Chapter 439

Boom!

The Emperor punched An Qisheng in the chest!

A deafening sound exploded at close range, and the force of the wind swept out!

The Yingzhou Heaven-Man, with his hollow gaze, was blown away by the force, regaining his consciousness in mid-air; he didn't have time to look back and ran for his life, only letting out a long breath once he merged with the arriving honored guests.

The honored guests surrounded the Yingzhou Heaven-Man.

Ruan Mei rushed over and carried Zhu Shoujing on her back.

The Emperor scanned them and flicked his sleeve.

Zhu Shoujing forced himself to say: "Go!"

The honored guests let out a long breath, took the Yingzhou Heaven-Man, and fled rapidly.

After today's battle, they finally understood clearly how large the gap was between them and the four-path Heaven-Men who cultivated both Nature and Life. It was a chasm that neither injuries nor numbers could bridge, a danger where one could lose their life just by being caught in the aftermath. As for how strong Li Miao was to have injured An Qisheng to this extent, they could no longer even guess.

They were not qualified to be bystanders in this battle, just like the Battle of the Imperial Mausoleum and the Battle of Wang Gongchang.

A moment later, the figures were far away.

The Emperor stood on the roof, watching vigilantly the ruins where An Qisheng had been smashed.

His punch had not broken through the protective true energy.

An Qisheng was not injured.

He was hiding in the ruins and smoke, watching the Emperor quietly, searching for his weaknesses.

And now, only three days had passed since Li Miao began practicing with the Emperor, and the Emperor's martial arts had only recovered to about fifty or sixty percent. Even against the heavily injured An Qisheng, he did not have the certainty of victory.

The outcome of today's battle was still unknown.

A moment later, footsteps finally came from the ruins.

Broken roof beams fell with a crash, kicking up large clouds of dust on the ground; invisible protective true energy turned into giant claws to clear the path, and An Qisheng walked out slowly, looking toward the Emperor.

Their gazes overlapped.

The next instant, the world changed!

Without the slightest warning, the Emperor instantly unfolded his own True Heart Illusion, dragging An Qisheng into it!

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony illusion, An Qisheng's eyes instantly regained clarity; he first exchanged a look with the Emperor on the dragon throne, then cast his gaze around, and after carefully observing for a circle, he spoke for the first time.

"Where did your Jizhao cultivation method come from?"

The Emperor did not answer.

An Qisheng didn't seem to expect an answer, continuing to speak on his own.

"You are also fighting for the first time against someone who has cultivated other Nature Cultivation realms. Don't you find it strange why you could drag me into the illusion so easily? Clearly, we are both Heaven-Men who cultivate both Nature and Life, and clearly, my accumulation of Nature Cultivation is far deeper than yours."

The Emperor frowned.

Indeed, compared to "Xuanlan," "Jizhao" seemed too miraculous; it no longer looked like martial arts, but more like the immortal methods described in some storybooks or classics.

Moreover, "Jizhao's" suppression of other Heaven-Men seemed too effective. Excluding Li Miao and the Jianwen Emperor who had also cultivated "Jizhao," even An Qisheng, who had accumulated a thousand years, was dragged into the illusion without any resistance.

This was clearly not normal.

"For a thousand years, I have only seen two people who have cultivated Jizhao."

An Qisheng stood with his hands behind his back, speaking slowly.

"One is you."

"The other is called Zhang Zhang Sanfeng."

"Bodhidharma should have cultivated it too, but I have never seen him."

"Do you know why?"

An Qisheng opened his arms and said in a deep voice.

"Because since a thousand years ago, among the three realms of Nature Cultivation, only two realms have had classics circulating in the Ordinary Jianghu. The loss of 'Jizhao' happened even earlier than the unification of the world."

"Excluding Zhang Zhang Sanfeng and Bodhidharma, for these thousand years, no one else has cultivated 'Jizhao.' Even if someone opened their own path, it couldn't be a mediocre person like you."

"In this world, there is only one person who can cultivate Jizhao and create a cultivation method that even a mediocre person like you can cultivate—the person who gave me the Xuanlan cultivation method, my master, who you call the Old Man of the River."

An Qisheng suddenly retracted his arms and looked at the Emperor earnestly.

"So, you are my junior brother." The Emperor sneered.

"You are worthy of being my senior brother?"

An Qisheng shook his head.

"I know your current state is not right. Although Miao Jiang Gu arts are a minor path, they are also methods passed down from a thousand years ago, and there were stronger people who fell for their treacherous and unpredictable nature even a thousand years ago."

"You are just being confused in your mind now, junior brother, so you think Li Miao is very important, and that is why you are my enemy. This is not out of your own true heart."

"Haven't you felt disgusted by these groundless likes and dislikes, these emotions that forcibly occupy your heart, making you have to do things you shouldn't do, protecting people you shouldn't protect?"

An Qisheng coaxed him.

"Actually, you and I have no conflict."

"Li Miao is the one who took your world, confused your mind, and forced you to be my enemy."

"And I just want to find our master."

"So—"

He reached out a hand toward the Emperor.

"Come, don't sacrifice your life for your enemy anymore."

"Your reason must be able to understand that giving up Li Miao and cooperating with me is the best choice."

"Junior brother, suppress your emotions; you are a Heaven-Man who cultivates both Nature and Life. Gu arts can only change your emotions, not your reason. You can understand that I am the one who is right."

"I will take you to find Ji Tianrui and remove the Gu arts from your body."

"Find your true heart and return your freedom."

An Qisheng spoke with genuine sincerity; compared to his previous silence, he seemed very sincere in saying such a long passage to the Emperor. He looked at the Emperor, expecting an answer.

The Emperor was silent for a while.

"Heh."

He laughed.

"Well said."

"If it were the Emperor who had just woken up, I'm afraid I would have really been fooled by you."

An Qisheng frowned.

The Emperor sneered.

"The foundation of Yingzhou's thousand-year inheritance is you usurping the bodies of your own descendants, erasing their consciousness, and controlling their freedom. If you treat your own descendants like this, would you be so kind to any junior brother?"

"Besides, what is the true heart?"

The Emperor punched his own chest.

"The true heart is the true heart. If I was affected by Gu arts and changed into a fake heart, then going to find Ji Tianrui to remove the Gu arts now would also be changing into a fake heart by external objects; what is the difference between the two!"

"Jizhao is the illusion of the true heart. If I have a fake heart, then you might as well look at the illusions around you; where is there any falsehood!"

"I only know that I want to kill you now because you hurt Big Li; this is my true heart, my sincere heart at this moment!"

The Emperor stood up abruptly.

"And I have realized one thing."

"If you had ten percent certainty of defeating me, you wouldn't be talking this much nonsense."

"Avoiding battle, that is the intention behind you saying so much nonsense."

The Emperor walked down the steps slowly.

"Today, if I win, you die; if you win, I die!"

"That is all!"

(End of chapter)