The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 152, Section 167: The Intimidation of the Underworld Queen!

The two flying shields that were slashing toward Lu Chen's neck and waist like a saw were intercepted by the sword sheath thrown by Dugu Feng and the short spear thrown by Xu Ziling, respectively, and bounced away with a deafening collision.

Shangguan Long's dragon-headed cane, which was as powerful as a battering ram, was also cleaved away by Kou Zhong's angry swing of the Well Moon.

However, the heavy arrows fired from the ten-stone bow were simply too fast.

Even though Dugu Feng was closest to Lu Chen and the first to make a move, and her movements were as fast as lightning, she only managed to block a heavy arrow that was aimed at Lu Chen's throat.

The remaining three heavy arrows were still aimed at Lu Chen's heart, dantian, and armpit.

At this moment, Lu Chen's sword energy, which had been stacked seven times, was only inches away from Qu Ao's heart.

Qu Ao, as expected of a senior master, although he revealed a flaw due to his impatience, he quickly made amends. He crossed his claws inward and clamped down on the tail of the sword energy, causing the flying sword energy to pause slightly.

At the same time, his "Shanzhong" acupoint on his chest suddenly erupted with true energy. An invisible true energy, like a steel cone, pierced out from the Shanzhong acupoint and crashed fiercely into the sword energy.

Bang!
A muffled thud, a surge of energy, and a sweeping gust of wind.

Qu Ao's face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mist. His body seemed to be pulled violently from behind, and he was suddenly thrown backward.

However, by using the force of the collision between true energy and sword energy, he used his unparalleled lightness skill to create distance between himself and Lu Chen.

Although Qu Ao intercepted the sword energy by unleashing his true energy from the Tanzhong acupoint, the Tanzhong acupoint is one of the most vital points. Upon impact, Qu Ao's internal organs trembled, and his true energy boiled, causing him to suffer internal injuries.

If it were a one-on-one fight, given Lu Chen's lightness skill, if he continued to pursue, Qu Ao's fate would be truly hard to predict.

Unfortunately, the situation has changed now; it's no longer a one-on-one duel.

As Qu Ao was thrown backward, Lu Chenqi's sword also turned to block the three heavy arrows—the Tiele Throne Arrow Guards were not ordinary archers, but the most outstanding archers in the Tiele Khanate. Not only were their shooting skills incredibly accurate, but their internal strength was also profound.

Each of those three heavy arrows was imbued with fierce true energy, and they were fired from a ten-stone bow. Even with Lu Chen's physique, if he were to withstand these three arrows head-on, he would be injured and his defenses would be breached.

The timely arrival of Shangguan Long and other outside rescuers indicates that there must be a highly skilled expert with exceptional insight who, when Qu Ao's offensive became too hasty and aggressive, had already seen that Qu Ao was about to be defeated and gave them a reminder and guidance.

In the original timeline, the Twin Dragons had just caused a ruckus at Manqing Courtyard when they were ambushed by Empress Zhu Yuyan as soon as they stepped outside. So, who was the powerful expert who alerted Shangguan Long and the others to intervene and rescue them?
Lu Chen killed Bian Bufu, thus incurring the enmity of the Yin Gui Sect. Suspecting that Empress Yin was present, he was unwilling to endure the three arrows head-on and chose to continue his attack on Qu Ao at the cost of injury.

In any case, Qu Ao's martial arts skills were no longer a secret to him. If he dared to jump in front of him again, he would surely die.

Dangdang Dangdang!
With three loud bangs, Lu Chenqi slashed with his sword, deflecting the three heavy arrows one by one in the nick of time.

Seeing that Lu Chen was not injured by the arrow, Dugu Feng breathed a sigh of relief. With her skirts fluttering, she drew her sword and blocked Qu Ao's three disciples, Chang Shumou, Hua Lingzi, and Geng Ge Hu'er, intercepting the three of them by herself.

Chang Shumou and the other two recognized Dugu Feng and knew that she was a local bigwig in Luoyang. Old Madam You and a group of experts from the Dugu clan were still watching from inside the building. Although they were anxious to rescue their master, they did not dare to use excessive force.

Dugu Feng's martial arts skills were already higher than those of Qu Ao's eldest disciple, Chang Shumou. If Chang Shumou and the other two had gone all out, they might have been able to suppress Dugu Feng. However, their current restraint has given Dugu Feng the upper hand in a one-against-three battle, allowing her to firmly suppress the three of them.

the other side.

