Chapter 378: Li Miao

"Ah—"

The broken blade slashed across the back of Li Miao's neck, leaving a gash, yet Li Miao seemed not to feel it at all. He merely flicked his hand behind him, and the broken blade let out a resonant ring.

"Ugh!"

The black-clad eunuch holding the broken blade felt a sharp pain in his palm, and a force impossible to resist surged from it. The web between his thumb and forefinger split, the broken blade flew from his hand, and it plunged into the ground dozens of feet away, still vibrating incessantly.

Cun Dong clutched his broken arm and retreated rapidly.

Li Miao had truly "plucked" his arm off, just as one would pluck a ripe fruit. With a *squelch*, there was not even much pain, and only half the arm remained.

Li Miao held that severed arm, looking at Cun Dong with a playful expression.

The five black-clad eunuchs halted their offensive, flashed several feet away, and waited with focused intensity.

No one would flee.

Eunuchs who had fought their way out of the environment within the palace were not stupid. They knew very well what the consequences would be if they exposed their backs to Li Miao; scattering to flee would only allow Li Miao to catch and kill them one by one. The only chance of survival now was for the five of them to join forces and fight Li Miao once more.

After all, Li Miao's injuries had not yet fully healed.

After all, they were still unsure if Li Miao had cultivated Xuanlan to perfection.

After all, Li Miao had broken through in the heat of battle; from seeing the technique to mastering it, less than half an hour had passed. Perhaps he had not yet grasped the miraculous nature of Xuanlan.

Cun Dong's gaze swept over Li Miao, the corners of his mouth twitching from the intense pain, and he forced himself to say:

"The Commander is indeed highly skilled; we have fallen into your trap today! I wonder if the Embroidered Uniform Guard is still in need of Heaven-Man Realm experts? We are willing to abandon the dark and embrace the light..."

As he spoke, he analyzed inwardly: "Which path of Life Cultivation is his Xuanlan connected to? The greatest possibility is Sumeru. He cultivates Yingzhou techniques and is of Yingzhou origin; this is the path he can master most quickly right now."

"I must be careful of his protective True Qi later. Fortunately, protective True Qi has form, so it is not impossible to defend against!"

As his thoughts raced, he saw that Li Miao had not been swayed in the slightest by his plea for mercy. He actually went straight to lift his hem and *thump*, knelt on the ground.

He crawled toward Li Miao on his knees.

"My lord, we are no longer a threat to you. We are willing to have Gu worms planted in our bodies, and we are willing to reveal Liu Jin's entire plot in Shuntian Prefecture, if only you spare—"

"That's enough."

Li Miao raised his hand and threw Cun Dong's severed arm in front of him, pulled the steel needle the black-clad eunuch had stabbed into him from his own waist, and threw it to the ground, producing a crisp sound.

"Stop pretending."

Before the words had faded, Cun Dong suddenly sprang up from the ground, his palm slashing toward Li Miao!

He knew Li Miao would not believe him, but given Li Miao's temperament, he likely would not kill him while he was kneeling. And as long as he got close to Li Miao, he could strike the moment before the protective True Qi took form!

As for face... where in the world is there a eunuch who wants face!

The palm wind whistled as it arrived, yet Cun Dong did not see any protective Dharma robe appear on Li Miao's body. He gritted his teeth, changed his move as his palm reached close, and his entire body coiled like a long snake, wrapping toward Li Miao's arm!

It worked!

Li Miao was actually standing in place, neither dodging nor evading, nor did he appear to strike, letting Cun Dong wrap around his arm!

Cun Dong's bones and muscles linked together, and an extremely bizarre internal energy technique began to run, instantly turning him into a human shackle, locking Li Miao's arm firmly!

"No protective True Qi! Do it!"

Cun Dong shouted.

In fact, there was no need for him to speak; the other four black-clad eunuchs had already arrived at Li Miao's side, attacking Li Miao's vital points in unison!

Cun Dong's face revealed joy.

This grappling technique was a secret palace transmission; even someone a tier stronger than himself would find it hard to break free. The key was that he could simultaneously perceive the condition of the person trapped.

