The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 444 Ceasefire
In just a brief exchange, with almost no understanding of "Jizhao," An Qisheng, through a single sentence and a few flaws in the moves, thoroughly grasped the emperor's true nature—the emperor had indeed been changed, but the underlying weakness and hesitation in his heart had not completely disappeared.

"Silent illumination" refers to a state of mind.

The flaw in one's mind is the flaw in "silent illumination".

The emperor is hidden beneath the crown prince's exterior.

As An Qisheng revealed the matter, the Crown Prince's eyes flickered for a moment, but he quickly returned to his listless and half-dead appearance.

"so what?"

The prince smiled and took a few steps back. His figure gradually distorted and faded, becoming completely transparent in less than a breath, and then disappeared from An Qisheng's sight.

"With me here, you can't hurt His Majesty."

The sound echoed in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The situation has turned around. An Qisheng only needs to guard against the Crown Prince's surprise attack, without having to spare extra attention to guard against the Emperor, greatly reducing the crisis. At the same time, if the Crown Prince makes a move, he may be captured by An Qisheng, directly threatening the Emperor who is hiding there.

However, An Qisheng still couldn't decipher "Silent Illumination".

Unless the main body intervenes, An Qisheng has no chance of breaking the deadlock and can only drag on indefinitely. This is not an unacceptable outcome for the emperor.

As long as we can hold out until Li Miao wakes up.

As long as the celestial beings of Yingzhou still exist.

As long as An Qisheng's serious injuries have not yet healed.

The balance of power is still tilting little by little in Li Miao's favor.

An Qisheng did not refute, but flashed towards the two golden-armored guards. Although his right arm was crippled, he swept his left palm, and his powerful true energy pulled both guards into the battle.

This time, however, he didn't hold back.

clang!clang!clang!
An Qisheng completely abandoned his defense, and all his protective true energy transformed into invisible weapons to attack the golden-armored guards.

Armor fragments flew.

The armor shattered.

Flesh and blood flew everywhere.

The prince, who had been concealing himself and observing the situation, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

An Qisheng's playing style has changed.

If An Qisheng was previously a Taoist priest in flowing robes and a martial artist who traded injuries for injuries, then now he is an assassin who would risk his life for a single strike.

Just like now—An Qisheng suddenly bent his knees, kneeling down on the ground without caring about his image at all! The golden gourd and the axe grazed his scalp, and his two legs suddenly sprang out, propelling him into the crotch of the axe-wielding guard, who then lifted him up with a flick of his fingers!
Swish, swish, swish, swish! —

Hundreds of invisible weapons converged into a giant cone, which suddenly pierced into the groin. Before the axe-wielding guard could even utter a cry of pain, he was torn in two!

At the same time, the golden melon crashed down from mid-air.

It smashed towards An Qisheng's head.

But he stopped in place, and with a flick of his fingers, the huge cone crashed down from mid-air!

Two whistling sounds clashed, both desperate strikes.

An Qisheng seemed to have gone mad, wanting to exchange his life for a phantom.

But neither the emperor nor the crown prince thought so. An Qisheng might lose, but they never imagined that An Qisheng would die at their hands because of his madness.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Crown Prince appeared several feet away, his eyes fixed on An Qisheng, and with a wave of his hand, he was about to recall the axe-wielding guards.

"Go forth—"

Pupils shrink suddenly.

Faced with the golden melon smashing towards his head, An Qisheng simply tilted his head and at the same time, swung his left hand sharply!
Bang!
The golden melon smashed into An Qisheng's left cheek. Without any protective inner energy to stop it, An Qisheng's left cheek was instantly shattered, and blood and flesh splattered out.

Although the brain was not damaged, the excruciating pain was unimaginable—yet An Qisheng's eyes remained completely unmoved.

Ugh!

A sound of breaking through the air was heard.

The giant cone formed from true energy tore through the air and arrived in front of the prince in an instant!
Just like the blow An Qisheng threw at Bolangsha a thousand years ago... No, after a thousand years of accumulation, this blow will only be faster and more deadly!
The Crown Prince has absolutely no chance of resisting!

"Ugh."

At that very moment, the Crown Prince suddenly sighed.

"Your Majesty, it's up to you now."

He took a step forward. A figure split in two.

The emperor revealed himself and remained in place.

The prince stepped forward and blocked with a punch.

Bang! — Crash!

The large cone smashed the fist's edge.

The prince laughed wildly, and then punched the giant cone with his other fist.

Now, he does look somewhat like Li Miao.

The emperor gritted his teeth and concealed himself.

The guardian illusion can be summoned again at any time if it dies, but the prince illusion is the most important part of his true self illusion. If it dies, it will take a long time to re-condense.

But there was no time to summon new guards, and the Crown Prince risked his life to shield him from the attack. In the illusion, only An Qisheng and he remained. The next time he appeared, he would face a desperate attack from this legendary assassin from a thousand years ago.

He no longer expects to kill An Qisheng.

Hold them off.

As long as An Qisheng is kept here, as long as Li Miao wakes up, that's fine!
The emperor disappeared.

The crown prince was shattered by the iron spike, and An Qisheng rose up and killed the golden melon guard.

The dust settled, and the noise subsided.

There was dead silence in the hall.

An Qisheng's left cheek was smashed, leaving only his bloodshot right eye, which calmly surveyed his surroundings, capturing every movement. The excruciating pain seemed to have no effect on him at all.

He was like a stone, unshaken by serious injury, betrayal, or desperate circumstances.

The situation remained deadlocked.

Suddenly, An Qisheng's gaze flickered.

He slowly lowered his head and looked at his heart.

For a brief moment, his heart stopped beating, a highly unusual occurrence for someone of his level of spiritual attainment.

But An Qisheng knew what had happened.

"I" am dead.

He turned his head and looked in a certain direction.

That premonition and unease stemmed from the disappearance of a part of him.

The part that was planted on Li Miao.

The attempt to possess someone failed.

An Qisheng accepted the result naturally. Li Miao's special nature was extremely rare even in his memories spanning a thousand years, and he would not be surprised whether he succeeded or failed.

However, since it failed...

Then he no longer had time to waste with the emperor.

He had two backup plans. One was to try to kill Li Miao without his personal involvement; the other required him to activate it himself.

An Qisheng took a step toward the direction from which the throbbing sensation came.

The moment he was dragged into the illusion, he lost his bearings, but the throbbing sensation of Li Miao devouring the sex seed pointed him in the right direction.

The emperor's expression changed drastically.

Because in the next instant, An Qisheng suddenly disappeared from the spot.

Bang!
The emperor suddenly gave chase, trying to catch up with An Qisheng, but he was a moment too late—in that instant, An Qisheng had already dashed dozens of feet away.

The world is changing.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony suddenly disappeared from An Qisheng's sight, replaced by ruins, corpses, city walls, and smoke.

An Qisheng broke free from the area shrouded in illusion.

He rushed towards the palace.

(End of this chapter)