The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 456 Recovery
The sky was completely dark, with only a few beams of moonlight shining through the clouds. Snowflakes drifted down onto the wide-open eyeballs, mingling with the blood that had already lost its temperature, and gradually condensing into an ice shell with beautiful patterns on the eyeballs.

puff.

A boot stepped over it, crushing the ice shell along with the eyeball.

"kill!"

The longsword was raised from beside the boot, clashing with the oncoming longsword, sparks flying. The sword and blade clashed, initially trembling and locked in a stalemate, before the longsword suddenly spun, pushing and pulling the blade to the side. Then, the longsword seized the opportunity to pierce through, cleaving the head in two.

Cao Hanyan drew his sword, but it got stuck in the skull. He gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and kicked the corpse in the chest, finally managing to pull the sword out. Taking advantage of the fact that there were no opponents around, he suddenly rushed forward a few steps, leaped onto Fengtian Gate, and looked around.

The battle has been going on for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

But from the very beginning, it headed in the most brutal direction.

Everyone is working desperately.

Mei Qinghe has already changed her longsword three times, and the one she is holding now is all dulled; Gao Anyu's black ruler is not damaged, but his shocking martial art consumes too much true energy, and after knocking down several people, he has started to swing the black ruler to whip people; An Ziyang's mechanical Gu worms are almost exhausted, and after releasing a wave, he returned to the Imperial Guard to take command, and is now leading the Imperial Guard to intercept the Jianghu people who are trying to break through the pass.

Just as Cao Hanyan was trying to find Liu Jin in the crowd, a loud bang suddenly came from the side.

boom! ! !
Dust and smoke filled the air, and Cao Hanyan turned her head to look.

A section of the wall at Fengtian Gate collapsed, revealing a gap.

A half-armed eunuch from the Eastern Depot burst out of the dust and smoke, struggling to fend off the pursuing retainers while shouting, "Over here! Over here!"

The crowd surged toward the gap.

Cao Hanyan gritted her teeth and was about to go and provide support.

boom! boom!
Two more loud bangs followed, and another section of the wall collapsed.

Two members of the Eastern Depot, despite being injured, forcibly broke down the wall again. One of them escaped with the help of the surging crowd, while the other was seriously injured when he rushed over and had his head smashed on the spot by the pursuing retainer.

Three vulnerabilities.

The defenses at Fengtian Gate were no longer adequate.

Taking advantage of the gap that the army had not yet closed, several martial arts practitioners rushed through the breach.

Upon seeing this, Gao Anyu, who was closest, immediately set out to give chase.

"Brother Gao, do not pursue!"

"We don't need to worry about everyone. We can leave those who escape inside as long as we stop the majority here. That will prevent An Qisheng and Liu Jin's plan from succeeding!"

Cao Hanyan called out to him, leaped down, and stood shoulder to shoulder with him to guard the breach.

Several squads of Imperial Guards rushed over and joined the two, blocking the gap.

An Ziyang, standing in the distant army formation, surveyed his surroundings and silently counted.

"Fifty-seven...fifty-eight corpses. Liu Jin brought three hundred and eighty people, and now there are only one hundred and thirty or forty left. Judging from the numbers alone, it should not be enough for An Qisheng to recover...no, that's not right, there are still some."

His gaze shifted to the battle between the eunuchs and the Eastern Depot's celestial beings not far away.

"There are also four celestial beings from the Eastern Depot."

"According to the commander, An Qisheng's method of selecting resources is more effective the stronger one's blood, qi, and spirit. Wouldn't the Heavenly Beings be the best resources? One Heavenly Being might be equivalent to a dozen or twenty Jianghu people. Just now, Liu Jin seemed to have a plan in mind. Perhaps he had already prepared to use these Eastern Depot Heavenly Beings as An Qisheng's reserve resources."

"Be safe... kill them, and there will be no future trouble!"

An Ziyang's gaze shifted to the Eastern Depot Celestial Being who had just forced his way through the pass and lost an arm. He suddenly waved his hand. The messenger waved the military flag, and the army slowly moved, gradually approaching the pair of Imperial Guards and Eastern Depot Celestial Beings who were engaged in battle. When they were within a dozen or so feet, they suddenly dispersed and accelerated, completing the encirclement within a few breaths.

