The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 625 Ten Breaths
Although Xu Fu praised him verbally, he could not be lenient because of his admiration. Today, only one person can leave the Emperor's Palace and go to the Central Plains to kill the old man from the river.

Although he wanted to know how Li Miao had avoided the influence of [Silent Illumination], Xu Fu didn't want to cause any more trouble. There were too many strange things about Li Miao, but it would be safer to investigate them by examining Li Miao's corpse.

Bang!
Xu Fu raised his palm to block Li Miao's left fist, then pulled it to his right fist. He stepped forward and tucked both fists under his armpits, while his other hand slapped Li Miao's chin from below.

Just as the palm strike reached Li Miao's collarbone, a muffled thud suddenly came from the ground.

Boom!
A sharp pain immediately came from the toes.

Xu Fu looked down and saw that Li Miao had stomped on her toes. Judging from the pain coming from her foot, her five toes had obviously been crushed into minced meat by Li Miao.

She looked up, her pupils suddenly contracting.

Li Miao's upper body had somehow moved closer to her, almost touching her face. His eyes were still closed, but even through his eyelids, she could clearly feel the surging killing intent brewing in his eyes, an intent unmatched by anyone in the world.

"I was thinking about something and didn't have time to talk."

Li Miao curled her lips into a smile and uttered cold words.

Do you know how An Qisheng died?

Xu Fu was about to retreat when she suddenly realized that Li Miao's hands, which she had been holding under her armpits, had suddenly opened and gripped her skin like tiger claws.

“He is stronger than me, tougher than me, and his level of understanding is no lower than mine.”

Li Miao's grip tightened, but he still had no intention of circulating his external martial arts techniques or using his internal energy to protect his body. So, as he pried open Xu Fu's skin, his fingertips began to crack, his nails revealing the pink flesh beneath.

"But he felt he knew me very well."

"Just like that Mrs. Xu from earlier, he thinks my only advantage is that I'm not afraid of death, injury, or pain, and that I'm willing to fight to the death... In a way, what they say is somewhat close."

"It's not that I'm not afraid of pain... I enjoy it."

“You are not afraid of pain, but you are also unwilling to get hurt. Fighting is a means for you, not an end… This is my greatest advantage. I enjoy fighting and I enjoy pain, while you are simply not afraid.”

Li Miao's eyes snapped open.

There was no spirit in it; the pupils were dilated to the limit, the focus was blurred, and Xu Fu's face was reflected in them.

He never broke free from [Ji Zhao] from beginning to end.

His five senses were always under Xu Fu's control.

“I can’t see you, hear you, smell you, or touch you… but life and death are intertwined. You can affect my five senses, but you cannot affect my nature and life… so, damage to my nature and life can tell me where you are.”

"The wound told me your location."

"The direction my wounds appear in is where you are; the more wounds and the more severe the injury, the closer you are to me; lacerations, penetrating wounds, pressure wounds, puncture wounds, abrasions, the length, depth, and timing of the wounds tell me your techniques."

Xu Fu suddenly realized.

She finally understood how Li Miao had deciphered [Silent Illumination].

Wound.

Li Miao deliberately withdrew all defensive measures, reducing his physical strength to a minimum. In the current level of combat, any aftershock would be enough to leave a gruesome wound on Li Miao's body.

Then, Li Miao, with his unprecedented, terrifyingly profound, and almost instinctive understanding of the "injuries," deduced her movements.

"Demon."

She spoke in a low voice.

"This is a false definition used to describe Shinto followers. Bodhidharma, Jianzhen, and Zhang Sanfeng should not actually be worthy of this name... but it is well-deserved to be used to describe you."

“Deeply rooted in evil.”

“If Bodhidharma hadn’t been reduced to a mere shred of lust, if he were still of sound mind, he would never have entrusted his legacy to you… If you were born into any heretical sect, you would be the greatest calamity for the world.” Li Miao smiled and closed his eyes again.

"Excellent."

"but--"

Xu Fu suddenly raised the hand that had first reached into Li Miao's heart.

"You still failed to protect what Bodhidharma left you."

"You haven't even achieved the Six Paths Unification either. If I hadn't wanted to find out your method to break [Silent Illumination], I could have killed you at the very beginning of the fight. And now, besides the Five Paths Unification realm, you have no other means to break this deadlock, so—"

Li Miao suddenly smiled and spoke.

Ah—about that.

"You should have already absorbed the true energy seed left by Bodhidharma into your body... Why don't you check your own condition? Is something wrong?"

Xu Fu's expression suddenly froze.

The fight between the two seemed long, but it only lasted a few breaths. After she took the seed of true energy and incorporated it into her meridians, it had just begun to descend into her dantian—and then she suffered a severe injury!

The seeds left by Bodhidharma cannot be relied upon at this stage; on the contrary, they are a burden!

Although she didn't have her heart meridians shattered like Li Miao, preventing her from recovering and leaving her with a gaping hole in her chest while fighting... the seed still instantly took root in Xu Fu's dantian and began to affect her internal energy circulation.

A tremendous suction force emanated from Xu Fu's dantian, and the seed began to devour Xu Fu's true energy as if swallowing a whale. One-tenth of the vast true energy of the Six Paths Unity Realm was instantly dissipated... and this was only the beginning!
Xu Fu's expression changed drastically, and she quickly sealed the meridians near her dantian, temporarily stopping the suction force. She could sense that as long as she nurtured the seed to sprout, something beneficial would happen to her.

But they are still fighting, how could she dare to give all her true energy to that seed? Li Miao would not wait until she had activated the seed before making a move!
Therefore, she had to temporarily seal off her dantian.

Before the fight ended, her internal energy recovery rate was at least half again as slow.

"Good tactic...you're quite willing to go to such lengths."

Xu Fu said in a cold voice.

"But there is still a level of understanding between us."

"This is the natural barrier!"

"You don't know what the Six Paths United can do... Now that I know your methods of defending against [Silent Illumination], I have no need to keep you alive any longer... Die!"

Having said that, he pointed to a single point.

A burst of true energy shot out and struck Li Miao's head.

From the outside, it looks like just an ordinary stream of true energy.

Even when fighting against [Hunming], this true energy is enough to destroy it... The divine will of Zhenchang, the vastness of Sumeru, and the changes of Jiezi are all contained within it. It is faster than sight, harder than metal, and more ferocious than every punch Li Miao just threw!
The six paths unite as one, achieving harmony between heaven and humanity.

The difference lies in just one path, which forms the chasm between perfection and imperfection!

Li Miao raised his fist and held it in front of him.

Xu Fu, seeing his actions, assumed it was a helpless struggle.

But the next moment, Li Miao's playful voice rang out.

"Ah—that's right."

"You seem to be having a good time talking about it, I forgot to tell you."

"The time I spent cultivating the Five Heavenly Realms before I achieved them never exceeded ten breaths."

(End of this chapter)