Chapter 244: A quarter of an hour

From the beginning, Li Miao could never truly form an alliance with the Jianwen Emperor.

The Emperor eats people, the Jianwen Emperor also eats people; if the Emperor attacks the imperial clan, the Jianwen Emperor would definitely attack the imperial clan after winning.

Actually, they are all the same kind of goods.

Moreover, from the moment Li Miao stepped onto the stage, the contradiction between him and the two Emperors could no longer be reconciled.

What kind of person is Li Miao?

No Heaven-Man inheritance, no rare treasures, relying on a pile of tattered remnants in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he cultivated to the present without a word, consuming only some wine and food, incomparable to any Heaven-Man.

Give him another ten years, who knows what he could cultivate into? Which Emperor would want a god riding on his head? The final outcome is just seeing who strikes first, who dies first.

Therefore, Li Miao and Ji Tianrui's initial plan was to first form an alliance with the Jianwen Emperor, then when falling into a disadvantage, give the Gu bug to the Jianwen Emperor to use, and finally have Li Miao strike, seizing the opportunity to kill the Jianwen Emperor.

Li Miao obtained the "salary," Ji Tianrui obtained the "Jizhao" Gu bug. With the two's strength far exceeding experts of the same level, they had the capital to distinguish victory or defeat with the Emperor.

Now, it just depends on whether Ji Tianrui can hold the Emperor for a quarter of an hour.

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Li Miao walked slowly on the pitch-black beach.

On the black sea surface in the distance, a storm was slowly rolling.

When he collected the salary before, what he saw were fragmented images. And this black beach was the illusion seen by the person who walked near him when he collected the salary.

This was his first time seeing this scenery with his own eyes.

Li Miao squatted down, picked up a bit of sand, and rubbed it slowly between his fingers.

Weight, smell, the tactile sensation of hundreds of sand grains rubbing against his fingertips, the sand fragments he rubbed even finer.

Everything, everything, was so real.

It was so real that it didn't seem like an illusion, nor did it seem like a dream.

Li Miao slowly frowned.

It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be this real.

Through the previous struggle, he had roughly figured out the details of "Jizhao." Although this realm could imprint heart to heart and project illusions, it also had many limitations.

The most critical point is that it is difficult to "create something from nothing" and create a completely fictional illusion.

The style of the illusion is determined by the person who lays it out. Every blade of grass and tree must first be imagined in one's own heart and mind before it can be mapped into another's heart and mind.

If it were completely fictional, one would have to imagine all the details out of thin air—smell, humidity, tactile sensation underfoot, mass of things, reflection of light, etc. No one's heart and mind could withstand such a large consumption.

Therefore, the illusions constructed by the Jianwen Emperor and the Emperor were either scenes they were familiar with, or things they were familiar with laid out in the illusion, or slightly modified on top of real scenery.

And Li Miao had absolutely never seen a purely black beach. It was even more impossible to imagine this handful of such real, such fine black sand out of thin air.

Li Miao had never been to the seaside in either of his two lives.

He had thought that his "eight-hour work system" was something of the same origin as Jizhao.

But now it seems that he had only faintly found a clue and was far from touching the essence of this thing.

"Forget it."

"Actually, no need to rush for a moment."

Li Miao sprinkled the sand under his feet, sat cross-legged, supported his chin with one hand, and looked quietly at the storm on the sea surface.

After a while, he slowly closed his eyes.

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"Get lost!"

The Emperor punched out, repelling Ji Tianrui for several feet, his figure flashing, about to rush in front of Li Miao, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.

He didn't know what happened, nor did he know why Li Miao and Ji Tianrui suddenly attacked the Jianwen Emperor. But he knew very well that Li Miao and Ji Tianrui had decided to kill him, and he also knew very well that the two of them killing the Jianwen Emperor was definitely not a whim.

Looking at Li Miao's state, it clearly looked like he was "breaking through" or "meditating."

Although he didn't know why Li Miao suddenly closed his eyes and sat cross-legged after killing the Jianwen Emperor, only letting Ji Tianrui entangle him.

But the Emperor understood one thing—he absolutely could not sit by and watch Li Miao complete his plan!

But as soon as he rushed out two steps, Ji Tianrui's sword tip was already like a leech attached to a bone, winding up from his side and probing toward his neck.

"Your Majesty, if you can't kill me, you can't rush past."

Ji Tianrui's annoying light laughter sounded in his ears.

The Emperor stopped helplessly, grabbing toward the sword edge, trying to entangle the soft sword on his hand as before, first taking away Ji Tianrui's weapon.

"Hehe."

Swish!

The soft sword was suddenly pulled away, the Emperor withdrew his hand, slowly clenching his fist.

A long, narrow wound remained on his palm. It was gradually healing with the operation of his healing technique.

"Your Majesty, my sword now is not something you can grab casually."

Ji Tianrui appeared a foot away, blocking the Emperor's line of sight toward Li Miao.

"Your Majesty, I said it, if you don't kill me, you can't reach in front of Lord Li."

She said with a light laugh.

"I am a demoness from the Miao Frontier, a medicine person born from Gu arts, my nature is sinister and strange. My self-created martial arts naturally follow my nature."

"My 'Gu Sword,' in terms of frontal attack, perhaps cannot be compared with Lord Li's 'My Fist.' But when it comes to corroding bones and melting marrow, and harming people in secret, it is much more outstanding."

Ji Tianrui performed a sword flower.

"You also tried it just now, now my sword can break your hard-body cultivation at any time."

"I suggest you focus on killing me, don't put your mind on Lord Li. Only when I die can you rest assured to find trouble with Lord Li."

"Otherwise, the next sword might drill into your brain marrow."

The Emperor's face was as heavy as water.

Like the Jianwen Emperor, what Ji Tianrui said was also the truth.

She used a soft sword, which was fundamentally unpredictable, plus her "Gu Sword" technique, making it even harder to fathom.

A sword thrust out, winding and twisting in mid-air like a Gu bug, making it impossible to guess the landing point.

Before, her realm was low, and she couldn't break the Emperor's hard-body cultivation, so she didn't pose much threat, only needing to guard the face and the crotch.

But now, she was already three-path perfection, nature and life combined. Moreover, she had the Jizhao illusion combined with sword technique, making her moves even more ethereal and unpredictable.

In this situation, if the Emperor blindly rushed toward Li Miao, putting most of his attention on Li Miao, it was very likely that he would truly reveal a flaw and be stabbed in a vital point by Ji Tianrui.

The Emperor stood still, staring fixedly at Ji Tianrui.

"Right, Your Majesty, this is right."

Ji Tianrui pointed her sword at the Emperor.

"Come, within a quarter of an hour, kill me."

"Then you win."

"Good! Then I will kill you demoness first, then kill this thief!"

The Emperor suddenly let out an angry roar, rushing toward Ji Tianrui with his body.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 245 =====