Su Changqing did not intend to keep watching. In an instant, he tucked the "Tyrant Saber" into his sleeve.
Three Imperial Guards in Flying Fish Robes suddenly strode over. The leader had hawkish eyes and a hooked nose. His brows shot up when he noticed the Vajra Sutra.
"What are you holding? Why is it gold?"
"Kid, did you perhaps discover some secret manual?" Several Imperial Guards approached at once, reaching out to snatch it away.
Su Changqing closed the Vajra Sutra and looked at them calmly. "The Vajra Sutra is naturally gold. I have enjoyed studying Sanskrit and seal script since I was young, that is all."
They were not Hundred-Household Officers and did not hold the power of life and death. The Imperial Guard's hierarchy was strict.
"The Vajra Sutra?" The hooked-nosed man frowned slightly.
"You cannot act freely within the Great Shang armory. Qinglong is watching over there." The hawk-eyed leader stopped the others.
They looked toward the entrance. Qinglong had set down the book in his hands and was watching them with deep, interested eyes.
"This is Lord Chen Mo, a Hundred-Household Officer, someone on the verge of breaking through to the True Qi Realm."
"Kid, hand over that Vajra Sutra at once, or you will be courting disaster."
After hesitating for a moment, Su Changqing casually handed over the Prajna Vajra Sutra and turned to leave.
"That kid scares easily." Two Imperial Guards immediately chuckled.
This was the armory, where no one was allowed to fight. If Su Changqing had refused to hand it over, they would have been nothing but bluster and could not have done anything to him.
Chen Mo looked satisfied as he flipped through the Vajra Sutra. Its cover was indeed a dull yellow-gold.
But when he opened it, the densely packed seal script and Sanskrit made his scalp prickle. He immediately lost all interest in reading it.
He could not understand a single word. What the hell was this?
"What kind of nonsense is this? Did I see it wrong?" Chen Mo tossed the Vajra Sutra to the ground, frowning.
A moment later, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he picked it up again.
He flipped straight to the end of the Vajra Sutra and noticed the torn final page, which was completely blank.
"Damn brat, how dare he fool me? I heard martial arts masters like to hide secret manuals in books. That kid must have encountered one too. I wonder if Lord Qinglong was the one who left it there."
Meanwhile, Su Changqing had already moved far away from them and arrived beside Qinglong, searching for suitable manuals.
"Kid, aside from the Tyrant Saber, you may choose two more books."
The voice was transmitted directly into his ears. Su Changqing's heart stirred, and he could not help looking toward the entrance, where the old man in red robes stood smiling warmly.
"Is this special treatment?" Su Changqing smiled. Rather than simply taking the Tyrant Saber and leaving, he had followed the expected course of events and even gained another opportunity.
Before long, he selected the two martial arts manuals he had been eyeing in the armory.
The first was Four Seasons Cloud Falling Steps. It left no trace upon snow, made one's figure ghostlike, blended with the four seasons, and allowed one to move by borrowing nearby objects. Once mastered, one could travel a thousand miles in a day.
It was the ultimate technique for escape.
The second was a close-quarters killing art.
The Imperial Guard, East Factory, and West Factory all practiced it: the Eagle Claw Technique, sinister and vicious, made for killing and taking lives.
A few days ago, Su Changqing had been killed in a single strike by this Eagle Claw Technique.
Soon, he came to Qinglong to register the two manuals and take them away.
"Kid, you have an extraordinary appearance, and your talent is not bad either." Qinglong looked at Su Changqing with a smile.
Su Changqing had sword-like brows, starry eyes, and a tall, slender figure. If not for the Imperial Guard uniform he wore, anyone who saw him would have taken him for a noble young master of the secular world.
All Heaven-grade techniques possessed a spirit and chose their own masters.
Since this Tyrant Saber had fallen into the kid's hands, the two clearly shared a deep affinity. Even though Su Changqing was a menial disciple, Qinglong did not stop him.
"Did it belong to you, Senior?" Su Changqing asked after hesitating for a moment.
"It belonged to a friend of mine." A trace of reminiscence appeared in Qinglong's eyes before he gently shook his head.
