laughed and said, "The Chieftain has succeeded!"

Before the words could fade, the talisman began to flash continuously.

Before everyone could recover and distinguish the number of flashes, the entire mother-child talisman suddenly burned and exploded, turning to ashes!

The ring of fire and air waves from the explosion spread in all directions, startling the members who cried out and fell to the ground.

When they climbed up again, they saw the wooden plaque on the table fall down with a "pa" sound, charred black.

Silence!

The Kuangfu Society members were stunned, with horrified expressions on their faces.

Three flashes meant a distress call, and the explosion and destruction meant that the other talisman, carried close to the body by the branch leader, was destroyed by a terrifying force before it could be activated.

"The Chieftain he…"

A thought arose in the hearts of all the members at the same time, but no one wanted to believe it.

…

"The Dao of Heaven…"

On Jin Jian's delicate face, her scattered gaze slowly focused, and her expression changed.

Instinctively activating Star Evasion, she flickered and hid on the high eaves on one side of the alley.

Immediately, she saw silent lightning splitting down from the azure clouds, engulfing the entire alley.

The air twisted abruptly, revealing cracks.

Then, it was as if a hidden space had been shattered, and countless fragments fell down.

In the secluded alley, a carriage appeared out of nowhere.

The horse knelt on the ground with its four hooves, trembling as if worshiping something.

Immediately, in Jin Jian's pupils, she vaguely saw a phantom street, collapsing bit by bit.

Two figures fell from it.

One stood in the alley, wearing the dark black official robe of the Imperial Prison Division, holding a dark golden short knife in his hand.

It was Zhao Du'an!

And in front of Zhao Du'an, a few steps away, a weathered swordsman with a single hand on his sword was kneeling on one knee.

Gao Li knelt on one knee, his right hand gripping the hilt of the Frost Sword.

The foggy long sword propped up his body in the brick seams of the alley.

He hung his head, as if asleep.

His eyes were tightly closed, and the wind brushed through the alley, ruffling the long hair in front of his forehead.

The wind blew a blue-green ghost mask and a bamboo hat lying upside down a few feet behind him, turning them over.

Silence.

There was no Hundred Zhang Taoist in the alley, and the azure clouds gathered overhead slowly dissipated.

The talented swordsman who had returned to the capital after eight years, full of vigor, showed no wounds except for a trace of red blood from the throwing knife in his chest.

But whether it was Zhao Du'an or Jin Jian, who was hiding on the eaves, both knew: The single-kneeling figure was just an empty shell. Gao Li's spirit had long been destroyed.

The blazing sun illuminated the earth, but couldn't shine into the alley at all.

"Chirp..."

Zhao Du'an released his hand, and the dark golden broken knife shrank into a palm-sized flying knife. After circling once, it was retrieved into his sleeve.

He looked around, confirming that he had returned to the "real world."

Following his perception, he saw the young female priest floating on the eaves above, with a ghostly expression. He raised his eyebrows and asked curiously:

"Priest Jin Jian? What are you doing here?"

Jin Jian looked down at Zhao Du'an.

Zhao Du'an looked up at Jin Jian.

Seemingly calm, the emotions in their hearts were far from as peaceful as they appeared.

"Damn... what did I just see... Is the Talisman of Divine Decree so powerful? It's a bit overpowered, isn't it? You said that the talisman could summon a god to help in battle, but you didn't say that it would summon the Heavenly Dao..."

Zhao Du'an's heart was in turmoil.

Just now, facing Gao Li's approach, he seemed calm and collected, with everything under control, but in reality, he was panicking inside.

After all, he had only heard of treasures like the "Talisman of Divine Decree" but had never seen one.

And the upper and lower limits of its power varied greatly.

He wasn't sure which deity was sealed in this trump card, or what level of power it contained.

So, tearing it open was mostly a bluff.

But he didn't expect this thing to be so powerful.

When he climbed the "Son of Heaven Tower" that night, he had witnessed the appearance of the Heavenly Dao Qingyun with the help of the Empress, and combined with Zhang Yan's self-proclaimed focus on "Heavenly Dao."

It was not difficult to guess the identity of the summoned Taoist priest, undoubtedly the personification of the "Heavenly Dao" concept in this world.

That is: the so-called "Supreme Dao Lord" worshiped by the common people.

