Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Can't stop!

Diao Yuan was horrified. This person hadn't even activated his spiritual power, so how could his sword strike be so terrifying!

"You're at the Sword Saint level?!"

He quickly manipulated the two flying swords, nourished with his own blood, to defend himself, but to no avail. The two swords shattered, and he coughed up blood and flew backward.

Hearing the commotion outside, Cui Lian and the others inside hurriedly dressed, but they were too late. Disguised, Chu Mingkong kicked open the door and went in. After slapping the men, he grabbed the disheveled Cui Lian and the young man and threw them onto the street. None of his cronies escaped this treatment.

A group of women from the market came over to watch who was playing with the young man.

"Remember, my name is Zhang San."

After leaving his message, Chu Mingkong disappeared from the spot.

When the officials arrived, only a heavy sword, readily available for purchase, remained in the ruined brothel.

--------

Chu Mingkong had just returned to his residence and was pretending not to have gone out when his door was suddenly pushed open.

He was so rude that he thought he had been tracked down so quickly.

"Mingkong, where did you go?"

"I went and taught a lesson to someone who had a foul mouth."

Zuo Qiuchi knew what it was about after thinking about it, and was too lazy to ask in detail: "Alright, then go out of the city now. There is a very important person. This person is ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth and dares to provoke his master. Just use your sword immortal skills to deal with her and teach her a lesson."

"it is good."

Seeing that she was in such a hurry, Chu Mingkong didn't ask any more questions and hurried towards the outskirts of the city. Soon he saw a woman in black carrying a thin sword.

Meanwhile, Feng Ying, who had just finished dealing with his business, hid in the night and discovered two sword intents surging in the suburbs. When he went to check the situation, he found that Chu Mingkong was fighting with a woman!

"This woman's attacks are sharp and her pressure is extremely strong. The key is that she's very strong. Chu Mingkong looks completely bewildered. This doesn't seem like a friendly sparring match. Is she someone who's here to assassinate him?!"

Chu Mingkong had been living peacefully in the capital for so long without encountering any trouble. At most, he was only made things difficult by the emperor. How could he be assassinated for no reason?

Feng Ying instantly thought of the Empress, and looked coldly toward the direction of the palace.

Does she perhaps want to get rid of the person who needs treatment so she can avoid fulfilling the contract?

Chapter Fourteen: Sitting in the palace, a pot falls from the sky.

"Who is this woman in black robes? Her butt looks familiar."

Chu Mingkong muttered to himself. After arriving at the outskirts of the city, he soon saw the mysterious woman with a sharp sword.

The woman was dressed in a black robe, with long, flowing, dark black hair cascading from beneath her hood. A black veil blocked any senses from the outside world. The evening breeze blew through the loose black robe, which clung to her body, revealing her curvaceous figure. In the blink of an eye, Chu Mingkong still managed to catch a glimpse of the outline of her waist and hips.

Even just from the outline, one can discern the astonishing curve.

Chu Mingkong vaguely felt that such a distinctive, plump bottom looked familiar, but his memory was hazy and he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

But he shouldn't have seen this person before. This woman stood quietly in place, with a soaring sword aura behind her. She was like an unparalleled sword. If a person had cultivated the way of the sword to this level, they would at least be at the level of a sword saint. But Chu Mingkong didn't remember knowing any sword saint.

The sword immortal did indeed have a mistress he kept hidden away in his mansion.

"My name is Chu Mingkong. What business do you have with me, young lady?"

"Zuo Qiuchi said you're very capable, that she's trained a good apprentice, so I came here specifically to test your skills." The woman's voice was somewhat muffled, as if she were speaking to him through a mask, and it was clear that she was deliberately lowering her voice; her original voice would probably be even more pleasant to hear.

Given her own master's personality, it's normal for her to provoke people, but it's unlikely that she would provoke a mortal enemy. Most likely, she was just exaggerating and making others not believe that she had taught a near-sword immortal.

Judging from the other person's beautiful buttocks, they don't seem like an unreasonable person; they seem like someone worth getting to know and befriending! Chu Mingkong said amicably:

"Please excuse my ignorance. I have no skill whatsoever. I am injured and I am afraid I cannot fulfill your request for testing. If my master's boasting was excessive, I apologize on her behalf. May I invite you to my residence for a visit?"

