Lunchbox, let’s go
Meng Qi’s stature wasn’t particularly tall, but he was just about capable of blocking one Mo Li.
What astonished the Ancestor Qingwu was how Mo Li had appeared in the first place?
When two supreme masters clash, within the sweep of their internal energy, not to mention a person, even a mosquito couldn’t fly in! At most, it would be a master of equal strength throwing a hidden weapon, or simply picking up a weapon to join the fray. Either way, someone like Mo Li couldn’t appear so silently and closely to the two.
Supreme masters inherently possess sensitivity beyond ordinary people, especially during a duel where a slight mistake could be fatal. Who wouldn’t be fully focused?
This was why Ancestor Qingwu was utterly baffled.
—How did Mo Li appear? When did he come? Why was there no sign at all?
Ancestor Qingwu didn’t have time to ponder further as the fierce sword light appeared again.
He hurriedly mobilized his internal energy, attempting to break through the sword technique that surged towards him like towering waves with his Iron Whisk.
The Iron Whisk is a rather malicious unconventional weapon in the martial arts world, capable of disrupting one’s moves with its chaotic dust tail, causing disorientation and forcing continuous evasion. The sharp and pointed end of the brush rod hidden within could puncture a blood hole with a single stab.
This weapon, as dangerous as swords and knives, rarely raised alarm when held in one’s hand.
The Second Prince was stunned to see the sturdy wooden desk punctured like tofu by Ancestor Qingwu with a single poke.
“Ah!”
It was then he saw an additional pair of hands behind Meng Qi.
Holding a sword, holding a knife… And a few more pairs holding a dharma bell, a wooden fish, and a lotus, wasn’t this like the multi-armed Ksitigarbha statue in the temple?
The Second Prince rubbed his eyes, failing to see Mo Li’s figure, and thought he was dazzled by afterimages.
The blade’s edge was dull and lightless; from a distance, the center of the internal energy flow still only showed the Iron Whisk and the soft sword’s light shadows. Ancestor Qingwu and Meng Qi’s figures were mixed inside, hard to see clearly, and they moved unpredictably. One moment they were at the side hall’s entrance, and the next they were almost in front of him. Before the Second Prince could scramble up and flee in embarrassment, the wind shaved off a layer of his hair and then moved on to the remaining half of the roof beam.
Drenched in cold sweat, the Second Prince touched the top of his head, looking at the messy broken hair, and gritted his teeth, “Madmen, all martial artists are madmen.”
How could the emperor come over with such a shocking fight going on!
So much for the world’s top master, they couldn’t determine the winner after a long fight!
Ancestor Qingwu was in a dilemma.
He had clashed with Meng Qi before, and even with Mo Li and Meng Qi together, he barely managed to hold them off. This wasn’t to say Ancestor Qingwu’s martial arts were superior to both Meng Qi’s, as Meng Qi could also handle two masters of the same level simultaneously. After all, their level of martial arts was beyond what ordinary people could imagine. They might be defeated, but it was hard to kill them.
Two against one turned from being at ease to being barely able to cope.
But coping was still coping, and they wouldn’t die immediately. Even if they wanted to run, they couldn’t, so dragging out the time was disadvantageous for Ancestor Qingwu.
Last time, a celestial phenomenon occurred, allowing Ancestor Qingwu to escape.
However, after that fight, Ancestor Qingwu gained some understanding of the two’s martial arts.
—Supreme masters can always find their opponent’s flaws during a fight.
Meng Qi was indeed a formidable opponent, and the person he brought along was equally skilled. But Ancestor Qingwu was also a martial arts genius; his skills weren’t just for show. Why do martial artists like to challenge each other repeatedly? It’s precisely because they can learn from the previous experience, discover new techniques, and have the confidence to defeat the opponent.
In fact, upon meeting and exchanging blows, they would find that the opponent had also improved.
Ancestor Qingwu was caught in such disappointment, especially infuriated that the two opposites weren’t just comprehending more exquisite techniques or finding flaws in his own, but their coordination was as if they were one person.
How could this be!!
In just a short day, two people with different martial arts paths could work together so seamlessly?
Ancestor Qingwu doubted if he was dreaming, as he continuously retreated and found the almost merged sword and blade shadows unbelievable, his techniques gradually becoming chaotic.
