Ying Huai Near Death, Xiaoyao Arrives

"Why had Ying Huai clashed with the Empress?"

After hearing the news,

Ren Xiaoyao furrowed his brow as well.

Ying Huai had served as an official for thirty years and was deeply versed in the ways of officialdom. Naturally, he understood the principle that the dragon's reverse scale must never be touched, for whoever did so would surely die.

Then why had Ying Huai offended the Empress so greatly?

"I don't know that either."

The Devil Master shook his head and said,

"When I infiltrated the Imperial Palace, I came and went in great haste. The place was also crawling with the Empress's eyes and ears, so I naturally did not dare investigate too deeply."

Hearing this, Ren Xiaoyao was rather curious. Looking at the Devil Master, he asked, "Why did you infiltrate the Imperial Palace?"

The Devil Master chuckled and explained,

"The medicinal herbs you need, Master, are all exceedingly rare. The medicine shops outside cannot gather them all, and even if they somehow could, buying them would cost a fortune. It simply wouldn't be worth the loss."

"After giving it some thought, I decided to sneak directly into the Imperial Medical Office in the Imperial Palace. Whatever you need, I'll take it for you. Besides, the medicinal herbs there are of far better quality than those outside."

Hearing this,

Ren Xiaoyao only felt it was amusing and said,

"You are quite the talent. Still, if your identity is exposed while stealing from the Imperial Palace, the gains would not be worth the loss."

"Absolutely foolproof!"

The Devil Master shook his head, smiling proudly.

"I have a sworn brother, the Saint of Thieves Bai Yutang. He is a talented fellow and speaks pleasantly, while his Lightness Skill has reached peak mastery. He enters and leaves the Imperial Palace as though it were an empty place."

"I studied Lightness Skill with him for some time. When I steal, I imitate his style. Even if they uncover some traces of evidence, the Imperial Court will only think that the Saint of Thieves has come again. They will never suspect me!"

Ren Xiaoyao could neither laugh nor cry upon hearing this. "The Saint of Thieves is fortunate to have a brother like you. Do not treat him poorly in the future."

Afterward,

once Ren Xiaoyao had accepted all the medicinal herbs brought by the Devil Master,

his tone shifted as he said,

"Ying Huai has shown me considerable kindness. By your account, the Empress is likely about to make a move against him. Go protect him for a while, and make sure Ying Huai stays alive."

The Devil Master accepted the order.

He hurriedly left Fulong Mountain.

Inside the room,

Ren Xiaoyao began refining Pills.

The pill he wished to refine was called the Qi Gathering Pill. As its name suggested, it was a pill capable of gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

According to the guidance in his mind,

the art of alchemy was incomparably complex.

If a novice wished to successfully refine Pills,

he would need to experience at least hundreds or thousands of failures. Even if he succeeded by luck, the quality of the Pills refined would not be high.

Indeed,

even a master of alchemy

would fail three or four times out of ten attempts.

The art of alchemy was simply far too difficult.

After all,

cultivation itself was an act of defying heaven.

Pills could help cultivators save vast amounts of time spent in arduous cultivation.

In a sense, that was snatching lifespan from heaven itself.

Thus, the Dao of alchemy was difficult to attain.

Yet when Ren Xiaoyao truly got started,

he discovered that it was not like that at all.

Perhaps it was because his Heaven-Defying Comprehension was too extraordinary.

Ren Xiaoyao only felt that refining Pills was as simple as eating and drinking.

He used spiritual power to form a furnace, added all kinds of medicinal herbs according to his own understanding, and in merely one night, Ren Xiaoyao refined over a hundred Qi Gathering Pills.

The Pills were refined.

Their rich fragrance assailed the nose and soothed the heart.

Ren Xiaoyao immediately swallowed one Qi Gathering Pill.

Dense spiritual energy spread through Ren Xiaoyao's body. Just one Qi Gathering Pill had saved him several days of hard cultivation.

However, Ren Xiaoyao did not swallow all hundred-plus Qi Gathering Pills at once.

According to the guidance in his mind,

besides spiritual energy, Qi Gathering Pills also retained traces of Medicinal Poison. Taking small amounts caused no harm, but consuming a large quantity would trigger backlash in cultivation.

Thus, he needed to take Qi Gathering Pills in small amounts over multiple doses.

Still,

this already satisfied Ren Xiaoyao greatly.

