The First Lackey Under The Empress

Us, the Imperial family…

Inside the carriage, Xu Zhenguan stared at him silently for a long while before skipping over the "slip of the tongue" and continuing:

"The battle between Buddhism and Taoism has a long history. It is a traditional competition between the two schools of sorcerers for the title of leader of all sorcerers, as well as a way to encourage both sides to compete and avoid complacency.

Each side sends young disciples in the Divine Seal Realm to compete. Because previous competitions have attracted the attention of cultivators all over the world,

therefore, the winner of the competition has the tradition of accepting challenges from onlookers. Well, it's euphemistically called seeking advice and guidance."

After a pause, Xu Zhenguan said with some emotion:

"Six hundred years ago, the founding emperor established the country. At that time, the court had many powerful cultivators.

The founding emperor did not want to see these two schools overshadow the imperial family.

Therefore, he ordered young cultivators to challenge the winners after the competition and defeat them…

As a result, the Buddhist competition once became an occasion to showcase the foundation of my Xu dynasty. Back then, the 'Ten Attendants' in the imperial family's service all had the ability to compete with the Buddhist and Taoist families."

Damn… Old Xu is so domineering, suppressing the two schools so hard…

Well, it's not surprising, after all, he established the country by force…" Zhao Du'an showed a look of longing and added:

"What happened after that?"

After that… Xu Zhenguan sighed softly and said helplessly:

"Unfortunately, the glory of my imperial family did not last long before it declined. After the generation of the founding emperor, the cultivators of the imperial family, whether they were imperial descendants or servants, continued to decline.

In the past six hundred years, although there have been amazing talents from time to time, they have never regained their former glory."

Hmm… Zhao Du'an cooperatively put on a look of sadness and nostalgia.

It wasn't surprising to him.

In his opinion, the way the "Martial God" was inherited was already backward.

One relied on the imperial family's bloodline, and the other relied on nurturing servants.

The former need not be said, the organizational form of the family is very difficult to maintain continuous glory, not to mention that the imperial family also has internal strife, and their energy is also spent on governing the country…

As for the servants… the core of the selection is not talent, but "loyalty", and the scale is small and the number of people is small.

This is destined to be no match for the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Shenlong Temple.

Xu Zhenguan, as a descendant of the imperial family, recalled the glory of his ancestors, and then thought of the increasingly declining inner court servants today, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Does Your Majesty want to rebuild the glory of your ancestors?"

Zhao Du'an asked softly, with a eager look:

"If I advance to the Divine Seal before that, can I…"

The Empress came back to her senses, looked at him with some amusement, and said:

"Are you still thinking about representing the imperial family's servants to challenge the winner?"

Zhao Du'an's eyes were sincere:

"I am willing to go through fire and water for Your Majesty, and I will not hesitate to die."

Xu Zhenguan's heart suddenly warmed, and her eyes softened:

"It's good that you have this heart, but even if you have extraordinary talent, it is impossible for you to compete with the geniuses of the two schools when you first enter the Divine Seal."

Of course, Zhao Du'an also knew that this was very realistic.

Even in the Divine Seal Realm, there are levels.

Even if the Empress once proudly claimed that the "Martial God" inheritance is the strongest cultivation path in the world, with an advantage in the same realm, she did not expect Zhao Du'an to be able to do anything.

"So, there's no way?" Zhao Du'an looked disappointed, acting his part.

As a subordinate, you must seize every opportunity to show loyalty, especially when you don't really need to do it.

He also knew that this matter had nothing to do with him, but he could not fail to express his attitude.

The Empress looked at his frustrated appearance, and suddenly found it interesting, and joked casually:

"It's not that there is no chance… Heh, some genius sorcerers, under extremely harsh conditions, can summon gods to descend, and briefly obtain power far beyond their current level…

Although the Martial God is a martial artist, he also has similar methods. Back then, the founding emperor refined a mouthful of Xuan Huang Qi into a Dragon Soul, which was the prototype of his own Martial God. Whenever there was a great battle, the Dragon Soul would be added to his body, making him invincible…

However, after the founding emperor passed away, the Dragon Soul disappeared with him, perhaps turning into the 'Martial God'. If you can summon it, it should have a similar effect."

