The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 141 - 125, ’Imperial Order to the Gods!’_2

His defensive stance, initially frantic and disorderly, gradually became composed.

"En?"

Gao Li noticed the change, his gaze shifted, and the blade in his hand suddenly turned fierce.

Yet Zhao Duan seemed to have anticipated this, abruptly retreating backward, creating distance.

His boots scraped against the ground, and suddenly he also held his left hand behind his waist.

His right hand flipped, and in an instant, he thrust out a palm.

"Woo-woo—"

A gust of wind suddenly rose; at this moment, the dark clouds above the long street seemed to be stirred, flanking Zhao Duan’s palm strike, lifting countless wine flags, and lanterns on both sides of the lengthy avenue.

Sand and stones flew...

In his mind’s eye, he recalled a scene at the desert’s edge where Great Yu Grand Ancestor unleashed palm wind, blowing down the stars in the sky.

The Milky Way hung upside down.

In this moment, even with Gao Li’s experience, he was caught off guard and squinted his eyes.

The biting palm wind struck, lifting his fighting hat, scattering his hair, and the indigo mask on his face shuddered.

His legs, however, were firmly rooted to the ground, like an old tree in the forest, with roots deeply embedded in the earth.

Even as the storm passed by, he couldn’t be shaken.

However, the real power of this palm technique passed down from Great Yu Grand Ancestor lied not here.

The palm wind was one aspect; the second was to strike at the Divine Soul.

At this moment, although Gao Li’s body remained rooted, a blurry shadow of his Divine Soul, struck by the palm wind, seemed on the verge of leaving the body.

"Return!"

Gao Li suddenly shouted, his Martial Artist’s blood boiled, and red light faintly shone above his head, forcefully pulling the Divine Soul back into his body.

He stood against the wind, shook his head slightly, and thought, Is this your trump card?

Worthy of being the secret technique of the Xu Imperial Dynasty, merely at the Mortal Realm and yet possessing such methods. With this palm alone, one could dominate among those of the same rank.

However, the gap of a Great Realm could not be bridged by a single martial arts technique alone.

Divine Chapter Realm Martial Artists have stable Divine Souls and are not...

Gao Li was thinking when suddenly an intense sense of danger sprang up in his heart!

Alarms blared in his mind, born of a Divine Chapter Martial Artist’s keenness. Before the senses or sixth sense, he sniffed the scent of danger.

Gao Li’s pupils abruptly contracted.

The whistling of the wind covered it, but he barely caught a slight sound explosion in his ears.

Reflected deep within his eyes was a lightning-fast, trembling with excitement, swiftly enlarging, dark golden flying knife!

Golden Crow Flying Dagger!

At this moment, the top-grade Divine Weapon that Zhao Duan had hidden in his sleeve and patiently charged, launched at a terrifying speed under the cover of the palm wind, aiming to assassinate.

Previously, Zhao Duan had used a Flying Dagger to covertly attack and cut Haitang’s hair.

At that time, he had deduced that as long as his opponent was off-guard, he could inflict severe injuries on Divine Chapter Realm opponents.

Thus, from the moment he saw Gao Li, he had been plotting this strike.

All the previous moves were feints, even the overturned Milky Way served merely as a cover for the Flying Dagger.

This long-plotted dagger, after being charged with the "accumulated power" technique taught by Ma Yan,

Bore his strongest force at the current realm, like a meteor, tearing open Gao Li’s robe, the white Swordsman’s attire, and fiercely piercing his heart!

The wind stopped.

The long street suddenly fell silent.

Gao Li stood in place, slowly lowering his gaze, somewhat astonishedly looking at the handle of the knife in his chest.

On the white Swordsman’s robe, embroidered with light-colored cloud patterns, a crimson hue slowly spread, like a rose blooming on a snowy field.

Gao Li stood stunned, not expecting to have his defenses breached by a mere Mortal Realm junior.

Success... Zhao Duan first felt a surge of joy in his heart, but then his brows slightly furrowed.

"Tch!"

It was at this moment that the force contained in the dark golden Flying Dagger belatedly exploded, instantly tearing a fist-sized hole in the blood-stained robe.

Exposing the skin underneath.

The Flying Dagger indeed lodged in Gao Li’s chest but was far shallower than expected.

Visible between the robe and skin, covering Gao Li’s body, was a thin layer of "Qi Shield."

It was the signature "Protective Gang Qi" of Divine Chapter Realm Martial Artists, similar to the shimmering light that Zhao Duan commanded.