After all, the Qi Gathering Pills could save him immense amounts of hard cultivation time, allowing Ren Xiaoyao to cultivate even faster.

He had hope of reaching the Dao Realm Sixth Heaven before turning eighteen.

Naturally, Ren Xiaoyao was feeling delighted.

Right now, he was merely at the Dao Realm Fifth Heaven.

Yet across all of Great Gan, there was no longer anyone who could match him.

However, compared with the experts within Qianqiu Pavilion,

who was stronger and who was weaker,

Ren Xiaoyao could not easily make an assessment.

But if he entered the Dao Realm Sixth Heaven,

Ren Xiaoyao might not even place Qianqiu Pavilion in his eyes.

Within the Imperial Palace,

the Empress wore a golden Dragon Robe. Her entire body trembled with extreme fury, and her face had twisted in rage.

"That Ying Huai, Ignorant of His Own Fate, dared offend me? The crime of deceiving the sovereign—this is the crime of deceiving the sovereign! In any dynasty, it warrants the extermination of nine generations!"

The Empress's voice carried towering fury.

Seeing this, Phoenix trembled all over in fright and hurriedly agreed.

"That Ying Huai truly does not know what is good for him. Since he had guessed that extracting the people's Vital Blood was done with Your Majesty's tacit approval, he should have stopped there and ceased his inquiries. Yet he insisted on tearing off all pretenses with Your Majesty. I think he has gone mad!"

The Empress said in a deep voice,

"Hmph! For a subject, the most important thing is loyalty to the sovereign, not deceiving the sovereign for the sake of the common people! Since I could personally raise Ying Huai up, I can personally destroy him as well. Since Ying Huai seeks death, I shall grant it to him!"

After hearing the Empress's words, Phoenix hurriedly said,

"Then shall I lead the Shadow Guard and secretly eliminate Ying Huai? Although Facing Heaven Pavilion has some experts, they are far inferior to the current Shadow Guard. I need only the time of one incense stick to take Ying Huai's head!"

"No!"

After hearing Phoenix's words, the Empress Shook Her Head and said,

"I will not monopolize all the benefits, nor can I shoulder all the dirty work alone. It is time to make those old bones of the imperial clan move!"

"Your Majesty means to have several Old Princes of the imperial clan act?"

Phoenix asked.

The Empress gave a cold laugh and said,

"The old bones of the imperial clan are the greatest beneficiaries of what I have done. Ying Huai wants to expose this matter, so those old fellows should have been the ones leading the charge!"

"Indeed!"

Phoenix nodded and smiled as well.

"Moreover, Ying Huai has an unusual relationship with Li Chunfeng, and Li Chunfeng is suspected to be in the Martial Saint Realm. If we eliminate Ying Huai, Li Chunfeng may take his anger out on us. But if Ying Huai dies at the hands of several Old Princes, then it will have nothing to do with us."

The Empress nodded. The gloom in her eyes flashed past as she murmured,

"After some time, I want to see whether this Martial Saint Realm expert still has the qualifications to make me wary!"

In the latter half of the night,

the Devil Master had only just concealed himself within Facing Heaven Pavilion

when he discovered

a carriage hurriedly leaving Facing Heaven Pavilion.

And the person inside the carriage

was naturally Ying Huai.

"This Ying Huai truly is an old fox. Knowing that the Empress would strike at him in the dark, he actually chose to flee overnight!"

Seeing this, the Devil Master chuckled.

Yet the Devil Master was somewhat puzzled.

The Empress's eyes and ears were everywhere.

Where could Ying Huai possibly flee to?

The Devil Master quietly followed behind Ying Huai.

At the same time,

within the Imperial Observatory,

Ren Xiaoyao had originally been purging the pill poison from the Qi Gathering Pill.

Suddenly,

lines of text appeared before his eyes.

[Detected that Ying Huai has fallen into a situation of certain death. Because Ying Huai was your protector during your time of weakness, you have the following choices.]

[One, ignore it. You can avoid entering the vortex of Ying Huai's struggle against the Empress. After Ying Huai dies, you may obtain the reward: a painting.]

[Two, lend him aid. After successfully saving Ying Huai, you may obtain the martial art: Supreme Yang Divine Art.]

Seeing these lines,

Ren Xiaoyao did not hesitate.

He put on the Ghost Face Mask.

His figure immediately vanished from the Imperial Observatory.

