The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 619 Fight to the Death
Madam Xu.

A native of Zhao during the Warring States period, he was a renowned swordsmith.

The most famous work is a short dagger called "Lady Xu's Sword". A man from the state of Wei named Jing Ke used this short dagger to assassinate the First Emperor, cutting off the First Emperor's sleeve.

She lived only three hundred years after the time of Zhuan Zhu, the first patriarch of martial arts. It can be said that Madam Xu was one of the forefathers who paved the way for future generations of martial arts practitioners at the time of its origin.

Moreover, unlike An Qisheng, who only obtained a Xuanlan manual, she was a disciple personally trained by the River Elder... She was far stronger than An Qisheng.

As Madam Xu extended her ten fingers forward, the invisible true energy emitted after the [Chaos] vibration instantly reached Li Miao's chest and collided with the protective true energy formed by [Myriad Phenomena].

Clang!
This time, finally, there was a sound.

Both being mystical and wondrous, [Hunming] clearly could not silently destroy [Wanxiang] like it could shatter wood and stone.

However, since the essence of [Chaos] is also vibration, it naturally restrains the protective true qi to a great extent. It was only delayed for a moment before breaking through the protective true qi and sticking to Li Miao's skin and flesh.

"Successful!"

The old man who had been repelled by Li Miao's gaze flickered.

He had expected a fierce battle, especially after Li Miao somehow suppressed his injuries and killed the seven gods on whom he had placed his hopes. He felt that he would have to risk his life to kill Li Miao today... but he never expected to win so easily!
He had no doubt about the destructive power of [Chaos and Darkness].

Apart from the Yin and Yang, he had never seen any method that could withstand the shock of the Chaos... not even Madam Xu herself!

Sure enough, the next instant, huge bursts of blood erupted from Li Miao's chest and back! He had clearly been shot right through!
A hint of joy appeared in the old man's eyes, but he also knew that for a celestial being who had achieved the unity of the five paths, piercing the chest would not be a quick and fatal blow. So he flashed forward and swung his sword at Li Miao's neck!
"idiot!"

But then he heard Madam Xu's shouts and curses coming from behind him.

"Get away!"

Upon hearing this, the old man's pupils shrank sharply, but he did not question Madam Xu's judgment. He was about to risk tearing his tendons to forcefully stop his attack and dodge, but before he could complete the movement, his pupils suddenly shrank again, becoming as small as pinpoints.

Li Miao, who was knocked backward and about to fall, suddenly straightened his back and grabbed his arm almost instantly with his left hand. With the activation of his [Underpower], his five fingers pierced into his flesh, gripping his arm bone and stopping his retreat.

"Are you blind?"

He heard Li Miao chuckle as he spoke, his right fist suddenly slicing through the air and smashing towards his head.

"Heart meridian? I lost that thing a long time ago!"

The old man's face turned pale.

How could he possibly overlook that!
Even if Li Miao's heart and lungs were formed from true qi, being shattered, along with losing most of his ribs and chest flesh, should at least cause a slight delay!

Why are you acting like nothing happened?
No matter how much regret and doubt he felt, Li Miao's fist was already in front of him, and it was too late to dodge or block.

Fortunately... he wasn't alone.

Bang!
With a muffled thud, blood splattered from his right shoulder, and a sharp pain shot through him. The old man knew that Madam Xu had broken his arm and freed him from Li Miao's control, so he immediately dodged and retreated!

Li Miao naturally wouldn't let him off the hook. She caught up with him, grabbed his severed arm, casually twirled it into a "arm flower" shape, and smashed it down on his head!
The old man had no choice but to retreat again.

Li Miao made further progress and caught up.

The old man gritted his teeth.

"No! We can't back out!"

"Gamble!"

With his mind made up, he abruptly stopped his retreat, and with a wave of his remaining left hand, he once again condensed a true qi katana in front of his chest, and charged directly at Li Miao.

The posture may appear dire, but it is actually a defensive one.

At their speeds, the collision was instantaneous. Li Miao rushed towards him with a smile, raised her arm high, grabbed his severed arm, and slammed it down like a short hammer, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Woo!
The sound of wind breaking came from overhead.

The old man clenched his teeth.

Only by truly facing Li Miao can one truly understand what it's like to fight against him... No matter how seasoned he is, being hit in the face with his severed arm by an enemy can't help but feel a sense of fear.

Fear... Oh no!
Silent Illusion!

The old man felt a chill run down his spine.

Li Miao had already spread out his original illusion long ago. He and Madam Xu had also cultivated the Silent Illumination, but their realms were a notch below each other, making it difficult for them to spread out their own Silent Illumination illusions. So the three of them were fighting in Li Miao's illusions. The characteristic of Silent Illumination is that it is determined by the mind!

The more fearful you are, the more powerful you feel your opponent is, and the more easily you are influenced by illusions!
Li Miao's brutal actions were likely planting the seeds of his mental breakdown... and he has already fallen for it!
The old man raised his knife to his head, simultaneously biting his tongue hard in an attempt to calm himself.

