The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 365 Handshake
"As expected of you."

Pop, pop, pop.

After speaking with Li Miao, Zheng Qi fell silent for a moment, but Zheng Anqi, who had been listening for a while, laughed and even clapped his hands.

"If I had known that you were one of the 'roots and seedlings' back then, I would have kept you and trained you personally no matter what. Perhaps we wouldn't have needed to come to the Central Plains at all; we could have gotten things done by working together."

"However, it's not too late now."

He raised his hand towards Li Miao from afar.

"Should we join forces?"

“I see that your destiny is perfect in all three aspects, but you haven’t even begun to understand the three aspects of your nature. If you join forces with me, I can teach you ‘Mysterious Observation’ and lead you to conquer Yingzhou.”

"I can tell you everything about your background and the foundation of Yingzhou's heritage now, without hiding anything from you."

Zheng Anqi's gaze swept over the corpse behind Li Miao.

"If you are unwilling to join forces with me, you can do it this way—"

“I will pass on the ‘Mysterious Observation’ method to you. You will then hold a ritual, and after we have both mastered ‘Mysterious Observation’, we will determine who lives and dies. If you win, you will also gain a perfected state for free. What do you say?”

"You probably don't care about a few lives, do you?"

Li Miao shook his head and said with a smile.

"Of course I don't care."

He actually strode directly toward Zheng Anqi. The two were not far apart to begin with, and they were almost touching in the blink of an eye, no more than a foot apart.

Two identical faces looked at each other and smiled.

One was dressed in a tall hat and wide belt, with flowing robes and sleeves, his body shrouded in protective true energy like ribbons, making him appear ethereal like a banished immortal; the other was entirely black, his fists, the corners of his clothes, and his collar covered in bloodstains, his chilling killing intent making him look like a demon.

Li Miao raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"What's wrong? Weren't you going to cooperate? Why are you still wearing protective aura?"

Zheng Anqi also said with a smile.

"Because I think you'll punch me in the face the moment I dissipate my protective aura."

Li Miao tilted his head and glanced down at Zheng Anqi's outstretched hand.

"You extended your hand, didn't you want to shake my hand? How can I shake it if you don't disperse your protective inner energy? — You don't seem very sincere."

He held out a hand.

"Or are you scared?"

The smile on Zheng Anqi's face gradually faded.

He extended his hand merely as a gesture, never intending to actually place it in Li Miao's hand. Even if he were arrogant, he wouldn't casually release his protective aura in front of Li Miao.

But he really couldn't bring himself to pull his hand back and act as if nothing had happened.

At his core, he was just as proud as Li Miao.

Zheng Qi, standing to the side, kicked with her toe, and a long sword from the hand of a guard's corpse came into her grasp. She looked at the two of them expressionlessly, neither making a move nor speaking.

After a while, the sarcasm in Li Miao's smile grew stronger, and Zheng Anqi suddenly laughed.

"Fine, if you're sincere, then of course you can."

call--

He actually dissipated his protective inner energy.

Their hands clasped together, and Zheng Anqi smiled as he looked into Li Miao's eyes.

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"You really want to hold it?" In an instant, her black hair turned snow-white.

Zheng Anqi felt a sharp pain in his hand. He tried to break free by channeling his inner energy, but found that Li Miao's hand was like an iron clamp, impossible to budge even slightly!

My vision suddenly blurred! A piercing shriek, like an explosion in the air, pierced my ears!

Li Miao grabbed Zheng Anqi's hand and swung him around like a weapon! His arm muscles bulged, tearing his sleeves, and the stone slabs beneath his feet shattered!
Li Miao swung Zheng Anqi and slammed him down on Zheng Qi!

"Cooperate? You're not worthy of that!"

Zheng Qi had already wrapped her protective inner energy around her longsword and tried to dodge. However, Li Miao took a step forward, erasing the distance she had created!
She had no choice but to raise her sword and block in front of her.

