Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

Chapter 87 Assassination

Su Baichen accompanied the young emperor Tang Dezhao on a hunt in the mountains, which was actually just playing with the young emperor.

Currently, he's still hoping to salvage the young emperor. After all, he's come to realize that the emperor is essentially just a child—playful, lacking self-control, expecting everyone to cater to his every whim, and afraid of hardship and fatigue.

In an ordinary family, the worst that could happen is for the parents to simply have another baby.

The problem is that he was born into an imperial family and inherited a vast fortune at a young age.

That's the real problem. If the current emperor is a complete tyrant or incompetent ruler, then Su Baichen might as well consider how to replace the emperor or a new batch of royals.

Unfortunately, there is still hope for this young emperor. Although the Liang Kingdom seems to be in dire straits, it is actually a large and deeply rooted power with considerable potential.

The cost of tearing everything down and rebuilding it was too high, and the world was not something he wanted to see in turmoil.

Then we'll just have to make things a bit more complicated and see how to educate this child properly.

"Teacher Xiaobai, how do you think of my 'Hengyue Sword' technique?"

The young emperor presented a set of sword techniques as if it were a treasure, and then said, "This is the ultimate skill of the Hengyue Sword Sect from a hundred years ago. I heard that it was once unmatched in the world. It's just a pity that later generations did not know the key points of the skill, which caused the sect to gradually decline and disappear from the martial arts world."

Fortunately, the Hengyue Sword was put into the imperial palace's secret vault, and there was a corresponding method for wielding its internal energy. However, it was no longer recognizable as the Hengyue Sword that had once been renowned throughout the world.

Upon hearing this, Su Baichen pondered carefully and then began to adjust his luck path.

This was already the sixth set of sword techniques they had studied together. Each time, he would provide matching methods to enhance the power of the sword techniques, which made the young emperor extremely happy.

He truly experienced the feeling of "rapidly improving his strength".

This young emperor has consumed a great deal of rare and precious foods, and has nowhere to expend his boundless energy.

Because he loved martial arts from a young age, he managed to build up a powerful internal force using rare and precious materials.

However, this internal energy is actually quite complex, and if it cannot be purified—

Su Baichen chuckled, wondering why he was worrying about this.

If the young emperor's internal energy could be purified into true qi, wouldn't he also begin cultivating immortality?

He was simply refining the sword techniques according to the young emperor's ideas, while also refining his own swordsmanship.

Having learned so many sword techniques, he was beginning to understand the significance of what Guanlan Sword Lady meant by making him do this.

Because many sword techniques, especially advanced ones, have their own unique features.

Even the sword techniques used by ordinary people in the martial arts world must have contained the sword intent of the creator when they were first created.

Through these sword techniques, and especially by collecting the stories behind them in the palace, Su Baichen gained a deeper understanding of the principles behind sword intent.

Um----

"Guanlan Sword Lady may simply want to wash away his nonsensical sword intent," but after learning many profound sword techniques, he had another idea: to customize sword intent!

After all, in essence, sword intent is actually a resonance with the various grand images in the world. So if he comprehends those natural images first, and then studies how to integrate them into his sword moves, wouldn't that be customizing his sword intent?

To be honest, he now feels that for a swordsman, sword moves are perhaps like paper and pen for a scholar. Wielding the sword and performing moves is like splashing ink and writing calligraphy, both of which are interpretations of one's own insights and thoughts.

If calligraphy and literature can have true meaning, then sword techniques can naturally have true meaning as well.

As Su Baichen pondered this, and slowly began to feel something, he suddenly felt a sharp urge in his senses, realizing that there was malice surrounding him.

He suddenly fell silent, stood up, and quickly scanned his surroundings—

"Master Bai, what's wrong?"

Su Baichen said, "Someone is plotting against you. Quickly alert everyone to be on guard."

The young emperor didn't take it seriously: "Not many people know we're here, so why would anyone come—"

However, before he could finish speaking, crossbow bolts shot out from all around!

The imperial guards on the outer perimeter were all hit by arrows; even their leather armor could not stop the arrows from piercing through.

They were there to hunt, not to fight, so few of the guards wore heavy armor.

In an instant, chaos ensued.

Su Baichen swiftly retrieved the Emperor's sword from a sword rack on the side of the tent and placed it in Tang Dezhao's arms, saying, "Your Majesty, we cannot stay here."

The eunuchs nearby shrieked, "How dare you! You're encouraging His Majesty to take such a risk! His Majesty's safety is paramount! How can you allow him to go out at this time?"

The eunuchs screamed incessantly, making one's head throb.

However, Su Baichen lifted a corner of the tent flap: "Tang Dezhao, don't forget you're still a man, and you have your wife and children beside you."

As the tent flaps were lifted, a scene of utter chaos and disarray was revealed. The guards seemed to lack any sense of direction, running around aimlessly, seemingly unaware of how to defend themselves against the enemy.

Seeing this, the young emperor lost his previous panic and instead felt only ashamed.

Ignoring the eunuchs' shouts, he strode out of the tent and roared, "Calm down, all of you! Don't embarrass me!"

The entire audience heard the sound, and it was because of this that the guards suddenly had a backbone and began to spontaneously organize their resistance.

The young emperor nodded in satisfaction and then strode towards the adjacent tent.

This move was incredibly reckless, especially considering there were arrows flying everywhere!

This is where Su Baichen's job comes in. With all his spiritual senses activated, he can quietly point out a crossbow bolt aimed at the young emperor and deflect it.

Judging from his appearance, the young emperor seemed to be protected by gods and Buddhas, with arrows all going around him.

They rushed to the next tent, lifted the curtain, and saw a chaotic scene inside where several women were hugging each other in panic.

"Alright, all of you, quiet down! With me here, nothing serious will happen!"

He seemed very impatient. As an older child whose mind was not yet mature, he genuinely disliked this situation.

However, at this moment, his status was far more important than his feelings. As soon as he spoke, everyone fell silent.

He sat there casually in his concubines' tent, waiting for news from outside.

This mere gesture was enough to rouse the soldiers outside to their best efforts.

"You—come here, let me see this child, his name is—"

He hesitated slightly, and the head eunuch beside him quickly leaned in and whispered, "The prince's name is Zhengxian, and his childhood name is Lu'er, which Your Majesty chose for him last year."

The young emperor immediately said, "Yes, bring the little deer over here so I can have a good look at him. He is my eldest son."

Empress He burst into tears. It was truly a hard-won victory that the Emperor had finally remembered his son!

Su Baichen wanted to cover his face again. It seemed that this young emperor had a wife and children, but he had always ignored them.

This level of capriciousness is truly rare.

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