Seeing ghosts!
Even swordsmen from the same sect practicing a set of Taiji swords didn’t give Ancestor Qingwu such a bizarre feeling.
Because Meng Qi and Mo Li weren’t using combined moves or displaying perfect synergy, the key was actually their internal energy—it inexplicably merged, not repelling each other, seamlessly connecting. This was what truly made Ancestor Qingwu feel the pressure of “joining forces.”
In the martial world, group attacks are mostly your move followed by mine, taking turns to strike. It’s impossible to truly combine two moves into one, nor can they stand too close to each other. Internal energy does not differentiate between friend and foe; hitting an ally would cause injury just the same.
Even with his intelligence, Ancestor Qingwu couldn’t guess this was due to the “exchange of dragon veins’ spiritual energy.”
The appearance of the Golden Dragon and Black Dragon above the capital wasn’t as simple as just bringing rain.
Meng Qi wasn’t transformed into his original form on that day just because he was distracted by Mo Li. The dragon vein under the capital was impacted by the spiritual energy from another dragon vein, unable to merge, yet desperately trying to incorporate the other to defend against a common enemy. This led to the celestial phenomenon, followed by Ancestor Qingwu’s escape.
Yesterday’s escape turned into today’s death warrant.
Ancestor Qingwu groaned, blood spilling from his mouth and nose.
He felt as though he wasn’t facing two enemies, but a single person whose martial arts were twice as superior as his.
The master of Cangfeng Temple finally showed a look of fear.
“Meng Qi… we can…”
The blade flashed, and Mo Li didn’t give him a chance to speak.
Because Mo Li genuinely felt that Ancestor Qingwu’s ability to bewitch and advocate was even more formidable than his martial arts, able to bring the dragon veins into question to such an extent, what kind of power was that? Mo Li had no desire to experience it again!
Meng Qi’s sword momentum had already reached its limit, Ancestor Qingwu barely avoided it, but the Zhenqing Sword managed to push forward an extra foot with the help of the force from the bladeless knife’s energy flow.
“Pfft!”
Ancestor Qingwu spat out blood, his body’s protective Qi broken by the sword edge, suffering severe internal injuries from the backlash.
In a critical moment, he threw his whisk with all his might.
The silk of the whisk tail scattered, momentarily delaying the blade, while the iron rod collided with the sword edge. The powerful internal energy carried by it shook both weapons to the side.
Ancestor Qingwu, taking advantage of the moment he threw the whisk, desperately used a secret technique to increase his escape speed. He had to break out of the encirclement within the time of burning an incense stick and take spiritual medicine to recover his power, otherwise, the secret technique would damage his dantian foundation.
Mo Li was about to pursue, but was timely stopped by Meng Qi.
“Don’t leave Chunhua Palace.”
At that moment, a loud explosion came from outside, and the air filled with the smell of gunpowder.
“Cannons?”
The Second Prince was both shocked and enraged, clearly not expecting Lu Zhang to bring such things over.
Was Wanhe Hall a trap, and Chunhua Palace too?
“Damn it!” The Second Prince punched the stone heavily, blood flowing freely.
The side hall of Chunhua Palace was on the verge of collapse.
Mo Li glanced at the Second Prince struggling to crawl out, casually picked him up, and followed Meng Qi deeper into Chunhua Palace amidst the rolling dust and smoke.
Along the way, they saw a man lying in a crater, his body charred, hair and beard all burnt off.
Ancestor Qingwu was not dead yet. His profound internal energy protected his heart meridian, barely leaving him a breath.
He was on guard against the two strong enemies possibly catching up but overlooked the front, resulting in being directly hit by a cannon, flying out more than ten meters like riding the clouds and mist, crashing into a palace wall, and then falling to the ground.
He made a strange noise from his throat, but his body was no longer human-shaped, with broken bones and twisted limbs.
“Send him on his way,” Meng Qi sighed.
The sword wind swept through, and the person at the bottom of the pit no longer moved.
“What about the eldest disciple of the Ancestor Qingwu?”
“I disabled his martial arts and left him at the entrance of the Chunhua Palace’s side hall.” Mo Li paused, looking back at the side hall, now completely in ruins, feeling that person was beyond help.
