Martial King's Retired Life

“In return for stopping him, this one shall forever pray for your blessings and erect your tablets.” After he said that, Liaoliao palmed Shitou and Gongsun Chu on the shoulders. The monk with a big hole in his shoulder and blood smeared around his mouth then sped off.

Liaoliao knew as well as anyone that he had zero hopes of escaping without Shitou and Gongsun Chu holding off Tianhu. As the one with the lightest injuries and being the most advanced martial artist among the three of them, he had the best chance of escaping. While he couldn’t use his seventh step to assassinate Emperor Yuansheng or kill Tianhu, it was good enough for him to make a clean escape. In the blink of an eye, he had entered the secret passage and vanished without a trace in the next blink.

It wasn’t difficult for Tianhu to chase down Liaoliao; however, he saw no need to hunt down Liaoliao once the latter had escaped into the secret passage leading out of the city. If Tianhu were to just ignore the Fiends’ Genesis duo and closed the gap Liaoliao created, then it’d have taken him no time at all to remove Liaoliao’s head from his shoulders. Perhaps Tianhu chose not to give chase as it’d take long enough for the Fiends’ Genesis duo to escape.

Liaoliao had developed his strength to an incredible level, but his fighting techniques weren’t spectacular, which was the reason he didn’t fight Tianhu in close quarters. As Shitou blocked the majority of Tianhu’s attacks in Liaoliao’s place, he was hurt the worst. Though Shitou’s blue flames intensified and he gained momentum with the passage of time, the combination wasn’t enough to get over the wall that was the gap in combat prowess. It would’ve been a painfully tall order for Shitou to reach Tianhu’s level in his lifetime; he would’ve perished if Tianhu hit him with the intent to kill.

“Mr. Jiang Chen.” Knowing what the outcome of fighting Tianhu alone was, Shitou turned to Gongsun Chu and gave a bitter smile. “Take care.”

Twenty years ago, Shitou was a decisive and determined man. Twenty years later, he was still a decisive and determined man. He unwittingly sabotaged his teacher twenty years ago, but he still made up his mind to risk his life for the man he respected most despite having just come to his senses for the first time in twenty years. Gongsun Chu could hear and see, “I will never forget what you have done for me in the last twenty years,” from Shitou’s smile.

As Shitou headed into the scariest battle of his life, Gongsun Chu walked the other way for he couldn’t waste the precious time Shitou sacrificed his life in exchange for. There was no one around who could’ve beaten Tianhu. Shitou would’ve only been able to buy a small amount of time once Tianhu was ready to kill.

Even if they went back a hundred years ago, besides Li Wuming, Ming Shiyue and Gongsun Chu himself from back then, there was unlikely more than a handful of people throughout history who could’ve defeated Tianhu. Gongsun Chu himself couldn’t believe the imperial court would employ such a monster.

Ming Feizhen knows Tianhu’s true identity. No, perhaps even he doesn’t know. God? There’s only one person arrogant enough to call himself god. Perhaps “him” isn’t the right definition. Is the imperial court out of their mind? Is Ye Yun… crazy?

Gongsun Chu pieced it all together only a short while into his analysis and worked out why Ming Feizhen was unshakably confident. Even if Shitou and his deaths were inevitable, he wasn’t going to let their deaths be in vain. He had goals he had yet to accomplish.

Upon dragging his bloodied and battered body back to Taishu Hall, nothing had changed, except the twenty-four guards were flabbergasted at Gongsun Chu’s state.

“You’re leading him here?! How sort of scoundrel are you?!” exclaimed Ming Feizhen.

“Hmph, you two know each other, don’t you? It’s time for you two to have a catch up.”

He’s here!

Shitou’s best efforts barely bought any time. There was no way to outrun Tianhu. That being said, what reason was there to run anymore?

Tianhu gave Gongsun Chu no attention. His gaze was fixed on the man locked in the chair. Although it required some extra help, Gongsun Chu was glad to see his plan had borne fruit. In saying that, he never expected Tianhu and Ming Feizhen to have such deep enmity between them.

Following a long staring contest, Tianhu whipped his hand, freeing Ming Feizhen of his restraints. Ming Feizhen let out a long sigh. What happened next remained incomprehensible to Gongsun Chu for the rest of his life.

The monster who crushed two Divine Realm adepts simultaneously dropped to his knees before the man resting his chin on his freed hand. “Your subject, Zero, pays his respect, My Lord.”