After Ying Huai left the city gate, he dismissed the servant driving the carriage. Alone, he drove the carriage into the darkness.

At this moment,

the Devil Master also discovered

that several figures were quietly following Ying Huai.

The Devil Master understood inwardly.

They were all the Empress's eyes and ears.

It seemed the Empress had no intention of letting Ying Huai go.

Originally,

the Devil Master did not care about these figures following him.

He believed that, at most, they were Martial Artists in the Super Grandmaster Realm.

But as the Devil Master sensed them more closely, he realized something was wrong. The True Essence contained within their bodies seemed even stronger than his own!

"The Heavenly Human Realm!"

"Top-tier Heavenly Human Realm!"

The Devil Master was startled.

He had not expected

that the Empress had dispatched several top-tier Heavenly Human Realm Martial Artists to hunt down Ying Huai!

"What exactly did Ying Huai do? For the Empress to deploy such a lineup, could it be that he violated some heavenly law?"

For a moment, the Devil Master felt his scalp tingle.

He could sense it clearly.

The terrifying True Essence emanating from those following figures

far surpassed his own. If they fought, the Devil Master would not be a match for any one of them!

"What should I do?"

The Devil Master grew anxious.

After all, Ren Xiaoyao's task for him was to ensure Ying Huai's safety. But under such circumstances, protecting Ying Huai was practically impossible!

It was at this moment

that Ying Huai's carriage came to a stop. He seemed to sense something and looked into the darkness.

"Everyone, this place is already far from human habitation. If you wish to kill me in secret, you may act now."

The next instant,

Five figures appeared in the void.

One of them was Shadow Guard Commander Phoenix.

When Ying Huai saw the other four figures, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Prince He, Prince Shuo, Prince Li, Prince Fu, how could it be you? Weren't you beheaded in public by the Empress for rebellion back then?"

When Ying Huai saw the four princes, his expression turned incomparably grim.

Fifteen years ago, these four princes had failed in their rebellion and were later captured and beheaded by the Empress. By all rights, they should have been dead. How could they appear here?

"Heh heh."

After hearing Ying Huai's words, Phoenix gave a cold laugh and said,

"The Four Great Princes had already reached the True Man Realm back then. They sincerely repented and were willing to follow Your Majesty, so Your Majesty naturally granted them a path to survival. Moreover, Your Majesty bestowed upon them a fortuitous opportunity, helping them cross from the True Essence Realm into the Heavenly Human Realm."

But after hearing this, Ying Huai merely sneered and said,

"What fortuitous opportunity? It was nothing more than a breakthrough bought at the cost of the common people's lives. Such Demonic Dao methods dare to be called a fortuitous opportunity?"

Yet Phoenix did not care in the slightest and said,

"A wise man submits to the times! We are not as lofty and pure as you, Elder Ying. For the sake of mere commoners, you actually defied Your Majesty. You brought this death upon yourself!"

Then.

Phoenix could not be bothered to waste any more words on Ying Huai and said,

"Lord Ying, we know that you came to this desolate wilderness not to flee for your life, but because you did not wish to implicate the people around you. Since that is the case, we shall grant you a swift death!"

Then.

Phoenix looked toward the Four Great Princes behind her and said, "Four Old Princes, Your Majesty's intention is for you to act. After all, if Ying Huai exposes everyone's secrets, you will suffer the greatest blow!"

"Fine!"

The four princes remained expressionless. They merely nodded, then all four raised their longswords and pointed them at Ying Huai.

The next moment.

Sword Qi came slashing down!

Ying Huai was about to be hacked into eight pieces!

The Devil Master wanted to stop them, but he could not possibly block the combined assault of four peak Heavenly Humans. If he exposed himself, it would only be a pointless sacrifice!

Yet Ying Huai was utterly disdainful.

If he feared death,

he would not have contended with the Empress.

He was willing to die for the justice in his heart.

What was there to fear?

But just as Ying Huai calmly went to meet his death.

From the vault of heaven.

A teasing laugh rang out.

Then.

A stream of Gale Wind Qi tore through the sky.

It seemed to split the entire world in two.

The terror of that aura.

Instantly shattered the killing force of the Four Great Princes of the Heavenly Human Realm.

Then.

Above the heavens.

A figure wearing a Ghost Face Mask.

Walked toward the crowd without haste.

He walked slowly.

But.

Every step he took.

Made everyone present.

Feel an unprecedented heaviness.

It was an invincible bearing!