Starting with Hyuga, traversing countless heavens

"Greetings, sir."

"Xiahou, you should retire now."

"it is good."

Xiahou nodded in agreement. The situation was beyond his control; what could he do? Li Manman simply wanted Ning Que to suffer some gossip after he retired and lost his status as a general.

Xiahou entered the palace after Li Manman left, where Li Zhongyi was already waiting.

These past few days, Li Zhongyi had been waiting for Xiahou, saying he didn't care and even planned to sacrifice Xiahou. But at this point, Li Zhongyi softened a bit. At worst, he could just depose Xiahou. What difficulty would it be for the King of Tang to support a Xiahou?

"Your Majesty, your humble servant Xiahou has come to request my resignation. I wish to resign from my position as Grand General and retire to the countryside."

"I think you want to have a showdown with Mr. Thirteen."

"Your Majesty is holy."

Li Zhongyi wrote the imperial edict: "Get out of here. I will take good care of you in the summer."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Soon, the time arrived for Ning Que and Xia Hou to meet. Ning Que went to the location first, as this was the only way he could get Xia Hou to stand where he had set up the trap.

Ning Que stood still, and based on Xiahou's usual habits, he should be standing right in the center of the trap.

Would you like some jianbing guozi?

Hinata Hoshino's sudden voice startled Ning Que.

Turning his head, he saw Hinata Hoshino pushing a cart closer. He stopped in front of the trap, lifted the cart, took a step out, and appeared next to Ning Que in the next second, perfectly avoiding the trap.

"Eat, give me three more eggs."

"No grilled sausages or chicken strips, just plain jianbing guozi."

"Eat too, hurry up."

Hinata Hoshino started making jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes). "Old Que, there's something I feel I should explain to you."

"whats the matter?"

"I built a viewing platform over there, and it charges admission. You'd better behave yourself."

"Go to hell! I'm getting revenge, and you're buying a ticket?"

"Come on, eat."

Hinata Hoshino handed him a jianbing (Chinese crepe), then picked up the cart and ran off, saying, "Good luck!"

Ning Que munched on a jianbing (Chinese crepe) and lamented his miserable life. He knew he could forget about getting the ticket money, but he wondered if there were any betting options available for him to place bets.

After Ning Que finished his jianbing (Chinese crepe), a sliver of sunlight appeared on the horizon, and Xiahou slowly approached. His gleaming armor rustled softly.

"You've arrived, Xiahou."

"Yes, I'm here."

A wooden platform suddenly appeared not far away, and the noise made Ning Que and Xiahou drove over to find that a group of people from Chang'an who wanted to watch the battle were gradually walking onto the platform, including Xia Tian and Yan Se...

Most of Xiahou and Ning Que's acquaintances and people of a certain status came, just to see the result.

The two exchanged a glance and decided to cut down on words and fight each other directly. However, they did not expect that their conversation could be heard from the high platform, and the conversation on the high platform could also be heard by the other party.

Li Zhongyi spoke up, "Xiahou, do you regret listening to the words of Wei Guangming, the High Priest of Xiling, and destroying Lin Guangyuan's mansion?"

"I have no regrets. It's just a pity that I didn't nip it in the bud back then."

“Alright, then it is only right for Lin Guangyuan’s descendants to seek revenge.”

Ning Que interrupted the self-righteousness of most people, "I am not Lin Guangyuan's son. My father was just a gatekeeper. But who says that only a general's son can take revenge, while a gatekeeper's son cannot?"

Li Zhongyi was also somewhat surprised that Ning Que was just the gatekeeper's son. After realizing this, Li Zhongyi smiled and said, "That's right, there is no status in the face of hatred."

"I wonder if Mr. Zeng Jing has arrived?"

He didn't come.

"Please help me tell Mr. Zeng Jingda that my maid Sangsang is his long-lost daughter."

Listening to gossip is human nature, and I never expected to hear two big juicy stories on this trip.

Xiahou looked at Ning Que and sneered, "You've finished your last words? Then let's begin."

Xiahou did not notice the subtle movement beneath his feet. As soon as Xiahou finished speaking, a tremendous explosion erupted beneath his feet.

"Boom boom boom boom..."

The explosions continued, and Xia Tian, ​​somewhat worried, threw herself into Li Zhongyi's arms, "Brother."

As the smoke cleared, it proved to be true that "smoke does not cause harm." Xiahou was only covered in soot, but thanks to his luminous armor, he was completely unharmed.

"You're really impressive, Mr. Thirteen. But it's a pity. If I didn't have the Bright Light Armor, I might have been seriously injured."

