The Immortal Empress, Unrivaled Through Eternity

Feeling the malicious gaze, Li Yunqing raised her fingers slightly, and the music stopped abruptly.

Jiang Yu, who was standing to the side, had already stood up, holding the scabbard of the horizontal sword in one hand and the hilt of the sword in the other, with a solemn expression.

Who are you?

Jiang Yu's tone was solemn, his gaze fixed on the leader.

Qi and blood, tendons and bones flow and tremble autonomously with the breathing of the internal organs. This is the first stage of perfection, where qi and blood, tendons and bones, and internal organs are perfectly integrated.

His strength is even a notch above his current situation.

With their faces covered by black cloths, they were clearly up to no good.

"Young Master Jiang, if you leave, your brothers won't make things difficult for you!"

"If you don't know what's good for you, don't blame us brothers for being ruthless."

The masked leader spoke, his tone chilling.

They came for the supreme spiritual wisdom. Jiang Yu is the eldest son of the Jiang family. If something happens to him, the entire Jiang family will probably go crazy.

The Jiang family, who control the Qingzhou garrison, is not someone to be trifled with.

Once he goes mad, even the Qin family, the city lords, can't stop him.

"They're coming for me!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunqing's heart sank, and she suddenly recalled the strange, prying gaze she had received last night and this morning.

But she couldn't understand why someone would come after her when she rarely went out and had never had much interaction with others.

"Could it be Zhou Ru?"

She suddenly remembered Qin Wan'er's warning, telling her to be careful of Zhou Ru.

Jiang Yu asked to marry her, which aroused Zhou Ru's jealousy. Unable to make a move in the inner city, she seized this opportunity to kill her as soon as possible.

"Wait...could this be his doing?"

"Is it the hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress trope that makes me fall for it

Li Yunqing glanced at Jiang Yu out of the corner of her eye.

"Clang!"

Jiang Yu suddenly drew his sword and stood in front of Li Yunqing, demonstrating everything through his actions.

"I'll stop them. You go find the horse, quickly return to the temple, and summon the guards."

The slight sound reached Li Yunqing's ears, dispelling her thoughts.

If it were Jiang Yu's methods, she would never have been allowed to leave.

Having known each other for several days, she hadn't noticed this side of Jiang Yu, and it seemed she was being petty and judging him by her own standards.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Just then, several more whooshing sounds rang out from not far away.

The next moment, the six figures, along with the previous fourteen, completely surrounded the entrance to the valley, blocking Li Yunqing's escape route.

Behind them lay a valley, and the road ahead was unknown.

"Two are at the upper level of the initial stage, one is at the perfect level of the initial stage, and the rest are all at the entry level of martial arts."

Jiang Yu quickly scanned the crowd, sensing their auras, and turned around almost without hesitation: "Let's go!"

If there is only one person who has reached the initial stage of perfection, he can still fight for a chance to survive.

However, there are still two high-grade initial-stage martial artists and seventeen low-grade martial artists. In this situation, the only way to survive is to escape.

Li Yunqing dared not hesitate, and with a light step, she rushed into the valley.

Jiang Yu, holding a horizontal sword, followed closely behind Li Yunqing, his heart growing heavier.

In broad daylight, only thirty miles from Qingzhou City, someone dared to carry out an assassination attempt.

Even he hadn't expected it.

"Could it be them?" Jiang Yu's thoughts raced as she thought of Zhou Ru and her group.

This was directed at Li Yunqing, which made him think twice.

After all, Li Yunqing rarely went out, and if it weren't for the accident, he wouldn't have known that there was such a girl in Qingzhou City.

"Chase!"

Upon seeing this, the masked leader immediately shouted.

Within the inner city, Li Yunqing either went to the martial arts school or stayed at home; she almost never went out the rest of the time and couldn't find any opportunities to leave.

Using the Zhou family's power would require time to make arrangements and to clear the Zhou family of suspicion.

Today, Jiang Yu and Li Yunqing happened to be out of the city, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so how could they possibly give it up?

