Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

Chapter 145 Starting with Zero Frames

The next day, Gao Liu, who had finally had a good night's sleep, opened his eyes and saw Shi Yan Zhenren guarding the entrance to his palace.

He said with emotion, "You've worked hard, Imperial Advisor."

Master Shi Yan said tactfully, "Why doesn't Your Majesty sleep a little longer? It's still early."

As Gao Liu got up and dressed, he said, "It's getting late, I still need to arrange today's morning court session—by the way, where are Master Bai Chen and the others?"

Master Shi Yan pointed outside the door: "They went to the imperial kitchen to find something to eat."

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Baichen walked in from outside carrying a food box.

He placed the food box in front of Gao Liu and said, "I went to the imperial kitchen and used the ingredients there to make some food. Would Your Majesty dare to try my cooking?"

Gao Liu opened the food box without hesitation and saw a bowl of meat porridge sprinkled with bright green scallions—it smelled delicious and looked very appealing.

Su Baichen had learned a lot of cooking skills from his master, and it was a rare opportunity for him to show them off.

Gao Liu immediately picked up his bowl and chopsticks and started eating, seemingly without any concern about whether the meat porridge had been spiked with something.

In fact, Su Baichen, who had activated the Profound Yin Heart Mirror throughout, was able to guess Gao Liu's state of mind at this moment.

This emperor was constantly surrounded by a sense of danger from unknown sources, which tormented his spirit and even made him refuse the personal service of the palace servants.

He is on the verge of collapse.

But the moment the three of them appeared in the palace, after a brief moment of fear, the other person felt a sense of security.

Indeed, as the emperor, Gao Liu felt safe with the three strange Taoist priests who suddenly appeared in his palace.

Because for him, he had always been in a state of complete uncertainty and danger, and the appearance of these three people turned all the unknowns into certainties.

After eating and drinking his fill, Gao Liu finally summoned his personal maids, and with their help, he put on the dragon robe.

On this day, all the palace maids who served him as he changed his clothes sensed that the emperor seemed to be acting differently.

In the past, emperors were capricious, and women always had to serve them with utmost care, daring not to make the slightest mistake—after all, this emperor was becoming increasingly fond of killing.

But now, he seems to be in a good mood?

As Gao Liu stepped out of his bedchamber, a group of imperial guards in bright armor stood outside. They then walked together toward the main hall where the morning court was to be held.

On the way, Su Baichen continued to use illusion magic to remain invisible, while Shi Yan Zhenren sat openly with Gao Liu.

"And what about Master Wufeng?"

Gao Liu still asked a question.

At this moment, Su Baichen's voice rang in his ears: "My uncle has left the palace. I will go and meet up with him after I finish what I have to do for His Majesty."

Gao Liu said with some disappointment, "Is the Master leaving already? I haven't even had a chance to show him the hospitality of a host."

Su Baichen said, "May we meet again sometime."

Seeing his composure, Gao Liu couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't the Master representing Emperor Liang to discuss the alliance? Why did he leave in such a hurry?"

As expected of the emperor, he immediately recognized that Su Baichen was a truly capable person.

Su Baichen said, "The matter of forming an alliance will naturally be handled by the envoys of both countries. I have confirmed that His Majesty is also a person of goodwill, and that is enough."

Seeing that Su Baichen was determined to leave, Gao Liu was speechless.

A moment later, they arrived at the main hall for the morning court session.

Su Baichen then attended the morning court session.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a scene—civil and military officials taking turns to present their reports, and everything seemed to be rehearsed in advance, which was quite boring.

Just then, Su Baichen noticed that Gao Liu's gaze was somewhat unfocused.

He realized what I meant and said, "Look at my instructions."

Gao Liu was taken aback, and then he was surprised to see that many of the officials in front of him had a miniature version of Su Baichen above their heads.

These tiny phantoms of Su Baichen were all pointing at the people beneath them and making a throat-slitting gesture to Gao Liu.

"Hahaha----"

Gao Liu suddenly burst into a nervous laugh.

The civil and military officials, who were solemnly presenting their reports, suddenly felt a jolt of fear. The emperor had suddenly gone mad. This episode looked familiar to them!

Then Gao Liu waved his hand and said, "Come on!"

The next moment, the group of imperial guards, whose rank they followed wherever they went, rushed in.

With a cruel smile, Gao Liu said, "I saw the Grim Reaper above the heads of some of you. The Grim Reaper wants me to kill, and I have no choice but to kill—"

Then he began to call out names.

The official whose name was called was immediately taken outside the hall, followed by a scream.

Su Baichen numbly felt wisps of souls flowing into the Myriad Souls Banner in his hand—no, he renamed the banner, now it's called the Formless Banner!

The addition of another formless being to the Formless Banner greatly pleased the ancestral soul within the Soul-Suppressing Sword, so Su Baichen was simultaneously listening to the wails of the formless soul and the praise of the ancestral soul.

Before anyone knew it, nearly half of the officials in the hall had been killed.

More importantly, most of the heads of various departments were dead, which was a devastating blow to the nation's government.

However, Gao Liu casually pointed to a few officials who were trembling with fear and temporarily promoted them to replace the supervisors. Then, he smoothly negotiated the next step of the examination and selection of officials—as if the more than one hundred heads outside the hall could not arouse the slightest interest in the Qi Emperor.

Su Baichen watched as the emperor made a swift move, killing half of his own officials—a truly shocking sight.

Ironically, the surviving officials present remained remarkably calm – in short, everyone understood that Qi had entered another cycle of tyranny, and no one knew what tricks the Qi emperor would pull this time.

When Gao Liu went into the study and faced Su Baichen alone, he finally answered a question from earlier: "This is how we in Qi clean up the court."

It's straightforward and brutal, but what can you do when you're holding a knife?

Su Baichen replied, "Unfortunately, our Liang Kingdom cannot learn this."

Gao Liu laughed heartily, then his laughter subsided: "Master Bai Chen is leaving?"

Su Baichen nodded.

Emperor Gao Liu then said, "Before that, I have another matter to ask you."

Su Baichen waited quietly for him to continue.

"Liang Guogang just experienced a plague; I wonder how many people without physical forms still exist among the common people?"

Su Baichen raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, already knowing what the Emperor Qi wanted to ask. So he replied, "Among the people of Liang, those without form are now less than one in ten."

"Just because of that plague?"

Su Baichen promptly took out a jade box, and through the crystal-clear jade box, one could see a dark-colored pill inside.

"This is the Black Plague Pill. Exposing it to the air will create Black Plague Gas."

"Ordinary people who touch it may only experience some typhoid symptoms, which will soon heal. But if a person without form touches it, they will go mad."

Gao Liu was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Great, this is great!"

A certain inhuman emperor felt he had found a kindred spirit.