Witch, don't do anything reckless!

Chapter 81 As expected, they came knocking.

Li Chuqiu clearly hadn't expected that Deputy Commander Liu would have suitors!

Or is he the second prince of the current dynasty?!

But then I thought about it again, and it seemed perfectly normal.

After all, it would be strange if such a dignified direct descendant of the Celestial Master's Mansion, the daughter of the head of the Tianxuan Division, and as beautiful as a fairy, didn't have suitors!

Those who are qualified and dare to pursue her are probably not simple-minded.

Thinking this, Li Chuqiu fell even more silent!

Looking at Xu Jinghong again, he was clearly very guilty. He coughed twice more, trying to explain something: "Ahem, actually you don't need to worry too much—with Vice Commander Liu protecting you, even if that Second Prince doesn't like you, he won't dare to touch you—"

"The capital is currently at a critical juncture in the struggle for the throne, and he dares not leave any ammunition unchecked. Even if he wanted to kill you, he wouldn't dare to act rashly on the surface."

"And what about in private?"

Li Chuqiu stared at him: "What if he secretly sends someone to kill me?"

"What if the second prince wins the succession battle and becomes emperor—what then?"

"Cough, how could that be—don't be fooled by his apparent power in the capital and the numerous officials and powerful families who support him. But, he is still weaker than the eldest prince—it's all too early to say who will win the battle for the throne."

Li Chuqiu didn't speak, she just looked at him expressionlessly.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Xu Jinghong felt utterly guilty under his gaze and gave a dry laugh: "I... I was just trying to help you, wasn't I?"

"Okay, okay, it's definitely my fault. I had ulterior motives!"

Under Li Chuqiu's intense gaze, Xu Jinghong finally couldn't take it anymore and bluntly admitted, "When I initially tricked you into pursuing Liu Xu, it was indeed to get revenge and disgust them!"

"them?"

Li Chuqiu keenly noticed his words: "Which ones?"

"There are many more."

Xu Jinghong sneered: "Whoever crosses me, I'll disgust them!"

Li Chuqiu keenly sensed something: "You have a grudge against the Second Prince?"

No, not at all.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Xu Jinghong's face: "How could the dignified Second Prince possibly look down on me?"

"So what exactly happened?" Li Chuqiu looked at him. "Who are you trying to disgust?"

"Xu Guanlan".

Who is Xu Guanlan?

"My half-brother."

Li Chuqiu was taken aback, as if she understood something.

—It's another melodramatic tale of brothers loving and killing each other, vying for power and profit?

Xu Jinghong picked up the wine glass on the table, downed it in one gulp, and then spoke: "You guessed right, I do indeed have a grudge against him. To be precise, it's a very deep grudge—if I get the chance, I will definitely kill him!"

Li Chuqiu remained silent; he wasn't particularly interested in investigating other people's melodramatic family dramas.

"Too bad, I can't kill him!"

Xu Jinghong sighed deeply: "He is the heir carefully cultivated by the Xu family. He has been more outstanding and capable than me since childhood, and at such a young age, he is favored and trusted by the Second Prince—if the Second Prince wins in the future, he will truly soar to the top!"

"So you want to use me to disgust the Second Prince, and then disgust your elder brother?!"

I guess so.

Xu Jinghong smiled: "Of course, it's not just disgusting—do you know how important willow catkins are in the capital?"

Li Chuqiu remained silent.

"The Second Prince previously made blatant and obscene advances towards Liu Xu in the capital. Almost everyone in the capital knew about it."

I don't know how much he likes willow catkins, but I do know one thing—"

A cold smile appeared on Xu Jinghong's face: "What he values ​​more is Liu Xu's background and origins—that's what he really needs."

"That's the key to helping him win this battle for the throne!"

Li Chuqiu's gaze sharpened slightly, as if she understood something.

"The direct descendant of the Tianxuan Division, the next Celestial Master. Behind Liu Xu stands the entire Celestial Master's Mansion, and of course, the Tianxuan Division!"

"Do you know just how renowned Liu Xu's father was back then? As the head of the Tianxuan Division, he not only had extensive connections, but also controlled the elite forces of the entire Great Xuan Dynasty—"

At this point, Xu Jinghong's gaze sharpened. He stared at Li Chuqiu and said, word by word, "That is a force powerful enough to change the current situation in the entire court!"

"In other words, whoever marries Liu Xu will definitely become the next crown prince!"

"Therefore, it's not just the Second Prince who's after the willow catkins; the First Prince, the Third Prince, and even various factions—they all want to compete for them!"

"However, compared to the Second Prince, they are more discreet and reserved."