Dragon Soul… Zhao Du'an's heart skipped a beat, and he forcibly suppressed the urge to look inside his dantian.

So, the Empress really doesn't know the existence of the Dragon Soul.

Even less did she know that it was accidentally swallowed by him.

"Heh… Your Majesty is joking."

Zhao Du'an didn't know what expression to use to respond.

Fortunately, Xu Zhenguan didn't notice and teased with a smile:

"If there is anything else, if you can gain the approval of the founding emperor's Martial Dao true meaning, you can use the founding emperor's sword, or you can barely fight. It is placed in the palace.

However, it is extremely difficult for such a divine weapon to recognize a person.

Even among the descendants of my Xu dynasty, few can pick it up, unless they are amazingly talented, or every emperor can drive it.

As for the servants… at least Eunuch Hai can't pick it up, do you want to try?"

The founding emperor's sword… The weapon held by Xu Zhenguan, the Third Princess, during the Xuanmen coup… It was with this divine weapon that she swept across the army…

Zhao Du'an swallowed and cupped his hands:

"Your Majesty, please don't make fun of me."

The Empress smiled and stopped scaring this guy.

She waved her hand to stop the carriage and said:

"In short, you should concentrate on breaking through your state of mind and strive to enter the Divine Seal as soon as possible. We're not going the same way next, go back by yourself."

You're not even sending me back, or taking me to the palace for a night… Okay, I'm just daydreaming… Zhao Du'an respectfully got off the carriage.

A eunuch behind him handed over the reins of the horse that was following the carriage and smiled:

"Sir Zhao, please."

Hmm, so you prepared a mount for me from the beginning… Zhao Du'an exhaled silently.

Thinking of the scenes that happened tonight, he smiled:

"Thank you."

…

…

Crossroads.

Zhao Du'an watched the Empress's carriage return to the palace, and rode his horse alone towards home.

At this moment, the night was deep, and the streets were extremely deserted, with only the bright moon in the sky as a companion.

Zhao Du'an turned a street corner and suddenly saw a commotion ahead.

A large group of Imperial Guards were escorting a group of people slowly along the long street.

The Imperial Guards, wearing armor and holding torches, were murderous.

They happened to run into Zhao Du'an, who was riding alone.

The leading Imperial Guard shouted loudly:

"Who is ahead?! Stop immediately! I want you to stop!"

The other Imperial Guards also drew their swords, the clanging sound was continuous, and the atmosphere was solemn and tense.

Zhao Du'an didn't stop, but rode straight over. When he entered the range of the fire, he lowered his eyes and threw the waist token in his arms:

"Who is your commander?"

The leading Imperial Guard saw his face and was stunned.

He subconsciously raised his hand to grab the flying token, and then his face changed drastically.

While frantically waving his hand to signal his subordinates to sheathe their swords, he put on a smile and held up the token with both hands:

"Sir Zhao, it's me, we met in the hall not long ago."

"Oh, you are that Deputy Commander Ma of the Golden Guard…" Zhao Du'an nodded and asked curiously:

"What are you doing?"

Deputy Commander Ma smiled and said: "We are ordered to arrest internal traitors who are colluding with the enemy…"

He quickly explained that the secret agent had mentioned many names in one breath before.

Xue Shence immediately dispatched troops and generals to urgently arrest them separately.

Deputy Commander Ma's target, coincidentally, was one of the young officers in the Divine Machine Camp who was driven out of the barracks with "Young Master" that day.

This person didn't know what he was thinking. Instead of hiding in a low-key manner, he took the lead in a high-profile manner. It can only be said that he knew the principle of "hiding in plain sight."

"Tonight, Young Master happened to gather this group of people for a drink, so we simply arrested them all in one go and slowly interrogate them when we go back."

Deputy Commander Ma explained in a low voice.

Zhao Du'an was stunned: "What's going on?"