Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

Chapter 143 The Sick Emperor

The Gao clan of Qi, a famous royal family known for its eccentricities, is full of bizarre and unbelievable events that challenge people's values.

For example, a once wise and powerful emperor can suddenly become extremely cruel. Take the second emperor of Qi, for instance. He was originally a highly anticipated wise ruler... but suddenly went mad for some unknown reason and killed and cooked his favorite concubine! This marked the beginning of the first dark age for Qi.

On that occasion, relying on the still-powerful military strength of the Gao clan, he ravaged the entire Qi state from beginning to end, plundering all the accumulated assets of the local powerful families... This, in turn, laid the economic foundation for the Gao clan's subsequent rule.

Two generations later, the State of Qi experienced a crisis of having no imperial heir, and had to choose a harmless person from the royal family to inherit the throne.

However, after ascending the throne, this young emperor lived a peaceful and uneventful life for the first half of his life, doing nothing and seemingly being an obedient and good child.

But at some point, he completely took control of the Gao clan's army, unified the Gao clan's ideology, and then ushered in the second dark age in the history of the Qi state.

The fact that the court was once again subjected to a bloodbath was a minor matter; the first thing this emperor did after assuming power was to order the death of his own mother!

Good heavens, such unfilial behavior would definitely be met with all sorts of condemnation in any other place, and even the royal family should no longer stand on his side... But the problem is, the power of the royal family has always stood by his side without wavering.

For three hundred years, the State of Qi maintained a pattern of two wise rulers followed by a tyrant, and thus it was passed down in a strange way.

Su Baichen learned that Qi State had no fertile ground for aristocratic families to thrive. However, because officials were replaced very quickly, it was also the place where the imperial examination system was most effective and where the average level of education was the highest.

Even among the common people, in the countryside, the ordinary folks didn't have many complaints about the rule of the Gao family in Qi. After all, the Gao family rarely waged wars abroad after taking power, focusing instead on domestic affairs and dealing with the "big shots" in the eyes of the common people.

As a result, the people lived in peace, and many died of old age in the countryside...

This stark contrast even gave Su Baichen an impulse to simply support the Gao family in unifying the world.

The Gao family is truly amazing.

Su Baichen wondered if the Gao family could also sense the existence of the Formless Ones.

Su Baichen was initially puzzled as to why the Liang Kingdom's purge hadn't provoked a counterattack from the Formless Ones... It turns out that the Gao family had been carrying out purges every now and then, and they were used to it.

The group arrived in the capital of Qi, but only Master Shi Yan and Elder Wu Feng Sword entered the palace with Su Baichen.

The imperial palace is filled with the oppressive aura of the human forces, so it's best for cultivators to avoid entering if possible.

Besides Master Shi Yan, who insisted on coming, Elder Wu Feng Sword accompanied Su Baichen as his 'guardian'.

There's an unwritten rule in Changchun Palace now: if Su Baichen wants to go out, he must be accompanied by at least one elder to protect him... To be honest, with an elder from Changchun Palace as a bodyguard, things always seem to go wrong for Su Baichen.

As the three walked along the wide corridors of the palace, they felt a sense of gloom and desolation about the Qi Kingdom's palace.

There weren't many palace servants here, but what pleased the group was that there were no Formless Ones here!

Speaking of which, the current Qi Emperor Gao Liu can be considered a wise ruler, but the problem is that his two predecessors were also wise rulers... This raises a question: according to the Gao family's "frequency of illness," it seems that Gao Liu has reached the point where he should be getting sick?

They arrived at the palace and found a young man who looked extremely haggard in the bedroom.

Yes, young people.

In the realm of cultivators, being in one's thirties is still considered young.

He was without any palace servants by his side. In the dead of night, with his hair disheveled and eyes wide open, he lay on the dragon bed... He looked extremely tired, yet he still looked around warily, as if there was something extremely terrifying in the palace.

As Su Baichen and the others stepped into the emperor's bedchamber, he suddenly sat up as if startled, exclaiming at the entrance, "Who's there?!"

Master Shi Yan was startled and turned to look over, assuming that Su Baichen's illusion had malfunctioned.

However, Su Baichen knew that his illusion technique was definitely not the problem, so the only one with the problem could be the emperor...

Hearing the commotion outside, he grabbed the two men and quickly pulled them into the palace.

A moment later, a palace servant rushed in with a group of guards and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Normally, palace servants, who were close attendants to the emperor, should have been serving him personally at this time. However, these palace servants, along with the guards, watched from a distance and did not approach.

At this moment, Emperor Gao Liu of Qi looked bewildered, then irritably snapped at the palace servants and guards, "Get out! Who let you in?!"

The palace servant and guard quickly apologized and then retreated in a state of fear and trepidation.

However, judging from the skill of his movements, he was clearly very familiar with this situation.

After everyone had left, Gao Liu lay down again, seemingly lost in thought.

He seemed very nervous and sensitive when he lay down, constantly looking around.

What bothered Su Baichen again was that his gaze repeatedly glanced at the corner where they were, only to move away in vain after finding nothing.

This state surprised Su Baichen: Could Gao's madness refer to an uncontrolled heightened sensitivity of his spiritual senses?!

Such a person is fine under normal circumstances, but if one is surrounded by pseudo-people like the Formless Ones, the uncontrollable and incomprehensible spiritual warnings might drive one insane...

Gao Liu, who had returned to the dragon bed, was far from at ease. He would sit up from time to time, look around, and then lie back down in a daze, oblivious to everything around him.

This state lasted for half an hour until Master Shi Yan couldn't bear it any longer and simply stepped out of Su Baichen's illusion.

"Your Majesty, please do not be alarmed. Shi Yan, a man from beyond the secular world, has taken the liberty of visiting. Please forgive him."

Gao Liu was startled when he saw the person who suddenly appeared in his palace. He quickly sat up and tried to go crazy.

But when he saw Shi Yan, Wu Feng Jian Lao, and Su Baichen quietly emerging from the corner, he suddenly fell silent.

Surprisingly, he regained his imperial composure after wiping his face.

"So you are Master Shi Yan. May I ask how the other two guests are addressed?"

The Sword Master Wufeng introduced himself and Su Baichen, saying, "I am Wufeng, and my junior brother Baichen and I are cultivators from the Liang Kingdom who have traveled here. We have met the Emperor of the Qi Kingdom."

Gao Liu was surprised: "Cultivators from Liang Kingdom? These are rare guests. What brings you here to see me?"

The Sword Master Wufeng's expression froze; he didn't want to come looking for Emperor Qi...

He looked at Shi Yan, about to let Shi Yan speak.

Unexpectedly, Su Baichen suddenly said, "Your Majesty, I am here on behalf of Your Majesty Liang to see if there is any possibility of an alliance between the two kingdoms of Qi and Liang."

Wu Fengjian's eyes widened slightly. "Is this even possible?"