The First Lackey Under The Empress

“This iron armor is indeed quite cumbersome on the ground,” Zhao Du'an muttered on the abandoned watchtower, squinting at the distant battle. When he saw the Iron Float, resembling a locomotive, being kicked backward, he couldn't help but inhale slightly:

“Zhang Han and the others didn't lose unfairly.”

Although he hadn't yet advanced, sparring with the Empress had broadened his horizons, and his exchanges with the Eight Halls' Enforcement Officers had given him a deeper understanding of the power of normal "Divine Chapter" realm martial artists.

At this moment, although he couldn't discern the subtle intricacies, judging from the raw power, this guy was indeed a leader standing at the pinnacle of the Divine Chapter realm.

“Heh heh, it seems we can't take him down with just this one.” Eunuch Hai appeared relaxed, as if watching a play.

Zhao Du'an said calmly:

“Do you really think all these people are just here to watch?”

… …

On the wet, enclosed street.

Chai Keqiao was forced to return the force of the Iron Float's kick, causing him to somersault backward in mid-air.

In the direction he was retreating, within another formation of armored Imperial Guards, a military officer wearing soft armor and sporting a neatly trimmed mustache held his saber with one hand.

His eyes didn't blink, seemingly unaware of the rain entering his eye sockets.

His thumb pressed against the handguard of his saber, pushing the slender war blade out an inch, then returning it to its scabbard, repeating the motion several times.

Suddenly, he stepped forward in a bow stance, his knees springing, and leaped high into the air, as if flying onto the city walls.

The scabbard fell to the ground like deadwood, and the heavy, narrow blade sliced through the air, heading towards the youth in straw sandals and a raincoat with uncanny speed.

“Whoosh—”

Chai Keqiao's ears twitched slightly, capturing the well-concealed sound of rushing air. While tumbling, he had no point to borrow strength from.

His right hand reached to his waist, retrieving the seemingly ordinary but actually extraordinary axe forged from Xuan Iron, using it to block the attack.

“Clang!”

The axe accurately met the blade.

At that moment, the rain around the two men in the air trembled, then was blown away in all directions by the invisible shockwave.

Chai Keqiao fell straight to the ground, with the light-armored officer wielding the saber in both hands following closely behind.

The two men landed on the ground, but their weapons remained locked together, refusing to separate.

“Die!”

The light-armored officer seemed to have a rather fiery temper. As soon as he landed, a faint halo of light expanded around him.

That was the protective Qi of a Divine Chapter realm martial artist.

Gripping the saber with both hands, he leaned forward, shifting his center of gravity.

In an instant, he resembled a mad tiger, unleashing twelve consecutive slashes in the span of a breath!

“Clang clang clang clang…”

The sound of weapons colliding formed a dense string, the blade leaving afterimages, suppressing Chai Keqiao.

The straw-sandaled woodcutter from the Eastern Sea also activated his protective Qi to resist the exploding saber energy.

The axe in his hand seemed slow and predictable, forming a stark contrast with the afterimage-filled consecutive slashes.

He retreated swiftly, his feet barely touching the ground, yet he possessed a sense of ease, as if he was "handling the situation with ease."

“This is the Quick Saber of the military. As long as one's breath doesn't break, these consecutive slashes won't stop. When going mad, one can elevate one's strength by a small level on the spot.

However, this soldier's consecutive slashes are only mediocre.

Back then, one of the Ten Attendants of the Inner Court cultivated this Quick Saber. Taking a breath, he jumped down from the city wall and pierced through the military formation, stopping only when the superior-grade war saber in his hand was completely bent back.” Eunuch Hai commented leisurely.

Ten Attendants… that was hundreds of years ago…

Why don't you start from Qin Shi Huang's unification? Oh, this world doesn't have Qin Shi Huang… Zhao Du'an criticized inwardly, then said:

“What about this Chai Keqiao?”

