Chapter 149: The Emperor's Might is Like a Gentle Breeze; Why Would I Not Dare to Kill an Imperial Prince?
Every hair on Zhao Pei's body stood on end, threatening to tear apart.
A surge of terror welled up in his eyes because he knew that An Le would truly kill him, and dared to kill him.
Looking at An Le, who was now stride for stride beside him, the grand declaration An Le had made echoed in his mind: one thousand eight hundred li to Lin'an, and if he caught up, he would kill him!
And now, An Le was right beside him, which naturally meant he had caught up.
His sword energy transformed into a divine deer as An Le looked calmly at Zhao Pei.
"Your Highness the Second Prince, what a pity, it is time for you to set off," An Le said.
He had once vowed that if he caught up with Zhao Pei, he would sever Zhao Pei's head as a gift to the Emperor of the Zhao clan. Now that he had caught up, a promise made was a promise kept.
As An Le's words fell, a sharp and piercing murderous intent burst forth from his body. The invincible momentum surged, transforming into a golden dragon that coiled and roared above his head!
The dragon's roar seemed to shake Zhao Pei's very soul into numbness. Combined with the killing intent unleashed by An Le, it left Zhao Pei's entire body rigid, sweat pouring from the palms of his hands and feet!
Faced with a life-or-death crisis, Zhao Pei's throat felt dry as parchment.
"An Le! You've lost your mind! You are trying to enter Lin'an, yet you still want to kill me... This will only provoke the Emperor! It will make Lin'an a forbidden zone where you can never set foot!"
Zhao Pei's voice was raspy as he forced the words out in a low roar.
"You stepped on a golden lotus amidst the dark of night, intending to kill me... Back then, did you ever worry that you would provoke me?"
An Le looked at Zhao Pei and asked.
The Second Prince Zhao Pei instantly froze.
An Le raised his hand, his sword fingers pressed together, and pushed forward slowly.
The Swallow Returns slowly slid out of its pearwood scabbard, resembling the crisp chirp of a swallow echoing between heaven and earth!
Chasing down Zhao Pei was not something An Le had paid excessive attention to; during the pursuit, he had even taken the time to sort through and summarize the gains from his northern expedition.
In An Le's view, organizing his own swordsmanship and comprehending the insights regarding the sword left behind by the First Emperor were far more important than hunting down Zhao Pei.
There had even been a moment of sudden enlightenment during the journey, causing An Le to slow his pace significantly.
That time had been Zhao Pei's best opportunity to escape.
Unfortunately, Zhao Pei's escape had failed; he had been caught in the end. This meant An Le had given him a chance, but he had failed to seize it.
That being the case, An Le would naturally show no mercy or politeness. The words and oaths he had spoken needed to be fulfilled by the sword in his hand.
Without killing Zhao Pei, under the pretext of escorting the Imperial Uncle, the Emperor of the Zhao clan might not have blocked him.
However, killing Zhao Pei... slaying a prince outside the imperial capital was equivalent to delivering a heavy slap to the face of the Zhao clan's Emperor. Entering Lin'an would naturally become infinitely difficult, and he might even face the full-force, shameless onslaught of the Great Zhao Emperor!
Yet, An Le had prepared for this long ago. He had previously been chased out of Lin'an Prefecture in a disheveled and disgraced state by the Zhao Emperor.
Though not much time had passed, An Le ultimately needed to return a gift to the Zhao Emperor.
Killing Tong Guan counted as one gift, but Tong Guan's bones had sunk to the bottom of the Canglang River, so An Le felt that gift was insufficient.
Sensing the momentum steadily climbing on An Le's body, and recalling his suddenly surged speed, Zhao Pei had to admit that during the pursuit... An Le had grown stronger still!
This filled him with despair; such a monstrous talent completely robbed him of any confidence to contend.
The swallow's cry echoed, and sword energy rang clear!
The Swallow Returns was unsheathed!
An Le gripped the hilt, its sword guard as narrow and long as a swallow's tail, and slashed a sword toward Zhao Pei!
This very sword strike was the Red Heart Sword Intent he had comprehended from the First Emperor's swordsmanship along the way. With every rise and fall of the sword, a single red heart was forged!
The sword intent surged, and the sword energy soared straight up to pierce the constellations!
