Inside the Library Pavilion, Su Chen was practicing a Fist Technique, testing his current level in the Bone and Muscle Realm.
BOOM!
His muscles coiled like steel rebar and iron bones as a roiling wave of Qi erupted from his body, causing his black-robed eunuch's robes to billow.
Su Chen wasn't wearing the red robe of a Chief Steward of the Library Pavilion, a gift from Emperor Jianwu. In fact, he had even taken off his usual cyan eunuch robes and hung them up high.
The Martial Arts List of the world, using fame and status to secretly incite feuds and fatal clashes among the Major Sects of the Martial World, and even among First-Grade Experts—this was no small matter. It would inevitably bring lethal disaster upon him.
But Su Chen had no regrets.
He also disliked these First-Grade Experts who treated the Imperial Palace as their personal playground, with one popping up every now and then to stir up trouble.
It was better for the imperial authority to remain stable.
After all, he would be living in this Imperial Palace for a long time.
'If it really comes to it, I can fake my death, shed my skin like a golden cicada, and take on a new identity. Then I can return to the Imperial Palace later...'
'Anyway, I rarely leave the Library Pavilion, so not many people know me.'
As Su Chen was lost in thought, the Fist Technique he was practicing finally reached its conclusion.
BOOM!
The wave of Qi danced wildly, detonating with nine claps of thunder.
"Not bad."
'Nine Thunder Roars?'
'I'm only in the Early Stage of the Bone and Muscle Realm, yet I'm already close to the Perfection stage of an ordinary practitioner?'
Su Chen retracted his fist and stood still.
In the courtyard, the stirred-up dust and smoke gradually settled.
This Fist Technique was one Su Chen had learned from the Great Liang Martial Pavilion. It was a Magic Technique from the Path of the Body for tempering one's bones and muscles, called Thunderbolt Body Refining.
In the Bone and Muscle Realm, one could use this technique to refine their bones and muscles to their limit, producing ten layers of thunderous sounds and stepping into the Third Grade Marrow Cleansing realm...
However, for those with outstanding talent, the limit was naturally beyond just ten layers of thunderous sounds.
According to the records of this technique, the founding ancestor of Great Liang was the ultimate Martial Arts Prodigy. He had produced seventy-one thunderous sounds, reaching his limit, and then killed an invading expert at the Peak of Third Grade Marrow Cleansing with a single punch, finally entering the Third Grade Realm.
For an ordinary person in the Bone and Muscle Realm, the limit was nine Thunder Roars.
Su Chen had only just begun tempering his muscles and bones, not yet even starting the refinement process, yet he could already produce nine Thunder Roars. This showed his talent was extraordinary and unprecedented.
'Even the founding ancestor of Great Liang wasn't as exceptional as me...'
'I wonder what my limit in the Bone and Muscle Realm will be. Seventy-one thunderous sounds was enough to be called a peerless, once-in-a-generation genius in the historical records of Great Liang.'
'I wonder if I can surpass that...'
After a long time, his breathing returned to normal.
Only then did Su Chen sit back down at the stone table in the courtyard. He used chopsticks to pick up a piece of fine charcoal and slowly began to brew tea, boiling water. Beneath his sleeve, a small white jade bottle appeared silently.
"Since you're here, why hide? If you want to investigate something, show yourself."
"Perhaps I'll even answer whatever you ask truthfully."
Su Chen said suddenly.
The scene was silent, with no movement.
It was as if Su Chen was just muttering nonsense to himself.
"If you keep this up, I'm going to fire a signal flare."
"When that happens..."
As he spoke, Su Chen reached into his robes as if to pull something out.
The next instant, a figure flew swiftly over the wall of the Library Pavilion.
Dressed in red robes like fire, with eyes like deep pools and sharp, sword-like eyebrows, the figure had a cold and detached air. They looked at him and spoke slowly.
"Su Chen, it's me."
The newcomer was, shockingly, Zhang Gui.
But Su Chen sneered. He instantly tightened his grip on the vial of Heart-devouring Powder in his sleeve, while his other hand pulled the signal flare from his robes, preparing to toss it directly into the brazier.
Once it ignited, it would shoot into the sky, alerting even Emperor Jianwu.
This was because it was the highest-level warning signal, which only a Chief Steward of the Imperial Palace could possess. As the sixth Red Robe Chief Steward of the Library Pavilion, personally appointed by Emperor Jianwu, Su Chen was naturally qualified to hold one.
"If you're going to pretend, at least make it convincing."
"Zhang Gui never puts on airs in front of me, let alone posturing like you are now."
Su Chen sneered.
"You petty thief. Either get lost, or tear off that human-skin mask and show your true face. Then we can talk."
"Hmph?"
The signal flare was only an inch from the brazier.
