The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 279 Long time no see
There was a long corridor between the third courtyard and the second courtyard. There should have been some rockeries and landscapes on both sides, but they had disappeared without a trace, leaving only rubble, wood chips, and broken walls.

As the old man walked in it, several spots of light from the ruins on both sides were reflected on his body, and then disappeared in a flash.

Those were fragments of iron, reflecting the light.

The old man narrowed his eyes.

On the ground in front, there was a deep pit about ten feet in radius, cutting off the corridor.

He frowned, walked to the deep pit and looked inside.

At the bottom of the pit, there was a pool of blood and flesh.

wow-

The old man hit the bottom of the pit with his palm, and the powerful innate energy "scraped" out the flesh and blood, splashing it on the ground beside him. He looked towards the bottom of the pit again, frowning.

There was a palm print and a broken Emei spear at the bottom of the pit.

He turned his head and looked to his side. There was a broken column with a concave cut. The bulges on both sides were full of broken wood thorns, but the notch in the middle was as smooth as a mirror, like a circular passage that ran through the entire column. The old man walked forward, rubbed his finger on the notch, twisted it, and dried blood slowly fell from his fingertips.

The scene at that time appeared in his mind.

One of them held the Emei Spear and thrust it straight out. The other one turned over and dodged the thrust in mid-air, then slapped the opponent's arm with his palm. The opponent's Emei Spear turned over and struck back. A big hole was created on the ground by his palm wind, and the opponent's Emei Spear broke, leaving an arm behind. In pain, his body stopped for a moment.

Then, the opponent's other Emei Spear pierced through his body, penetrating from front to back. The true energy that passed through his body pierced through the column again, leaving his blood in the notch in the middle.

The columns fell to the ground with him.

The fight ended there, leaving no further trace.

The old man frowned.

The one who died was a celestial being, who should have cultivated the same "Vajra" as him, but was hit through the vitals and died here. The only remains left were a pool of blood and flesh at the bottom of the pit.

This is the guardian of the third courtyard.

And what kind of person is this person, the Northern Pacification Commissioner, who has to cross the third courtyard to be qualified to meet him?

The old man shook his head slowly and suppressed his chaotic thoughts.

Since he has come this far, there is no turning back. When masters compete with each other, a slight flaw in their state of mind may be the final factor that determines the outcome. The opponent left these traces without cleaning them up, which must be intentional. Since he has come this far, it is impossible for him not to observe. After observing, the seeds of fear will be left in his heart, leaving a flaw in his state of mind.

"Attack the heart."

The old man looked towards the gate in front of him.

Stepped in.

The oncoming sunlight flickered in his sight for a moment, and then his eyes gradually adjusted to the light. The old man glanced at the courtyard in front of him.

Unlike the first and second courtyards, this one was extremely spacious, but it was obviously not the original layout. There were still some traces of buildings on the ground on the left, right and front, but now only fine gravel remained. It should be that the four or five surrounding courtyards were destroyed in the struggle between heaven and man, which expanded this space.

A faint fishy smell lingered at the tip of my nose, that was the smell of blood lingering in the cracks between the bricks and stones. The ground was bumpy, full of ridges and deep pits. As soon as I entered the courtyard, there were several holes as thick as fingertips under my feet, deep and bottomless.

But the old man didn't have the energy to look at these traces carefully.

He stared at a person in the yard, clenched his fists, and used all his strength to practice the horizontal training method. He moved his feet slightly, raised one hand to his chest, and protected his waist with the other hand, but he was directly in a defensive posture.

"Sir, you look unfamiliar."

A young woman's voice came from the other side.

"Although I haven't been around for a while, there are only so many masters. Even if we take into account all the masters who may have broken through in the past thirty years, there is no one like you among them. Moreover, judging from your hands, you must be practicing horizontal training kung fu, which is definitely not what I am familiar with."

"Where do you come from, Your Excellency?"

The old man remained silent.

"Don't want to say it, can't say it, or can't tell me?"

Ruan Mei asked, reaching out to pull out the Emei Spear hanging on her waist, turning it around in her hand, and holding it in her hand again.

"the latter."

"Oh... So, you plan to go through my courtyard and talk to the pacification envoy first?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

Ruan Mei said.

"If you want to start fighting right away, it won't delay things. We'll have to fight a few more times, but whether it's a life or death battle depends on your luck."

The old man frowned.

"Your Excellency...what do you mean?"

"If you are qualified to go there, you will naturally know."

Before he finished speaking, Ruan Mei had already appeared in front of the old man!
The Emei Spear in his hand pierced the old man's throat!
--------

boom! ! !
Suddenly, there was a dull roar in front of us, followed by a series of explosions, the ground shook, and the stones on the ground jumped up.

