The First Lackey Under The Empress

"Da da..."

On the desolate road paved with yellow mud, a team of mounted assassins advanced towards the center of the gathering dark clouds.

Remember the original website domain name 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞

This team, dispatched by the Mu Royal Palace to assassinate the Empress, was composed of warlocks and martial artists.

The former were all clad in white, hooded, with a mourning staff slung across their backs, and a palm-sized coffin tied to their waists with worn hemp rope—clearly, they were of the same lineage as the white-robed old warlock who had cursed Zhao Du'an back then.

The latter were retainers and death warriors whom Prince Mu had been recruiting from the pugilistic world and keeping in his mansion for many years.

"Stop!"

The "leader" of the team was a family general from the private army of Prince Mu's mansion.

At this moment, he abruptly reined in his horse, staring ahead as if facing a formidable enemy.

Beside the road ahead, a stone tablet was planted in the soil, square in shape, made of bluestone, with the words "Hundred Flowers" engraved on it.

It was a "boundary marker" commonly seen in various places of the Yu Kingdom.

But at this moment, a woman wearing a plain Taoist robe, with pure white cuffs, and a delicate and refined appearance, was sitting cross-legged on top of the bluestone boundary marker.

"Everyone, halt." Yu Xiu's eyebrows were calm as she met the group's gaze.

"Divine Official Yu Xiu?" The Wangfu family general's expression changed slightly, unexpectedly recognizing Yu Xiu's identity, greatly surprised:

"Why is the Divine Official here? And why are you blocking us? Could it be that the Celestial Master's Mansion intends to interfere in mortal affairs?"

The woman, who seemed only suitable to be described as "gentle," slowly raised her hand, pointed to the white-robed warlocks in the team who were mentally strained, and said with a sneer:

"I have no connection with you, but it is the righteous duty of my Celestial Master's Mansion to eradicate heretical warlocks. I haven't even asked you why you are walking alongside heretical warlocks, yet you are questioning me instead?"

The Wangfu family general was speechless. He almost forgot that the White Robe Sect was an object of righteous extermination because they believed in the "God of Mourning."

Even if he had rebelled, Prince Mu could never publicly admit to having connections with heretical warlock sects.

"Nothing to say? Then leave." Yu Xiu said.

The Wangfu family general said in a deep voice, "What if we don't retreat? What will the Divine Official do?"

A hint of azure coldness flashed in Yu Xiu's eyes, and the azure jade flying sword tied with gold thread around her slender waist flew out silently.

In a flash of lightning, it passed through the team.

Immediately, dozens of horse legs were severed simultaneously, and amidst the mournful cries of the warhorses, the warlocks and martial artists on horseback cried out and fell.

Yu Xiu stretched out a hand from her wide, white sleeve, gently pinched the returning azure jade flying sword with her five fingers, and said in a calm tone:

"The next time I draw my sword, it won't just be horse legs I'll be cutting."

The hearts of the martial arts experts were filled with trepidation, and the white-robed warlocks were also on high alert, turning their heads to look at the family general.

The latter gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and waved it forcefully:

"Leave the warlocks to hold her back, the rest of you follow me into the village! She's only one person!"

One by one, the white-robed warlocks waved their mourning sticks, and in an instant, a gloomy wind arose, and a thin mist gushed out along the ground, and illusory ghosts drilled out, baring their "fangs" at Yu Xiu, who was sitting cross-legged on the stone tablet.

The White Robe Sect worshiped the "God of Mourning," whose authority was similar to that of the "God of the Underworld," and could also summon Yin spirits to fight.

A white-robed warlock stepped forward:

"Curse!"

Circles of obscure halos rippled, Yu Xiu frowned, her natal star rapidly dimmed, her luck plummeted, she was entangled by many negative states, and her cultivation also declined for no apparent reason.

As a price, a group of warlocks stood still, rooted to the earth, confronting her.

"How annoying..."