Kou Zhong, who was already looking for trouble with Shangguan Long, showed no mercy and unleashed a furious slash at Shangguan Long with his Well-in-the-Moon sword.

Xu Ziling stood guard from the sidelines, expanding his spiritual senses to detect the energy flow and be on guard against any sneak attacks from the Yin Gui Sect masters.

Injured, Qu Ao dared not fight Lu Chen any longer and flew towards the side room.

Four Tiele archers stood on the balcony of the side room, constantly firing arrows to block Lu Chen's pursuit route.

In the blink of an eye, the situation on the field changed like this, leaving the guests with a sense of being overwhelmed and thoroughly entertained.

"Qu Ao has been defeated! The second-best martial artist on the grasslands has been defeated by a rising star from the Central Plains!"

"Brilliant! This battle was truly spectacular!"

"Hey, the mighty Tiele Flying Eagles actually had to rely on off-field help to escape, what a disgrace!"

"After this battle, Flying Eagle Qu Ao's reputation will be trampled underfoot by the Divine Sword Prince!"

"Flying Eagle Qu Ao has always been considered a top-tier expert below the three grandmasters. Today, the Divine Sword Prince defeated Qu Ao in a head-on battle. Doesn't that mean that the Divine Sword Prince's martial arts have caught up with the three grandmasters?"

"That's not the case. Judging from today's battle, Qu Ao has never been able to overcome the mental setback of losing to Bi Xuan. His strength has declined and is far from his peak. Although he can still rely on his extraordinary skills to be ranked among the grandmasters, he can no longer be considered the top tier below the three grandmasters..."

"Qu Ao's performance today was indeed unworthy of his reputation. However, even if his strength has declined, he is still a senior master who has created his own profound skills and has been famous for many years. The fact that the young Divine Sword Prince was able to defeat Qu Ao in a head-on confrontation shows that even though the Divine Sword Prince used tricks and hidden weapons to defeat the Garuda Army, his own strength is still far superior to that of ordinary masters!"

Almost all the guests couldn't help but discuss and admire it.

There was complete silence in the Dugu family's private room.

When Dugu Feng flew out of Lu Chen's room to block flying shields and heavy arrows for him, and intercepted Chang Shumou and the other two, the Dugu clan members were almost dumbfounded.

After a long silence, someone cautiously spoke:
"Is the rumor that Feng'er and the Divine Sword Prince stormed the Garuda army camp together true?"

"It must be true without a doubt, otherwise why would Feng'er come out of Lu Chen's room and help him fend off Qu Ao's reinforcements?"

"I knew Feng'er never dressed up, but today she's wearing a dress, hair accessories, makeup, and floral decorations. It's like the sun rose in the west! I never imagined she was actually..."

"This is great news! If Feng'er can get the help of the Divine Sword Prince, wouldn't our Dugu clan's chances of defeating Wang Shichong increase significantly?"

"Excellent. Feng'er has done a great service this time."

Seeing her nephews, nieces, and grandchildren beaming with pride, Old Mrs. You felt a surge of anger rising within her.

Feng'er has been missing for the past month, which means she has been in contact with Lu Chen for a long time. None of you guys noticed or paid attention to her. Now that you see that she has a close relationship with the Divine Sword Prince, you want to take advantage of this relationship.

Have you considered Feng'er's feelings?
She had been associating with the Divine Sword Prince Lu Chen for so long without ever revealing a word to anyone else, clearly indicating that she did not want to associate with him using her family's status.

Aside from Feng'er, Lu Chen had never had any dealings with anyone else from the Dugu Clan, clearly unwilling to get involved in the power struggles.

You want to use Feng'er's relationship with him to fight against Wang Shichong?

I really don’t know what to say!
Looking at her good-for-nothing nephews and grandchildren, You Chuhong felt a pang of sorrow.

Among the four major clans, the Dugu clan is the only exception.

In terms of martial prowess, the top fighter is this woman from another clan, and the second is Feng'er. None of the men of the Dugu clan are of any significant use. In military and political affairs, there are no notable figures either. Compared to the men of the Li and Song clans, they are utterly insignificant.

Even the Yuwen clan, at least, had someone who dared to assassinate the emperor and seize power. Regardless of their future fate, they would at least leave a significant mark on history as Yuwen Huaji…

Now these men of the Dugu clan are trying to win over experts by relying on the daughters of the Dugu family...

