Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill

Chapter 228 First Fusion of Internal Force (9k-word long chapter, please vote!)
The rain poured down, and the world was shrouded in chaos.

When the purple lightning cleaved through the leaden clouds, one could see Mr. Dongjing hovering above the town entrance, with twelve water tornadoes like silver snakes coiling around a pillar, holding him in the center of the vortex.

He formed a hand seal with his fingertips, and suddenly wisps of yellow energy emerged from the cracks in the rocks of the surrounding mountains, as if the mountains were breathing. Even more strangely, crimson flames erupted from the open wound in his chest, the flames engulfing a waterspout, creating a bizarre situation where water and fire coexisted. At the same time, the wound scabbed over at a visible speed, and the yin and yang energies, like a phantom of a tai chi symbol, slowly circulated and harmonized the water and fire in his abdomen, while a fierce wind arose, accompanied by a torrential downpour.

Pei Yuanzhen lay on the broken wall at the street corner, his clothes torn to shreds by the gale, his whole body soaked. He had almost been swept away from the town by that huge wave.

"Seven Killings united as one, the true Seven Killings united as one!"

He gazed at the figure of water and fire merging in the air and murmured, "Grandmaster, didn't you say the head manager was only half-baked? Is this what you call half-baked? I..."

Before he could finish speaking, another wave crashed over the broken wall, and he rolled into the ditch clutching the broken bricks, his nose filled with the sweet, pungent smell of rainwater.

At this moment, Gu Mo stomped his toes on the eaves, shattering the green tiles into dust. He used the momentum to leap seven zhang into the air, twirling the demon blade in his palm. Countless crescent-shaped blade energies, wrapped in wind and thunder, crashed towards Mr. Dongjing.

The sky was filled with sword energy like crashing waves, splitting the rain curtain in its path. Raindrops burst into fine mist upon impact with the sword energy, gleaming with an eerie purple light under the lightning.

Each blade of energy that swept across the raindrops blasted them into a misty spray resembling gold foil, which then connected in a dazzling net of blades under the flash of lightning, stirring the airflow within a radius of ten feet into a violent vortex.

With a flick of his finger, Mr. Dongjing caused the waterspout to split into three streams, suddenly accelerating. Raindrops condensed into ice cones as they spun at high speed, colliding with Gu Mo's sword energy with a deafening roar. Even more devastating was the thunder in the sky—nine bolts of purple lightning, each as thick as a bowl, struck down almost simultaneously. Thunder roared in the sky, and the bowl-thick lightning, like silver snakes, danced wildly, aiming straight for Gu Mo's crown.

Gu Mo strode through the void as if stepping on stone steps, each step creating ripples of energy shield. He narrowly escaped being struck by lightning, but his clothes were scorched by the thunder and fire, revealing crisscrossing burn marks underneath.

Gu Mo's hair stood on end in the raging storm, his blade aimed directly at Mr. Dongjing. Each swing of his blade unleashed a violent burst of fiery sword energy, tearing open gaps in the waterspouts where the energy struck, only to have them instantly filled by the newly formed rain curtain. Mr. Dongjing's figure appeared and disappeared within the waterspouts, like a reflection in the water, causing Gu Mo's every strike to miss its mark.

Suddenly, all the raindrops were suspended in mid-air.

Gu Mo's hand, which was swinging the knife, suddenly stopped. He felt the raindrops hovering just inches from his brow, and it seemed as if lightning was flashing within them. The sound of his heartbeat suddenly amplified, like the booming of war drums in his ears.

"Click——"

The sound of the first raindrop bursting was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, yet it froze the very fabric of the world. Immediately afterward, millions of raindrops exploded simultaneously, and the water waves coalesced in the void into a gigantic, transparent hand, its five fingers spread wide as it crushed down.

Gu Mo's face darkened, and he slashed out with his demonic blade. The moment the blade's energy collided with the water, the rain within a radius of ten feet was shaken into mist, but the water wall was like an inverted celestial river, pressing down layer upon layer.

