The vast Nine Kings Mountain had long been designated as the private property of the Daqi Royal Family. Outsiders who trespassed could be killed on sight.
The Imperial Clan Court had built Daoist temples, family shrines, and ancestral halls on the mountain, with no fewer than a thousand servants and maids alone.
Furthermore, Martial Arts experts were stationed in all directions to guard against any treasonous individuals who might come to rob the tombs.
Of course,
there were some special people here as well.
"Seventh Princess."
A woman with a haggard expression handed over a face towel.
"Could you help me ask my father if I can ever return to the Prince Mansion?"
"Sister Er Qiao." Having finished bathing and changing, Qii Wanyan washed her face again with clean water. She took the towel and said,
"If you repent with a sincere heart and pray devoutly for our ancestors here, Sixth Uncle will see it and will surely plead with the Imperial Clan Court on your behalf."
"Don’t be in such a hurry..."
"It’s only been a few months."
"You..." The woman’s expression changed, and resentment filled her eyes.
"Qii Wanyan, what you’ve done is far worse than what I did! You’re the one who should be here, repenting to our ancestors!"
The two of them had played together since childhood. Being a few years older, the woman had even been the leader among the noble girls when they were young.
They were once the closest of sisters.
But alas,
things were different now.
"Sister Er Qiao, look at you, getting worked up again." Qii Wanyan shook her head unhurriedly.
"As a married Commandery Princess, you failed to manage your household, leading to your husband’s disdain and your children’s rejection. That is already a breach of a wife’s duties."
"Worse, you shamelessly kept numerous lovers, causing such a scandal that your husband raised hell at the Imperial Clan Court. The Prince merely sending you here to mourn the ancestors for ten years is already showing you mercy. If this were among the common folk, you would have been drowned in a pig cage long ago."
"As for me..."
She gave a faint smile.
"I am not yet married. Even if I lived a dissolute life, my crime would not be so severe. Besides, I am still a virgin."
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve, revealing the Guardian Sand on her fair wrist.
"Impossible!"
The woman’s face turned pale.
"It’s a fake!"
"It has to be a fake!"
She lunged at Qii Wanyan like a madwoman, reaching for her wrist, wanting to rub off the disguise.
Qii Wanyan’s expression remained unchanged. She didn’t even think of resisting, because she knew it wasn’t necessary.
This was Nine Kings Mountain.
For the children of the Royal Family, its safety was second only to the Imperial Palace.
"Princess, be careful!"
"Stop her!"
Sure enough.
Two stout women guarding her flanks blurred into motion, blocking Qii Wanyan’s path and restraining the woman.
"As children of the Royal Family, as long as you are honest and well-behaved—or even a little unconventional—you can enjoy endless glory and wealth."
Qii Wanyan lowered her sleeve and said slowly,
"Unfortunately..."
"You took it too far."
"Qii Wanyan!" the woman roared, pinned to the ground.
"You slut! You bitch!"
"You won’t come to a good end! Sooner or later, you’ll be here too, atoning to our ancestors! We’ll see!"
Qii Wanyan paid her no mind, and led by a maid, she arrived at a great hall filled with memorial tablets.
Before paying respects to her mother, she first had to kowtow to her ancestors.
There were two hundred and nineteen memorial tablets, each with an Everlasting Lamp lit before it, burning unextinguished for a thousand years.
’More than two hundred tablets, and not a single one for a woman.’ Qii Wanyan stared directly at the tablets, her beautiful eyes shimmering. ’Will I...’
’be able to claim a place here a hundred years from now?’
Zhu Ju, dressed in a Daoist Robe and holding a Duster, stood beside a prayer cushion like an otherworldly immortal.
Dressed in white, Qii Wanyan cleared her mind of distracting thoughts and knelt respectfully on the ground.
"Master."
"I’ll have to trouble you to preside over the rites."
"Mm," Zhu Ju nodded and recited according to custom:
"The years pass and seasons turn. On this day of your mother’s passing, we remember our roots and dare not forget the rites..."
"Kowtow!"
"Offer the incense!"
A servant woman from the Daoist Temple, who was waiting at the side, held up a silver platter on which lay three sticks of ancestor-worshiping incense.
Qii Wanyan took them. Just as she was about to place them in the incense burner, a cold glint flashed in her eyes, and her heart went cold.
’An assassin!’
CLANG!
The silver platter in the servant woman’s hands flipped over, revealing a hidden dagger that glinted coldly as it stabbed toward her.
A First-Grade Grandmaster!
This assassin actually had the Cultivation of a First-Grade Grandmaster.
They were so close that escape was nearly impossible.
SWOOSH!
Just then, a Duster abruptly appeared. Its soft bristles, now incredibly tough, instantly wrapped around the dagger.