At this point, Xu Jinghong gave him a meaningful look: "So, this is the real reason she hid here."

She didn't want to be a pawn in the power struggle in the capital; she wanted to escape.

"However, given her status, escaping won't be so easy for her. If it weren't for her father holding off pressure from various factions in the court—tsk!"

Li Chuqiu listened quietly to Xu Jinghong's words: "So, your real purpose is to sabotage the Second Prince's struggle for the throne?"

"Yes and no!"

Xu Jinghong nodded, then shook his head: "I have no grudge against the Second Prince, so whether he becomes emperor or not will theoretically have no impact on me."

But if he becomes emperor, my good brother will rise to power along with his entire family and friends.

"Even if I wanted to kill him again, I probably wouldn't have the chance in this lifetime. So, I can't let him succeed!"

Li Chuqiu finally figured out the situation.

Xu Jinghong had a grudge against his elder brother, and Dui Chang was also a man of the Second Prince. So he tricked Li Chuqiu into pursuing Liu Fuling in order to sabotage the Second Prince’s plan to pursue Liu Fuling, weaken his strength in the struggle for the throne, and then maliciously attack his elder brother.

This method of revenge sounds so childish.

Seemingly sensing Li Chuqiu's thoughts, Xu Jinghong sighed softly: "Besides this, what other opportunity do you think I, a completely unfavored second young master, could possibly have to take revenge on the eldest young master who is showered with affection?"

"He has the support of the Xu family, the support of his mother's powerful family, and the support of the Second Prince—"

Xu Jinghong sneered: "If I had revealed even a fraction of my thoughts, I probably would have been dead long ago."

Li Chuqiu said, "So that's why you resorted to such despicable means behind my back?"

A look of guilt crossed Xu Jinghong's face. He picked up his wine glass, stood up, and said, "I do have to apologize to you for this."

At first, I did intend to trick you into pursuing Liu Xu, just to disgust them.

After saying that, Xu Jinghong picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. His face was slightly flushed with alcohol, but his gaze remained fixed on Li Chuqiu: "However, I'm becoming more and more certain—her feelings for you are different from her feelings for others!"

"Although she is very popular in the capital, she has never had many friends since childhood—her master and father had too high expectations of her, and she was burdened with heavy responsibilities from a young age."

"Actually, she's quite pitiful too."

Li Chuqiu remained silent, carefully absorbing and digesting the information Xu Jinghong had shared.

He knew Liu Xu had a powerful background, and that getting involved with her would definitely bring trouble. But he hadn't expected the trouble to be this big!

—Even the current princes are involved!

This presented Li Chuqiu with an enormous problem.

"So, this is actually your best chance."

Xu Jinghong looked at Li Chuqiu with burning eyes: "I can't rule out that I have my own selfish motives. I hope you can win over Liu Xu's heart and ruin their plans—but for you, it's also the best choice."

"The Celestial Master's Mansion and even the Celestial Profound Division behind her are the most important things to those princes. The same is true for you—if you want to cultivate and open your sea of ​​consciousness, you can only rely on the foundation of a major sect. Pursuing her is the shortest shortcut in front of you."

"As for how to choose, that's up to you!"

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""

Night falls.

After leaving the restaurant, Li Chuqiu parted ways with Xu Jinghong and went home alone.

Along the way, he continued to process what Xu Jinghong had told him that evening!

Perhaps out of guilt and remorse for having tricked Li Chuqiu before, Xu Jinghong told him many things tonight: about the capital, about the Celestial Master's Mansion, and about that Deputy Commander Liu.

This gave Li Chuqiu a clearer understanding of these forces!

The Celestial Master's Mansion remains one of the top sects in the world. However, compared to its heyday eighteen years ago, it has lost many elite talents after the battle between the Northern Region and the demon race, and is now facing a talent gap.

Therefore, Liu Xu, who has outstanding talent in cultivation, is valued so highly!

She has a master who loves her dearly, but is also extremely strict with her.

According to Xu Jinghong, this story begins with the story of that exceptionally talented genius from the Celestial Master's Mansion who fell in love with the Holy Maiden of the Fox Demon lineage and defected from the Celestial Master's Mansion.

The current Celestial Master of the Celestial Master's Mansion is none other than that peerless genius's junior sister!

That man was originally the designated successor to the Celestial Master, but unfortunately, he ruined his future for a demoness and defected from the Celestial Master's Mansion. This matter later became a taboo within the Celestial Master's Mansion, and no one dared to mention it.

As the junior sister of that exceptionally talented student, she remembered this incident even more vividly. Therefore, she placed great importance on her disciple's education. She loved him dearly, yet was also extremely strict with him.

