The First Lackey Under The Empress

The Battle of the Ages… The moment those four words arose, Zhao Du'an chuckled to himself.

Only the duel between Zhen Bao and Wu Xian Kui Ming next year could be considered worthy of the title "of the Ages."

As for today's martial arts competition in the Peach Garden, it was more like a footnote to the Battle of the Ages, but if it could be associated with a "Celestial Realm" martial arts competition, it would indeed be the greatest aspiration in the hearts of countless martial artists in the vast world.

"…Since that's the case, it's getting late, let's begin immediately."

After Xu Zhenguan finished her opening remarks, she calmly announced the start of the martial arts demonstration.

With that, she turned and walked towards a set of tables and chairs prepared by the servants not far away.

Xue Shence, Dong Xuan, and other spectators also followed, and even Zhao Du'an retreated to the vicinity of the Empress with a group of retainers.

Only Qi Ye and Song Jinxi remained in the arena.

"The first match, Green Mountain Swordsman Qi Ye, versus Yu Kingdom Retainer Song Jinxi!"

The commander of the Golden Guard, who had been pulled in to act as a "referee," announced loudly, then retreated, leaving the open space in the peach forest to the two of them.

Both were top-grade Divine Chapter cultivators. Qi Ye, with a black cloth covering his eyes, stood in place, "looking" at the retainer eunuch standing several feet away.

Song Jinxi's face was devoid of the usual flattery and smiles he wore in front of Zhao Du'an. His solemn demeanor was completely different from before.

He slowly unfastened the scabbard from his waist, holding it horizontally in front of his chest, left hand gripping the scabbard, right hand gripping the hilt:

"Please enlighten me."

Qi Ye also held his sword, called "Black Inkstone," horizontally, adopting the same stance:

"Alright."

So impolite? He's very confident… Zhao Du'an, standing in the crowd, raised his eyebrows, and then witnessed both of them drawing their swords simultaneously.

"Clang!"

Two sounds of swords being drawn rang out in the spring light, indistinguishable in time. Sword and blade, drawn simultaneously, Song Jinxi took the lead, taking a step forward, his figure abruptly disappearing with a "poof." Only a "shadow" on the ground could be glimpsed, moving at an extremely fast speed, like an underwater torpedo, attacking the motionless Qi Ye!

"Where is he? Where did he go?" Grand Tutor Dong was stunned, and the scholars behind him were also greatly surprised.

"Among the Martial God lineage, there is also the art of Shadow Concealment, but it is different from sorcerers. It is a ghostly footwork," Eunuch Hai explained faintly, adjusting the sleeves of his crimson python robe, adding:

"Song Jinxi is skilled in the Butterfly Blade technique, and has devoted himself to studying Shadow Concealment footwork for many years. He is a first-rate assassin."

As he spoke, behind Qi Ye, who was holding his sword, the hunchbacked eunuch suddenly appeared from a patch of shadow on the ground to his side. A flash of blade light, silent and swift, slashed towards the back of Qi Ye's neck.

However, the blade passed through empty air, only cutting through empty space. Qi Ye had already taken a step to the side and twisted his body a moment earlier, calmly thrusting out his long sword.

With a "ding," it struck the side of the blade, knocking Song Jinxi back several steps, who disappeared again with a "poof."

Next, Song Jinxi seemed to transform into a top assassin hidden in the shadows, suddenly lunging out from different angles each time, retreating after a single strike, while Qi Ye's response was extremely simple and unadorned, with only the two actions of "slash" and "thrust."

"Your Majesty, this daytime battle seems disadvantageous to Song Jinxi."

Although Mo Chou didn't understand cultivation, she also understood that assassins should hide in the shadows, like maggots on a bone, rather than engaging in open combat.

Xu Zhenguan maintained a majestic and noble posture, sitting upright on the carved dragon chair that had been brought out, her hands resting on the dragon head armrests, her expression calm.

