Embers of Sword

Chapter 326 A thorn in the side

There are many words in this world to express gratitude.

But Xie Xuanyi thought about it for a long time and finally chose the simplest two words.

The person opposite Ruyi Ling also responded in the most nonchalant tone.

"Thank you."

"polite."

This conversation was completed in two or three breaths. The Soul Token was very calm, and a ray of divine thought was like a stone falling into a lake, which only caused very light ripples and then quickly calmed down.

The two exchanged four words across more than ten miles, and then no one spoke again, as if nothing had happened.

Some things don't need to be said, just keep them in your heart.

"Little Mountain Master...are you unhappy?"

Duan Zhao's voice sounded low.

He carefully studied the other person's face.

Duan Zhao didn’t quite understand. Being the top of the list of geniuses should be a great thing. Why didn’t Xie Zhen have a smile on his face?
"Nothing unhappy."

Xie Xuanyi spoke softly. He looked at the people outside the Great Pudu Temple who were cheering and drinking, and said calmly, "Not showing your emotions on your face is a necessary part of cultivation."

Been through so much.

Xie Xuanyi no longer cared about these false reputations.

Now he is standing at the pinnacle of the secular wave again... He is neither sad nor happy, his heart is as calm as a lake.

The scene before my eyes gradually overlapped with that year.

what's the difference?
No different.

"As expected of you, Little Mountain Master."

Duan Zhao half understood what he said and couldn't help but sigh: "If it were me, I would probably get carried away for a while, right?"

"So you can't be the top of the Tianjiao list."

Deng Baiyi couldn't help but say, "...Of course, I can't be one either."

Although she tried hard to suppress her smile, it couldn't stop from spilling out from the corners of her lips.

Xie Zhen topped the list of geniuses, and she was happier than anyone else present.

"I don't know what to say about you. You look smart, but why are you a little stupid?"

Xie Xuanyi glanced at the silly girl beside him and couldn't help but sigh.

Deng Baiyi's name was not on the list of Tianjiao this time. As a disciple of the great master of the world, it was not even in the top 100, which was really not a glorious thing. According to the teachings of Taoism, Deng Baiyi should have corrected his manners and restrained his joy at this moment, so as not to let outsiders have a frivolous and negative impression of Taoism... Not to say that he was like a bereaved family, but at least he should have a solemn expression.

"Huh."

Deng Baiyi certainly knew what Xie Zhen meant. She raised her eyebrows and waved her hand nonchalantly, "I am an ordinary person from Yuzhu Town. I came to the cultivation world by accident. I just wanted to watch the fun... My name is not on this list, so I can have some peace and quiet."

"Too."

Upon hearing this, Xie Xuanyi felt somewhat relieved.

If Deng Baiyi had really become a Taoist disciple who "strictly abided by the rules", and was restrained in his words and deeds, would that be a good thing?
Ask yourself, when you taught Deng Baiyi to practice and sent her to the Taoist sect, did you want to see this girl be free and happy? Or did you want to see her join the sect and be imprisoned in the cage of rules?

"Master Xie, congratulations on winning the top spot... I wonder if you are free, but Mr. Xie would like to invite you to meet and have a chat."

Sang was standing under the wings of a giant demon bird, smiling and waving.

He looked at Duan Zhao and Deng Baiyi and added, "If you two don't mind, you can go together."

Amidst the thunderous shouts, Xie Xuanyi put away the Ruyi Order and walked forward. The crowd made way for him to walk a long way.

At this moment, the sound of fierce horse hooves hitting the ground was heard in the distance.

Someone shouted loudly at the end of the crowd.

"Yuan Jimo! It's Yuan Jimo!"

In the imperial city, there are not many people who can scare people to death.

Yuan Jimo is one of them.

A tall horse came stepping on the muddy road made by rain and rain. The man in black armor sitting on the horse had a cold and grim expression. He pulled the reins and walked through the crowd in a brutal and unreasonable manner, and stopped Sang Zheng and Xie Xuanyi, the Black Scale Guards.

"Master Yuan? What are you going to do?"

Sang Zheng's expression darkened and he spoke coldly.

When ordinary Black Scale Guards meet the Head of the Imperial City Division, they naturally have to bow their heads and treat him with respect.

But Sang Zheng is different.

He was solely affiliated with the library and did not need to obey Yuan Jimo's orders.

"I heard that Brother Xie won the top spot on the Tianjiao list, so I came here to congratulate him."

Yuan Jimo sat on his horse, glanced at Sang Zheng, and said calmly: "Why...isn't this allowed by the laws of the Imperial City?"

Sang Zheng had nothing to say and could only choose to remain silent.

"Thank you brother."

Yuan Jimo looked around and said slowly: "You are really good at defeating Miao Zhen, the reincarnated Buddha."

"..."

Xie Xuanyi put his hands behind his back and looked at the black-armored man in front of him expressionlessly.