In the distance, Chen Mo hurried over.
"Greetings, Qinglong." He first bowed, then fixed Su Changqing with his cold hawk eyes.
"Kid, do you dare leave your name behind?"
"A man does not change his name, nor does he change his surname. I am Li Kongxiang, a menial disciple," Su Changqing said calmly.
"A lowly menial disciple dares toy with me?" Chen Mo sneered. "Just wait. Killing you will be as easy as killing a dog!"
"Fine, I'll wait... Come sooner rather than later." Su Changqing turned and left.
"Big Brother, should the two of us go out and stop him?" the two lackeys beside him asked.
"No need. I already know his name. First, I will choose my manuals. Once I break through to the True Qi Realm, I will become a true Imperial Guard Hundred-Household Officer, with the authority to kill at will. Then killing him will be effortless," Chen Mo said coldly.
His long, hawk-like eyes narrowed, glinting with killing intent.
"Lord Qinglong, we shall take our leave."
Three days later, the trees on the back mountain were lush and verdant, filled with birdsong and cicada cries.
Su Changqing stood at the mountain's peak, his aura erupting as he gripped a Steel Saber. An invisible Blade Aura gathered around the blade, tearing through the air and cutting down grass and trees alike.
This was the supreme Tyrant Saber art.
The Blade Aura gleamed with chilling light, terrifying to the bone.
Su Changqing's eyes narrowed slightly, and joy rose in his heart.
"As expected of a supreme saber art. It cultivates invisible saber qi. Though I have yet to break through to the True Qi Realm, I already possess the means to release true qi beyond my body."
After half a day and one night of cultivating the Tyrant Saber, he had broken through to Body Refinement Stage Eight. Saber qi gathered throughout his body, capable of wounding people without form.
Even if he returned now, he could immediately enter the Imperial Guard selection and officially become an Imperial Guard, no longer needing to serve as a menial disciple.
As the morning sun rose and mist filled the air, Su Changqing walked down the mountain.
His sleeves fluttered as he stepped across the grass without leaving a trace. With a casual step, his hand swept out like a sharp claw, leaving claw marks on a century-old tree.
"In a few days, it will be time for the Imperial Guard selection. Before then, I need to cultivate all three techniques to the Minor Mastery stage, then become a true Imperial Guard wearing a Spring Embroidered Saber at my waist and a gold-embroidered uniform!"
Su Changqing's eyes narrowed as he silently considered it.
"Chen Mo bears a grudge against me, and there is also Iron Claw Flying Eagle. If he emerges from seclusion and sees that I am not dead, he will surely be suspicious."
Su Changqing had consumed three Enlightenment Tea Leaves and already broken through to Body Refinement Stage Seven.
Yet his circumstances remained perilous, leaving him with a constant sense of urgency.
He raced onward, and a palace suddenly came into view.
The palace had long fallen into disrepair. It stood secluded and cold, bleak and lonely, with no one to clean it. Even its walls were covered in spiderwebs, making it far worse than the Imperial Guard hall.
This was the Cold Palace within the Great Shang imperial palace, guarded by West Factory eunuchs.
Four West Factory agents were scattered through a small courtyard, wearing scholar caps and eunuch robes.
"Take this little girl to the Clean Clothes Workshop!"
At the command, the Cold Palace gates opened. The leading eunuch was in his thirties, with cold eyes and deeply sunken sockets. He spoke icily.
"Don't touch me..."
Two eunuchs dragged a crying little girl out from inside.
The girl wore coarse hemp clothes and was only around twelve or thirteen years old. Yet she was exquisitely beautiful, with snow-white skin, bright eyes, fine teeth, and an air of nobility that could not be concealed.
"My mother has died, and you still want to throw me into the Clean Clothes Workshop? If my imperial father learns of this, he will have your entire families executed!" the little girl angrily rebuked the eunuchs.
"Ji Xingyue, this servant has neither roots nor descendants. Where would all these complications come from?" Li Yuanying, the leader, sneered.
"Your mother is dead. By rights, as the daughter of a disgraced consort, you should await His Majesty's judgment. But Her Majesty the Empress is kind... Sending you to the Clean Clothes Workshop is giving you a way to survive, isn't it?"