Chu Mingkong didn't know what he had said wrong, or what his tone had offended, but the mysterious woman's aura suddenly became sharp.

"Master, do you really consider that scoundrel your teacher? Stop talking nonsense. The Xiling Prince's Mansion shouldn't have raised such a degenerate and decadent person. Where is his spirit?"

Xiao Yunhan's tone was sharp; she was genuinely angry.

She had been away from the royal palace for many years to cultivate, and had severed ties with the Xiling royal family for a long time due to some reasons. However, there were unavoidable circumstances. She had gone into seclusion a few years ago and only came out these past two days. As a result, when she inquired, she found that Chu Mingkong's "great achievements" were being spread everywhere.

Even if someone is in the capital and has no other choice, how can they be treated this badly? And after being treated this badly, do they still respect the other person's elders?

Upon hearing the news, Xiao Yunhan didn't even inform her sect before leaving seclusion. Instead, she went straight down the mountain to the capital to see just how badly Chu Mingkong had fallen.

Chu Mingkong was inexplicably rebuked by the cold voice, completely bewildered and confused. Moreover, the woman's attitude carried a hint of anger, as if she were both angry at his lack of ambition and saddened by his misfortune.

He wondered to himself, "What's going on? Didn't this woman have a falling out with my lazy master? Why does she sound like she's lecturing me? Is she trying to provoke me?"

"Draw your sword."

After the woman finished speaking simply, she showed no further intention of discussing it with Chu Mingkong, and broke off a branch from the roadside. The water-attribute spiritual energy manifested as frost, covering the branch and transforming it into a simple ice sword.

Ice-attribute spiritual energy?

This is a rare state of water elemental energy in the Five Elements. Some cultivators can use their own water elemental energy to perform techniques related to frost and ice, but it is very difficult for them to turn their own elemental energy into ice. This can be said to be a talent. You can't find one out of ten water-attribute cultivators who can turn their elemental energy into ice.

However, Chu Mingkong actually knew one... No wonder the outline of that buttocks looked so familiar to me.

Although he didn't know why she was hiding her identity and using this method of meeting, Chu Mingkong put aside many questions after learning the other party's identity and took out a heavy sword from his spatial storage ring.

"Breaking Army Slash!"

He activated the remaining ten or twenty percent of his power, and the fire elemental energy corrupted by the Abyss burst forth in fury. Chu Mingkong, wielding a heavy sword, moved like a shuttle, leaving a long trail of flames behind the sword as he approached the woman. With a single strike, he unleashed a wave of heat, turning the surrounding trees to ashes and scorching the ground black with the stench of burning feet.

Xiao Yunhan raised the tree branch ice sword with one hand, effortlessly blocking the sword that stirred up a wave of fire. She stood upright like a pine tree, without any effort, but the position where she was standing was pushed back half a finger's distance, and the ice sword was also scorched with a black crack.

"It's barely acceptable, is there anything else?" she said calmly.

Chu Mingkong's sword strike contained nothing new. Due to his declining cultivation level and strength, its power was even less than when he was younger. However, his fighting spirit in wielding the sword remained, indicating that his will to fight was still intact.

The rumors of "humility" might have been partly Chu Mingkong's own interpretation. Having tested this point, Xiao Yunhan had achieved her goal for this trip.

"Yes, it is, but why don't you make a move?"

"I haven't seen a sword that's worth using yet."

Upon hearing this, Chu Mingkong understood her purpose. She probably came to test his current strength and see if he had truly fallen from grace.

He retreated several steps quickly, adjusting his breathing in the blink of an eye. As Chu Mingkong activated his full power, he sought the feeling of the Great Sword Immortal realm. Suddenly, a sharp pain appeared in his chest, as if a claw was squeezing his heart. Chu Mingkong suppressed his mind and endured the indescribable soul-devouring pain with his willpower.

Xiao Yunhan sensed Chu Mingkong's change, and a look of surprise and doubt appeared on her beautiful face beneath the veil.

Did Zuo Qiuchi, who used to take Chu Mingkong around aimlessly, really turn him into a sword immortal? No, something's not right.

She noticed something unusual. A sword immortal is the ultimate in swordsmanship, the result of a sword cultivator bringing their understanding of sword intent to its peak. Every sword intent is unique. There may be two similar sword intents, but there cannot be two sword immortals with similar or even identical sword intents.