Zhu Ju gave the Duster a light tug. It looked effortless, yet the servant woman spat up blood and flew backward. After landing, she couldn’t even move a finger. The principle of ’wielding the heavy as if it were light’ was perfectly demonstrated in that single moment.
"Princess!"
"Princess Yuzhen!"
Only then did the guards outside the hall snap back to their senses, rushing in with panicked shouts.
"There’s an assassin!"
"Quick, protect the Princess."
"Phew..."
Beads of sweat formed on Qii Wanyan’s forehead. She let out a long, shaky breath and nodded at Zhu Ju gratefully.
"Thank you, Master."
If Zhu Ju hadn’t intervened just now, she was confident she could have avoided a fatal blow, but she definitely would have been injured.
And the assassin’s dagger was certainly poisoned. If it was some rare toxin, the outcome would have been unpredictable.
In short, it had been a very close call.
Hm?
The words had barely left her mouth when Qii Wanyan’s expression froze, and a look of utter despair appeared in her beautiful eyes.
Killing intent!
A killing intent far more condensed and terrifying than the last assassin’s erupted from behind her, like a sharp sword piercing her Sea of Consciousness.
A Martial Arts Will!
An assassin at the Divine Treasure Martial Saint Realm!
’It’s over!’
No one could have imagined there was more than one assassin.
Besides the one disguised as the incense-bearing servant, another had hidden among the guards, waiting for an opportunity to get close.
When Qii Wanyan was suddenly attacked, her first instinct was to have her guards protect her.
But no one ever expected that an assassin was hidden among the guards themselves.
And this assassin was far stronger than the servant woman.
Much stronger!
One moment, he had a look of loyalty, desperate to protect his mistress; the next, he erupted with killing intent as his sharp sword flashed out like lightning.
The killing intent appeared without warning.
The almost tangible Martial Arts Will instantly tore through the mental defenses Qii Wanyan had built through her years of Martial Arts Cultivation. In that moment, her mind filled with despair, and she could only watch helplessly as the sword lunged at her.
Death!
Death was closer than ever before, and a dense layer of goosebumps broke out on her smooth skin.
Even Zhu Ju had failed to notice something was wrong in time.
By the time he did,
it was too late.
SWISH!
A sword as thin as a cicada’s wing was unsheathed without a sound, flashing with a cold glint in the air as it aimed straight for the space between Qii Wanyan’s eyebrows.
Ten Steps One Kill!
It was the Ghost Tower’s assassin, Shen Ming of the Soul Chasing Life-Taking Sword, who had once successfully assassinated a Vajra Realm expert.
A sudden realization dawned on Qii Wanyan.
’A Half-Step Vajra Realm expert hid his aura and lay in wait beside me, all for a single opportunity.’
’I have no right to complain about this death.’
Just then.
WHOOSH!
Two faint, almost imperceptible blades of light abruptly appeared, slashing into the assassin’s Sea of Consciousness at an inconceivable speed.
They ignored all defense.
They ignored all distance.
Soul-Stabilizing and Soul-Slaying Divine Light!
Because of this world’s Martial Arts principle of the Unity of Spirit and Body, the divine light that was originally meant to only slay the Divine Soul struck like a heavy blade.
BANG!
The body of Shen Ming of the Soul Chasing Life-Taking Sword suddenly froze.
An opportunity!
WHOOSH!
An unprecedented light burst from Qii Wanyan’s previously deadened eyes, and she shot backward like a cannonball.
The guards beside her also recovered their wits and charged the assassin with loud roars.
"Hmph!"
Shen Ming snorted coldly. His longsword erupted with a dazzling light, like a compressed beam bursting forth. In an instant, he unleashed over a thousand strikes, engulfing the entire hall in light. A bone-chilling killing intent seemed to be everywhere.
Everyone felt as if they were trapped in a cage of a thousand hanging blades, forced to watch as the blades descended upon them.
SPLAT!
SPLAT! SPLAT!
BANG!
Armor was torn apart, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.
A group of skilled and powerful Second-Grade Grandmasters were torn to shreds, and a streak of Sword Light immediately shot out.
The Sword Light was like a shooting star, unbelievably fast.
Qii Wanyan felt her scalp tingle and her heart pound wildly. She cried out in desperation,
"Master, save me!"
A figure abruptly appeared in front of her. He flicked a finger, meeting the incoming sword blade with a single digit of flesh.
TING...
A terrifying Giant Power erupted, and the attacking figure suddenly halted.
"Vajra?"
Shen Ming’s voice was laced with surprise and a hint of confusion. His body flickered, turning into a series of afterimages as he continued to charge at Qii Wanyan.
He was an assassin.
His goal was to kill his target, not get entangled with Zhu Ju.
