Ying Huai Near Death, Xiaoyao Arrives

"Why had Ying Huai come into conflict with the Empress?"

After hearing this news,

Ren Xiaoyao frowned 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 not be touched, for touching it meant certain death.

Then why had Ying Huai offended the Empress so gravely?

"That, I do not know."

The Devil Master shook his head and said,

"When I infiltrated the Imperial Palace, I was always in a tremendous hurry coming and going. Moreover, the place was filled with the Empress's eyes and ears, so naturally I 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 ingredients Master requires are all incomparably rare. The medicine shops outside cannot gather them all, and even if they somehow could, they would cost a fortune. It simply is not worth the loss."

"So after giving it some thought, I decided to sneak directly into the Imperial Medical Office in the Imperial Palace. Whatever you need, I can just take for you. Besides, the medicinal ingredients in the Imperial Medical Office are far superior in quality to those outside."

Hearing this,

Ren Xiaoyao found it amusing as well and said,

"You are quite a talent. But if you sneak into the Imperial Palace to steal and your identity is exposed, it would be rather not worth the loss."

"Absolutely foolproof!"

The Devil Master shook his head and smiled proudly.

"I have a sworn brother, the Saint of Thieves, Bai Yutang. He is talented and speaks pleasantly, while his lightness skill has reached the pinnacle. He enters and leaves the Imperial Palace as if it were an unguarded land."

"I studied lightness skill with him for some time, and when I steal, I imitate his style. Even if they find some spider silk of a clue, the Imperial Court will only think the Saint of Thieves has come again. They will never suspect me!"

Ren Xiaoyao could not help laughing and crying at this. "The Saint of Thieves is truly fortunate to have a brother like you. Do not mistreat him in the future."

Afterward,

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

his tone shifted as he said,

"Ying Huai has shown me considerable kindness. According to what you said, the Empress should be preparing to move against him. Go protect him for a while. Be sure to guarantee Ying Huai's safety."

The Devil Master accepted the order.

He hurriedly left Fulong Mountain.

Inside the room,

Ren Xiaoyao began refining pills.

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

According to the guidance in his mind,

the art of pill refinement was exceedingly complex.

If a novice wished to successfully refine pills,

they would need to endure at least hundreds or thousands of failures. And even if they succeeded by chance, the quality of the refined pills would not be high.

Even

pill-refining masters would fail three or four times out of ten attempts.

The art of pill refinement was far, far too difficult.

After all,

cultivation was inherently an act of defying the heavens.

And pills could help Cultivators save vast amounts of time spent in hard cultivation.

In a sense, that was stealing lifespan from heaven.

Thus, the Dao of alchemy was difficult to master.

Yet when Ren Xiaoyao truly began,

he discovered that it was nothing of the sort.

Perhaps because his comprehension was heaven-defying,

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

He transformed his Spiritual Power into a cauldron and added the various medicinal ingredients according to his own understanding. In merely one night, Ren Xiaoyao refined over a hundred Qi Gathering Pills.

The pills were refined.

Their rich fragrance wafted into his nose and refreshed his heart and mind.

Ren Xiaoyao immediately swallowed a Qi Gathering Pill.

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

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

Because according to the guidance in his mind,

aside from spiritual energy, Qi Gathering Pills also retained traces of medicinal poison. Taking small amounts caused no great harm, but consuming a large quantity would cause backlash in cultivation.

Therefore, he needed to take the Qi Gathering Pills in small amounts over multiple times.

However,

this still left Ren Xiaoyao extremely satisfied.

After all, the Qi Gathering Pills could save him vast amounts of hard cultivation time and make his cultivation speed even faster.

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

Naturally, Ren Xiaoyao was delighted.

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

Yet looking across all of Great Gan, he could no longer find an opponent.

However, compared with the experts of Qianqiu Pavilion,

who was stronger and who was weaker

was not something Ren Xiaoyao could easily judge.

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 from extreme fury, and her whole face twisted.

"That Ying Huai, ignorant of his own fate—he actually dared offend Us? Deceiving the sovereign, this is the crime of deceiving the sovereign! In any dynasty, it would mean extermination of nine clans!"

The Empress's voice carried towering fury.

Seeing this, Phoenix trembled all over in fright and hurriedly echoed,

"Ying Huai truly does not know good from bad. Since he guessed that extracting the people's vital blood was done with Your Majesty's tacit approval, he should have stopped there and asked no further. Yet he insisted on tearing all pretense away with Your Majesty. I think he has gone mad!"

The Empress said in a deep voice as well,

"Hmph! For a subject, the most important thing is loyalty to the sovereign, not deceiving the sovereign for the sake of the common people beneath heaven! Since We could personally promote Ying Huai, We can personally destroy him as well. Since this Ying Huai wishes to die, We shall grant him his wish!"

