Chapter 1072: Chapter 1071: Making a Move_1
Er Pingzhi had only slightly more than a thousand men by his side, excluding the utterly loyal civil officials, only a little over nine hundred were actually combat-capable. Among these men, the majority were royal guards whose strength was at the Spiritual-Passage Realm. The three chief leaders were Earth Immortals of the Divine Border Realm, in the Zrin Kingdom, they were considered top-notch experts.
However, the soldiers obeying Er Pingyong were no weaker. Some were trained secretly by him, while others were infiltrators from the mysterious man. Their strength wasn’t overwhelming, but it was just enough to suppress the royal guards.
In just a moment, severed limbs and broken arms had fallen everywhere, the strong residual waves of energy forced the civil officials on both sides to keep retreating, collapsing like rows of rice plants.
"Kill these traitors!"
"The traitors are you!"
Amid the glint of blades and shadows of swords, masters kept falling into pools of blood. Those who supported Er Pingzhi were indeed in the minority and before long, the number of royal guards left was only a few hundred.
But the enemy’s losses were also heavy, with more than half dead.
"Kill, kill, kill, I want all the treacherous officials around my royal brother dead!"
Er Pingyong, like a wild beast, began to howl. Seeing Er Pingzhi isolated and without aid, and knowing that by capturing his adversary, the Zrin Kingdom would fall into his hands, he grew so excited that his pores seemed to open.
Yet no one noticed that behind the Heaven Worshiping Terrace, there stood two individuals at this moment.
"Congratulations to the young master! The National Master of the Zrin Kingdom, known to possess talents that could strategize the heavens and earth, hehe, to the young master, his schemes are easily shattered."
Fujiki Ookubo was both excited and somewhat admiring and wary.
Years ago, the Fujiki Family, in their unearthed ancient texts from Japan, discovered a secret. It turned out that an ancient sect from the Western Regions had once concocted a miraculous medicine that could triple one’s strength in a short period when taken.
This medicine, which drew upon potential at the cost of future vitality, was a trump card for the martial factions but an indispensable killer move for the Fujiki Family, intent on dominating the Central Plain.
In pursuit of this matter, the Fujiki Family planned for a long time and eventually handed over the task to King Jin.
In truth, it would have been easy to take control of the Zrin Kingdom with force, but the problem was that the kingdom was located at the center of the hundred nations, close to some major sects. A rash move could easily arouse suspicion, so the operation had to be done without anyone noticing.
In half a year, Ookubo witnessed King Jin slowly dismantle the Zrin Kingdom’s foundation and take control of the situation, causing his own thoughts to gradually shift.
People in Japan have always revered the strong, and in Ookubo’s view, King Jin’s talent was in no way inferior to that of the Fujiki Family head, and he was even younger. Instead of being sent to monitor him, it would be better to become his trusted aid, allowing himself to better pursue his own ambitions!
With this thought, a few genuine threads of respect surfaced in Ookubo’s eyes.
King Jin watched everything quietly, his mouth curling into a smile, "Starting from tomorrow, have Er Pingyong coordinate the actions, begin excavating the royal city; I want to locate that thing as quickly as possible."
"Yes!"
As the master and servant were conversing, an unexpected and unimaginable turn took place on the Heaven Worshiping Terrace in front of them.
The soldiers attacking Er Pingzhi suddenly had a few amongst them charging at Er Pingyong. Due to the sudden incident, and the fact that those men placed by King Jin were not of high capability, they simply did not react in time.
"Ah..."
With a scream, Er Pingyong backed away in shock, holding his severed arm. Since his youth, he had been indulgent in pleasurable pastimes, his strength only at the low tiers of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, nowhere near a match for his valiant and capable soldiers.
When the first strike failed to kill, those soldiers raised their blades toward Er Pingzhi’s head. Er Pingzhi even stopped breathing, watching the long knives get increasingly larger in his sight.
Right then, a flash of sword light from afar, and several soldiers’ bodies were cleaved apart.
"Idiots!"
Turned out that in addition to the warriors mixed into the crowd, there were also two masters by Er Pingyong, and it was one of them who had acted. It was unthinkable that a blunder like this could happen at this point in time.
