“?”
Yang Lizhang’s face showed confusion.
Ji Tianrui, however, did not continue speaking, but instead turned to look at the Xiaoling Guard.
During their conversation, the Xiaoling Guard had gradually calmed down, and Zhu Shoujing had also suppressed his runaway true qi, slowly raising his head to look over.
“Alright, now is not the time for idle chatter. The Xiaoling Guard has reacted, and the Emperor’s appointed Consorts are probably arriving soon.”
“Since Emperor Jianwen has been released, and Lord Li has also seen the Emperor’s true origins, our mission here is complete.”
“For the rest, we just need to wait for Emperor Jianwen and Lord Li’s actions, and we will proceed according to the plan.”
Ji Tianrui lightly tapped her foot, and her entire body soared into the air like a wild goose, stepping on the eaves and flying towards the dense forest outside the imperial mausoleum.
Yang Lizhang was annoyed by her secretive, half-spoken attitude, but he was helpless. He frowned, then used his Qinggong to catch up with Ji Tianrui, disappearing into the dense forest without a trace.
Not to mention how the Xiaoling Guard lost track of the two and eventually returned to the imperial mausoleum in helplessness;
And let's skip over the python-robed eunuch named Huang Jin who arrived, hastily dispersed the Xiaoling Guard, and covered up the traces of the tombs within the Xiaoling Mausoleum and the Emperor’s mausoleum; then divided the twenty Consorts into two groups, pursuing the traces of Ji Tianrui and Emperor Jianwen respectively.
Let’s return to Li Miao.
At this moment, he was slowly walking through a dense forest deep within Tianshou Mountain.
After a night of chaotic battle, it was now close to the Yin hour, not far from sunrise, the coldest time of day. The cold wind blew through the leaves, blowing down dew, which landed on Li Miao's silver-white long hair.
He had not exited his “Eight Hours” state.
Because he still had a fierce battle to fight.
A moment later, Li Miao walked onto an open space covered with gravel .
This place should have experienced a landslide before, with gravel falling down, breaking the trees here. Then the trees rotted, leaving this open space covered with stones.
Li Miao stood still, pondering for a moment, twirling his fingers.
Then, he nodded, raised his hand, and tightened his cuffs.
He jumped a few times on the spot, casually threw a few punches, which produced a sharp whistling sound. He shook his neck and loosened his shoulders. He stomped his feet, creating two large deep pits in the ground beneath him.
“Not bad.”
Li Miao smiled.
Then he raised his hand and unleashed a Xuantian Finger, piercing through a section of the ground covered by gravel in front of him.
Boom!!!
The moment the sharp true qi pierced into the ground, the ground exploded. The already fragmented stones were instantly blasted into dust, forming a thick cloud of dust that obscured Li Miao’s vision.
Li Miao raised his hand and struck with a palm.
Overturning Mountains and Seas!
The powerful true qi blasted out, dispersing the dust cloud.
Revealing a gaunt, withered figure, hairless, with dark skin, wearing a tattered imperial yellow robe embroidered with nine five-clawed golden dragons. His eyes were bright and piercing, set within eye sockets that were already shriveled.
It was Emperor Jianwen!
Li Miao chuckled softly.
“Since I found this place and stomped my feet twice as a knock, why does Your Majesty avoid me?”
“This is not the conduct of an enlightened ruler.”
Li Miao had been causing trouble in the imperial mausoleum for most of the night, and the time he could maintain his two perfect paths was running out. He had three choices before him.
One, chase Ji Tianrui.
Two, stay and find an opportunity to investigate the tombs within the Xiaoling Mausoleum, perhaps discovering more hidden secrets of Great Shuo.
Three, directly come to trouble Emperor Jianwen.
All three choices would inevitably consume a lot of time. Before falling into a deep sleep, Li Miao could only choose the one he valued most.
He chose Emperor Jianwen.
Coming to the imperial mausoleum tonight was originally to investigate the secret of Great Shuo’s Celestial Beings not appearing in the world. If he encountered the Ming Cult and Ji Tianrui, he would kill them conveniently; if not, he wasn’t in a hurry.
However, from the moment he witnessed Emperor Jianwen attacking Yin Ruihua and Zhu Shoujing, everything else had to take a backseat.
Li Miao’s fundamental strength, on which he relied for his standing, was his extraordinary martial power.
This martial power came, firstly, from Li Miao’s astonishing root bone, and secondly, from some effort and sweat he put in.
Of course, the “Eight Hours Work System” also played a negligible role.
And Li Miao was not the type to simply accept a windfall and complacently put it into his mouth. If he didn't thoroughly investigate the origin and principle of this thing, he couldn't rest easy.
Although in some storybooks he read in his previous life, an “Outer Realm Demon” having a golden finger was standard and nothing unusual.
However, it was also not an uncommon trope for this golden finger to suddenly betray him at the end, becoming a villain’s conspiracy / a behind-the-scenes manipulator’s chess piece / a hidden danger, or even becoming the main villain himself, fighting to the death with the protagonist.
Since he saw something similar in Emperor Jianwen, Li Miao would absolutely not miss the opportunity to investigate.
Ji Tianrui’s purpose in releasing Emperor Jianwen was still unclear. If Li Miao hadn’t investigated thoroughly and Emperor Jianwen was already killed by Ji Tianrui’s machinations, that would be truly regrettable.
Emperor Jianwen had been lying in the tomb for over a hundred years. Although it was unknown why he was still alive, just by looking at his mummified appearance, one knew his condition couldn't be good.
Strike him while he’s down. There was no better opportunity than now.
Thus, the current situation.
Emperor Jianwen looked at Li Miao coldly and slowly spoke.
“Who… are… you?”
“A nobody, not worth mentioning.”
Li Miao waved his hand.
“I didn’t come here to make trouble for Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty can answer my questions, I will leave immediately, how about it?”
Emperor Jianwen did not answer.
Li Miao sighed.
“Very well, I suppose Your Majesty won’t be easy to talk to.”
“Then, let me experience Your Majesty’s methods.”
!
In an instant, the gravel beneath Li Miao’s feet exploded. In another blink of an eye, he had already arrived before Emperor Jianwen, and “One Slash” cut down diagonally!
Before it even reached him, the sharp true qi had already torn through the air, emitting a shrill shriek!
Emperor Jianwen’s eyes narrowed.
In an instant, the situation changed dramatically.
Li Miao looked around.
He was no longer on that flat ground covered with gravel , but had arrived in a grand hall.
Inside the hall, the floor was paved with golden bricks, and in the central bay, there was a throne. On either side of the throne, there were four pairs of furnishings: precious elephants, Corner end , immortal cranes, and incense pavilions.
It was the Taihe Hall, the most revered hall in the Forbidden City.
On the throne sat a young man in his twenties, with a square face, large ears, sword-like eyebrows, and phoenix-like eyes, dressed in a dragon robe; he looked at Li Miao with a solemn and indifferent expression.
He raised one hand from the armrest and remotely pressed it down towards Li Miao.
Boom!!!
When fighting Zuo Lishan on Mount Tai before, it was always said to be “as if the sky were falling,” but in reality, it was just an exaggerated description.
But when this young man struck with his palm.
The sky truly fell.
Looking at the rapidly descending sky above his head, and feeling the constantly trembling and groaning earth beneath his feet, Li Miao chuckled softly, raised his hands above his head, extended two fingers, and then suddenly clenched his fists at his waist.
Black Zenith Floating Pagoda!