By the time the Eastern Depot's celestial agents realized something was wrong and tried to break out of the encirclement, it was already too late.

Military formations, at least for Celestials of the Venerable level, still pose a significant threat. Especially since this Eastern Depot Celestial was already injured and could barely withstand the Venerable's offensive. Now that he was surrounded, the army only needed to harass him and distract him, and he would be killed by the Venerable in less than ten moves.

An Ziyang narrowed his eyes and suddenly spoke.

"Kill! Quickly, quickly—"

Just at this moment!
boom! ! ! ! !
The main gate of Fengtian Gate collapsed with a deafening roar. It was as if a meteorite had fallen from the sky and crashed into it, causing the ground of the entire square to tremble and the snow on the ground to be kicked up.

The shockwave spread out in the next instant.

A massive amount of air was thrown outwards, almost tangible, blowing away the scattered weapons, pebbles, and snow on the ground.

An Ziyang abruptly interrupted his previous words with a loud shout.

"Run!!!" Such momentum, such power! There are probably only three... no, four people in the world who could do this!
Li Miao, Ji Tianrui, the Emperor, An Qisheng.

Currently, there is only one entity that will smash Fengtian Gate upon its appearance!
An Qisheng! He won, the emperor lost!

He's arrived!
Calculating from the time An Qisheng entered the Wenhua Hall alone until now, a full cup of tea's time has passed, which is significantly longer than An Qisheng had estimated.

It was clear that the emperor had risked his life to delay the situation a little longer.

But the result... doesn't seem to have changed much.

Amidst the smoke and dust, An Qisheng, shirtless, slowly stood up, glanced around, and tossed the emperor, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, to the side.

"I, Yingzhou, have already paid your payment in advance!"

The emperor flew into the air, and suddenly a person jumped out from the crowd, caught him, and held him in his arms.

It was Liu Jin.

Yes, Liu Jin only entered the capital to cooperate with Yingzhou for the sake of the emperor. Therefore, even if the emperor is defeated, An Qisheng will not kill him... because Liu Jin's usefulness has not yet been exhausted.

An Qisheng's gaze swept over the surroundings.

Because of his arrival, all the fighting stopped.

So he could easily and quickly count the number of people: "One hundred and thirty-four...too few."

Liu Jin handed the emperor over to a member of the Eastern Depot and said calmly.

"It may be difficult to fully recover, but this is the only way for now."

"Even if the number of people is insufficient and only 70% or 80% can be restored, I'm sure you can still defeat Li Miao, right?"

An Qisheng did not answer, seemingly agreeing with Liu Jin's statement for the time being, and closed his eyes.

The next instant—buzz~
All the "resources" present felt their hearts suddenly stop for a moment.

Before they could react, a sharp pain shot through their minds, robbing them of their senses. The hundred-odd people who were fighting just a moment ago collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

An Qisheng stood there for a while without making any movement, and only slowly opened his eyes after a long while.

There was nothing supernatural or spectacular.

It was as if it were a natural outcome... because that perfect state was originally his.

"Eighty percent."

An Qisheng clenched his fist and, without a moment's hesitation, soared over Fengtian Gate like a roc and rushed towards Taihe Hall.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the entrance of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Stepping inside, the first thing that catches the eye is the dragon throne in the center of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where a person is lying on it, wearing a bearskin cloak over a black python robe. His two hands, gloved with black gold, are resting on his cheek with one hand and on the armrest with the other. His eyes are closed, as if he is dozing.

An Qisheng raised his hand and struck out with a palm towards Li Miao, his protective true energy transforming into a giant claw that grabbed at Li Miao!

He already knew that Li Miao might have pretended to wake up and startled him away.

But now he has recovered 80% of his martial arts skills.

He was no longer afraid of traps when dealing with Li Miao.

The palm wind and the giant claw instantly transcended time and distance, appearing in front of Li Miao, who seemed to be resting with his eyes closed.

Just as the giant claw was about to clamp down on Li Miao's head.

Suddenly—snap.

There was a crisp sound.

wow-

The transparent giant claw was shattered by a fist, and the fragments flew out before they could dissipate, piercing through the wall.

It was a fist wearing a black gold glove.

Li Miao's fist.

(End of this chapter)