Chapter 7: 【Divine Ability: Studying by the Cold Window】! Great Xia’s Li Lianying!

Prince of Qin Manor.

The study window stood open, and the oil lamp inside flickered softly.

The only sound in the room was the rustling of a purple-hair brush gliding across xuan paper.

Xu Tian stood before the writing desk, his expression focused.

The Vast Righteous Qi within his body surged forth, flowed along the brush in his hand, and fell upon the paper on the desk.

“Suppress!”

As he completed the final stroke, the ink on the page seemed to come alive, faintly flowing with a golden radiance.

A mountain-heavy pressure was firmly sealed within the sheet of paper, hidden but not released.

One side of the desk was already stacked high with neatly arranged sheets of xuan paper.

In the next moment,

his brush paused slightly. He wanted to continue writing, yet suddenly felt restless and distracted, unable to set the brush down again.

He put the brush aside, let out a long breath, and looked out the window.

“Fifty sheets. Is this already my limit? It is still not enough!”

Boom!

As a flash of golden light flickered in the distance, the system notification rang out.

【Confucian Dao reputation increased. Talent obtained: Studying by the Cold Window.】

【Studying by the Cold Window: Turn a deaf ear to all that happens beyond the window and devote your whole heart to the books of the sages! Cast aside all distracting thoughts. The number of Confucian Dao secret arts you may use each day will break past its limit, and the recovery speed of your Confucian Dao true intent will greatly increase.】

Feeling his Confucian Dao true intent rapidly recovering, Xu Tian lowered his brush once more.

Another “Suppress” calligraphy sheet slowly took shape beneath his hand.

Breaking past the limit meant he could write even more calligraphy sheets.

And the increase in Vast Righteous Qi gained from writing those sheets was truly outrageous.

As his Vast Righteous Qi increased, it could in turn raise his realm and accelerate the recovery of his Confucian Dao true intent…

This was like stepping on one’s own left foot to rise into the heavens in a spiraling ascent!

Xu Tian put down the brush and steadied his mood before turning his gaze northward, expectation flashing through his eyes.

Now that the third one had already made his move, then as for the Northern Frontier…

“News from Second Brother should be arriving soon. The Northern Frontier needs these calligraphy sheets even more.”

Then his gaze shifted to the old eunuch standing at one side.

“Uncle Li, come protect me. As for my father’s side—”

In the very next moment, his voice halted as he suddenly looked toward the eaves outside the window.

A look of shock rose in his heart.

Not because someone had dared make a move against him.

But because he was shocked that

someone actually dared make a move against him in front of Li Lianying.

That truly broadened his horizons.

On that stretch of roof, the air rippled ever so faintly.

A black shadow quietly appeared, soundless and traceless.

It was Shadow Ghost.

A peak Third-Rank assassin.

And at this moment, Shadow Ghost himself felt rather speechless.

The timing was too unfortunate!

The instant he appeared, he met Xu Tian’s eyes.

In those eyes, he saw surprise.

That was normal. Anyone would be surprised to see him suddenly appear.

But what was that trace of pity in Xu Tian’s eyes supposed to mean?

He could not understand it, but his hands did not slow in the slightest. His hand instantly moved to the dagger at his waist.

Spiritual energy poured into it, and a faint gleam flashed across the dagger. His figure twisted and flickered, about to vanish once again.

He was certain this had only been a coincidence.

After all, the secret art he cultivated was a supreme technique from an Immortal Dynasty. Combined with his treasure, even a Second-Rank expert should have been unable to detect him.

In all the world, aside from that tiny handful of First-Rank beings standing at the very peak, no one could stop him!

Swish!

An extremely faint sound suddenly rang by his ear.

Clatter!

A severed hand and a shattered dagger fell to the ground at the same time.

Only then did the heart-rending pain arrive.

“What is going on?”

Shadow Ghost clenched his teeth, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, yet still did not utter a single sound. With a shift of his feet, he tried to retreat.

But in the very next moment,

his body froze in place, unable to move even the slightest bit.

Stunned, he slowly lifted his head and looked toward the study, toward that frail, unremarkable old eunuch.

His heart turned ice-cold.

First-Rank… pressure!

Everyone knew that above the Third Rank, each rank was a world unto itself.

When a Third-Rank expert acted, there could already be phenomena accompanying his movements. Such people were already famous experts known throughout the land.

A Second-Rank powerhouse could even summon a complete phenomenon and was fully capable of guarding an entire region.

But the First Rank…

That was the level of existence that had shattered the limit, where the self itself became Heaven and Earth. Such beings were honored as Heavenly Men, lofty and exalted. With pressure alone, they could kill anyone below the First Rank. In Great Xia, there were fewer than five such people.

