togophonebook Chapter 50 The Emperor
Chapter 50 The Emperor
Grandmaster.
For hundreds of years since its founding, the Great Xia Dynasty has never produced a Grandmaster. It is precisely because of the lack of a Grandmaster-level expert that demons dare to repeatedly breach the borders and slaughter the people on the frontier. If only the Great Xia Dynasty could have a Grandmaster...
Xia Hongyi strode out from behind the imperial desk, walked up to Xu Boyuan, and personally took the book from him.
The book's cover bears the four characters: "Tianmang Cave Observation".
Xia Hongyi turned to the first page and scanned a few lines. Although his martial arts cultivation was not high, only at the first-class level, his vision was not low. He could see the profundity and mystery of this manual. The concepts, methods and key points in it were far superior to any other martial arts manual he had ever read.
"Excellent!" Xia Hongyi couldn't help but exclaim, "What a magnificent 'Tianmang Cave Observation'!"
Xia Hongyi grew increasingly excited and thrilled as he read. Such a secret manual must never be passed on to outsiders; it could only be entrusted to the most trusted person for cultivation. Although the members of the secret guards were loyal, there was no guarantee that they would not harbor disloyalty…
Xia Hongyi raised his head and waved to the eunuchs and guards in the hall.
"All of you, step back."
The eunuchs and guards filed out. In the shadows, two dark figures swayed slightly. These were the emperor's personal guards, one at the peak of the Innate Realm and the other at the early stage of the Grandmaster Realm. They had also heard the order and silently disappeared into the darkness.
Only Xia Hongyi and Xu Boyuan remained in the hall.
Xia Hongyi lowered his head again and continued to read "Tianmang Cave View". He was so engrossed in reading that he did not notice that Xu Boyuan had stood up straight and walked in front of him.
Xia Hongyi sensed someone approaching, looked up, and saw Xu Boyuan standing in front of him, no more than two steps away. He frowned.
"Xu Qing, what are you doing?"
Xu Boyuan laughed, his hand moved like lightning, his five fingers like hooks, and he grabbed Xia Hongyi by the neck.
Xia Hongyi's pupils contracted sharply, and in an instant, he struck out with a powerful palm, which landed squarely on Xu Boyuan's chest. This was his "Heavenly Fortune Palm," which he had cultivated for thirty years. One strike was enough to shatter rocks and break monuments.
But Xu Boyuan remained unmoved.
Xia Hongyi's face flushed red, his eyes filled with shock. Xu Boyuan was just an old man who didn't know how to cultivate. Where did he get such a powerful physical body?
"You...you're not..."
With a smile on his face, Xu Boyuan's figure began to change. His aged face twisted and reformed, his hunched figure straightened and grew taller, and his body under his official robes became slender and well-proportioned. In a few breaths, Xu Boyuan disappeared, replaced by a young and handsome face.
Yun Weiyang looked at Xia Hongyi and smiled slightly.
"You'll be sitting in this position for a few days."
Xia Hongyi's eyes widened suddenly, his consciousness began to blur, and a violent tearing sensation came from the depths of his soul. Something was forcibly intruding into his consciousness and gnawing at his soul.
After two breaths, Xia Hongyi closed his eyes and his body went limp. Yun Weiyang caught him and gently placed him on the ground.
Yun Weiyang's figure changed again, his face contorted, and his body adjusted. In a few breaths, he transformed into Xia Hongyi's appearance, with a square face, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a short beard.
With his right hand pressed on Xia Hongyi's corpse, Xia Hongyi's body began to twist and quickly transformed into Xu Boyuan's appearance, his eyes still open with dilated pupils.
Yun Weiyang changed the two of them's clothes, picked up a decorative dagger from the imperial desk, and threw it next to Xu Boyuan.
Then Yun Weiyang straightened up, adjusted her dragon robe, and her face regained Xia Hongyi's usual dignified expression. She turned around, faced the palace gate, and said in a deep voice, "Someone come here."