"No, I've calculated it. Even without the Bright Armor, you'll only suffer minor injuries at most."

Ning Que took out the bow from his back, nocked the Yuan Thirteen Arrows, aimed at Xiahou, and fired the arrow. Xiahou blocked the Yuan Thirteen Arrows with both hands in front of him. Ning Que aimed at the spot where the arrows had hit and fired another arrow. Xiahou blocked the arrow and then quickly rushed towards Ning Que.

Ning Que hurriedly fired a third arrow, but still failed to break through Xiahou Mingguang Armor's defense. Ning Que cursed his two senior brothers in his heart, his fourth senior brother Fan Yue and his sixth senior brother the blacksmith, for making the Mingguang Armor so good and not leaving any backup plan.

Xiahou was at the peak of martial arts and quickly approached Ning Que. Ning Que didn't have time to shoot his fourth arrow. He raised his sword and slashed at the spot where Yuan Shisan's arrows had hit. However, it only caused a burst of sparks. Xiahou's momentum did not diminish. He charged forward and crashed into Ning Que. Ning Que felt a sweet taste in his throat and was sent flying backward.

The moment he landed, he exhaled a splash of crimson blood. Ning Que took out several talismans from his chest and threw them at Xiahou. Although Xiahou was confident, he was instinctively wary of something of unknown origin.

Several talismans erupted with lightning, striking towards Xiahou. Although the Bright Light Armor, being a metal product, could defend against the lightning, the tingling sensation from the strike caused Xiahou's movements to stiffen.

Seeing this, Ning Que raised his Yuan Thirteen Arrows and hit the same spot three times in a row.

After Xiahou regained his mobility, he looked at the spot where Yuan Shisan's arrows had hit. There was no problem at all; not even a white mark was left.

Xiahou lunged at Ning Que, the force of his movement causing Ning Que's hair to flutter. "Righteous Sword Intent."

Ke Haoran unleashed his unique technique, thirteen sword strikes aimed at the spot where Yuan's thirteen arrows had hit. Ning Que's idea was simple: by continuously attacking the same spot, he could break through the surface with a single point, rendering the Bright Light Armor ineffective.

Xiahou saw through Ning Que's intention, snorted coldly, and kicked Ning Que in the abdomen. Ning Que used the recoil to twist his waist and dodge Xiahou's attack with his last slash.

Ning Que drew two characters with his backhand, a secret symbol passed down by Yan Se, which was also the prelude to the well symbol. Yan Se's well symbol was formed by two two characters.

Chapter 323 Signs of Haotian's Breaking of the Seal, and the Role of the Ghost Festival Bell

The two characters, arranged horizontally and vertically, form a tic-tac-toe pattern. The tic-tac-toe pattern can suppress and cut, while the two characters can only be cut. Xiahou roared, his Bright Armor emitting a faint light, and his peak martial arts cultivation erupted, shattering the two characters with a single punch.

Ning Que took a deep breath, expelled the stagnant blood, and continued to carve, this time the star character.

Ning Que only saw Hyuga Hoshino waving his hand, causing the sky to fill with stars, which contained an extremely terrifying killing intent. He did not realize that the killing intent was accompanied by his cultivation level.

Even with the backdoor opened by Hyuga Hoshino, Mo Shanshan and Ye Hongyu could only unleash a single attack exceeding their own level.

To put it bluntly, the Profound Realm annihilates the Knowing Fate Realm, the Knowing Fate Realm annihilates the Sixth Realm, and as for going beyond that, it all depends on individual performance.

Therefore, Ning Que, whose Dongxuan realm has not yet reached its peak, can only unleash an attack that is at most equivalent to a peak Zhiming realm or below.

The power of countless stars suddenly struck Xiahou, who let out a scream, raising a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, Xiahou's luminous armor was tattered. Ning Que had hit the same spot multiple times, and with the irregular attacks of the star power, the same spot was hit several times as well.

Therefore, the defense of the Bright Light Armor was breached. Once the defense was broken, the Bright Light Armor was just an ordinary piece of armor, and under the remaining power of the stars, it was nothing more than a tattered sack.

However, Xiahou barely withstood the attack thanks to his peak martial arts cultivation. Breaking through the dust, Xiahou, who looked like a beggar, attacked Ning Que again.

Ning Que braced himself with his hands, flipped over, and slashed down with his long sword, meeting Xiahou's punch. Under Xiahou's punch, Ning Que felt as if he had been hit by a large truck and was sent flying backward again.

"Ning Que, show me what else you've got, and I'll crush your hopes."

"puff!"

Ning Que coughed up a mouthful of blood; today was the day he had coughed up the most blood in his life.

