Chapter 14: Cutting Off All Eight Heads with a Single Swing of the Sword

4

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Shouning Palace was not the only palace where people were worried. The air in all the other palaces felt heavy as well.

Li Mu found that a lot of people in the palaces were packing their things when he went outside for check-ins that night.

There were even some concubines who were getting ready to run.

The warrior eunuchs were divided into groups.

Some had been sent to the wall as reinforcements.

The others were assigned to guard the royal palace.

All the old eunuchs around the emperor were replaced, and the one who was guarding the emperor was actually the same one who had been guarding the Library Tower.

It was then that Li Mu learned how dire things were.

War was imminent, and the emperor had even swapped out those who served him.

That alone was saying quite a lot.

It meant that he was unable to trust even those closest to him.

When Li Mu returned to Shouning Palace, he discovered that Concubine Jing was sitting at her dressing table, packing her clothes and jewelry.

“My lady, what are you doing?”

“All of these were bestowed on me by the late emperor. Xiaolizi, take these with you and flee,” Concubine Jing said, and she pushed her jewelry box at Li Mu.

“My lady, what happens if the rebel army fails?”

“Clan Dugu has never fought wars that they couldn’t win.” Concubine Jing shook her head and continued, “That 500,000-man army is probably just a diversion. They will definitely send warriors to attack the royal palace tonight. Flee when you see your chance.”

“My lady, if you’re staying, I’m not going anywhere.” Li Mu shook his head.

He was reluctant to let go of such a splendid place for check-ins.

With the country being at war, there would be nowhere else he could go to check in.

“I’d like you to do one thing for me. Hand this jade to Yu when you go out into the city. Tell him to hide as a rich hermit or something and not to have any ideas about restoring the regime.”

Li Mu knew that this was just an excuse from the concubine to make him leave.

The Ninth Prince was probably busy packing up at the moment.

“My lady, just rest easy. Nothing might happen when dawn comes.”

Li Mu took the jade and left her bedchambers.

He packed some things and left Shouning Palace.

He toured around the royal palace for a bit.

He was indeed able to sense a great many formidable presences.

None of which were familiar to him.

That meant that it was impossible for any of them to be the ones guarding the royal palace.

“Eight warriors at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm and more than 20 being at more common stages of the same realm. Concubine Jing was right. These people are indeed trying to ambush the royal palace at night.”

There were only four people at these heights of training in the royal palace, and two had already been assigned to the city walls.

It was indeed a chance like no other.

But, it was a pity.

Shing~

A sword materialized in his hand.

“I’ve never been able to make use of the Saint Spirit Sword Techniques throughout the years. Eight warriors at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm…that should be enough.”

He then sat on a roof in the palace complex with his sword in his hand.

Midnight came.

Shing~

A cold beam appeared at the southeastern side of the royal palace.

Eight figures were seen heading toward the study room where the emperor was.

They didn’t even bother hiding their presence.

They saw the guards as entirely beneath them.

“Intruders! At the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm!”

The old eunuch guarding the place shouted, heading toward the eight of them in despair. His fingers twitched.

“Your Majesty, please leave now. There are eight who are at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm coming here right now.”

“There’s nowhere to run to.” The emperor was stunned and shook his head.

He’d never expected Clan Dugu to have actually been hiding eight warriors at such heights of training in their ranks.

Eight warriors at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm were not a common number wherever one went in the world.

The royal family had only been able to foster four such figures despite having invested resources for generations.

Yet Clan Dugu alone already had eight in their ranks.

One could wonder if Clan Dugu was actually hiding someone even more powerful.

Despair washed all over him.

How could things end up like this?

Run, huh? Where should I run to?

“We’ll hold them off for a while to make sure that you’ll be able to escape, Your Majesty.”

Several eunuchs at the late stages of the Spirit Manipulation Realm appeared in the study room.

“Forgive me for being insolent, Your Majesty.” A eunuch who was standing right beside the emperor hoisted him up on his shoulder and started fleeing westward.

“You wanna run? Ha, ha, ha, die!” More than a dozen warriors at the common stages of the Spirit Manipulation Realm appeared at that moment.

There were only two people at these levels beside the emperor at that time.

That would be the end.