Grandma You felt a wave of exhaustion and didn't even have the energy to get angry anymore.

At this moment, another change occurred in the courtyard.

Shangguan Long fought Kou Zhong bare-handed, with Xu Ziling watching him intently from the sidelines. He quickly fell into a disadvantageous position and had no choice but to reveal his true identity. His arms turned purplish-black as he used a wicked and demonic technique, confirming his identity as an undercover agent of the Yin Gui Sect.

Having already exposed Shangguan Long's demonic abilities, Xu Ziling no longer held back and was about to join forces with Kou Zhong to attack Shangguan Long and capture him alive.

But suddenly, three women leaped out of a side room.

One of them was dressed in black with a full head of silver hair, while the other two were dressed in white and their faces were covered with heavy veils.

It was none other than Danmei, the "Silver-Haired Witch" of the Yin Gui Sect, and Elder Yunxia. The three Yin Gui Sect masters flew towards Xu Ziling, and as soon as they clashed, Xu Ziling, who was fighting three against one, was at a disadvantage.

Kou Zhong wanted to come to the rescue, but Shangguan Long, who had exposed his demonic arts and was now attacking with all his might without any restraint, held him back tightly.

Seeing Xu Ziling in danger, Song Shidao finally pulled himself out of his reverie about Fu Junzhuo and leaped out with his sword to rescue him.

Lu Chen unleashed a barrage of heavy arrows from the four archers to block the pursuit route. At the same time, he felt as if a gaze was fixed on him from afar, causing a faint, illusory pain to rise between his brows. He immediately became certain of his guess that Empress Zhu Yuyan was present.

Empress Zhu Yuyan, whose martial arts skills are even stronger than those of the Evil King Shi Zhixuan after his mental breakdown and decline in strength, is the true top-tier expert below the three grandmasters.

Since she was present, Lu Chen dared not be careless and immediately turned to Dugu Feng.

Dugu Feng fought against three opponents. Although she initially suppressed the three men due to their reservations and her own full power, after her outburst, the three men gradually regained their footing and turned the tide. At this point, the two sides were evenly matched.

Seeing Lu Chen turn around, Chang Shumou and the other two immediately launched a fierce attack using their tacit understanding as fellow disciples and their shared cultivation techniques, temporarily forcing Dugu Feng to retreat before making a hasty retreat.

As Qu Ao's personal disciples, Chang Shumou and the other two naturally possessed superb lightness skills, making them incredibly fast runners.

Of course, if Lu Chen wanted to catch up, he could. He was already a master of lightness skill, and he had also learned Qu Ao's unique lightness skill. Although he had not fully digested what he had learned, he could still use some of it on the spot. He could even catch up with Qu Ao himself, let alone Qu Ao's disciple.

However, he was being watched from afar by a mysterious gaze that seemed to belong to the Queen of the Underworld. Qu Ao did not pursue him, and naturally he did not want to risk being blocked by the Queen of the Underworld and chase after Qu Ao's disciples. So he looked at the silver-haired witch Danmei and Elder Yunxia.

Elder Yunxia sensed Lu Chen's gaze and immediately became alert. She unleashed her full power, striking out several palms to force Xu Ziling and Song Shidao back before turning and running away.

They had witnessed Lu Chen kill Bian Bufu with a single sword strike, and like Wen Caiting, they all developed a psychological trauma related to Lu Chen.

Although it wasn't as serious as Wen Caiting's situation, where she didn't even dare to show her face when Lu Chen was present, the Second Elder Yunxia would never dare to fight Lu Chen if she didn't have an overwhelming numerical advantage.

The silver-haired witch Danmei is, of course, also a master of running away.

When Elder Yunxia suddenly unleashed her full power, she already knew the two were going to run away. She also coordinated with them to launch a fierce attack, and then ran away with Elder Yunxia.

On Shangguan Long's side, he risked being injured by Kou Zhong's sword energy and managed to slip away.

Furthermore, the four of them fled in different directions, scattering in all directions.

Seeing that the Tiele people and the Yin Gui sect had scattered, Lu Chen did not pursue them. He looked around and returned to his room with Dugu Feng.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were unwilling to let Shangguan Long escape, so they chased after him out of Manqing Courtyard.

Lu Chen did not call out to them.

