Chapter 276 The Last Ace Card
Li Gang’s expression changed drastically. At the most critical moment, the Sword Intent rose up but only slightly obstructed that golden dragon toe for a second. In a trice, Li Gang felt a wave of overwhelming power ruthlessly flooded right towards him, shoving him towards the tip of the Star River Sword that was thrusting at him.
Cao Bingyan appeared to have foreseen all that.
He grinned viciously. Unconcerned for the consumption of his energy and lifespan, he continued to drive the Star River Sword with his full strength like mad to stab the sword at Li Gang.
“There will be no more Secular Sword Whiz in the world.”
On the loft several miles away, the second prince slowly withdrew his hand. The corners of his mouth slightly curled up.
Undoubtedly, it was he who made that sneak attack.
It was fine to attain one’s end by hook or by crook.
That was the first thing he learned after he was born in the frosty and aloof royal family.
The combat will and the eager to get to the battlefield were just affectations he used to delude Li Gang. It was not his way to put himself in danger. Instead, raking in the most considerable benefits at the smallest cost was his operation standard and principle. Even though he was a Celestial Being, he never regarded himself as a martial arts pract.i.tioner.
Few people in Jianghu knew his strength, because those who saw him strike had all been killed.
Liu Chenglong, who had been standing behind the second prince, remained
“Ah?” Suddenly, the curled lips of the second prince stiffened.
It turned out that just as Li Gang’s heart was about to be pierced by the Star River Sword, he employed an unusual way and shockingly escaped that hopeless situation only at the expense of a lanced right shoulder. By contrast, Cao Bingyan, who had been burning his essence and blood to subdue Li Gang, was. .h.i.t by Li Gang’s slam and thrown to the air in return…
“He survived?”
A trace of darkness shaded the eyes of the second prince for an instant.
“Brother Sun, it’s your turn.” He said blandly.
…
A young man who seemed to be his attendant in the study nodded curtly. Then, his body gradually melted into the void, which looked like he just disappeared from the real world.
But the next second, Li Gang, who was at the main altar of the Xiongfeng Martial Art Club, spat out a mouthful of blood. He was abruptly seized by an extremely daunting killing intent, which stole over from his side. A streak of the Secular Sword Intent at once thrust at the invisible figure. But the figure transposed, leaving a shadow on that spot which was smashed by a jet of chilling light in a fraction of a second.
A blood-curdling snicker was heard but quickly faded away along with potent killing intent.
“Ace a.s.sa.s.sin, Sun Ming?” Li Gang asked.
…
But the answered he got was just a low sardonic laugh. Then, a voice said, “Master Li, be relieved and hit the road to h.e.l.l.” It was precisely the voice of that young man accompanying the second prince.
He was an a.s.sa.s.sin who had gained the full accomplishment of the Natural Realm.
Sun Ming, the Ace a.s.sa.s.sin, was the most trusted subordinate the second prince had who could do all the back-stabbings for him. No one knew what Sun Ming looked like or any of his hobbies. Some rumors had it that he was in his sere and yellow, while others said he was in the springtime of life. Also, the tales Sun Ming differed on the figure’s gender. But the one thing all those versions shared was that that a.s.sa.s.sin had followed the second prince at all times and had secretly obliterated innumerable foes for him.
Six years ago, Sun Ming, a Natural Expert, succeeded in a.s.sa.s.sinating a Celestial Being. That made him all famous and enlisted him as the tenth best a.s.sa.s.sin in the Western Qin Empire. Since then, many experts trembled with fear whenever his name was mentioned. Surely, he was very formidable.
Li Gang’s brows knitted together as he said, “Want to see more?”
Apparently, he did not say it to Sun Ming.
Indeed, that was not for Cao Bingyan, either.
“Plead with me.” A pleasant voice of a woman rang. It was so melodic that it almost sounded like a treat of G.o.d.
It seemed that the voice was from the underground or the woods, or the fragmented rocks. The source of the sound was indiscernible and erratic, which was somewhat mystifying.
She was better at hiding her aura than the Ace a.s.sa.s.sin. Before she spoke, no one detected any sign of her existence.
Li Gang did not answer her but stood on the spot and started running his cultivation method to cure his injury.
“Is it really that hard to plead with me once?” The woman’s voice sounded again, this time carrying a hint of dolefulness.
All of a sudden, a stream of hidden airflow stole on Li Gang from behind. The airflow resembling a cyan wind blade concealed great killing intent, as though a cruel shark lurking under the water.
Li Gang appeared to take no notice of it.
Or maybe he had noticed it but did not feel like dodging.
The cyan wind blade was one inch away from sinking in the center of his back, but right then—
Blast!
A loud explosion was heard.
A thread of inexpressible dark blue light shot over there from several kilometers away.
The ray of light did not reveal any fluctuation of the power of heaven and earth or any aura of the natural qi. However, its speed was inconceivably fast, even faster than the speed of sound. When everyone heard that loud blast, the dark blue light had already set off for a while, so even the Celestial Beings had not time to respond to it.
About a meter away behind Li Gang, a splash of blood abruptly squirted out from the void.
A transparent figure fell on the ground. Then, his body began to substantialize, revealing the appearance of the Ace a.s.sa.s.sin.
A hole-sized finger appeared on his forehead.
It was a very bizarre wound. Wisps of sizzling white mist were still rising from its rim. And the hole had thoroughly penetrated his head, allowing everyone to see through his brain.
In an instant, they all captured that the inside of the head of the Ace a.s.sa.s.sin, Sun Ming, was completely steamed and crushed by some dreadful heat. Being injured like that, even the Celestial Being with a strong vitality could by no means survive. Up to that moment, Sun Ming still had not noticed what had happened, for he was still wearing a faint smile, which was the expression an a.s.sa.s.sin would have just before hitting the target with one hundred percent a.s.surance.