Eunuch Hai said calmly:

“This person isn't using combat techniques, he's completely reacting with instinct. As long as your power is great enough, your reaction is fast enough, and your body moves freely, you don't need any broken martial arts… Eh, kid, look closely, don't miss anything.”

Zhao Du'an stared intently, slightly stunned.

He saw that during the exchange between the two men.

On the other end, the Float General, who had previously stood firm, had completed his adjustment.

He stood silently in the autumn rain.

Patiently waiting for the two to approach, suddenly, he silently lowered his knees and bent his waist, his two armored arms slamming into the ground.

“Boom!”

The ground shook slightly, and the hearts of the people peeking from the shops on both sides seemed to skip a beat at the same time.

Then they looked in astonishment.

The layer of standing water covering the street suddenly rippled with fine wrinkles.

Scattered pebbles also vibrated and jumped!

The green bricks half-buried in the mud loosened and bulged, as if a force was condensed into a line underground, approaching the constantly retreating Chai Keqiao as it undulated!

However, when that straw sandal slowly stepped on the ground, the restless bricks and rolling pebbles returned to silence at the same time.

“Boom boom—”

The black tower-like Float General had already begun his heavy steps again, launching another charge.

On Chai Keqiao's wheat-colored face, a glint flashed in his eyes.

The axe in his hand suddenly drew a beautiful and mysterious arc, bursting out with amazing power and sending the quick-saber light-armored officer, whose breath was about to be exhausted, flying backward.

Immediately, Chai Keqiao turned around on the spot, and the raincoat on his body, like a skirt, lifted up a flowing semicircle.

The axe tightly held in his hand suddenly shot out, turning into a dark light.

The flying axe rotated in the fine rain, circled behind the Iron Float, and Chai Keqiao opened his five fingers and grabbed in the air.

The axe seemed to be suddenly pulled by an invisible thin rope!

It stopped abruptly, suspended in the air.

Then, it spun at an even more terrifying speed, slashing towards the Float General's nape.

“Duck!”

The officer wielding the saber opposite him shouted in a low voice.

A strong sense of crisis suddenly arose in the Float General's heart. He rolled over on the ground, avoiding the axe, but also losing his chance to attack.

He simply attacked Chai Keqiao's lower body, while the saber-wielding officer took the opportunity to attack with his saber.

For a time, Chai Keqiao was attacked from both sides, but his body suddenly seemed to lose weight, like a leaf in the wind.

No matter how the two men attacked, he skillfully dodged them.

The three men fought into a ball, actually reaching a stalemate, and Chai Keqiao faintly gained the upper hand.

… …

“Autumn leaves…”

On the distant rooftop, the white-robed monk Bianji exclaimed in admiration.

Gongshu Tianyuan glanced at him: “What autumn leaves?”

Bianji didn't argue with him, but said to himself:

“Isn't this person's current method the same as an autumn leaf falling in the wind? It's not a martial art, but it's better than a martial art, or rather, he has already forgotten the martial art. All things in the world are martial arts in his eyes.

Although limited by his cultivation realm, he can't defeat these strong men in the military, but the future is promising, and the Martial Emperor City has successors.”

“Muttering nonsense…”

Gongshu Tianyuan looked unhappy, with a terrible feeling that knowledge entered his brain but didn't stay.

Although his talent was strong, he had only a superficial understanding of martial arts, and the Tianshi Mansion was not good at martial arts.

He turned his head, and the miniature lens on his eye socket suddenly rotated and contracted.

The scene on the watchtower appeared in the lens.

Gongshu Tianyuan was stunned.

Because he found that Zhao Du'an was now unusually focused, as if completely immersed in a certain state.

Autumn leaves… leaves follow the wind…

Zhao Du'an squinted, watching this scene, and a picture suddenly flashed in his mind: Chai Keqiao standing under the ginkgo tree, catching falling leaves with his hands.

“Is he imitating ginkgo leaves?”

Zhao Du'an suddenly understood something, and circles of ripples faintly appeared in his heart.

It seemed that something was about to break through the soil, take root and sprout, but it was separated by a layer of obstacles.

