The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 443 Shell
Bang!
With a dull thud like a heavy hammer striking the ground, An Qisheng felt a sweet taste in his throat. Instead of taking the hit head-on, he used the momentum to propel himself forward.

He knew from the sound alone that the one who made this move was not the guard Li Miao, but the emperor himself. With his protective true energy reduced to less than 30% due to his serious injuries, he could not withstand the emperor's full-force sneak attack.

Jizhao, the earliest lost realm of sexual cultivation.

For thousands of years, only Bodhidharma and Zhang Sanfeng have achieved this level of attainment.

It is also the most important state among the three natures of mind, spirit, and will.

Since the appearance of this Great Shuo, it seems to have never shown its true divine power. It has either failed against inexplicable extraterrestrial demons like Li Miao, or been unable to exert its influence against opponents who have also cultivated the Silent Illumination Realm.

Only today, when facing An Qisheng, a celestial being who has cultivated for a thousand years and has achieved both spiritual and physical cultivation but has yet to attain the state of Tranquil Illumination, has this realm finally revealed its overwhelming advantage over other celestial beings.

Elusive and hard to find.

An Qisheng used the punch to propel himself forward several meters, then turned and raised his palm, only to find the emperor nowhere to be found. Only two guards rushed in front of him again, fearlessly unleashing attacks upon him that, while not fatal, were nonetheless unavoidable.

Although An Qisheng's gaze remained unchanged, his moves were clearly tinged with anger.

Being trapped in the emperor's illusory mind, he could not find the emperor's actual location at all.

The truth is hard to discern.

clang! ——

The golden melon and axe struck An Qisheng's shoulder, breaking through his protective aura and leaving two wounds on his shoulder, which were then stuck by his shoulder blades.

An Qisheng stepped forward fiercely, his palms drilling upwards into the chest openings of the two guards, striking towards their heads.

With protective inner energy and life-or-death martial arts, his skill in exchanging injury for injury and life for life is no less than Li Miao's!

It was clear that the heads of the two guards were about to be smashed.

Suddenly, An Qisheng felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.

The golden gourd remained on his left shoulder, while the axe suddenly pressed down, breaking through the protective aura, shattering the bones, and embedding itself into the bone marrow!

With the martial prowess of the golden-armored guards, it would be absolutely impossible to accomplish this.

An Qisheng's gaze shifted to the guard wielding the axe. Right before him, the golden armor rippled like a reflection in water, gradually transforming into a crimson robe woven with gold.

Crown Prince Li Miao squinted and glanced at him sideways.

"I'm not trying to belittle you, but how can a celestial being who has cultivated for a thousand years be so easily fooled?"

The next instant, the axe slammed down.

Click.

Fragmentation of the collarbone.

An Qisheng's right hand drooped limply, but his left hand suddenly shot out and smashed the head of the guard holding the golden mace!
Then he quickly withdrew.

He knew very well that this was an illusion.

In reality, there was no such thing as a crown prince or guards, and his collarbone was completely intact without any damage.

But this is the wonder of "silent illumination." Illusions deceive not only the five senses, but also consciousness and one's true nature.

"When falsehood is taken for truth, even truth becomes falsehood; when nothingness is taken for existence, even existence becomes nothingness."

Even though he knew it was all fake, an illusion, the pain was real, and his consciousness could no longer control his upper arm to exert force.

But what was exchanged was just a guard.

Crown Prince Li Miao stood still, looked at him, and suddenly chuckled, revealing his thoughts.

"Are you thinking that trading an arm for a guard is a bit of a loss?"

"Have you ever actually fought with Master Sanfeng? I get the feeling that you don't know much about Jizhao either... Could it be that Master Sanfeng didn't put in much effort when he beat you back then, and didn't use many of Jizhao's techniques?"

After saying this, Crown Prince Li Miao's expression suddenly turned solemn.

He thrust the axe forward and said in a deep voice.

"Go forth, and obey!"

"Leader!"

A response came from the void, and the golden-armored guard whose head had been smashed by An Qisheng materialized from the air. He then solidified, took the axe with both hands, bowed, and turned to look at An Qisheng. Only then did Crown Prince Li Miao smile with his hands behind his back.

"Illusion, illusion, can something that can be killed still be called an illusion?"

"You're not just at a slight loss, you're at a huge loss."

His tone was both sharp and sarcastic, and coupled with that half-dead expression, he was far more infuriating than Li Miao. It's unclear what kind of person Li Miao was in Zhu Zai's mind, but he somehow managed to create such a character within the emperor's own idealized image.

But even this mockery left no trace on An Qisheng's face.

From the start of the fight until now, his gaze has remained calm and unwavering. Even now, with one arm crippled while his enemy remains unscathed, he has not revealed the slightest emotion.

Suddenly, he spoke.

Where is the emperor?

Crown Prince Li Miao shrugged.

"you guess?"

"I guess you are."

An Qisheng said calmly.

The crown prince raised an eyebrow and sneered.

"What, are you just guessing without any clues? Otherwise, I'll give you three more chances. If you guess correctly, I'll reward you with a high-ranking concubine, how about that?"

An Qisheng seemed not to hear his sarcasm.

His tone remained calm.

“You’re right. I have never fought Zhang Sanfeng. He was too strong. I was defeated in just one exchange. If he hadn’t been so young at the time, I might not be alive now. So I really don’t know Jizhao.”

"But I understand mental images, I understand nature."

"The most prominent feature of your illusion is your unconditional trust and love for Li Miao, which is why you can create three clones of Li Miao to fight against me."

"But you're in too much of a hurry."

An Qisheng walked forward slowly.

"Impatient, the intervals between moves are too short."

"If you had lengthened the intervals between the Crown Prince's and the Emperor's attacks, I might not have noticed. But with your rapid attacks, you have never used your main body and the Crown Prince to attack me simultaneously. Isn't that strange?"

"He was too impatient and used too many manipulative tactics."

"On the contrary, it revealed the biggest flaw - you just said, 'Go then, be respectful.'"

"These are the emperor's personal prayers before a general goes to war. The full sentence is: 'Drink this sweet wine, may you achieve victory! I will support you and await your triumphant return! Go forth, and obey!'"

"Yet you, the crown prince, are the one to speak."

As they spoke, An Qisheng had already walked to within a short distance of the Crown Prince.

The crown prince's expression darkened.

An Qisheng's tone remained completely flat.

"Silent illumination is an illusion of the true mind."

"Only what you firmly believe can deceive me. So while you are deceiving me, you are also opening everything up to me."

"You are inherently cowardly and dare not face the enemy head-on, so you use illusions to cover yourself up, putting on what you think is the hardest and strongest shell to cover yourself. This shell—is Li Miao."

An Qisheng and the Crown Prince exchanged glances.

He caught the fleeting flicker in that gaze.

"It seems I guessed it right."

An Qisheng said calmly.

(End of this chapter)