Volume Three: The Art of Power

The Chaos of East Ru

The carriage remained still, and the young woman at the front displayed no signs of anxiety. However, a calm yet mocking voice emanated from within the carriage: "Li Qilong, as the overseer of the mausoleum, you surely understand that attempting to assassinate me is a crime punishable by extermination of your entire clan. Are you so reckless as to sacrifice not only your own life but also that of your family?"

Li Qilong smiled gently and replied, "There is no need for Your Highness to worry; my family has already been safely arranged."

"Is it the Great Mang Dynasty to the south? It seems the one who instructed you to undertake this task has made you a promise, perhaps even a guarantee of a better position down south?" The voice from the carriage grew even more derisive. "Indeed, if you succeed, there is a chance you might escape to the south. But if such an incident occurs within the borders of the Yunqin Empire, what kind of wrath do you think you will have to endure? Not to mention that the formidable armies of the Yunqin Empire are closing in, the so-called Great Mang Dynasty may vanish overnight… Do not forget that to kill, one need not be within the borders of the Yunqin Empire; you are merely a treacherous overseer. How many elite experts do you think the Great Mang Dynasty will send to shadow you and your family? Can they withstand the might of our assassins from the Yunqin Empire? Are you genuinely so foolish, or do you simply refuse to contemplate the intricacies of this situation?"

Li Qilong's round face twitched slightly, yet he managed to maintain his composure as he stated, "From this moment on, Li Qilong is dead. Whether he is ultimately deemed to have conspired to assassinate you and perished in your retaliation, or whether he died protecting you from an assassin, he has now ceased to exist on this official road outside the Eastern Mausoleum. No one will know he ever lived. No assassin, no matter how skilled, can target a man who is already dead."

There was a moment of silence in the carriage before the voice returned, "You are ultimately too lowly… your cultivation is insufficient, your rank is inadequate, and the people you associate with are beneath you. Consequently, you cannot possibly comprehend the machinations of those who toy with you as pawns."

The tone was utterly flat, yet within the calm words lay an air of disdain that made Li Qilong feel belittled. He could not help but perceive it as a proud peacock conversing with a humble hen, one that stood in the mud, slightly swollen in the belly, drenched on one side.

Under normal circumstances, he might not have felt any discontent, but today, his round face involuntarily twitched again, and his plump fingers crackled ominously. He glared at the carriage with a twisted tone, sneering, "So what if I hail from the imperial city and possess dragon blood? So what if you consider me lowly? Today, you shall still perish at my hands! I am Li Qilong, but today I shall rename myself Li Qilong, for I shall ride upon you!"

The carriage fell silent once more, and the rain intensified, splashing droplets like blossoms on the carriage. Raindrops struck Li Qilong's face, and his drenched right hand trembled slightly. "Kill her!" he suddenly roared, his voice sharp and commanding!

With Li Qilong's fierce command echoing through the Eastern Mausoleum, hundreds of armored, masked assassins surged silently from all directions, rushing towards the center of the official road where the carriage stood.

However, the first to reach the carriage were not these grim-faced assassins, but rather a flurry of black feathered arrows shot from the nearby bamboo grove.

With a resounding twang of bowstrings, a multitude of black arrows shredded countless bamboo leaves, piercing through the curtain of rain and descending upon the carriage in an instant.

The two short horses and the carriage were instantly transformed into a hedgehog, blood splattering across the muddy ground, and the young woman in green at the front was nowhere to be seen; she had already nimbly opened the carriage door and slipped inside before the arrows fell.

The force of these black arrows was no less than that of the arrows shot by Lin Xi, yet though they pierced the horses, embedding themselves thickly into the carriage, not a single one managed to penetrate the carriage's interior.

With a creak, the carriage door, slightly tilted by the fallen horses, swung open, and a woman in white with elegant hair stepped out from within.

The white-clad woman appeared somewhat fatigued, with faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. She was not particularly slender, nor was her bosom ample; her features were well-defined but not striking. However, the moment she emerged, all the masked assassins, accustomed to bloodshed, and the dozens of stone-faced archers hidden among the bamboo momentarily paused in surprise.

It was not her appearance that astonished them, nor was it her status as a practitioner, but rather her identity!