Zhao Pei's pupils constricted. Facing this seemingly simple downward slash, he felt a pressure as heavy as a mountain. An Le's sword strike carried even greater pressure than their duel the previous night!
The sword technique was simple, yet its threat was immense!
This sword strike was aimed squarely at taking his life!
A single sword... was enough to kill him!
Zhao Pei's eyes instantly turned bloodred. In this fleeting instant, he thought of many things: the boundless ambition when he obtained the purple Qi and golden lotus, the confidence after descending the mountain, and the deep regret when he struck out to kill An Le...
All sorts of emotions flooded his heart.
Before him lay Lin'an Prefecture, the imperial city of Great Zhao. He had dreamed of becoming the crown prince of Great Zhao, inheriting this realm in the future and ascending to the throne as the Emperor sitting high upon the imperial dais.
Yet, under this current sword strike, everything he possessed seemed on the verge of vanishing into smoke.
Reluctance, despair, and anger... rushed over him like a roaring tsunami at this moment!
He could not just die like this!
"An Le!"
The Second Prince Zhao Pei let out a heart-rending roar!
Boundless innate vital energy churned, his glabella opened and closed, and his primordial spirit sat atop a lotus platform as if petals of a lotus were blossoming around his body one by one. Only, this blooming spiritual lotus was interwoven and covered with cracks!
To counter An Le's simple sword strike executed with Red Heart Sword Intent, Zhao Pei raised wind and thunder in his palms, using his bare hands to block!
Simply because, at this very moment, Zhao Pei had forcibly broken through into the dual sixth realms.
...
...
Lin'an Prefecture was shrouded in mist and clouds.
The ancient city under the morning light was immersed in a rare atmosphere; the nocturnal songs and dances had just ended, while ordinary citizens seeking survival in the morning mist had already begun to labor for their livelihoods.
At the same time.
A hundred li outside Lin'an Prefecture, a boundless aura rose into the sky, vaguely transforming into a sword-energy divine deer that galloped forth like an exiled sword immortal riding a deer.
This aura naturally drew the attention of numerous powerful figures within the city.
The Chancellor's Estate.
Qin Lishi, who was nurturing his aura and elevating his cultivation, snapped his eyes open. Divine light surged in the depths of his eyes as he sensed a familiar aura outside Lin'an Prefecture.
This aura...
He would never forget it in this lifetime, for it belonged to the very person who had slain his most beloved son, Qin Qianqiu.
His glabella opened and closed. Faintly, a figure bathed in brilliant rosy clouds and stacked with towering celestial terraces emerged.
A primordial spirit stepped out, striding up into the high heavens. Its eyes opened and closed, gazing down upon the world from a height of ten thousand zhang like a deity, piercing through the mist shrouding the entire city and looking out beyond Lin'an.
A look of astonishment immediately surfaced in those eyes.
The face of the primordial spirit surged with divine light, cold and laced with chilling murderous intent.
"An Le... You actually dare to return to Lin'an?!"
"And you're still outside the city... attempting to kill the Second Prince Zhao Pei? What on earth are you trying to do?!"
...
The Dali Temple.
Su Qingke, the Chief Minister of the Dali Temple who had spent the entire night handling various criminal cases within Lin'an Prefecture, slowly raised his head, a look of shock emerging in his eyes.
Vital energy surged across his body, his figure blurring as he stepped out of the Dali Temple pavilion and appeared upon the black-tiled roof. His official robes fluttered in the morning wind, an Erpin treasured saber hung at his waist, and his gaze was as unyielding as iron.
"It truly is An Le. How does he still dare to return to Lin'an?"
"Is he here to escort the Elder Imperial Uncle back to Lin'an?"
Su Qingke let out a breath, his heart filled with extreme astonishment.
A sound of the air being rent echoed through the air.
Cao Fu, the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple with a slender figure and a Sanpin bandit-subduing saber at his waist, leapt up onto the rooftop. He first bowed to Su Qingke before straightening his posture.
"Lord Chief Minister, has An Le returned?"
Cao Fu's sleeves fluttered in the morning breeze as he could not help but ask.
Su Qingke nodded, pointing toward the misty expanse outside Lin'an Prefecture, and said: "A hundred li outside the city, An Le crossed paths with the Second Prince Zhao Pei, stride for stride. He even unleashed killing intent toward the Second Prince, intending to execute him outside the city walls..."