"What Consort Mo said is true, but the martial arts that Qi Ye cultivates is the ultimate sword, seemingly calm and unperturbed, but his sword strikes are surprisingly destructive. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to break through over twenty armors with a single sword that day. With such a sharp sword, it's difficult for anyone in the same realm to be his opponent. Song Jinxi's footwork is extremely strong, and only by using evasive tactics can he dodge in time," Xue Shence, the top-ranking military general in the court, calmly analyzed.

Sure enough, Song Jinxi constantly relied on his footwork to evade, seizing opportunities to launch sneak attacks, while Qi Ye responded to all changes with constancy. Each time he struck with his sword, the sword's edge would split into fine black lines.

Finally, after another failed assassination, Song Jinxi failed to dodge in time. As his figure transitioned into the "shadow" state, he was grazed on the forearm by the sword energy. Instantly, blood gushed out, staining his sleeve red.

The retainer eunuch's expression changed, completely hiding in the darkness. Only clusters of shadows could be seen circling around Qi Ye, not knowing which was real and which was fake.

He hesitated to attack again, perhaps waiting for an excellent opportunity.

Qi Ye only stood still, holding his sword in one hand, his wrist trembling slightly, the blood on the sword's edge splashing a line of crimson blood on the ground.

In the tense atmosphere, within an hourglass on a table beside the Empress, fine sand flowed down second by second, signifying that the allotted time for this match was constantly decreasing.

Suddenly, Qi Ye's ears twitched slightly, even though his eyes were covered by a black cloth. Immediately, from a surging shadow to his side, Song Jinxi suddenly stood up, brandishing his blade upwards!

However, his blade abruptly stopped in mid-air, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

Because a snow-bright sword's edge had already arrived a step earlier, pressing against his throat.

"You've lost." Qi Ye calmly sheathed his sword, stepping towards Chai Keqiao and Xiao Ran, who were waiting not far away.

Song Jinxi knelt weakly on the ground, blood flowing down his arm, staining the hilt of his blade red.

The commander of the Golden Guard, acting as the referee, sighed:

"The victor has been decided!"

Scholars like Dong Xuan couldn't hide their disappointment, the retainers were in low spirits, but Xue Shence wasn't surprised at all.

"Your Majesty, this servant…" Song Jinxi walked weakly to the Empress's throne, kneeling on the ground.

Xu Zhenguan said calmly: "You have done your best, go and heal your wounds."

Song Jinxi was moved to tears of gratitude.

…

On the other side.

Qi Ye walked back to the group, saying:

"Weaker than expected, it's up to you guys next."

Xiao Ran, wearing a bamboo hat and using a thin thread to tighten her fair chin, coldly glanced at him, then cast her gaze towards the opposing retainers, saying in a low voice:

"That Zhao Du'an isn't carrying any weapons."

Chai Keqiao nodded, saying in a low voice: "Perhaps he doesn't plan to enter the arena."

Xiao Ran couldn't hide her disappointment, but wasn't surprised either: "A petty person."

She strode into the arena, casually drawing her soft sword, her black and white eyes indifferent and aloof:

"Who's coming?"

The group of retainers exchanged glances, as they didn't know the detailed list of those who would be fighting today.

"Miss Xiao, that's a strange thing to say. Didn't you and I agree to spar that day? Who are you looking for?" Suddenly, Zhao Du'an walked out of the crowd with his hands clasped behind his back, leisurely.

He wore a smile on his face, his hair swaying in the spring breeze, a stark contrast to the tense retainers around him.

"Young Protector Zhao? You're going to fight?"

"If I remember correctly, this Xiao Ran is a top-grade Divine Chapter cultivator… Has Young Protector Zhao already stepped into the top grade?"

"There's going to be a good show."

"Not good… Young Protector Zhao's cultivation time is still shallow, I'm afraid…"

The onlookers had different mindsets, but most were worried.