He felt a sudden weight on his shoulder, and was swept up by the water and slammed to the ground. He almost lost his grip on the demon sword. He slashed out with all his might, and the blade cleaved the water in half. He then saw the figure of Mr. Dongjing appearing and disappearing behind the water curtain, his fingertips forming a hand seal as he slowly pressed down.

"Boom!"

The waves crashed down on Gu Mo like Mount Tai, slamming him heavily to the ground. With a deafening roar, a huge crater was smashed into the ground, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the bluestone slabs all around. Gu Mo lay on his back at the bottom of the crater, his demon sword deeply embedded in the cracks between the bricks, its hilt still vibrating and humming.

Rainwater streamed down the wound on his forehead, mingling with the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Gu Mo leaped out of the deep pit with a somersault.

From the void came the calm voice of Mr. Dongjing: "Gu Mo, this is the second time I have used the Seven Kills Fusion technique since I created it. The first time was when I fought Ye Nantian, the leader of the Moon Worship Cult, and I narrowly lost. However, he didn't dare to fight me to the death, and I have no interest in fighting him to the death. Therefore, I don't know if I have the strength to take him down with me."

Therefore, you are the first person to truly accept the Seven Killings Unification, which will be the most powerful attack method in the world. I want to challenge your powerful offensive and defensive Qi technique again.

At this moment, everyone in the town was somewhat panicked.

Because at this moment, Mr. Dongjing, who was floating in the void, was not like a human, but like a god.

He single-handedly unleashed the legendary Seven Killings of Heavenly Abyss Return to Silence, a technique said to require seven people to perform.

this moment,
Beneath the torrential rain, the aura surrounding Master Dongjing shimmered with a mesmerizing, glass-like light, within which the scene distorted like a mirage in a mirror. Deep within, a mysterious mountain loomed, its body split in two: one side raging with flames, the other frozen in icy water. Fiery serpents and surging waves intertwined and rose, exploding into countless bolts of purple lightning at the boundary. Gale-force winds, carrying thunder, howled and swirled between the mountain's ridges, the yin and yang energies writhing like two giant pythons, shattering the entire airspace.

The moment he swooped down to the ground, the half-fire, half-water mountain suddenly broke free from the protective barrier and crashed down with a devastating force.

The trajectory of the entire mountain as it fell seemed to carve a dark crack in the sky. Thunder, waves, lava, and hurricanes tangled wildly, constantly merging and twisting during the fall, eventually coalescing into a gigantic sphere of chaos.

Wherever it passed, the air emitted a shriek of unbearable strain.

At that moment, everyone felt absolute pressure. The earth began to crack, and many people were even forced to kneel down. Some people struggled to raise their heads, but their facial features were deformed by the terrifying air pressure.

Gu Mo threw the knife away immediately.

He unleashed his full innate inner energy, creating a powerful protective shield of true energy, but instead of waiting, he roared, "Everyone, lie down!"

He didn't know if his innate qi could withstand this ultimate killing move of combining seven killings. Maybe it could, maybe it couldn't, but it didn't matter, because he had never been in the habit of being passively attacked.

"You're not the only one who knows how to blend!"

He snorted coldly.
Then, he soared into the sky, his innate qi transforming into a protective shield that dispersed the layers of water waves, and he faced directly at the chaotic sphere that seemed to be destroying the world as it descended from the sky.

In that instant of mid-air,

Streams of true energy surged from his body, his inner energy flowing like a reversed Milky Way. The phantom of the Tai Chi diagram slowly unfolded behind him. Yin and Yang energies emerged first, forming a millstone-sized vortex in his palm, with black and white light flowing down his arms and covering his entire body. The essence of the Four Illuminations Divine Skill followed, overflowing from his seven orifices, like a layer of stars coating his skeleton. The Heavenly Silkworm True Energy wrapped around his dantian like spider silk, but the attribute-less true energy of the Tai Xuan Scripture ignored it, directly opening up the Ren and Du meridians, stirring the heat and cold energy of the Nine Yangs and Ming Yu into a pot of boiling water.