Once it ignited... The turmoil from when the Northern Garrison Marquis stormed the Imperial Palace hadn't even settled yet. If another assassin infiltrated the Palace now, who knew what the enraged Emperor Jianwu would do.
"Damn it."
"Zhang Gui" cursed. After hesitating repeatedly, he did not retreat. Instead, he tore the human-skin mask from his face, revealing a pale visage that was three parts scholarly and seven parts feminine.
His voice also changed from Zhang Gui's cold and lonely tone to a sharp, hoarse one.
It was a Eunuch!
'This is bad!'
Su Chen had a bad feeling and was about to toss the signal flare into the brazier.
Sure enough, in the next second, his suspicion became reality.
"Huang Jiu!"
"I must say, I was quite shocked when I heard you were one of us. Hehe. The sworn brother of the all-powerful Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot, Zhang Gui, is actually the lowest of the low among the nineteen secret agents of our Black Abyss..."
"Hehe."
"I am Xuan Er. My greetings."
"Everyone in the Palace says there's a good-for-nothing in the Library Pavilion who got lucky, saved Eunuch Zhang Gui's life, and thus became the sworn brother of the famous Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot. The way I see it, Eunuch Su is the one who's truly hiding his abilities..."
"Although I am a Third Grade, my Shadowless Technique has long since reached a state of perfection. Even a Second-Grade Expert would have difficulty detecting me. Yet, as soon as I got close, Eunuch Su saw right through me. Hehe."
The Feminine Eunuch gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He had clearly already received intelligence from the Black Lotus Saint that Huang Jiu—Su Chen—was suspected of desertion.
If it had been anyone else who deserted, they would have been eliminated long ago.
It was only because Su Chen was hiding deep within the Palace, and also had Zhang Gui looking out for him, that he had managed to stay alive until now.
"Chief Steward of the Imperial Palace, Eunuch Wuchen, I don't understand what you are doing."
"What Xuan Er, what Huang Jiu? I am Su Chen!"
Su Chen also gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
He put the signal flare back into his robes.
'Eunuch Wuchen... Peak of the Third-Grade Gang Condensation Realm, assists a Chief Steward of the Imperial Palace, and manages the Inner Secret Guard for the Emperor. He holds a high position of great power, rarely walks about the Inner Palace, and was deeply trusted by the Old Emperor. To think he's actually a hidden agent of the Black Abyss, and only at the Xuan Character Level, not even Xuan Yi... It's incredible.'
'Shadowless Technique?'
'Su Chen had heard of it. It was an extremely mysterious and difficult Magic Technique to master.'
'In terms of cultivation, he naturally couldn't see through it.'
'But he could see with perfect clarity the brightly glowing, nearly depleted life force on Wuchen.'
'With something so conspicuous running right at him, how could he possibly not notice?'
"A slip of the tongue on my part."
"Hehe."
"Eunuch Su, I have revealed my identity and come here today under the Saint's verbal command to retrieve something from you."
"After the Black-robed Envoy, Eunuch Xu, was killed by you, did Huang Yi—his daughter—come to seek revenge? If so, please return all of her belongings, down to her very bones!"
Wuchen's narrow eyes stared intently at Su Chen. As he finished speaking, his tone grew heavier, and surges of Gang Qi pulsed within his body, clearly indicating his intent to attack.
The daughter of the Black-robed Envoy, Eunuch Xu—Huang Yi.
Su Chen thought for a moment before remembering. On the night of the Prince's rebellion, during the Palace upheaval, that person had indeed taken advantage of the chaos to try and kill him.
She was just a Fourth Grade Violent Qi Realm practitioner, whom he, at the Fifth Grade Blood and Flesh Early Stage Realm, had killed with a single leaf. She wasn't an impressive character, so he hadn't bothered to search her body and had just buried her hastily.
'So it turns out she had something valuable on her.'
Su Chen's eyes lit up.
"Insolent!"
"How dare you covet something belonging to the Holy Sect?"
Wuchen was furious.
"Hand it over!"
In that instant, terrifying Gang Qi rampaged through the entire courtyard. Countless flowers and plants were shredded by Wuchen's Gang Qi, and the already dense strange phenomenon in the courtyard intensified by more than tenfold.
"And what if I don't?"
Glancing at the shredded poisonous flowers and herbs, Su Chen felt a sense of pity for his opponent.
"You won't?"
"Hehe!"
"Then I, a Peak Third Grade expert, will have to ask for a lesson! Let's see what kind of dirty tricks you, the good-for-nothing of the Library Pavilion, used to take down the Black-robed Envoy, Eunuch Xu!"
With that, Wuchen's robes billowed. A Duster flew out from his sleeve, its strands like sharp swords or a long, silken whip. It cracked with the sound of thunder as it shot straight for Su Chen's head.