"I heard that the delegation from the Fanyin Temple came to Dachu to give a lecture, not just to exchange experiences."

Yuan Jimo paused for a moment and said, "In a few days, the Fanyin Temple delegation will bring back the 'Tanluan Buddha Bones' that have been stored in the Dapudu Temple for many years... I wonder if this news is true?"

"Master Yuan asked the wrong person."

Xie Xuanyi said calmly: "This is the matter of the Fanyin Temple delegation, you should ask them."

talking.

Xie Xuanyi turned his head slightly.

The gate of the Great Pudu Temple was closed, and the golden light array rose again at some point, as if no outsiders were allowed to enter... It was obvious that Miao Zhen was watching all this in the temple, and this was his silent response.

Guys like Yuan Jimo are not only hated by the people of Da Chu.

The monks from Liguo also hated him very much.

"I'm just curious."

Yuan Jimo smiled slightly and said, "Brother Xie, you must be tired after the competition with Miao Zhen. Don't you want to take a good rest during this period of time?"

"If Sir Yuan has nothing else to do, Xie will leave first."

Xie Xuanyi was too lazy to bother with this unlucky guy anymore.

He walked forward.

A hand suddenly stretched out and stopped him on horseback.

Yuan Jimo still kept smiling, but this time he did not speak, but instead used telepathy: "I know that you will travel with the Fanyin Temple delegation next... The Holy Queen has previously said that this delegation is very important. She is very interested in it. Why don't we have a good chat about the trip to the East..."

Snap.

Xie Xuanyi slapped away Yuan Jimo's hand that was blocking his way.

"...?"

The smile on Yuan Jimo's face suddenly froze.

"Calling you Lord Yuan, do you really think you are an adult?"

Xie Xuanyi sent a voice message indifferently: "You keep talking about the Holy Queen. Have you been a dog for too long? You can only use the name of your master to suppress others?"

A hint of coldness flashed across Yuan Jimo's eyes: "Xie Zhen...what did you say?"

"Wasn't what I just said clear?" Xie Xuanyi frowned. "You are really used to being a dog. Even if no one sends you there, you still have to move your tail. The Holy Queen is in seclusion to build a formation. The Imperial City has finally been quiet for a while... Please, can you be quiet for a while?"

Yuan Jimo's eyes widened.

For the first time in his life, he was shaking with anger.

But it happened to be in front of countless people and it was a happy day, so the head of the Imperial City Bureau could not get angry at all. He could only keep "smiling" and watch Xie Zhen go away.

Xie Xuanyi didn't look back.

He brought Duan Zhao and Deng Baiyi to the side of the purple phoenix and stepped on the stirrups to climb up.

Sang Zheng snorted disdainfully, patted the big bird's back, flapped its wings, and soared into the air.

……

……

"That guy named Yuan is disgusting."

"You bastard, it makes me very annoyed when I see you."

A huge purple phoenix was flying in the sky. The Da Chu Imperial City has always had a no-fly zone order, but the Black Scale Guards in the Library were an extremely special "exception". Sang Zheng only sent a wisp of soul thought to the guards on the city tower, and the huge demon bird was able to pass smoothly... After leaving the Da Pudu Temple, Duan Zhao began to curse viciously.

He grew up on Forget-Your-Sorrow Island. As the name suggests, Forget-Your-Sorrow Island is located overseas and is a real fairyland.

The people on the island live a carefree life, without oppression or exploitation.

Not to mention torture.

None of these exist.

Duan Zhao originally thought that the whole world was like Wangyou Island... until he personally entered the world and experienced many hardships along the way, and then he saw the ugly side of the world.

But there must be a limit to the bad people in the world.

He didn't like Xie Sheng, the prince of Jiangning, because Xie Sheng always looked down on others and relied on his power and status to suppress ordinary monks.

He also didn't like the evil cultivators in southern Xinjiang. These evil cultivators ignored the law, killed innocent people indiscriminately, and violated the harmony of nature.

But Duan Zhao dislikes it the most.

It’s Yuan Jimo.

In his opinion, Yuan Jimo was a pure "bad guy" who had only met the little mountain master for the first time. In order to make the little mountain master have more enemies, he fabricated the case file and had the Lin family ransacked overnight... During the time Duan Zhao lived in the imperial city, he heard about the various deeds done by the head of the Imperial City. The Holy Empress valued Yuan Jimo and eradicated Emperor Chu's followers. In the past ten years, countless loyal and brave people were killed by him.

In the dungeon of the Imperial City, countless poor people are imprisoned.

Digging three feet into the ground, we found countless bones.

"Tell me, how can someone be so shameless... He was the one who caused the Yong'an Street tragedy. After doing all these things, he still has the nerve to come and congratulate the Little Mountain Master in front of so many people?"

Duan Zhao said angrily: "Little Mountain Master, why didn't you beat him up just now?"