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

"If that is the case, shall I lead the Shadow Guard and secretly eliminate Ying Huai? Although Facing Heaven Pavilion has some experts, they are far from comparable to the Shadow Guard of today. This servant needs only the time of one incense stick to take Ying Huai's head!"

"No!"

Upon hearing Phoenix's words, the Empress shook her head and said,

"The benefits are not enjoyed by Us alone, and the bad deeds cannot be borne by Us alone either. 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 make a move?"

Phoenix asked.

The Empress gave a cold laugh and said,

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

"Exactly!"

Phoenix nodded and smiled as well.

"Moreover, Ying Huai's relationship with Li Chunfeng is far from ordinary, 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 whatsoever to do with us."

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

"After some time, We shall see whether this Martial Saint Realm expert still possesses the qualifications to make Us 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 departing from Facing Heaven Pavilion.

And the person within the carriage

was naturally Ying Huai.

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

Seeing this, the Devil Master chuckled.

However, 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 medicinal poison from the Qi Gathering Pill.

Suddenly,

words appeared before his eyes.

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

[One: Stand by and do nothing. You can avoid being drawn into the vortex of Ying Huai's struggle with the Empress. After Ying Huai dies, you may receive the reward: a piece of calligraphy or painting.]

[Two: Offer assistance. After successfully saving Ying Huai, you may receive the martial art: Supreme Yang Divine Art.]

Upon seeing these words,

Ren Xiaoyao did not hesitate.

He put on the Ghost Face Mask.

His figure immediately vanished from the Imperial Observatory.

After Ying Huai passed through the city gates, he dismissed the servant driving the carriage. Alone, he drove the carriage into the darkness.

At this moment,

the Devil Master also discovered

several figures quietly following Ying Huai.

The Devil Master understood clearly

that these were all the Empress's eyes and ears.

It seemed the Empress had no intention of sparing Ying Huai.

Originally,

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

He believed that, at most, these people were Martial Artists of the Super Grandmaster Realm.

But as the Devil Master sensed them, he realized something was wrong. The True Essence contained within these figures' bodies seemed even more powerful 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? To make the Empress deploy such a formation, could it be that he violated some heavenly law?"

For a moment, the Devil Master only felt that it made his scalp tingle.

He could sense it.

The terrifying True Essence radiating from the people following them

far surpassed his own. If they fought, the Devil Master would be no 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 protect Ying Huai's safety. But under these circumstances, it was practically impossible for the Devil Master to protect Ying Huai!

It was at this moment

that Ying Huai's carriage stopped. He seemed to sense something as he looked into the darkness and said,

"Everyone, this place is already deserted. If you wish to kill me in secret, you may make your move."

The next moment,

Five Figures appeared in midair.

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? Were you not publicly beheaded by the Empress for rebellion all those years ago?"

Ying Huai's expression turned incomparably grim when he saw these four Princes.

Because fifteen years ago, these four Princes had failed in their rebellion and were later captured and beheaded by the Empress. By rights, they should have been dead men. How could they be here?

"Heh heh."

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

"The Four Great Princes were already True Man Realm experts 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 fortunate opportunity, helping them cross from the True Essence Realm into the Heavenly Human Realm."

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

"What fortunate opportunity? It was nothing more than a breakthrough purchased with the lives of the common people. Such demonic methods dare to call themselves a fortunate opportunity!"

Yet Phoenix was utterly unconcerned after hearing this and said.

"Those who understand the times are heroes! We are not as lofty and incorruptible as you, Elder Ying. For the sake of mere commoners, you actually defied Your Majesty. You brought this death upon yourself!"

Next.

Phoenix could not be bothered to waste words on Ying Huai and said.

"Lord Ying, we know that the reason you came out into this wilderness was not to flee for your life, but because you did not wish to implicate those around you. Since that is the case, we will grant you a quick death!"

Next.

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 wore indifferent expressions. They merely nodded, then all four raised their longswords and pointed them at Ying Huai.

The next moment.

Sword Qi slashed down!

Ying Huai was about to be hacked into eight pieces!

The Devil Master wanted to stop them, but he simply could not block the combined attack of four top-tier Heavenly Humans. If he exposed himself, it would only be a pointless sacrifice!

Yet Ying Huai was exceedingly disdainful.

If he feared death.

He would not have contended with the Empress.

He would die for the justice in his heart.

What was there to fear?

But just as Ying Huai calmly faced death.

From the vault of heaven.

A teasing laugh rang out.

Next.

A stream of Gale Wind Qi tore through the sky.

It seemed to split the entire world in two.

The sheer terror of that force.

Instantly shattered the killing power of the four Heavenly Human Realm Princes.

Next.

Above the heavens.

A figure wearing a Ghost Face Mask.

Walked slowly toward the crowd, unhurried and unhurried.

He walked very slowly.

But.

Every step he took.

Made everyone present.

Feel an unprecedented heaviness.

It was an invincible momentum!