But before he could bite his tongue, his feet suddenly stopped.

Suddenly, a white, bony hand emerged from the blood at his feet, grabbed his ankle, and pulled him backward with a sharp jerk!
"Oops!"

The old man had already reacted and calmed his mind. He had also cultivated the Silent Illumination skill, so the hand bone only slightly deflected his body... But against Li Miao, "a slight flaw" was almost equivalent to death.

Li Miao's lips curled up, and the downward swing of his left hand, which was holding the severed arm, suddenly faltered, allowing the old man's true energy katana, which was blocking his head, to pass by a hair's breadth.

The next moment—whoosh!

The severed arm crashed down again!

The old man tried to sheathe his sword to defend himself, but it was too late.

Bang!
The severed arm slammed down on his head.

The old man's neck suddenly disappeared, his jawbone broke his collarbone, and the tip of his nose disappeared into his chest cavity.

He swayed, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

His hands and feet twitched a few times, then he fell silent.

In just three exchanges and a few moves, Li Miao killed the old man, whose cultivation level was similar to An Qisheng's. This kind of celestial being, who would be able to roam freely in the current martial arts world, fell miserably before he could even use a decent sword move, and didn't even deserve to leave his name behind.

The battle did not stop because of his death.

Sizzle! —

The moment the old man's body fell, Madam Xu, who was behind him, revealed herself, her hands clasped together and extended forward, pointing at Li Miao.

【Hunming】collides with 【Wanxiang】 once again.

[Myriad Phenomena] bought Li Miao a moment before it was broken, and with that moment, Li Miao dodged, and [Chaos and Darkness] grazed past Li Miao's shoulder.

Wow!

Blood splattered.

The severed arm fell.

Li Miao picked up his severed left arm and pressed it against the wound. [Myriad Manifestations] climbed up and temporarily reattached the arm to his body. Then, without stopping, he rushed towards Madam Xu, his left arm dangling at his side.

Madam Xu smiled slightly.

"I understand."

"Although you can use your true energy to simulate flesh and blood and reconnect severed limbs, it still takes time... If the limb is completely severed in the middle, it will take you at least three breaths to regain control."

He kept talking while his hands kept moving.

【Hunming】 continued to fly towards Li Miao, constantly slowing down Li Miao's approach.

Li Miao's figure blurred into afterimages, dashing left and right, constantly turning back and forth. In an instant, he used the essence of Wudang's "Ladder Cloud Leap," Ming Cult's "Flying Willow Light Smoke Skill," and Divine Thief Sect's "Leaving No Trace for a Thousand Miles," dodging all the flying [Mixed Darkness] True Qi.

"I understand now."

Li Miao suddenly stopped, and the flat ground in front of him abruptly turned into a deep pit several feet wide, with the pit walls pressed tightly against his toes.

“From the moment we met until now, even when I rushed right in front of you, you haven’t moved an inch.”

"It's not that you don't want to move, it's that you can't, right?"

Li Miao once again stepped across the deep pit and rushed towards Madam Xu. "Your [Mixed Nether] is incredibly powerful and difficult to resist, but it's clearly not that convenient. To shake your true energy to the point where it can shatter things into dust, it's not something that can be done with just a few meridians in your hands."

Madam Xu ignored him and raised her hand again, aiming it at Li Miao's face.

This time, however, Li Miao did not dodge.

He charged straight toward Madam Xu.

"To vibrate true energy to such an extent, and to release it outside the body, the rate of decay must be far greater than usual. This means that you need to accumulate a considerable amount of true energy to create a [Hunming]."

"This will take time."

"You draw a massive amount of true qi from your dantian, let it circulate and vibrate through the eight extraordinary meridians, and after the vibration is complete, it gathers in your heart meridian and is then ejected through the meridians in your hands."

"Your posture and gestures are part of this move. If you change them, the frequency of launching [Mixed Darkness] True Qi will be greatly slowed down."

Madam Xu extended her ten fingers once more.

Li Miao stopped abruptly again for a moment, then stepped over the suddenly appearing deep pit in front of him and rushed towards Madam Xu.

"It's not that you don't want to move, it's that you can't move."

"Now I know your preparation time [Chaos], as long as you release your true energy, I will have a breath of time to safely attack you."

"And now, the distance between us is so great that it wouldn't even take a breath for my fist to smash into your face!"

Swish!
Li Miao's ferocious tone suddenly lengthened, and in the blink of an eye he was several feet away, and in the next instant he was in front of Madam Xu.

The missing flesh, several inches wide, above Li Miao's left shoulder had been recreated by [Myriad Manifestations]. The tendons, blood vessels, and nerves simulated by true qi were already connected, and the transparent true qi and scarlet flesh were perfectly integrated.

Li Miao raised his left hand, curled his fingers into a claw, and grabbed Madam Xu's shoulder, his fingers digging into her flesh; his right hand suddenly clenched into a fist and punched Madam Xu in the face.

