The Imperial Palace was in chaos.
Next door was the Tianwu Tower.
However, no one noticed the strange goings-on at the Martial Pavilion Book Collection Tower.
Seven of the world's current First-Grade masters charged directly into the Tianwu Tower. The tower, perpetually shrouded in white mist, began to tremble violently. Clearly, the superhuman First-Grade Minor Grandmasters had already clashed inside.
'The Black Lotus Saint... one of the two great pillars of the Holy Sect, a towering figure in the Nine Commanderies of Great Liang, and he just died here, silently...'
'Tsk, tsk.'
Su Chen mused to himself.
Then, with practiced ease, he stuffed the Black Lotus Saint's body into a burlap sack and, avoiding the crowds, hurried toward the Library Pavilion in a remote corner of the Imperial Palace.
'The core area of the Imperial Palace is such a hassle.'
A double-hour later, Su Chen finally returned to the Library Pavilion.
He expertly dug up his medicinal garden, about to bury the Black Lotus Saint inside.
A sound came from within the Library Pavilion.
"Who's there?"
Su Chen raised an eyebrow, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
The next moment, the door to the Library Pavilion opened.
Xu Xiaohan walked out. He jumped in fright upon seeing Su Chen burying a body, but he quickly recovered.
'Master Su is incredibly bold. What's so strange about him killing someone during all this chaos?'
"Master Su, this couldn't be another Third Grade Cultivator, could it?"
Xu Xiaohan's voice trembled slightly.
'Since when did Third Grade masters become as common as cabbages, for Master Su to harvest them daily?'
"No."
Seeing that it was Xu Xiaohan, Su Chen relaxed slightly and shook his head.
'I knew it. How could Third Grade masters be so easy to come by?'
"Master Su, let me help."
'It must be some reckless Fourth or Fifth Grade assassin.'
Clad in his half-azure, half-red robe, Xu Xiaohan thought to himself as he took the Black Lotus Saint's body and, with practiced skill, began to bury it.
"This one is Second Grade. Bury it deeper. Otherwise, we might not be able to mask the Corpse Qi it'll give off as it rots."
Su Chen reminded him.
"Got it, Master Su, it's only a Second Grade... huh?"
Xu Xiaohan's hands trembled, his knees went weak, and his eyes widened. He nearly fell right into the freshly dug grave, completely losing the dignified bearing of Vice Chief Steward Xu.
What?!
Second Grade?
'First Grade is for Junior Grandmasters. Whether in the imperial court or the Jianghu, First Grade masters rarely act.'
'Second Grade masters are supreme experts who can command the winds and clouds—the real shot-callers for court factions and the Major Sects of the Martial World.'
'And now he can even kill a Second Grade?'
'Master Su, and you still claim you're not a Second Grade?!'
"Hurry up."
Su Chen urged.
Soon, with a flurry of Gang Qi, the body of the Black Lotus Saint was gone. In its place, the medicinal garden—already raised above the surrounding flagstones—grew taller still.
"Master Su, it's buried."
Xu Xiaohan walked over, looking rather nervous.
He subtly positioned his body to block the path into the Library Pavilion.
Just then, another sound came from inside the Library Pavilion.
"Hm?"
Su Chen's eyebrow twitched.
'There's someone else hiding in the Library Pavilion.'
"Master Su..."
Xu Xiaohan grew tense.
Su Chen strode toward the Library Pavilion.
In an instant, Gang Qi brewed within Xu Xiaohan's body as he actually moved to block Su Chen's path.
"Are you going to make a move on me?"
Su Chen's voice was flat.
"Han wouldn't dare."
THUD!
Xu Xiaohan knelt on the ground without a word.
At that moment, Su Chen had already guessed who was inside.
Xu Xiaohan, like Zhang Gui, wanted to rise above the masses. The difference was that Zhang Gui had been singularly focused on wielding immense power, willing even to die to bring down the Great Liang Dynasty and subvert the imperial throne.
But Xu Xiaohan truly just wanted to get ahead in life.
He had chosen the Great Liang Royal Family.
"Seven Junior Grandmasters have stormed the Tianwu Tower to assassinate the Emperor, topple the monarch, and subvert the throne..."
"I fear Emperor Jianwu's chances are slim."
"Even the Great Liang Dynasty itself is in peril."
"Even so, you still want to gamble on the merit of protecting the royal bloodline and supporting a new ruler?"
Su Chen had figured it out. Inside were none other than the Prince and Princess—Emperor Jianwu's two children.
If Emperor Jianwu died and the Great Liang Dynasty survived, the New Emperor would inevitably be one of those two.
"Han knows he shouldn't have involved the Library Pavilion, but the Imperial City is in turmoil! Seven Junior Grandmasters have stormed the Tianwu Tower, Emperor Jianwu's whereabouts are unknown, the Chief Stewards of the Imperial Palace are all looking out for themselves and watching from the sidelines, and the old guard from the Eastern Depot have already invaded the Imperial Palace..."