At those words, all the eunuchs laughed.
What kind of place was the Clean Clothes Workshop? It was where eunuchs washed clothes. How could a little girl fare well in such a place?
This was the Empress's killing move. She intended to eliminate the roots. Noble Consort Qingyun was dead, so Ji Xingyue had to die as well!
Ji Xingyue glanced back through the door behind her, tears filling her eyes before falling in glittering drops. Her expression was dim and desolate.
Her mother had died in there. It had only been three days... and now she too was being sent to the Clean Clothes Workshop.
"Kneel and beg us," Li Yuanying said, watching Ji Xingyue mockingly.
"If I kneel, can you bear it? Though Father does not favor me, I am still a member of the Ji family."
Her voice was childish, but her words were resolute.
These eunuchs only dared send her to the Clean Clothes Workshop. They did not dare harm her in the slightest, leaving her for the Empress to deal with.
Li Yuanying's expression changed at once. He had not expected such spirit from a little girl.
Su Changqing stood concealed by the wall. After a moment of silence, he said nothing.
Noble Consort Qingyun had not been favored by the Great Shang Emperor. Three years ago, she had offended the current Empress and was banished to the Cold Palace with her daughter. Illness invaded her body, and after struggling for three years, she finally passed away.
Three days ago, around the time Su Changqing had just transmigrated, her face had been covered with straw and chaff, her body wrapped in a straw mat, and she had been carelessly buried in the back mountain.
The East and West Factories of the Great Shang Dynasty were both controlled by Director Cao. Their forces and hidden agents spread throughout the land, rivaling even the Imperial Guard.
The Imperial Guard could not enter the inner palace, after all, since they had not been castrated.
"Three days ago, I had just come back to life."
The little girl seemed pitiful, but she had nothing to do with him. Saving her would only bring disaster upon himself.
Moreover, his resurrection from the dead was an extraordinarily strange matter.
The menial disciples around Su Changqing only believed he had survived due to good fortune because he had still been breathing.
Only Iron Claw Flying Eagle knew that Su Changqing had truly returned from the dead!
Not only did this man share a life-and-death grudge with Su Changqing, he was also connected to Su Changqing's deepest secret.
Naturally, Su Changqing did not want to invite more trouble. He turned around and quietly left.
Li Yuanying possessed astonishing eyesight and an even sharper perception of auras.
He suddenly looked into the distance, frowning as killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"You three, go take a look. It may be an Imperial Guard spy. If it is, kill him on the spot!"
The Imperial Guard, West Factory, and East Factory had always been at odds. If they could kill one, they would kill one!
The three young eunuchs beside him swiftly rushed over with Steel Sabers in hand. Su Changqing's figure quickly fled, vanishing around a corner.
"Chase him!" The three exchanged glances and charged after him.
Su Changqing's eyes narrowed.
He had arrived in this bloody world as an ordinary menial disciple. Because he had not swept the ground clean enough, Iron Claw Flying Eagle had casually crushed him to death.
Now, he had merely passed by. He had not shown his face or said a single word, yet someone wanted to kill him!
In a court and martial world where human lives were treated as worthless grass.
If he did not die at the hands of the Imperial Guard, he would die at the hands of the East and West Factories. Since that was the case, then he would kill!
He had just mastered the Tyrant Saber. These people were perfect for testing his blade, and he would not leave a single one alive.
Su Changqing took several deep breaths, hid around the corner, pressed tightly against the wall, and gripped his Steel Saber.
"Where did that Imperial Guard menial run off to?"
The three reached the corner and frowned. They did not hesitate. Judging from Su Changqing's behavior, he was clearly a young Imperial Guard menial disciple.
The three of them were menials as well, each at Body Refinement Stage 6.
Su Changqing adjusted his position and held the long saber horizontally before him. Then his eyes turned sharp and cold as he stepped out from around the corner to face the three men.
The saber in his hand rang sharply as bone-chilling light burst forth.
Tyrant Saber!
With one sweeping slash, he cleaved through the sky!
Before you continue