"Ah."

As the wind of the punch approached her body, Madam Xu suddenly whispered.

"We should have killed all those who went to the Central Plains to gather information. Who said you were just a reckless brute who only knew how to throw punches and a brainless killer?"

“You are not much worse than Ji Tianrui, but she is good at long-term planning, while you are good at quick thinking in battle. Even Bodhidharma back then could not see through my [Hunming] in such a short time.”

"As expected of you."

Ignoring the fact that Li Miao's fist had already hit her face, Madam Xu interlocked her fingers and pointed upwards at Li Miao's chin.

"But if my [Mixed Nether] were that simple, I wouldn't dare call myself my master's disciple. Want to smash my head... if you're not afraid of death, go ahead and try!"

A moment of life and death.

Li Miao's fist touched Madam Xu's nose.

Madam Xu touched Li Miao's chin with her fingertips.

It seemed they were about to perish together.

But in the next instant, as if by telepathy, Li Miao suddenly turned his head to avoid Madam Xu's fingertips, and Madam Xu also suddenly ducked to avoid Li Miao's fist.

Bang, bang!

Two sticky, muffled sounds.

Wow!

【Hunming】 True Qi radiated out, grazing Li Miao's right cheek, wiping away a fist-sized piece of flesh and blood, revealing the white teeth inside.

The fist grazed Madam Xu's forehead, slicing through her long black hair like a sharp blade, leaving a palm-width scarlet wound from her forehead to the back of her head.

At the same time, blood suddenly burst from Li Miao's fist, and the flesh disappeared as if it had been wiped away, revealing the stark white knuckles.

Ha! You can do it too!

"Of course!"

The two laughed at the same time. One had a missing left cheek, and the other only had half a scalp left. Bloodstains were splattered all over their faces, and they looked like demons when they laughed.

Madam Xu's [Mixed Darkness] is not only for offense... she can also spread [Mixed Darkness] true energy around her body, just like [Myriad Phenomena]!
Although due to their different natures, [Chaos and Darkness] cannot be maintained for as long as [Myriad Phenomena], nor can it be increased or decreased at will, it is still enough to construct a usable layer of defense... and it even has an additional layer of "damage reflection" compared to [Myriad Phenomena]!

Madam Xu suddenly took a step back, raised her hand and swept it in front of her, shattering the scalp that Li Miao had lifted and was hanging in front of her. The wound on her forehead immediately began to heal.

But Li Miao wasn't about to let her off the hook. He immediately pressed close, unleashing a brutal and savage "My Fist" in an instant!

clang!
clang!
clang!
clang!
Fists rained down on Madam Xu, and even with the defense of [Hunming], large patches of skin and flesh were constantly being scraped away from her body.

The magnificent and elaborate priest's robes were reduced to tattered cloth in the blink of an eye, revealing Madam Xu's youthful body.

Li Miao squinted and glanced at it, then his brows furrowed sharply.

In the midst of a fierce battle, he was certainly not captivated by beauty.

Rather, it was because of the strange phenomena manifested by Madam Xu.

Beneath the elaborate and ornate priest's robes, Madam Xu's fair and delicate skin, as delicate as a young girl's, was covered with rugged and tangled keratin, which, like brushstrokes, traveled all over her body and eventually converged into a picture.

A portrait.

A portrait of a person without a face.

He was dressed in a tall hat and wide belt, with a slender figure, sitting cross-legged on a futon, posing as a figure with his five hearts facing upwards and his face indistinct.

Li Miao frowned.

"That's fucking disgusting."

He was just speaking from the heart, and of course, it was also partly due to his habit of blurting out a few words when faced with a formidable enemy.

But Madam Xu, who had always been calm and collected, and who hadn't shown any emotion even when Li Miao ripped off her scalp and tore her skin, suddenly had her veins bulging.

"Shut up!"

Li Miao narrowed his eyes.

Because of Madam Xu's unusual reaction, he took another careful look at the portrait engraved on Madam Xu's body... and then his brows suddenly relaxed.

"I see."

“I believe that when Bodhidharma crossed the sea to the East, he destroyed most of the divine paintings that recorded the sword techniques of the gods, but he forgot to include the most important one, the divine painting of Amaterasu.”

"It turns out to be here."

The corners of his mouth curled up.

"This is why only women of the Emperor's bloodline can contemplate Amaterasu Shinga. Because you are a woman, even though it was Kawakami no Takahito's order, you did not want men to examine your body."

"No wonder Kawakami-sama left you in Japan instead of taking you to the Central Plains... because you are one of the foundations of Shintoism, and you are the most important divine painting."

Li Miao carefully examined the divine painting engraved on Madam Xu's body.

"Judging from your attitude, you look down on Xu Fu."

"You wouldn't have Xu Fu carved on your body."

"So, this painting depicts the original Amaterasu, who is your master, right?"

Li Miao sighed with a smile.

"Although I didn't see the real person, I finally saw their true face."

"The old man on the river."

(End of this chapter)