The force of the Flying Dagger was blocked and weakened by this thin layer of Gang Qi.

The vast majority of its power had dissipated.

Zhao Douan’s heart sank, and with a thought, the "Golden Crow Flying Dagger" was summoned, instantly drawn out and flew back into his hands.

Then, with vital energy infused, it expanded and extended into a dark golden short blade.

Gao Li’s chest wound began to heal at a slow pace.

Only then did he raise his head, his face a mask of cold indifference:

"A beautiful strike, I admit, you are more cunning than I imagined.

Sadly for you, I am no longer the man I once was. Ha, you must be surprised, for most Divine Chapter Martial Artists can indeed deploy Protective Gang Qi, but it ultimately requires sufficient time to react.

With your sudden attack, I should have been too late to deploy my Gang Qi."

After a pause, Gao Li, from behind his mask, spoke with a complex look in his eyes:

"Back in the day, during my martial contest with Ma Yan in the Capital, he didn’t use hidden weapons, but the reason he could defeat me was because he used an Attack Killing Skill.

And at that time, I could have blocked it, but I was just a little too slow, and hence I suffered a bitter defeat.

Afterward, I left the Capital and went into hiding in the Jianghu. I pondered and meditated, replaying the battle repeatedly through countless days and nights, thinking of how I could defeat Ma Yan if given another chance.

I realized that the greatest difference between the Imperial Family’s martial arts and other martial disciplines lies in their domineering swiftness.

Therefore, I retrained in the Sword Dao and devised a method to deal with your Protective Radiance and Mountain Attack Fist Skill.

Most importantly, I spent eight years cultivating my Protective Gang Qi to immediate release, so at the instant I sense danger, it automatically springs to action."

Zhao Douan narrowed his eyes.

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His mind raced, desperately recalling information from documents he’d read, from the original host’s memories, searching continuously.

Suddenly, a name came to fore:

"Gao Li! You are the retainer recruited by the Second Prince who later joined the Kuangfu Society!?"

Gao Li smiled and raised his hand, taking off the indigo-colored ghost face mask.

He revealed the face of a middle-aged swordsman with dark stubble, bearing a visage of worldly experience.

"Clack."

Casually tossing the mask aside, he picked up the Cold Frost Sword and stepped towards Zhao Douan, his face wearing an indifferent smile:

"Congratulations, you guessed right. But it’s a pity, for it’s time for you to depart from this world."

At that moment, an indescribable Sword Dao aura spread forth.

Zhao Douan suddenly felt heavy, as if locked by an invisible force.

He held the short blade, but he knew that Gao Li, who was now on guard and holding nothing back, was not an adversary that he, with merely two months of cultivation, could contend against.

This was never a fair contest to begin with.

However, Zhao Douan’s face did not show fear, but he simply exhaled gently, smiling lightly:

"We have indeed delayed for quite some time, it truly is time to end this."

"What do you mean?"

Gao Li, having stepped within a zhang (approximately ten feet) of him, suddenly halted, eyebrows raised.

"Nothing much," Zhao Douan shook his head, then suddenly blinked and asked:

"By the way, are you skilled at dealing with Magicians?"

Gao Li was taken aback.

Only to see Zhao Douan’s empty hand suddenly open.

Within his palm, he clenched a silver talisman soaked in sweat.

At that moment, the Divine Talisman, bearing the emblem of the Heavenly Master Mansion, with teal cinnabar depicting Daoist edicts in vigorous strokes, was quietly torn apart.

From the talisman.

Wisps of breath, flowing like cyan mist, dispersed upwards, spiraling into the sky.

It was reminiscent of the blue smoke curling from burning yellow incense before the main hall of a Daoist Temple.

Zhao Douan began to summon:

"Imperial Divine Order!"

In an instant, between heaven and earth, a vast, ethereal force of tremendous majesty descended from nowhere onto this secluded street.

Gao Li’s pupils abruptly contracted.

Subconsciously looking up, he saw countless cyan clouds wildly converging above.

Behind Zhao Douan, within the rising wisps of cyan smoke, silently appeared a Daoist, a hundred feet tall, dressed in a five-colored Daoist robe, wearing a yin-yang imperial crown, holding a horsetail whisk, overlooking the mortal world.

The Daoist’s gaze was neither joyful nor sorrowful, indifferent to the world.

It was none other than the appearance of "Heavenly Dao," the Supreme Taoist!