As Li Qilong, who orchestrated the assassination of this woman, was aware, the Yunqin Empire faced both internal strife and external threats. While powerful enemies encroached from outside, within, extravagance and martial fervor reigned. Yet, despite these troubles, the formidable Yunqin Empire remained the most powerful empire in the world. It stood strong against the Tang Cang Ancient Kingdom to the west, repelled the Great Mang Dynasty to the south, and held back the Xue Man to the east, compelling these adversaries to tread carefully. And this woman was the sister of the current sovereign of the Yunqin Empire, the highest authority in the realm!

This was true nobility. Had she not left the imperial city, Li Qilong, even as a mere overseer, would have had few opportunities in his lifetime to gaze upon her.

Thus, even though this woman was not exceptionally beautiful, and her thin lips conveyed a somewhat cold and indifferent demeanor, her identity alone, coupled with the earlier threat of renaming himself Li Qilong, ignited an inexplicable and wicked fire within Li Qilong, one that surged from his lower abdomen.

He stared at the white-clad woman with a mixture of tension and fear, his mind consumed with thoughts of tearing her garments apart, forcefully pinning her down, and viciously stabbing her pristine body with a blade!

The masked assassins were undeniably fierce, and they too seemed to harbor an indescribable, burning desire. Although this white-clad woman was certainly a practitioner, after a brief moment of hesitation, the masked assassins surged forward with fervor, encircling the carriage.

As the foremost masked assassin leapt onto the fallen horse's head and soared high, his black blade aimed at the white-clad woman, she remained standing at the front of the carriage, empty-handed.

Yet, the assassin's pupils suddenly constricted as the white-clad woman extended her right hand with an eerie grace and speed, reaching his wrist before his blade could descend.

Then he distinctly heard the sound of his wrist bones shattering beneath his armored gauntlet, and the black blade slipped from his grasp, only to be seized by the white-clad woman. It glided seamlessly through the narrow gap of his neck armor, severing his head from his shoulders… Simultaneously, her left hand gently struck his armored chest.

"Bang!"

The soft slap resonated like a thunderous clap.

The assassin's head flew off, while his body was sent hurtling backward, resembling a kite with its string cut, leaving a distinct palm imprint on his chest.

Blood gushed from the severed neck, splattering onto several masked assassins and obscuring their vision, yet not a single drop fell upon the white-clad woman.

A sudden chill enveloped the surroundings as all eyes followed the headless corpse weaving through the curtain of rain.

In that fleeting moment, the white-clad woman stepped down from the carriage, and with a swift motion of her blade, two heads soared into the sky. One of the headless corpses was propelled forward by her palm, crashing into two masked assassins behind, sending them tumbling.

The surrounding masked assassins surged forward, but the white-clad woman advanced with ease, each swing of her blade resulting in heads or bones flying.

No one could impede her; even the simultaneous strikes from three assassins were effortlessly countered by her reverse swing, sending all three men crashing backward in a pitiful state.

She moved like a colossal elephant navigating through a flock of sheep; even the simplest of techniques, even the slightest prediction of her next move, proved utterly futile to counter.

Li Qilong, standing beneath an oiled paper umbrella, trembled uncontrollably. He knew the white-clad woman was a practitioner, yet he had not anticipated her to be this formidable!

In the bamboo grove, dozens of archers donned in conical hats stood like stone, unwavering, their black stone longbows trained on the white-clad woman's position.

Behind these archers, two figures slowly approached through the bamboo grove.

One was an immensely tall giant clad in bronze armor, his entire face obscured within it, wielding a chilling double-bladed axe. He towered over even the tallest archer by a full head, and the double-bladed axe he carried was nearly equal in length to his stature.

The intricate and orderly runes etched upon his heavy armor and the gleaming white axe radiated a unique power, repelling the rain.

The other figure wore a simple gray cotton robe, unmasked, revealing an ordinary middle-aged man with a troubled expression. He bore no weapon, his graying hair fashioned into three distinct buns held by black iron hairpins, creating a peculiar yet memorable hairstyle.

Observing the bloody melee, the heavily armored giant inquired of the sorrowful-faced man beside him, "Can we handle this?"

"It appears to be of the Grand National Master level… we should be able to manage," the troubled man replied, furrowing his brow.

"Then let us proceed." The heavily armored giant was eager to engage, the weight of his armor and the heft of his axe emanating a faint yellow glow.

Though the cotton robe of the troubled man was already soaked, he seemed indifferent, shaking his head. "No rush, let's wait a moment longer."