Tai Chi Harmonizer, Four-Illumination Stabilizer, Heavenly Silkworm Protector, Tai Xuan Dimension Ascension Device, Nine Yang Bright Jade Power Unit.

In an instant, a ball of light condensed between Gu Mo's hands, continuously rotating and expanding, while the true energy within Gu Mo's body continued to surge forth—blazing sun true energy, icy true energy…

In an instant, a massive sphere of light erupted, hissing as it expanded. The outlines of distant mountains blurred in the phenomenon, as if the entire world was making way for this power.

As the airflow rotates faster and faster

Gu Mo coughed up a mouthful of blood.

He is currently lacking a Lesser Formless Skill as a converter. Forcibly using the Limitless Returning to Origin Qi causes various true energies to directly lack compatible channels, resulting in a frenzied clash that continuously tears apart his meridians and dantian...

He didn't release all of these internal energies, only less than 50%, and he didn't even dare to touch the most powerful innate qi, as it had already exceeded the limit that his body could withstand!

"The Primordial Qi Returns to its Origin!"

With a push from Gu Mo's hands, the sphere of light in the void rapidly exploded outwards. Within the void, a suspended black and white platform appeared, upon which the yin-yang symbol spun wildly, emitting countless streams of energy.
With each rotation of the yin-yang fish, it exhaled and exhaled countless streams of air. These streams were of different elements, some as red as flames, some as blue as a cold pool, and some as white as ice and snow. They carried a killing intent and pressure, intertwining and colliding with each other in the air, forming huge vortexes.

In the blink of an eye, countless vortexes converged and merged, transforming into millions of raging tornadoes that roared and ravaged the world. Wherever they passed, space twisted and deformed, as if the entire world was trembling under this terrifying power. The wind and clouds changed color, and spiritual energy surged wildly.

The Limitless Returning to Origin Qi instantly met the Seven Killings Fusion of Master Dongjing.

The moment the two forces collided, space seemed to be torn apart by an invisible giant hand, revealing a light brighter than lightning.

The light was neither white nor red, but the gray of the primordial chaos, with countless golden rays within it, as if someone had crushed stars and scattered them in mid-air. Then came silence, a silence more terrifying than deafness.

The silence lasted only three breaths.

People only heard the thunderous roar when the blast wave ripped the roof off.

"Boom"

It was as if the heavens and earth had exploded!

The blue tiles of the entire town exploded at the same time, the tiles shooting out in all directions like sharp blades, the buzzing and vibrating sound just like the funeral bells I heard as a child.

The accumulated water condensed into a wall of water in mid-air, but was shredded into millions of water arrows by the air currents, which shot into the broken wall and created holes the size of bowls.

The soldiers huddled in the street corner, clutching their swords. Their armor was torn to shreds by the shockwave. One of the weaker soldiers was thrown into the air and crashed into a millstone. The spray of blood he spurted was blown into a slant.

At this moment, streams of air appeared around Gu Mo, who was floating in the void, and transformed into protective energy to shield him from the massive shockwaves.

But in the next instant, he felt a tearing pain in his internal organs, meridians, and dantian.

That was the price he paid for forcibly unleashing the Limitless Returning to Origin Qi. Various true energies surged and collided against the current in his meridians and dantian, and he could no longer suppress them at this moment.

At that moment, Gu Mo's body swayed slightly, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his protective aura thinned, and he seemed as helpless as a small boat adrift in a deep abyss.

Impacted by the aftershock of a shockwave, he fell like a meteorite, his back carving a bloody gash several feet across the ground, shattering the stone slabs in his wake.

He finally crashed into the stone monument at the town entrance, the blood spurting from his mouth drawing a scarlet arc in the air, mingling with the flying rubble.

At that moment, a system notification sounded in my mind:

[Slaying a six-star wanted criminal]

[Receive a six-star reward - Heavenly Demon Harp, plus a max-level Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds]

[Whether to receive it]

……

At this moment, in the void, the aftershocks of Mr. Dongjing's Chaos Sphere and the Boundless Returning Origin Qi were still tearing each other apart, turning the entire sky into a purgatory of interwoven crimson and black. Powerful aftershocks were still transforming into a terrifying water tornado that rushed towards Gu Mo.