Xiao Yunhan finally took it seriously and couldn't help but say:

"Have you been possessed by Zuo Qiuchi? Look how much of her influence you've acquired."

Centered on her, the surroundings quickly transformed into a world of ice and snow, and the ashes of fire scattered in the air were frozen into ice crystals that fell down with a soft rustling sound.

In the sweltering heat of the night, snow and ice descended upon the outskirts of the city.

"Slice through steel!" The heavy sword in Chu Mingkong's hand cracked with fiery scorch marks.

Military camps have their own martial arts techniques, whose names are not as evocative as those of major sects; they are all as simple as possible. However, their killing skills on the battlefield are by no means weak. This "Steel Slash" is specifically designed to break through shield formations. It may seem like a rough, horizontal slash, but in reality, its power is concentrated at a single point, seemingly crude yet refined.

At the same time, Feng Ying, who had just arrived from the city, witnessed Chu Mingkong exerting all his strength in battle.

Xiao Yunhan didn't know much about Chu Mingkong's injuries, but Feng Ying had been paying close attention and knew more than she did. Forcing himself to circulate his internal energy was extremely difficult for Chu Mingkong now; he had to endure excruciating pain.

To push him to this point, that mysterious woman was indeed aiming to kill him.

He immediately emerged from the darkness and attacked Xiao Yunhan from behind. The technique he used with the dagger in his hand was actually similar to the "Steel-Cutting Technique," and it was a slightly modified version of "Steel-Cutting Technique" suitable for daggers!

Xiao Yunhan glared at Chu Mingkong with an icy expression.

Is this Mingkong's lover? He casually teaches military general-level martial arts techniques to outsiders!

Faced with the "Steel-Slicing" attacks from two directions, Xiao Yunhan raised her sword and unleashed the same "Steel-Slicing" attack. The sword-swinging motion was invisible, but the sword light was already out, and Chu Mingkong and Feng Ying were simultaneously knocked back.

She glanced at Feng Ying, then her gaze returned to Chu Mingkong. She didn't say much, but presumably she thought he was qualified. She tossed him a few bottles of pills and then disappeared into the Frost and Moon Shadow.

They really came and went in a hurry...

"Fengying, what brings you here?" Chu Mingkong put away the bottles of pills and looked at her curiously.

The woman, whose beauty was unparalleled, did not answer, but instead asked, "Who was that person just now?"

Chu Mingkong didn't want to explain too deeply, so he pretended not to know and shook his head: "I don't know, but she can also 'cut steel,' so she probably has a powerful background."

Feng Ying's expression was not good. "Steel Slash" was rarely circulated outside the palace. Apart from the generals of the Tianji Empire, the only people who could come into contact with it were the Tianji royal family itself.

As expected, they were people invited by the Empress. Seeing that someone was protecting Chu Mingkong, they quickly left.

"Go wait at Haizhenlou first, I'll go and bring the doctor over to you!" Feng Ying handed Chu Mingkong a room plaque, and before he could ask any questions, she disappeared in a hurry.

Chu Mingkong felt that tonight was really inexplicable. What was Feng Ying saying just now?

Tie me up?

------

The Empress's bedroom.

Empress Pei was racking her brains to find a cure by consulting ancient books, and she didn't have much time left.

There's only a year to go. If we lose our vital essence at this crucial moment, all our previous efforts will be in vain!

Suddenly, a murderous intent filled her room, and Feng Ying's voice rang out like the death knell:

"You've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve. Trying to settle our deal this way? I was wondering what kind of solution you could possibly gain in a day, turns out you went to take care of the patient!"

Empress Pei: ? ? ?

Chapter Fifteen: Aren't you moved by my filial piety?

Chu Mingkong arrived at the Haizhen Restaurant that Feng Ying had mentioned. It was just a restaurant that offered room and board, but it was quite high-class, somewhat like a star-rated hotel in his previous life. Coincidentally, restaurants in this world were also divided into star ratings, and high-star restaurants catered to cultivators, providing ingredients that could almost all aid in cultivation.

The service only charges spirit stones, and even wealthy merchants may not be able to get in and enjoy the service.

"I really understand the Wind Shadow less and less..."