And the moment the Taoist phantom appeared, he only saw a breeze sweeping past.

The genius swordsman who once stirred the capital knelt down without any suspense.

At least it was a spell at the "World" realm level... Zhao Du'an judged based on his limited experience.

On the roof.

Jin Jian's heart was equally uneasy.

She subconsciously touched her small belly, confirming that the "Talisman of Divine Decree" inside was still there.

Then why would Zhao Du'an possess it? Recalling the Old Celestial Master's instructions last night... Jin Jian's expression became strange.

A young female priest who could become a Vermilion Point Disciple, even if not smart, was at least not stupid.

As her thoughts turned, she thought for a moment and tentatively said:

"Would you believe me if I said I was just passing by?"

Zhao Du'an: "..."

In the awkward atmosphere, Jin Jian cleared her throat, hesitated, but still didn't tell the truth.

Mainly because in her original vision, the story should have been like this:

Zhao Du'an was in a dangerous situation, and in despair, she descended from the sky, showing off her demeanor as a superior.

But the actual situation was the opposite. Not only did she almost lose track of him, but before she could take action, Zhao Du'an had already finished the counter-kill.

Thinking of losing track of him, Jin Jian's mind moved, and her eyes swept across the street, suddenly raising her hand to grab.

With a "swoosh", the air rippled.

An object concealed by magic, hidden in the alley, was taken into her hand.

Jin Jian glanced at it briefly, then lightly jumped down the alley, throwing the thing in her hand to Zhao Du'an:

"Your spoils of war."

What is this... Zhao Du'an raised his hand to catch it, and found that it was a palm-sized painting scroll.

The shaft was made of green jade, rolled with silver silk cloth.

He tried to unfold the scroll and found that it was a traditional ink painting.

What was depicted was the street where he had just been.

But at this moment, the painting was covered with a layer of dark gray, as if it had lost its color.

"This is... a magical artifact?" he asked tentatively.

Jin Jian glanced at him and corrected him:

"It's a ward. If I remember correctly, it's called the 'Taixu Painting Scroll'. It's a rare magical artifact that contains a formation and can rely on the outside world to create an independent spatial maze. I've seen it recorded in the books of my Celestial Master's Mansion."

So, I just entered this painting?

Zhao Du'an was delighted to see the prey:

"Are these types of magical artifacts rare?"

Jin Jian "Mm"ed and said:

"Every ward is unique in the world, unlike talismans and elixirs, which can be replicated.

There is only one 'Taixu Painting Scroll' in the world. Even if there are similar objects, the details will be different, and the names rarely overlap.

Especially wards involving independent formations and containing space, even in my Celestial Master's Mansion, there are not many.

Even if there are, they are held by 'World' realm priests, and Divine Chapter disciples can hardly obtain them."

Speaking of this, even Jin Jian, who was rich and generous, couldn't help but envy Zhao Du'an's luck.

Zhao Du'an listened with more and more excitement, realizing that he had picked up a treasure.

Well, the reason why Gao Li was able to possess it should be inseparable from the Kuangfu Society... If you want to assassinate court officials in the capital, if you want to be steady enough, you can only use this kind of magic weapon...

If it weren't for the powerful power of the 'Talisman of Divine Decree', I'm afraid that no matter how hard I tossed, I wouldn't be noticed by the outside world, and I would die silently... Zhao Du'an woke up.

"How do you use this thing?" he asked.

Jin Jian shook her head and said:

"This level of ward has a secret mantra seal, and outsiders cannot use it unless there is an extremely powerful expert to remove it."

In other words, this painting has a password, and I can't open it... Zhao Du'an wanted to cry without tears.

But he still decisively put it in his inner pocket, and then remembered that there was still a trophy—Gao Li's "Frost Sword"!

With a thought, just as he was about to search the body, he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching outside the alley.

Zhao Du'an and Jin Jian turned their heads and looked over.

Outside the alley, Zhang Han and Haitang dismounted, leading a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards, rushing into the alley.

Some held knives, some held swords, and the flying knives on Haitang's waist had all been drawn out, ready to go...

"Investigator Zhao! You're still alive?"

Zhang Han held a seven-foot sword and rushed into the alley heroically. A look of joy first appeared on his poker face, and then he became vigilant:

"Where are the rebels? Have they escaped?"

...

Misspelled words will be corrected later.