What he didn’t foresee still lay ahead.
But those guards that had been surrounding the Heaven Worshiping Terrace and staying inactive, though they had received no orders, suddenly drew their swords and attacked Er Pingyong.
Damn it, hadn’t they already pledged allegiance?
"What are you doing?"
Er Pingyong shouted in shock and anger.
"We are, of course, dealing with the true traitors."
Both sides had been continuously exhausting each other, each sustaining injuries. By the time these forbidden guards joined the fray, they were truly like tigers among a flock of sheep, swiftly slaughtering the supporters of Er Pingyong until they shed their armor and discarded their helmets.
Everyone was flabbergasted.
"Hahaha, Er Pingyong, you didn’t expect this, did you?"
Er Pingzhi sneered with disdain.
The layout of the National Master, how could it be so easily dismantled by others? All the low profile and forbearance were only for the purpose of unsheathing the sword today.
The situation underwent a drastic change. Before long, Er Pingyong’s side was heavily injured and on the verge of collapse. Fujiki Okubo watched, dumbfounded, while King Jin’s face turned an iron blue.
It was a miscalculation. Without the intervention of external forces, King Jin knew he would be definitely defeated.
What was worse, because of the assassination attempt by those two Heaven Realm Martial Emperors, certain major sects were alerted and had clearly sent secret agents today. If he made a move now, it would surely lead to unwanted complications!
"Young master, we can’t hesitate any longer. Because of the foolish actions of those two, even if we are careful, the major sects will come to investigate. Dragging things out will be unfavorable; it’s better to cut the mess swiftly with a sharp knife!"
Fujiki Okubo said fiercely.
King Jin’s eyes flickered. Being a decisive person when it came to killing, he said after only a moment, "Take action!"
If he missed the opportunity today, it would be even more difficult to covertly overthrow the regime of Zrin Kingdom. Let it be exposed then, as long as he obtained the desired item before the exposure.
Boom.
A palm force enveloped the sky and pressed down. Without a sound, thousands of forbidden guards turned to ash as a terrifying aura was released, scaring the souls out of everyone present.
"Die."
The gigantic hand did not pause, reaching for Er Pingzhi in the back. Everywhere it passed, the elite guards burst like paper.
"Heaven Realm Martial Emperor!"
In the crowd, some people showed shocked expressions. How could such a small Zrin Kingdom attract Heaven Realm Martial Emperors? There must be a big problem.
"Father, I have let you down. National Master, I will go ahead of you, hoping my sister has already taken you away. I believe a miracle will definitely occur to revive you!"
Everything had gone smoothly, but sometimes no amount of planning could withstand absolute power. Facing the incoming hand, Er Pingzhi gave a powerless and mournful smile.
From a distance, King Jin exhaled. Although he wasn’t satisfied with the process, the result was still acceptable. However, he needed to speed up the excavation work, as delay could lead to problems.
Whoosh!
Just as Er Pingzhi was about to die under that hand, at the crucial moment, a beam of Sword Qi suddenly lit up, like an aurora shooting from afar, effortlessly piercing through the palm force.
With a spurt!
Blood mist sprayed, and that Heaven Realm Martial Emperor who had struck out cried out in agony. Unable to maintain his disguise, he revealed his true face—it was one of the two Heaven Realm Martial Emperors who had previously attempted to assassinate Er Pingzhi.
Wherever a Heaven Realm Martial Emperor was, they were a pillar of support, so even though a grave mistake was made, how could King Jin really kill them? It was just to scare Er Pingyong.
"Who is it?"
The injured Heaven Realm Martial Emperor bellowed.
Another beam of Sword Qi swept across, and this time before he could defend himself, his arm was directly severed. The vigorous Sword Qi frantically entered his body from the wound.
Boom!
The Heaven Realm Martial Emperor exploded on the spot.
The other Heaven Realm Martial Emperor, terrified to the core, thought of sneaking away, only to see a beam of Sword Qi condense into a single point in the distance, as if directed by someone’s arm, they pointed out toward him from afar.
"No..."
The Heaven Realm Martial Emperor used his killing moves in desperation, only managing to withstand three head-on hits before exploding into nothingness.
