Chapter 695: The Emperor of Datang

"Die!"

Amidst a sharp shout, a stunning blade light slashed through the air, and a head flew up, its eyes still filled with astonishment.

The headless corpse in the star-white long robe swayed twice before falling heavily to the ground, blood mixing with the rainwater.

After slaying the long-robed swordsman, Zhuo Er could no longer hold on; his legs went weak, and he knelt halfway to the ground, barely supporting his body with the blade in his hand.

These few years of ascetic practice had indeed brought Zhuo Er's blade technique to an extremely profound realm. Furthermore, the blade technique he practiced was an authentic Demon Sect art; once he got close to so-called Sword Masters or Mind Masters, he could instantly kill them. And although those dozens of elite Tang Army soldiers were troublesome, they were no match for a true practitioner in a single exchange.

After this bout of killing, the entire courtyard was filled with broken corpses, blood flowing like a river; even as the rain fell harder and harder, it still could not wash away the stench of blood.

Zhuo Er himself was also severely wounded.

He had over twenty wounds of varying sizes on his body, and his clothes were soaked through with blood.

In particular, there was a deep, gaping wound on his back where flesh and muscle were torn; the slightest exertion of strength would trigger a piercing pain.

In reality, he need not have ended up like this, but he had experienced too few real life-and-death battles; he did not know how to conserve his strength, how to reap lives more easily, or how to grasp actual openings... he even hesitated when attacking these dozens of Tang Army soldiers because he had once been a soldier of Datang, which led to him being wounded in return.

But regardless, he had ultimately won.

And after such a brutal battle, Zhuo Er had significantly improved in terms of practical combat, and he could better grasp the mysteries of the "Ming Gui Thirty-Two Forms."

"The main target hasn't arrived yet, and this kind of complication has already appeared; truly troublesome." In the alley outside the courtyard, a carriage was parked. Inside the carriage was a slightly plump young man, his brows lifting slightly: "Let's go. He is already heavily wounded; let me go send him on his way. If Chao Xiaoshu comes later, I fear I will be the only one who has to act anyway. Honestly, I should have asked for more pay for this trip."

Wang Jinglve's tone carried a hint of undisguised excitement: "To have such strength at such a young age, I wonder if this person's master is that Demon Sect titan?"

This person was a famous young practitioner in the world; he achieved Initial Perception at four, Perception at six, was free of doubt by eleven, entered the Cave Profound Realm at sixteen, and spent another ten years climbing from the low-grade to the high-grade of the Cave Profound Realm. During this time, he won the title of "Invincible Wang below Knowing Destiny" through battle after battle.

He was a true genius.

Let alone a heavily wounded remnant of the Demon Sect, as long as one had not entered the Cave Profound Realm, they were absolutely no match for him.

"You just said, Demon Sect titan?"

Just then, an indifferent voice rang out.

The moment this voice sounded, Wang Jinglve's heart suddenly tightened. An emotion called "fear" invaded every pore of his body along with the chill of the spring rain. The scene before his eyes suddenly dimmed, and he felt as if he had fallen into an abyss, or as if he were immersed in a nightmare from which he could not wake.

In the darkness, Wang Jinglve seemed to see a pair of eyes.

A pair of pitch-black eyes, darker than the darkness in the deepest part of the abyss. When stared at by these eyes, it was like being in an ice cellar; his whole body was cold and stiff, and he could not move a single thread of Mind Power or even a finger.

Just then, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi began to change violently.

Every raindrop falling from the night sky turned into a sharp, irresistible little knife.

Countless raindrops, like countless sharp little knives, fell from the night sky onto the carriage Wang Jinglve was riding in. They fell on the carriage walls, and the walls shattered; they fell on the carriage shafts, and the shafts turned into wood powder; they fell on the two fine horses pulling the carriage, and the horses did not even have time to let out a cry before they were instantly sliced into countless fragments by the raindrops.

The raindrops tore through the carriage and fell onto Wang Jinglve.

The vast majority of the raindrops turned back into ordinary spring rain, but more than ten drops remained as sharp as knives. They instantly left streaks of bloody gashes on Wang Jinglve's body, blood gushing out like a fountain.

With a scream of "Ah," Wang Jinglve woke up from the nightmare.

He looked at the wounds on his body and sensed the Yuan Qi between heaven and earth, his whole body trembling again from fear: "Well Character Talisman? A Divine Talisman Master. How could there still be a Divine Talisman Master?"