Although incomparable, at this moment, he seemed to see Emperor Taizu performing martial arts in a dream.

For some reason, he had a strong urge to immediately contemplate and enter the Martial God Diagram.

Did this kid really get into it?

So fast?

Eunuch Hai glanced at him suspiciously, thinking that things were going wrong.

Don't be self-defeating and mess up the minds of the Martial Emperor City lineage. He suddenly opened his mouth and said:

“It seems that these two can't take him down.”

Zhao Du'an was awakened, and the strong urge in his heart to immediately go to the Martial God Diagram to verify something overwhelmed the joy of watching the battle.

He snorted coldly and said:

“Tell them not to play anymore, it's time to end it.”

Behind him, Zheng Laojiu took out a strange whistle from his arms, put it in his mouth, and blew it hard.

Far away.

On the blocked long street, the two men who were fighting with Chai Keqiao simultaneously retreated violently, opening a distance of several feet.

Panting, they adopted a defensive posture.

This battle had consumed a lot of their strength.

However… the goal had been achieved!

“It's time to end.”

The high wall of iron shields suddenly cracked open, and a tall military officer stepped onto the battlefield, holding a black iron spear wrapped with patterns.

The moment his military boots stepped on the standing water on the ground, the rainwater in the potholes was instantly evaporated.

Chai Keqiao, who had been exhausted by the joint efforts of the two strong men in the military, landed lightly like a fallen leaf and turned to look back.

In the next second, his body froze, locked by a series of Qi mechanisms.

His martial artist instinct told him that dodging in any direction would result in a fatal blow.

In the military formations on both sides, a strong man who had not yet taken action pulled out his weapon.

On the rooftop, silent crossbowmen adjusted their shooting angles, three people in each group, locking down a direction.

A net from the sky and the earth.

Chai Keqiao realized in his heart that this was the power of the Dayu military formation when it was really running.

Although martial artists are strong, they are like falling into a spider web quagmire, with nowhere to escape from the sky or the ground.

The only way is…

He pursed his lips, trying to hand out the axe forward.

In his pupils, he saw a military officer holding a spear suddenly approaching in an instant.

“Puff!”

Chai Keqiao only felt a sharp pain under his ribs. The spear pierced through the flesh on his waist, and his body was lifted up by the kinetic energy, heavily lying on his back on the street full of standing water and cold rain!

Blood stained his raincoat red.

The cold rain haphazardly beat on his face.

Chai Keqiao smiled at the corner of his mouth and said softly:

“Amazing.”

The tall military officer used his spear to pick off his hat, staring blankly at him from above, frowning:

“A madman from Martial Emperor City.”

Martial Emperor City is rich in martial arts fanatics. In his eyes, this was another one.

Thinking like this, challenging the Zhao Yamen alone seemed more like a means of actively attracting masters.

“Come on! Take this thief down and send him to Qian Shi Zhao for disposal!”

A soldier with a saber quickly approached.

Chai Keqiao didn't move. His injuries and exhaustion made him lose his ability to resist.

When he was dragged by the officers, he said with a strange look in his eyes:

“You… were sent by that Zhao Du'an… Where is he?”

The spear-wielding officer sneered:

“You are worthy to see General Zhao?”

With that, he turned and left.

Leaving four infantrymen, using shackles to imprison him, chains wrapped around his hands and feet, they forcibly carried Chai Keqiao on their shoulders, dragging him out of the long street.

… …

A moment later.

On the watchtower, Zhao Du'an, standing with his hands behind his back, quietly rubbed his eyebrows, only hearing the sound of footsteps quickly approaching below.

A military officer came upstairs, clasped his fists and cupped his hands:

“Reporting to General Zhao, the thief has been captured and awaits disposal!”

… …

Thank you to book friend “Eight Hundred Years Without Changing the Original Intention” for the 50,000 coin reward!!

Thank you to Four Seasons Like Spring in Other Lands for the hundred-reward support~