The First Lackey Under The Empress

"Naturally, it's a martial artist's duel."

Zhao Du'an sat upright in the teahouse, overlooking the brawl within the crowd below. He paused, then commented:

"A very poor one, at that."

Recently, the number of Jianghu people in the capital has been increasing daily, leading to more friction and conflict.

As the saying goes, "Prevention is better than cure." Simply suppressing and preventing will not alleviate the situation, but may instead accumulate into bigger troubles.

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Therefore, the imperial court followed its past practice and specially set up "arenas" in certain areas of the capital.

If two Jianghu people have a conflict and want to fight, they can brawl within a specific area.

Nearby, the Imperial Guards are responsible for control and will not take sides.

However, fighting and brawling outside the permitted area is a violation of the court's explicitly prohibited regulations and will incur severe punishment.

Zhao Du'an knew that the teahouse street was one of the "legal brawl zones" circled by the imperial court.

One of the reasons for choosing this location was to make it convenient for the people of the capital to watch the excitement.

Just like now, the two people in the arena were fighting fiercely with their swords and sabers.

And outside the "circle," there were many people watching.

Joining in the fun... it's simply etched into human genes...

"Sir, you've brought me to watch for three days in a row, but the people who fight and brawl here are not experts. At most, the cultivators are only in the Mortal Embryo Realm, and many have never even cultivated."

Zhao Du'an, standing high above, calmly commented:

"I've watched for several days, but I haven't seen any clues. I implore you, Eunuch Hai, to enlighten me."

Eunuch Hai smiled and said:

"What do you think is the key to breaking through to the Divine Chapter Realm?"

Zhao Du'an said, "It's the state of mind, isn't it?"

These were Zhenbao's words.

In recent days, he had completely digested the "seed" given to him by Zhenbao.

He only felt that he was like a bottle filled with water, bulging and full, with a feeling of wanting to get out but being unable to.

He suspected that this was the "bottleneck."

Eunuch Hai nodded slightly, saying something astonishing:

"But do you know that ordinary martial arts cultivators, unless they reach a high level, often don't need any state of mind to break through.

As long as the Qi in the body is full and reaches its limit, it will naturally be successful.

Only our lineage, the path passed down by the First Emperor, requires us to improve our state of mind even in the Mortal Embryo Realm."

Damn... That's such a pitfall. You didn't say that before... Zhao Du'an complained in his heart.

He sat upright:

"Is it because of the dual cultivation of arts and martial arts?"

"Smart!"

Eunuch Hai smiled. He liked talking to smart people:

"The First Emperor's cultivation method integrates the advantages of both the Taoist and martial artist paths. Taoists often value affinity with the gods to advance.

But the Martial God himself is his own god. Therefore, he must question his heart time and time again and work hard on his state of mind.

Of course, all paths lead to the same destination. Even the pure martial artist cultivation path advocated by the Martial Emperor City Lord does not consider the state of mind before reaching the Worldly Realm, only focusing on tempering martial arts.

Later on, entering the Tao with martial arts will still touch the state of mind... But because the state of mind is not valued in the early stages, the higher a martial artist goes, the more difficult it becomes."

No wonder...

Among the four "Heavenly Humans," only Martial Immortal Kui is a pure martial artist, and even Zhenbao is only a "pseudo-Heavenly Human."

Zhao Du'an frowned and said:

"But can watching these low-strength Jianghu people fight improve my state of mind?"

He felt it was a bit outrageous.

Eunuch Hai picked up his teacup and said slowly:

"What is the breakthrough of the state of mind? It's just a moment of enlightenment. And so-called enlightenment is just countless accumulations breaking through at a single moment.

Everything you've seen these days seems useless, but it's actually a necessary accumulation.

After seeing enough, you will naturally have insights. When the time comes, either you will enlighten yourself, or I will help you break through that layer of window paper.

It's like the Buddhist's warning shout; only then can you get through this hurdle."

Accumulation... Zhao Du'an seemed to be lost in thought, and seriously looked down.

...

At this time, the cloudy sky began to drizzle with autumn rain again.

Dispelling many of the onlookers.

But there were still many people hiding under the eaves of buildings, watching from afar.

Moreover, in the teahouses on both sides of the street, there were also spectators watching.

"Ping..."

"Clang..."

In the penetrating autumn rain, the two Jianghu people in the open space were already injured, but they still refused to retreat.