And at that very moment,

As the rain poured down, Gu Chudong rushed over, leaped into the air, and shouted, "Come on, knife!"

The Gouchen Demon Blade stuck in the crevice seemed to sense something, and instantly turned into fragments that flew into the air. Then the hilt fell into Gu Chudong's hand, and the fragments of the demon blade instantly condensed together.

Gu Chudong gripped the Gouchen Demon Blade and slashed down, unleashing a powerful blade aura that cleaved through the massive wave rushing towards Gu Mo.

She quickly landed on Gu Mo and forcefully planted the Gouchen Demon Blade into the ground. A powerful burst of fiery blade energy spread out, splitting the water tornado in two and surging away to both sides.

"elder brother!"

Gu Chudong hurriedly took out the Life-Creating Pill from the large book box on her back and was about to feed it to Gu Mo.

Gu Mo pushed him away and said, "No need, Chu Dong. I'll leave the rest to you... I won't mess around like this again!"

Immediately, he took out several healing pills from Song Danyang of Chunyang Temple from his book box and swallowed them.

Then, amidst Gu Chudong's panic and astonishment,
Fine silver lines suddenly appeared beneath Gu Mo's skin. These silver lines emerged from his pores, initially as thin as hair, but taut like harp strings in the wind. Then, the silkworm silk began to dance wildly, bursting forth with a sharp, metallic clang.

The silk threads gathered denser and denser, and in the instant the rain stopped, they wrapped him into a jade-colored cocoon half a meter tall, with fine silver light flowing around the cocoon.

at the same time,

The rain gradually stopped, and the misty fog dissipated.

Mr. Dongjing fell like a kite with a broken string, smashing a deep, scarlet crater in the rubble.

In that instant, four dark figures darted out of the town ruins like ghosts. They were the four disciples of Master Dongjing. Two of them had come from Linhai City, and the other two were Lin Jing's two adjutants. All of them were martial arts masters, and they attacked Gu Mo directly.

Pei Yuanzhen and the others were shocked and rushed over, but they were too late. The four of them had already reached Gu Mo.

However, Gu Chudong stood in front of him.

The man at the front didn't take Gu Chudong seriously, slapping her and yelling, "Get out of my way..."

The pebbles kicked up by the palm strike had just reached mid-air.

Gu Chudong lightly tapped the hilt of the sword, and the Gouchen Demon Blade suddenly trembled. Several streams of sword energy seeped from the seams of the scabbard, like cracks in thawing ice, yet sharper than lightning. The man's hand hovered in mid-air, his fingers still gripping, but a thin line of blood appeared on his wrist. The next moment, the severed hand fell to the ground with a thud, and blood gushed from the cut, staining the broken bricks beneath his feet. Then, without pausing for a moment, the blade severed the man's neck.

Immediately afterwards, the water mist condensed on the blade of the Gouchen Demon Blade was dispersed by the blade energy, and dozens or even hundreds of cross-shaped blade energies surged like a reversed Milky Way, each carrying the power to split mountains and shatter rocks. These blade energies did not slash in a straight line, but condensed into rotating blade wheels, turning the air into a vacuum wherever they passed, and instantly creating hundreds of spiderweb-like cracks on the ground.

The remaining three men froze in that instant, blood appearing on their throats, wrists, knees, and other areas. Like dismantled puppets, they didn't even have time to scream before their bodies were shattered into seven or eight pieces, their internal organs mingling with the rainwater and pooling in blood against the wall. "Anyone else want to come and die!"

Her voice was like iron soaked in ice.

Seeing Gu Chudong's murderous aura, Pei Yuanzhen, Chen You, and the others who had intended to help took a few steps back, fearing that the sensitive Gu Chudong might misunderstand and kill them as well.

At this moment,
They suddenly realized...
Gu Chudong was once a top-tier expert who could suppress Liu Furen, a top assassin in the martial arts world, at Qingfeng Inn.