Yu Xiu was annoyed, she hated these evil god believers' disgusting spells the most, but they happened to be effective against her.

The family general also left a few Jianghu people, and outflanked Yu Xiu from left and right, not seeking to kill, but only to hold her back.

Create an opportunity for the Mu Wangfu family general to break through.

...

...

"The trash coming from the front is from the Fashen Sect."

Gongshu Tianyuan put the "telescope" against his eye socket, propped up his little mung bean-sized eyeballs, and gritted his teeth.

The Celestial Master's Mansion and the Fashen Sect have a deep connection, and it belongs to the kind of relationship where they meet in the wild, and even if they lose their red name and drop a level, they have to fight you to the death.

"Are there many of them?" Jin Jian only cares about the number of people.

She was holding a staff, and at the top of the weapon, a single eye was twisting restlessly, but rarely did not look at the enemy, but looked back at the center of the sea of ​​flowers behind her.

"There are quite a few... Huh, they are decreasing, the number of these people is decreasing. Strange."

Gongshu Tianyuan was surprised and put down the "telescope", his fat face was covered with solemnity:

"I'm afraid the other party has also noticed us and avoided it in advance."

There were as many as twenty or so Fashen Sect warlocks pouring in on the road in the distance, and the leader was actually a wretched old Taoist.

His dirty robe was bulging, and he was followed by old acquaintances on the left and right.

The bodybuilder warlock "Xiongba" is tall and burly, as strong as a bear.

And, carrying a ghost banner, a gloomy little fat man.

"It's not good, the one in front is the Zhu Dian boy of this generation of Celestial Master's Mansion!"

A warlock with silver hairlike beams protruding from his eyes exclaimed.

Celestial Master's Mansion?

The hearts of the warlocks sank, this was an accident that was not mentioned in the intelligence.

"I can't control that much anymore, I have a hunch that if I can't stop what will happen in front of me in time, even if we turn around on the spot, we won't be able to escape."

The thin and skinny hands of the wretched old Taoist trembled slightly, his lips were pale, and he said, staring at the divine dragon looming in the sky, his heart was suppressed.

Some bad changes must have happened in front, although he can't think of what is happening specifically.

Why does it feel like the current celestial phenomenon is quite similar to the Fengchan in Luoshan in the past?

But Baihua Village is not Luoshan, and the severely injured and defeated Empress, whose dragon energy has collapsed, can never reach the peak so quickly.

"Xiongba, Little Fatty, you take half of the people and use this talisman to bypass them. I will take the rest of the people to hold them back." The wretched old Taoist spread out his dirty hands, and a purple talisman paper lay in his palm.

The Fashen Sect warlocks immediately divided into two groups, half of them tore open the talisman paper, and their bodies were wiped away little by little, and the remaining team walked to the front of Jin Jian and Gongshu Tianyuan and stopped.

No nonsense.

The wretched old Taoist unbuttoned his pants...no, unbuttoned his robe, and the colorful, flag-like talisman papers pasted on both sides of the robe's lining shot at the two divine officials like arrows:

"Hold these two!"

The rest of the warlocks chanted spells in unison, and a series of magic light balls roared and "swallowed" the two of them.

...

...

In the courtyard of a country house, in an outdoor bath dug out in the yard.

With Zhao Du'an's low roar, everything calmed down.

A long time.

He crawled out of the bath, sat on the shore, and looked down at the Empress in the pool, almost paralyzed on the pool wall, twitching slightly.

"Swish swish-"

Clear water poured out from the mouth of a stone-carved Pixiu in a corner of the bath, endlessly pouring into the bath.

"The movement is a bit loud."

Zhao Du'an was as holy as a Buddha after the fact, raised his head and looked at the sky above the courtyard patio, dark clouds were dense, lightning and thunder were thundering, and he clicked his tongue:

"It's so exaggerated, as long as the pursuers are not blind, they don't need to ask to know that Your Majesty is here, if Your Majesty can't cross that level again, I will be powerless for a while."