Liu Chengxuan, Qi Shuyun and Wen Lianrong all stopped in their tracks, looking confused and uncertain.

"Is this the realm of heaven and man?"

"Such a big commotion...it's like attacking a city."

Qi Shuyun turned and looked at An Ziyang.

"Master An, are we really going to go there?"

An Ziyang smiled.

"Of course not now. If I were to get caught in it, I would be turned into minced meat in no time."

"But you three can rest assured. The fight won't last long."

"When the noise stops, we can go over and take a look."

--------

The old man used all his concentration to practice the horizontal training technique. In an instant, he had exchanged more than ten moves with Ruan Mei, but he became more and more frightened as the fight went on. Because the opponent's realm was clearly displayed in front of him - Xumi and Jiezi! The two practitioners did not show any signs of the five decays of heaven and man. Their blood and qi were full, and their true qi was agile. They could break his Vajra horizontal training with a wave of their hands!

Before an incense stick of time had passed, more than a dozen wounds deep enough to see the bone were already left on his arms, and the opponent's attack showed no sign of stopping. He had no time to use healing techniques to mend his flesh and blood!

The horizontal training is the strongest only when the whole body is perfect. The power of the horizontal training can only be exerted when the true qi is integrated into the muscles and bones, and the qi and blood are filled in them. But in just this short time, the opponent opened more than a dozen cuts on his body, and the qi and blood flowed out, and the true qi was blocked, and his horizontal training was getting weaker and weaker.

"I am no match for her."

The old man's heart sank, and his eyes passed through the gap between his arms and looked into Ruan Mei's eyes.

Xumi Qi, Jie Zi Jin, the opponent's offensive is almost the peak of the three-way integration. My weak Vajra realm can't resist the opponent's moves at all. The opponent's inheritance is extremely advanced, and his moves have almost no flaws. I, who practice horizontal training, can hardly restrict the opponent's movements.

If the other party had no intention to kill, I would probably have been defeated quickly.

The old man gritted his teeth, glanced behind Ruan Mei, and moved his feet slightly.

Swish!
In an instant, his eyes blurred.

Looking again, the old man's face had darkened.

Because Ruan Mei was already standing in the direction he was looking at, raising her hand to shake off the flesh and blood stuck to the Emei Spear.

"Sir, do you want to withstand my moves and rush out of this courtyard?"

Ruan Mei said.

The old man remained silent.

"Before you came here, there were two gods who came in front of me. One of them knew he was no match for him, so he turned around and ran away. I caught up with him in the corridor outside. The other one had the same idea as you, thinking that he could just rush out of this yard, which would be considered as 'getting through the barrier'. How could I not be on guard?"

Ruan Mei said slowly.

"Your Excellency doesn't seem to be from an evil background."

"People in the evil ways scheme against each other every day. If they are not good at hiding their thoughts, they will probably die in the hands of others in a few years. But you can't even hide your eyes, staring straight at the gate. I can't help but notice it."

The old man was silent for a moment and then spoke.

“But I had no other choice.”

Ruan Mei smiled.

"Too."

"Then you can give it a try."

The old man nodded slowly, raised his hands to protect his chest and abdomen, and rushed towards the gate.

--------

"The noise ahead seems to be getting smaller and smaller."

Qi Shuyun turned and said to An Ziyang.

As he was speaking, a final loud noise was heard from the courtyard ahead, and then there was a dead silence. "It's over."

An Ziyang smiled.

"It took two incense sticks of time to fight. This old man is quite an important figure."

He walked forward.

"Let's go, Master Liu."

"'Hero Li', I'll be waiting for you at the back of the third courtyard."

Liu Chengxuan nodded slowly, put his hand on his chest, then took it down, took a deep breath, then turned his head to look at Wen Lianrong, and the two of them quickly followed.

The four of them walked into the third courtyard.

This place is already a mess.

The struggle between heaven and man was almost like a natural disaster. Everywhere Ruan Mei and the old man passed was like being plowed by dense meteorites. Trees fell, houses collapsed, rocks were broken, huge deep pits and sharp marks were carved on every ground and wall, and it was even difficult to find a place to stay.

An Ziyang glanced around and raised his eyebrows.

Because Ruan Mei and the old man had disappeared.

He looked toward the gate in front of him.

"Did he really let him get through?"

An Ziyang greeted the three people who were staring around and walked forward quickly.

After passing through the gate and leaving the third courtyard where two lives had been lost, there was another long corridor. An Ziyang walked quickly for a while, stretched out his hand and wiped it on the pillar beside him, and felt a wet bloodstain on his hand.