Finally, one of them ran out of strength first, revealing a flaw, and was stabbed in the lower abdomen by a sword. He fell to the ground with a thud, abandoning his weapon and surrendering.

The other person, leaning on his sword and panting, was also exhausted.

Next to them, a county yamen runner in charge of the scene ordered a minor official to drag the two away.

A sparse cheer arose from the crowd.

Among the people present, there were many Jianghu people who did not take the skills of the two on stage seriously.

Although the common people watched the excitement, they had seen too much and their eyes were picky. They felt that the fight was not exciting.

And at this moment, a burly man suddenly jumped out of the crowd.

His eyes were sharp, his figure was tall, his arms were wrapped in metal bracers, and he held a knife in his hand. His aura was different from others.

Many people looked curiously, expecting to see where his opponent was.

But they only saw the burly man standing in the fine autumn rain, suddenly raising his head, facing a teahouse on one side, raising his knife, and sternly shouting:

"I have heard of the White Horse Yama Zhao, and today I want to ask for guidance. Please enlighten me!"

The man's voice was like thunder, rolling across the entire arena in an instant.

The knife in his hand was suddenly covered with a layer of mellow scarlet Qi, slashing diagonally towards the ground.

"Boom—"

The layer of red Qi, like flames, flowing and covering the blade, flowed diagonally down along the blade.

Burning and cutting the hard bluestone pavement into a dark and hideous scar.

It was shocking!

At this moment, the onlookers who had been feeling bored suddenly became quiet.

Exclamations rang out:

"A cultivation expert!"

"Qi emission... At least a mid-grade Mortal Embryo Realm. Looking at the power, I'm afraid he's a high-grade figure."

"The color of burning fire, which school of kung fu is this from in the Jianghu?"

Among the crowd, there were many with excellent eyesight who quickly judged that this burly man was actually a high-grade Mortal Embryo Realm martial artist.

In the Jianghu, he could be considered an expert.

After many days, a powerful person finally appeared, instantly attracting countless eyes.

...

"Eunuch Hai, did you arrange this too?"

Upstairs, Zhao Du'an, facing the humid air, turned his head to look at Eunuch Hai.

The old eunuch, who was not wearing a python robe, rolled his eyes:

"Would I be so bored?"

After a pause, this inner court expert, who liked teasing juniors the most, smiled and said:

"Throughout history, in the duels between Buddhism and Taoism, there have always been individuals among the Jianghu people who want to gain fame by stepping on the court's experts, which has always been a shortcut.

This can be considered a small tradition. Generally speaking, the court's experts don't mind for the sake of face.

Your reputation is so great, and you've been here for several days in a row, so it's not surprising that you're being targeted."

Stepping on me to become famous?

Zhao Du'an couldn't laugh or cry, thinking to himself, where did this reckless fool come from? Didn't he find out where the name Zhao Yama came from?

If he challenged other court martial artists, the other party might be willing to accept the challenge openly and honestly for the sake of face and status.

After all, most people still care about face.

But... you picked the wrong person.

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to move today. Let him challenge me."

Zhao Du'an waved his hand, not bothering to pay attention at all, not wanting to waste his energy on this trivial matter.

Downstairs, the burly man saw that there was no movement, pursed his lips, and spoke again, this time calling out his name directly:

"Zhao Du'an! Are you hiding in the building because you don't dare to accept the challenge?"

This time, the surrounding crowd finally reacted and their expressions changed.

"Ah, is he challenging Zhao Yama?"

"Zhao Yama is actually in the teahouse?"

"The one from the White Horse Guard? Hiss... Where did this reckless fool come from? That's right, they've all recently entered the capital from other places, so it's not surprising that they don't understand the rules..."

"Hehe, there's a good show to watch. Who doesn't know, 'Whether the capital is chaotic or not depends on what Lord Zhao says,' 'If you pass Juyong Pass, find Du'an if you have any problems'..."

The crowd was in an uproar.

And the county yamen runner watching the show next to him jumped up, sensing that things were going to be bad, and the nearby Imperial Guards also looked sideways.

In the fine rain.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

A window slowly opened on the second floor by the roadside, revealing an arm, and then a handsome and feminine face.

Zhao Du'an yawned lazily, leaned on the railing, and looked down at the man holding the knife.

Suddenly, he chuckled and, without any nonsense, his face turned cold.

Looking at the nearby Imperial Guards in their armor, he said lightly:

"What are you still standing there for? Why don't you capture this rebel?"