"Hmm..." Xu Zhenguan lazily turned over, closed her eyes, crossed her legs in the water, and said softly, "Get out."

You throw it away after you use it, right, okay, as expected, the most ruthless is the imperial family... Zhao Du'an curled his lips, but the corners of his mouth raised, knowing that Zhenbao's words were tantamount to showing that this time was really going to happen.

The difficulty of advancing to Tianren is higher than expected, and the two have hardly dared to slack off these days, and their style of doing things has become more and more bold.

Every place in the entire house has become a place for cultivation.

As Zhenbao gets closer to Tianren, she obviously becomes more radiant, her skin is white and red, and delicate like a baby.

Zhao Du'an, even with the recovery plug-in like Qinglian, is still gradually defeated.

At this moment, he walked ashore, operated his qi to evaporate the water droplets on his body, and put on the coat hanging on the clothesline.

Sensing the vigorous internal force in his Qi Sea, he estimated that he had probably entered the "middle rank of the world."

"But this is not without a price, the power of the Dragon Soul has also been greatly damaged, no longer what it used to be. Fortunately, all this is worth it."

Zhao Du'an felt the Dragon Soul in his Qi Sea, which had shrunk a lot, smiled, and his ears moved slightly, capturing the danger from all directions from the breeze.

"Finally here." Zhao Du'an whispered, he closed the courtyard door of the atrium, passed through the front yard, and pushed the door out of the house.

Came to the door.

Then he moved a set of tables and chairs to the door, and also took out cut watermelons, various seasonal fruits and vegetables, and even took out a jar of new mud-sealed aged wine.

He also pulled out a roast chicken that had been burned in the stove pit and placed it on the table.

Zhao Du'an sat at the door, took out the silver scroll-shaped "Taixu Painting Scroll", shook it gently, and a purple alms bowl fell out.

This is a Buddhist treasure in Xu Zhenguan's storage bracelet, which belongs to the imperial collection. Zhao Du'an threw the Zijin alms bowl into the air!

"Om!"

The alms bowl hung high in the sky, spinning around, as if it was fixed, and with it as the center, a light罩 in the shape of an inverted glass bowl enveloped the entire house with a bang.

"This alms bowl can be used to set up array enchantments to withstand the full-force attacks of those in the Worldly Realm, but it requires someone to control it, otherwise its power will be greatly reduced."

Xu Zhenguan had said this to him when he gave him the alms bowl.

...

...

The wind rustled through the sea of flowers. The continuous rain had caused the flower branches within a few miles of Hundred Flowers Village to fully absorb water, making the flowers tender and delicate.

A cold wind swept through, and the sea of flowers was like rolling wheat, layer upon layer, each wave higher than the last.

When the Head of the Discipline Hall of the Buddhist Sect and Monk Tianhai emerged from the eastern sea of flowers, they saw the Mu Manor's generals leading a large group of Jianghu martial artists armed with sharp blades approaching from the western sea of flowers.

Checked each one to ensure no mistakes!

In the southern sea of flowers, a group of warlocks silently appeared, led by Xiongba and the little fatty, both looking vigilant.

The three sides exchanged glances, realizing they were all allies, and simultaneously turned to encircle and kill the blue brick house facing south in the center of the sea of flowers.

Then, the three forces were simultaneously stunned.

First, they saw the "enchantment" that resembled a transparent glass bowl, inverted over the entire house.

Immediately afterward, they saw Zhao Dou'an squatting in front of a low table inside the enchantment, below the steps at the entrance of the house, devouring food and replenishing his energy.

His mouth was full of grease, his right hand held half a roasted chicken, and his left hand held a slice of watermelon.

He took a bite of meat, then a bite of melon, eating with focused attention, almost oblivious to everything else.

The short blade transformed from the Golden Crow Flying Knife and the unsheathed Frost Sword were discarded on the table, one on the left and one on the right.

