Zrin Kingdom’s royal city.
In the palace used for discussions.
"Is everything arranged?"
Er Pingzhi, adorned in formal sovereign robes and wearing a royal crown, sat imposingly on the dragon throne, his gaze icily surveying the bowing ministers below him.
A man wearing orange official robes stepped out of the line, respectfully saying, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Heaven Worship Ritual is ready. We only await your royal carriage to personally proceed."
"Good, set out imdiately!"
Er Pingzhi stood up.
Below, Er Pingyong, the charioteer king, hung his head, a deep sense of pride and excitent flashing within his narrow eyes, his fists clenched tightly within his sleeves.
The courtiers present either sighed in secret, smirked coldly in their hearts, or felt a desolate helplessness, but they all uniformly cried out in obedience.
In recent days, the court officials had switched repeatedly, and anyone with clear eyes could see that the monarch had lost actual control over the royal court. Being reduced to a figurehead was only a matter of ti.
Several old ministers even wailed and knelt on the ground, attempting to stop the Heaven Worship Ritual. In Zrin Kingdom, worshipping heaven held extraordinary significance, and smart people, combining recent events, knew what the monarch intended to do.
However, the normally respectful and modest Er Pingzhi was unusually indifferent today; he ordered several old ministers to be dragged away and, with a flick of his robe, strode past his courtiers with a decisive resolve, leaving only a determined silhouette behind.
...
In front of the small building, Er Miba was desperately knocking on the door, her tears falling down.
The National Master’s condition was worsening by the mont. Since last night, there were several tis when even his pulse was imperceptible. The imperial physicians were constantly at his side, having exhausted trendous efforts just to keep the National Master clinging to life, but they were at their wit’s end, their faces stricken with sorrow.
Er Miba was uncertain about Shi Xiaole’s relationship with the National Master, but she only wanted to do everything in her power for him before he passed away, even if it might prove to be a mistake in the end.
From the sounds inside, however, it seed the young man had already left.
Tears fell like pearls, and Er Miba felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness and loss.
"What did you just say?"
A very deep, very magnetic unfamiliar voice sounded by her ear, like a spring breeze. Er Miba turned her head instinctively, and before her eyes was a face remarkably similar to the National Master’s, as stunning as an immortal.
Eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth — if Er Miba weren’t so familiar with the National Master, she might not have been able to tell the difference. The youth was dressed in a green robe, elegant and pristine, watching her indifferently, his expression colder than the National Master’s.
"You, you, I..."
Seeing that the person she was looking for had not left, Er Miba was both shocked and overjoyed, but in her urgency, she struggled to speak coherently, her mind a blank slate.
Shi Xiaole said, "You ntioned knowing the whereabouts of my father?"
Er Miba nodded, "I, I don’t know if he is, but you two, you’re like carved from the sa mold, even your voices are similar. Young Master, please co with , he’s about to pass away, I beg you..."
As a princess, Er Miba had never deaned herself like this, but Shi Xiaole’s status was different, especially since he had shown martial prowess the other day that few in Zrin Kingdom could match. At a ti like this, she didn’t want to anger him.
In her desperation, Er Miba had even grabbed Shi Xiaole’s hand, utterly unaware of how improper it was.
Looking into her gem-like eyes, Shi Xiaole sighed.
There were many people in the world who resembled each other, of course, and while he had not co across anyone who looked like him, that didn’t an there weren’t any; she must be grasping at straws out of desperation for a cure.
Yet seeing the state of the princess, that person must be really important to her. Well, he would go as a favor. Shi Xiaole nodded, "I agree."
Er Miba called out behind her, "Bring the horses quickly!"
"No need, you tell the location, and I’ll take you there."
An invisible force swept up Er Miba, and in the next mont, she was lifted into the air. As the Golden Frost Guards began to draw their swords, their movents abruptly stopped. Before they were shocked at Shi Xiaole’s ability, she said, "To the royal city."
Whoosh.
The scenery on both sides blurred swiftly; in just a few monts, Er Miba was startled to find herself back in the royal city. There was no ti for dazed thoughts; calming herself quickly, Er Miba led Shi Xiaole rapidly into a certain sleeping palace.
"Your Highness, the princess!"
A large group of imperial physicians and doctors imdiately knelt down, the room filled with the scent of dicinal herbs.
Only then did Er Miba suddenly realize a significant problem.
The National Master was in a deep coma, with less than a ten percent chance of regaining consciousness. Even if she brought the person, how could she confirm their identities, let alone recognize each other?
She estimated that even if the National Master did wake up, with his lost mories, he would be unable to discern his own identity.
In her bewildernt, Er Miba turned around and was startled to find that the green-robed youth who had been composed and almost indifferent, now exhibited an unusual expression.
Excitent, joy, restraint, and even an underlying fear, all mixed together.
From approaching the sleeping palace, a stirring from deep within his blood had made Shi Xiaole aware of sothing. As he walked in and saw the man on the bed not far away, his shock was compounded by a surreal feeling.
With his keen vision and ntal strength, he could easily tell that the man had not disguised his appearance. It was as though he saw another version of himself. That intense blood connection was constantly reminding Shi Xiaole about the man’s identity.
Shi Xuanzhong.
He was the man whom Shi Xiaole had been searching for years, a man who left behind countless enigmatic puzzles and legends, drawing many a peerless hero to sing his praises!