The palace doors were pushed open.
Two bodyguards emerged from the shadows and knelt on one knee. Several guards rushed in as well, and their expressions changed drastically when they saw Xu Boyuan lying on the ground and the short dagger on the ground.
"Your Majesty!" the commander of the guards exclaimed.
Yun Weiyang waved her hand, her tone calm yet carrying an undeniable authority: "I'm fine."
Yun Weiyang glanced at Xu Boyuan on the ground and said calmly, "Issue an imperial decree: Minister of War Xu Boyuan attempted to assassinate me. His crime is unforgivable. However, considering his more than 30 years of hard work and great contributions to the country, I will grant him special favor and spare his entire family from being implicated. His entire family will be beheaded and his property will be confiscated by the government."
The captain of the guards paused for a moment, then bowed his head: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
One eunuch quickly left the hall to deliver the imperial decree, while two other eunuchs stepped forward and dragged Xu Boyuan's body out.
After doing all this, Yun Weiyang did not return to her palace, but went straight to a pavilion deep within the palace.
This pavilion is called "Tianlu Pavilion". It was where several emperors of the Great Xia Dynasty collected books from all over the world. The pavilion is five stories high and is built entirely of bluestone. It has upturned eaves and corners. Under the eaves hangs a plaque with four golden characters "Tianlu Linlang".
The Tianlu Pavilion houses over three thousand volumes of martial arts manuals and tens of thousands of books on classics, history, philosophy, and literature, representing the accumulated wealth of the Great Xia Dynasty over hundreds of years.
The gatekeepers of Tianlu Pavilion were two old eunuchs at the Innate Realm. When they saw the emperor arrive late at night, they hurriedly knelt down. Yun Weiyang waved her hand, telling them to leave, and then pushed open the door and went inside.
The room was brightly lit, with rows of bookshelves neatly arranged, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. The bookshelves were densely packed with books, some brand new, others yellowed and brittle, exuding the smell of old paper and ink.
Yun Weiyang walked to the first row of bookshelves and randomly pulled out a volume.
"Hun Yuan Gong" is a national treasure martial art passed down by the Great Xia royal family. It is a first-grade martial art, and when mastered, one can reach the peak of the Grandmaster level. Yun Weiyang flipped through a few pages and then put it down.
He then pulled out another scroll, "Shattered Jade Palm," a second-grade martial art. The palm technique was fierce, using softness to overcome hardness.
"The Breaking Army Spear Technique" is the most widely circulated spear technique in the army. It is fierce and domineering, and suitable for battlefield combat.
Volume after volume.
Yun Weiyang flipped through the books extremely quickly, finishing an entire bookshelf in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
Most of these martial arts manuals are of low quality; the best ones barely reach the Xuan Shu stage. They are far inferior to the "Zhuanmo Jing" and even the "Tianmang Dongguan".
However, some of the ideas and techniques in these manuals caught Yun Weiyang's eye.
For example, there is a light-body technique called "Cicada Molting," which emphasizes using the vibration of qi and blood to evolve a false body in desperate situations to escape from the encirclement. The concept is so bizarre that even he found it interesting.
Another book, "Thousand Threads Hand," uses true qi to create invisible threads to control hidden weapons; it is insidious, ruthless, and ingenious.
"Interesting," Yun Weiyang muttered to herself. "The wisdom of these ordinary martial artists should not be underestimated."
Yun Weiyang wrote down these techniques one by one and had Su Qinghe in Lin'an City study them carefully.
Three days later, Yun Weiyang had finished reading all the martial arts manuals in Tianlu Pavilion.
More than three thousand volumes of martial arts manuals and tens of thousands of books were all imprinted in his mind. Among them, there were very few records about grandmasters, only a few tattered manuscripts and notes that mentioned them briefly.
By piecing these fragments together, Yun Weiyang gained a clearer understanding of the Grandmaster.