And yet this eunuch possessed Second-Rank cultivation and a pressure comparable to that of the First Rank.

In all the world, there was only one such person.

Li Lianying of Great Xia.

Boom!

An irresistible pressure came crashing down in an instant.

Crack!

Shadow Ghost’s knees shattered at once, and he dropped to the ground in full prostration, unable to move even a finger.

He roared madly within his heart.

Had it not been said that mobilizing experts for Prince of Qin Manor would take time?

Then how had they ended up bringing Li Lianying here?

Was he not supposed to be protecting the Xia Emperor’s seclusion?

How could he possibly appear here instead?

“This man is called Shadow Ghost. He is an outsider at the Third Rank, one of Chu Lan’s subordinates. He should currently have been protecting State Uncle Chu Hao.”

Li Lianying did not spare so much as another glance for Shadow Ghost, who lay there like a dead dog. Instead, he turned and explained to Xu Tian, “This man came with killing intent, Your Highness. Shall I go and wipe out the Chu Family directly?”

Hearing that, Xu Tian shook his head.

“Uncle Li, times are no longer what they were during the chaos. Great Xia still has to develop in the future. At least on the surface, its reputation still has to be maintained.”

“Chu Lan is the Empress, after all. Keeping the Chu Family around for now may still lure out more rats.”

“And besides, her goal is to seize power. She would never dare strike at me directly.”

Xu Tian glanced at the Third-Rank expert lying on the ground and spoke in an easy tone:

“This man harbored killing intent on his own initiative and was clearly not under the Chu Family’s control. That means the waters in the capital run deeper than we imagined.”

“In that case, cut off his head and send it to Chu Lan as a reminder.”

“Let us see whether she can understand my painstaking intentions…”

……

Inner Palace.

“At tomorrow’s morning court, that Third Prince will definitely refuse to admit fault. I will draw the Confucian Dao into this matter.”

The Empress looked at the State Uncle before her and instructed him with absolute certainty:

“When that time comes, Xiao Hao, you are to step forward of your own accord and say you wish to go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to share the Third Prince’s burdens. Do you understand?”

“Oh… oh… I understand. Tomorrow I’ll go share the Third Prince’s burdens.”

Chu Hao’s eyes drifted about as he gave a perfunctory reply, already eager to leave.

“Is there anything else? If not, I’ll go first…”

Smack!

Seeing Chu Hao’s absent-mindedness, the Empress suddenly slammed a palm against the table.

Even the finger she pointed at him was trembling, furious that he had failed to live up to her hopes.

“Chu Hao! Have you been listening to a single word I said?”

“You have been distracted ever since you walked in. Just what are you doing? Do you know how important tomorrow’s morning court will be?”

Chu Hao jumped in fright and could not force out a single proper sentence.

Shadow Ghost had still not sent back any news. He really was beginning to panic.

Just as he was about to say something,

he saw a figure suddenly appear, whisper something into the Empress’s ear, and then vanish again.

The Empress’s face darkened visibly, and she stared at him fixedly.

Then the very question Chu Hao least wanted to answer rang in his ears.

“Chu Hao, where did Shadow Ghost go?”

Looking at Chu Hao, whose expression had suddenly changed, Empress Chu Lan could no longer hold back. Her face sank.

“There is only one possibility for your Dao Protector not to be at your side. You sent him out personally to do something for you.”

“In the capital, using a Third-Rank expert skilled in concealment—just how great a matter were you trying to accomplish?”

“Do you understand that what you represent is not yourself alone, but the entire Chu Family?”

“Do you understand that even every move I make must be carried out with the utmost caution? One misstep, and the Chu Family will…”

At that very moment, the figure that had just disappeared appeared once more at the doorway.

It was none other than Elder Mo.

His voice trembled, and his tone was full of disbelief.

“Shadow Ghost… has returned.”

The moment those words were spoken, Empress Chu Lan and State Uncle Chu Hao both let out a breath of relief at the same time.

“Then why have you not brought him here already?!”

Chu Lan’s willow brows stood upright in anger, her dissatisfaction plain to see.

“This time, even if he is Xiao Hao’s Dao Protector, he must still learn to distinguish between priorities and tasks—”

“Your Majesty… you had better come see for yourself.”

Elder Mo’s voice was full of fear as he pointed outside.

Only then did the Empress sense that something was wrong. She and Chu Hao hurried forward several steps, arriving at the doorway and lifting their eyes.

At once, their bodies stiffened, and their faces turned deathly pale.

For several breaths, even their breathing stopped.

There, beneath the bright moonlight, a severed head had been quietly placed on the steps.

Within those dazed eyes, there still remained an extreme terror, as though before death he had witnessed some great horror beyond comprehension.