Everyone thought that the emperor had met his doom.

The country will again see the rise of another regime.

Shing~

A powerful sword will shrouded the royal palace from above at that moment.

The ones charging at the emperor and the ones around him were all stunned for a moment.

They all turned to look in the southeast direction.

The eight who had just disposed of the ones standing in their way back in the city, who were about to kill the emperor mere seconds later, saw someone else standing in their way.

“Yet another one. Kill him!” The leader of the eight said.

He charged first at Li Mu after he said that.

He didn’t think much of Li Mu at all.

The sword in Li Mu’s hand moved at that moment.

His tower sword will shot up in the air.

His power enveloped the entire place.

At that very instant, all the formidable ones in and out of the city turned to look at the royal palace, with stunned expressions on their faces.

All they could see was sword will.

Someone formidable…

Some formidable sword wielder had appeared.

The elders of Clan Dugu stopped discussing plans back in the central tent of the camps they had set up right outside of the city, and all of them walked outside to look at the royal palace.

“There are some hidden formidable warriors back in the royal palace? Didn’t Eunuch Huang say that there weren’t any?”

“So what if there is anyone like that around? We sent eight men at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm this time. The result will be the same.”

The elders looked confident.

Clan Dugu had been hiding their powers for hundreds of years and had finally amassed enough forces.

Lord Ning was rebelling and was busy fighting the other clans, making this a chance like no other for them.

When they learned from Eunuch Huang that the grand ancestor of the royal family was probably nowhere to be found, they all decided that they were finished hiding.

“Even if that grand ancestor still happens to be alive, doesn’t Clan Dugu have saint-level ones in our midst too?”

Dugu Xin smirked.

The fact that they had saint-level warriors among them was probably not known to any outsider.

They were wondering when they would be able to reveal these warriors to the people.

They were confident that such a reveal would definitely shock the world.

That meant that Clan Dugu would be able to securely bag the country then.

The members of Clan Dugu were very confident.

A flash of sword will shot to the sky all of a sudden, before things had quieted down again.

The entire process looked like a meteor had just shot to the sky.

“It’s done.”

“Even if there are other formidable ones around, they will all end up dead all the same.”

The elders looked at and congratulated each other as they spoke in excitement.

Back in the air above the royal palace…

Li Mu slowly called his sword back.

It had only taken a single stroke. The heads of all eight of them had rolled before they were even able to react to what was happening.

The expression on the faces of the eight turned from ferocity to utter shock by the time they hit the ground.

The expressions on their faces stiffened as they died.

It was apparent that none of them had been able to believe that they could be doomed so quickly.

“So weak.” Li Mu shook his head, turned around, and left.

He had initially been planning to put his Saint Spirit Sword Techniques to work.

But he hadn’t needed to. The results had been utterly disappointing.

“Am I already the strongest there is now?”

Li Mu was feeling rather excited.

At that moment in the royal palace…

Jaws were gaping.

“The eight of those at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm died just like that?”

They were unable to believe it.

The guards and the eunuchs who had witnessed the scene in the palace rubbed their eyes and pinched themselves.

They still found it unbelievable that such a powerful warrior could have existed.

It had only taken a single move to kill all eight of them.

The eight were all at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm.

It was a height that the likes of them had had to look up in awe to for the rest of their lives.

Yet, the eight had died just like that.

The move had been so nonchalant that it felt more like casually cutting up vegetables.

“That couldn’t be a common warrior at saint level.”

“That was really something.”

“Is the grand ancestor back?” The emperor mumbled to himself.

A single stroke of the sword and eight heads of people at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm had been cut off.

That was just too surreal.

The dozen or so warriors at the Spirit Manipulation Realm were standing around dumbfounded.

They behaved just like the many guards and eunuchs in the palace did.

They found it unbelievable.

“Retreat!” The one who was the leader reacted after being momentarily stunned.

Swoop~

He was breaking out in a cold sweat.

Run!

Run as fast as we can.

“Stop them!”

Those who were guarding the emperor came back to their senses.

Back in the Shouning Palace…

Concubine Jing was wearing lavish clothes and held a knife in her hand, sitting properly in the center of the hall.

Her face was completely deadpan.