Chapter 55: Fifty Moves
In the royal palace, Emperor Zhou sat on the roof terrace as he handled the official documents.
Su Wen was arranged to sit in a corner with a small table in front of him. There was a praying mat on the floor and on the table was a book on the teachings of the sages.
Su Wen sat there in boredom. He was too lazy to read. At this moment, he noticed the old eunuch beside him.
Seeing that the Zhou Emperor wasn’t paying attention to them, Su Wen craned his neck and smiled. “Sir Eunuch, how many years have you served in the palace?”
He was just bored and wanted to find someone to chat with.
The old eunuch smiled and replied, “This old servant has been in the palace for 58 years.”
“That’s a lot of years… What’s a monthly salary like for someone of your rank?”
“Cough, cough, cough!” Just as Su Wen asked that question, Emperor Zhou coughed twice and said without even raising his eyes, “Are you too free? I asked you to read the book, not to socialize.”
Su Wen smiled. “I’m not my second brother, how can I stay still and read this scripture?”
“Even if you don’t want to read, you’re not allowed to strike up a conversation with others. Can’t you see that I’m handling some documents?”
Su Wen sighed and said, “Your Majesty, you are too benevolent. I see that my father is stewing in boredom these days after he comes home. These days, he even seems to be thinking about marrying a new concubine. You should throw this document to him so that he can contribute his strength to the Great Zhou and realize his value in life. Why would Your Majesty need to personally deal with it?”
Emperor Zhou smiled and said, “You’re quite loyal. However, these documents were already handled by your father and the others previously. This Emperor only needs to review and approve them.”
As he spoke, Emperor Zhou put the document aside and smiled. “You kid, you’ve been cultivating quite well recently as well. I haven’t seen you for only a few days, and your cultivation has already risen by one grade. Since you can’t read books… Fu An, come and spar with him. I also want to watch a good show!”
As soon as Emperor Zhou finished speaking, a muscular guard walked in from outside the hall.
Emperor Zhou introduced, “Fu An is the deputy commander of my Royal Palace Guards. He has a cultivation of 8th Grade Earth Rank, and is a top-notch expert in the martial arts world. With him sparring with you, it will be very beneficial for your growth.”
Su Wen said with a bitter expression, “Your Majesty, please spare me. Lord Fu An is a whole nine grades higher than me. How can I be his match?”
Emperor Zhou smiled and said, “Of course I won’t let him use his full strength to fight you. Fu An, you’ll only use a cultivation level of 8th Grade Star Rank. If you exceed this cultivation grade, it’ll be considered your loss!”
“Understood!” Fu An remained expressionless. In his opinion, even if he only used a cultivation base of 8th Grade Star Rank, Su Wen wouldn’t stand a chance.
At this moment, Emperor Zhou took a book and a bottle of elixirs from the table. He smiled and said, “Su Wen, here’s a Azure Cloud Soul Refining Pill as well as a Heaven Rank movement technique — Shifting Stars, Swapping Moon. You don’t have to win. As long as you can last 50 moves against Fu An, I’ll reward you with these.”
Su Wen looked at the two items and felt his excitement growing.
The Azure Cloud Soul Refining Pill was a secret elixir of the Azure Cloud School. This elixir was extremely beneficial to martial artists and spiritual masters of any realm, as it was said that consuming this elixir could strengthen a cultivator’s soul.
Typically, martial artists cultivated only their bodies and True Qi. But this Azure Cloud Soul Refining Pill fused the soul of a fey beast into the pill. A martial artist could strengthen their own Divine Martial Soul if they consumed this elixir.
There were many advantages to having a powerful Divine Martial Soul. For example, their control over True Qi would be more precise, and their reaction speed would also increase. These were all very beneficial in combat.
Shifting Stars, Swapping Moon was a Heaven Ranked movement technique. Moreover, it was said to stand on a level on its own even amongst Heaven Ranked techniques.
It was one of the ultimate arts of the number one sect in the world a thousand years ago, Starmoon Palace. However, after a thousand years, Starmoon Palace was destroyed and this movement technique fell into the hands of the royal family instead.