Even ordinary people like Dong Xuan understood that Zhao Du'an had "cheated" in the Buddhist-Taoist duel that day, borrowing the Taizu Emperor's sword to defeat Monk Tianhai.

Although several months had passed, Zhao Du'an rarely made a public move. His last encounter with Tang Zhao was also successful because he unexpectedly used a new spell.

Therefore, even though Zhao Du'an had repeatedly created miracles, it was still inevitable that people would look down on him.

"Your Majesty… he…" Mo Chou hesitated, looking towards the Empress, but saw that Xu Zhenguan's expression was still calm, seemingly unsurprised, equally making it difficult to guess her inner thoughts.

"You want to fight me?" Xiao Ran raised her eyebrows, extremely surprised.

Zhao Du'an smiled faintly: "Are you surprised?"

Xiao Ran suddenly laughed, but her smile was somewhat cold:

"Last time, you used numbers to force me to surrender. Today, no one can help you."

After a pause, she seemed to guess something, glancing at the latter's empty hands, undisguised disdain in her eyes:

"What? You didn't even bring a sword, are you planning to summon the Ta'a Sword again? No wonder you have such confidence."

Zhao Du'an shook his head very seriously, correcting:

"To defeat you, why would I need a sword?"

Why would he need a sword? Was he not planning to use the Taizu Emperor's relic? That's right, in this kind of sparring match, if he had to use it, even if he won, it would be an inglorious victory… The crowd wasn't too surprised.

"No, Young Protector Zhao said why would he need a sword, not why would he need the Ta'a," Scholar Han Zhou frowned, catching the wording.

The surrounding scholars also noticed it, but didn't pay attention:

"Perhaps he's just omitting the word Ta'a. When competing with a Green Mountain disciple, how could he be careless? Empty-handed?"

"Perhaps, Lord Zhao is referring to using a blade," some speculated that Zhao Du'an was playing a boring word game.

However, the next scene stunned everyone, including Xiao Ran.

Zhao Du'an simply placed one hand behind his back, slowly raising his right arm, gently slicing with his fingers together.

"Chii."

A section of peach wood branch, almost the length of a short sword, was cut off and fell down, which he casually grabbed in his palm.

Zhao Du'an lightly twirled his wrist, peach blossoms falling from the branch, leaving only a smooth wooden sword in his hand. He smiled, saying:

"This is enough."

Xiao Ran was stunned.

Xue Shence was stunned.

Eunuch Hai also raised his eyelids, revealing a hint of surprise, and then, as if guessing something, turned his head to look at the Yu Kingdom Empress, who was sitting in the main seat, watching the battle with a blank expression.

A low exclamation arose from the crowd. No one had anticipated this scene, and Chai Keqiao, on the Green Mountain side, was stunned, but seemed to understand.

"He wants to prove himself."

"What?" Qi Ye hugged his sword, his posture cold, turning his head to suspiciously "look" at him.

Chai Keqiao narrowed his eyes, explaining in a low voice:

"Isn't it generally believed in the martial world that his martial arts are mediocre, and that he's only gaining fame and reputation by relying on the Taizu Emperor's divine weapon? Therefore, today, he simply won't use any swords or blades, only using an ordinary peach wood branch as a weapon."

Qi Ye frowned tightly:

"Is this person crazy? He used all his means a few days ago, but couldn't defeat Xiao Ran. Does he think he can reverse the situation like this? Unless he's planning to use some magic tools."

Chai Keqiao shook his head:

"If he borrows external objects, then this action of breaking off a peach blossom to make a sword will be meaningless. Xiao Ran is probably in danger. Perhaps we underestimated him."

Qi Ye shook his head, saying: "You overestimate him too much. Martial arts cultivation isn't power, it can't be achieved quickly. Is he worthy?"

…

In the arena.

Xiao Ran's face gradually darkened. Her eyes were icy cold:

"Don't regret it."

