And this Buzhou Wind transformed into Killing Life Nails was indeed a new method he had devised.

Six jet-black nails, as dark as night with frost-colored tips, surged forward at an astonishing speed with a ghostly white tail-stream.

Vaguely locking down all frontal positions of the enemy, each targeting the skull, heart, and limbs.

Such a chilling, cruel Divine Skill.

To slaughter, to obliterate the soul, to extinguish all vitality!

Cui Zhu knew he couldn’t withstand it head-on, so he retreated.

He withdrew with terrifying speed.

His figure, like a ghostly specter, left a long trail of afterimages as he rapidly outdistanced the chase of the Killing Life Nails.

He retreated quite far, farther than necessary...

This thought had just passed through Jiang Wang’s mind.

When suddenly, Cui Zhu turned around, facing Emperor of Da Qi head-on!

Not good!

Jiang Wang yanked with his left hand, and the Body-Binding Chains prepared as a contingency emerged from the void—these were meant to limit Cui Zhu’s mobility and allow the Killing Life Nails to efficiently do their work.

Used at this moment, the two pitch-black Body-Binding Chains interlocked, right in front of Cui Zhu!

And Cui Zhu’s body had already begun to disintegrate, the kind of disintegration that erases one’s very existence, starting from his limbs and spreading towards his heart.

This disintegration gave him terrifying power.

Thus, he flung a spear, a deathly gray spear that spun and accelerated, fueled by his own flesh, spirit, and even his lifespan.

Crack!

The spear shattered Jiang Wang’s Body-Binding Chains in one strike and flew towards the Emperor of the Great Qi Empire.

And Cui Zhu bellowed, his voice filled with indescribable madness—

"In the thirty-first year of Shenwu, Cui Zhu assassinates Jiang Shu!!!"

The echo of this cry persisted, spreading far and wide.

His target was actually Emperor Qi!

And at the significant location in front of The Imperial Ancestral Temple, during the "Great Master’s Ceremony," before officials and onlookers of Da Qi, he dared to fling a spear to assassinate Qi Jun!

What an utterly mad act?

Jiang Wang reacted swiftly, instantaneously initiating Voice Broadcast Immortal Style with a single hand, capturing Cui Zhu’s cry before it could spread further.

But those who needed to hear had already heard. Those who hadn’t would inevitably find out later...

It was but a feeble attempt to mend the situation.

At the same time, Jiang Wang stepped on the shattered Qingyun Mark, revealing his bare and swift speed as he closed in on Cui Zhu’s retreating figure in an instant.

Within mere moments, Walk in the Sky!

All this might sound slow, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.

Cui Zhu faced Jiang Wang once before retreating faster and faster, and then threw the spear at Qi Jun.

Cui Zhu, who had thrown the spear, still hadn’t burst out of the plaza when he suddenly turned to face Jiang Wang, their eyes meeting.

His expression was maniacal, and in his eyes was a pilgrim’s devout sincerity.

"I have no regrets!"

These were his words, silenced by Jiang Wang, yet they reached Jiang Wang’s ears.

Cui Zhu’s body continued to disintegrate rapidly.

His flesh, his spirit, his lifespan, his life pattern... his entire life!

Everything was crumbling away.

Clang!

Accompanied by the soft hum of Longing, Jiang Wang’s longsword swept through!

But he was already dead.

Completely dead.

The longsword cleaved through Cui Zhu as if slicing through nothing at all.

And the incessantly rotating, accelerating, terrifying deathly gray spear didn’t even come close to the cinnabar steps before it silently crumbled away.

The head eunuch of the Ministry of Rites, Han Ling, stood with his hands tucked into his sleeves, expressionless, as if he had never intervened.

And the scene fell silent!

Not a sound in front of the entire Withering and Flourishing Temple!

This had nothing to do with Jiang Wang’s Dao Technique of controlling sound.

In truth, even the sound of breathing had ceased!

Of course, no one spoke.

Who would dare speak at such a time?

One misstep, and today’s events could spiral into a massive calamity.

Despite Emperor Qi’s generosity in rewarding talent, he could be ruthless when needed, showing no mercy.

Many years ago, someone described the current Emperor Qi as a peerless sovereign—"Whether in grace or punishment, there are no exceptions!"

Many saw only Emperor Qi’s boundless grace, the talent that could soar to heaven’s heights in Qi Country, yet often overlooked the fact that the punishment too had "no exceptions!"

How did the Withering and Flourishing Temple, which once had branches all over Qi Boundary, end up with only a ruin left in Linyi City?

The other places were erased, not even ruins remained!

The deposed Crown Prince Jiang Wuliang was once showered with limitless favor, the Emperor often entrusted him with the regency during campaigns, and even allowed him to handle governmental affairs when he was present at court.

But what happened once he fell out of favor?

The so-called "supporters" of the deposed Crown Prince were nearly annihilated. And since being imprisoned in the Blue Stone Palace in the thirty-fifth year of Yuan Feng, not once did the Son of Heaven see him in twenty years, not once, despite this being his own flesh and blood, the son he once cherished the most.

And today, on the grand occasion of royal martial competition meant to select the empire’s best, was one of the chosen actually plotting regicide?!

If this matter were to be pursued.

First and foremost, Xiu Yuan, the Commander of the Prisoner Electric Army, must be relieved of duty for investigation, and might not even be able to save his own life.

And those who had recommended Cui Zhu onto this list...

Every official who had promoted him through the ranks in the military, even the ones in the Political Affairs Hall who personally chose Cui Zhu, all must bear responsibility.

A responsibility that no one could shoulder!

The Emperor of Da Qi sat upon the Dragon Throne, his expression inscrutable to all, leaving no one able to discern his thoughts.

He also wore no expression.

The monarch’s mind, profound as the sea.

He remained silent, and no one dared make a sound.

Thus, he spoke.

In a calm voice, he said, "The men of Qingyang Town have meritoriously protected the convoy, I will remember this deed. After the Yellow River Gathering, you shall be rewarded accordingly."