The next morning, at the crack of dawn.
Si Li and Wangxin landed on a desolate mountain on the outskirts of the Zhou Imperial City.
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."
Si Li coughed several tis, spitting out a mouthful of congealed blood.
"Son of a bitch! Who was that masked bitch? If I ever get my hands on her again, I’ll string her up and flog her!"
Si Li wiped the corner of her mouth, her chest heaving violently.
The more she thought about what happened last night, the angrier Si Li beca.
’My array was laid out perfectly. If nothing had gone wrong, I should have been able to find the Young Master’s reincarnation the mont he appeared in the Zhou Imperial City.’
’But who would’ve guessed so damn Sword Cultivator would show up out of nowhere!’
’And she attacked without saying a single word.’
’Dammit! Did I ever do anything to provoke her?’
’I’ve never even seen her before!’
’So why the hell did she have to ruin my plans?’
’Thankfully, Wangxin and I are at a high enough Realm. Combined with Chaos’s Lifebound Divine Abilities, we were able to make a clean escape, though we did get a little injured.’
’Otherwise, against that vicious Sword Qi of hers, I can’t say for sure what would have happened.’
"Wangxin, are you all right?"
Si Li took a deep breath to calm herself, then looked at Wangxin beside her.
"I’m fine," Wangxin said, shaking her head.
Although Wangxin’s face was also pale, her injuries were minor.
"That’s good."
Si Li wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
"There are only three female Sword Cultivators in the Central Plains who have reached the Ascension Realm. I’ll have Tinghai Pavilion investigate and find out which one of those lunatics it was!"
"I will get my revenge! Does she really think I’m so kind of pushover?"
"But on the bright side, our work last night wasn’t all for nothing."
Si Li took the broken half of Dyed Ink from her Storage Pouch.
Dyed Ink was emitting a faint red glow.
"Si Li, what is that?" Wangxin asked curiously.
"Yesterday, while you were holding off that lunatic, I knew things were going south. I made a few adjustnts to the Array, inscribing its core onto Dyed Ink with my Spiritual Power. It can’t pinpoint the Young Master’s location as precisely as last night’s Array, but it’s better than nothing."
Si Li channeled a wisp of Spiritual Power into the broken half of Dyed Ink.
An Array materialized on the blade’s surface. The next mont, the Dyed Ink Blade began to tremble ceaselessly.
A streak of blood-red Sword Qi shot toward the Imperial City.
Unfortunately, the streak of Sword Qi slowly dissipated in the sky above a "Lin’s Tofu Shop," ten li from the Imperial Palace.
But in Si Li’s eyes, this was enough.
Si Li let out a sharp whistle. A black crow flew down from the sky and landed on her shoulder.
"Have Tinghai Pavilion search a ten-li radius, with Lin’s Tofu Shop in the eastern part of the Imperial Capital City as the center!"
"CAW!" The crow bobbed its head, spread its wings, and imdiately flew off into the distance.
Si Li stood high in the sky, her gaze falling once more upon the Zhou Royal Palace, which was shrouded in an Array.
Coincidentally, the entire Imperial Palace also fell within that ten-li radius.
’Could it be...?’
Si Li frowned.
’It seems I’ll have to find a way to get into the Imperial Palace.’
...
In the Imperial Palace, Xiao Mo continued practicing his swordsmanship on the Wendao Platform.
Over the past several days, under Jiang Qingyi’s guidance and coupled with two Bone Marrow Cleansings, Xiao Mo’s cultivation speed had naturally accelerated as his comprehension of the Sword Dao deepened.
Xiao Mo felt that in half a month at most, he could reach the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, and then he could begin preparing for Foundation Establishnt.
Still, Xiao Mo couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.
’Just how terrible was my innate talent?’
’It took two sessions of Bone Marrow Cleansing just to get to this point.’
’If I had to rely on my original talent, I’m afraid even reaching Foundation Establishnt would have been an extravagant hope.’
As he continued to practice, Xiao Mo once again entered the selfless, trance-like state of Entering the Dao.
Xiao Mo himself was unaware that as he brandished his longsword, the wind from his slashes was already forming Sword Qi. There were even faint signs of these wisps of Sword Qi coalescing into Sword Intent.
After completing a full sequence of the Grass Character Sword Formulas, Xiao Mo let out a long breath.
When he ca back to his senses, he saw that the marble tiles of the Wendao Platform were covered in slash marks left by his Sword Qi.
"Not bad."
Just as Xiao Mo was feeling satisfied with his progress, Jiang Qingyi’s voice sounded beside his ear.
Xiao Mo looked up to see Jiang Qingyi sitting on the wall, her legs crossed and her fair ankles peeking out from beneath the hem of her skirt.
Jiang Qingyi gracefully vaulted off the wall and landed softly on the ground. "Your Majesty’s talent is truly beyond my expectations."
"And how does it compare to yours, Fairy Jiang?" Xiao Mo asked jokingly.
"Heh." Jiang Qingyi scoffed, offering no reply.
"..." Xiao Mo felt a wave of embarrassnt. ’Right, I guess I was asking for that snub.’
"When did you get back, Fairy Jiang?" Xiao Mo changed the subject.
"Not long. Just as it was getting light," Jiang Qingyi said, sweeping her long hair back over her shoulder. "It took a bit longer than I expected last night, but everything is settled now."
"But enough about ." Jiang Qingyi looked at Xiao Mo. "Is Your Majesty certain you don’t want to recomnd you for the Wanjian Sect? You are on the verge of Foundation Establishnt. If you remain on the throne, I fear you will never be able to reach that Realm in this lifeti."
"Let’s at least try," Xiao Mo said with a smile, shaking his head. "Legend says that tens of thousands of years ago, Emperors could indeed cultivate. What if I can, too?"
"Fine. We can talk again after Your Majesty has given up." Jiang Qingyi gave Xiao Mo a weary look. Without another word, she drew her longsword and thrust it at him.
Xiao Mo snapped to his senses and hastily parried.
Although Jiang Qingyi’s assault was fierce, her main purpose was still to drill him in his techniques.
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