Meng Qi offhandedly said, “Now that it’s taken care of, let’s withdraw.”
Mo Li knocked out the Second Prince too, since his continuous coughing in the smoke could give away their position.
“The place is surrounded by the imperial guards…”
“Don’t worry, we’re close to the secret passage.”
Meng Qi, unaffected by the smoke and dust, skillfully led the way through the buildings and walls of the palace.
Mo Li asked doubtfully, “Wasn’t the secret passage already collapsed when we came?”
Could they still use it with the underground water flooding it? Moreover, that courtyard must be heavily surrounded by the imperial guards.
“Did you forget the layout of the secret passage? It’s okay, only a section of the exit is flooded. The passage is winding and complicated, with varying elevations. As long as we find the right path…”
“What about this?”
Before Meng Qi could finish, Mo Li interrupted him, shaking the Second Prince in his hand, then saying, “He can’t go through the secret passage. Are we supposed to leave him at the Eastern Palace?”
Meng Qi: “…”
The household affairs of the Qi dynasty’s royal family were something Master Meng did not want to interfere with.
This Second Prince was impulsive and not very clever, a complete burden. But since they encountered him and the doctor saved him by chance, they couldn’t just let him die.
If the Second Prince appeared in the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince’s culpability would become unclear.
“We can’t solve the Crown Prince’s problem, but we can’t just throw the trouble over like that.”
“The doctor is right, we can’t just leave like this.”
There was still an important matter undone.
Meng Qi placed his hand on a wall and suddenly exerted force.
The ocher palace wall first started to shake and then collapsed, causing chaos among the imperial guards outside, who scrambled to get out of the way.
“Let’s go!”
Meng Qi led the escape from Chunhua Palace with ease.
The imperial guards didn’t even catch a glimpse of them.
“Lu Zhang might be good at hiding, but he can’t avoid seeing the ministers forever, especially after using cannons in the palace and causing such a commotion. He must soothe the ministers as soon as possible, regain control of the Jingji military camp, and purge the rebels.”
Meng Qi pointed to a location on the map, exactly where the prime ministers would report for duty at the Wenyuan Pavilion.
Lunchbox, let’s go
Meng Qi’s stature wasn’t particularly tall, but he was just about capable of blocking one Mo Li.
What astonished the Ancestor Qingwu was how Mo Li had appeared in the first place?
When two supreme masters clash, within the sweep of their internal energy, not to mention a person, even a mosquito couldn’t fly in! At most, it would be a master of equal strength throwing a hidden weapon, or simply picking up a weapon to join the fray. Either way, someone like Mo Li couldn’t appear so silently and closely to the two.
Supreme masters inherently possess sensitivity beyond ordinary people, especially during a duel where a slight mistake could be fatal. Who wouldn’t be fully focused?
This was why Ancestor Qingwu was utterly baffled.
—How did Mo Li appear? When did he come? Why was there no sign at all?
Ancestor Qingwu didn’t have time to ponder further as the fierce sword light appeared again.
He hurriedly mobilized his internal energy, attempting to break through the sword technique that surged towards him like towering waves with his Iron Whisk.
The Iron Whisk is a rather malicious unconventional weapon in the martial arts world, capable of disrupting one’s moves with its chaotic dust tail, causing disorientation and forcing continuous evasion. The sharp and pointed end of the brush rod hidden within could puncture a blood hole with a single stab.
This weapon, as dangerous as swords and knives, rarely raised alarm when held in one’s hand.
The Second Prince was stunned to see the sturdy wooden desk punctured like tofu by Ancestor Qingwu with a single poke.
“Ah!”
It was then he saw an additional pair of hands behind Meng Qi.
Holding a sword, holding a knife… And a few more pairs holding a dharma bell, a wooden fish, and a lotus, wasn’t this like the multi-armed Ksitigarbha statue in the temple?
The Second Prince rubbed his eyes, failing to see Mo Li’s figure, and thought he was dazzled by afterimages.
The blade’s edge was dull and lightless; from a distance, the center of the internal energy flow still only showed the Iron Whisk and the soft sword’s light shadows. Ancestor Qingwu and Meng Qi’s figures were mixed inside, hard to see clearly, and they moved unpredictably. One moment they were at the side hall’s entrance, and the next they were almost in front of him. Before the Second Prince could scramble up and flee in embarrassment, the wind shaved off a layer of his hair and then moved on to the remaining half of the roof beam.
