Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world.

Chapter 631 Heavenly Tribulation

"no!"

"Heaven-level martial arts... are too profound and extensive! They encompass everything, and it's impossible to learn them all in a short time."

The more Liang Jin read "The Sacred Heart Manual," the more alarmed he became.

This is no longer just a simple manual, but a majestic and awe-inspiring mountain built by countless martial arts masters!

"This is not a martial art designed for ordinary people... It is only suitable for exceptionally talented geniuses with extraordinary comprehension to master!"

He clearly realized that:
"Ordinary martial artists, even if they work hard and exhaust their life's efforts, can probably only pick up a few scraps from the treasure mountain of the Sacred Heart Manual. If they can master one or two percent of it, they will be considered extremely lucky!"

If Liang Jin had obtained it before gaining the ability to create clones and ten times the cultivation speed, he would probably have felt a deep sense of powerlessness and despair, sighing in vain and helpless.

But at this moment, he possesses a cultivation speed fifty times faster than normal! This is a terrifying advantage that is enough to defy the heavens and change one's fate!
However, even at a terrifying speed of fifty times, Liang Jin felt the weight of time when faced with the behemoth that was the "Sacred Heart Manual".

"To master all the moves and techniques, and achieve perfection..."

"Even at my current pace, it would probably take several years!"

This estimate sent a chill down his spine.

Several years is far too long in the current unpredictable and ever-changing situation in Beijing!
"Time waits for no one... We must make choices!"

Liang Jin's thinking instantly became incredibly calm and pragmatic:
"I can only choose the core skills that best utilize my strengths and most effectively enhance my combat power right now!"

Liang Jin then began to study it carefully.

He first ruled out qinggong (lightweight martial arts).

Although the supreme lightness skill "Soaring to Immortality" in the "Sacred Heart Manual" is extremely powerful, even surpassing Liang Jin's "Wind and Shadow Steps" technique.

However, Liang Jin has now become unparalleled in the world in terms of lightness skill by relying on "Walking in the Wind and Shadows" and has never met anyone who can surpass him in lightness skill.

Investing huge amounts of energy now to improve a field that is already unrivaled in the world would yield very low marginal returns!
Aside from lightness skills, Liang Jin was originally most concerned about the strongest offensive and defensive moves in the "Sacred Heart Technique".

The most powerful attack is undoubtedly the Divine Calamity, which is also the strongest move that directly uses the primordial spirit as a weapon.

soul?

Liang Jin felt that this concept was too fantastical.

This was the first time he had ever heard of the concept of "primordial spirit" since he began practicing martial arts.

Isn't this world a martial arts world?
Does such a thing as a primordial spirit exist?

But since the system says it exists, then it must exist.

However, the difficulty and danger of cultivating such forbidden killing techniques that involve the very essence of the soul are far beyond imagination!
It is by no means something that can be achieved in the short term.

It can only be considered as the ultimate goal and should be temporarily shelved.

Among the Sacred Heart Manual, the Seven Deadly Realms are the strongest in terms of defense.

The Seven No-No Realm emphasizes that the wind is unpredictable, the clouds are formless, the water is shapeless, the ice is colorless, the snow is unpredictable, the fire is omnidirectional, and the thunder is directionless!

The physical body is broken down into invisible and intangible particles, immune to all physical attacks, and can be reassembled in an instant!
This is almost divine!
This skill was also beyond Liang Jin's comprehension.

How can a human body survive after it decomposes and reassembles?
If one could truly train to this level, then in the state after being decomposed into human form, one could basically be immune to all physical attacks.

Perhaps only some strange techniques that transcend physical attacks, such as attacks using the primordial spirit, can cause damage to it.

Does such an incredible martial art really exist?
Or is it that Heaven-level martial arts have become this powerful?

Liang Jin didn't know, but just from the description, he knew that the Seven Realms of Absolute Imperfection were also extremely difficult to cultivate and could not be effective in the short term.

This forced Liang Jin to temporarily abandon this secret technique.

While the Four Sacred Hearts Techniques are not difficult to cultivate, most of them are martial arts with ice and lightning attributes. Liang Jin had previously mastered the Great Snow Mountain Sect's "Mysterious Ice Divine Palm," so it would be easy for him to get started.

His current offensive methods are already powerful and diverse enough. Adding a few more powerful but similar ice and lightning techniques would not be a qualitative change.

Insufficient value for money.

finally.

Liang Jin still chose a target—the Heavenly Tribulation.

This is one of the four tribulations of the Sacred Heart, extremely strange and unpredictable!

