Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 1020 - 827: Close-Quarters Combat

Chapter 1020: Chapter 827: Close-Quarters Combat

At the northern foot of Li Mountain, Li Xuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the imperial tomb sprawled out before him like a dragon coiling and a tiger crouching.

Twenty paces in front of him, a large group of the iron army was digging and excavating under the command of ’Divine General Zhenyou’, who was one of Li Xuan’s subordinates.

Li Lexing and Song Lian stood solemnly to the side, jointly using a pair of eight-diagram boards from prenatality and postnatality to carry out their calculations and deductions.

Behind Li Xuan, stood Shaosiming, Yuan Taiwei, who looked rather unwell, her eyes filled with profound obscurity.

Anyone would have a hard time staying calm when their ancestors’ graves were being unearthed.

And Yuan Taiwei was a Princess of Qin, inside the tomb lay her father, the First Emperor.

Li Xuan knew she was upset and turned to comfort her, "I have no other choice. It was your good sister who started digging here first, insisting on hiding the item within. If we don’t secure the Book of Jinque now, the First Emperor’s Seal will be riddled with holes. Not to mention a thousand years, if we wait another year, it will be ruined."

Yuan Taiwei’s face remained grim, and she replied tersely, "I know!"

She was, of course, aware of the significance of the Book of Jinque to the mortal realm, and had it not been for the overall situation, she would have turned on Li Xuan long ago.

Moreover, Li Xuan had agreed to waive the annual interest that amounted to thirty million silver yuan for the year.

The business in the Outer Taixu was far from as easy as she had expected.

Those emperors from the Outer Void now preferred dealing with Dasiming and Li Xuan instead.

The former was supported during transactions to slightly bolster the South Palace of Jinque; the latter for the same reason, with figures like the Fusou Emperor, the Fumo Emperor of the Three Realms, and the Jingmo Emperor of the Three Realms, who were more inclined to exchange provisions from Li Xuan, who held the legitimate title.

Thus, although Yuan Taiwei’s grain business in the Outer Taixu was profitable, it did not make as much as she had anticipated.

As for the Silk Road, the sects of several saints in the West also preferred to support the South Palace of Jinque.

Thinking of this, Yuan Taiwei couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, filled with regret as she gave a slight bow to the First Emperor’s tomb.

She thought it was not that she, as a daughter, lacked filial piety, but that she truly had no other option.

To preserve the First Emperor’s Seal, the North Palace of Jinque had recruited a good number of strong hands over the past two years.

But to maintain more than twenty at the heavenly level and over a hundred at The Fourth Gate, along with various materials expended in battle, the Heaven Palace of Jinque needed to spend up to ninety-eight million silver yuan each year.

Besides, she was in debt to Li Xuan to the tune of thirty-two million silver yuan, with the interest rate having risen to an annual rate of ten to thirteen.

This tremendous pressure was almost enough to crush her shoulders.

Yuan Taiwei couldn’t help but think, with a gloomy mind, that there was some truth in what Li Xuan had said before.

If she could seal her sister, Dasiming, earlier, business would indeed improve.

Seeing this from a distance, Luo Yan’s lips twitched.

She wondered what exactly was in Li Xuan’s mind regarding Yuan Taiwei?

Li Xuan kept lending money to this woman, undoubtedly with ulterior motives.

Luo Yan wondered if Li Xuan’s aims were really just as he claimed, simply to preserve the First Emperor’s Seal, or perhaps he had his sights set on the tomb of the First Emperor ahead?

However, Luo Yan’s focus was more on Yuan Taiwei.

Her ’Xinling’ technique allowed her to glimpse any unusual emotions Yuan Taiwei felt towards Li Xuan.

But this drew Li Xuan’s attention, and he looked back somewhat helplessly, "Is the knife still to your liking?"

Luo Yan reflexively touched the knife inside her sleeve and then nodded slightly, "It’s fine!"

A little over a year ago, when Li Xuan attacked Dongying, he forcibly obtained two fake divine treasures from the Fusou Emperor, one called ’Suiguang’ and the other ’Guanghen’.

But they hadn’t used these divine treasures since, because the greatest power of the Tianji Dihe Yin-Yang Knife could only be unleashed using both knives together.

After obtaining this pair of knives, Li Xuan had them entrusted to Mr. and Mrs. Yue to forge matching secondary knives for these fake divine weapons.

It wasn’t until half a month ago that these secondary knives were finally completed and delivered into their hands.

Luo Yan had already tested and assimilated them; indeed, they were quite powerful.

Her ’Guanghen’ not only allowed her to attain a speed close to the Rule level but also enabled her to control the Rule of ’reflection’ with its help.

The secondary knife was also very strong. Mr. and Mrs. Yue, despite their standards, couldn’t forge an Immortal Artifact that contained Rules, so they did their best to enhance its sturdiness and sharpness as much as possible.

This was a high-quality Immortal Artifact. Except for lacking Rules, its capabilities were just as formidable as the main knife, Guanghen.

Such a pair of weapons, even in the Outer Taixu where emperors abounded, could be considered noteworthy.

But Luo Yan knew well that Li Xuan was not inquiring about the pair of knives in her hands.

She let out a cold ’humph’ and withdrew the Rule power that she was using to probe into Yuan Taiwei’s heart.

Just at that moment, Li Lexing’s expression shifted slightly as he looked towards the distance, "They’re here!"

Li Xuan also sensed it, his gaze calmly turning to the eastern sky.

In the next instant, the figure of Dasiming appeared at the top of the hill.

"How impudent!"

With an angry hum, she pointed from afar, causing the heavenly soldiers excavating below to freeze.

But their paralysis lasted only a moment before they returned to normal.

Dasiming wore a cold expression as she began to use the Heavenly Law to repair the prohibitive formations that Li Lexing and Song Lian had compromised.

Yet her powers could not take effect at all.

Li Lexing and Song Lian looked on at the scene with leisure, their eyes filled with a hint of sympathy.

Attempting to flaunt the Heavenly Law in the face of Li Xuan’s Divine Power—wasn’t that bringing an axe to chop wood at the carpenter’s door?

The Law is derived from Power, and without holding the power, no matter how perfect or strong the Law is, it would be to no avail.