The pursuers had surrounded him from three sides and were already close, but Zhao Dou'an seemed not to care at all.

He slowly swallowed the food in his mouth, leisurely took out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his mouth, and smiled as he looked around at the group of enemies, some familiar, some not:

"Such a lively gathering today is quite unexpected for this official."

The expressions on their faces were strange, and for a moment, they dared not act, fearing a trap.

The Head of the Discipline Hall of Shenlong Temple was the first to speak: "Zhao Dou'an, long time no see."

Zhao Dou'an squinted his eyes, looking disdainfully at the monk wearing a kasaya, with a dignified, rigid, and serious demeanor:

"Who are you?"

The Head of the Discipline Hall's expression froze, and anger surged in his heart, feeling ignored and mocked!

The two had met more than once. Last time, it was at the Buddhist debate, where the Head of the Discipline Hall was also present, standing behind Abbot Xuanyin.

However, Zhao Dou'an's impression of this person was indeed faint. Not to mention B若 and Xuanyin… even Bianji was more memorable than this so-called Head.

"Does it matter whether I remember you or not?"

Zhao Dou'an scoffed, his gaze falling on the young Tianhai, slightly surprised, and smiled:

"Oh, you're not dead?"

Tianhai was expressionless, his fists clenched tightly, and his knuckles crackled!

Zhao Dou'an asked strangely:

"Since you're here, why is Longshu nowhere to be seen? Could it be that because of his Bodhisattva status, it's inconvenient for him to leave the capital?

Strange, when have the people of Shenlong Temple ever cared about face? Even the abbot is a sneaky, underhanded person. What goes up, must come down, so they wouldn't still care about the world's opinion, would they?"

"You impudent fool!"

"How dare you be so rude!"

The other monks were furious and shouted insults.

Zhao Dou'an didn't bother to pay attention to them and looked at the somewhat familiar group from the Fashen Sect. Many of their faces were familiar, especially Xiongba and the little fatty, whom he still remembered:

"The Fashen Sect is here too, good, but where is your Fashen? Is he hiding, afraid to show his face, or did he die after Mount Luo last time?"

Xiongba and the others from the little fatty had unpleasant expressions, but their vigilance didn't decrease at all.

Zhao Dou'an then looked at the group of generals from the Mu Manor. This time, they were all unfamiliar faces, but he recognized the standard saber in the lead general's hand.

"Presumably, you are from the Mu Manor. This official has long heard of the Mu Prince's great name in the capital. It is said that he has been suppressed by Zhao Shixiong of the border army for many years. Now it seems that he has long been secretly colluding with them.

Why not just send that Zhao Shixiong here? Or are you him?"

Zhao Dou'an joked.

The Mu Manor martial artists all showed anger. The leading general sneered:

"No need to try to get information out of us. Today, the three of us have come here. If you have the ability, fight us head-on. If you can't stop us, surrender as soon as possible. Or are you stalling for time?"

Zhao Dou'an smiled brightly. He slowly stood up, looked at everyone through the Zijing Bowl's enchantment:

"That's right, I am stalling for time. I also admit that with the array you people have, even if I have entered the Worldly Realm, I can't fight against so many, but…"

He pointed to the enchantment in front of him, a defiant smile appearing on his face:

"If you want to attack, come in."

Come at me!

This appearance made everyone even more vigilant and confused.

"Don't fall for his tricks. This person must be bluffing. The Empress is up to some trickery, but time is of the essence. Everyone, work together to break this enchantment and kill this person!"

The Mu Manor general said in a deep voice. As a military officer, he acted more decisively, drawing his saber and slashing forward.

With a "clang," the sharp blade struck the air, as if colliding with fine iron, scattering a string of sparks.

"The Zijing Bowl… this is a treasure of our Buddhist sect, refined from the indestructible golden body. If you attack separately, it will be extremely difficult to break through.