She was always just following Gu Mo around as his little follower, which made her easy to overlook. Subconsciously, people thought she was a little girl who couldn't do anything without Gu Mo.

……

Mr. Dongjing is dead, and Pei Yuanzhen ordered his body to be properly disposed of.

Pei Yuanzhen and Chen You immediately began making arrangements, leaving a small group of soldiers to clean up the battlefield and take care of the wounded. Fortunately, although the battle was terrifying, there were not many casualties because Gu Mo had moved the battlefield to the air.

Arrange the aftermath properly.
Pei Yuanzhen and Chen You then led a large army to reinforce Yanluo County.

The carriage that Mr. Dongjing had been riding in was requisitioned by Gu Chudong. She lifted the roof of the carriage and put Gu Mo, who had turned into an enormous silkworm cocoon, into the carriage, just like a giant egg.

Then she drove away in her carriage.

Gu Chudong took Gu Mo on a detour to a small mountain outside Yanluo County and stayed there overnight before going to the county town the next day.

By the time she arrived, Yanluo County had already calmed down.

When faced with the Linhai County garrison, the soldiers of the Seven Absolutes Tower were completely disorganized and lacked unified command. They were easily scattered. Afterwards, County Commandant Chen You went to the coastal defense camp to stabilize the situation.

The major incident caused by the Seven Absolutes Tower was thus quelled.

However, Pei Yuanzhen was not happy at all.

Because things had developed far beyond his expectations and were completely out of control. He never imagined that the head manager of the Seven Absolutes Pavilion would be Mr. Dongjing. This matter was no longer just a simple case of Lin Jing colluding with the Seven Absolutes Pavilion to embezzle funds and resell weapons; it could now be classified as a large-scale treason case.

The very next morning,

Pei Yuanzhen traveled light, leading a group of people to escort the bodies of Lin Jing and Mr. Dongjing back to Linhai City. At the same time, he sent someone to urgently send a message to the Tianzhou General Government.

Of course, his first instinct was to send people to inform his backers, namely the Pei family and the Imperial Advisor Zhang Daoyi. Whether he had rendered a great service, had his merits and demerits cancel each other out, or had his demerits outweigh his merits in this matter was irrelevant to the essence of the matter, but rather depended on how the people behind him operated.

Gu Chudong didn't care about these things and had no interest in knowing them. She was only worried about Gu Mo's safety, so she followed Pei Yuanzhen back to Linhai City. Linhai City was relatively safer, and they could stay directly in the government office.

When Gu Chudong and Pei Yuanzhen returned to Linhai City

The capital city, hundreds of miles away, was in an uproar because of the Linhai County incident.

This is a really big deal.

If it were just Lin Jing colluding with the Seven Absolutes Tower, it would only be a simple corruption issue. But now, it involves a great Confucian scholar, and moreover, the Dongjing Master, who is currently enjoying great fame and is about to become the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor.

The imperial edict appointing Mr. Dongjing as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince has already been issued.

On the night the news reached the capital, various factions within the city were secretly stirring.

Pei Buqi, the head of the Pei family who served as the Vice Minister of Rites, hurriedly arrived at the Imperial Preceptor's residence.

The Imperial Preceptor's Residence was a notorious oddity in the Qian Kingdom's court. Zhang Daoyi, the Imperial Preceptor and a first-rank minister who also served as the Director of the Imperial Observatory, was a Taoist priest and extremely superstitious about feng shui. When he entered officialdom, he refused the emperor's offer of a prime location near the capital, instead requesting a small hill in the suburbs where he built a Taoist temple to serve as the Imperial Preceptor's Residence.

When Pei Buqi, the head of the Pei family, arrived at the Imperial Preceptor's residence, before he could even speak, a young Taoist boy led him directly to a grand hall where he met Zhang Daoyi, the legendary Dragon and Tiger Celestial Master, who was said to be the third strongest in the world but was actually the second strongest. The short, stout Taoist was wolfing down a bowl of meat all by himself.

"Grandmaster, Grandmaster, disaster has struck!"

Pei Buqi rushed to Zhang Daoyi and said, "Grandmaster, our seventh brother has gotten himself into big trouble this time..."

