The First Lackey Under The Empress

Rumbling sounds echoed as a "city wall" suddenly rose from the river surface, deflecting the dense rain of arrows, scattering them in all directions.

Remember the original website domain name 𝚝 𝕨 𝕜 𝕒 𝕟 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

This spectacular sight immediately silenced the exclamations of surprise, turning them into expressions of astonishment and awe.

Zhao Du'an, leaning on the railing on the deck, watched the rolling water wall surge endlessly. Three rounds of volleys were fired, yet not a single arrow could breach this "shield" formed of condensed river water.

"So this is the 'King of Hell Zhao' from the capital, indeed as rumored."

On the third floor of the warship, a middle-aged martial artist standing beside Xu Jinglong spoke in a cold voice:

"I don't care whose treasure armor it is; since it's on you, you'd better obediently offer it up with both hands."

After a pause, his voice turned threatening, and his gray eyes revealed a fierce glint:

"That official robe of yours might fool others, but I don't care for it in the slightest."

Zhao Du'an finally looked at Duan Shuiliu, the short, small Senior Disciple of Green Mountain whose martial arts had reached a profound level. He smiled slightly and shook his head:

"I have always been a very pragmatic person, but unfortunately, this time I am here on behalf of His Majesty. It doesn't matter if you, a brute, provoke me, but you shouldn't provoke the imperial court."

After saying this, he waved his hand to stop the soldiers who were still drawing their bows and aiming, and glanced at a corner of the deck, saying:

"Why haven't you made your move yet? What are you waiting for?"

Throughout the journey, he had been taking advantage of this opportunity to assess the quality of these two guards.

The moment his words fell, Lang Shisan, whose black hair covered one eye and who was sitting cross-legged in a green robe, suddenly tilted his head back, pouring a bowl of "Burning Blade" liquor down his throat.

Then, with a "smack," the ceramic bowl in his hand shattered into pieces. He suddenly stood up, and as he stepped forward, the huge green-skinned wine gourd beside him swayed like a tumbler.

Lang Shisan's right hand also quietly gripped the hilt of his saber.

The saber lying across the knife-wielding man's knees was not long, one could even say it was short.

Its design was not in the Central Plains style, but rather a "curved saber" style that had been introduced from the Western Regions.

The curved saber was wrapped in a brown leather sheath, and since leaving the capital, Zhao Du'an had never seen him draw it.

"Yes!"

Lang Shisan spat out a single, concise word, lowered his waist, and bent his knees. The deck beneath his feet emitted a "creak" of unbearable strain.

Then, the drunken saber wielder shot out like a cannonball, flying fiercely towards the towering "city wall" that was rumbling on the river surface.

At the same time, the red-clothed female ghost Ji Yue also silently stepped off the deck.

As her small legs landed, her red skirt was blown against the wind, like a spreading red flower, revealing pale, bloodless skin.

The river water beneath her spontaneously spread out in a vortex, and in the blink of an eye, she had submerged into the river, with only a mass of seaweed-like black hair floating underwater.

"Kid, didn't you just ask about the origins of these two people?"

Eunuch Hai's voice suddenly entered Zhao Du'an's mind.

He looked in surprise at the old servant beside him, who was not wearing a python robe and whose appearance had long been forgotten by the people of the Jianghu because he had disappeared for too many years, and was therefore ignored by Duan Shuiliu.

He found that he was looking ahead with a look of emotion, but his lips were not moving.

It was actually using the "Secret Sound Transmission" method, using divine thoughts to speak to him.

It could say many words in a very short moment.

Eunuch Hai recalled:

"This Lang Shisan, indeed as you guessed, once served in the military. At that time, he already possessed extraordinary martial arts skills. He was a military advisor in Jubei City. He was particularly skilled in saber techniques and had once studied under an old saber wielder from the Western Regions. He also integrated it with Central Plains martial arts, creating his own unique style. He once had the nickname 'Blood Saber of the Northern Lands' and was considered a notable figure in the army.

