Chapter 243: Three-path perfection

The two Emperors punched each other, the true energy and force concentrated at one point exploded, and even their own tendons and bones could not bear it, the flesh and blood on their fists blooming like flowers suddenly, revealing white finger bones.

The two did not dodge or avoid, ignoring their injuries, continuing to entangle together.

Their moves came from the same lineage, their realms were identical.

For a time, it was difficult to distinguish the winner.

The Emperor was a smart man; if he were not smart, he would not have been able to keep power firmly in his own hands for over a decade without attending to court affairs.

After the Jianwen Emperor's reminder, he immediately changed his mindset, no longer hesitating, focusing entirely on the life-and-death struggle with the Jianwen Emperor.

Everyone has something unshakable in their heart; for Li Miao, it is his "original heart," for Zhu Zai, it is the "Zhu family," and for the Emperor, it is "life and death."

He only cared about his own life and death.

So he had just developed the thought of running away, even if this would leave behind three major threats, even if this might directly split the Great Shu in two.

Until he heard the Jianwen Emperor's words, he dispelled the thought.

The Jianwen Emperor was not kindly reminding him; his words were just to dispel the Emperor's thought of running away, a point the Emperor knew well.

But, he was not lying either.

By probability, if the Emperor ran away, the probability of him dying might be sixty percent, but there was still a forty percent chance of truly escaping; if he stayed to fight to the death, the victory or defeat between him and the Jianwen Emperor was fifty-fifty.

It sounded as if the Jianwen Emperor had lowered his own winning percentage by ten percent for nothing.

But, this was only an outsider's perspective.

In the Jianwen Emperor's heart, letting the Emperor run away meant he only had a sixty percent chance of killing the Emperor. But fighting to the death, he would definitely be the one who survived.

This was not self-boasting that ignored reality, but a "heart of certain victory." If one did not firmly believe that one would win, then one was not worthy of stepping onto the battlefield.

In a moment, the traces of the two's struggle had spread across the entire square.

The ground had been "plowed" entirely. Even the Jizhao illusion could hardly cover those pits that were dozens of feet wide and bottomless.

Li Miao and Ji Tianrui leisurely avoided the route of the two Emperors' struggle, as if they were tourists sightseeing, ignoring the vigilant eyes that the two Majesties swept over from time to time.

"Truly wonderful."

Li Miao took out a handful of melon seeds from somewhere, saying while cracking them.

"A struggle of four-path integration, after today, it will be difficult to reappear for at least several years."

Ji Tianrui said.

"Oh? Several years? So short?"

Li Miao glanced at Ji Tianrui.

"Aren't there still Lord Li and me?"

Ji Tianrui smiled.

"You are clear, knowing that I will not let you go."

"Of course, I understand Lord Li's nature. You said you would kill me, so you definitely will, it's just that now it has to be ranked behind the Emperor. You and I will definitely have a life-and-death struggle."

"Sensible, reward you with a handful of melon seeds."

Li Miao sneered, reaching out to hand a handful of melon seeds to Ji Tianrui.

Ji Tianrui took them, laughed lightly, looked at Li Miao, and learned to crack them like Li Miao.

Although the hostility in their words was fully displayed, they looked like friends chatting leisurely.

And on the other side, the struggle between the two Emperors had also gradually shown a tendency to end.

The situation was tilting toward the Emperor.

"Jianwen-jun! How about that!"

The Emperor suddenly reached out to lock the Jianwen Emperor's shoulder, exerting force to tear, leaving five deep wounds.

"You said my state of mind is flawed, indeed! But what about you! Without self-created martial arts, how can your foundation compare to the Founding Emperor, and how can you exert this 'Ming Divine Martial Canon' to the extreme!"

The Jianwen Emperor's gaze was cold; he raised his hand to parry the Emperor's claw-like strike, then immediately pressed forward, launching a punch toward the Emperor's chest and abdomen, which the Emperor parried by raising his hand.

"Just now I was actually bluffed by you; this realm of yours is obtained from the demoness's Gu bug, not a realm you cultivated yourself! In a rush, how much can you use it!"

The two clashed fists again, blood splashing.

"If we talk about the heart of facing death, I don't treat my own life as cheaply as you do. But if we talk about the heart of seeking survival, I am far more determined than you!"

The illusion on the square gradually twisted, and more and more blood and corpses appeared.