A tall, thin figure walked out from the alley entrance.

This was a tall, thin old man wearing a filthy Daoist robe, the robe covered in oil stains and grime. His triangular eyes and sparse long beard complemented each other, making him look somewhat wretched, with no appearance of a master from beyond the world at all.

"S-Senior, you..." Wang Jinglve, who was usually eloquent, found his speech fragmented due to fear.

"Kid, I drew the talisman. But you should kowtow and thank me, because I saved your life."

Yan Se glanced at Wang Jinglve and then looked toward the other side: "Brother Yu, this kid is a talent of our Datang. The monks of the Yuelun Kingdom and the swordsmen of Southern Jin can die if they must, but he is different; he will have to handle things for this empire in the future. He spoke disrespectfully, and I have already taught him a lesson. Give me some face and spare his life."

Wang Jinglve turned his head stiffly and saw a black figure standing with hands behind his back in the spring rain, almost merging with the entire night.

When he saw this person, that familiar sense of fear surged up again, as if he had stepped into thin air and fallen into boundless darkness.

"Fine, I'll give you some face." As this voice fell, it was as if a thunderclap exploded in Wang Jinglve's ears; he woke from the nightmare and regained control of his body.

Yu Liancheng!

It must be Yu Liancheng.

He had actually come to Chang'an City.

And I actually escaped with my life in his hands.

Wang Jinglve lowered his head, not daring to look at the black figure again, sweat pouring down like rain.

"As far as I know, isn't Brother Yu on the second floor of the Academy? What leisure brings you to stroll through Chang'an at night today?" Yan Se said.

"Just letting that Xiao Heizi out to practice his blade," Yu Liancheng said.

"Heh, good mood." Yan Se fell silent, looking as if he had more to say, but after a moment, he finally said: "Brother Yu, what is your relationship with the New Religion?"

"Oh, why do you say that?"

"The one spreading the New Religion is the Daoist Sect Walker Ye Su, and his faith in Haotian is beyond doubt. There are not many people who can make a devout believer change their faith, and Brother Yu, you are one of them.

While spreading the New Religion, Ye Su is also spreading Demon Sect arts. There are many such arts, and they have no issues with going into Qi deviation, differing from any Demon Sect art of the past. I think there must be a Demon Sect expert who turned Ye Su's beliefs and gave him the arts."

Yan Se looked at Yu Liancheng and said solemnly: "And during last year's Yulan Festival, it seems both you and Ye Su went to Washan. So... I have this suspicion."

Yu Liancheng looked deeply at Yan Se.

This old man looked wretched, but as the most supreme Divine Talisman Master who controlled the Jingshen Array, how could he be a fool?

"That's right, it was me."

"What exactly is your relationship with Pluto!?"

Yan Se looked at Yu Liancheng, his hands behind his back, the Yuan Qi between heaven and earth flowing, and asked the question he cared about most directly: "Or rather, are you Pluto?"

In Chang'an City, as long as he was willing to use the power of the Jingshen Array, I fear only Fuzi could contend with him. Of course, the common people of Chang'an City might suffer heavy casualties from the aftermath of the two of them.

Although Wang Jinglve kept his head down, he pricked up his ears to listen.

"There is no such thing as Pluto in this world."

Yu Liancheng said calmly: "Light and Darkness are opposites and unified; absolute light is absolute darkness. Therefore, when Haotian represents absolute light, Haotian is also absolute darkness, which is also the Pluto you speak of."

"Impossible, stop trying to bewitch people's hearts," Yan Se scolded.

Yu Liancheng said leisurely: "Liu Bai has long been able to transcend the Five Realms, yet he dares not. Perhaps you would have been confused before, but you have now reached this threshold yourself, and in your heart, you must have your own guesses; you just dare not believe it, nor are you willing to believe it, so you have never dared to think deeply about it."

Yan Se's complexion turned slightly pale, and he began to cough.

"The heavens belong to the heavens, and the human world belongs to the human world. In the past, I severed the connection between the heavens and the human world; this time, it is merely repeating what was done before."

Yu Liancheng said calmly, "As for the Xiling Divine Palace, they act as Herdsmen for God; they are accomplices of Haotian, and they should not exist. In the future, you will see the flowers of the New Religion blooming all over the capital of Datang, while the Divine Palace will have no soil in which to survive."

