The dried corpse Zhao Gao seemed to have gone insane, regarding Fan Li and the others in the distance as if they were air, only continuously kneeling and bowing towards the Epang Palace main hall.
Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan were still fiercely battling the twelve gold men, the outcome difficult to determine.
"How long will this stalemate continue?" Fan Li felt somewhat worried.
Sage Ruler Qing Qi wasn't making a move, Princess Chang Le didn't seem to be Zhao Gao's opponent either. He was willing but powerless, while Zhao Gao also couldn't do anything to their side.
If this continued, Zhao Gao was a dried corpse so he was fine, but Fan Li couldn't keep staying in the imperial tomb. Otherwise wouldn't he become another terracotta warrior?
While Fan Li was lost in thought, he suddenly heard Princess Chang Le anxiously shout.
"Watch out!"
The princess's actions were even faster than her voice. She actually pounced towards Fan Li, tightly embracing him!
Caught off guard, Fan Li's body tilted. Only then did he sense a large expanse of golden light spilling down behind him.
Golden light?
What was that?
The bone-piercing cold golden light seemed to be lethal. Blanketing the heavens and covering the earth, it made Fan Li feel tiny like an ant.
And it wasn't just him. Among the over two thousand elite garrison troops, all were actually Gold Core cultivators trained to perfection. Yet under the vast expanse of freezing golden light, they were all suppressed, unable to budge an inch!
"Someone launching a sneak attack to assassinate me?!" Just as this thought emerged in Fan Li's mind, he saw a burst of blue-green light appear!
The blue-green light brimmed with vitality, seemingly a rapidly growing giant forest. It astonishingly blocked all of the golden light.
"Qing Qi! You're shielding outsiders. I will definitely expose you before the Surpreme Sage Ruler!"
Fan Li heard an angry female voice.
The blue-green light seemed to have blocked all the golden light, but it was clearly an emergency response.
A thin strand of golden light penetrated through, striking Fan Li.
Pfft!!!
What landed on Fan Li didn't feel like a strand of golden light, but more like an unimaginably heavy pillar crushing down from the heavens!
It felt like all his bones were smashed to bits. Fan Li painfully spat out a mouthful of blood.
He also vaguely saw Princess Chang Le suffer the same heavy injuries as him, also spewing out blood.
"I'm sorry. The sudden attack from the Gold Virtue Sage Ruler caught me off guard, causing you to be injured..." Sage Ruler Qing Qi's voice reached Fan Li's ears.
Gold Virtue Sage Ruler?
Severely wounded, Fan Li had practically lost his ability to think. He could only silently remember this name.
"Qing Qi! I have orders to execute Fan Li. Move aside immediately!"
The Gold Virtue Sage Ruler appeared. She clearly knew her sneak attack from before, over ninety percent of the damage was blocked by Sage Ruler Qing Qi.
The tiny amount of remaining power mostly fell upon Princess Chang Le's body, preventing Fan Li from dying instantly.
"The Sage Ruler of Gold's order?"
Hearing this, Sage Ruler Qing Qi hesitated. Her actions blocking the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue also slowed for a moment.
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"Hmph!"
The Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue coldly sneered. Thinking she had intimidated Qing Qi, she prepared to attack again to ensure killing Fan Li.
"Wait."
Sage Ruler Qing Qi still made her move. With a flap of her hands, she instantly conjured up a blue-green barrier between the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue and Fan Li.
Just as the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue was about to approach, she was immediately obstructed by the barrier, unable to cross over.
"Qing Qi, you dare defy the orders of the Supreme Sage Ruler. Could it be you want to betray Brahma Sound Pure Land?!" The Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue angrily shouted.
Sage Ruler Qing Qi only calmly shook her head.
"I was ordered to investigate Fan Li and don't believe he deserves death. For the Supreme Sage Ruler to order his execution before my investigation ends, goes against the rules of Pure Land. I will return to Pure Land and ask her what exactly is going on."
Although the ten great Sage Rulers of Pure Land respected the Supreme Sage Ruler as foremost, they were still peers and sisters, with no difference in status. But Qing Qi's blunt tone and attitude made it seem like she didn't even put the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue in her eyes.
After speaking, Sage Ruler Qing Qi casually flicked out a strand of blue-green light that enveloped Fan Li and Princess Chang Le. Strangely enough, they floated into Epang Palace.
