At a Distance of One Zhang, Are Your Fists Faster or My Sword?

Gu Yuanqing could smell the thick stench of blood at the tip of his nose. The world before him began to turn blood-red. This was a sensory illusion brought on by killing intent, similar to the murderous aura he had felt in the Trial Realm, only far more intense.

"Indeed. Why did Your Highness specifically summon this junior?" Gu Yuanqing asked softly, his expression calm.

"You can still speak so freely before my Seven Kills True Intent. That is somewhat different from what I had learned before. What a pity that your character and methods are unfit for public view. With a crooked heart, you are destined never to achieve greatness," Prince Qing said.

Gu Yuanqing knew what matter he meant. There was no way to defend himself, and he merely raised his brows slightly. "If Your Highness only wished to scold this junior a few times, then I can only bear it. But for a War God of Your Highness's stature to summon this junior here specifically for that purpose would be rather beneath your station."

"You do have some nerve. Is it because the Grandmaster behind you has given you confidence?"

"This junior does not understand what Your Highness means."

Prince Qing said coldly, "There is only one zhang between us now. If I wished to kill you, even a Grandmaster could not save you." As he spoke, his aura grew even denser.

If his words before had been more of a test, then now Gu Yuanqing truly felt waves of danger washing over him. Every hair on his body stood on end, as though he could face thunderous fury at any moment.

This was killing intent. It meant Prince Qing truly had thoughts of killing him, though he was still testing something.

"My nephew, even after becoming Emperor, is still too softhearted. He also indulges Miaoxuan too much. Some secrets can only be kept by the dead." Prince Qing slowly rose to his feet. Before, it had merely been Qi, but as he stood, a blood-red phantom tide coiled and surged around him. Vaguely, terrifying figures seemed ready to break free from within it.

"Does Your Highness truly intend to kill me?" Gu Yuanqing's expression turned grave. The Kunwu Sword had already risen from the back mountain, shooting toward his location like a sharp arrow.

"Do not blame me for using my strength to bully the young. This is all for Great Gan's realm. Gu Yuanqing, your death will serve its purpose!" With those words, he struck out fiercely with his palm.

Gu Yuanqing retreated explosively. At the same time, the approaching Kunwu Sword suddenly accelerated, breaking through the sound barrier and piercing into the courtyard.

"Hm? What was that?" The steward waiting outside sensed the disturbance and tried to draw his sword to intercept it. But it was too fast. Before he could react, the streak of sword-light had already entered the courtyard. His expression changed drastically as he roared, "An assassin! Protect the Prince!"

The entire courtyard, inside and out, erupted into commotion. Though those who had entered the courtyard earlier looked like mere servants and ordinary guards, many had in fact once served under Prince Qing, men who had followed him through life and death and crawled out from piles of corpses.

At that roar, nearly everyone drew their weapons and rushed toward the main hall.

Bang! The doors shut on their own.

"Disperse. I am fine!" Prince Qing's voice came from inside the room.

The steward asked again, "Your Highness..."

"I said disperse. Go attend to your own business."

"Yes! This old servant understands... Everyone, disperse. His Highness is fine." The steward cast a worried glance toward the room.

Inside the main hall.

Prince Qing glanced at the hole blasted through the roof, then at the long sword hovering before his brow. His pupils contracted, and cold sweat emerged on his forehead.

It would have been one thing if the sword had merely flown at him, but all his Gang Qi had been sealed within his body. His Profound Martial Wonderland could not manifest outward at all.

A Grandmaster. There truly is a Grandmaster expert on North Spring Mountain. No, perhaps not even an ordinary Grandmaster. An ordinary Grandmaster could never so easily suppress someone like me, who was only one step away from the Grandmaster Realm. And such an expert was actually guarding Gu Yuanqing's side.

Prince Qing took half a step back and cupped his hands toward the surroundings. "May I ask which Grandmaster senior is present? I only meant to test him earlier. If I have acted improperly, I ask for your forgiveness!"

Naturally, no one answered.

Gu Yuanqing fell silent for a moment. He had only guessed before, but now he understood. Whether it was last time or this time, there had never been any Grandmaster on North Spring Mountain protecting him. The reason for it all was simply himself.

As the North Spring Mountain Master, he was the master of North Spring Mountain. Within this mountain, he possessed supreme authority; his will was the will of North Spring Mountain.

If anyone dared make a move against him, and their malice was sensed by him, they would naturally be rejected by this stretch of heaven and earth. Gu Yuanqing's foundation in North Spring Mountain was still shallow, so he could only sever these people's connection to heaven and earth. Given more time, they would not merely be suppressed.