Besides, in that clash just now, his opponent’s power was unbelievably immense, but it didn’t seem to be that of a Vajra Martial Saint.
At the very least,
it lacked the tangible Martial Arts Will of a Vajra Martial Saint. Otherwise, he never would have been able to withstand it so easily.
Hm?
The moment he moved, Shen Ming’s expression changed.
He felt as if he were stuck in a mire, his movements severely restricted, as if the entire world was fighting against him.
’This is...’
’Replacing the will of heaven with one’s own will?’
’Sumeru?’
’I can’t fight him head-on!’
SWOOSH!
With a flicker, his body seemed to turn into a phantom, vanishing hundreds of feet away in an instant.
After a few more flickers, he had vanished completely.
A single missed strike, and he fled a thousand li.
As an assassin, he was clearly more than qualified. Even Zhu Ju couldn’t keep him there.
「In the great hall.」
Having escaped death, Qii Wanyan was pale-faced and breathing rapidly, steadying herself with one hand on a table.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion, but in reality, she had walked the line between life and death in the space of a single breath.
"Master..."
"Thank you."
"It was my duty." Zhu Ju waved his Duster lightly, a look of amazement on his face.
"That assassin’s Body Technique just now was truly a sight to behold. This humble Daoist has never seen such speed."
That man’s short-distance burst of speed was even faster than a Cultivator’s Escape Technique, and not just by a little.
If he hadn’t cast a spell to warp the surrounding gravity and startle the assassin, he might not have been able to protect her completely.
"His name is Shen Ming," Qii Wanyan said gravely, steadying her breath and composing herself.
"He is the number one assassin from the Ghost Tower, perhaps even the number one assassin in the world, known as the Soul Chasing Life-Taking Sword."
"It is said..."
"He has an ultimate killing technique called Ten Steps One Kill. As long as he gets within ten steps of you while you are unguarded, even a Martial Saint in the Vajra Realm cannot escape his assassination. In fact, he did once successfully assassinate a Vajra Realm Martial Saint, even if that Martial Saint was past his prime."
A look of wonder appeared in Qii Wanyan’s eyes.
"That sword strike just now was truly inconceivable. It made me feel as if I’d fallen into the Nine Nether Abyss, unable to escape. I thought I was dead for sure. I never expected you to be able to break his Ten Steps One Kill, Master."
"That’s because his target was you. If it were this humble Daoist..." Zhu Ju thought for a moment, then shook his head with a grave expression.
"I might not have been able to dodge it."
’I couldn’t dodge it.’
’But I should be able to block it. I’d be injured at most, but it wouldn’t be fatal.’
"In any case, thank you for saving my life, Master." Qii Wanyan bowed solemnly.
"To think, even in my current state, some people are still so worried that they’d hire the world’s number one assassin to kill me."
"However..."
"Today, I, Yuzhen, have witnessed your methods, Master. I believe stopping that person in the Imperial Palace should not be a problem."
Zhu Ju raised an eyebrow.
He definitely couldn’t handle the Sumeru Realm expert in the Imperial Palace, so Qii Wanyan must have been talking about someone else.
’Who could it be?’
"I’ll have to trouble you to return to the capital with me, Master."
Qii Wanyan took a deep breath.
"We’re going to the Imperial Palace."
*
*
*
By Emperor Chong’an’s special decree, Qii Wanyan was permitted to enter the palace.
That night, there were no stars and no moon.
Outside the glow of the lanterns, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Li Ningxue, the Saintess of the Celestial Intent Sect, ground the ink, while Princess Yuzhen, Qii Wanyan, took up the brush. She brandished it with flourish and wrote a line of large characters.
Heaven’s Might is Unpredictable!
CLACK...
She set down the brush, her beautiful eyes glittering.
"We can’t wait any longer. I must see my Imperial Father tonight!"
"Your Highness."
Li Ningxue began in a low voice,
"His Majesty is gravely ill. Besides the Imperial Physicians, no one is allowed entry without being summoned, not even the Empress."
"Princess Consort Yii went to Yangxin Hall last night," Qii Wanyan said.
"We’re out of time."
"Can the Celestial Intent Sect stop that old monster in the palace?"
"Well..." Li Ningxue’s eyes flickered.
"The Sect Leader has already arrived in the Divine Capital, but I don’t know his exact location. With the Sect Leader’s Cultivation, stopping him won’t be difficult."
"Then let’s make our move," Qii Wanyan said.
"Take out the things Master gave you."
"Mm." Li Ningxue nodded. With a light wave of her long sleeve, several Papermen flew out. One of them transformed into Qii Wanyan’s likeness.
It was not just its appearance; even its aura was identical.
"With this..."
"things will be much easier."
Qii Wanyan’s eyes lit up.
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