Meng Qi turned around and looked at Jing Shao, who was slightly cramped, and the young man from a different tribe behind him: "If you want to see Lu Shuai, just follow me."

  After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for the two to respond and walked down the stone bridge by himself, making a gesture of not forcing them.

  "Meng, Meng Da Xia, I trust you!" Jing Shao hurriedly followed up and said loudly: "My name is Chang Sun Jing, and in the future, I will surely make a name for myself that will shake the world."

  He originally wanted to address Meng as "senior", but after taking a look at Meng Qi's very young face, he couldn't bring himself to say it, and calling him "young hero" seemed inappropriate for his current strength and status.

  Meng Qi's face twitched slightly as he gazed coldly ahead, saying nothing.

  "He is my good friend Batu, from the Xianbei tribe, one of the eighteen tribes of the Western Rong...". Changsun Jing went on and on.

  "We'll talk about it when we see Commander Lu." Meng Qi maintained his cold and proud image as a swordsman, this place was not suitable for lingering or conversation.

  Chang Sun Jing suppressed his excitement of narrowly escaping death and suddenly seeing his idol, nodded heavily, and stopped speaking.

  The night was quiet and still, with no extra noise. Meng Qi replayed the experience he had just gone through in his mind, feeling a bit "afraid afterwards". If he hadn't seen the Sword Emperor before and imitated a few moves of his sword-drawing posture, he really didn't know if he could scare off Ruyi Monk and Gui Wang. Moreover, even if he did, people's hearts change in subtle ways, and with just a little carelessness, he would have to resort to force, with his muscles tense, clothes tight, and hair standing on end. Adding to that, the strength of Ruyi Monk and Gui Wang was not to be underestimated. If they fought to the point of intoxication, it's possible that his wig would get knocked off... The scene was too beautiful, he didn't dare think about it!

  This world's division of the mortal realm, heavenly realm, subtlety and enlightenment is relatively vague, essentially belonging to the combination of cultivating the body and tempering the mind, sensing heaven and earth. The strength of figures like Yiyi Seng and Gui Wang is roughly equivalent to that of a master with nine apertures and two major secret stores of yuanqi and jingli opened, but due to the large gap in gongfa quality, it's far inferior to An Guo Xie and You, roughly on par with Yuan Menglai.

  The main world's gong method also requires tempering the soul, sensing heaven and earth, and emphasizes the struggle of qi machines, spiritual confrontations, and dark battles of the soul. It's just that Meng Qi has not shown his true strength in his previous battles against these three Jiu Kui masters.

  The first time An Guoxie fought with himself, he was still not enlightened. He estimated that he had never thought of spiritual confrontation, just like when he carried Huacun at night, "ten steps to kill one person", swift and decisive, why waste time on qi contention. When the temple burst out, An Guoxie was caught off guard from start to finish, and before he could even react, he died miserably on the spot.

  Yuan Mèng's fate was even more miserable. He had originally pushed his own aura to its peak, waiting for the right moment to suppress it, but unexpectedly, he was stunned by his own Ahnan Broken Seal Knife Method and struck dead by heavenly thunder.

  You Yu was even more bullying himself, who had been "disabled" from martial arts, and didn't need to compete with his vital energy. He thought that he could kill him with just one palm strike, but later, under the continuous attacks, he couldn't find an opportunity to regain his strength, and finally died under Jiang Zhiwei's sword.

  So, Ru Yi Seng and Gui Wang are the kind of masters with no good heritage, in this weather, anyone can force out all the tricks of Meng Qi's hands that have made progress in strength to be evenly matched.

  Two people attacked, Meng Qi could only rely on the Golden Bell Shield to harden his body and block for a period of time, giving Changsun Jing and Batu a chance to escape. As a result, news would spread in the capital tomorrow that "Surprising Sword" Xiao Meng was actually Mang Jian!

  Lethal Blade also opened nine orifices, but his mind was broken by the Living Buddha, losing further conviction and confidence to contend with true masters. His actual strength could only exert half of its full potential, estimated battle power at 50% of peak condition, slightly stronger than an ordinary eight-orifice high master.

  He was originally able to fight Meng Qi without using the intention of the knife, but as a result, he encountered Meng Qi's Tian Jian cultivation progress, and with the help of his own initial mastery of a kind of knife dao jing yi, he completely changed the "Luo Hong Chen" move, cutting straight into his "heart", which was his nemesis, and finally went crazy and fled.

  But Xie Jun is a rare master among the nine orifices, with an unusual death seal method and various divine and mysterious techniques that are almost on par with Mo Hou's. Currently, Meng Qi can only barely survive against him by risking his life, unless he makes great progress in his knife skills, swordsmanship, or completes the sixth round of Jin Zhong Zhao.