Zhang Daoyi looked up, his mouth glistening with oil, and waved with a grin, saying, "Come, come, sit down, sit down." He held up a chicken leg and handed it to Pei Buqi, saying, "Short on cash? Here, have a chicken leg..."

Pei Buqi said with a helpless expression, "Grandmaster, my name is Pei Buqi!"

“I know, the reason you can’t afford to pay is because you’re short of money, right?” Zhang Daoyi said. “You’re over fifty years old, don’t be so impulsive. Come on, have a chicken leg to calm your nerves first. This is a chicken raised by a dragon!”

Pei Buqi asked in confusion, "What is meant by 'dragon raising chickens'?"

Zhang Daoyi chuckled and said, "Chickens raised by a dragon!"

"Where are the dragons? And raising chickens? Grandmaster, you..." Pei Buqi stopped there, suddenly realizing something, and trembled, stammering, "Grandmaster...you...you stole His Majesty's chickens?"

"Hehe," Zhang Daoyi said, "This is the best chicken in the world, the meat is really good, so tender!"

Startled, Pei Buqi quickly threw the chicken leg back into the bowl and said sheepishly, "I...I dare not eat it...this chicken is more precious than my life!"

Zhang Daoyi smiled and said, "Don't worry, the Emperor has plenty of chickens in his garden. He wouldn't know if one or two were missing. Besides, even if he did know, it wouldn't matter. A chicken is a chicken, no matter how well it's fed!"

Pei Buqi said, "Grandmaster, a chicken is always a chicken, but not all people can be considered human. Most people in this world don't even have the life of a chicken's feather!"

Zhang Daoyi curled his lip and said, "I hate people like you the most. You always blurt out the truth."

Pei Buqi sighed and said, "Grandmaster, please stop joking. You should know about what happened in Linhai County, right? My seventh son, who is also your other grand-disciple Pei Yuanzhen, is in trouble!"

Zhang Daoyi waved his hand and said, "What's the trouble? The mission is complete, isn't it? We severely damaged the Seven Absolutes Tower, captured the officials who colluded with the Seven Absolutes Tower, and finding the Seven Absolutes Tower's lair is just around the corner!"

Pei Buqi said, "Grandmaster, let's not play dumb. The problem is Mr. Dongjing. Mr. Dongjing is the head manager of the Seven Absolutes Pavilion. This matter is the biggest one. He was appointed by His Majesty as the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. Isn't this a direct slap in His Majesty's face? Moreover, he was killed!"

Zhang Daoyi laughed and said, "The appointment of the head steward as the Crown Prince's tutor is His Majesty's own business, isn't it? What does it have to do with your seventh son? The one who killed the Eastern Border was Gu Mo, the great hero of Yunzhou, which has nothing to do with your seventh son either. What are you afraid of!"

Pei Buqi said, "This matter is not about who is responsible, but about the fact that His Majesty appointed the person. Even if it is a ghost or a demon, we cannot expose it. Only His Majesty can expose it. Now, it's like the Seventh Prince slapped His Majesty in the face. If the person hadn't died, it would have been better to leave him for His Majesty to deal with, but now it's troublesome!"

Zhang Daoyi waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, someone will be more anxious than you. Not only will they take the responsibility, but they will also do their best to protect your seventh son. Just watch, it won't be long before your seventh son gets promoted!"

Pei Buqi asked in confusion, "Grandmaster, who are you talking about?"

“The Fifth Prince, Prince Ji, Li Zhongde,” Zhang Daoyi said. “As everyone knows, Lin Jing is Li Zhongde’s maternal uncle from a collateral branch of the family and a staunch confidant of Li Zhongde. Who is ultimately responsible for Li Zhongde’s collusion with the Seven Absolutes Tower to embezzle funds and resell weapons?”

Pei Buqi said, "If we can't find anything on Prince Ji, Lin Jing will definitely take the blame."

