Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
âAre you threatening me?â Zhou Shu looked at Shen Yue. âHave you not understood the situation?â
âYouâre the one who doesnât understand the situation.â Shen Yue sneered and looked into his arms.
Zhou Shuâs eyes moved, and he reached into Shen Yueâs arms.
Then he felt a conch-shaped stone.
âThis is a sound transmission stone,â Shen Yue said coldly. âThe sound transmission stone is a pair with one transmitting and one receiving. It can transmit sounds from thousands of miles away. Our words have already been transmitted through this stone.
âI can tell you that receiving one is in the hands of Great Weiâs imperial preceptor.â A look of satisfaction flashed across Shen Yueâs eyes.?So what if youâve hidden well? I still have something on you!
âOnce I die, your secret will be spread throughout the streets and alleys of Changâan tomorrow. By then, everyone will know that you, Zhou Shu, are an expert above the third rank of the Martial Dao!
âA grandmaster deliberately disguised himself as a Forging Apprentice and even showed his ninth-rank cultivation to others. Do you think that Emperor Yuan Feng will still trust you? Will the ministers of Great Xia still trust you?
âYou didnât develop the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Saber and the Horse Slaying Saber, right? Do you think they will appreciate your efforts to curry favor with Great Xia?â
Shen Yue no longer had the fear from before, nor did he look like he was going to defy death. Instead, he looked at Zhou Shu with a smug expression.
He had only behaved like that earlier to buy time to activate the sound transmission stone.
Now, he believed that Zhou Shu wouldnât dare to kill him!
Zhou Shuâs expression was calm. He didnât seem angry that he was being exposed.
âWhat you said makes sense.â Zhou Shu nodded.
This was one of the reasons he had never revealed his cultivation.
The reason was that he was unable to explain the origin of his cultivation. There was a limit to being a genius.
Yin Wuyou was a genius. She had started cultivating the Martial Dao when she was three years old, and with the resources provided by the Imperial Court at all costs, it still took her more than ten years to reach the third rank.
Lu Wenshuang, who was known as the number one Martial Dao genius of Great Xia, had received the best training since birth. This was how she had become a grandmaster in her teens.
Their Martial Dao paths could be said to be paved with countless resources. This was only possible if they had talent that was hard to come by even in ten thousand years.
What did Zhou Shu have?
He came from three generations of the lowest-level Forging Apprentices. The savings of several generations didnât even add up to a hundred taels of silver.
Such a person had a cultivation base above the third rank of the Martial Dao before he was even twenty years ago?
How did he obtain his cultivation base?
Anyone would be suspicious.
With such a high cultivation level, yet he was willing to be a Forging Apprentice, it was simply not normal.
In addition to what had happened with Zhu Chuanfeng, Emperor Yuan Feng would probably suspect if Zhou Shu really developed those sabers, including the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Saber, himself, or if he had stolen them from someone else.
Otherwise, why would he conceal his cultivation?
Who would believe that in just a few short months, Zhou Shu had gone from being an ordinary Forging Apprentice to possessing exceptional cultivation?
It was fine if people didnât believe it. But if they did, it would be even more troublesome.
Who wouldnât be tempted by something that could allow an ordinary person to possess peerless cultivation in a few short months?
This was why Shen Yue was so confident. He was confident that Zhou Shu didnât want to expose his cultivation level.
This was Zhou Shuâs weakness. He had no choice but to submit!
Shen Yue had even thought of using this secret to threaten Zhou Shu to be a spy of Great Wei. He would make him kill Mi Ziwen and even control him to assassinate Emperor Yuan Feng!
âI really donât want my secret exposed,â Zhou Shu said. âI think we can work together. For example, you can call Xiao Shunzhi over, and we can rob the princessâs residence together?â
Shen Yue narrowed his eyes and stared at Zhou Shu, wanting to see if he was serious.
Zhou Shu was calm.
Shen Yue snorted. âHow can it be so easy to rob the princessâs residence?â
âZhou Shu, if you donât want your secret to be exposed, youâd better let go of me first.â
âShen Yue, you seem to have gotten something wrong.â Zhou Shu shook his head. âMy secret has been exposed. At most, Iâll leave Great Xia. With my strength, I can go anywhere. But youâre different. If my secret is exposed, youâll die.â
Shen Yue froze. He had forgotten about this.
âHmph, you can leave, but your plan in Great Xia will be ruined!â
Shen Yue refused to believe that Zhou Shu was doing this for fun!
He definitely had a huge scheme, which was why he was hiding in Great Xia.
âThereâs no need for us to test each other.â Zhou Shu shook his head., âSince we have each otherâs weakness in our hands, letâs make it simple. Letâs cooperate if we can. If we canât, then weâll split up!â
Shen Yueâs brows furrowed tightly.?If we canât, then weâll split up?
