Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 157 The Night of the Decisive Battle, Changhong Cuts Off the Flying Fairy
September 15th.

night.

When Lu Xiaofeng arrived at the gate of the palace, he saw the honest monk standing there with a bitter look on his face.

He immediately went up to the monk and chatted with him for a few words, and even snatched a steamed bun from the honest monk's hand.

"Lu Xiaofeng, you're finally here!"

Wei Ziyun, one of the four masters responsible for guarding the imperial palace, walked over quickly and pulled Lu Xiaofeng aside. "How many ribbons should I give you?"

"Six?"

“How did you send it out?”

"I am following your requirements. There is not even a grandmaster!" Lu Xiaofeng said.

It turned out that the location of the decisive battle had spread throughout the capital in the past two days.

But this war is impossible to stop.

Besides, the four masters didn't want to stop it.

Because they all participated in the gambling and bet on Ximen Chuxue.

But they also have to consider the safety of the palace.

The four masters therefore came up with a solution, which was to take out six ribbons woven from special fabrics tributed by the Western Regions countries and give them to Lu Xiaofeng.

When the decisive battle comes, which is tonight, only those who get the ribbon can enter the palace to watch the battle.

A rule was also set that the ribbon could only be given to masters below the Grandmaster level.

To avoid too many people coming and being too strong for them to handle.

"There really isn't a single Grandmaster!"

Wei Ziyun suppressed his anger and pulled him into the palace gate: "But you come and see!"

I saw nearly ten people standing behind the door, each of them wearing a ribbon made of the same material!

"This...this is impossible! Could it be that after I sent out the ribbon, someone copied it?"

"The material used for the ribbon is a tribute from the Western Regions. It is extremely rare. It can't be found anywhere else except the Imperial Palace!"

"Can you guarantee that?"

"This..." Wei Ziyun hesitated for a moment and said, "Perhaps Eunuch Cao, Marquis Tiedan, and Prime Minister Pei have received rewards..."

"Who do you think it could be?"

"The Iron-hearted Divine Marquis is a royal relative, so his loyalty is unwavering. It's impossible. Eunuch Cao was just demoted, so he might harbor resentment. And Prime Minister Pei is known for his shrewdness and foresight. They say..."

Wei Ziyun was halfway through his speech when he saw six people, five women and one man, walking towards the palace gate.

The leader was dressed in rich clothes, holding a red sword in his hand, and was young.

It was Zhou Ming.

Wei Ziyun quickly shut up.

"Hey, Lao Lu, you're here so early?" Zhou Ming greeted him.

Lu Xiaofeng asked, "Why are you here?"

"Of course I'm here to watch the duel."

"Do you have a ribbon?"

"Talking about this makes me angry!"

Zhou Ming's face was filled with anger: "You got six ribbons, why didn't you give me one?"

"give you?"

Lu Xiaofeng curled his lips and said, "I want to give these six ribbons to the person who needs them most. You're not a serious swordsman, so what do you need them for? Besides, you've brought six of them, so am I supposed to give them all to you?"

Wei Ziyun stepped forward and said, "Master Zhou, no one is allowed to enter without a ribbon!"

Zhou Ming took out a token and asked, "What now?"

Wei Ziyun immediately clasped his fists and said, "Please."

Zhou Ming led everyone into the palace gate. He looked around and asked in surprise, "So many people? Are you sure you only gave out six ribbons?"

Seeing that the matter had been exposed, the two men had no choice but to take Zhou Ming to a corner and start talking.

"How difficult is this? There are more than just four of you masters in the palace."

"This..." Wei Ziyun's face was full of helplessness: "We are keeping it a secret from His Majesty. If we tell other masters."

"Haha, in this huge palace, do you think you four are the only ones involved in this gambling game?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Ziyun was overjoyed: "Thank you for your guidance, sir!"

The palace is as deep as the sea. One cannot ascend to the throne just by having strength. One also needs influence and background.

If you can reach the level of a master, you may have a chance to come to the fore.

But if it was just innate, he would probably be drowned in the deep water of the palace and would never be able to show his head.

Many of the ninth and eighth rank eunuchs in the palace are innate masters.

They had no background and could not get promoted, and because they were eunuchs, they could not leave the palace at all, so they could only waste their time day by day.

In this boredom, gambling is a good way to pass the time, and many people participate in gambling.

Therefore, Wei Ziyun quickly pulled out several hidden masters in the palace to come and help.

Several teams of imperial guards were dispatched.

At this time, a few more people came forward holding ribbons.

It was almost time. Wei Ziyun closed the palace gate and led everyone along a secluded road towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Where is Mr. Zhou going?"

Suddenly, Wei Ziyun discovered that someone in the team had fallen behind.

It would be fine if it was just one, but there are six.

Too conspicuous.

"Rain Girl Wu Gua!"

Zhou Ming threw out a sentence and then left with everyone.

Wei Ziyun thought of the token in the other party's hand and didn't dare to stop him.

With that token in hand, one can go anywhere in the palace except the harem and some forbidden areas.

Wei Ziyun was a little worried.