Because that mysterious gaze that caused him a faint, phantom pain between his brows remained fixed on him, clearly intended to keep him here and prevent him from pursuing him.

Since Empress Yin is still staying in Manqing Courtyard to personally restrain him, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling will not be blocked by Empress Yin even if they chase after him.

As long as they weren't blocked by Yin Hou, with their current martial arts skills and escape abilities, even if they were surrounded by elder-level experts from the Yin Gui Sect, they could still make a quick getaway, at most suffering some injuries. Therefore, Lu Chen didn't bother with them.

Little did they know, the enchantress, who was just looking for someone to fight, had already quietly left Manqing Courtyard and was hanging behind Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling...

Only after returning to the room and lowering the curtain on the terrace door did the feeling of being watched from afar disappear.

Lu Chen looked at Dugu Feng and asked:

"You fought three against one just now, Feng'er, were you injured?"

Feng'er?

Finally, you're willing to call me Feng'er?

Dugu Feng's cheeks flushed instantly, as if she were drunk, her eyes brightened, and the corners of her lips involuntarily turned up slightly as she spoke in a light tone:
"It's alright. The three of them, including Changshu Mou, were too hesitant and only unleashed their full power at the very end. They were scared away before they could even have a proper fight."

Lu Chen smiled as well:
"It's good that you're not injured. There's something I need to ask of Feng'er."

"Brother Lu, please feel free to give your instructions."

"Someone might come to visit later, but I need to leave immediately to do something. So, I'd like to ask Feng'er to stay here and if anyone comes, tell them that I gained a lot from the battle just now and am meditating to gain some insight. Please help me buy some time."

Dugu Feng thought he was going to hunt down the Yin Gui Sect experts, and couldn't help but feel worried. She hesitated and said:

"Brother Lu, why don't I travel with you instead?"

Lu Chen said with a smile:

"Don't worry, I'm not going to deal with the Yin Gui Sect."

He was going to steal the He Shi Bi jade.

As the eldest daughter of the Dugu clan, Dugu Feng could not act like him, recklessly offending the Buddhist forces led by Cihang Jingzhai, as well as other forces that coveted the He Shi Bi jade.

Hearing Lu Chen say that he wasn't going to deal with the Yin Gui Sect, Dugu Feng was relieved and didn't ask him what he was going to do. She nodded in agreement.

"In that case, leave the matter of dealing with the visitors to Feng'er."

Lu Chen nodded, stood in the shadow of the candlelight in the corner of the room, and his figure vanished like a bubble.

He neither went out from the terrace facing the courtyard nor opened the door to the side room in the corridor inside the building. Even Zhu Yuyan, who might still be watching this side, would not know that he had vanished from the side room.

Dugu Feng had seen this kind of teleportation technique, which had completely transcended the category of "lightness skill" and was even more magical than "magic tricks and illusions," more than once, so she was no longer greatly surprised.

Just a few breaths after Lu Chen's figure disappeared, a knock came from the door:
"Is Young Master Lu here? This humble woman is Shen Luoyan..."

Dugu Feng curled her lips slightly, thinking to herself that this venomous beauty was quick to seize the opportunity and was the first to come looking for her.

Unfortunately, we arrived too late.

Although Shen Luoyan was the strategist of Wagang Army, Li Mi had at least outwardly accepted the imperial court's offer of amnesty and was now the Duke of Wei, bestowed by the court. Furthermore, due to the existence of Wang Shichong, a common enemy, the Dugu clan and Li Mi's side also had a certain tacit understanding.

Dugu Feng then adjusted her expression, went to the door, and responded through the door according to Lu Chen's instructions:

"Please forgive me, Military Advisor Shen, Young Master Lu's battle just now..."

at the same time.

In an alleyway about a hundred feet away from Manqing Temple.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at the beautiful girl with flowing black hair, dressed in white and barefoot, on the roof ridge ahead, their faces full of bitterness, and they felt utterly unlucky.

After confirming that he had successfully avoided the mysterious gaze, Lu Chen used his ghostly, sometimes-appearing, sometimes-disappearing movements to swiftly return to his residence in the night, retrieve the lead box, and then dashed off towards the east of Luoyang.

The He Shi Bi jade is in Jingnian Temple.

Jingnian Temple is located in the eastern suburbs of Luoyang, and Lu Chen had already found out its exact location.

[This chapter is 4.5K, please vote with monthly tickets!]

(End of this chapter)