Drenched in cold sweat, the Second Prince touched the top of his head, looking at the messy broken hair, and gritted his teeth, “Madmen, all martial artists are madmen.”
How could the emperor come over with such a shocking fight going on!
So much for the world’s top master, they couldn’t determine the winner after a long fight!
Ancestor Qingwu was in a dilemma.
He had clashed with Meng Qi before, and even with Mo Li and Meng Qi together, he barely managed to hold them off. This wasn’t to say Ancestor Qingwu’s martial arts were superior to both Meng Qi’s, as Meng Qi could also handle two masters of the same level simultaneously. After all, their level of martial arts was beyond what ordinary people could imagine. They might be defeated, but it was hard to kill them.
Two against one turned from being at ease to being barely able to cope.
But coping was still coping, and they wouldn’t die immediately. Even if they wanted to run, they couldn’t, so dragging out the time was disadvantageous for Ancestor Qingwu.
Last time, a celestial phenomenon occurred, allowing Ancestor Qingwu to escape.
However, after that fight, Ancestor Qingwu gained some understanding of the two’s martial arts.
—Supreme masters can always find their opponent’s flaws during a fight.
Meng Qi was indeed a formidable opponent, and the person he brought along was equally skilled. But Ancestor Qingwu was also a martial arts genius; his skills weren’t just for show. Why do martial artists like to challenge each other repeatedly? It’s precisely because they can learn from the previous experience, discover new techniques, and have the confidence to defeat the opponent.
In fact, upon meeting and exchanging blows, they would find that the opponent had also improved.
Ancestor Qingwu was caught in such disappointment, especially infuriated that the two opposites weren’t just comprehending more exquisite techniques or finding flaws in his own, but their coordination was as if they were one person.
How could this be!!
In just a short day, two people with different martial arts paths could work together so seamlessly?
Ancestor Qingwu doubted if he was dreaming, as he continuously retreated and found the almost merged sword and blade shadows unbelievable, his techniques gradually becoming chaotic.
Seeing ghosts!
Even swordsmen from the same sect practicing a set of Taiji swords didn’t give Ancestor Qingwu such a bizarre feeling.
Because Meng Qi and Mo Li weren’t using combined moves or displaying perfect synergy, the key was actually their internal energy—it inexplicably merged, not repelling each other, seamlessly connecting. This was what truly made Ancestor Qingwu feel the pressure of “joining forces.”
In the martial world, group attacks are mostly your move followed by mine, taking turns to strike. It’s impossible to truly combine two moves into one, nor can they stand too close to each other. Internal energy does not differentiate between friend and foe; hitting an ally would cause injury just the same.
Even with his intelligence, Ancestor Qingwu couldn’t guess this was due to the “exchange of dragon veins’ spiritual energy.”
The appearance of the Golden Dragon and Black Dragon above the capital wasn’t as simple as just bringing rain.
Meng Qi wasn’t transformed into his original form on that day just because he was distracted by Mo Li. The dragon vein under the capital was impacted by the spiritual energy from another dragon vein, unable to merge, yet desperately trying to incorporate the other to defend against a common enemy. This led to the celestial phenomenon, followed by Ancestor Qingwu’s escape.
Yesterday’s escape turned into today’s death warrant.
Ancestor Qingwu groaned, blood spilling from his mouth and nose.
He felt as though he wasn’t facing two enemies, but a single person whose martial arts were twice as superior as his.
The master of Cangfeng Temple finally showed a look of fear.
“Meng Qi… we can…”
The blade flashed, and Mo Li didn’t give him a chance to speak.
Because Mo Li genuinely felt that Ancestor Qingwu’s ability to bewitch and advocate was even more formidable than his martial arts, able to bring the dragon veins into question to such an extent, what kind of power was that? Mo Li had no desire to experience it again!
Meng Qi’s sword momentum had already reached its limit, Ancestor Qingwu barely avoided it, but the Zhenqing Sword managed to push forward an extra foot with the help of the force from the bladeless knife’s energy flow.
“Pfft!”