Hearing this, Cao Fu was momentarily stunned.
"An Le and the Second Prince?"
Following that, a gloomy expression washed over his face. His hand dropped onto the bandit-subduing saber at his waist as he asked: "Lord Chief Minister, His Majesty previously issued an imperial decree ordering the Temple Tigers of the Dali Temple across all states, commanderies, and cities of the Great Zhao Empire to apprehend An Le upon sight... But what is the charge against An Le?"
Su Qingke, who had been cultivating Cao Fu as his successor, had not expected Cao Fu to ask such a question.
What was An Le's crime?
"His Majesty believes that An Le killed Eunuch Tong, and thus issued a decree ordering the Temple Tigers and bailiffs of the Dali Temple throughout the Great Zhao Empire to hunt down and capture An Le. However, according to the reports sent back... Eunuch Tong went to the Canglang River specifically to kill An Le, and even joined forces with the malevolent water demons of the Xiliang Kingdom."
Cao Fu's hand pressed upon the bandit-subduing saber, a look of confusion in his gaze.
"Therefore, An Le merely killed the person who came to kill him. Is that a crime too? If Eunuch Tong hadn't died, then An Le would have been the one to die."
Cao Fu let out a breath, venting the perplexity in his heart.
Su Qingke no longer looked at Cao Fu, instead staring at Lin'an Prefecture, shrouded in mist beneath the morning light, where the rays of the rising sun seemed entirely incapable of piercing even a fraction of this ancient and beautiful city.
"This is imperial authority. The Dali Temple is the blade in the hands of imperial power. If His Majesty declares An Le guilty, then he is guilty, and we execute that will... nothing more."
"Now that An Le intends to slay the Second Prince outside the city—committing patricide against the imperial family—is this a crime?"
A hint of confusion and a sigh laced Su Qingke's voice.
A dark shadow grew within Cao Fu's gaze. "Imperial power can kill you, and if you resist or strike back, it becomes a crime. Is this what imperial authority is?"
"Yet, Lord Chief Minister once told me that those of us who enforce the law must maintain a clear conscience and uphold fairness and justice... But I do not know when it was that you, my Lord, changed."
Cao Fu muttered.
"Back then, before the White Jade Plaza in front of the Tianxuan Palace, An Le did nothing wrong. He shattered His Majesty's schemes. But His Majesty's schemes... were never popular with the people. The Lin family gave their lives loyally to the nation, yet to prolong his own life by five hundred years, he plotted a grand scheme and turned his blade against the surviving widows of the Lin family... What a sordid and filthy deed that was!"
Cao Fu declared.
Su Qingke stood with his hands clasped behind his back, remaining silent.
Cao Fu shook his head, leapt down from the rooftop, and walked out of the Dali Temple, heading in the direction of the city gates.
Su Qingke did not stop him.
However, a growing and deepening melancholy lingered in his eyes.
"Perhaps... I really was wrong, but the Dali Temple is ultimately the Dali Temple of Great Zhao."
...
Within the Imperial City.
The back courtyard.
Late-spring plum blossoms covered the gardens, the ground blanketed entirely in fallen petals scattered across the earth as if forming a sea of flowers.
The Emperor of the Zhao clan wore casual attire, walking slowly and stepping upon the soft plum petals.
In a distant pavilion, a figure with the demeanor of an immortal sat amidst the structure, sipping fine wine and gazing at a pool of stagnant, murky green water in the center of the garden.
The green water in the pool was eerie, devoid of even half a swimming fish, and a thick aura of death seemed to rise from the depths of the pool.
A chessboard was set before Zhao Xianyou, black and white pieces scattered across it like sparse stars, as if he had not sensed the approach of the Zhao Emperor.
He remained as ethereal as ever, his aura and realm having advanced significantly once more, as though he possessed no bottlenecks. The shackles that ordinary cultivators found difficult to break seemed to him like a layer of paper, easily torn with a gentle poke.
His slender, fair fingers, untainted by dust, picked up a white chess piece and dropped it onto the board.
Suddenly, a hand holding a black piece landed swiftly upon the board right beside it.
The Emperor's robes fluttered as he sat calmly opposite Zhao Xianyou.
