In the eastern palace, Zhuxie Chixin tried his best to stop the assassins that had been ushered out, but was unfortunately stopped by the long-haired woman.

With a cold expression, he sent his Soul-reaping Chains flying about the battlefield, hacking and slashing unpredictably. It truly seemed like a sickle from hell.

Unfortunately, all of his attacks were easily blocked by the small, exquisite sword.

His opponent did not wield the sword in her hand. Instead, it seemed to possess a sentience of its own. It flew around the long-haired woman freely, blocking his sickle perfectly each time.

Zhuxie Chixin’s brow furrowed. He tried to think of a woman who used a short sword like this, who was also at the grandmaster rank. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come up with anyone. There were a few potential candidates, but none of them were a perfect match for the woman facing him.

After another dozen or so strikes, the long-haired woman smiled and said, “I won’t play with you anymore.”

She sensed that the others had already made it out, but something seemed to have happened in the vicinity of her disciple. She had to head over and help her out.

As soon as she moved, however, Zhuxie Chixin dashed to block her path.

The long-haired woman frowned. “Why do you have to go this far? You know you can’t stop me. If we keep fighting, even your foundation might be damaged. It will take several decades for you to recover from something like that.”

Zhuxie Chixin’s expression was downcast. “There is no denying that your cultivation is extremely high, and I have rarely seen anyone on your level. Unfortunately, even if I cannot stop you, do not forget that this is the imperial palace. Do you believe that His Majesty himself will be unable to stop you?”

The woman chuckled. “There’s no need to frighten me. I know that His Majesty is currently… unable to make an appearance.”

“Is that so?” A bright yellow decree suddenly appeared in Zhuxie Chixin’s hands. He quickly unfolded it and began to chant. “The decree of the emperor who has accepted the mandate of heaven states…”

The woman grew alert. She knew that the Embroidered Envoy could act in the emperor’s stead, but this was a rare occurrence. Why did Zhuxie Chixin just happen to have an imperial edict on him?

She didn’t dare hesitate. Her short sword flew out in an arc and shot towards Zhuxie Chixin. She clearly hoped to silence him before he could complete the chant.

Unfortunately for her, Zhuxie Chixin had one foot through the door leading to grandmaster rank. There was no way silencing him would be that easy.

When the flying sword reached him, a massive golden palm leapt out of the decree to meet him.

The flying sword had been able to penetrate Zhuxie Chixin’s blazing palm earlier on, but was immediately stopped when it struck the golden palm. It began to vibrate wildly.

The golden palm made contact with the tip of the sword and continued forward without stopping. The nigh-invincible flying sword was slowly broken apart, inch by inch. The golden palm continued to shoot forward, almost reaching the long-haired woman.

Zhuxie Chixin continued to stare at her. The destruction of her flying sword should have resulted in serious injuries for her, and perhaps should have even stripped her of all power to resist. Why did this woman look as though she was still in perfect condition?

Could it be that the flying sword wasn’t her real weapon?

The long-haired woman wasn’t feeling fine at all. Her heart was pounding fiercely, and her expression was deadly serious. She spread her arms and slowly rose into the air. Her long hair fluttered about, and a crescent moon rose behind her.

“Huh? Why is there another moon?” Many in the eastern palace rubbed their eyes. They thought that they were seeing things.

That curved moon scattered out a clear and cool radiance. The long-haired woman looked beautiful and elegant. Now that there was this sparkling and translucent moonlight behind her, even though she was dressed in all black, she still looked extraordinary like a lunar goddess.

Bathed in the beautiful moonlight, these same people were suddenly shocked to discover that they couldn’t move. No—they could move, but their movements were extremely slow, even slower than a snail’s.

Zhuxie Chixin was astounded. He knew exactly what was going on. She was a light element cultivator who could freeze time!

Of course, this wasn’t a true freezing of time. Instead, she was greatly slowing the movements of all her enemies within a certain range, which made it feel as though time had been frozen.

There were few light element cultivators to begin with, and those who had reached her level were even rarer. One person suddenly leaped out in his mind.

Even though she always used a flying sword as her weapon, she was now forced to use her Wheel of the Crescent Moon. He should’ve guessed her identity a long time ago!

This was the Devil Sect’s Sect Master, Yun Jianyue!

The golden palm also seemed to be affected by the quiet moonlight, and it gradually slowed.

Unfortunately, the long-haired woman had no time to rejoice. Even though the massive palm was slowed, it was still approaching her.