"Tap tap tap..."

Twenty masked men rushed forward swiftly through the mountains and forests.

"Young Master Jiang, she's just a woman, why make such a fuss?"

"Is it worth risking your life for a woman?"

As they chased each other, the masked leader spoke.

Although he knew that the Jiang family had very strict family rules, and that Jiang Yu's grandfather had only married one wife in his life, as had Jiang Yu's father.

But since they are not yet married, and given Jiang Yu's status, there is absolutely no reason for her to risk her life.

"not good!"

At the end of the valley, Li Yunqing and Jiang Yu's hearts skipped a beat.

There was no way out of the valley; ahead lay a cliff.

The cliff was shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see its height.

"Hahaha... You have nowhere to run!"

Upon seeing the cliff at the end of the valley, the masked men behind them all cheered with delight.

It's like God is on their side.

"Jump!"

Li Yunqing spoke softly, her powerful mental energy already penetrating the thick fog to see clearly below.

The cliff is not high, at most three zhang (approximately 10 meters), and there is a pool of water below. The thick fog is the water vapor rising from the pool.

Seeing that Li Yunqing did not stop walking, he decisively jumped down.

Jiang Yu followed suit without hesitation, showing extreme trust in Li Yunqing.

"you……"

The leader of the men in black was startled, but then he heard a splash in the water and immediately shouted, "Chase!"

Below was a pool of water, and sound traveled extremely fast, so the cliff was clearly not very high.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

The group of men in black suddenly rushed towards the cliff and jumped off as well.

"Thump..."

The sound of splashing water echoed one after another.

Li Yunqing and Jiang Yu, who had just arrived at the shore of the pool, felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.

This place turned out to be a dead end, surrounded by cliffs on all sides. The lowest point was where they had just jumped down, but it was still more than three zhang high.

Given their strength, it would be difficult for them to escape.

What's more, there were twenty bandits blocking their way, which meant certain death for them.

"Hahaha……"

A group of masked men emerged from the pool one after another, glanced around, and then burst into laughter.

This desolate area is not large, only three hundred feet in circumference, and you can see the end of it at a glance.

Jiang Yu and Li Yunqing had nowhere to escape.

"It seems Young Master Jiang isn't having much luck."

The masked leader spoke up, saying that there was no rush now.

There is no way out here.

"Clang!"

Jiang Yu stood before Li Yunqing, gripping his sword, and said, "The God-Worshipping Cult?"

Although there was a question in his voice, his tone was extremely certain.

In the entire city of Qingzhou, apart from those sects that worship evil gods, who would dare to make a move against the Jiang family?

Even the Zhou and Qin families would have to think twice about whether they could withstand the 100,000 troops stationed by the Jiang family.

"Young Master Jiang is indeed intelligent!"

The masked leader couldn't help but praise, saying, "A wise person knows when to yield. Hand over the woman behind you, and we can leave immediately."

Once the young master of the Jiang family dies, it is feared that all the believers in the God-worshipping sect in Qingzhou will be purged.

They did not want to become enemies with the Jiang family unless absolutely necessary.

In particular, their identities cannot withstand scrutiny. Once they are involved with the Zhou family behind them, the Zhou family will likely be purged by the Jiang family.

"We, the men of the Jiang family, never break our promises!"

Jiang Yu gripped his sword and walked step by step toward the crowd, his tone becoming increasingly forceful.

"My grandfather once said that there is more than just love in this world; there is also responsibility."

"When someone bets their entire life on me, how could I bear to let them lose everything?"

"My father also said that the reason why martial arts exist in this world is to protect everything that one wants to protect."

"When she accepted those two wild geese, she became the person I, Jiang Yu, would protect with my life!"

"You'll have to step over my dead body to catch her!"

Before the bandits could react to Jiang Yu's words, Li Yunqing's hands clenched tightly in her sleeves.

A flicker of disbelief flashed in her calm, still eyes.

In life-or-death crises, we've seen plenty of people who betray their promises.

At that moment, an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.

"Are there really people this foolish in this world?"