He can just leave. Iâll be dead for sure.
âHow do you want to cooperate?â Shen Yue asked. Unknowingly, the initiative had returned to Zhou Shuâs hands.
âDo you think youâre qualified to talk about cooperation with me?â Zhou Shu sneered. âBring me to see Xiao Shunzhi. I want to talk to him.â
A cold light flashed in the depths of Zhou Shuâs eyes.?First-rank martial artist?
He wanted to see if the heavenly supreme Great Destroyer Sword could kill a supreme first-rank martial artist!
Shen Yue didnât know what Zhou Shu was thinking. He frowned and thought for a moment before saying, âThe diplomatic mission of my Great Wei has already left Great Xia and is on the way back. The imperial preceptor is almost a thousand miles away from Changâan.
âThe Great Wei diplomatic mission has left, and you stayed behind to play dirty?â Zhou Shu looked at Shen Yue.
Shen Yue sneered. There was no need for him to hide anything now. âMi Ziwen killed my elder brother. If I donât kill him, how can I leave? Initially, I wanted to kill you first for interestâ¦â
But he didnât expect that he would fail miserably!
âMi Ziwen killed your brother?â Zhou Shuâs heart skipped a beat. âYour father is the minister of war of Great Wei?â
Shen Yue didnât say anything. But judging from his arrogant look, it was obviously true.
âYouâre from a prestigious family,â Zhou Shu said casually. âMi Ziwen killed your elder brother. Isnât that helping you? He wonât be able to fight with you for the inheritance in the future.â
Shen Yueâs face darkened. âIâm the legitimate eldest son!â
Although his elder brother was older, he was a concubineâs son. Otherwise, he wouldnât be sent to Great Xia as a spy.
The son of a concubine didnât have much status.
But even though he was the son of a concubine, he was still his elder brother. He couldnât let him die just like that!
Zhou Shu didnât care much about these things. He looked at Shen Yue and said, âItâs just a thousand miles. I can make it.
âCall your men. Weâre going after Xiao Shunzhi now,â Zhou Shu said. âDonât tell me you canât catch up. If thatâs the case, we can just split up.â
Shen Yueâs expression turned ugly.?Why arenât things going according to my plan?
Why does Zhou Shu seem so fearless?
After thinking for a moment, Shen Yue sadly realized that facing an expert suspected of being a grandmaster, it seemed he had no choice at all.
Even if he was willing to risk his life to fight Zhou Shu, there was no chance of him winning!
He never would have thought that after spending so much effort and paying such a huge price to hide from the defenses of Great Xia, he would actually fail in front of a single person!
After Shen Yue gathered his people, Zhou Shu discovered that there werenât many of them. Apart from the two he killed, there were only five people left in total.
This was normal. After all, they didnât have many people in Changâan.
Moreover, in their plan, besides Zhou Shu, a supposed ninth-rank martial artist, there were no other martial artists in the baronâs mansion.
The seven of them had cultivation levels ranging from the fourth rank to the eighth rank. They could control the baronâs mansion without anyone noticing.
After all, this newly promoted baronâs mansion was the one with the weakest defense in Changâan.
Since his identity had already been exposed in front of Zhou Shu, Shen Yue didnât continue to hide it.
He directly used their retreat route and left Changâan. Following the planned route, he quickly chased after Xiao Shunzhi.
Along the way, Zhou Shu gained quite a bit of knowledge.
There were actually many hiding spots for Great Weiâs spies in Changâan, which had previously been swept by the Divine Constable Bureau and the Huben Troops.
How should he put it?
It could only be said that no prairie fire can burn the grass utterly. The spring wind blows it back to life again.
Zhou Shu had also asked Shen Yue what happened to the servants in his residence.
Shen Yue didnât kill all of them. Most of them were locked up in the woodshed, and only a few were killed.
Zhou Shu didnât show any reaction on the surface. But in his heart, he already had the intention of killing Shen Yue and his group.
Do these people think that Great Xia is easy to bully?
I donât know if Great Xia is easy to bully. But I, Zhou Shu, am not an easy target!
Shen Yue had stayed behind in Changâan for revenge because he had made thorough preparations.
He had specially arranged for some thoroughbred horses outside the city.
These were the best warhorses in Great Wei, and they could travel thousands of miles in a day.
Zhou Shu was not too surprised by the speed of the fast horses. There were even martial artists here. It was not strange that the horses were faster than the ones in his previous life.
It was said that there were still demonic beasts in this world. The Demon Executing Army specialized in dealing with demonic beasts, but Zhou Shu had never seen them before.
With Shen Yaoâs arrangements of traveling on horses, Zhou Shu was able to recharge his energy.
Warhorses could travel thousands of miles in a day, but this was only theoretically the fastest speed.
