Upon hearing that voice, Xu Sheng instantly took on an expression of trepidation.
“Could it be… him?” The Supreme Elder of the Yue Mountain Faction who had remained calm and optimistic after losing his arms now looked rather apprehensive.
Li Mu asked curiously, “Who is it then?”
Xu Sheng muttered, “I wish it’s not him. If it is, I’m afraid we stand no chance.”
At that remark, Qiu Yin and the others’ hearts shivered.
“What kind of man on earth could hold Xu Sheng in fear?”
“Let’s see who it is then. I do hope it is not him,” grunted Xu Sheng. With a grim look, he gazed up at the huge shuttle flying towards them unhurriedly from a kilometer away.
It was safe to say that such a flying shuttle was the most advanced equipment the air force of the Western Qin Empire had by that time. It represented the highest achievement of the contemporary star alchemy, which was called the Flying Whale Shuttle.
The Flying Whale Shuttle was propelled by star tactical deployments. It was made of special materials, which included gold, iron, earth, and wood. It was shaped like a whale swimming in the vast sky. Although it could only flying at a moderate speed, it was a weapon at the strategic level. The shuttle could transport troops, shun the scouts, and launch raids. The Star-patterned Cannons it carried were nightmares to cities, fields, and local forces. When those cannons fired simultaneously, destruction would befall.
Serving as the wingmen of the flying shuttles, the soldiers riding the eagles kept hovering around them. To shoot off those flying shuttles, one had to deal with the incredibly agile fighters on the back of the eagles. Further, each of the eagle riders was in or above the Great Master Realm and armed with a wide range of weapons, including special bows, axes, boomerangs, and killing nets. They could give their enemies a severe headache no matter in a one-on-one battle or a collective attack.
Yet, of course, those were no problems to the experts who had gained the Full Achievement of the Celestial Being Realm.
But the trickiest problem was that each of the flying shuttles also carried a Sage or a Semi-Sage.
That was the most horrible part.
In the entire Western Qin Empire, there were only 20 Flying Whale Shuttles.
But to obliterate the Yue Mountain Faction, three flying shuttles were employed at the same time. That undoubtedly showed how much attention the imperial court had paid to the Yue Mountain Faction.
With the dense beats of military drums and howls of bugles, the increasingly relentless invasion of the Yue Mountain Faction started again.
Innumerable figures sped down to the gate of the Yue Mountain Faction like swarms of ants.
From the sky, those flying warlocks and martial art experts also fired all kinds of shots at the target without a stop. Several thousand jets of colorful qi and magic light kept bombarding the glowing shield generated by the defensive deployment of the Yue Mountain Faction. Ripples began to spread across the shield. Due to the fierce impact, the main peak of the entire mountain area started to tremble.
It was a scene of pure despair.
The three Flying Whale Shuttles halted in their tracks in midair when they were about 500 meters away from the gate of the Yue Mountain Faction.
On the shuttle in the lead, several people stepped to the limelight.
“It’s the crown prince of the Western Qin!” Qiu Yin shouted.
At the sight of the black-robed middle-aged man wearing a bright yellow cape that billowing in the wind, he immediately recognized that the man was exactly the current crown prince of the Western Qin Empire.
Surely, it was an expedition led by a royal!
In terms of status, the crown prince of the Western Qin was only second to the emperor himself among the entire royal family.
He had come there in person. It was no wonder that the flay of that nine-headed bird was hung on that Flying Whale Shuttle.
Given that the emperor was still in closed-door training, the crown prince was temporarily in charge of the state affairs. As the Western Qin was in such chaos— struggling with internal strife and foreign aggression while commotions occurred everywhere, the crown prince who ought to stay safely in the capital suddenly decided to lead the expedition to the Yue Mountain Faction himself. That was somewhat risky and unnecessary, wasn’t it? Plus, Huang Shengyi’s defeat occurred only a short while ago. But the punitive force of the Western Qin Empire had already arrived. Referring to the timeline, perhaps the army of the crown prince was already on the way before they received the news of Huang Shengyi’s death.