Zhao Du'an smiled, saying:

"I have many terrible habits, but one of my few advantages is that I never regret my decisions."

Xiao Ran laughed. At this moment, she was too lazy to waste any more words, taking a step forward without warning.

"Bang!"

The girl's boots lightly touched the spring grass, but emitted a heavy roar. Listening carefully, one would discover that it was the roar of the pure qi within her qi sea.

Xiao Ran's body shot out like an arrow, leaving a trail of afterimages. In an instant, she was upon Zhao Dou'an, the slender sword in her hand flickering with a cold light like a venomous snake.

Xiao Ran attacked without holding back, a full-force strike. The sword's edge nearly tore through the air with a sonic boom. In her mind, this strike would be enough to defeat this loathsome lackey of the Empress and avenge her capture.

"Careful—"

Someone cried out in alarm.

The sword was too fast, too swift. Song Jinxi, standing among the crowd, felt cold sweat bead on his forehead. He reckoned that even with his footwork, it would be difficult to completely evade this strike.

Was Lord Zhao about to be defeated just like that?

The thought involuntarily arose, but then they saw Zhao Dou'an's figure suddenly fall backward, his body almost parallel to the ground. The peach branch in his hand slid in an exaggerated arc through the dirt. He stuck to the ground in a way that defied the laws of physics, passing by Xiao Ran, who had leaped forward to deliver her thrust.

"He dodged it?!"

Xiao Ran's pupils dilated in shock. A great sense of astonishment rose in her heart. Clearly, just half a month ago, this guy's footwork was still far inferior to hers.

With no time to think, Xiao Ran's sword missed its mark. Her slender waist twisted in mid-air, her body spinning like a millstone, forcibly turning around. In a "returning spear" stance, she slashed the remaining force of the sword backward.

Zhao Dou'an slammed his left hand heavily on the ground behind his waist, using the force to stand upright. The peach wood branch in his hand swiftly thrust out.

With a "ting," it struck the weak point of the slender sword.

Hai Gonggong's eyes lit up. With his keen eyesight, he naturally saw that within that seemingly single "ting," there were actually twelve collisions.

In a split second, Zhao Dou'an had thrust out twelve swords, each strike deflecting and attacking, weakening Xiao Ran's strike by ninety percent. However, because it was too fast, the sounds merged into one.

As a price, even with the glow enveloping it, the ordinary peach wood branch was still unable to bear the weight and shattered into countless pieces.

However, Zhao Dou'an didn't panic. He tapped the ground with his toes and, while retreating like a large bird, reached out and cut off another new branch from a peach tree beside him.

The peach garden had no shortage of peach wood, which was also his inexhaustible armory.

"Is this the level of martial arts he possesses?"

Even Chai Keqiao, who was mentally prepared, was still taken aback.

Qi Ye's expression also visibly froze. Relying on his exceptionally keen hearing, he more clearly captured the subtlety of the twelve sword strikes in that instant.

The Great Yu's "Divine General," Xue Shence, was also stunned. He looked deeply at Zhao Dou'an in the field and murmured:

"Could it be the Peach Blossom Divine Sword that has long been lost… Legend has it that the Emperor Taizu created it in his early years and it was not included in the Martial God inheritance…"

No, the key is not the swordplay, but the basic skills of martial arts.

What Zhao Dou'an had just displayed—the solid and astonishing reaction, speed, footwork, and the resolution of Xiao Ran's sword strike—were definitely not something that ordinary Divine Seal Realm or even Worldly Realm experts could possess.

Moreover, Xue Shence, as a strongman in the military, could discern that Zhao Dou'an's martial arts style was not like that of a Jianghu person but more like…

…something that could only be learned in life-and-death struggles.