A morning breeze swept past, causing countless late-spring plum petals to flutter and scatter. A petal even drifted into the pavilion, dancing alongside the flying strands of hair belonging to Zhao Xianyou and the Zhao Emperor.
However, the plum petal did not dance for long before it was crushed into fine dust by an invisible force, vanishing into smoke.
The Emperor's gaze was indifferent and calm as he looked at Zhao Xianyou.
"Father, not a trace of grief over Tong Guan's death can be seen on your face anymore."
Zhao Xianyou picked up a chess piece, dropped it onto the board, and said softly.
"Tong Guan accompanied you for five hundred years, yet now that he has perished, it seems you only displayed a hint of grief in that very instant when you received the news and ordered the empire-wide manhunt for An Le."
The Emperor dropped his piece and replied calmly: "Man is not an immortal; there are limits, and eventually everyone dies. Tong Guan lacked the aptitude to break through to the tenth realm, and before long he would have died regardless. He could not accompany me forever."
Zhao Xianyou let out a light chuckle. "Those who seek longevity must be cold-blooded..."
He raised his head, a smile surfacing on a handsome face that seemed otherworldly: "From the moment Zhao Jiu was born, he resided within the deep palace courtyards, able to gaze up at nothing more than that narrow patch of sky beneath the palace walls. There were no palace maids, no eunuchs, not even a mother empress."
"You said you were unwilling to let these mortal beings taint a piece of flawless jade."
"Yet, after all, I am your offspring."
The Emperor picked up a black piece from the box. "Everyone has their own destiny. Some are born with the destiny of an emperor, while others are born with the destiny of an immortal."
"Your talent, your birth—how many people spend their lives dreaming of them yet fail to attain them? Are you still unsatisfied?"
The corners of Zhao Xianyou's lips curled into a smile. "It is you, Father, who remain unsatisfied."
"Tong Guan, who accompanied you for five hundred years, has fallen, and your grief lasted no more than a fleeting moment. I wonder... if the deaths of us children would cause you to feel pain for a fraction longer?"
Zhao Xianyou picked up a white piece and dropped it onto the board. The white piece landed like a sharp saber, stabbing straight into the belly of the black dragon formation.
"You wished to borrow the Heart Sword of the Lin family's Jade Guanyin, but now the Heart Sword is out of reach."
"You wished to borrow the millennium-old purple Qi and golden lotus, yet that too remains out of reach."
"Father... hurry, Zhao Jiu is growing somewhat tired of waiting."
Zhao Xianyou's lips curved into a mocking arc as he spoke flatly.
The Emperor's gaze finally fell upon Zhao Xianyou's flawless, jade-like face, and gradually, a burning heat welled up within his eyes.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, the Emperor turned his head to look outside Lin'an Prefecture. His brows furrowed slightly before he slowly stood up. "It is soon. Do not be impatient."
As he turned and walked out of the pavilion, stepping over the sea of late-spring plum blossoms, his figure gradually vanished into the morning mist.
Throughout the entire garden, a primordial spirit grand array suddenly intertwined and wove together. Strand after strand of invisible bindings rushed into the firmament, converging and weaving into a dome overhead.
It resembled a giant birdcage, enveloping the pavilion and trapping Zhao Xianyou, who had just grabbed a jar of aged yellow wine and was drinking it down in great gulps.
The exiled immortal in the cage was like a caged sparrow, drinking deeply of the mortal world's bustling smoke and fire.
...
...
The sixth realm of spirit refining is known as the Rosy Ascent, while the sixth realm of body forging observes the Qi Sea.
As the watershed dividing the first five realms from the latter five, the sixth realm was naturally a stage of immense transformation!
On the northern bank of the Canglang River, An Le had once fought against a Yuanmeng squad, breaking through three hundred armor-clad soldiers and executing a sixth-realm Yuanmeng squad commander.
At that time, An Le had not yet achieved dual perfection in the fifth realm, but he had still crossed the realm barrier and slain that sixth-realm commander.
However, the cultivation arts practiced by that sixth-realm commander were vastly different from those of Zhao Pei, the Second Prince of Great Zhao.
Therefore, the sixth realms of the two were completely different as well.
Zhao Pei had always intended to steadily break through into the sixth realm, accumulating the most consummate foundation, using the purple Qi and golden lotus to ascend in rosy light and observe his Qi Sea, so that he could rapidly leap and elevate in subsequent realms and ultimately shatter the ninth-realm barrier!