During one of his outings, another general in the same army, after drinking, defiled his wife, and after sobering up, worried about being exposed, threw his wife into a well.

After this man returned to Jubei City and learned of the news, he was furious and rushed into the camp, personally killing his comrade-in-arms, and also killing all the officers who tried to stop him, and even killing many people in the army who had helped conceal the matter…"

"After the murders, he knew that he had violated military law and had no way to survive, so he fled, killing several rounds of government soldiers who came to arrest him along the way. Finally, he fell down seriously injured, but was unexpectedly secretly captured by the Shadow Guards at that time.

At that time, the Crown Prince had gradually taken over the Shadow Guards. After learning about this person's experience, he secretly rescued him.

Because he had killed too many people, it was impossible to reappear with his true face, so he simply secretly raised him in the back lake and became the Crown Prince's death warrior. He was even blessed by misfortune, breaking through the realm and stepping into the world… After the Crown Prince's death, he became loyal to His Majesty in turn."

Zhao Du'an was taken aback, never expecting such a story. He asked curiously:

"Then what about Ji Yue? Was she also rescued? It doesn't seem like it. I see shackles on her…"

Eunuch Hai said leisurely:

"This little girl was originally a traitor from a certain sect on the Thousand Islands of the East Sea. Heh, when the late Emperor was old, he sent people everywhere to look for natural treasures to prolong his life. A fleet went to the East Sea and ran into this woman. At that time, there was a battle, and the imperial court lost some people before they captured her alive.

They originally wanted to use her life as a bargaining chip to coerce the people outside the island to hand over good things, but they did not want to usher in a fierce counterattack, and only then did they know that this woman was a traitor…

Later, they simply brought her back to the capital to report for duty and imprisoned her in the back lake. Since she had nowhere to go, she also served the imperial court."

Is that so…

Zhao Du'an muttered, listening to people with stories.

…

"Blood Saber of the Northern Lands? He's not dead?"

On the warship, the commander of Xu Jinglong's private army was shocked and recognized the identity of the saber wielder who was attacking against the current.

Xu Jinglong didn't care about any Blood Saber, he gripped the railing with both hands and stared at the battlefield.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lang Shisan flew out of the official ship, and in mid-air, he put his hands in front of him and suddenly drew his saber!

A stream of bright silver like moonlight flowed from the saber sheath.

Lang Shisan held a sharp curved saber in his hand, his black hair dancing wildly in the wind. He let out a low roar, actually making a lion's roar.

He swept the saber horizontally!

"Boom!!"

In an instant, the water wall, which was dozens of feet high, was suddenly broken and collapsed under this saber, like the withered and yellow weeds of the northern winter being cut off together.

"Ah!" Amidst the exclamations of men and women on the warship, Lang Shisan tore open the water wall with one saber and directly slashed vertically in the air with the curved saber in his hand.

A light slash!

Suddenly, a violent aura wrapped the curved saber and extended a three-zhang scarlet saber aura!

A saber wielder in the World Realm can perfectly control the saber aura to transform into Gang, making it like a substance, even harder than weapons forged from refined steel.

The saber aura, which had been tempered by countless battles in the cold wind of the northern lands, brought a bone-chilling coldness as soon as it appeared in the world.

Before the person arrived, the saber aura had already extended with great momentum, heading straight towards Duan Shuiliu!

"Hmph." Duan Shuiliu showed disdain, but after all, he was worried that the aftermath would hurt the young master behind him. His short and sturdy body stepped forward, blocking in front of Xu Jinglong, and his hunting gray robe suddenly spread out.

This contemporary chief disciple of Green Mountain had no weapons in his hands; his hands were his weapons.

Duan Shuiliu stretched out two fingers like lightning, and as if lifting something heavy with ease, he forcibly clamped the saber light, which was almost scarlet!

"What Blood Saber of the Northern Lands? Seeking fame and reputation, sensationalizing and catering to the public."

Duan Shuiliu was condescending and extremely indifferent.