He clearly sensed—Li Miao's tendons and bones had not become stronger, his True Qi had not turned into a tangible protective Dharma robe, and even the hidden injuries within his body showed no signs of healing.

True Qi, force, tendons, and bones were exactly the same as before.

"Could it be he hasn't mastered Xuanlan?"

Cun Dong felt a surge of joy.

Just then, Li Miao suddenly smiled at him.

"Have you finished making a scene?"

*Snap. *

A crisp sound.

That was the sound of one of Cun Dong's major tendons snapping, and then Li Miao's arm slowly bent within his embrace.

*Snap, snap. *

"Ugh, ugh!"

Cun Dong couldn't help but let out a wail; the technique originally used to trap Li Miao had now become a tool for Li Miao to inflict pain upon him. As Li Miao's arm bent slowly with irresistible force, his entire body folded in half along with it.

*Squish. *

Broken bones pierced through skin and flesh, and the flesh, crushed into a paste, scrambled to escape from the rupture.

"You... what Life Cultivation path... are you connected to..."

Fresh blood gushed from his mouth; Cun Dong choked and coughed, forcing himself to speak.

He was already certain that Li Miao had mastered Xuanlan. But his True Qi and bones hadn't become stronger, so where on earth did this immense brute force come from!

Li Miao smiled.

"Jiezi."

"Jiezi!?" Cun Dong's eyes widened abruptly.

Jin Gang is body, Sumeru is Qi, Jiezi is technique.

But why would Li Miao connect to Jiezi... didn't he cultivate the most ferocious and cruel path? Fighting to the death without retreating, paying blood with blood—shouldn't such a temperament connect to Jin Gang?

How could it be Jiezi?

If it were Jiezi, where did this inexplicable brute force come from?

Suddenly, Cun Dong heard a crisp "snap," but it didn't come from his own body; it came from Li Miao's arm.

That was the sound of Li Miao's arm muscles tearing.

A hint of realization finally appeared in Cun Dong's gaze: "So, that's how it is."

"Jiezi is mastery, and Xuanlan is also mastery. You connected to Jiezi, pushing your mastery over every part of your own body to the peak... This is your, Xuanlan..."

"Suppressing instinct, exchanging injury for power, never dying until the end. You are just as ruthless to yourself... You are indeed a—"

*Snap. *

"Thanks for the explanation."

Li Miao's arm bent completely, and Cun Dong, who was clinging to the arm, bent along with it, his head hanging limply.

Li Miao flung his hand violently, throwing Cun Dong out and smashing two black-clad eunuchs away.

The next instant, Li Miao's hands gripped the heads of the remaining two black-clad eunuchs, the muscles on his arms bulging, even splitting his skin!

He smashed them violently into the ground!

*BOOM!!! *

The massive sound shook, and the ground seemed to leap up suddenly as if it were a living thing. The vibration traveled along the ground to the high palace walls, startling the warhorses into suddenly raising their heads and neighing.

"What's going on..."

The officer of the Right Cavalry Guard frowned and looked toward the Huagai Hall.

Such a head-lopping matter, he naturally couldn't just leave like this; he only led his subordinate knights out a distance before stopping, waiting for the struggle between Li Miao and the black-clad eunuchs to reach a result.

Suddenly, he gritted his teeth.

"No, I can't just wait."

"I still have to go see; that Li Miao must die here today! Otherwise, everything is over!"

He spurred his horse, intending to ride toward the Huagai Hall.

Suddenly, something above his head seemed to block the sunlight, casting a shadow over his side.

"Clouds? Bad luck!"

He spat, not caring at all, and was about to urge his horse forward.

*Drip. *

A drop of warm liquid fell onto his face, followed by more liquid splashing down.

"It's raining?"

He raised his hand to catch a drop of liquid, but what met his gaze was a patch of scarlet.

A chill climbed from his spine to the back of his head; he suddenly looked up and saw clearly where the shadow above his head came from.

It was a corpse hanging from the eaves of the palace wall.

Beside the corpse, Li Miao was standing there, impaling another black-clad eunuch, whose chest was still heaving, onto the eaves, as if hanging a strip of cured meat for the winter.

Seeing him look over, Li Miao turned his head and smiled at him.

"Don't rush, don't rush."

"You're next."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 379 =====