by Zhi Bai
An Zheng sneered, and then smashed out a punch as well.
Lu Kuan immediately placed both his arms horizontally in front of his chest, then gathered all the Cultivation Power on his two arms in preparation to block An Zheng's fists.
But no, nothing.
After An Zheng threw his fist out, the air was as quiet as still water, there was no wind from his fist at all.
But just as Lu Kuan was astonished, a ball of air suddenly exploded right next to his face. The ball of air appeared without any warning and did not fluctuate at all. When it exploded, Lu Kuan simply did not have time to react. Lu Kuan's head was tilted to the side due to the air explosion. His hair was all blown towards the side, which was near the side of the air mass.
It was as if dozens of small knives had sliced through his face at the same time.
Lu Kuan's body fell to the side. He was clearly already at a disadvantage, but no one had thought that he would actually strike back so viciously.
The moment Lu Kuan fell down, a steel wire shot out from his sleeve. An Zheng swung the steel wire in front of him, causing Lu Kuan to rush over and smash his fist into An Zheng's face. This room was not big to begin with, and since the two of them were fast, it was difficult for them not to fight in close quarters.
An Zheng held Hong Luanzan in his right hand, and his left hand extended forward to grab Lu Kuan's wrist. Just as he was about to break Lu Kuan's wrist, Lu Kuan's hand turned into a snake and crawled up An Zheng's arm that was wrapped around it. Following that, a ball of Qi was spat out from his palm, blasting towards An Zheng's face.
An Zheng tilted his head and dodged, but the force of the explosion caused a small hole in the wall behind him.
However, it was as if there were fingers on every part of Lu Kuan's arm. His muscles could actually move, and it seemed as if countless fingers had grown out of his arm.
Tendon splitting and bone breaking.
As long as the fingers started to exert force, An Zheng's arm would be crippled.
An Zheng flicked the arm that was grabbed, and another ball of air exploded beside his face, directly blowing Lu Kuan's head to the side once again. Just at that moment, An Zheng kicked Lu Kuan's lower abdomen. Lu Kuan's arm could not help but swing backwards, while An Zheng's hand followed it. With a tug and tug on Lu Kuan's arm, the muscles and tendons in his arm were twisted in the wrong place, it was as if his bones were twisted into a fried dough twist.
With an "Ah", Lu Kuan could not bear it anymore and shouted out.
An Zheng rushed forward and smashed his fist into Lu Kuan's lower jaw. At the same time Lu Kuan was sent flying backwards, a few teeth flew out from his mouth.
Not waiting for An Zheng to continue walking forward, Lu Kuan's entire person changed in midair. It was as if he had turned into a big bug. His entire body was soft without any bones. After he landed on the ground, he raised his head and looked at An Zheng with cold eyes: "You have truly pushed me to the edge."
He didn't know why, but at this moment, An Zheng was in his body, opened his mouth and replied: "You don't have that thing."
Lu Kuan didn't understand, and he couldn't wait for him to understand.
The Hong Luanzan in An Zheng's hands flew out at an unimaginable speed. But Lu Kuan actually dodged it, the flexibility of his body became extremely good, and twisted his body in a strange manner, causing Hong Luanzan to fly out from the crack in his body.
"If you reach the Sumeru Stage, you can kill me."
Lu Kuan crawled forward with a cold smile: "But you haven't reached the Sumeru Stage, so you can't use Qi to guard it … "Ahhh!"
Hong Luanzan pierced through the back of his head and came out from her forehead.
An Zheng waved his hand and flew back into his palm. It was only then that Lu Kuan saw that the steel wire he had previously used had unknowingly been wrapped around Hong Luanzan. Hong Luanzan who flew past, flew back because of the steel wire that he used to kill people.
Lu Kuan fell down unwillingly, his eyes were filled with reluctance to part with the world.
An Zheng took a deep breath and lowered his head to look at the hairpin in his hand.
"He deserves to die."
Old Sun suddenly walked in from outside, his face somewhat pale. "He did not receive any orders from the lord and attacked you without authorization. He deserves to die."
