Waging War on Paper

"The soul was sacrificed to the gourd?"

The new emperor scoffed at what the old man said, feeling it was too unreliable.

Zhang Xuezhou seemed lost in thought.

He felt that Daojun's cultivation might focus on treasures, and the Immortal Gourd was most likely not an ordinary gourd as people imagined.

This resulted in a double kill from both sharpness and divine soul.

Indeed, few people in the world can withstand such slaughter, and Zhang Xuezhou was no exception.

His physical body techniques are still vulnerable to sharp piercings, let alone resisting the Dao Lord's blade. Zhang Xuezhou's soul is no match for the sharpness of the flying knife and will need time to refine it.

Faced with Daojun's sharp blade, his shield was indeed inferior.

Moreover, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't dodge Daojun's blade. Even at the extreme speed where he controlled 'fast and slow', he still couldn't avoid the sharp edge of the flying knife.

Zhang Xuezhou could clearly see that Daojun's flying knife split into two, one flying towards the new emperor and the other towards himself.

He didn't pay much attention to the Empress Dowager, but Zhang Xuezhou noticed Cheng Bushi reaction.

Just as Sequence Holder dodged a bullet, Cheng Bushi's alertness preceded his movement, while Dao Jun's throwing knife followed.

Cheng Bushi's alertness saved his life, not the Cheng Bushi he dodged the flying knife's sharp edge that pierced his head.

Daojun is not Sequence Holder wielding firearms, and Zhang Xuezhou cannot Cheng Bushi the vigilance of a veteran like Cheng Bushi. The only thing he can rely on is his own ability to hold on.

Having already been stabbed by Dao Jun while piloting the Imperial Shuttle for the new emperor, Zhang Xuezhou had no chance of maintaining peace with Dao Jun after attacking him.

The disparity in strength and power between the two sides meant that even with Zhang Xuezhou's mediation skills, it would be difficult to stop the conflict.

"Take another look at the patients injured by Daojun's flying daggers!"

The new emperor was somewhat disappointed in Lao Tong, but he did not give up because he was good at asking questions. Instead, he prepared to let Lao Tong actually come into contact with the patients who had been injured by Dao Jun.

The restless and irritable sounds in the main hall of the Imperial Medical Academy continued as the new emperor pointed at Zhang Xuezhou.

"Patients? There are still survivors after Lu Ya strike?"

Old Tong exclaimed in surprise, not even noticing the pierced collarbone, and raised his head to look at the strange sight.

"How long have you been stabbed? Where is the wound?" Old Tong asked. "How were you stabbed? Where is the knife?"

Do you recognize this knife?

Zhang Xuezhou took out a small box.

The box was opened, revealing a transparent throwing knife, about the size of a fingernail and as thin as a cicada's wing.

These throwing knives are too small and thin to hold between the fingers, so they are not throwing knives in the ordinary sense.

Zhang Xuezhou only saw Daojun blow a breath, and the cold glint of the flying knife was already above his head.

Caught between extreme speed and slowness, he was unable to dodge and ultimately chose to counterattack directly. Unable to suppress the Dao Lord, Zhang Xuezhou used the spirit wood staff's ability to destroy matter, thus completing the attack in an instant.

Clearly, Zhang Xuezhou failed to dodge Daojun's flying knife. Daojun caught the new emperor's flying sword, but failed to avoid his attack.

In the blink of an eye, everyone made their moves, and by the time they had all reacted, everything had settled down.

Zhang Xuezhou took out the throwing knife and stared at Old Tong.

Unlike the new emperor, Zhang Xuezhou had actually met Lao Tong during the Kunlun court meeting, and he knew that Lao Tong's identity was genuine.

"This is a knife? You're not playing a trick on me, are you?" Old Tong asked suspiciously.

"This is Daojun Lu Ya's sword," Zhang Xuezhou affirmed.

"Impossible, impossible! Lu Ya's sword is hidden in the gourd. When it's released, it will take the form of his spirit," Old Tong said. "His sword Divine Ability specifically seals the spirit and magical Law Power, making it difficult for people to transform. After the sword is released, you have to shout 'Please turn around, treasure,' before that sword can take a person's head!"

"Do you think Lu Ya's throwing knives haven't changed in over a thousand years?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Well!"

Old Tong gasped in surprise.