Hearing Qiu Yin’s shout, Li Mu could not help but cast another glance at that black-robed man.
The crown prince of the Western Qin looked well-mannered. He was tall and imposing, quite fit for the throne. Li Mu was sure that he was not a man who only looked impressive but was good only for feasting and drinking.
Nevertheless, Li Mu had no good vibe for him.
Because back then, the crown prince once filed an indictment against Li Mu in the imperial court, attempting to make him a scapegoat. Although Li Mu was later granted the title “Lord Taibai” on exception, it was all attributed to Li Mu’s amazing strength. So, generally, the crown prince was an expert in manipulation, a qualified politician, but definitely not friend material, for all he saw was benefits instead of faith and loyalty.
Anyway, with the Western Qin in such mayhem and the emperor allegedly dead due to the flawed closed-door training, shouldn’t the crown prince focus on stabilizing Qin City and fight for his interests? The crown prince could not be that stupid as to make such a blunder— leaving the power center and hurrying there to crush the Yue Mountain Faction. He was by no means an idiot. So, why did he make that move?
Xu Sheng then added, “The crown prince is not fearsome. The one we should truly dread is the man standing on his left.”
“Eh?” Li Mu strained his eyes to look at that man.
Standing on the crown prince’s left was an old eunuch. His hair and long beard were fully white. His brows were so long that they hang around his ears. He looked hoary and weathered, for he was a little hunchback and the skin on his face was bordered on dried orange peels and draped in deep lines. His eyes were narrowed, as if they could not stand the wind. And he was rather bony. The large chief eunuch uniform on him looked like a tent propped up by a stick of bamboo. What was more, Li Mu had detected not a single trace of natural qi on him.
Behind the old eunuch stood two younger eunuchs. Both of them had fine features and were gently supporting the old eunuch.
“He doesn’t look like a martial arts practitioner,” Li Mu said, “only the two little eunuchs behind him are surprisingly Natural Experts. That’s kind of impressive. Anyway, what are the numbers of that old eunuch?”
Xu Sheng inhaled deeply. With a hint of terror on his face, he answered, “He is a Sage.”
“A Sage?” Li Mu and the others exclaimed in disbelief.
“There is really such a nameless Sage among the royal force?” Qiu Yin questioned.
Xu Sheng replied, “That chief eunuch is not nameless at all. On the contrary, several centuries ago, his name once overawed the entire Western Qin as much as Death. Any empire or sects that went against him were later soaked in blood. During the past few centuries, the reason that all the sects and factions had remained meek and stayed out of trouble was that they were too scared by his slaughter. Later, perhaps out of the guilt for taking too many lives, he retreated to the mountains and swore to stop the killing. I thought he must have died a natural death by now. But it turns out…”
“That kind of man can’t be nameless. Tell me what his name is.” Li Mu urged, deeply intrigued.
Xu Sheng said, “Emperor’s Broadsword.”
At that remark, all the members of the Yue Mountain Faction looked appalled. Xu Yue, the head, cried, “He can’t be the man who has wiped out 351 sects, gangs, and noble clans in the Western Qin and never spared a person whether the victim was aged or young, an insignificant member or a core disciple once he started the kill, can he? You know, in a decade, he has killed innumerable people and earned the title as ‘the butcher of a million people’. And he also goes by the name Yingshan Snow-eagle, the Emperor’s bloody broadsword. You aren’t talking about him, are you?”
Xu Sheng reluctantly nodded and confirmed, “Yes. That is him.”
Xu Yue and the others instantly went petrified. They were already scared even before the fight started.
Qiu Yin’s expressions altered several times. Then, he remarked, “I’ve also heard about that man. The surname Yingshan is very rare. I was told that he invented that surname himself… 10 years ago, my master once mentioned to me that Yingshan Snow-eagle had once challenged him. In that duel, Yingshan Snow-eagle only lost one move to my master and beat a retreat unscathed.”
Who was Qiu Yin’s master then?
Well, it was Li Poyue, the Guanshan Master and a legendary figure in the martial art world of the Western Qin Empire.
He was the man who had eclipsed all the practitioners in the Western Qin for centuries and stood firmly at the top of the pyramid in the martial art circle on the entire land.