But there were too many people coming with ribbons. Even if he pulled out a few innate masters among the eunuchs to help, they were still unable to cope with the situation and had no manpower to follow Zhou Ming.

Then he thought that Zhou Ming had the token in his hand and could go wherever he wanted. If anything went wrong, he shouldn't be the one to take the blame.

Besides, it is a question whether he can continue to stay in the palace after tonight.

Just don't care.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the pinnacle of the Forbidden City and even more so the pinnacle of the capital, so its height goes without saying.

The roof is covered with smooth glazed tiles, which slope from steep to gentle, forming a curved surface.

Wei Ziyun and his men did not prepare any ladders.

If you want to watch the battle, you have to use your own lightness skills to climb to the top of the Forbidden City and step on the smooth glazed tiles without falling.

This requires extremely high level of lightness skills.

It goes without saying that it is not easy for a master to achieve this, but if one is only at the innate perfection level, it would not be easy to achieve this.

Fortunately, the people who came today were all well-known figures in the martial arts world. They all used their lightness skills to land on the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The moon was at its zenith, and a white shadow floated up.

Ximen Chuxue is here.

He seemed not to see the person on the roof of the temple. He just stood on the roof, holding the sword in both hands, waiting for the arrival of his opponent.

The other party didn't let him wait too long. A figure in white followed and landed on the roof as well, but his body swayed before it stabilized.

Ximen Chuxue opened his eyes and said, "I can wait for you to recover."

Everyone could see that Ye Gucheng was not in good condition.

He seemed to have been really poisoned and had not yet recovered.

"I've been waiting for a month and don't want to wait any longer." Ye Gucheng flatly refused.

Ximen Chuxue remained silent, but a hint of cold sword energy gradually emerged from his body.

Ye Gucheng did not draw his sword, but the awe-inspiring sword wind was already frightening.

South Study.

Since the emperor took power, he has been working tirelessly, spending most of the day in the Southern Study dealing with state affairs. When he is tired, he sleeps directly in the study.

Steward Wang walked ahead, his eyes etched with a barely concealed nervousness and excitement. Six figures, clad in black robes, followed closely behind, silent and unspoken.

Arriving at the door of the South Study, Manager Wang gently pushed the door open and walked into the South Study first.

The people behind him were about to catch up, but suddenly a figure flashed by, and Chief Steward Wang and the Prince of Nanping behind him were instantly frozen in place.

Ye Gucheng and the other four innate masters changed their expressions and immediately fled out of the South Study.

Zhou Ming appeared leisurely and kicked the already pinned Steward Wang and the Prince of Nanping into the southern study. He then turned and said to the crowd, "By order of His Majesty, Steward Wang and the Prince of Nanping are invited to the audience. The rest of you..."

The crimson sword was unsheathed, emitting a faint red light in the dark night: "... Kill them all!"

Everyone understood that their plan had failed.

Just as they were about to evacuate, they saw a series of beautiful figures appear behind them, blocking all their escape routes.

"Since you have come under the stars, we should play the zither to welcome our distinguished guests!"

Clang! Clang!

As Zhou Ming spoke, Qiuyue stroked the strings of the zither, and the sound instantly spread in all directions, making everyone's heart skip a beat.

Then, the jade fingers played the piano continuously, and the sound of the piano continued. It entered everyone's ears, and they suddenly felt their internal organs beating and their six bowels were uneasy. They quickly circulated their true energy to resist.

Chunhua draws her sword, and the soft sword is like a poisonous snake.

The sword is drawn in the winter snow, and the sword energy dispels the frost and cold.

Xia Feng stood on the eaves, looking down from above, with hidden weapons raining down.

Only Xiaolongnu still stood by Qiuyue's side to protect her.

The four masters blocked the sound in their ears with their true qi and responded one after another.

Only Ye Gucheng remained motionless.

Although Wu Yi is only a prototype, it represents that he has a very deep understanding of martial arts and a firm will to pursue it.

A few piano sounds could not move his heart.

"Since the death of the Six-Fingered Lute Demon, the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon have disappeared from the martial arts world. I never expected to see it again in this palace today. What a blessing!"

"City Lord Ye is so knowledgeable that he even recognizes the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon, but doesn't he recognize me?"

"How could you not recognize Zhou Ming, the adopted son of the Prime Minister?"

Ye Gucheng's gaze fell on the sword in his hand: "Is that the legendary spiritual sword... Changhong Sword?"

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "My cultivation is not enough. Facing a formidable enemy like City Lord Ye, I naturally dare not be careless. I need to borrow the power of this spiritual sword. Please don't blame me."

"Since you have the spiritual sword in your hand, why not use it?"

Ye Gucheng also raised the sword in his hand: "This sword is the elite cold sword from overseas, it can cut hair with a blow, the sword edge is three feet three inches, and the net weight is six pounds and four ounces. It is called: Flying Immortal!
According to your statement, this sword is just a sharp weapon, without any sword intent or sword spirit."

Zhou Mingdao: "In the hands of City Lord Ye, this sword is not inferior to any intentional sword."

"Just intentionally? Then compared to the spirit sword..."

“Not even close.”

"Oh? In that case, I really want to witness the power of the spirit sword!"