An Zheng asked: "Chen Zaiyan killed Master Shang Shu?"
Old Sun shook his head. "You don't understand. Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand." No one kills anyone, only those who deserve to die. "
He looked at An Zheng, "You deserve to die too, although Lu Kuan attacked without obtaining an order from the lord, he deserves to die. But he was my apprentice, my only disciple. I have never married or had any children in my life, and this disciple is like my son. So even if he dies, I will kill you to avenge him. "
An Zheng flicked his hand, and he shot out.
Old Sun stood there unmoving, but a meter away from him, Hong Luanzan was smashed apart by an invisible force.
An Zheng was shocked, and then, his fist blasted out.
There were still no fluctuations, and the invisible ball of air only exploded when it got close to Old Sun. However, before he could get within a meter of Old Sun, the ball of air was blocked by an invisible wall.
"You're amazing."
Old Sun calmly looked at An Zheng and said, "Your talent is very good, to think that you could actually figure out a method to use Dao Energy externally when you are in the Exemplary Mastery realm. A person like you, if you were given enough time to live, could become a grandmaster in the future. Unfortunately, you are going to die. You can kill Lu Kuan but in front of me, you don't even have the strength to resist. "
His eyes only trembled, and An Zheng's body involuntarily flew backwards, heavily smashing into the wall. The sturdy wall immediately caved in, and a huge crater was formed as rubble and dust fell to the ground.
"I'll let you experience the power of Captive Stage."
Old Sun pointed forward with his finger, and a thin line appeared in the air. It was not a real line, but a Qi Qi Qi.
"My disciple likes to kill people like this. I'll kill you like this."
His fingers moved, and the threads of Qi wrapped around An Zheng's neck.
"Nope."
Old Sun said.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Half of the military compound had suddenly collapsed. The cell had been razed to the ground in an instant. All the bricks had been turned to powder, even the wood. In an instant, a large portion of the houses turned into fine sand.
And what caused all of this was just a bone less than a centimeter long.
It was a fingerbone. It seemed to be the fingerbone of the little finger. It was very thin, and very pure white.
Old Sun lay on the ground, turned into a pile of meat paste.
The fingerbone floated above his corpse. It was tiny, but it had a heaven-shaking momentum to it.
Outside the military camp, Gu Qianye's face was pale white, her body couldn't help but soften and was supported by Qu Liuxi.
The finger bone luster disappeared in a flash and returned to Gu Qianye's necklace.
Chapter 93 - Master Chen
The moment An Zheng sensed danger, he was already about to use the Bronze Bell, but he probably didn't even have the time or the ability to summon the bell. The huge gap in realms was something that most people could not overcome in a short period of time.
"Let's go!"
An Zheng shouted towards Qu Liuxi and Gu Qianye, and then the surroundings sunk into darkness. The devastating blow had destroyed half of the military base. Torches, lanterns and candles had lit up in that instant. It was precisely at this moment of light that An Zheng saw Gu Qianye and Qu Liuxi in the distance, and he immediately shouted out.
Gu Qianye instantly lost all of her strength, but at this moment, Qu Liuxi showed her calmest side. The moment the flames
were about to be extinguished, she warned An Zheng to be careful, and then quickly left with Gu Qianye in her arms.
It hadn't been long since the two of them had left, but many experts of the military had already gathered over from all directions.
General Ying Yang, Wang Kaitai, flew over from afar and pushed forward with a single palm: "Open!"
A majestic gale swept through and strangely suppressed the dust that had scattered in all directions. This was a matter that did not make sense nor was it reasonable. The gale should have swept up the dust, but after the gale passed, the sky became clear. All the flying ash and dust were pressed down to the ground by a powerful force, and their line of sight immediately widened.
Wang Kaitai was the first to arrive, followed by the similarly fourth stage General Ying Yang, Fang Daozhi.
Wang Kaitai was the first to rush to An Zheng's side, while Fang Daozhi stood by the side of Old Sun, who was already dead. A moment later, figures flew over and quickly positioned themselves. They appeared to be scattered but they had formed an extremely sharp and smooth offensive and defensive formation.