Its principle is inconceivable: it uses a secret method to forcibly establish an invisible link between one's own heart and the enemy's heart, forming a cruel life resonance!

The caster can directly affect the enemy's heart by manipulating the rate and intensity of their own heartbeat!
A slow heartbeat can cause the enemy's blood and qi to stagnate, severing their life force.

A racing heartbeat can instantly detonate the enemy's fragile heart meridian, causing their heart to explode and kill them!

According to the notes in the manual, the creator of this technique, the immortal monster with phoenix blood, was able to unleash this technique with impunity because his physical body was tempered by the phoenix blood to be extremely tough, far exceeding the limits of ordinary people. He used his own heart as a bargaining chip to easily crush the flames of his enemy's life!
“Heart…link…resonance…”

Liang Jin's fingers unconsciously pressed against his left chest, as if he could feel his heart beating strongly in his chest cavity.

A surge of excitement shot up his spine!

This is practically a killer move tailor-made for him!
This perfectly matches Liang Jin's current situation.

With the fusion and enhancement of the Crimson Blood Body Refining Pill, the blood of the giant snake, and the black blood, Liang Jin's physical strength has reached a terrifying level.

His heart strength goes without saying.

With this body that has been repeatedly tempered and made inhumanly strong, the difficulty of cultivating this technique will be greatly reduced, and the speed will far exceed that of ordinary people!

This will be the ultimate technique that can transform his physical advantages into lethal force in the short term!

"That's it! The Heavenly Tribulation!"

Once Liang Jin made his choice, he stopped worrying about anything else.

He finally turned his attention back to the Nine Void Boundless Realm.

In the ruins of the capital, shadowy figures surged, collided, and vanished like a tide, their battles never ceasing.

The war puppets and skeletal golems he unleashed were like tireless killing machines, efficiently reaping kills among the shadowy figures.

At this moment, Liang Jin's gaze shifted, and he looked towards Zuifeng Tower.

"Ok?"

Zhao Bao was already waiting for him at Zuifeng Tower.

Zhao Bao was pacing back and forth on the dusty floor, his brow furrowed, his hands clenching and unclenching unconsciously, clearly preoccupied with something extremely important and urgent.

Without further hesitation, Liang Jin landed outside Zuifeng Tower and went inside.

After he entered the private room, he began to communicate with Zhao Bao by carving characters.

"Brother Jin, there's news."

Zhao Bao began to describe to Liang Jin everything that had happened that day.

According to the information gathered by the Investigation Bureau, after the Empress was assassinated at Dafosi Temple, she successfully repelled the assassins and returned to the capital under the protection of Beihuan, Hongwei, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, and the Xuanluan Guards.

Later, the agents of the Criminal Investigation Bureau went to the scene to investigate, but the assassins' bodies were all burned to charcoal by the fire, their faces unrecognizable, making it difficult to identify them.

However, judging from the eyewitnesses' descriptions of the assassins' martial arts skills, these assassins possessed a wide variety of skills from different schools and sects, making them more like a group of outlaws from the martial arts world, or perhaps retainers of some important figures.

The police are still investigating the assassin's identity and background, and no conclusions have been reached yet.

After the Empress and Beihuan returned to the palace, the Empress surprisingly kept Beihuan behind, citing the profound Buddhist teachings and the need to comfort her frightened soul. She also had Beihuan stay in the Baohua Hall to preside over the Buddhist shrine, so that the Empress could summon her at any time.

After that, the Empress was frightened by the attack and her health deteriorated. She closed her doors to visitors and became paranoid, suspecting the palace maids and eunuchs who had served her for many years, so she replaced them all.

Even some of the newly arrived palace maids and eunuchs were transferred to serve the Empress before they had even completed their rigorous training.

Even the once loyal Xuanluan Guards were no longer trusted by the Empress. Instead, following Beihuan's recommendation, several female warriors were recruited from outside the palace to temporarily serve as female guards.

Under normal circumstances, the emperor would definitely have inquired about these matters.

But now the emperor is increasingly ill in his new residence and has no time to concern himself with this matter.

Nowadays, the Empress can be said to have absolute power in the harem.

Upon hearing this, Liang Jin roughly understood.

The fake queen's methods were not sophisticated, but they were effective enough.

She eliminated all those around her who were familiar with the true empress's habits and might see through her flaws, thus completely taking control of the harem and cultivating a force that only obeyed her!
During this period of power vacuum when the emperor was seriously ill and neglected state affairs, she had already seized control of the inner palace and quietly woven a web of power.

Zhao Bao then continued writing:

"After the Empress claimed to be ill, she only saw four people."