Su Wen currently had three cultivation techniques.
The Heaven & Earth Great Solar Sutra was a bona-fide Heaven Ranked cultivation method, while the Broken Jade Fist and Layered Wave Saber were Earth Ranked cultivation methods.
However, Su Wen never had a specialized movement technique to cultivate.
How could he not be tempted when he saw the Shifting Stars, Swapping Moon right in front of him?
A Heaven Ranked cultivation technique was a precious treasure that couldn’t be bought with money!
If the other party used his full strength, then Su Wen could wave goodbye to this technique.
However, if the other party had the same cultivation level and Su Wen only had to withstand 50 moves, he felt that he might have a chance!
Su Wen’s gaze turned sharp.
He immediately bowed, “Thank you for your reward, Your Majesty!”
As soon as these words were spoken, Fu An’s expression turned unsightly. Did this brat really think that he could withstand 50 moves from me?
The Zhou Emperor laughed loudly in response, “Haha, you sure are confident! But my rooftop terrace is not a place for you guys to fight. Come, let’s move over to the arena.”
In the martial arts arena inside the palace, Emperor Zhou sat high up. Beside him was the old eunuch who was in charge of serving him.
Su Wen and Fu An stood opposite each other in the arena grounds, staring straight at each other.
Su Wen said with a smile, “Lord Fu, whether or not I can survive 50 moves is entirely up to you. After all, we don’t have any enmity between us, so isn’t it good to have more friends? My father is the Prime Minister, and he could be very helpful to you. After all, you can’t remain as the commander for the Palace Royal Guards for the rest of your life, right? There will be a time when you become an official in the court.”
Fu An’s expression didn’t change at all. He was just waiting for the order to begin.
On the spectator stand, Emperor Zhou smiled, “This little slippery fellow clearly knows that Fu An won’t hold back, yet he still deliberately used words to provoke Fu An in a vain attempt to shake his mind. It’s just a pity that such petty thoughts are of little use in a battle between experts.”
The old eunuch added, “But this mentality is still good. Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit, let alone a rabbit fighting a lion. If he doesn’t pull out all the tricks in his book, how can he stand a chance to win?”
“Begin!”
As soon as he gave the order, the imposing aura on Fu An’s body suddenly changed. If Fu An was said to be a treasured sword that was hidden within its sheath earlier, then Fu An was now akin to an unsheathed sword, which would only return after it had drawn blood!
Killing intent overflowed!
Su Wen’s face was still full of smiles. “Brother Fu, we have something to discuss. Tell me how much your monthly salary is, and I’ll give you a hundred times the amount. How about you give me some slack today?”
Fu An suddenly took a step forward and said, “Go and pick your weapon. I’m good at fist techniques. It would be considered as me bullying you if you remain empty-handed!”
All kinds of weapons were placed on a rack at the side of the battle stage, ready to be used at any time.
Su Wen’s expression changed drastically. At the moment Fu An took a step forward, his aura had already fully locked onto him.
Pick a weapon? That sounded nice, but if the other party were to make a move while he was getting his weapon, he would be in a disadvantageous position!
In the stands, Emperor Zhou smiled and said, “Fu An is an old fox. If Su Wen believes him, he will definitely suffer.”
Fortunately, Su Wen did not move. Instead, he stood on the spot and stared at Fu An. The smile on his face gradually disappeared as he got into a fighting stance.
“If you don’t want to pick up a weapon, then don’t blame me!”
Fu An roared as his feet stomped on the ground.
Boom!
With a loud bang, Fu An rushed out!
“Fast!”
This was the only thought Su Wen had left in his mind. This fellow’s speed was frighteningly fast!
They were both at the 8th Stage of Star Rank, but Su Wen knew that his movement speed was definitely inferior to this guy’s.
Bang!
Fu An appeared in front of Su Wen and threw a punch. Before the punch arrived, an explosion could already be heard due to the pressure of the fist compressing the surrounding air. It could be seen how powerful this punch was!
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