At last, the Ace a.s.sa.s.sin died of a.s.sa.s.sination.
At that moment, even Sun Ming himself did not see death coming.
“What kind of marvelous method can destroy a Celestial Being in a trice from several kilometers away?”
“Isn’t it a maneuver of a Sage?”
The second prince standing on the loft looked stunned and gasped in horror.
The death of Sun Ming appalled him, totally throwing him off his guard.
“I even had no time to rescue him.”
“Is that Li Gang’s card?”
“I’ve saved you once. The rest is up to you,” the woman’s voice said mildly, “You know, I only got one bullet for a day.” Only Li Gang could hear the sound.
Void of expression, Li Gang, kept on healing the injury with his qi.
The situation suddenly turned a little awkward for the second prince.
He did not catch it clearly at that moment. So, he was wondering what that jet of dark blue light was.
“If that ray of light was directed at me…” He pondered over the possibility of fending off that attack by himself. The conclusion he came to was that he probably could resist it, but… he would get hurt.
“It must be Li Gang’s last ace card.”
“A badly injured man can’t have held back any strength under that desperate circ.u.mstance.”
“No one would hide his ace hard at the life-and-death moment.”
“If that is true…”
The second prince breathed a long sigh of relief. “The result is settled.”
At the same time, Cao Bingyan, who had been grievously injured, struck again.
The Sword Intent of the Star River Sword rose once more, and the chief eunuch, half of whose body had faded into nothing, wielded his sword and charged at Li Gang again.
At that scene, the second prince knew the final battle had arrived.
Smiling with confidence, he raised a hand.
A shaft of bright yellow light shot out of his palm and then floated in midair, looking imperious. The Taoist Power flowed around and instantly released all the power of heaven and earth from the suppression of the Sky-stabilizing Mirror. At once, the power of the impressive magic instrument controlling the qi movement in Chang’an disintegrated.
“It’s G.o.d’s will and the emperor’s command that Li Gang, the magistrate of Chang’an, who has governed the land on behave of the emperor, enjoyed profound glory and high standing but grown ungrateful and rebellious and committed the most severe offense by keeping private forces on a large scale, shall be executed by the emperor’s son, Qin Fan. All the cronies of this sinner shall be killed in Chang’an instead of escorted to the capital. All his families and relative shall be eradicated, too. That is the end!”
A dominating voice of a deity-like man descended from that bright yellow light and traveled across the land.
It was the imperial edict.
It was the imperial edict of Emperor Qin Ming.
“The emperor of the Western Qin issued an edict to put Li Gang under execution?”
“Li Gang is conspiring against the emperor?”
The booming voice instantly resounded through the entire Chang’an, which made sure every single person in the city had heard it clearly.
Numerous people looked up at that imposing bright yellow ball of light in the sky, which embodied a strong sense of majesty. As the yellow light gleamed, it was perceivable that it was actually a bright yellow scroll decorated by swirling starry deployment patterns. It was giving off an awe-inspiring aura, which shuddered the hearts of all the listeners, as though the master of deities had read it to them in person.
That was the imperial edict of the emperor in the Western Qin Empire.
Everyone felt an uncontrollable sense of humbleness and a fit of s.h.i.+vering from their souls.
In the world, all the lands belonged to the king, and all human beings were the king’s people.
If the king asked you to die, you had to die.
That was the power of an imperial edict.
In that instant, countless people in Chang’an were thrown in a daze and immersed in astonishment.
The edict of the emperor in the Western Qin Empire was omnipotent. It could lift the suppression of the Sky-stabilizing Mirrors curbing the qi movement in all the provinces. Therefore, when that imperial edict was issued, all kinds of eccentric energy surged up in the entire Chang’an City, and the power of heaven and earth suppressed by the Sky-stabilizing Mirror became vibrant again and then returned to normal.
Naturally, the one who took the brunt of such a change was Li Mu.
“Fu*k it!”
Through the Third Eye, Li Mu detected that the hidden energy grids enveloping the five Celestial Beings who were attacking him were slowly recovering. Immediately, he knew he was really screwed.
No longer restrained by the Sky-stabilizing Mirror, the five Celestial Being was able to mobilize the power of heaven and earth.
Li Mu’s face turned a shade of green right away.
“Now, I have no odds against the five!”
Once the Celestial Beings regained their complete combat ability, any one of them could conquer him without effort, let alone they attacked at the same time. After all, he was confronting the force at a higher level.
He beat a retreat straightaway, his broadsword zooming under his feet like a jet of light.
“Shoot, you don’t play fair!”
Li Mu escaped their attacks and distanced himself from the opponents.
At that moment, he even did not forget to drag the masked young man in white along, who had been fighting with the last ounce of his strength.
Mu Qing, the Long-brow Saint, and the other Celestial Beings promptly realized the change. They felt the power of heaven and earth rise inside them, and the environment was normal again. Their wounds left by Li Mu’s flying broadswords were also healed in the blink of an eye due to the nurture of thick Spiritual Qi.
“Haha, you son of a b.i.t.c.h, you doom is here!”
“Crush him!”
The Celestial Being could not help but roar with fury.
They felt too aggrieved during the previous battle.
Being the dignified Celestial Beings, they had shamelessly joined hands to deal with a junior Natural Expert under the inexorable order of the second prince. But after about an hour, they still did not get Li Mu killed. Instead, they had become Li Mu’s stepping stones and been injured by him. So, all of them were quite dejected. The grievance nearly exploded inside them.
But then, everything returned to normal.
Their real power went back, too.
Looking at Li Mu, who was desperately running away from them like a startled bunny, the five Celestial Beings all showed undisguised fierce killing intent on their features.
From that moment on, killing Li Mu was just kids’ stuff to them.