With just a slight twist of his wrist, the scarlet saber aura, like frozen flames, let out a "creak" of metallic wail.

In the next moment, with several bangs, it was actually broken by him!

Duan Shuiliu didn't stop. After breaking the tip of the saber's aura, he clenched his fist with one hand, pulled his elbow back, and then punched out. He actually used his fist to smash directly onto the three-zhang saber aura.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

Duan Shuiliu's punch was like a bamboo splitting, destroying the saber energy section by section. Lang Shiba's heart trembled, and his body, defying inertia, forcefully borrowed strength to retreat. Each time a section was destroyed, a new section was sprayed out to replenish it.

In the blink of an eye, with one advancing and one retreating, Duan Shuiliu had already left the warship and arrived in the spacious sky above the center of the river.

"Now!"

Lang Shiba suddenly roared.

Below the two of them, in the depths of the icy river water, Ji Yue, like a mass of blood, suddenly stretched out her body like a mermaid, raising her bloodless face.

Behind her head, black hair floated like seaweed. Beneath her faint eyebrows, a pair of "white eyes," almost filled with the whites of her eyes, stared lifelessly at the bright surface of the water above.

Ji Yue formed a hand seal with both hands, her lips moving as she chanted a spell in the water.

The river surface within a mile radius seemed to boil, and accompanied by a deep, mournful sound like that of a giant whale in the deep sea, the river surface exploded into clusters of waves.

Vast amounts of river water surged up, vaguely coalescing into a "water snake" even larger than the official ship.

Amidst the churning waves, the water snake suddenly leaped up and crashed towards Duan Shuiliu in mid-air!

At this moment, Zhao Du'an, standing on the deck, had the illusion of witnessing a giant whale leaping out of the water.

"A water shaman?" Duan Shuiliu, with his square face, large nose, and gray eyes, raised his eyebrows slightly. The fist that was attacking Lang Shiba remained still, while his other hand formed a palm-blade shape.

He fearlessly slashed towards the huge water snake!

"Woo—"

A faint sound of weeping echoed between heaven and earth. A golden thread appeared on the water snake's forehead, and then it was split in two as if by a sharp blade, crashing into the river water along Duan Shuiliu's sides.

Ji Yue, underwater, changed her hand seal.

The split water snake simply divided into two, turning into two smaller snakes, circling around the two of them, alternately spitting out violent water arrows.

Lang Shiba released his saber aura, his drunkenness replaced by a clear gaze, and plunged downwards. A water snake rose up beneath his feet, lifting him and turning him around in the air.

The bright scimitar suddenly became as violent as a storm, slashing towards Duan Shuiliu.

Duan Shuiliu faced two enemies alone, standing in the air, moving as if walking a stake.

Each time he took a step, a splash of water exploded beneath his feet. With one fist and one palm, he used his palm-blade to clash with the scimitar and his fist to strike Ji Yue.

Although it was a pair of flesh palms, they clashed with the scimitar, emitting a metallic thunder. The rebounding force made Lang Shiba's tiger's mouth numb, and cracks appeared.

Occasionally, he would suddenly hammer a fist downwards, and the force of the punch would plunge into the river water. Ji Yue, lurking underwater, was like a wild goose shot by an arrow, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and submerging even deeper.

Fighting two against one, he was still undeniably in the upper hand.

Everyone could see that if this continued, Duan Shuiliu would likely break through their encirclement, and stepping onto the official ship would only be a matter of time.

… …

"Good, as expected of the eldest disciple of Green Mountain, the disciple of a Martial Emperor Grandmaster," Xu Jinglong laughed.

Upstairs, those men and women, though mostly wealthy, had never had the opportunity to see such a battle.

Each of them stared with wide eyes.

The men were filled with excitement, the women were captivated, and some bit their lips worriedly, whispering:

"Now that Young Master Zhao from the capital is in trouble. Could it be that he really has to offer up that treasure armor?"

In their opinion, although Zhao Du'an was highly sought after, having these two experts of the Mortal Realm as guards was already a very high standard.