The palm was almost on her, and would hit her in moments, even if it were slowed to a snail’s pace.

She clenched her teeth. With a wave of her hands, she launched the bright, curved moon at the palm, intercepting it and creating a huge explosion.

Many in the eastern palace were deafened by the sound of it, and it took a long while for them to recover their hearing. Even so, their heads were still ringing, and blood was flowing out of most of their ears.

The formation that protected the eastern palace was instantly flattened by the shockwave.

The eastern palace had yet to experience any damage, despite the pitched battles that had preceded this one. It went to show just how strong the defenses were.

No matter how formidable these defenses were, however, there was still a limit to how much punishment they could take. How could they withstand the powerful shockwave released by the collision of two attacks, one of them beyond the grandmaster level?

Zhuxie Chixin vomited a mouthful of blood. He had shielded the others in the eastern palace, preventing them from dying from the shockwaves, but suffered massive injuries as a result.

By the time the golden palm gradually dissipated, the long-haired woman had already vanished without a trace.

The emperor’s face gradually took form in the sky above the eastern palace. The massive figure spoke slowly. “She was seriously injured, and couldn’t have gone far. Zhuxie Chixin, you must capture her!”

Zhuxie Chixin knelt down straight away. “I will follow your orders! Long live the emperor!” he said with great respect.

The others in the eastern palace knelt down as well, their expressions full of awe. Everyone said that His Majesty was the number one expert, but few had ever witnessed him personally take part in a fight.

The long-haired woman had been terribly formidable, yet she still wasn’t a match for His Majesty’s attack.

All who remained in the eastern palace were awash with pride, reveling in the glory that was the emperor’s appearance. Many cultivators among them, whose cultivations had plateaued for many years, had been granted insights because of this.

Zhuxie Chixin had reaped incredible benefits as well. However, he did not have the time to digest these insights right now. He escorted the Right Guard General and the crown prince’s lesser tutor to a safe location, then led his subordinates in search of that long-haired woman.

Even though he had been injured while protecting everyone else in the eastern palace from harm, his injuries were nothing compared to those suffered by the long-haired woman. That woman would certainly die if they crossed paths.

He even suspected that she might not be able to escape if she ran into some ordinary guardsmen.

…

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the imperial palace, Qiu Honglei had just seen a giant sword of flames brush past her. Before she could even react, someone grabbed her and pulled her to the side.

Alarmed, she was just about to retaliate when she heard a familiar voice beside her ear. “It’s me.”

Qiu Honglei’s hands stopped halfway. “Ah Zu!” she cried out in joy.

I guess this guy has a conscience after all! She thought that he only cared about the crown princess. Apparently, it seemed he cared about her as well.

“Shush!” Zu An gestured for her to be quiet. After all, the eighth-ranked Cheng Xiong was still pursuing them.

He had deliberately used the flame blade, a technique he had never used so far, to hide his identity.

This was the benefit of knowing many different techniques!

I really need to write down everything I know and note down when I used it, though. It’ll be trouble if I get caught using a technique reserved for a different identity.

Zu An led Qiu Honglei along a convoluted route, but he wasn’t confident that he could throw off Cheng Xiong. The Left Guard General was surely much more familiar with the imperial palace than him.

He even considered baiting their pursuer to a secluded place to get rid of him if they really couldn’t shake him off.

He was only at the eighth rank, after all. Even though he was a full rank behind, he still stood a chance. With Qiu Honglei’s help, the odds were better than even.

However, an eighth rank expert surely had his own trump cards. It would be terrible if Zu An let him get away.

While he was hesitating, a terrifying explosion came from the direction of the eastern palace. The entire imperial palace—no, everyone in the capital—trembled at this eruption of power.

“We’re leaving!” Zu An might have gone ahead with his plan to confront Cheng Xiong, but he had already witnessed the emperor’s power once in Brightmoon City, and met him face-to-face in his study not too long ago. He was already used to his power. He would use this opportunity while Cheng Xiong was overwhelmed by this domineering power to elude him.

Qiu Honglei was trembling. “Was that the emperor?” She suspected as much, but was still unwilling to believe it.

Before Zu An had a chance to reply, the emperor’s order that Zhuxie Chixin capture the long-haired woman had already echoed throughout the entire imperial palace.

“My master is in trouble!” exclaimed Qiu Honglei, alarmed. She turned back immediately. “I need to save my master!”