"The Supervising Officer will stay behind, while the thousand-man commander will search the surroundings."
Wang Kaitai waved his hand, and a part of the people scattered out.
"What's going on?"
Wang Kaitai turned around and glanced at Old Sun's mangled body.
An Zheng shook his head: "I don't know what exactly happened either. If I'm not wrong, it should be someone trying to kill me, but they were blocked by Old Sun and his disciple Lu Kuan. At that time, Lu Kuan and I were drinking wine together, when Old Sun came in he suddenly shouted for us to be careful. Then, Lu Kuan died. His head was pierced by a sharp weapon. Immediately afterwards, Old Sun dashed out of the door to fight with someone, causing the surrounding rooms to collapse. "
Fang Daozhi squatted down and looked at Old Sun's body: "I was suppressed to death by a very strong power, my meridians and bones were all shattered, what a tyrannical power."
Wang Kaitai asked: "Old Sun and Lu Kuan are both dead, why do you think that the person who came was someone who killed you?"
An Zheng shook his head: "Because I'm here."
This answer sounded a little out of place, but Wang Kaitai quickly reacted: "Yes … If the people who came were here to kill Old Sun and Lu Kuan intentionally, there was no need to wait until today. General Fang and I have also just returned from Lord Shang Shu's residence, and something happened even before we entered the military headquarters' gates. "
An Zheng said. "Perhaps, it's precisely because they know that there won't be many people left to defend the military headquarters tonight, that's why they decided to make their move today."
Wang Kaitai still wanted to ask something, but two Thousand Revolution Army field officers ran over quickly from afar and the two of them knelt down on one knee, "General, something has happened … "Just now, someone came to report that at least four officials of our Ministry of War died tonight. However, the people who came to report their death all said that the deceased committed suicide."
Wang Kaitai looked at Fang Daozhi, and Fang Daozhi walked over with a stern expression: "Is this when Master Shang Shu is gone and everyone is in a mess, someone wants to kill all of our people?"
Wang Kaitai thought back to those people who had committed suicide: "One of them was a teacher in the Martial Arts Selection Division, and the other was a teacher in the Department for Purging Officials. They were all very important people in the Department of War. There were also two other heads, one of them being the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Although the positions of the last two are not very high, they are very important. "
Fang Daozhi turned around and looked in the direction of the Imperial Palace: "Some people's faces are too ugly."
Wang Kaitai: "You're saying …"
Fang Daozhi waved his hand: "Don't say it out loud, it's meaningless. An Zheng, come with me. Old Wang, lead your men to clean up the place and see if there are any injured people who can be treated. "
Wang Kaitai said: "Only An Zheng is locked up in our military prison. The person in charge has gone to Shang Shu Manor to help, the guards here should only be Old Sun and Lu Kuan, there won't be any other casualties."
He walked to Fang Daozhi's side: "Do you mean that the people who have come are really coming for An Zheng?"
Fang Daozhi nodded his head, "About the matter at the Martial Arts Academy, the Vice Minister had to put in a lot of effort to settle the public grudge. But if the person involved, An Zheng, dies in our Military Prison, no matter how sincere the Vice Minister is, the citizens will never believe that this had nothing to do with our Military. At that time, those people who want to destroy the military can take this opportunity to make a scene, saying that we will kill them and silence them … Now that I look at it, there might be some sort of secret behind Lord Shang Shu's death. "
Wang Kaitai clenched his fists tightly, killing intent surfaced in his eyes: "This group of scum!"
Fang Daozhi patted his shoulder: "Steady, we can't panic ourselves. Tonight, An Zheng is with me, I do not believe that anyone will dare to make a move. You are in charge of the rest of the military affairs, in addition … Bring the Vice Minister back. "
Wang Kaitai said: "But Master Shang Shu's family can't leave either."
Fang Daozhi shook his head: "If those people are really crazy, the vice minister is probably not safe either."
Wang Kaitai immediately turned around: "Send a team of Thousand Revolution School Commanders to follow me to Master Shang Shu's residence, the rest continue searching."