As the Emperor gradually gained the upper hand, his fear of the Jianwen Emperor also decreased, and the Jizhao illusion became stronger, suppressing the Jianwen Emperor's illusion.

"Almost there."

Ji Tianrui dropped the uneaten melon seeds in her hand and drew her soft sword.

"If they fight for a while longer, people will die. No matter who survives, the first thing they will do is kill the two of us and end today's matter completely."

"The situation is tilting, injured but not dead, this is the best opportunity."

Clap, clap.

Li Miao clapped his hands, stood up, and shook his neck.

Taking advantage of this time, he had already healed all the injuries on his body, and his state had been adjusted to his peak.

"Having been a supporting actor for a whole night, it's about time to bring the main dish to the table."

The two walked side by side toward the battle circle.

"Remember, the person must die at my hands. If they die at yours, then all our previous efforts will be wasted."

"Of course."

Swish! Swish!

Two light sounds.

Li Miao and Ji Tianrui had already appeared behind the Emperor!

One fist and one sword, attacking the Emperor's heart from behind!

"Sure enough, they came!"

The Emperor thought to himself.

Although Li Miao and Ji Tianrui put on a posture of watching the fun, how could the two Emperors fighting ignore them? As soon as the two moved, they were noticed by the two Emperors.

"Well come!"

The Emperor let out an angry roar, a palm that had long been ready to go directly repelled the Jianwen Emperor, turning around and smashing a fist toward the two!

Since he had already gained the upper hand in the struggle with the Jianwen Emperor, the only variable was between these two!

He had long been waiting for the two to deliver themselves to his door!

"Heh."

A light laugh from Li Miao came from behind.

The Emperor's pupils shrank!

Wrong!

The position is wrong!

Li Miao was clearly in front of him, but this laughter was clearly coming from the Jianwen Emperor's side behind him!

Illusion? Mirage?

No, he clearly had not cultivated "Jizhao"!

Could it be that the Jianwen Emperor used an illusion to confuse my five senses? But if the Jianwen Emperor constructed an illusion, I, who am fighting him in a battle of heart and mind, could not have failed to notice!

In an instant, the Emperor's thoughts turned, and then he suddenly gritted his teeth, dispersing the force of this move, changing the move to a palm to tentatively strike toward Li Miao, while simultaneously turning around to guard behind him.

Bang!

The Emperor's pupils shrank again.

His tentative palm had been locked by someone.

"You should trust your eyes a little more."

Li Miao's voice came from behind.

Ji Tianrui waved her hand to disperse the bug that was vibrating its wing covers to simulate Li Miao's laughter, her soft sword suddenly coiling, entangling the Emperor's other hand.

"Your Majesty! Now is the time!"

How could the Jianwen Emperor let go of this opportunity? He had already pressed close to the Emperor's front, striking toward the Emperor's chest with full force!

The Emperor struggled with all his might, but for a moment he was unable to break free from Li Miao and the other's restraint! And the Jianwen Emperor had already attacked his front!

It looked like life or death was about to be decided!

The Emperor suddenly gritted his teeth, true energy surging!

Boom!!!

It was that technique of emitting sword energy from the acupuncture points all over his body again, and this time the time to recover breath would be one breath!

This one breath of recovery time was a huge flaw in this struggle. If it were not for the fact that it was already a matter of life and death, he would never use this technique again.

Dust and smoke rose suddenly, the Emperor's locked arms suddenly loosened; it must be Li Miao and Ji Tianrui withdrawing to avoid the sword energy.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Emperor hid in the dust and smoke, recovering his breath with all his might! Simultaneously, his gaze swept toward the surroundings!

"They didn't attack!?"

The Emperor frowned tightly.

"Impossible, how could they let go of such an opportunity and let me recover my breath?"

"What kind of plan do they have!"

One breath of time passed, and the Emperor's true energy was full again.

He pushed out with a palm, dispersing the dust and smoke.

When the scene outside the dust and smoke entered his eyes, he was stunned.

One foot away in front of him, the Jianwen Emperor was standing there.

Bathed in blood, from his chin to his calves, hundreds of holes that were transparent from front to back were densely distributed. Those were the wounds pierced by the sword energy shot from the acupuncture points all over his body.

And on his chest, a palm was exposed.

A palm that had pierced through his body from behind, piercing his heart.

Li Miao's palm.

The Jianwen Emperor slowly turned his head to look at Li Miao and Ji Tianrui behind him, blood flowing from his seven orifices, his eyes full of shock, anger, and astonishment.