"If you do this, Yuan Jimo will only be happy."

Without waiting for Xie Xuanyi to speak, Deng Baiyi sighed and said, "The position of the head of the Imperial City Department is not ordinary. The person the Holy Queen of the entire Imperial City values most is him... If Xie Zhen takes action, Yuan Jimo will have the opportunity to continue to cause trouble for us."

"Pooh!"

Duan Zhao was quite resentful: "They say that cultivation is for freedom and ease, but I think the monks in the Imperial City are living too uncomfortably."

"Because this is the imperial city."

Deng Baiyi said with emotion: "The Da Chu royal family spent thousands of years to build such a city and established countless rules... In this city, the vast majority of practitioners are no different from ordinary people."

"I still don't understand... Since so many people hate Yuan Jimo, why doesn't anyone take action?"

Duan Zhao frowned and spoke.

"It's not that no one did it, it's that everyone who did it died."

Sang Zheng took over the topic and said regretfully, "Yuan Jimo was very cunning. After becoming the chief, he neither revealed his cultivation level nor took the initiative to leave the imperial city... The previous assassinations all ended in failure. Some of the assassins committed suicide, and some wanted to escape because they were afraid of death. In the end, none of them escaped. They were taken to the dungeon and interrogated by Yuan Jimo himself. They were severely tortured for several months. It is said that the scene at that time was extremely bloody, and they all regretted not committing suicide at the first time."

Duan Zhao felt a chill when he heard this and couldn't help asking, "What realm is this guy in?"

"Yin Shen."

Sang Zheng said calmly, "If you want to kill him, you probably need to be at the 15th level of Yin Shen. Three years ago, a casual cultivator at the 7th level of Yin Shen attempted to assassinate him outside the Imperial City, but the assassination attempt failed. In less than half an incense stick of time, when the Imperial City's special envoy arrived, the Yin Shen assassin had already been killed by Yuan Jimo."

"The Fifteenth Level of Yin God..."

Deng Baiyi shook his head: "There are not many such cultivators in the whole Da Chu."

Repair to this step.

Who would be willing to sacrifice themselves to assassinate Yuan Jimo?
Let’s not talk about success or failure for now.

This stab is meant to make the Empress Dowager an enemy, and the entire Da Chu an enemy. Regardless of whether Yuan Jimo will die or not... this assassin is likely to die.

"Don't worry, he won't live long."

At this moment, Xie Xuanyi's voice sounded on Ziluan's back.

"hey-hey……"

Duan Zhao couldn't help but laugh: "Little Mountain Master, what does this mean?"

"literal meaning."

Xie Xuanyi spoke calmly.

Ziluan has trustworthy people on her back, so it's no big deal for her to say such things.

"As expected of you, Little Mountain Master!"

Hearing this, Duan Zhao smiled happily, revealing his two front teeth.

Sang Zheng's expression became serious, and he warned in a deep voice: "Little Master Xie, although Yuan Jimo is abominable, he has the Holy Queen behind him after all. Given your current situation, it is better not to provoke him too early."

"Thank you for the reminder. I know the severity of the situation."

In response to Sang Zheng's advice, Xie Xuanyi simply responded indifferently without further explanation.

When he was transmitting his divine thoughts just now, his spirit briefly captured Yuan Jimo's heart and conducted a simple investigation... Sang Zheng's information was quite accurate. Yuan Jimo's current cultivation realm was probably at the fourteenth realm of Yin God. To kill him, at least a cultivator of the fifteenth realm would be needed.

But he is the head of the Imperial City Bureau after all, and is deeply favored by the Holy Queen. He must have a lot of treasures, secret techniques, formations, and talismans on him.

If you do it yourself, you will need to combine at least two rules into one to advance to the Yin God level.

When you are just promoted, the success rate of taking action is very low.

The Tao and the Sword Qi Cave Heaven need to be adjusted.

But once the realm is stabilized, the law of life and death, combined with [Chronic Illness], killing Yuan Jimo... will not be that difficult.

For Xie Xuanyi, it didn't take too long to reach this level.

It can be said.

The countdown for Yuan Jimo's life had already begun.

but……

Xie Xuanyi didn't mind. Before taking action himself, he sought help from others to remove Yuan Jimo, the disgusting thorn in his side.

"You, don't want to find Junshan Zhenren?"

Zi Luan fell into a brief silence.

Deng Baiyi's voice reached Xie Xuanyi's heart. Xie Xuanyi looked at the woman beside him with some surprise.

She is indeed smart.

I didn't show any sign of asking for help, but I was still guessed...

"You guessed it right."

Xie Xuanyi didn't want to hide anything from Deng Baiyi.

He said calmly: "In this world, killing a person has never been a difficult task. A sharp enough sword is enough. It doesn't matter how the sword is stabbed or who stabs it."

(End of this chapter)