Xiao Zhen brought far too many evil spirits, and they attacked indiscriminately without fear of death. Even if Jiang Juncai had unparalleled martial arts skills, excellent physical strength, and a handy weapon, he still couldn't kill all these endless streams of evil spirits.
"Jiang Juncai, I spared your life because I value your talent. If you know what's good for you, give up your resistance and submit to me. After I ascend the throne, you will still be the commander of the Imperial Guards."
Xiao Zhen said this simply because Jiang Juncai was highly skilled in martial arts and had few rivals. Although his "Ten Thousand Ghosts Paying Homage to the Forest" had already achieved some success, it would still take some effort to kill Jiang Juncai.
Jiang Juncai coldly reminded Xiao Zhen: "Fifth Prince, you'd better think this through. The Imperial Guards are arriving in droves, and the Imperial Preceptor will be here soon as well. If you surrender, you might still have a chance to live."
The emperor was furious and rebuked him: "That's right, Xiao Zhen, I really misjudged you. You were always the most obedient and intelligent one, but I never expected you to have such wolfish ambitions. Even if you stop now, I have no intention of forgiving you. I will definitely demote you to a commoner! No, I will have you cut into a thousand pieces!"
Xiao Zhen burst into laughter: "Grand Preceptor? The Grand Preceptor is too busy taking care of himself to save you."
The Emperor naturally didn't believe it: "Impossible. The Imperial Preceptor is the most accomplished Taoist in the land. How could he possibly be subdued by you?"
However, quite a while had passed, and the messenger should have found the Imperial Advisor by now, but the Imperial Advisor still hadn't arrived. The Emperor was still very suspicious that something had happened to the Imperial Advisor.
The Imperial Guards kept pouring in from outside, but they couldn't kill the black mist no matter what they did. Although the Imperial Guards were numerous, they were no match for the black mist.
The black mist only needed to penetrate their bodies for them to collapse. Dealing with the Imperial Guards was incredibly easy for the black mist.
Jiang Juncai was also vaguely worried. If things continued like this, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long. He had to find a way to subdue Xiao Zhen.
A dozen or so Imperial Guards bravely charged to the front, intending to surround and attack Xiao Zhen. Xiao Zhen waved his hand lightly, releasing more than a dozen streams of black mist that wrapped around the necks of the Imperial Guards, rendering them unable to move and instantly eliminating their fighting capacity.
Xiao Zhen walked step by step toward Jiang Juncai and Xiao Yi. Xiao Yi blocked his way with his sword and they began to fight.
After only a few rounds, Xiao Zhen released black mist again to entangle Xiao Yi. Xiao Yi was too busy to defend himself and could only watch helplessly as Xiao Zhen walked towards Jiang Juncai and his father, shouting, "Xiao Zhen! How dare you be so insolent! I will never forgive you!"
Xiao Zhen acted as if he hadn't heard anything and walked straight toward Jiang Juncai. He raised his right hand, and a thick, black mist bound Jiang Juncai around the waist and dragged him to a higher place.
Jiang Juncai used his glass sword to slash at the black mist, but with little effect. The black mist was only cut open and quickly healed. His glass sword had no effect on Xiao Zhen at all.
Seeing that Xiao Zhen had released black mist with his other hand, which had wrapped around his father's neck and hoisted him into the air, Xiao Yi realized that his father was struggling to breathe and his legs were thrashing about. Remembering the jade talisman that Yuan Qi had given him, Xiao Yi crushed it.
"If I wasn't absolutely certain, why would I have made a move? Did I not know there were 50,000 Imperial Guards in the palace? Did I not know Commander Jiang's martial arts were unparalleled? Did I not know that the Grand General was invincible?"
He was extremely arrogant: "But so what? Look, they still die under my divine power, don't they? Rongguo and the world are mine! Xiao Yi, you are stupid and clumsy and have no right to be the crown prince. You should just die!"
"That's not necessarily true!" A clear, childlike voice descended from the sky.
Yuan Qi was clearly in the courtyard outside Xuanzheng Hall. She arrived in just a few steps. She threw out a Five Thunder Talisman, which spontaneously combusted without fire. The gloomy sky became even thicker with dark clouds, and thunder began to roar. The next second, a blue lightning bolt as thick as an arm struck down from the sky. All the black mist stopped entering the palace and trembled under the power of the heavenly thunder. It wanted to escape but could not move at all.
With a loud "boom," all the black mist vanished, and even Xiao Zhen was struck so hard that he was unable to move and collapsed to the ground.
The black mist in his hands vanished instantly, and the emperor fell to the ground with a dull thud. Jiang Jun landed lightly and quickly went to take care of the emperor. He looked at Yuan Qi with delight: "Seventh Sister, you've come at the right time."
The emperor was rescued, but he showed no joy on his face. Yuan Qi was too powerful for her young age. No one could deal with Xiao Zhen's evil spirits, and even the imperial advisor was ambushed and could not protect himself. Yet this little girl subdued him with just one talisman.
If this little girl grows up in the future, what will she be like? Won't she be invincible?
"Xiao Zhen, you're really stupid. Do you think you'll be invincible after practicing 'Ten Thousand Ghosts Paying Homage to the Forest' for a few days?"
Yuan Qi calmly looked around. Many of the Imperial Guards had been killed by the black mist, their souls pierced, leaving them with no chance of being saved. She could only shake her head regretfully.
Fortunately, Xiao Zhen still wanted to use the court officials. The officials were only frightened and there were no casualties. Even Feng Aotian was just a little out of breath and had no external injuries.
Xiao Zhen couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe that after practicing so hard for so long, even Jiang Juncai was no match for him, and Feng Aotian was his defeated opponent. This little girl, who was not even ten years old, broke his technique in one move. He was not willing to accept it, and he wanted to do it again.
He struggled to his feet: "I refuse to accept this!"
Yuan Qi chuckled: "What do you have to complain about? I only used a Five Thunder Talisman, and you were defeated before I even really made a move. If I had really made a move, you wouldn't even have had a chance to speak!"
Xiao Zhen tried to gather his ghostly power again, only to find that he had none left.
"Ah..." he suddenly screamed and collapsed to the ground, "Why can't I move?"
Yuan Qi sneered: "Do you think anyone can withstand heavenly lightning? How can a body of flesh and blood withstand heavenly lightning? If you don't use your internal energy, you'll still be a healthy, normal person. But once you do use your internal energy, your meridians will be severed, and you'll become a cripple, needing someone to take care of you in every way, from eating and drinking to defecating."
"No—" Xiao Zhen roared, unwilling to accept defeat.
The emperor was somewhat embarrassed; his clothes and hair were disheveled. But he didn't care about that. He was just thinking about how to express his insincere gratitude to Yuan Qi when the man suddenly disappeared into thin air.
"This, this..." The emperor was astonished. This woman actually had the same abilities as the Imperial Advisor. The Imperial Advisor had once demonstrated to him the magic of disappearing on the spot. He found it amazing. He thought that probably only the Imperial Advisor had such abilities. He never expected that a little girl of a few years old could do it so easily.
Jiang Juncai explained to him, "Your Majesty, my seventh sister used a teleportation talisman and she has already left. I apologize to Your Majesty for leaving without saying goodbye."
The Emperor grunted in displeasure, glancing at the large hole in the roof of the Xuanzheng Hall, which had been struck by lightning: "Never mind, after all, they did us a great favor."
The chief eunuch came to take over from Jiang Juncai in caring for the emperor. Jiang Juncai then went out and summoned a group of uninjured imperial guards to begin cleaning the Xuanzheng Hall.
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