Ancestor Qingwu spat out blood, his body’s protective Qi broken by the sword edge, suffering severe internal injuries from the backlash.
In a critical moment, he threw his whisk with all his might.
The silk of the whisk tail scattered, momentarily delaying the blade, while the iron rod collided with the sword edge. The powerful internal energy carried by it shook both weapons to the side.
Ancestor Qingwu, taking advantage of the moment he threw the whisk, desperately used a secret technique to increase his escape speed. He had to break out of the encirclement within the time of burning an incense stick and take spiritual medicine to recover his power, otherwise, the secret technique would damage his dantian foundation.
Mo Li was about to pursue, but was timely stopped by Meng Qi.
“Don’t leave Chunhua Palace.”
At that moment, a loud explosion came from outside, and the air filled with the smell of gunpowder.
“Cannons?”
The Second Prince was both shocked and enraged, clearly not expecting Lu Zhang to bring such things over.
Was Wanhe Hall a trap, and Chunhua Palace too?
“Damn it!” The Second Prince punched the stone heavily, blood flowing freely.
The side hall of Chunhua Palace was on the verge of collapse.
Mo Li glanced at the Second Prince struggling to crawl out, casually picked him up, and followed Meng Qi deeper into Chunhua Palace amidst the rolling dust and smoke.
Along the way, they saw a man lying in a crater, his body charred, hair and beard all burnt off.
Ancestor Qingwu was not dead yet. His profound internal energy protected his heart meridian, barely leaving him a breath.
He was on guard against the two strong enemies possibly catching up but overlooked the front, resulting in being directly hit by a cannon, flying out more than ten meters like riding the clouds and mist, crashing into a palace wall, and then falling to the ground.
He made a strange noise from his throat, but his body was no longer human-shaped, with broken bones and twisted limbs.
“Send him on his way,” Meng Qi sighed.
The sword wind swept through, and the person at the bottom of the pit no longer moved.
“What about the eldest disciple of the Ancestor Qingwu?”
“I disabled his martial arts and left him at the entrance of the Chunhua Palace’s side hall.” Mo Li paused, looking back at the side hall, now completely in ruins, feeling that person was beyond help.
Meng Qi offhandedly said, “Now that it’s taken care of, let’s withdraw.”
Mo Li knocked out the Second Prince too, since his continuous coughing in the smoke could give away their position.
“The place is surrounded by the imperial guards…”
“Don’t worry, we’re close to the secret passage.”
Meng Qi, unaffected by the smoke and dust, skillfully led the way through the buildings and walls of the palace.
Mo Li asked doubtfully, “Wasn’t the secret passage already collapsed when we came?”
Could they still use it with the underground water flooding it? Moreover, that courtyard must be heavily surrounded by the imperial guards.
“Did you forget the layout of the secret passage? It’s okay, only a section of the exit is flooded. The passage is winding and complicated, with varying elevations. As long as we find the right path…”
“What about this?”
Before Meng Qi could finish, Mo Li interrupted him, shaking the Second Prince in his hand, then saying, “He can’t go through the secret passage. Are we supposed to leave him at the Eastern Palace?”
Meng Qi: “…”
The household affairs of the Qi dynasty’s royal family were something Master Meng did not want to interfere with.
This Second Prince was impulsive and not very clever, a complete burden. But since they encountered him and the doctor saved him by chance, they couldn’t just let him die.
If the Second Prince appeared in the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince’s culpability would become unclear.
“We can’t solve the Crown Prince’s problem, but we can’t just throw the trouble over like that.”
“The doctor is right, we can’t just leave like this.”
There was still an important matter undone.
Meng Qi placed his hand on a wall and suddenly exerted force.
The ocher palace wall first started to shake and then collapsed, causing chaos among the imperial guards outside, who scrambled to get out of the way.
“Let’s go!”
Meng Qi led the escape from Chunhua Palace with ease.
The imperial guards didn’t even catch a glimpse of them.
“Lu Zhang might be good at hiding, but he can’t avoid seeing the ministers forever, especially after using cannons in the palace and causing such a commotion. He must soothe the ministers as soon as possible, regain control of the Jingji military camp, and purge the rebels.”
Meng Qi pointed to a location on the map, exactly where the prime ministers would report for duty at the Wenyuan Pavilion.