Bang!
Zheng Anqi had already regrouped his protective true energy around his body in mid-air, but he could not stop the momentum of being thrown by Li Miao. He crashed into Zheng Qi's sword. If it weren't for his protective true energy, he would probably have been cut in half!

Zheng Qi's face suddenly turned red, then white. Her two feet carved two furrows several feet long in the ground, but she still couldn't stop her retreat!
“So heavy!”

"So fierce!"

Their hearts sank simultaneously.

Zheng Anqi finally regained his balance, struck Zheng Qi's longsword with a backhand, and was about to land when his pupils suddenly shrank in mid-air!

Li Miao's claws were already in front of him!

"He hasn't mastered 'Mysterious Vision,' so he shouldn't be able to break through my protective aura! This is actually an opportunity to control him with my protective aura!"

The thought had barely formed in his mind when Li Miao grabbed his face. Zheng Anqi raised his hand to grab Li Miao's arm, his protective inner energy surging upwards, intending to envelop Li Miao's arm!
He was just an inch away from subduing Li Miao! A hint of smugness flashed in Zheng Anqi's eyes.

But the next moment, his vision blurred again.

"Again!"

Zheng Anqi gritted his teeth and was once again helplessly swung up by Li Miao and smashed into Zheng Qi.

"His life force is all wrong! I'm the one who cultivates both body and spirit, yet my strength is no match for his! If this continues, he can't hurt me, but I can't hurt him either!"

Mid-air, Zheng Anqi's mind raced. Suddenly, Zheng Qi's icy voice came from behind him.

"Join forces with me."

The longsword was pressed against his back, but no longer at the tip; it was at the spine. The gentle force first pulled back, barely stopping his momentum, and then released, propelling him evenly towards the ground.

Zheng Anqi lightly touched the ground with his toes. Before he could turn around, a sword rang out behind him, grazing past his side and pointing at Li Miao's punch!

"I'll accept the conditions you just mentioned! Kill him, restart the ritual, and once we've both reached the Perfected Profound Understanding stage, we'll settle our differences in life and death!"

"With him around, the ritual cannot be completed, and neither of us can cultivate the Xuanlan; if we kill him, we can perform it again!"

Zheng Qi's voice came out like a machine gun, and his longsword clashed with Li Miao's fist, producing a sound like metal clashing!

Zheng Anqi narrowed his eyes and, without the slightest hesitation, stepped forward and slapped Li Miao on the shoulder!
Zheng Qi is right. What they are fighting over today is the outcome of the ritual. With Li Miao around, the ritual has absolutely no chance of succeeding! Kill Li Miao, and then we can worry about everything else!

Two offensives, two celestial beings who have cultivated both life and death!
They all charged towards Li Miao!
Li Miao's lips suddenly curled up: "That's more like it!"

"all come!"

His figure suddenly blurred, and he pounced forward like a hungry tiger. The long sword grazed his side and passed through him. Li Miao grabbed Zheng Qi's shoulders with both hands!
Bang!
Zheng Qi was pinned to the ground! Li Miao punched her in the chest with such speed that it even surpassed the speed at which her protective inner energy could return!

Zheng Qi's protective true energy was not as strong as Zheng Anqi's, and most of it was wrapped around the longsword. With only a thin layer on his chest, he probably couldn't stop Li Miao's punch!
Zheng Anqi flashed behind Li Miao and silently struck Li Miao's back with a palm, but made no attempt to stop Li Miao.

For him, the best outcome would obviously be for Li Miao to kill Zheng Qi, and then for him to kill Li Miao with a single blow, thus becoming the victor! As for any cooperation, he had never been sincere about it in the first place!
"Ah."

In that instant, Li Miao let out a cold laugh.

The fist that was about to smash into Zheng Qi's chest suddenly separated, and a claw dug into Zheng Qi's flesh, gripping his ribs!
Then he suddenly swung it, smashing it towards Zheng Anqi behind him!

Zheng Anqi and Zheng Qi both gritted their teeth.

"How the hell are you going to do this again?!"

(End of this chapter)