"I have to thank the two Majesties for being so cooperative; to be honest, I thought I would have to fight for a while longer to find an opportunity."

"I didn't expect it to succeed as soon as I came over; they say it's better to be lucky than to be early."

From behind the Jianwen Emperor came Li Miao's smiling voice.

"If it weren't for Your Majesty's technique, even if Sect Leader Ji and I fought for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, we might not have been able to break the Jianwen Emperor's hard-body cultivation."

"You—"

As soon as the Jianwen Emperor opened his mouth, a stream of blood gushed out.

As if knowing what the Jianwen Emperor wanted to say, Ji Tianrui answered with a light laugh.

"When Your Majesty took my Gu bug, were you thinking about whether I left a trap?"

"But you felt that no matter what, my trap could not threaten you, who are four-path integration. As long as the Emperor dies, you would have time to kill me. That's why you used my Gu bug."

"You thought correctly, I did leave a trap, and it truly posed no threat to you, it just allowed your 'Jiezi' realm to regress for an instant."

"But in that instant, your force and true energy lost the 'Jiezi' restraint, rampaging in your meridians, which would cause your current moves and light-body technique to be suddenly interrupted."

"Of course, if it were just me and Lord Li, relying only on that instant of time, we could not do anything to you. But, the Emperor could. Just now, it was my trap that interrupted your light-body technique and hard-body cultivation, letting you stand in place and eat all of the Emperor's sword energy."

"Why—"

The Jianwen Emperor squeezed out these words from the blood constantly gushing out.

Why?

Why did Li Miao and Ji Tianrui launch an attack on him at this time?

Why did they cooperate with the Emperor to kill him?

He was dead; with Li Miao and Ji Tianrui's realms, they would inevitably die at the Emperor's hands.

Why would they do this? Seeking death?

If we talk about hatred and contradictions, the Emperor's entanglement with these two was far deeper than his.

Even if it were a life-for-a-life, the target should not be him!

"Don't think too much."

"Killing you first is just because you are easier to kill."

Li Miao slowly withdrew his palm.

In his hand, he held a round lump of flesh and blood, which was slowly beating.

Li Miao reached out his hand, handing this lump of flesh and blood to Ji Tianrui.

"Sect Leader Ji, your 'Jizhao'."

"Thank you, Lord Li."

Ji Tianrui smiled lightly, reached out to take the heart, and inserted her fingers into it, clamping out a Gu bug, putting it into her mouth and swallowing it.

As this Gu bug was taken out of the flesh and blood, the twisted illusion of the Hall of Supreme Harmony on the square suddenly dissipated, and was subsequently filled by the Emperor's Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood illusion.

The Jianwen Emperor's "Jizhao" realm dissipated.

In an instant, the Jianwen Emperor understood Ji Tianrui's plan.

Handing the "Jiezi" Gu bug to him, and then taking the "Jizhao" from his heart.

With this Gu bug, Ji Tianrui could step into the realm of three-path perfection.

But—I am dead, you, a three-path perfection, want to distinguish victory or defeat with the Emperor?

"Of course, not just me."

Ji Tianrui seemed to read the Jianwen Emperor's eyes, saying with a light laugh. Then she turned to look at Li Miao.

"Lord Li, how long do you need?"

Li Miao looked at the Jianwen Emperor, then looked at the Emperor opposite, who had a look of astonishment.

"How long until the Hour of the Rat?"

"About a quarter of an hour."

"Then I will have to trouble Sect Leader Ji to hold the Emperor for a quarter of an hour."

Ji Tianrui smiled beautifully and nodded.

"Okay."

She drew her sword and walked toward the Emperor.

Li Miao suddenly joined his palms like a knife, cutting into the Jianwen Emperor's neck.

Heart separated from the body, heart pulse broken, the Jianwen Emperor had no true energy left in his body, and his hard-body cultivation technique dissipated accordingly.

Now he was just a bit harder than an ordinary Heaven-Man, unable to block Li Miao's palm knife.

The palm knife cut in from the left side and slashed out from the right.

The Jianwen Emperor's head fell to the ground.

Li Miao sat cross-legged, closing his eyes.

"The Emperor from one hundred and forty-two years ago is also an Emperor."

"The person who fought for the nation with the Chengzu Emperor, the person who fought for the world with the Emperor, the Jianwen Emperor's life is heavy enough."

"The 'salary' obtained from killing him should be enough."

"Three-path, perfection."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 244 =====