Chapter 193: Hold On, Imperial Advisor! I, the Emperor, Have Recovered 30

Chapter 193: Wait, National Preceptor! I've Recovered 30

Words fell short, and the two began unleashing their auras, sizing each other up in secret.

Beside them, a faint golden barrier enveloped the sleeping Lin Huaiqing, serving as a protective shield.

Outside the barrier, the immense energy from their clashing spiritual forces nearly shredded the clutter and furniture to pieces.

The noisy sounds woke Lin Huaiqing from his slumber, and the moment he opened his eyes, he was stunned by the scene before him.

There was Qin Hanyue going at it with a stranger, and the already crumbling roof was blown clean off by the sheer force.

Tiles and beams went flying, leaving only the load-bearing walls standing, exposed to the elements.

"Qin Hanyue! You okay?"

Lin Huaiqing twisted the gem on his ring, summoning his spiritual weapon, Manyuan, to his hand. "Open the barrier! I'll help you!"

Not being able to see the opponent's cultivation level meant the guy was definitely stronger than him. But with Qin Hanyue here, what was there to be afraid of?

"Don't! Don't come out!"

Qin Hanyue snatched a moment to speak to Lin Huaiqing through a private transmission only the two of them could hear.

"There's probably more than just him out here. Stay put."

Before he even finished speaking, dozens of dark figures dropped from the sky, surrounding Qin Hanyue in layers. Given their matching robes, they were probably from the same sect.

"Hmph! Qin Hanyue, why not just surrender? Today's your death day."

Someone blasted out a surge of spiritual energy, completely obliterating the already crumbling walls.

Only then did Lin Huaiqing notice the imperial guards who'd come up the mountain with him were all under a spell, frozen in place like statues.

Seems these cultivators, to avoid staining their own karma, had just frozen them to keep them out of the crossfire.

With Ren Jiuxiao taking point, the other cultivators fanned out, surrounding Lin Huaiqing and Qin Hanyue in the center to set up a formation.

In the blink of an eye, a glowing red array materialized on the ground, rising beneath their feet and locking him and Qin Hanyue inside.

Lin Huaiqing recognized the formation at a single glance.

Wasn't this the high-tier Lightning Summoning Array?

The more destructive the formation, the slower it was to form. And with this many cultivators working together, each above the Golden Core stage, this was no small feat.

Was this really Zhao Ge's doing? He felt like an ant in their eyes, with Qin Hanyue as the real target.

"Qin Hanyue! What're you waiting for! Break the formation!" The array had formed, but it wasn't fully complete. If they could break out before it finished, their Lightning Summoning Array would be a total bust.

But if Qin Hanyue couldn't break it in time, both their fates were sealed.

A Hua Zhen Realm cultivator might just get banged up, but not die. But him, a mere Golden Core stage guy? He was screwed.

"Your servant greets Your Majesty!"

Just then, Zhao Ge popped out of nowhere, eyeing Lin Huaiqing trapped in the formation with a smug, victorious look and barely hidden cunning.

Lin Huaiqing narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Zhao Ge! You finally show your face! I really didn't think you had it in you, getting a bunch of Nascent Soul stage cultivators to play your dogs! Quite the schemer, aren't you!"

These cultivators from the cultivation world had their noses in the air and usually wouldn't take orders from mortals. Yet Zhao Ge had somehow wrangled so many cultivators—this time, he had to take the L gracefully.

His words, though, ruffled a few feathers among the cultivators.

"Ant! Who're you calling a dog?"

After all, each of them was elder-level in the Baqi Sect, and being called a dog by some mortal emperor had them all hot under the collar.

"I'm calling you old farts dogs, obviously. You're Zhao Ge's lapdogs, ganging up on one guy—that's a real disgrace to cultivators!"

Since they'd called Qin Hanyue a dog, he had to fire back.

Dead or alive, he might as well get his trash talk in.

Ren Jiuxiao: "Elders, quit wasting breath on him. Focus on the formation!"

Zhao Ge: "Little Emperor, today's your death day. I'll take your throne, and I'll take your mother too. Rest easy..."

Seeing Zhao Ge's smug, petty grin, Lin Huaiqing was livid. He never figured he'd die at Qin Hanyue's hands, but here he was, about to kick it at this old geezer's hands instead.

He wouldn't accept it!

"You're full of crap! You don't even carry the Lin surname, Zhao Ge. Your claim to the throne is bogus. The people and soldiers of the Yue Kingdom won't accept you!"

"Oh yeah? Tomorrow, word'll spread everywhere that the emperor got struck dead by heavenly lightning during the ritual. What do you think the folks will make of that?"

The second he realized Zhao Ge's real plan, a chill shot down Lin Huaiqing's spine.

The Yue Kingdom had been hit by one natural disaster after another. The treasury was empty, refugees couldn't be settled, and even the gold and silver seized from corrupt officials was a drop in the bucket for relief efforts.

If he really got struck dead by the heavenly lightning from the array, the people would definitely think heaven was punishing an emperor they saw as useless and depraved.

In that case, his short reign would just earn him the people's contempt. Meanwhile, Zhao Ge would swoop in, using his insane wealth to fund disaster relief. Once results showed, the people would think Zhao Ge was the real deal.

Even if his takeover wasn't exactly clean, no one would remember it for long.

Clever... So that was Zhao Ge's whole plan. Compared to Zhao Ge, he really was just a kid.

Zhao Ge was several steps ahead of him in every way.

"Host! Don't beat yourself up. This dungeon's too tough. How about I request an easier one for you next time..."

The system's sudden attempt at comfort only dealt the final blow to his already fragile heart.

Yeah, he was just some worthless kid his parents had ditched. He'd cleared a few easy-mode quests and actually thought he was something special.

"Hahahahaha! You're still wet behind the ears. Your old man and those useless brothers of yours couldn't beat me. You think you've got a shot?"

"You're wrong..."

"What?"

"I haven't lost yet."

From the shattering of his dao heart to its rebuilding, maybe only thirty seconds passed. But what went on inside Lin Huaiqing's head, nobody knew.

Lin Huaiqing scraped together his last bit of resolve, tightened his grip on his spiritual sword, and shattered the barrier Qin Hanyue had put up to protect him.

He hadn't lost. Not yet.

As long as the lightning-inducing formation is broken before it's fully completed, nothing is set in stone.

"Lin Huaiqing!" Qin Hanyue called his name, on the verge of collapse. If he'd just stayed put inside the barrier, he might not have died.

But with his power, he couldn't break through the barrier right now—Ren Jiuxiao had clearly come prepared.

The weakest point of this formation was its eye, located directly above the formation, yet it was tightly sealed by an eight-treasure compass.

Every time he struck with his spiritual power, the compass deflected it.

Ren Jiuxiao watched Qin Hanyue's attacks with a sneer:

"Stop trying! This compass is the treasured heirloom of our Baqi Sect. If it could be broken so easily by you, wouldn't it be a piece of junk?"