The man hailed as the Holy Monarch, the creator of the Golden Abyss Alliance, the mastermind behind the great orthodox-demonic war, who controlled the situation of the Martial World from the shadows—Shi Xuanzhong!
Shi Xiaole had imagined that when he would et him, he would surely be elegant and commanding. Perhaps he would even pat Shi Xiaole on the shoulder, giving a slight word of praise for his accomplishnts.
Who would have expected the scene before now?
He was unconscious in his bed, barely clinging to life with the help of various physicians’ dicines—a breath away from death. Was he really Shi Xuanzhong?
A surge of indescribable complex emotions welled up in my heart. Shi Xiaole took a deep breath before taking deliberate steps forward.
Without the Princess’s order, the royal doctors dared not stop . Glancing at Shi Xiaole and then at the National Master, they wisely stepped aside.
"He was injured by soone."
A sweep of my ntal energy, and I imdiately discovered Shi Xuanzhong’s condition—he was badly hurt and wouldn’t last two more 2-hour periods without .
Relieved and apprehensive at the sa ti, Shi Xiaole said, "Princess, please have everyone leave. I will cure him."
The imperial physicians and doctors looked at each other in dismay, cursing the boy for his ignorance, but then Er Miba signaled, taking the lead to leave. The others, shocked, had no choice but to retreat from the sleeping chambers in confusion.
It wasn’t that Er Miba trusted Shi Xiaole, but she was influenced by his ntal energy and had agreed in a daze.
"You who are worshipped by Uncle Wang, considered an adversary by God, and constantly missed by Ling Jingsi—do they know of your current predicant?"
Shaking his head, Shi Xiaole placed his hand on the man’s shoulder and silently operated his life-and-death martial arts, absorbing streams of death qi and transforming them into a dense vitality.
Seriously injured by two Heaven Realm Martial Emperors and with such a delay, he was surely ant to die. But life-and-death martial arts can reverse life and death, how could it be compared to mundane thods?
To speed up the man’s recovery, Shi Xiaole took out several precious spiritual dicines from his system space, lted them all into dicinal strength, and injected them into the man’s body.
In just two 2-hour periods.
Color began to return to the man’s face and his pulse grew stronger.
At this point, even if Shi Xiaole let go, the man would recover slowly on his own, but he didn’t, still operating his life-and-death martial arts despite his fatigue.
Three 2-hour periods later.
The man had a healthy complexion and his breathing was steady—aside from not having woken yet, he looked no different from a normal person.
Shi Xiaole, having reached his limit, finally stopped his efforts.
It was at this mont that the door was pushed open. Er Miba ran in, furious, but before she could scold, seeing the National Master’s appearance, her eyes widened in shock and she froze on the spot.
"At most, he should wake up in two days,"
Shi Xiaole said.
"You, you, you..."
Er Miba covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. The overwhelming surprise made her head swirl, and the words she had intended to berate Shi Xiaole with were now cast to the back of her mind, leaving only endless gratitude.
Even if Shi Xiaole now asked her to die, out of gratitude, she would agree without hesitation.
"Young Master, please grant another request, take the National Master and leave quickly."
Suddenly, Er Miba knelt on both knees, yet an invisible force held her up.
Shi Xiaole looked at her, puzzled.
"Please agree, Young Master, it will be too late if we delay! The Heaven Worship Ceremony will end soon..."
Today was the Heaven Worship Ceremony. Er Miba knew Er Pingzhi was ready for a showdown with his younger brother, who had found terrifying supporters from sowhere.
The two Heaven Realm Martial Emperors assassins were proof of this.
Er Miba wasn’t a martial expert and couldn’t perceive Shi Xiaole’s true power. She knew only that Heaven Realm Martial Emperors were rare, and those who could command them were most formidable, definitely beyond Shi Xiaole’s capabilities.
Now, with their attention on the Heaven Worship Ceremony, it was the best chance to escape.
"If he wakes up, he will probably refuse to go."
Shi Xiaole looked at Shi Xuanzhong on the bed.
"I’m begging you, Young Master!"
Apart from so major sects, the Emperor List had not been widely spread in the Western Region due to ti constraints, so Er Miba just assud Shi Xiaole was a young and talented martial artist, not soone who could compete with one of the exceptional masters.
"Very well, I’ll help you once more. Tell , where is the Heaven Worship Ceremony being held?"
...
Heaven Worship Plain was an enormous plain outside the capital.
At this mont, Heaven Worship Plain was surrounded by layers of armies. The Heaven Worship Ceremony itself had been interrupted, and the assembled civil and military officials all stood opposed to Er Pingzhi, with only a few thousand n in front of him and dead bodies strewn across the ground.
"Ha ha ha, Brother King, your armies have long been under my control. To think you would use them against was sheer folly,"
Er Pingyong stood amongst the civil and military officials, taunting Er Pingzhi, their roles seemingly reversed.
"Out of selfish desire for the throne, you broke ancestral traditions and allied with outside forces. Even if you win, you’re nothing but a dog; there will be a day you’ll regret this!"
Er Pingzhi’s face showed deep sorrow, perhaps foreseeing this outco before the action began.
Er Pingyong’s expression turned ferocious with irritation, too lazy to continue arguing, "Guards, my brother has been bewitched and has lost his virtue. Kill the traitors at his side for !"
Shush shush shush.
A group of ferocious soldiers, mixed with so martial experts from the Martial World, burst forth from all directions, and soon the scene turned into a bloodbath.
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