Shen Yueâs identity couldnât be exposed, so he naturally could not take the main road. They crossed mountains and ridges, and it took them five days to spot the Great Wei diplomatic mission.
At this moment, the Great Wei diplomatic mission had already reached the border between Great Xia and Great Wei.
In these five days, the capital was already in chaos.
On the second day after Zhou Shu and Shen Yue left Changâan, in the imperial study of the Great Xia imperial palace, Emperor Yuan Fengâs expression was extremely ugly.
âTell me. How many times has it been?â
Emperor Yuan Feng was like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Originally, taking back the You and Bing prefectures was a cause for celebration for the entire country. However, he didnât expect that after he sent off the You Prefecture Army and the Bing Prefecture Army, he would receive a blow to the head.
In front of him, Ma Fengzhang, the commander of the Divine Constable Bureau, as well as the generals of the Country Protector Army, all lowered their heads in shame.
âOver and over again, spies from other countries come and go as they please in Changâan. Itâs as if no one is here. Tell me. What are you doing?!
âIf you canât do it, then tell me. Iâll get someone else to do it!â
Emperor Yuan Feng slammed the table. With a loud crash, the table shattered into pieces.
âI know my mistake!â Ma Fengzhang and the rest jumped in fright.
âYour Majesty, I will take my men right now and save Baron Zhou!â a general from the Country Protector Army said.
âSave him? Where were you when he was abducted?â Emperor Yuan Feng said angrily. âYou are in charge of Changâanâs city gates. Is this how you guard them? Will there be a day when my head is chopped off and taken away by the enemy, and they can just walk out of the city openly?â
The general was so frightened that he didnât know what to say.
âLet me ask you. A baron was kidnapped in his own residence. Who did it? How did they do it? Have you investigated clearly?â Emperor Yuan Feng said angrily, breathing heavily.
âYour Majesty, I failed my duty.â Ma Fengzhang sighed in his heart. Needless to say, this was his fault again.
In the previous incident with Zhu Chuanfeng, Zhou Shu had been taken out of the capital, and the Divine Constable Bureauâs reputation was already damaged.
Who knew that it would happen again!
Why was Zhou Shu so popular with the robbers?
As Ma Fengzhang thought about it, he said, âAfter receiving the news, I immediately sent people to investigate. The servants of the baronâs residence didnât see the attackerâs face, but I found two corpses at the scene. One of them was unrecognizable, and the other was poisoned to death. Thereâs no doubt that it was a death warrior.â
âNonsense!â Emperor Yuan said angrily.
Ma Fengzhang knew that Emperor Yuan Feng was in a fit of anger, so he didnât dare to speak any nonsense. âIâve found out the identity of that death warrior. He isâ¦â
âWho is he?â Emperor Yuan Feng asked impatiently.
âHe is from the great generalâs residence.â Ma Fengzhang said softly.
âFrom the great generalâs residence?â Emperor Yuanfeng was stunned. Then he said solemnly, âThatâs impossible!â
Ma Fengzhang pursed his lips. He didnât want to believe it, but it was the truth. âAbsolutely. If I didnât have absolute confidence, I wouldnât dare to speak nonsense.â
Great General Meng Bai was the undisputed God of War of Great Xia. He had outstanding military achievements, and it could even be said that without him, Great Xia would not be where it was today.
Most importantly, Great General Meng and Emperor Yuan Feng had grown up together. He was loyal and devoted to Emperor Yuan Feng, and it was impossible for him to betray him.
âThe great general will never betray me!â Emperor Yuan Feng said coldly. âHis residence must have been infiltrated by a spy!â
Is that possible�
Ma Fengzhang didnât know.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
What kind of person was the great general?
There was a spy hiding in the residence of the Great Xiaâs God of War?
Just thinking about it was inconceivable. If he didnât even discover the spy, how could he be the Great Xiaâs God of War?
But it was unlikely that the general knew.
The great general was still on the battlefield on the southern border. Why would he deal with Zhou Shu?
With the status of a great general, if he really wanted to deal with Zhou Shu, would he leave behind such evidence?
âMa Fengzhang, investigate this matter personally!â Emperor Yuan Feng said coldly. âI donât care what methods you use, but you must find out who kidnapped Zhou Shu! And I want you to save Zhou Shu at all costs!â
âYes, Your Majesty,â Ma Fengzhang said helplessly. âYour Majesty, Her Highness and Marquis Weiyuanâs young marquis have left the capital to track Zhou Shuâs whereabouts. Should Iââ
Emperor Yuan Fengâs face darkened. âYou donât need to worry about them. Go investigate your case and save Zhou Shu!â
âYes!â Ma Fengzhang lowered his head and didnât dare to stay any longer.. After taking his leave, he immediately left the palace and began his investigation.