Chapter 230

In Li Miao's view, a person's appearance is shaped by both their nature and their experiences. And the factor that plays a decisive role is often not nature, but experience.

Li Miao saw the bloodiness and trickery of the witchcraft arts clearly at the Miao King's place. With an origin like Ji Tianrui's, and growing up at the Miao King's place, one can imagine how much pain she experienced. It is not surprising that she developed such a nature that views others as grass and trees.

Of course, saying that is one thing, but Li Miao would still not be soft-hearted when killing her.

No matter how pitiful she is, she was the culprit behind the massacre of the city that day; Xing Chi also died at her hands. Li Miao would not spare her a shred of sympathy.

Whoever does evil, dies; whoever forces him to do evil, also dies together. Killing all the way up the source, until not a single evil person remains—that is the style of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; there is nothing to discuss about "extenuating circumstances."

For now, it is just a temporary alliance to deal with the Emperor.

Li Miao smiled disdainfully, and Ji Tianrui did not take offense.

"You are only fifteen years old... then can you be of use today?"

"The Emperor is not like this old jar of an Emperor on our side who has been buried underground for over a hundred years; he is in the prime of his life, full of spirit and energy, possessing both witchcraft and cultivation methods, and has eaten Heaven-Man level experts for over a decade; if we really fight, he will at least not be below me."

"Don't get yourself killed in one encounter."

Li Miao said, twisting his fingers.

"Lord Li need not worry; I have been like this since I started remembering things, and I have truly cultivated for fifteen years. Besides..."

Ji Tianrui chuckled.

"I also have a similar method to your technique of switching realms in the middle of a battle. Otherwise, I would not have dared to meet you last night; it would have been bad if you had killed me in one go."

"That's good."

Li Miao stood up and patted the dust off his body.

After he left the Imperial Palace last night, he galloped all the way to the Imperial Mausoleum, but he happened to run into Ji Tianrui outside the mausoleum.

From Qi and Lu to Huguang and then to the Miao territory, every single thing along the way was Ji Tianrui's handiwork, and he had long since made a judgment about her nature. And Ji Tianrui had investigated Li Miao for who knows how long, and knew Li Miao incomparably well.

The two did not say a word and directly attacked each other with lethal intent. When the two were close to deciding life and death, they stopped in tacit agreement.

Li Miao confirmed that Ji Tianrui had the qualifications to cooperate with him, after which the two colluded, returned to the Xiaoling Mausoleum to find the Jianwen Emperor, and then arrived at the present moment.

The Emperor.

No one knew exactly what realm he was in, but no matter how much Li Miao underestimated him, he would not think he was below himself.

In the entire Great Ming, among the Heaven-Man level experts who appeared over the decades, Yin Ruihua used a fraction at most, and all the others ended up in the Emperor's belly. Just the corpses Li Miao saw in the tomb a few days ago were no fewer than dozens; it would be ridiculous if he couldn't pile up a perfect union of three paths.

The struggle between Heaven-Man level experts, because each of them has reached "perfection" on a certain path, is essentially a process of dragging the other party toward the direction of "imperfection" and pursuing them relentlessly.

The Jianwen Emperor can suppress the retainers because he possesses a Nature cultivation realm that no current Heaven-Man level expert has ever practiced. It can be said that in front of him, current Heaven-Man level experts are equivalent to being defenseless.

Li Miao can achieve this because he can rely on switching realms to achieve the effect of a "pseudo-union of three paths" during the struggle.

And the Emperor possesses both the method of cultivating the Life technique with bugs created by Ji Tianrui, and the method of cultivating the Nature technique with Heaven-Man level experts created by the Taizu Emperor. At the very least, he will not be worse than the Jianwen Emperor.

So after the Imperial Guards and the Xiaoling Guards engaged in battle, Li Miao directly perfected the second path realm, even if this would consume his time of clarity. So when Wu Zhiheng saw him, Li Miao already had a full head of silver hair.

If he were to face the enemy in his normal state, he might really not be able to withstand a single encounter with the Emperor.

At this moment, the sounds of fighting outside the Imperial Mausoleum had gradually subsided.

Using the Jianwen Emperor's cultivation method to trade for the imperial court's retainers, there would be no other shortcuts to take.

The outcome of today depends only on who can walk out of the Xiaoling Mausoleum alive.

Suddenly, Ji Tianrui lifted her head, reached out to push back a bug that had poked its head out from her collar, and said softly.

"He is here."

The Jianwen Emperor turned his head abruptly to look outside the door.

Li Miao shook his wrists and twisted his neck.

By the time Ji Tianrui finished speaking, the two had already sensed the dense, bloody aura drifting from outside the door.

And that surging, vast true energy like the sea.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The footsteps were sometimes light, sometimes heavy, sometimes slow, sometimes fast.

In an instant, they reached the door.

Pop, pop.

Several heads were thrown in from outside the door, rolling on the ground for a distance before slowly stopping.

Retainer Wang, who had escaped into the dense forest of Mount Tianshou, and several Heaven-Man level experts of the Xiaoling Guards, were left with only several incomplete heads. Their lifeless eyeballs were stained with blood and mud, emitting an eerie light.

The Emperor walked in slowly.

He was not wearing his daily Daoist robes, nor was he wearing the bright yellow court robes, but was wearing a set of scarlet "Martial Official Robes." The hat had twelve seams, inlaid with five-colored jade, falling like stars; the whole body was scarlet, crimson as blood.

This was the clothing worn by the Son of Heaven when he personally led an expedition and sent generals.

In other words, before setting off at noon today, he had already prepared to personally enter the field and fight Li Miao and the other two.

After the Emperor entered the door, he first swept a glance at the ground, then let out a cold laugh, and lifted his head to look at the Jianwen Emperor.

"The Jianwen Monarch is indeed willing to pay the price, risking the danger of this thing spreading, to make me hesitate, only allowing my subjects to avoid it and come here alone."

"However, are you not afraid that these two will take the cultivation method and leave directly?"

"Heh, heh."

The Jianwen Emperor laughed hoarsely.

"Break, the cauldrons, and, sink, the boats."

"So that's it."

The Emperor nodded and turned to look at Ji Tianrui.

The two lines of sight intersected.

Just by looking at each other, Ji Tianrui let out a long breath, with a smile that was half-mocking and half-ridiculing on her face.

It seemed to be a bit of regret, and also a bit of relief.

She turned to look at Li Miao and said softly.

"It is not him."

"He is not Ji Tianrui."

Li Miao smiled, twisted his fingers, and did not answer.

"Oh?"

The Emperor let out a cold laugh.

"What is your relationship with him?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, he is exactly my father."

Ji Tianrui said with a smile.

"Heh."

The Emperor let out a cold laugh.

"That's fine."

"Speaking of which, I still have to thank him."

The Emperor laughed coldly.

"If it weren't for him, I fear I would still be bound by the laws of my ancestors, looking forward and backward, pointlessly leaving those collected Heaven-Man level experts unused, fearing that I would ruin the country passed down by my ancestors."

"It is also thanks to him that I obtained his inheritance of witchcraft arts."

"He is indeed a talent of heaven-sent ability."

The Emperor said with regret.

"If he were willing to serve me, and I gave him another thirty years, I fear I wouldn't have to fight with the Jianwen Monarch, nor would I have to move the imperial clan; just by relying on this witchcraft art, I could get rid of the trouble of insufficient Heaven-Man level experts and advance my realm."

"It's a pity..."

"He ultimately still underestimated me."

(End of Chapter)