Volume 1, Chapter 39: A Scheme Within a Scheme

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The moment he finished speaking, Zhang Liang raised the horsetail whisk in his hand and lashed it across the man like a whip, leaving a bloody mark.

“How dare you, insolent rabble! You openly insult and show contempt for an official of the imperial court. Guards, seize this lawless mob and throw them all in prison!” The magistrate of Chujie County, whose surname was Nie, was consumed with fury, his beard bristling and his eyes bulging.

“Got it.” Goto nodded. Fujiwara shifted his feet and followed Sakura as well.

After a long while, Chi Jian and the other finally reached the insect hive in the Wolai Star Sector. The hive, which should have been bustling with activity, was now utterly silent. Only one or two insects occasionally flew out of the nest, leaving behind nothing but a gigantic empty shell floating forlornly through space.

Across his burly tiger-like body, he wore nothing but an apron fashioned from strips of animal hide, draped in front to conceal his shame. His violently powerful muscles stood out starkly. After transforming into human form, the Three Bears looked every inch the rough, rugged man.

Aya Uejō was also slightly taken aback, but she was not particularly surprised. It seemed she had anticipated this long ago.

In their haste, they saw countless bursts of fire erupting in the distant reaches of space, illuminating the entire cosmos. Instinctively, they assumed that the Alliance army had gone to war with one of the sects.

To their surprise, Bai Lian was actually seated directly beneath the Nine-Spirit Origin Sage, making him especially conspicuous. This, too, had evidently been arranged deliberately by the True Dragon, though no one knew why.

Over the past two years, she had witnessed Prince Qing in battle: stubborn and self-righteous, suspicious of everyone, capable only of empty theories, and utterly indifferent to the lives of his soldiers. How was he any different from an executioner who treated human lives as weeds?

Alchemy Formula: Smoking and drinking should be practiced in moderation; exercise strengthens the body. Only by becoming strong oneself can one resist the invasion of evil.

From then on, at every exchange conference, people began imitating them, attending the gatherings in all manner of masks.

Yin himself did not know why he had made such a furtive gesture. To be honest, he rarely did anything like that, so the movement was stiff and awkward—or rather, full of flaws.

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In that instant, Li Xiuning was overcome by an intense and unfamiliar sensation, something she had never experienced before. Her body reacted as well.

“Huh?” Hearing Riran Asao’s sharp reprimand, Jichuan immediately turned back in confusion. Faji Xiangjie turned around at the same time and spoke coldly.

She had once asked God why she had to cultivate. God had answered that it was so she could make herself stronger. She had also asked why she needed to become stronger, and God had said it was because she had to protect the entire Second World and become its master.

Duzhong did not hold back. He kicked Heshouwu in the buttocks, sending the staggering man straight into the ground.

Seeing the astonishment and disbelief on Xu Liang’s face, Chunyu gradually grew remorseful and rubbed her forehead as she spoke.

The bird shrieked as it sped through the air, circling overhead with a harsh, piercing cry. Its sharp beak pointed straight at the wall, as though it were hesitating, uncertain of what to do.

With that, Mingzong struck the chest of a burly man before him with one palm. Under normal circumstances, the blow would have shattered the man’s breastbone. Unfortunately, Mingzong possessed no internal energy at that moment and was no more than an ordinary man, so the big fellow emerged entirely unharmed.

Because the curtains had been drawn—and because they blocked the light so effectively—almost no illumination entered the room. No one could possibly guess which side held the advantage. Even so, there was no doubt that this was an eagerly anticipated contest.

An icy, frost-like aura instantly enveloped the entire room. Li Zhaolin immediately felt that Chu Tao had clearly not come to offer comfort but to add fuel to the flames.

“Sorry.” Chu Tao realized that he had misspoken as well. He turned away and stood facing the corner of the wall.

Still, she had to admit that, now that the selection tournament had progressed this far, very few contestants had caught her eye. Among those few, the man in the bamboo hat before her seemed to be the most outstanding of all.

After the meal came desserts and pastries: lotus-root starch dumplings, jujube paste cakes, eight-treasure lotus-seed soup, hawthorn sweets, and the like.

A treasured weapon recognized its master. The Yellow Nest Sword flew down from the cliff the instant its owner arrived. Standing at the bow, Huang Chao reached out and caught it. He immediately drew the sword and swept it toward the pursuing army. In an instant, hundreds of thousands of soldiers lay dead or wounded, routed completely and fleeing in disorder.

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Emma could now only hope that Li Yan would frighten away the Windshadow Leopard and prevent it from continuing to trail the allied forces. That would already be the best possible outcome.

“In that case, our mission is to deliver the provisions to General Chou Luan’s camp at Jiayu Pass!” I said.

Two sharp gazes, keen as blades, slashed toward Xia Haitong’s face. She felt a chill creep through her heart under their scrutiny, yet she did not dare utter a single word of complaint.

Xia Xueqing had originally intended to act cute and win Ye Chengxuan back, but Ye Chengxuan was utterly resolute. Clearly, this time he had made up his mind about Xia Haitong and would not rest until she completed that task.

Therefore, when Four Tigers, harboring his doubts, exchanged a few perfunctory words with Strong, Strong decisively asked where Four Tigers was now, saying that he wanted them to reminisce about old times.

Conversely, if Emperor Xuande suspected that Li Yuntian harbored rebellious ambitions and sought to control the government of Great Ming, then Li Yuntian would become a treacherous minister whose power had grown impossible to restrain.

But as the saying went, excessive joy invited sorrow. Amid his wild laughter, Constantine IV failed to notice the two metallic glints on the cliff near the harbor, steadily adjusting and rotating.

Nevertheless, their price was at least ten percent lower than that of products manufactured domestically in the Kingdom of Doro.

Yet he wanted to use this useless stone of unknown origin to exchange for Tang Xiao’s genuine treasures. What he was doing was practically no different from conjuring something out of nothing.

She was clearly displeased by Liu Ming’s sudden stomachache, but then she began to smile. Since your stomach hurts, you are going to suffer once we reach the Shangwu Boxing Gym.

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