Zhang Daoyi waved his hand and said, "Whether or not we can find out about Prince Ji is not important. What is important is Lin Jing's identity. His Majesty knows this. If this matter is exposed, Prince Ji can pretend that he doesn't know anything and that it has nothing to do with him. He can avoid any responsibility, but he will lose the Emperor's favor."

Prince Ji wasn't clever, but he had clever people around him who would surely make him go and apologize to the Emperor. But what mistake should he apologize for? Naturally, he couldn't admit to manipulating Lin Jing's cooperation with the Seven Absolutes Pavilion behind the scenes; instead, he should admit to failing to fulfill his supervisory duties towards his maternal clan. Then came the main event: admitting that he misjudged people, recommending Mr. Dongjing without proper verification. He had to take the blame for misjudging people for His Majesty in order to offset the impact of Lin Jing's affair on him.

After saying that, Zhang Daoyi took a bite of meat and said, "Now you understand why I said he would do everything he could to protect your seventh son, right?"

Pei Buqi nodded and said, "Because he lost this matter, he has to pay a price. His efforts to ensure my seventh son's promotion are a form of compensation for admitting defeat. Otherwise, our branch would hold onto this issue and insist on using Lin Jing to relentlessly attack him. Although it might not bring him down, it would certainly cause him endless trouble."

Zhang Daoyi placed a chicken leg in Pei Buqi's bowl and said, "So, just eat your chicken leg in peace, your seventh brother will be fine. But this incident has also reminded me that neutrality is good, as it avoids offending anyone, but it also has its drawbacks. When other factions need sacrificial lambs, they will prioritize neutral parties."

Pei Buqi asked, "Grandmaster, which prince have you taken a liking to and are you planning to place a bet on?"

"No, that's not true. Our Longhu Mountain lineage's policy has never changed: we don't get involved," Zhang Daoyi said.

Pei Buqi asked in confusion, "Then you just said you gave me a heads-up?"

"It's a wake-up call for me," Zhang Daoyi said. "It reminds me that I haven't hit anyone in a long time, and anyone dares to mess with my people so easily. The Fifth Prince can give His Majesty his instructions, but I can't give him the same instructions!"

Pei Buqi cried out in panic, "Grandmaster, please don't do anything rash! That's Prince Ji, you can't kill him..."

Zhang Daoyi rolled his eyes and said, "What are you thinking? This is the capital, under the emperor's nose. How could I commit murder, especially not a prince..."

Pei Buqi breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could finish, he heard Zhang Daoyi continue, "After he finishes court tomorrow, I'll break his legs!"

Pei Buqi: "..."

……

At this moment, in the Prince Ji's residence in the capital city.

Prince Ji, Li Zhongde, was in a rage, smashing everything he could in the room. He even beat four or five maids to death. It wasn't until his uncle, Lin Guoyu, the head of the Lin family, arrived that Li Zhongde calmed down.

Li Zhongde clenched his fists and said viciously, "Uncle, I'm going to kill people! I'm going to kill Pei Yuanzhen, I'm going to kill Gu Mo, I'm going to kill Chen You..."

Lin Guoyu looked at his nephew, then at the several maids' corpses lying on the ground, almost smashed to pieces, and felt a wave of helplessness. If they hadn't been trying to cover it up, his nephew's volatile and bloodthirsty nature would probably have ruined his reputation among the common people long ago.

“You can’t kill anyone now!” Lin Guoyu said.

Li Zhongde suppressed his anger and asked, "Why?"

"Not only can you not kill him, you also have to take the blame and praise Pei Yuanzhen to ensure his promotion."

Lin Guoyu then explained their current predicament, saying, "The Pei family is affiliated with Longhu Mountain. You've already offended them this time. If they hold you accountable, you'll be in trouble. And if you dare to kill someone, then you..."

"Do they still dare to kill me?" Li Zhongde roared.

“That’s not the case,” Lin Guoyu said, “but you will never be able to become the crown prince.”