Fang Daozhi pointed to a house that was still in good condition and said: "Come, follow me over there."
An Zheng silently followed Fang Daozhi forward, his mind thinking entirely about Chen Zaiyan. Was Chen Zaiyan really the empress dowager's man? If that was the case, then he had a reason for killing the Minister. If he wasn't someone of the empress dowager, then the death of the Grand Preceptor might have nothing to do with him. Judging from Wang Kaitai's and Fang Daozhi's reactions, they didn't doubt Chen Zaiyan at all. But when An Zheng thought of the look in his eyes before Chen Zaiyan left, he had a nagging feeling that there was a connection between his and Master Shang Shu's death.
But An Zheng did not have any evidence, he only had a feeling.
Fang Daozhi led An Zheng into a room. The furnishings inside were simple and plain, other than the necessary furniture, there were no decorations at all.
"Sit down."
Fang Daozhi laid down on the bed, with the blade within his reach. It was a long blade without a sheath. Under the dim light of a candle, the blade seemed to be alive, like a flowing stream. Fang Daozhi said that he should sit down and not speak anymore. Instead, he leaned his head against the blanket and closed his eyes to rest.
An Zheng sat down on a chair near the window, staring at the ruins and the numerous torches outside in a daze.
"Never experienced such a thing?"
Fang Daozhi suddenly asked.
An Zheng shook his head: "Yes, I came from the border city. Although it is not the southeastern border that I fight in, the border armies never have one day of peace. On the surface, our relationship with the State of Zhao appears to be harmonious, but in reality, our relationship is also constantly in conflict with each other. On the border, the State of Zhao's border army lived a bitter life. There was no other way around it, they just changed into ordinary civilian clothes and pretended to rob State of Yan's village and caravans. "
Fang Daozhi laughed coldly: "Do you think that the State of Zhao's border army has no choice but to do that because they have to live a bitter life?"
An Zheng shook his head again slowly, "Of course not, it was State of Zhao's doing. The State of Zhao deliberately treated the border troops harshly, allowing them to enter a state similar to that of hungry wolves for a long period of time. This way, the State of Zhao's border army would have no choice but t
o harass the State of Yan and the small towns at the edge of Zhuang Nation's border city. They would not let the relationship between the border army and the State of Yan's border army become harmonious because it is too harmonious. If there is a war between the two countries, the killing intent of the border army would be weakened and the enemies on the battlefield would hesitate. "
Fang Daozhi's eyes lit up: "You have seen through everything, no wonder Master Shang Shu praised you so much after seeing you once."
An Zheng said: "It's not that I have a clear understanding of it, but even though the people from the border armies have a clear understanding of it, there are still many people in the imperial court who have to maintain their relationship with the State of Zhao. The position of the State of Yan was a bit awkward. To the west was the Zhuo Nation, to the southwest was the State of Zhao, to the south was the Hegemony and Eternal Nation, to the southeast was the Youguo, and to the northeast was the BoHai Kingdom. If his relationship with his neighbours in the area was not good, the State of Yan would have died a long time ago. "
Fang Daozhi said: "So this is actually the same as people living. You are surrounded by people, and if you want to maintain a friendly relationship with a part of the people, you need to maintain a hostile relationship with another part. However, there is one thing that cannot be abandoned, and that is one's duty as a person. "
An Zheng asked: "What is duty?"
Fang Daozhi replied, "Saying that it's good and evil is obviously a bit of a lie, but it's indeed the most basic thing."
An Zheng turned around to look at Fang Daozhi, and then laughed helplessly: "It seems a little laughable that the officials would say that the difference between good and evil is clear."
Fang Daozhi no longer spoke, and once again returned to his cold, indifferent, and somewhat proud appearance. His knife lay quietly beside him, like his best friend, his closest companion.
The night passed without incident. When dawn arrived, the overseer who was in charge of cleaning up and taking precautions did not find any injured people. The only two dead people were Old Sun and Lu Kuan. An Zheng sat by the window for the entire night, watching the moon leave and the arrival of the sun.