"Fuzi will not agree," Yan Se said sternly.

"He said he would not concern himself with such trivial matters," Yu Liancheng shrugged.

"Even if Fuzi does not interfere, the Emperor will not agree."

"That is why I am going to make him agree now," Yu Liancheng smiled slightly and vanished into a wisp of black light. As he swept past the injured Zhuo Er, he casually gathered Zhuo Er back into the Chessboard.

"No, the Emperor..." Yan Se's expression changed, and he rushed toward the Imperial Palace, leaving behind one sentence before departing: "Wang Jinglve, do not return to the Prince's Mansion; go to the front lines to serve for three years to atone for your crimes."

Wang Jinglve wore a bitter expression; after thinking for a moment, he braced his heavily injured body and left.

When Chao Xiaoshu and Ning Que arrived, they looked at the corpses covering the ground, both of them wearing puzzled expressions.

Ning Que muttered to himself, "I thought there would be a bitter battle, but I didn't expect that just by hacking a few things not even as good as horse bandits, I would earn five hundred taels. This business deal was a huge profit."

Imperial Palace.

Yushufang.

Several sheets of paper were spread out on the desk, one writing brush rested in the inkstone like a small raft on a clear pool, while several other brushes were placed messily on the brush rack.

On the three walls hung calligraphy scrolls, some square and sturdy, some elegant and free-spirited, some delicate and beautiful... without a doubt, they were all world-renowned masterpieces.

The Datang Emperor Li Zhongyi stood before the desk; he was a middle-aged man who looked very gentle. He picked up a brush, and as his wrist turned, he wrote the five large characters, "Fish leap at this time in the sea."

Looking at his own calligraphy, the Datang Emperor stroked his beard in appreciation, then immediately shook his head with a bitter smile. Almost all the ministers in the Imperial Court knew that the Emperor was obsessed with calligraphy and had an extremely high level of appreciation. As for the Emperor's own calligraphy, it could not be called dragon-flying and phoenix-dancing, but it did possess the basic shape of characters.

The Datang Emperor looked out the window.

He was waiting for news.

In reality, the Fish Dragon Gang was his force, and Chao Xiaoshu was a brother he had known in his youth.

This time, he intended to use the power of the Fish Dragon Gang to lure out certain restless individuals in the Imperial Court and properly purge the Imperial Court.

Just at this moment, a wave of sleepiness struck him; he gradually grew dazed and fell asleep slumped over the desk.

He did not know how much time had passed, but the Datang Emperor vaguely felt a patch of light. When he opened his eyes, he discovered he was beneath a starry sky.

Looking up, a disk-like object hung in the starry sky, emitting a faint radiance; it was indescribably beautiful.

Turning his head, he saw a black figure holding a wine pot, gazing at the starry sky, looking free and easy, though his face seemed to be surrounded by heavy mist, making it difficult to see his features clearly.

The Datang Emperor was startled: "Who are you?"

"Flawless jade, worth a thousand cities."

The Datang Emperor's expression shifted, and he immediately said, "Are you Yu Liancheng?"

"Correct."

Although boundless waves surged in the Datang Emperor's Xinhu, he suppressed his shock and asked, "I do not know why Mr. Yu has summoned me here?"

"I have come to resolve the Emperor's troubles."

"Haha, sir is joking."

The Datang Emperor laughed and waved his sleeve: "I am the ruler of a nation, Datang is the strongest nation in the world, and with Fuzi guarding it, what worries could I possibly have?"

Yu Liancheng looked at the Datang Emperor, his gaze calm, yet it seemed to be able to pierce through his inner heart, and he said slowly, "Living a life, how can one have no worries? The Emperor also has worries, for instance... your old wounds, and for instance, the departure of Fuzi."

"Old wounds? What old wounds? I truly do not understand what you are saying, sir."

The Datang Emperor shook his head: "As for Fuzi, Fuzi is like the great sun hanging high in the sky; perhaps there may be rainy weather, but his radiance will forever shroud the Tang Empire."

"Let us make a hypothesis: suppose Fuzi departs for the heavens, and suppose the Emperor's old wounds recur."

"Oh?"

"The Emperor, please look."

Yu Liancheng waved his sleeve, and the silver disk in the sky moved closer to the ground, appearing even brighter and larger, with scenes manifesting upon the disk.