"One is Tong Shan, the commander of the Northern Imperial Guards; the other is Hong Wei, the deputy commander of the Southern Imperial Guards."

"The other one is Zhao You, the Prince of Shanyang."

"The last one is Mu Wanrong from the Mu family."

Liang Jin's eyes narrowed.

really!

The fake empress's actions directly target the core issue—military power and the succession to the throne!

The Northern Imperial Guards garrison the capital, while the Southern Imperial Guards protect the imperial city. If the core generals of these two forces are controlled by the fake empress's faction, and they are supported by a prince who is qualified to vie for the throne... their scheme is already obvious!
Hong Wei, the deputy commander of the Southern Imperial Guard, is basically in cahoots with the fake empress, and now it seems that Tong Shan, the commander of the Northern Imperial Guard, is also likely problematic. If the Imperial Guard is entirely under the control of the fake empress, then things will truly become troublesome.

Fortunately... among the Southern Imperial Guards, only the deputy commander Hong Wei had a problem.

As for the stance of the rightful leader, it is still unclear. If he does not side with the fake empress, then there may still be a chance for things to turn out this way.

Zhao Bao continued, "..."
"Brother Jin, our men have noticed that Hong Wei, Tong Shan, and the others seem to be planning something."

"A dramatic change is likely to occur within the Imperial Guard."

"I heard you're in the Imperial Guard... and very impulsive."

"But given the current changes, Brother Jin, you must not get excited easily. Protecting yourself is the top priority."

Worry appeared on Zhao Bao's face.

In his eyes, Liang Jin's martial arts skills were only at the sixth rank, yet he was known as the number one troublemaker in the Imperial Guard and was ostracized by his colleagues and superiors.

As the saying goes, "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."

In the impending power reshuffle and bloody purge, a troublesome junior officer is very likely to become the first target to be eliminated!
Although Zhao Bao now wields immense power, he still cannot directly intervene in the affairs of the Imperial Guard.

If the unexpected event were to occur suddenly, Zhao Bao would be too far away to act immediately and might not be able to rescue Liang Jin in time.

Liang Jin nodded slightly:

"Don't worry, I have my own sense of discretion."

"By the way, what was the status of Mu Wanrong, the last person the fake empress met, in the Mu family?"

Zhao Bao replied:

"Mu Wanrong is the Empress's cousin. She is basically responsible for communication and liaison between the Empress and the Mu family."

"The Investigation Bureau found that after Mu Wanrong met with the fake empress in the palace, she returned to the Mu family."

"Then the acting head of the Mu family wrote a secret letter and gave it to his subordinates to deliver to Mu Canglong, the Duke of the Northern Border."

"The exact contents of the letter are unknown, but I suspect it is related to the schemes of the fake empress, and I have already sent people to investigate the messenger's attempt to intercept the secret letter."

"However, the person seeing him off was Daisy, known as 'Sky Speed ​​Divine Traveler.' Although his martial arts skills were not high, his lightness skill was extremely superb, unparalleled in the capital. He was in charge of delivering urgent military intelligence, and his movements were like a ghost!"

"By the time my intelligence agency realized the secret message had been sent, Daisy had vanished without a trace! I've ordered all stations along the route to keep a close watch, but I'm afraid... the chances are slim!"

Upon hearing this, Liang Jin immediately opened the [Thousand Mile Tracking] panel and entered Daisy's name to check.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that one of the points was indeed moving very fast, clearly demonstrating exceptional lightness skill. Furthermore, the trajectory of his movement indicated that he was indeed heading from the capital towards the northern border.

Daisy had long since left the capital, so it's no wonder the police couldn't intercept him.

Liang Jin shared Zhao Bao's idea: this secret letter must be intercepted.

Although the contents of the secret letter are unknown, it is clear that the letter is related to the fake empress, and the fake empress's position conflicts with that of the two individuals.

So whatever the fake empress is plotting, they will naturally try their best to sabotage it.

"Judging from Daisy's direction of travel, he's bound to pass through Changzhou."

As Liang Jin observed Daisy's movements, he had already made up his mind.

He'll stop the people the police station can't stop!

If Daisy passes through Changzhou, then Song Jiang's clone can intercept him.

Although Daisy's lightness skill was very high, it was still far inferior to Liang Jin's "Walking in the Wind and Shadows".

Zhao Bao then mentioned another matter:

"Brother Jin, the Empress you're holding is probably going to become a hot potato."

According to Hong Wei, the deputy commander of the Southern Imperial Guard, when the Empress was assassinated, it is suspected that someone disguised as the Empress appeared.