Yet, now driven to desperation by An Le, facing a sword strike from the person he had once been able to fight evenly with, he lacked the courage to block it.
In that sword strike, he saw death.
Thus, he had no choice but to forcibly break through to the sixth realm, severing his chances of soaring progress in the future.
The very instant he entered the sixth realm, the pool of innate spiritual Qi within his dantian suddenly began to swell violently. Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth poured wildly into his body, refined by his inner core and converted into innate spiritual energy, continuously accumulating into the pool until it expanded monstrously and transformed into a vast lake!
Furthermore, radiant rosy light illuminated his primordial spirit, as if lifting it aloft, rising and rising continuously within his spiritual heart space, resembling a rosy ascent into flight!
Forcibly breaking into the sixth realm brought forth an immensely formidable power—a power that gave Zhao Pei an illusion of invincibility. He even generated the thought of counter-killing An Le, raising wind and thunder in his palms to meet An Le's supremely simple sword strike.
He had blocked the sword, but his sixth-realm physical body was hacked until blood flew everywhere, his palm directly severed. He had been forced to exhaust and unleash all the power surging from his dantian Qi Sea, along with every shred of rosy light from his spirit, crashing it against that sword strike just to dull its momentum!
Blood splattered, and the agonizing pain caused Zhao Pei to bite down on his lips, deep terror welling up in his eyes!
Why could he still not block it?!
He had broken into the sixth realm after all!
Entering the sixth realm with the stunning posture of a former top-ranked figure on the Little Saint Board—why... could he still not block this single sword?!
An Le's God-Communing Sword Body hummed, his sword intent burning hot like the erupting earth-immortal fires used when forging a sword, and the descent of the blade fell like a heavy blacksmith's hammer.
This was the sword intent An Le had comprehended by combining the swordsmanship pointed out by the First Emperor.
Naturally, it was extraordinary!
If it were that sixth-realm Yuanmeng commander from before, he likely would have been slain in a single stroke.
Yet Zhao Pei, having entered the sixth realm, had only lost his palm; with his own overwhelming aura, he had managed to forcibly block that sword strike.
An Le was even somewhat surprised...
However, considering the techniques Zhao Pei practiced, coupled with his talent, breaking into the sixth realm and achieving a leaping transformation of his realm made a world of difference!
The madness born of a desperate situation, paying the price of a single palm to block that sword strike, was reasonable enough.
Zhao Pei's severed hand continued to drip blood, his heart turning thoroughly ice-cold...
Killing a sixth-realm expert while in the fifth realm was rare, but not unheard of; most geniuses on the Little Saint Board could achieve it.
But those sixth-realm experts possessed utterly mediocre cultivation methods.
Zhao Pei was not that kind of sixth-realm expert, yet he had still nearly been killed by a single sword!
Zhao Pei no longer held a shred of the mindset to contend with An Le.
Terrified, he looked at An Le, who was holding The Swallow Returns, flicking the blood from the blade, and swaying his body as he once more moved to slaughter him.
With a low roar, Zhao Pei exerted his sixth-realm cultivation to the absolute limit, transforming his figure into a streak of flowing light as he rapidly sped toward Lin'an Prefecture.
Having broken into the sixth realm, Zhao Pei's speed had increased by more than a notch.
An Le lifted The Swallow Returns, his body transforming into a sword-energy divine deer as he chased after him like riding the wind.
At this very moment, the distance between the two of them and the city of Lin'an was a mere hundred li!
Upon the city walls of Lin'an.
Powerful figures had long since perceived this abnormality!
Numerous guarding soldiers stood in strict formation.
The vital energy of An Le and the Second Prince—who was operating at his absolute limit after breaking into the sixth realm—surged across the earth like two raging dragons!
Wind and thunder rolled, sword energy churned!
Like towering waves crashing ashore!
Instantly shattering the peace of Lin'an Prefecture into pieces!
Atop the city walls, many defensive powerhouses furrowed their brows.
Strands of primordial spirits rose into the sky, their gazes opening and closing as an intensely brilliant spiritual light immediately cascaded downward like a heavy pressure!
"I am Zhao Pei! I am the Second Prince Zhao Pei!"