This means that the old man really made it through the third courtyard.

"interesting."

An Ziyang walked along the corridor and finally came to a hall.

The bloodstains on the ground extended from the ground along the steps all the way inside.

"He really did get to see the pacification envoy."

An Ziyang smiled and walked in quickly.

Qi Shuyun stood where she was and took a deep breath.

He was already over 40 years old, and had worked his way up the world. He had guessed An Ziyang's identity long before Liu Chengxuan. Along the way, he had completely confirmed his guess.

An Ziyang is the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, "Master Lingxu".

And inside this hall should be the most prominent figure in the world at that time, who is summoning heroes from all over the world to a banquet.

Jinyiwei, Northern Pacification Division, Pacification Envoy.

A single thought would shake the entire martial arts world. With one order, even martial arts giants like Shaolin and Wudang would come from thousands of miles away to attend the banquet.

This kind of person... is right in front of him.

Qi Shuyun turned and looked at Liu Chengxuan.

"Master Liu, since we are already here, I will not hold back on some things... What kind of relationship do you have with the Jinyiwei that could allow Master An, a fifth-rank officer, to travel thousands of miles to Huguang to escort you here?"

"Who is the 'Hero Li' that Master An is talking about?"

Liu Chengxuan was silent for a moment, shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"Master Qi, I don't know either."

"I only met Master Li once, and I have never seen him again. I have never heard any news about him. If I really had a relationship with the Jinyiwei, how could my Huanhua Sword Sect have fallen to the point of struggling to survive in the past six months?"

“I want to know the answer, too.”

Qi Shuyun pursed her lips and smiled.

"Master Liu, there is no need to deceive me."

"Forget it, let's go."

"Who knows, your Huanhua Sword Sect will soar to the sky from now on."

After saying that, he walked into the hall.

Liu Chengxuan took a deep breath and stepped in.

After entering the hall, the first thing that came to my mind was a strong smell of blood.

Liu Chengxuan walked in with his head lowered, his eyes following the bloodstains on the ground, slowly raised, and saw a back.

Outside the mountain gate, the old man, whose gaze almost suffocated him, was kneeling on one knee on the ground, his body rising and falling, obviously gasping for breath. There were deep wounds on his back, arms, and even the back of his head, and blood kept dripping down the corners of his clothes, and soon a pool of blood accumulated on the ground.

Beside him stood a woman with two Emei spears hanging from her waist, which were still stained with fresh blood.

His gaze rose again.

In front of the old man were several steps covered with dark black bear skin. On both sides stood palace lanterns, the flames flickered and cast shadows all around.

On the steps was a huge chair, a foot wide. The armrests on both sides were extremely wide, covered with snow-white fox fur. Cushions made of Suzhou embroidery were placed on both sides. One arm was placed on it, with the elbow bent to support the face, and the other hand held a book, covering the face.

An Ziyang was standing beside him, looking at him with a smile.

Liu Chengxuan swallowed and looked at the person sitting on the chair.

"Master Li...?"

"Ok?"

A questioning response came from the front.

The book was slowly put down, revealing a strange face.

Liu Chengxuan's eyes widened and his mouth slowly opened.

"who are you?"

The girl on the chair tilted her head. She casually put the book beside her, propped up the armrest, and sat up. She looked at Liu Chengxuan in confusion.

Qi Shuyun on the side was also stunned.

Because the person on the chair didn't fit any of their assumptions. Two thin eyebrows, cute wrinkles on the nose, and a goose yellow dress, it turned out to be a pretty girl!

The Jinyiwei pacification envoy is actually a woman! ?

The three of them were confused and felt dizzy.

The woman on the chair didn't get an answer for a long time, so she tilted her head and asked in confusion.

"Who is Hero Li?"

Liu Chengxuan no longer had the energy to answer.

He's down.

Suddenly, a voice came from the front.

"I am your master."

state!
"Ah! Why are you hitting me!"

"If you cover your face with a book, I won't know you are sleeping? Is it because no one comes in that you can't wake up? If you can't memorize it tonight, you should stay in the room and memorize it during the banquet tomorrow night."

"do not want!"

"Then recite it quickly!"

“…I can’t even recite it…”

Liu Chengxuan looked up woodenly.

They thought it was the woman from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was covering her forehead with tears in her eyes.

A familiar figure was standing next to the chair. He was still wearing his underwear, as if he had just gotten out of bed. An Ziyang was diligently putting a bearskin cloak on him.

"Hero Li...?"

Liu Chengxuan said hoarsely.

Li Miao turned and looked at Liu Chengxuan.

Said with a smile.

"Bro."

"haven't seen you for a long time."

(End of this chapter)