Gu Yuanqing suddenly realized just how little he understood about everything he possessed. Had Prince Qing not acted today, who knew when he would have discovered these things?

With a thought, the long sword hovering at Prince Qing's brow drew an arc through the air and flew back before Gu Yuanqing, then quietly came to a stop above his head.

"Your Highness need not call out any further." Gu Yuanqing's tone was indifferent, as if the one who had just brushed past death had not been him.

Prince Qing's palm strike had indeed been a test, but that thread of killing intent had clearly told Gu Yuanqing that, if no one intervened, he would not have minded killing him with a single palm.

Prince Qing noticed the long sword suspended at Gu Yuanqing's side, and a thought he never would have imagined surfaced in his heart.

"You..." No matter how absurd the thought was, the facts lay before him. No wonder he had been unable to detect where the Grandmaster was.

"Your Highness, we are less than one zhang apart now. I only wonder whether your fists and feet are faster, or my sword!" Gu Yuanqing returned his words to him intact.

Prince Qing Li Cunguo felt that his essence, Qi, and spirit were still being suppressed. Hidden shock filled his gaze as he looked at Gu Yuanqing. Then he suddenly gave a self-mocking laugh, spread his hands, and retreated several steps.

"It seems I misjudged you. I never expected that you had already become a Grandmaster at such a young age. This old man has been trapped at the Profound Martial Ninth Layer for twenty years without advancing an inch. I can only watch helplessly as my blood and vitality decline, falling from their peak, with no further chance of a breakthrough."

Yet in his heart, he thought, No wonder that after such a thing happened, the Emperor merely confined him to North Spring Mountain. No wonder my grandniece insisted on giving birth to that child. If Gu Yuanqing is already a Grandmaster at such a young age, then it all makes sense!

Grandmasters were the pinnacle power of the dynasties of this world. The significance of having one more Grandmaster was immense. Great Gan Dynasty had only three Grandmasters serving as offerings, and thus had no choice but to endure the disrespect of sects at certain times.

Two hundred years ago, Great Gan Dynasty had seven Grandmasters, all of them important Imperial Court officials or military generals. Which sect would not bow its head and submit before the Imperial Court?

Setting aside everything else, Grandmasters lived two hundred years. If a young Grandmaster's cultivation advanced further in the future, and he was willing to help protect the Great Gan Imperial Family, then Great Gan would at least be guaranteed two hundred years without falling!

Gu Yuanqing knew he had been misunderstood, but naturally did not explain. He said blandly, "Your Highness is too courteous. Had you not fought on the battlefield and suffered grave injuries time and again, the path to the Grandmaster Realm likely would not have been able to stop you."

Prince Qing Li Cunguo fully withdrew his aura, and his entire body seemed to become hunched. He sat back down and smiled. "If one has not broken through, then one has not broken through. Where are there so many what-ifs? Young Master Gu, please sit. Someone, bring tea."

The doors were pushed open, and servants entered with tea. When the steward came in and saw that Prince Qing was unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief. Then he noticed the roof tiles on the floor, looked up at the great hole in the roof, and saw that beside Gu Yuanqing—who had entered empty-handed—there was now a long sword resting on the table. Terror immediately filled his heart.

He leaned close to Prince Qing's ear and whispered a few words. Prince Qing nodded and waved for the steward to withdraw.

In the blink of an eye, only the two of them remained in the room again. Yet the atmosphere was completely different from before. All these changes were because of Gu Yuanqing's differing strength.

Prince Qing seemed to have truly become an elderly man. He asked only about trivial matters on the mountain, occasionally mentioning the Gu Family. Seeing that Gu Yuanqing did not seem particularly interested, he began speaking of Li Miaoxuan's childhood instead.

"Miaoxuan is also a child with a bitter fate. Her birth mother suffered grave injuries that could not be healed and ultimately died of illness. Miaoxuan was only three years old then. The situation inside and outside the palace was unstable at the time, and His Majesty feared that something might happen to his only daughter. Otherwise, he would not have sent her into the Lingxu Sect at such a young age."

Since Li Miaoxuan had been mentioned, Gu Yuanqing finally could not help asking the question that had weighed on his mind for days. "Your Highness, I heard that in a few days, Princess Miaoxuan will be marrying someone?"

"This matter is a long story, but Young Master Gu, do not misunderstand. This Miaoxuan is not that Miaoxuan."

Prince Qing's expression became somewhat unnatural, and a trace of anger stirred in his heart. The Emperor actually distrusts me so much? Had he informed me of this matter, would I not have known its importance? How could it have become like this? And he did not even tell Gu Yuanqing about such a matter. If it causes a misunderstanding, would that not be turning cleverness into clumsiness?