"With my secret arts' protection, the undead guards of the imperial tomb can't harm those two. With your cultivation level, you also can't break into this palace. After I make things clear with the Supreme Sage Ruler, I will come back to rescue them."
Listening to Qing Qi's tone, she actually didn't put the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue’s cultivation level in her eyes!?
Furiously laughing from anger, the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue said, "Qing Qi, you're merely the ninth sage ruler of Pure Land. Have you forgotten I, ranked eighth, am ahead of you? What qualifications do you have to be so confident? Watch me enter the palace and kill them!"
After speaking, the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue circulated her full strength, wanting to break through the barrier in front of her eyes to forcibly charge into the underground palace! But the next moment, the blue-green barrier automatically vanished as Qing Qi withdrew her power.
With the obstruction gone, the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue thought Qing Qi conceded inferiority and couldn't help coldly laughing as she charged towards Epang Palace.
However, when she approached within thirty-something yards of the palace, she discovered that the withered eunuch who had been kneeling extremely inconspicuously at the palace entrance suddenly leapt up with an ear-piercing shriek.
"Another assassin? With me, Zhao Gao protecting His Majesty, none may disturb the Emperor's repose!"
"Noisy." The Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue glanced at him disdainfully. Based solely on the tattered rags worn by the dried corpse eunuch, she determined that even when he was alive, he was an extremely lowly inferior.
The Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue casually struck out towards Zhao Gao, wanting to obliterate him in one blow.
Zhao Gao thrusted his sword at the enemy, but with a glance she saw that although the golden sword was a treasure, it was basically an ordinary weapon in Zhao Gao's hands, completely unable to unleash any wondrous effects.
"Hehe... ah?!" The Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue laughed, but suddenly her expression changed as pain shot through her palm.
Despite the eunuch wielding an ordinary longsword, he had astonishingly managed to easily stab through the Sage Ruler's palm.
"How is this possible? My cultivation level is already third grade of the Great Vehicle realm... ah?! He's also at Great Vehicle realm?!"
The Sage Ruler painfully retracted her palm, but then felt more murderous gusts of wind coming at her.
Taking a clear look, it turned out to be the dried corpse Zhao Gao changing his move. His decayed right leg swept towards her!
Zhao Gao's right leg had rotted for who knows how many years. The rancid stench was absolutely nauseating!
Having been pampered all her life, when had the Sage Ruler of Gold ever smelled such a stench? She strongly suppressed the urge to vomit and continuously retreated.
Only after withdrawing back to the position she had attacked Fan Li from did the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue discover the dried corpse Zhao Gao hadn't chased after her. He still stood guarding the doors of the Epang Palace, using his pair of empty eye sockets devoid of eyeballs to 'look' at her.
"Just what on earth is it?" The Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue cried out in terror. In a moment of carelessness, she finally realized she had nearly fallen here!
Sage Ruler Qing Qi was too lazy to explain it to her. She only indifferently said, "I'm returning to Pure Land now. You can come along or stay behind. But I'll say it beforehand: you're not its match."
Unable to refute, the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue knew she had no choice but to painfully swallow her saliva, aware she couldn't retort. Moreover, with her palm stabbed through by the sword, the agonizing pain made her feel like her heart was being sliced to shreds. She urgently needed to go back for treatment of her wounds!
"Qing Qi... I'll give you some face today and go back with you..." Before she could finish speaking, Sage Ruler Qing Qi had already turned to leave.
The Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue’s face turned pale then flushed, but she could only endure and hurriedly went to chase after Qing Qi.
"What should we do now?"
The three people, Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan who were tangled in battle with the twelve gold men, were frightened by the sudden appearance of the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue.
"My lords, we're powerless here. We should first retreat and regroup with General Fan Chun." Scholar Yan Yuan's face was ghastly pale.
Although the Sage Ruler of Golden Virtue didn't target him, the indiscriminate suppression from the skies full of golden light clearly made him very uncomfortable as well.
"Intruders dare trespass upon the immortal palace. Where are the guards?!" Right at this moment, the dried corpse Zhao Gao also seemed to go insane. He loudly shrieked, calling back all twelve gold men. Together, they withdrew into the Epang Palace main hall...