The information he received came from a thousand years ago, and the person he knew in his mind was the Daoist Lu Ya from the past.

This is more like an original version than the current Daojun.

After being told off by Zhang Xuezhou, and seeing Zhang Xuezhou lower his palm, Lao Tong leaned closer.

"I've heard that when cold iron is refined to its extreme, it becomes as transparent as ice, but I've never seen it before. This stuff really does resemble the cold iron from Kunlun!"

Old Tong looked left and right for a long time before finally drawing a conclusion.

"What's so special about cold iron?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Cold Iron is icy cold throughout, and its nature is heavy and dense. Weapons made from this material can only be used by those with great strength. However, Cold Iron also has another characteristic: it is brittle. This makes Cold Iron considered scrap metal in Kunlun," Old Tong said, shaking his neck. "In the end, no one crafted Cold Iron weapons. Only Lu Ya made a name for himself with the Cold Iron throwing knives nurtured in his gourd!"

Is it fragile?

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at the new emperor.

If Daojun only has one throwing knife, once it's thrown, that's it; no one else will give Daojun multiple opportunities to throw the knife.

However, if Daojun's flying knife were shattered, and those fragments could be used to unleash tremendous power, the danger would be entirely different.

Perhaps Daojun's throwing knives don't possess the same deadly power as before, but their sheer number makes up for it.

Since Daojun could launch two projectiles at once, Zhang Xuezhou and the others had no doubt that he could launch three, four, or even more.

"We can only set up a few decoys," the new emperor said, frowning.

Daojun is aloof and dislikes doing things, but he is also vengeful and will always seek revenge if he suffers a loss.

Once the opponent recovers, Daojun's retaliation will be swift.

Knowing that the odds of winning a direct confrontation were too low, even the new emperor had no choice but to back down.

"Let's go take a look at the main hall!"

Zhang Xuezhou was relatively lucid at this time, and Lao Tong was unable to detect Zhang Xuezhou condition.

Hearing the shouting and cursing in the main hall cease, followed by the heavy breathing of the Empress Dowager Tian Fen, the new emperor gestured, deciding to have Old Tong see more patients.

Regardless of whether Lao Tong can play a role or whether his remarks are worth considering, it is not wrong to let the other party offer advice.

Almost all the physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy were mobilized. Many seriously wounded soldiers either had their surgical wounds treated or were waiting for their conditions to improve. Everyone had hope for a cure. However, the Empress Dowager and others could only be kept alive and nurtured. It was as if they were just hanging on by a thread.

The Empress Dowager and others were able to prolong their lives not because of the treatment provided by the Imperial Medical Academy, but because they were kept alive by the best-quality tonic pills.

Once the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Pills lost their effectiveness, a few bowls of calming soup would not save the lives of the Empress Dowager and others.

The new emperor walked ahead, while Zheng Wukong, carrying the old boy whose collarbones were locked, followed with a heavy expression. Zhang Xuezhou put away the box containing the throwing knives and followed behind.

In the main hall of the Imperial Medical Academy, the Empress Dowager had already torn her beautiful hair into a mess, while Tian Fen jumped into the corner of the counter where the medicines were placed, looking somewhat trembling with fear.

"Mother..."

The new emperor hurried a few steps.

Although the ambush at Mayi was a chaotic affair, it proved that the Empress Dowager's words were true.

The enemy did not annihilate the elite forces of the Great Han Dynasty, fought fiercely against the cultivators of the Xiong State, charged ahead at the forefront, and even took a sword from the Dao Lord for the new emperor.

Emperor Jing's long-standing vigilance has finally come to a conclusion.

"I once dreamed of fighting Zhu Jiuyin to the death, but I never imagined that even getting close to him would be difficult in the chaos of battle. Things are never as simple as I thought..."

More than the physical injury, the Empress Dowager's mental state was severely damaged.

She felt she perfectly exemplified the concept of "armchair strategist," as everything seemed perfectly planned, but upon closer inspection, she discovered that reality was quite different.

Disheartened by this incident, the Empress Dowager knew very well that she was not suited to manage matters beyond her capabilities.

She needs the new emperor to take over many things, after all, the new emperor's performance during the war was much better than hers.

But before the new emperor can take over everything, it is necessary to ensure that the new emperor can survive the Dao Lord's retaliation.