Hou Zhongyu’s smile froze on his face.
"Were you sent by the Emperor?"
Li Guanyi sneered coldly, stretched out his hand to sweep his battle robe, and at this moment, grasped the hilt of his sword and walked forward, dignified and imposing, his voice thunderous as he rebuked, "I am Noble Consort Xue’s nephew, an imperial relative. Suddenly being dispatched to guard the Qilin Palace, have you never wondered why?"
"If it weren’t for His Majesty’s decree, with my family background, how could I possibly come here?"
"If not for His Majesty’s consent, how could I have entered the world’s most extraordinary formation?"
These words brought Hou Zhongyu’s expression to a halt.
This profound Great Formation was created by Si Wei of the Yin Yang Family, a prominent school, when he was in his thirties. It took me ten years to master it. The formation could trap and kill even an Innate Divine Beast like the Qilin, reputed to live for eight thousand years, and make it struggle helplessly.
Yet, the disposition of the young man before him was by no means that of a coward.
Thinking , could it be that everything was under the watchful eye of the Emperor?
Were all his deeds discovered?
His complexion turned unsightly; under these circumstances, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts run wild.
Li Guanyi loudly chastised:
"His Majesty is already aware of all your doings!"
"I was sent to keep an eye on you in secret!"
"However, out of regard for your past contributions, today an exception is made. It is hoped that you can still turn back and present the Elixir of Immortality to His Majesty!" Hou Zhongyu’s face revealed a look of defeat, and he said softly, "Yes, His Majesty desires only... immortality."
"Thus, he tacitly approved of my actions, and therefore let you..."
His expression of defeat suddenly changed, and he hurled the jade vial in his hand at Li Guanyi; at the same moment, Li Guanyi had also sprung into action. He swiftly dodged to the side, tumbling away, and at the same time, the hand which seemed to be on the hilt of his sword, drew the Imperial Guard hand crossbow directly.
Crafted by the Mo School, it could fire three crossbow bolts at once.
Within a hundred steps, it could pierce through iron armor.
In an instant, both parties made their move almost simultaneously.
Li Guanyi saw the poison corroding gold and iron, causing the palace pillars to collapse, his face turning pale, while the Magician seeing three crossbow bolts piercing deep into the iron cauldron nearby, with a muffled sound, also showed a change in complexion. Neither had any intention of having a proper talk.
At this point, Li Guanyi of course felt it was time to strike a killing blow.
Hou Zhongyu also believed that, at this juncture, even if it truly was the Emperor’s command, he must kill. Seeing the young man’s ferocity, the Magician couldn’t help but tremble in complexion, and swore:
Li Guanyi retorted with a curse:
He then threw the hand crossbow back at him.
The power of Golden Muscle and Jade Bone, combined with Dragon Veins and Tiger Marrow, meant that this throw was no weaker than a crossbow bolt.
Hou Zhongyu swerved his body, ethereal and intangible, dodging the throw.
However, Li Guanyi had already stepped forward, holding his heavy sword with an upward slash. The aura of the White Tiger circulated, and the Imperial Guard’s heavy sword emitted a golden radiance alongside a muffled roar of a tiger. A golden Sword Qi, spinning, shot forth.
Hou Zhongyu’s face changed: "A second-layer Martial Artist?"
"A fifteen-year-old second-layer Martial Artist?!"
His body retreated, almost parallel to the ground, with only his toes touching the earth.
He glided back three zhang in an instant.
Elegant and unparalleled, he rose from the wall.
Dodging that sword Qi, the Qi struck the wall, and the whole room shook. Up till now, Li Guanyi had only practiced the Military School’s martial arts, the military moves. This kind of evasive and light Qinggong from the Martial World was beyond his experience.
But what the Military School’s martial arts emphasized was the explosive approach in an instant.
No fancy tricks, only powerful and overwhelming force.
He had closed the distance in an instant.
Li Guanyi knew that facing a third-layer Magician, keeping a distance would be greatly disadvantageous for him.
The only chance of victory was to close the gap.
The situation at hand had its positives and negatives.
The downside was, Li Guanyi, in order to hide, did not bring his Imperial Guard’s Battle Halberd.
The Imperial Guard’s weapons and armor, all weapon-level items capable of bearing the load of Sword Qi and Sword Light, were extremely extravagant.
However, the upside was that this was inside a palace.
Hou Zhongyu found it hard to create distance too.
Li Guanyi closed in instantly, gripping his sword, its tip against the ground.
From low to high, he surged upward.
The White Tiger roared.
Sword Qi erupted like a sweeping wave; this whole area was within the range of attack.
He began with a skill belonging to the Divine General.
As the sword hummed, it cut through the Magician, then split him into two halves.
But Li Guanyi’s expression stalled.
There was no sensation of slicing through flesh and blood.
Noble Consort Xue hadn’t prepared him for an enemy with such tricks. In the past five hundred years, three hundred of which were times of chaos, the means of preserving life perhaps surpassed the era of the Divine General.
Li Guanyi immediately realized.
What he cut through dispersed, turning into a straw man falling to the ground, cut open upon landing. The straw man was bound with a red thread, with facial features on one side and the birth time and date on the back.
The Magician’s Suppression Substitution Death Skills.
This was not a Magician.
Li Guanyi instantly realized, his gaze turning icy. He executed the Yin Yang Family’s Qi Observation Skill at once, locking onto the real body of his enemy. His right foot stamped hard, his body lunging forward, and the "Jade Arm Divine Bow Skills" once again burst forth, his longsword thrusting forward like a spear point.
Jin Qi circulated, causing the pages around to fly up, seemingly under the pressure of an overwhelming force, falling down, creating an oppressing sensation in the chest.