But in that battle, Yingshan Snow-eagle proved himself not less inferior to Li Poyue except for one move and managed to retreat unscathed. That sufficiently demonstrated how intimidating he was.
“My master also believed that the man had run through his lifespan and met his end. He has killed too many people and burdened by that guilt for life after all. Also, he was no stranger to pains and injuries after participating in those punitive expeditions, so the injuries might have sapped most of his vitality. I never knew he is still alive and has been employed by the imperial palace as a eunuch!” Qiu Yin said, his face gloomier than ever.
That eunuch was certainly not the amateur Sage like Huang Shengyi.
Yingshan Snow-eagle had earned the title “Emperor’s Broadsword” by blazing a path through heaps of bones and seas of blood.
For a moment, a sense of helplessness and desperation permeated the main hall in silence.
A single name could impose that effect on people. That was the rule of the martial art world.
Li Mu cocked his brows.
“They got cold feet even before the war begins. Well, that leaves them no chance to win.”
“In that case, whenever there is a dispute, no one will try to battle it out but just reveal their titles, and then the winner will go straight to the party who has more imposing titles. If so, what are all the fights and bloodshed for? Why are those guys in Jianghu getting more chicken-hearted year by year?”
“Let me take a shot at him first.” Li Mu volunteered.
“No!” Xu Sheng yelled in alarm. “He has inconceivable skills. You…”
Li Mu smiled at Xu Sheng and said, “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Even if I can’t withstand his strikes, I will escape unscathed.”
As those words came out, Li Mu already turned into a flash of broadsword light and sped out of the range of the All-side Starlight Deployment.
“Well, he is too impatient…” Xu Sheng signed in anxiety.
Qiu Yin closed his fingers around the handle of his Magic Blood Broadsword and said, “Get ready to help him. I don’t allow anything to happen to Li Mu…”
…
…
On the Flying Whale Shuttle at the forefront.
“The Yue Mountain Faction is so stupid and obstinate that they dared take Qiu Yin in. Haw-haw, our imperial army has been dying to get rid of this faction left behind by the Great Moon Empire for a long time. This time, it’s them who ask for their doom.” Yan Ruyun, Commander in Chief of the Flying Eagle Batallion, spoke with a sneer. He was a handsome man in his thirties, cladding a suit of shining silver armor and exuding an air of valiance and elegance.
He was the crown prince’s peer tutor. He was born in a noble family and graduated from the Guanshan Pasture. His cultivation was in the Celestial Being Realm, and he was very proud of his status as an Eagle partisan in the imperial army.
Yingshan Snow-eagle, the chief eunuch, was devoid of expression. He looked as shivery as he always was, as though he might not catch his breath and die any second.
The crown prince heaved with a sigh. Then, he shook his head and said, “Ruyun, don’t underestimate your enemies. Father has told me that the Yue Mountain Faction housed something really incredulous. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent the elites of the seven imperial battalions, Eunuch Yingshan, and us here.” Although he had finally been granted the power to command the armies and go on the expedition, the crown prince was not as elated as the others thought. Because his father, the emperor, who was rumored to be dead due to a flawed session of the closed-door training, just came out 10 days ago and appeared to be more powerful than he was. The emperor had broken through the bottleneck and stretched his lifespan to another 500 years.
That meant in the next five centuries, the crown prince had no chance to take the throne at all.
As they were talking, they saw a jet of dazzling broadsword light zoomed out of the defensive deployment the Yue Mountain Faction placed. Someone was out!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Five-colored beams of flying broadsword light flashed everywhere. It looked like there was a meteor shower. The sky was instantly cut in pieces by that kind of broadsword qi. Blood splashed across the field. Driven by the Broadsword-commanding Skill, 20 flying broadswords had wounded or killed numerous experts that were attacking the All-side Starlight Deployment. In a trice, the strikes of the forces of the Western Qin declined a little.
“Li Mu is here. Yingshan Snow-eagle, get out and duel with me!”
The short-haired young man riding on his broadsword suspended in midair and threw down the gauntlet.