A white shadow shot up into the sky, and then a sword light flashed, as bright and fast as lightning, piercing straight ahead.

Flying fairy from heaven!

"The first move I made was the strongest sword move. Do you think so highly of me?"

Zhou Ming thought.

This sword was truly extremely gorgeous and concise. Zhou Ming had no way of countering it with his swordsmanship.

Fortunately, he knows more than just swordsmanship.

When the Art of Longevity was in operation, it connected the two energies of gold and earth, protecting them in front of the body like a shield, blocking the flying fairy from the sky.

White shadows fall.

Ye Gucheng asked, "Since you have this magical sword in your hand, why don't you use swordsmanship?"

"There aren't many swordsmanship techniques in the world that can withstand the swordsmanship of the Celestial Being, and I don't know any of them. Even if I had a magic sword in my hand, I wouldn't be able to stop it!"

Zhou Mingdao: "Besides... as someone said, although I use a sword, I am not a serious swordsman."

"Hehe..." Ye Gucheng didn't say anything else, but was obviously disappointed. He immediately attacked again with his sword.

The so-called "Flying Fairy from the Sky" is not a certain sword move or style, but something Ye Gucheng created himself after practicing swordsmanship throughout his life.

By striking from a high position, the power of Tianwai Feixian can be maximized, but it does not mean that other methods cannot be used to use Tianwai Feixian.

Especially Ye Gucheng has already developed the rudiments of martial arts.

Once you have mastered the martial spirit, you can use it in any way.

Mu Dao Ren's martial spirit comes from the Liang Yi sword technique, so can't he just use it casually?
Although the prototype of Wuyi is not that convenient, it is obviously not limited to use with a fixed sword style.

Zhou Ming danced with the long rainbow in his hand, performing the Quanzhen sword technique.

Swordsmanship is fundamental, but it also depends on who is using it. Didn't Qiao Feng sweep across the land in Juxian Manor using only the Taizu Changquan?
Besides, what Zhou Ming used was not pure Quanzhen swordsmanship, he also mixed it with Dugu Nine Swords and Yi Swordsmanship.

The other hand uses palm and finger techniques to assist.

The secret of longevity circulates endlessly in the body.

The steps are light and graceful.

With such a combination, even though Ye Gucheng's swordsmanship is brilliant and sharp, combined with the embryonic form of martial arts, even Master Yihua is no match for him, but facing Zhou Ming, he cannot be easily defeated.

The full moon sets in the west.

At the door of the South Study, the flying fairy in Ye Gucheng's hand reflected the moonlight, and the sword energy was compelling. The long rainbow in Zhou Ming's hand emitted a red light, but it was even more powerful.

Sword shadows were flying.

The sword energy is everywhere.

"Everyone says that I, Ye Gucheng, am a hero of the time. Now it seems that you, Zhou Changping, are the real hero!"

Ye Gucheng praised.

The two had fought for dozens of moves, but there was still no winner.

He is at the realm of innate perfection, while Zhou Ming is only at the realm of innate qi.

It is said that he was still an innate true qi not long ago, and it was obviously promoted recently, but he fought him to a draw.

"It's just borrowing the power of the spirit sword!"

"I don't see anything special about your spirit sword."

"Hehe..." Zhou Ming smiled but did not respond.

Are you kidding? If the temperature of my computer is over a thousand degrees, you won't even need the sword in your hand. What are you still fighting for?

However, Ye Gucheng is indeed outrageous.

The exquisite flying fairy from the sky, combined with the embryonic form of martial arts, is truly powerful.

With Zhou Ming's current configuration, he couldn't win the game in a short time without cheating.

However, if the fight lasted for a long time, Zhou Ming felt that he would still win.

Because he practiced the art of immortality, many masters were not as good as him in terms of Qi reserves and recovery speed.

Ye Gucheng's fighting ability is indeed comparable to that of a master, but in terms of the ability to recover his true energy, it is still only at the level of innate perfection.

So as long as the fight lasts long enough, Zhou Ming can completely rely on his strong recovery ability to win in the end.

Unfortunately, although Ye Gucheng could still hold on, others could not.

The four innate masters who were traveling with him fell one by one under the siege of the four maids.

The piano sounds clear and melodious.

The Eight Sounds of Heaven and Earth have gathered towards Ye Gucheng.

Even Ye Gucheng had to be distracted and reveal some flaws at this time.

Zhou Ming didn't seize on this flaw directly. Instead, he took a step back and said, "Since City Lord Ye is curious about the power of the spiritual sword in my hand, I will unleash it and let City Lord Ye see it. How about that?"

Ye Gucheng concentrated: "I will wait."

"In that case... Changhong!"

The red light became brighter, and the scorching heat instantly swept in all directions.

Ye Gucheng only felt a scorching air coming towards him, and had to retreat several steps and condense his true energy before he could block it.

"Fire Dance Whirlwind!"

Zhou Ming swung the sword in his hand horizontally, and a red, high-temperature sword energy burst out.

Ye Gucheng quickly raised his sword to block, but the sword energy passed by and directly cut the sword in his hand into two halves.

The sword fell off.

(End of this chapter)