A Stone to Test the Way

"The yellow sand has escaped!"

Within the Five Ghosts Yin Wind Formation, the new emperor's spare short sword severed the neck of the Venerable White Bone. The head held in Zhang Xuezhou's hand continuously turned into sand, and the swirling purple qi Law Power that resisted the sand-turning technique continued to dissipate. The two soul flames within the head gradually dimmed.

The Venerable White Bone did not beg for mercy from Zhang Xuezhou, nor did he reminisce about past ties, since the two indeed had no past affection for each other.

Just as Zhu Jiuyin and Daojun invited people to do things on an equal footing, neither side owed the other anything, and neither hesitated at all when they took action, nor did they allow any other thoughts.

"I didn't expect them to be even harder to kill than Dao Lords!"

The new emperor only had eyes for Daojun, the master of the Yedie River Holy Land, but True Self Realm cultivators had little reputation; even the least skilled spellcasters possessed top-tier abilities.

In common understanding, spellcasters are all fragile and not good at close combat, but both Venerable Black Mountain and Venerable White Bone have physical bodies so strong that the new emperor has no idea what to do with them.

Even the fastest-killing Venerable Yinghua is no less capable at close range. Without the aid of an array, the new emperor is very likely to end up with a one-for-one exchange.

After killing three Sacred Land venerables in succession, the new emperor's arrogance continued to decline.

Upon hearing Zhang Xuezhou mention that Venerable Yellow Sand had escaped the formation by turning into sand, he showed no regret. The new emperor knew very well that the two had taken full advantage of the formation's terrain.

"Are you alright?" the new emperor asked.

"You'll need to give me at least ten more protective talismans in the future," Zhang Xuezhou said earnestly.

"Replenish, replenish as much as is used!"

The new emperor took a deep breath.

As long as there is something to gain from using it, all kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures and talismans are just disposable items, not to mention Zhang Xuezhou's behavior of getting on the bus first and then paying the fare later.

It's normal for emperors to replenish the losses of their subjects during battles. After all, no emperor would allow his subjects to suffer losses while fighting, or even work at a loss.

The new emperor wouldn't do such a thing, so he quickly agreed to the compensation request.

After scanning Zhang Xuezhou's body back and forth with his gaze, he also calmed down.

Few cultivators could overpower a True Self Realm cultivator, even with the aid of an array. Zhang Xuezhou withstood the Venerable White Bone's attacks for an extremely long time until the Venerable White Bone finally collapsed.

It's normal for the formation to develop weaknesses under such a counterattack.

Venerable Yellow Sand forcefully broke free by whipping up the yellow sand, while Venerable Hongying, who had been promoted from the Hong generation, was still somewhat bewildered.

After Zhang Xuezhou pointed out the direction, the new emperor rushed over the wall with his short sword, and then struck a seemingly empty spot with his sword, blood gushing out like a spring.

The corpse of a middle-aged woman holding a bottle-shaped Law Artifact appeared, her body riddled with holes, lying on the ground like rotten wood.

It seems that because the death was too sudden and too rapid, the other party did not even have time to escape from the body before falling into death.

"Our news will definitely leak out. What a waste of this formation!"

Zhang Xuezhou waved the battle flag, then reached out and rolled it up.

With the main formation flag blocked, the Five Ghosts Yin Wind Formation could no longer be maintained. Amidst the howling of the yin entities, streaks of black energy continuously retreated towards the formation flags in all directions.

"No regrets!"

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou casually toss the locked array flags into the stone of the wall, the new emperor glanced around and looked into the distance.

Several screams came from afar, indicating that some of the pursuers who had passed through the formation had already been killed.

This provides new directions.

The new emperor repeatedly drew his sword, yet patiently waited on.

Don't you have any suitable Law Treasure for practicing Technique Method?

Seeing that Zhang Xuezhou was also being cautious and did not rush over rashly, the new emperor couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"I was just assisting you in controlling the Sky Shuttle; I never intended to fight," Zhang Xuezhou complained. "Besides, my fighting skills are terrible; all I know is head-on confrontation. Either I kill someone, or they kill me!"