"In the entire Inner Imperial Palace, this is the only place they wouldn't dare to trespass!"
"I know my own talent is limited, but I still want to wager on immense fortune and glory amidst this chaos! If I succeed, then fifty years from now, with the merit I earn today, it might not be impossible for me to become a First Grade of this era, to wear the Purple Robe..."
Xu Xiaohan was brimming with ambition.
His station as a Vice Chief Steward in a half-red robe was not enough to satisfy him.
Now, he was audaciously reaching for the Purple Robe.
From inside the Library Pavilion, a sound arose—a violent coughing fit that grew more and more urgent.
Su Chen stepped past Xu Xiaohan and walked toward the Library Pavilion.
"Master Su!"
Xu Xiaohan panicked and tried to stop him, but Su Chen sent him flying with a single kick.
Inside the Library Pavilion.
Two little ones, about seven or eight years old—a boy and a girl, both as exquisite as carved jade—were huddled together, clinging to each other. They were dressed in ill-fitting Eunuch's Attire.
Faint, spiderweb-like black patterns were visible all over their bodies. They had been poisoned.
"What's going on?"
"When did the Eastern Depot Agents strike?"
Xu Xiaohan rushed in after him, his face a mask of horror and anguish. It wasn't that he was particularly loyal to Great Liang, but that his life-risking gamble for a future of immense wealth had just gone up in smoke.
A flicker of light passed through Su Chen's eyes.
'This wasn't poison from the Eastern Depot. It was a toxin released by the exotic flowers and strange herbs blooming in the Library Pavilion.'
'How would seven or eight-year-old children know anything about cultivation?'
'It's a good thing I came back quickly.'
'Otherwise, in a little while longer, Emperor Jianwu's children wouldn't have died at the hands of the rebels, but would have perished right here in the Library Pavilion instead.'
"Take the pouch of herbs I gave you and have these two children consume the dried grass inside."
"It's lucky you just arrived."
"Otherwise, even a Third Grade who trespassed here wouldn't dare to stay for long."
With that said, Su Chen turned to leave, unwilling to be stained by the slightest bit of Karma.
At that moment, a horrified realization dawned on Xu Xiaohan. He stared in terror at the courtyard full of exotic flowers and strange herbs.
'The Library Pavilion... is actually a place of lethal poison.'
'No wonder. I now recall that whenever I passed the Library Pavilion on my own, I would occasionally find the corpses of cultivators who had died suddenly nearby.'
After Su Chen left.
Outside the Library Pavilion, flames flickered. A line of figures stood firm, clad in Chain Armor and carrying Celestial Essence Shields and Life-taking Sabers. Their gazes were like those of wolves and tigers, and from their waists hung Eastern Depot Agent Tokens.
At their head were two masters of the Third Grade Realm.
One at Gang Condensation, one at Bone Marrow Cleansing.
"That one has left."
"In that case, hold nothing back! Exterminate the blood of Imperial Liang! Leave no one alive!"
"Those who stand in our way shall be killed without mercy!"
Led by the two Third Grade masters, thirty Eastern Depot Agents charged into the Library Pavilion.
In the distance, Su Chen stopped and gazed back at the Library Pavilion.
'The merit of crowning a new emperor is not easily earned.'
...
...
「Midnight.」
Dark clouds obscured the Bright Moon.
The battle in the Tianwu Tower had yet to be decided.
The Jianghu Heroes hidden in the Imperial City had already stormed the Imperial Palace. Working with the Eastern Depot Agents inside, they had turned the world upside down.
"So the old Emperor dog finally has his day, eh?"
"The bloody debt incurred by three generations of the Royal Race should be repaid today."
"Hahaha!"
The cries of battle shook the heavens.
Flames soared into the sky.
But only two places remained untouched by the rebel invaders: one was the Library Pavilion, and the other was the Martial Pavilion Book Collection Tower.
"The Martial Pavilion!"
"I'd like to see for myself just how impressive it is."
A Jianghu Hero tried to get a peek at the cultivation manuals of the Great Liang Royal Family, only to be beheaded by a single sword strike. The swordsman's gaze was cold and vicious. He was in his twenties, wore a pitch-black ghost mask, and his blood-red robe billowed in the wind. The number of Forbidden Guards who had died by his hand was unknown.
"I am the only one who can kill this person!"
Gazing at the Martial Pavilion, the Ghost-faced Swordsman spoke in a chilling tone.
At his waist was a token, upon which was written: Black Abyss Demon Ghosts.
His name was Su Han.
Nine years ago, his older brother entered the palace and became a Eunuch.
Tonight, he had come to kill him.