They even went so far as to take strict precautions, fearing a repeat of the tragedy of that year.

Therefore, Xu Jinghong gave Li Chuqiu a final reminder: if he wanted to pursue Liu Xu, the biggest obstacle probably wouldn't be Liu Xu herself, but rather her master—

Lost in thought, Li Chuqiu returned to the alley and stood outside her house.

By this time, it was already dark.

Li Chuqiu pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard.

But the moment he stepped into the courtyard, a murderous intent suddenly arose.

In the darkness, a sharp, cold light rushed towards Li Chuqiu's face.

Fast and ruthless!

A cultivator at the sixth realm?!

Li Chuqiu's heart skipped a beat; someone had ambushed him in his home.

Where did Xiaobai go?

Why wasn't there an advance warning?

Before he could think about any of this, the moment the killing intent surfaced, Li Chuqiu felt a gust of wind rise from his sleeve, and a powerful aura poured into his fist as he fiercely met the cold light with a punch.

"boom!"

A muffled explosion rang out, and Li Chuqiu took a step back, looking up ahead. She saw that the dark figure in her line of sight had also been forced back two steps.

Seemingly not expecting the opponent to react and withstand the sneak attack, the shadowy figure's eyes widened in shock—this was no seventh realm at all.

But before he could recover from his shock, Li Chuqiu moved again!

In the instant he was knocked back, Li Chuqiu used the momentum from his feet to leap forward and pounce on the dark figure.

After learning the boxing technique that Jiang Ning gave him, Li Chuqiu combined the technique with his already powerful physique and swift movements, showcasing his advantages to the fullest. Every move he made was a clean and decisive attack!

Truly fast, accurate, and ruthless!

Despite being a sixth-realm cultivator with formidable strength, the dark figure still failed to react. Only when Li Chuqiu was close did it finally show horror, frantically circulating its spiritual energy to try and resist!

"Boom!"

"puff!"

The dark figure's defenses were shattered by Li Chuqiu's punch, which slammed into his chest. Instantly, his ribs were broken, he coughed up blood, and flew backward.

Instant kill!

Just as Li Chuqiu was about to close in and finish him off, another aura locked onto him from behind.

besides?

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Chuqiu immediately changed his target, his hand landing on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Draw the knife!

A flash of cold light illuminated the figure of the attacker behind her. The instant the attacker appeared, Li Chuqiu struck with her blade a step faster than her opponent.

"what!"

A sharp scream rang out, and the attacker, who had just approached, suddenly felt a flash of light before his eyes as his vision was blocked.

Then, my arm felt lighter.

The next second, excruciating pain surged through him, and he screamed uncontrollably before collapsing to the ground.

"My hand, my hand!!"

In the dimly lit courtyard, Li Chuqiu stood there with his knife in hand, bloodstains still visible on the blade, a severed arm lying on the ground, blood splattered everywhere.

Only at this moment did Li Chuqiu clearly see the scene in the courtyard.

"Who sent you?!"

Li Chuqiu's knife landed on the neck of the dark figure whose arm he had severed with a single stroke, and he spoke expressionlessly.

But in the next instant, the air seemed to freeze, and an unprecedentedly terrifying aura swept over everything.

Li Chuqiu's face suddenly turned pale.

"snort!"

He groaned, feeling as if his body was churning and a mouthful of blood was stuck in his throat.

"Useless, all of them are useless!"

A deep, hoarse voice rang out.

Immediately afterwards, a figure in black robes appeared silently in the courtyard. When he saw the two people lying on the ground, badly injured, his expression turned extremely grim.

His gaze fell on Li Chuqiu in the courtyard, and he sneered, "You little brat, you've exceeded my expectations."

"A peak seventh-realm cultivator with no cultivation level can actually kill a low-level sixth-realm cultivator instantly, that's interesting!"

At that moment, Li Chuqiu saw the black-robed figure appear in the courtyard, and her heart sank.

They recognized the other person's identity.

Elder Yun!

The old man I met at Prince Jing's mansion a couple of days ago is probably the alchemist who refines pills in the underground palace of Prince Jing's mansion.

Sure enough, he came knocking on our door!

The thought flashed through Li Chuqiu's mind in an instant, but he had anticipated it, so he remained calm and said, "I wonder what grudge I have with you, senior, and why you would send someone to assassinate me?"

"I was going to have them capture you, but I didn't expect you to be so capable."

Elder Yun stared at Li Chuqiu and sneered, "No wonder you were able to force your way into my territory and escape unscathed."

"What do you mean by that, senior?"

Stop pretending!

Old Master Yun stared coldly at him: "Hand over the items!"

"Otherwise, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

"6

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