He was not mistaken. Zhao Dou'an's original martial arts foundation was indeed mediocre, but in the past six months, countless nights, he had repeatedly tried to enter the broken temple in the painting within the 'Six Chapters Classic,' and repeatedly fought with the former number one female sorcerer in the world… To be precise, he was being killed…

The sparring partners of Song Jinxi and other enshrined experts were nothing more than ordinary experts in the painting, while Zhao Dou'an's sparring partner was a hidden boss…

Therefore, although he seemed to wander around all day, handling cases and arresting people at every turn, without cultivating, his growth was extremely rapid.

This was also the special feature of the "Martial God" inheritance, just like Xu Zhenguan back then, who had been studying and cultivating in the palace for many years, but could hone his martial arts countless times in the Martial God picture scroll, which led to his demeanor of breaking through a thousand troops with a sword during the Xuanmen Coup.

And at this moment, the most astonished person was actually Xiao Ran, who was fighting against Zhao Dou'an.

After only a few short rounds, she suddenly realized that she had been deceived!

In the battle outside the Cold Palace half a month ago, the Zhao fellow didn't use his full strength at all, but was frantically hiding his true abilities!

This led to her completely distorted judgment of his strength! Moreover, in several collisions, she also confirmed that Zhao Dou'an had indeed entered the "High Grade." Although he had not accumulated it for as long as she had, he was ultimately at the same level, and their cultivation was similar.

And what surprised her even more was Zhao Dou'an's control over his Qi, which was completely different from the wastefulness he had shown when breaking the armor half a month ago.

Now, even if he was not as good as Qi Ye, his control and conservation of internal force was no worse than hers…

"Hiding! Hiding! This thief is indeed insidious and cunning! When he broke the armor that day, he deliberately misled us… deliberately making us mistakenly believe that he relied on accumulating internal force to break the armor… so we would underestimate him…"

Xiao Ran cursed inwardly.

However, if she knew that Zhao Dou'an had not deceived her half a month ago, but had improved by diligently practicing the "Peach Blossom Sword Technique" for half a month… she would probably be even more devastated.

"Clang, clang, clang…"

At this moment, the two had already exchanged hundreds of blows. Xiao Ran changed her defensive posture from that day and fought extremely fiercely, launching fierce attacks repeatedly.

But all of them were resolved by Zhao Dou'an with his brilliant martial arts. Every time the peach wood branch in his hand broke, he would casually replace it with a new one. The two had tangled for hundreds of rounds, and he didn't lose any ground at all.

The more Xiao Ran fought, the more frightened and annoyed she became.

Because she realized that Zhao Dou'an had only been using martial arts to entangle with her until now, and the "Martial God" path could also cultivate "Spells!"

The combination of the two was by no means a simple one plus one.

Therefore, in order not to give Zhao Dou'an a chance to use spells, she could only attack frantically, forcing Zhao Dou'an to deal with it exhaustedly, without time to be distracted.

However, as Zhao Dou'an adapted to her offensive rhythm, Xiao Ran's pressure suddenly increased. Her eyes turned fierce, and she suddenly changed her sword technique.

Her figure rolled in a circle in mid-air, and the soft sword, as thin as a cicada's wing, propped itself on the ground, bending like a bow, and then suddenly straightened.

"Boom—"

A layer upon layer of turbulent white energy shot out from the sword's body, approaching Zhao Dou'an in a straight line along the ground.

Wherever it passed, the ground burst open with clusters of smoke and dust.

Zhao Dou'an spread his arms flat, like a large bird returning to the forest, and retreated violently. The tip of his boots lightly touched the ground, and the sword energy bursting from the front of his toes chased closely.

He kept retreating into the peach forest before slowly stepping down and extinguishing the exhausted sword energy.

"Miss Xiao, also taste this official's Peach Blossom Divine Sword!"

Zhao Dou'an laughed loudly, and as his arms spread out, his ten fingers opened and suddenly grabbed!

"Chi chi—"

The branches of the peach trees on both sides fell one after another. For a time, the fallen petals were colorful. The spring breeze blew through the peach forest, scattering several kilograms of peach blossoms.