While watching the show, Hinata Hoshino noticed a person silently approaching Chang'an with a Buddha chessboard and a Ullambana bell. It was Seven Thoughts, the Buddhist sect's wandering monk. Hinata Hoshino waved his hand to shield Seven Thoughts' aura, allowing Seven Thoughts to enter Chang'an smoothly. Judging from Seven Thoughts' direction of travel, he guessed it was Old Brush Studio.

Hinata Hoshino flicked his finger and implanted a thought into Nana's mind. After that, Hinata Hoshino continued to watch the show and did not pay attention to Nana. As expected, Hinata Hoshino should be about to close the net.

Ning Que struggled to get up, wanting to inscribe the star character again, but Xiahou would not give him any more chances to inscribe the star character.

Xiahou swiftly threw a punch at Ning Que's face, forcing Ning Que to change his hand gesture, from carving the complex character for "star" to carving the simple character for "two".

Two characters appeared, slicing towards Xiahou's body. Xiahou neither dodged nor evaded, and still threw a punch, the two characters from Ning Que colliding with Xiahou.

The two characters shattered in front of Xiahou, clearly indicating that the cutting of the two characters was a painless move for Xiahou.

As Xiahou drew closer, Ning Que drew the Thirteen Arrows from his back and struck him.

Having been injured repeatedly, Ning Que's arrows were clearly not as powerful as before. Moreover, his mental energy was also showing signs of deficiency, so Xiahou only slightly turned his head to dodge Ning Que's Thirteen Yuan Arrows.

Xiahou was confident that this punch would definitely give Ning Que a serious injury.

But unexpectedly, the punch blasted Ning Que to pieces, leaving only a straw man in the wake of a puff of white smoke.

The Straw Doll Substitute Talisman is one of the talismans that Hyuga Hoshino gave to Mo Shanshan. Its function is to replace oneself with a straw doll, as is the case now, thus achieving the effect of taking someone else's place in death.

Xiahou gave a bitter laugh, "Thirteenth Master, I truly envy you. You have countless ways to save your life like this. But I have none. All I can do is constantly try to find ways to survive and improve my cultivation."

I only had one chance from beginning to end, while you had many. So, if I were to die at your hands today, it would be only natural. But what is natural doesn't necessarily mean the final outcome. Perhaps, Thirteenth Master, you will die at my, Xiahou's, hands. Our fates are in the hands of destiny.”

This sentence is intended to lure out Ning Que, because Ning Que used the straw puppet substitute talisman. Xiahou cannot currently detect Ning Que's whereabouts, so he can only use this simplest method to trick Ning Que into revealing himself.

"Ahem. General Xiahou, you might want to take a look around you."

Upon hearing Ning Que's words, Xiahou subconsciously looked up and glanced around. Unreadable characters had appeared on the nearby trees. However, Xiahou vaguely guessed that these characters likely meant "explosion."

Xiahou realized this too late, as all the talismans around him began to burn from the bottom up. Another deafening explosion followed, and Xiahou was blasted into the air by the massive blast.

Before landing, in order to reduce the pressure, he punched the ground. With the force of this punch, he could not land safely, but he removed most of the fall tunnel, allowing Xiahou to barely maintain his posture.

However, it's clear to anyone with eyes that Xiahou has suffered several injuries, and his aura is not as strong as it was at the beginning. But Ning Que's situation may not be much better now either.

Ning Que used his sword to support himself on the ground, emerging from a grove of trees. He looked down at Xiahou, who was barely managing to stay upright.

"General Xiahou is now at his last gasp and powerless to resist, so I'll send you on your way."

Ning Que approached Xia Hou step by step, but unexpectedly, just as Ning Que got close to Xia Hou, Xia Hou suddenly sprang up, grabbed Ning Que, and threw him backward in a standard back throw. The force of Xia Hou's own strength caused Ning Que to cough up another mouthful of blood.

Ning Que was severely injured again and could only fall to the ground. This time, Xia Hou was able to stand up with difficulty and looked down at Ning Que.

“Mr. Thirteen, you were so close, so very close, to killing me. If you hadn’t approached me, or even if you had approached me a little later, I would have been powerless to deliver this blow, and you would have won.”

Xiahou thought victory was assured and wanted to kill Ning Que to break his spirit. Under these circumstances, even if he killed Ning Que, neither the Tang Kingdom nor the Academy could do anything to him.

Ning Que listened to Xiahou's words with a smile on his lips, which chilled Xiahou to the bone. He couldn't understand why Ning could still smile at this moment. He only needed Ning; Xiahou could simply move a finger and Ning would die at his hands.