"This person intends to assassinate an imperial prince! A heinous crime of rebellion! Stop him!"
The Second Prince Zhao Pei felt the overwhelming pressure of that primordial spirit power bearing down upon him.
A glimmer of hope instantly surfaced in his heart.
Within Lin'an Prefecture, the auras of numerous powerful figures drifted upward as they surveyed the scene outside the city.
The primordial spirits of many experts descended like a curtain of light, resembling a city wall plunging from the sky, attempting to block the space between An Le and the Second Prince Zhao Pei!
These primordial spirits belonged to the various seventh-realm Xiaoyao experts stationed atop the city walls!
However, what truly made An Le feel pressure were those ninth-realm experts rocketing out from the city towers, such as the Left and Right Jinwu Guard Senior Generals who had previously pursued An Le.
Yet, the moment these two ninth-realm figures broke through the air, their hearts sank heavily.
They raised their heads to look.
Only to see the clouds and mist enveloping Lin'an Prefecture completely scatter.
Zhao Huangting stepped upon a sword, supporting the delicate body of Su Muzhe by his side. Su Muzhe grasped the First-Grade Dayan Sword, her glabella opening and closed, while the sword-energy palaces within her spiritual heart space stood completely empty.
Dense layers of swords suspended high in the sky transformed into the Dayan Sword Array, pressing downward.
The two generals instantly froze, not daring to make a single movement!
After all, that was the renowned Dayan Sword Array of the Sword Pool Palace!
On the ground.
An Le, transformed into the divine deer and galloping forward, tossed The Swallow Returns into the air, suspending it beside him under the manipulation of his spiritual mind.
Meanwhile, with his other hand, An Le retrieved the bamboo sword Green Mountain hanging at his waist.
Green Mountain trembled, its sword hum roaring across the firmament—a sword hum filled with extreme excitement!
From within Green Mountain, a boundless momentum of pressing forward without retreat surged forth.
Gripping Green Mountain, amidst his forward charge, An Le executed a flurry of movements: thrusting, parrying, slashing, wiping, chopping, hanging, collapsing, and sweeping!
Sword light moved like shadows, and sword energy flowed like ink. Taking heaven and earth as his parchment, a complex, intricate, and craggy painting of sword-energy rivers and mountains unfolded slowly like a scroll!
I hold a sword, and with it, I paint rivers and mountains!
Rivers and mountains sword intent, with craggy and towering sword energy!
Following a simple sword came the most intricate and complex sword!
When it came to painting, An Le was a professional; using the unyielding spine of Green Mountain to paint naturally added an extra layer of formidable power!
The sword-energy rivers and mountains pushed forward horizontally, instantly shattering the primordial spirit wall blocking his path with a resounding crash!
No one could have anticipated that An Le's sword strike would be this formidable!
Within the Imperial City.
A terrifying will finally surged upward, and a pair of massive golden eyes suddenly manifested above the entire Lin'an Prefecture, opening and closing to cast down a terrifying suppression of will!
"An Le! You dare!"
With a single sword slash, he tore apart the primordial spirit wall.
An Le glanced sideways at those towering, haughty golden eyes manifesting and opening above Lin'an Prefecture. Facing the terrifying suppression of will, beneath his fearless heart, the pressure felt merely like a gentle breeze. His unyielding backbone remained upright without lowering his head or bending his waist, while his golden-dragon invincible momentum instead climbed steadily upward, the dragon's roar shaking the heavens!
Then, raising his hand, Red Heart Sword Intent surged. A supreme and simple sword strike was delivered via his fist and blade, smashing down onto the hilt of The Swallow Returns.
The sword rose horizontally, representing unity.
A fatal strike of unity.
Red Heart Collapsing Sword.
The Swallow Returns let out a piercing shriek. In an instant, this first-grade ultimate sword blazed with brilliant light, carrying endless killing intent and an unyielding, craggy spine!
As the Second Prince Zhao Pei turned his head back, caught in a daze of astonishment, reluctance, and bitterness.
A single sword pierced straight through his skull, carrying terrifying momentum to nail him fiercely onto the city walls of Lin'an.
"Why would I not dare."
ps: It's this hour again. Changing sleep schedules is truly difficult. Asking for monthly votes and recommendation votes for support!
(End of chapter)