Hearing this, Li Zhongde calmed down and said in a low voice, "Alright, I won't kill Pei Yuanzhen. Chen You is now openly trying to use this opportunity to join the Longhu Mountain faction, so I won't kill him either. But, can I kill that Gu Mo? He's just a nobody from the martial arts world. He's the real culprit. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have suffered such a great loss. Mr. Dongjing would have become the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, and my power would have greatly increased. But it's all Gu Mo's fault, it's all that blind man's fault!"

Seeing that Li Zhongde was already struggling to suppress his killing intent, Lin Guoyu knew that Li Zhongde had reached his limit. If he suppressed it any longer, he might really backfire. So he thought he would appease Li Zhongde for the time being and persuade him later. He nodded and said, "That Gu Mo is just a Jianghu person. Although he has some reputation, he is just a Jianghu person. Killing him will not cause any trouble. However, this person's martial arts are very strong..."

Li Zhongde said in a deep voice, "There will never be a shortage of masters in this world, nor will there be a shortage of ways to kill them!"

……

Meanwhile, at the Qi Prince's residence on the other side, the Third Prince Li Zhongyi was drinking with his advisors, laughing heartily.

“I suddenly don’t think Gu Mo is so annoying anymore!” Li Zhongyi said. “Although he ruined my plans twice, overall, he wasn’t really targeting me. He was just acting randomly, hahaha… Fifth Brother… Fifth Brother is in big trouble now. Not only did he lose a coastal defense battalion, but he also got a severe scolding from Father. I’m afraid he’ll have to borrow a lot of money to fill the hole!”

The advisor looked at Li Zhongyi speechlessly, wanting to complain. He wondered who was so angry and wanted to cause trouble for Gu Mo just a while ago, but now thought Gu Mo was a nice person.

“Your Highness,” the advisor said, “So, we really don’t need to make enemies with Gu Mo. Let’s pretend the previous two incidents never happened. He’s just a simple, pure江湖人 (jianghu person, a person who enjoys being a ghostwriter). If we encounter him in the future, we should stay away. He’ll leave once he’s done his business and won’t affect us. Judging from his personality, it’s unlikely that he will join anyone’s ranks. He’s not going to be our enemy!”

Li Zhongyi nodded and said, "I naturally won't take action against Gu Mo, but Fifth Brother definitely will. That guy is mentally ill. Although he pretends well in front of Father, he is actually a madman. He is easily angered and bloodthirsty. I even suspect that Seven Absolutes Tower cooperated with him because they thought he was mentally unstable and easy to manipulate."

The aide smiled slightly but didn't respond.

Li Zhongyi took a sip of wine and said, "Sir, at tomorrow's morning court session, they will definitely recommend candidates to go to Linhai County to investigate the details of this case. This is a good opportunity. The coastal defense battalions of the four counties of Huaihai are now vacant, and there is still a chance to take this opportunity to curry favor with the Longhu Mountain faction. Can we seize this opportunity?"

The aide shook his head slightly and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult. The Ministry of War had already decided some time ago to go to the four prefectures of Huaihai to investigate military discipline issues, and the person to go on the inspection was also decided: Ye Jinglan, the newly appointed director of the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Arrests. Now that this matter has happened, they will definitely add one more person, but the fact that Mr. Dongjing is the head manager of the Seven Absolutes Pavilion is too big. He will definitely be the left and right vice ministers as the chief officers, and we don't need to recommend him. There is no question that Ye Jinglan will be the deputy. As for the arrangements made by the Ministry of War, we dare not make any recommendations."

Li Zhongyi sighed and said, "I've met that Ye Jinglan a few times. He's a very capable person. It's a pity. I don't know what he was thinking, but he actually joined the Second Prince's faction. Was it just for the Second Prince's empty title? He's been back for so long, and Father hasn't mentioned the promise he made back then!"

The aide said, "Your Highness, everyone has their own ambitions. Ye Jinglan is indeed capable, but he has too much of a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) spirit. If he were to join your ranks, it might actually be a problem. He would clash with his other colleagues and it could easily trigger internal conflicts!"

"That's true!" Li Zhongyi smiled and said, "Let's talk about Fifth Brother. I heard that Gu Mo was seriously injured. Will Fifth Brother take the opportunity to kill him?"

(End of this chapter)