“Hong Wei has already reported this matter to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, the Six Doors, and the Shuntian Prefecture Government, and even to the Mu family.”

"Impersonating the Empress is no small matter and has already attracted great attention."

"Now, the entire city is teeming with spies, both overt and covert, searching for anyone who dares to impersonate the Empress. Once the real Empress is exposed, she will be met with a barrage of attacks, both open and covert!"

"I will do my best to monitor the situation, and I will notify you immediately if anything happens!"

After listening, Liang Jin understood. Simply put, it was a case of the thief crying "stop thief!"

After discovering that the real empress had been rescued, the fake empress's group preemptively turned the tables on her to prevent her from exposing their lies.

Counterfeit goods now sit securely in the inner palace, revered as the "true phoenix"; while genuine goods, scattered outside, become "fakes" that everyone hates!
Once their whereabouts are exposed, they will face a double attack from both the fake queen's forces and those unaware of the truth!

Many people even secretly attempt to silence them.

Liang Jin wasn't too worried about this.

It's true, it's true.

No matter how realistic a fake is, it is bound to have flaws.

However, to make good use of the true empress and maximize her role, we probably need to find a different approach.

After a moment's thought, Liang Jin said to Zhao Baodao:
"Zhao Bao, to break this deadlock, you need the true empress's trust and cooperation."

"Next, I need your strong support to put on a show."

Immediately, Liang Jin wrote down his plan on the wall and gave it to Zhao Bao.

After reading it, Zhao Bao seemed to be deep in thought.

Finally, his eyes lit up:
"Brother Jin, I'm all set!"

"But... it might not be easy to find someone trustworthy to help."

Zhao Baogang became the head of the third division. Although he had many capable people, he had not yet cultivated any trusted confidants.

Such an important matter absolutely cannot be accomplished without a trustworthy person.

Liang Jinze said:
"Leave this to me."

"After finding the right people, we started to take action."

The two had made their decision.

At this moment, the battle in the Nine Realms of the Capital Ruins was nearing its end, the shadows had thinned out considerably, and the howling of the cold wind sounded even more desolate.

Zhao Bao's fighting spirit reignited, and he etched his final words onto Liang Jin's face:
"I'm going to continue honing my skills! Take care, Brother Jin!"

Having said that, he swayed and rushed out of the Drunken Wind Pavilion, taking the initiative to meet the remaining powerful black shadow.

Liang Jin subsequently withdrew from [Nine Void Boundless].

……

When his consciousness returned, Liang Jin was still in that icy, dark mineral chamber.

The oil lamp flickered dimly, its yellowish light barely dispelling a small patch of darkness.

Empress Mu Congshuang remained unconscious on the ground, her breathing steady.

Liang Jin glanced at her, but had no further questions in his mind.

She had extracted all the secrets she needed to know.

Now that the emperor's time is drawing near, the situation in the capital is like a powder keg about to explode, every moment is crucial, and he can no longer afford to slowly dig deeper here.

Without further delay, he quickly left the secret room and returned to the surface along the winding and secluded tunnel.

The tunnel exit was originally hidden under an inconspicuous blue stone bridge, with the river flowing gently beneath it, where women washing clothes and cargo ships passing by occasionally came and went.

But now, the scene is completely different.

Liang Jin pushed aside the cleverly disguised exit slab, and fresh air rushed into his nostrils, opening up a bright and clear view.

The small bridge still exists, but it has become part of the landscaped gardens inside a huge mansion!

The river flowing beneath the bridge is no longer a river, but a clear pond with fresh water flowing into it, where koi carp leisurely sway their tails.

Around the pond, pavilions and towers are beginning to take shape, artificial hills are scattered, and flowers and trees are lush.

The open space and riverbank outside the bridge have been enclosed by high walls, and the river has been artificially diverted to meander past the other side of the mansion.

The main structure of this sprawling mansion, secretly built using the tunnel exit, was quietly completed a few days ago thanks to the tireless efforts of the core members of the Taipingdao.

With its blue bricks and gray tiles, flying eaves and brackets, it has an impressive presence, yet it appears particularly empty and desolate due to the lack of human presence.

A gentle breeze rustled through the newly planted bamboo grove, adding to the cool and refreshing atmosphere.

Liang Jin stood by the pond, looking around at the brand-new yet quiet house.

This huge mansion had only been newly built a few days ago, and Liang Jin hadn't had time to hire any servants or maids yet.

"This place needs to be filled with more people."

After saying that, he moved swiftly and silently climbed over the high wall, disappearing into the shadows of the intricate streets and alleys of the capital.

(End of this chapter)