But the person holding the array is the weakness. Listen to my command and simultaneously concentrate your attacks on the area in front of Zhao's traitor, creating an opening. Then, send someone to break in and kill him. Without an owner, the bowl will naturally be destroyed!"

The serious face of the Head of the Discipline Hall was also full of determination!

Everyone's eyes lit up, thinking that he was worthy of being a high monk of Shenlong Temple. Although the three forces didn't want to interfere with each other, no one questioned the Head's proposal.

"I will kill him!"

A cold voice rang out. The young Tianhai stepped out, raised his hand, and grabbed the end of the Six Paths Staff behind him.

His wrist twisted, and with a "chi chi" sound, the cloth wrapped around the Six Paths Staff shattered and fell, revealing a strangely shaped hexagonal prism-shaped Zen staff in front of everyone.

Tianhai's expression was excited. When Zhao Dou'an personally admitted that he had entered the Worldly Realm, he decided to be the vanguard for breaking the array.

Whether it was the warlocks of the Fashen Sect or the Jianghu people of the Mu Manor, they all knew the reputation of "Demon Eye Tianhai" and happily agreed.

Immediately, nearly a hundred assassins outside the courtyard attacked simultaneously, each displaying their magical powers. Spells, sabers, and swords focused on one spot with tacit understanding!

"Boom boom boom!"

In the series of explosions, the Zijing Bowl hanging high in the air trembled, its rotation disturbed, and the entire enchantment flickered uncertainly.

Zhao Dou'an raised his eyebrows, his heart sinking slightly, thinking that relying on this thing alone would indeed be difficult to last for too long.

If it weren't for the monk's reminder, this group of people attacking separately could have delayed it longer, but in this way, it greatly shortened the time this defensive treasure could withstand.

Of course, even if the Empress hadn't broken through yet, with her current half-step Celestial Realm, she would be able to fight against this group of people. Even if she couldn't kill them, retreating safely wouldn't be a problem.

But…

If this advancement was disrupted again, would the weak Dragon Soul be able to support another impact on the Celestial Realm in a short time?

Thinking of this, Zhao Dou'an's expression also turned cold. He didn't touch the two weapons on the table but stared intently ahead.

At this moment, with the continuous bombardment, the enchantment in front became weaker and weaker, gradually being torn open with an opening that could only accommodate one person.

A thin, young monk with a yellow silk band wrapped around his forehead, holding the Six Paths Staff, stepped forward, his body erupting with brilliant Buddha light, propping up a golden bell cover.

His footsteps were firm, slowly, bit by bit, "squeezing" in from the enchantment!

In the process, Tianhai tore off the yellow silk band from his forehead, revealing a unique eye in the center of his eyebrows.

At this moment, that eye was filled with the majesty and indifference of a god.

Tianhai approached step by step, coldly saying:

"At the last Buddhist and Taoist competition, you were lucky enough to win. Today, I will teach you who is the real king of the younger generation."

Zhao Dou'an stared at him with a strange expression and said:

"I didn't expect you to be so obsessed with winning or losing. Doesn't Buddhism teach you to let go of attachments? I remember that you most valued fairness and justice, and liked to punish evil and promote good. Now it seems that this statement is not entirely true."

Tianhai took the last step, completely entering the enchantment, his three eyes locked on him:

"The false emperor does evil, and the treacherous officials cause trouble. Without you, the monarch and his ministers, there would be fairness and justice that I seek."

Zhao Dou'an shook his head, feeling that this little monk had been brainwashed too much and was beyond saving.

He looked at him with pity and suddenly smiled:

"It seems that the loss you suffered last time was not enough to make you remember. I heard that you have no parents, so this official will have to reluctantly teach you a lesson again."

He raised his hand and grasped the air!

"Swoosh——"

Inside the tightly closed courtyard, a divine weapon arrived joyfully.

After half a year, the Tai'a Divine Sword returned.