In the astonished eyes of the crowd, one peach wood sword after another floated in the air around Zhao Dou'an, pulled by invisible Qi, like countless crossbow arrows about to be fired.

"Go!"

Zhao Dou'an's body was like an iron bow, and his arms pushed forward!

Dozens of peach wood swords turned into a rain of arrows in the sky, stabbing towards Xiao Ran's head.

Xiao Ran's expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly switched to a defensive sword technique. The soft sword in her hand shook out sword flowers, clanging and clanging, resisting the rain of arrows, and peach wood branches fell one by one.

At this moment, Zhao Dou'an gently picked up a new peach blossom branch, slowly spread his legs, and closed his eyes slightly.

"Swish, swish, swish…"

The wind rose.

The countless peach blossoms scattered on the ground were like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, wrapped in the spring breeze, rotating around Zhao Dou'an as the center.

The peach blossoms were like a tornado.

Vast and boundless.

In a trance, Zhao Dou'an seemed to have returned to the Buddhist and Taoist competition arena last year. As a whole set of "Peach Blossom Sword Technique" was practiced layer by layer, superimposing the internal force in the Qi Sea to the peak, Zhao Dou'an calmly handed out the peach wood as a sword to Xiao Ran from the air:

"One sword, Opening the Sky."

Boom—

The sky full of peach blossoms was like the sea being split open, rolling towards both sides, and the peach wood branch turned into powder in the devastating sword energy.

Xiao Ran, who had cut down the last "arrow," seemed to have regained her senses. She only had time to put on a defensive sword move in a hurry, and her body was like being hit by a galloping train. Her feet left the ground, soared into the air, and fell backward.

While in the air, the soft sword came out of her hand and pierced into the ground halfway with a "chi" sound.

The hat on her head split in the middle, and with a "bang," it exploded into two halves, and the black hair tied up on her head also scattered.

"Peng!"

Xiao Ran fell heavily on the ground, her throat tasted fishy, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

She tried her best to get up, but saw that a figure had approached above her head, casting a large shadow on her face, blocking the sunlight.

Zhao Dou'an stood with his hands behind his back, overlooking the girl lying on the ground, smiled, and said:

"You lost."

The spring breeze blew through the peach garden.

There was a silence.

Chai Keqiao was expressionless, just clenched the ax handle.

Qi Ye looked blank, and the posture of holding the sword to his chest could no longer be maintained.

Xue Shence's pupils narrowed, and the surprise in his eyes was extremely strong.

Grand Tutor Dong didn't understand the others, but he finally let out a sigh of relief after holding his breath for a long time.

Hai Gonggong sighed in admiration, dazed, and seemed to be distracted.

The enshrined eunuchs of the Martial Arts Hall, as well as the nearby leaders of the Imperial Guards, were also dumbfounded.

Opening the Sky!

In the Buddhist and Taoist competition, the sword that Zhao Dou'an had used once again appeared, and simply and neatly defeated the highly regarded disciple of Green Mountain.

And this time, he didn't have the Tai'a Sword in his hand, not even a knife or sword, only a peach wood branch that could be seen everywhere.

In everyone's ears, they invariably recalled what Zhao Dou'an had said before the competition:

"To defeat you, why use a sword?"

Yes.

Why use a sword?

Only before this, almost no one present took this sentence seriously, and more understood it as a provocation to release harsh words before the war.

But who would have thought that Lord Zhao would actually do it?

"When did his martial arts become so powerful…"

Mo Chou stared blankly at the scene in the field, then subconsciously turned her head and looked at the Empress beside her.

But she saw that Xu Zhenguan, sitting on the dragon chair, had a smile on her lips, a smile that was enchanting, on her peerless face that should not exist in the world, and had no expression other than majesty since entering the peach garden.

Enough to captivate a nation.

……

Please help me catch any typos.