"That takes skill too," the new emperor said.

"It fails when it comes to tough challenges!"

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at the source of the screams several times, but for a moment he didn't dare to approach the direction of the screams.

Being struck by the Venerable White Bone is one thing, but being hit by a flying dagger from the Dao Lord is quite another.

Not to mention the many Technique Method Zhang Xuezhou cultivated, even Yang Jian, who had attained sainthood in his physical body, would not want to face the Dao Lord's flying knife.

As he and the new emperor hesitated, they heard the sound of horses' hooves echoing through the alleyway once more.

As he quickly retreated into the shadows, Zhang Xuezhou thought he could follow behind this group of people and see what was going on.

"Whoa!"

"Both man and horse fell dead. The thief's methods were ruthless. Who was behind this?"

"The deceased was Xia Ming, a Confucian scholar from Qi. His Technique Method abilities were quite impressive, yet he died here bleeding from all seven orifices!"

"This man is Zhu Wen, and he died in the same way!"

"Lu Bushu, why didn't your teacher come to Chang'an City?"

"My teacher has come to Chang'an City, but I can't find him!"

"Master Dong has not come out of the palace since he entered it!"

"I heard that His Majesty was furious over the death of the King of Jiangdu and punished Dong Shi, dismissing him from his position as Chancellor!"

"Don't speak, be careful when you walk through here!"

Nearly ten Confucian scholars rode up on horseback, including Lü Bushu, a direct disciple of Dong Zhongshu.

Although he was a Confucian scholar, Lü Bushu did not look like a refined gentleman. Instead, he carried a long axe, which clearly showed that he was quite strong.

After quickly assessing the situation, Lü Bushu spurred his horse and rode ahead of the group to clear the way.

Among the scholars was the renowned scholar Gongsun Hong, who had previously resided at Zhang Xuezhou's residence.

Although he was considered the second greatest Confucian scholar after Dong Zhongshu, Gongsun Hong did not compete for the top spot. Instead, he prioritized Dong Zhongshu's abilities and promoted Lü Bushu as the leader of the group. Gongsun Hong himself rode at the rear, constantly scanning the surroundings to prevent any unexpected incidents.

When his gaze fell upon two figures in the shadows, and then upon the inconspicuous corpse in the shadows, Gongsun Hong's heart skipped a beat, and he almost jumped off his horse.

Faces were difficult to discern in the shadows, and Gongsun Hong had no idea who the black-clad, white-robed corpse in the darkness was, but he was all too familiar with those two figures.

If it were just one of them standing here, he would have a hard time distinguishing them, since there are many people of that build and height in Chang'an City. But when the two are together, there is a reference point.

There are many people of similar height and build in Chang'an City, but it is rare for two people to be together, especially in the Imperial City District, where there are even fewer who meet the criteria.

Gongsun Hong glanced at the shadows for two seconds before quickly pulling his head back.

"I'm doomed. I've become that little Dongfang Shuo's stepping stone again!"

Gongsun Hong's heart pounded, sensing an unspeakable danger ahead.

He and Zhang Xuezhou had explored the Mohists's mechanical city, and he knew Zhang Xuezhou's character all too well.

Being a scout is a terrible job, and Gongsun Hong didn't want to be one either. But he was lucky today; there were eight people ahead of him, so at least Gongsun Hong wasn't directly dragged down with them.

A crucial point is that Gongsun Hong was able to deduce that the new emperor was traveling with Zhang Xuezhou, which means that everything they did would be seen and observed by the new emperor.

Most importantly, Zhang Xuezhou and his accomplices likely made contact with the target of the attack on Tian Fen.

If he had shown any ability, he wouldn't have been stuck waiting for orders at the Golden Horse Gate.

If one performs exceptionally well, a meteoric rise to success is not out of the question.

Gongsun Hong thought it through clearly, and kept chanting incantations in a low voice. The Technique Method slowly condensed, and with a determined heart, he followed along.