How many Mortal Realm experts were there in the entire Da Yu Dynasty? You could count them on your fingers.

And how many were willing to sell their lives to the imperial dogs?

Including Xu Jinglong, they did not know how many experts Zhao Du'an had brought with him on this trip.

Even more so, they did not recognize Hai Gongfeng, who had been hidden in the deep palace for too many years and whose true appearance had only been witnessed by a few, standing next to Zhao Du'an.

Or rather, one of Xu Jinglong's hidden purposes for deliberately coming to cause trouble today was to probe Zhao Du'an's background.

To see how many experts he had brought with him and how many trump cards he had hidden.

"It seems that you are not as favored as this young master imagined," Xu Jinglong said softly, then raised his voice, laughing loudly as he looked down, saying:

"Zhao Du'an, it seems that your guards won't last much longer. This young master advises you to quickly hand over the treasure armor. This young master has some friendship with Senior Duan Shuiliu, and perhaps I can say a few good words for you, so as not to get injured before even landing ashore, hahaha."

He was refreshed, feeling the pleasure of venting the pent-up frustration from earlier.

The Jingwang Mansion's private soldiers also lowered their guard, leisurely watching this battle between experts.

When facing elite infantry, even Heaven-Human Realm experts would be limited to killing a hundred men at most, as their internal energy and mana would be exhausted. As long as they fought to the death without retreating, even a thousand troops and ten thousand horses could exhaust a god to death.

Zhao Du'an still had hundreds of elite soldiers beside him. Once Duan Shuiliu defeated Lang Shiba and Ji Yue, his internal strength would also be greatly depleted, making it difficult to kill Zhao Du'an.

But if the Jingwang Mansion's troops were to attack together, they would have a chance to kill him on the river.

Should he kill him? Xu Jinglong couldn't help but have this thought, but he quickly extinguished it.

The time was not yet ripe, and besides, he couldn't decide such a major matter. Only the Prince of Jing could give the order.

"Lord…"

On the official ship, listening to the laughter coming from the opposite side, Hou Renmeng and the others looked ugly and were restless, once again having the urge to fire arrows together.

However, Lang Shiba and Duan Shuiliu were intertwined, and they were worried about accidentally injuring them.

Haitang looked at her great-grandfather beside her without saying a word.

Zhao Du'an marveled and said in a low voice:

"This Duan Shuiliu is a bit strong, ah. Can't even block this?"

The old Gongfeng was not surprised and said with a smile:

"The eldest disciple from Green Mountain, if he could be defeated by these two guards of yours, then Wu Xiankui might as well kill himself. Where would he get the confidence to compare with our imperial family's 'Martial God' lineage?"

Zhao Du'an clicked his tongue, finding it amusing.

The Emperor, as the emperor, should have been called "Martial Emperor," while Wu Xiankui, as a Jianghu cultivator, should have been called "Martial God."

But in fact, it was reversed.

He sighed, "I've almost figured out this guy's strength. Well, assuming he's not hiding anything. Gonggong…"

The old Gongfeng smiled and said:

"It's time for this old servant to stretch his muscles. How about borrowing the Frostfall Sword from your waist? Hehe, I'm old. If this old servant were younger, I wouldn't need a weapon to beat up this Duan Shuiliu."

Zhao Du'an looked admiringly and offered the Frostfall Sword from his waist with both hands.

Hai Chunlin, who had once shaken the Jianghu and disappeared for sixty years, representing the Da Yu imperial family in the past century, accepting the challenge from Martial Emperor City, and once stepped into the Pseudo-Heaven-Human Realm at his peak, drew his sword and lightly flicked the blade.

"Buzz!"

The sword hummed, and the temperature between heaven and earth suddenly dropped, as if falling into the dead of winter!

Hai Chunlin delivered a sword, smiling as he recited the name of his famous skill:

"Martial Examination Slash."

Something came up, only four thousand words today, I will update more words tomorrow to make up for it, welcome to supervise.