  A girl carrying a zither appeared from the alley ahead, wearing a traditional Chinese dress in pure white, exuding an air of elegance and refinement. She naturally fell into step behind Meng Qi with practiced ease.

  Meng Qi's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly had an idea, and he transmitted his voice into the secret passage: "Ruan Gongzhu, in the future when we encounter such a scene and you don't need to disguise yourself as the Sword Emperor or anyone else, can you play a tune for me to boost our momentum?"

  Haha, if she agrees, I'll be a man with his own background music from now on, so stylish and so cool!

  Think of it, a song with a gentle breeze, easy water cold in the middle, I show up with my hands behind my back, full of feelings!

  "Alright." Ruan Yushu's expression didn't change.

  Meng Qi was overjoyed, but his heart struggled with hesitation: "Whose background music should I use? Or should I let Ruan Yushu recite another poem number?"

  Ruan Yushu suddenly plucked the strings of his zither, producing a loud and sonorous sound that was both powerful and fierce: "Like this?"

  "No way!" This was the background music of Pei Mang Jing and Lei Dao Kuang Seng, not me! Meng Qi firmly refused.

  Ruan Yushu gently stroked the strings of the qin, ding-ding-dong, hiding his entwined emotions and thoughts: "Like this?"

  "No way!" Too feminine!

  Meng Qi was just about to elaborate on his requirements when he suddenly saw Ruan Yushu's mouth corners slightly raised, and he was suddenly enlightened. The two previous songs were absolutely her deliberate choice! She had been thinking that her style didn't match from the very beginning!

  It's a good thing she isn't from Earth, otherwise when she makes her entrance, the background music would probably be "The Vast Expanse of the Sky is My Love......You are my Little Apple......", and with that kind of background music and "poetic" nickname, she'd be engaging in close combat with the enemy, Golden Bell Shield fully open, wig falling off......

  Meng Qi shivered and decided not to provoke Ruan Yushu: "Forget it, I was just casually saying that."

  Ruan Yushu nodded slightly without a word, still calm and collected.

  …………

  Danger lurked, and a few people walked extremely fast, returning to the inn in no time.

  After meeting Lu Guan, Changsun Jing said urgently: "Lu Shuai, the peace talks are treacherous, the Western Rong is delaying time to solve internal troubles! Once they have solved it, no matter how far the peace talks have gone, they will directly head south and graze horses in the Central Plains!"

  "The Xī Qí's power has not yet dissipated, and they are already halting their advance; this is indeed not in line with their usual style." Lù Guān nodded as if he had expected this, "However, the imperial court is also buying time to reorganize its troops and redeploy its defenses."

  "He hesitated for a moment and said: 'I don't know what internal trouble it is.'"

  The wounded Batu leaned against the back of the chair and said, "We are not a single entity, but rather composed of several relatively independent tribes. Among them, the Yu tribe is the strongest, with seven or eight dependent tribes attached to it. It has been leading us in invading the Central Plains. However, including our own Ji tribe, several tribes have long admired the Central Plains and have deep contradictions with the Yu tribe."

  "After reaching the upper reaches of the Pei River, our tribes finally decided to disperse and head west on their own. As a result, many leaders were brutally killed, causing chaos. We escorted the young master southward, seeking support from the Central Plains."

  Meng Qi was still not good at analyzing such situations, quietly listening and learning, while Ruan Yushu held the remaining pastries from before, nibbling on them little by little.

  "Young master? How strong is his appeal?" Lu Guan's question hit the nail on the head.

  Batu solemnly said: "The young master has the blood of the Tian Shen family, as long as he appears in front of the army, most of our tribe and several other tribes will obey. In fact, they also want to rebel now, but to put it in Central Plains' words, '群龙无首' (many dragons without a leader), they can only be slowly suppressed and assimilated by the Yu tribe."

  "Is your young master in the capital?" Lu Guanping asked calmly and quietly, showing his demeanor as a famous general.

  "Right, the young master is hiding in a safe and secluded place. We came out to gather information and see which prince to surrender to. As it happens, we encountered Lü Dao, General Lu. Both I and Young Master Jing believe in your character, and also trust Meng Da Xia. So, let's take you to meet the young master."

  "No rush." Lu Guan was not excited or urgent, "Now there are many masters secretly spying on us, leading us to only harm your young master. Let's wait until tomorrow when I meet with the Right Minister and ask him to take action personally."

  For the time being, the one who really has the power to decide is still the emperor in a coma, but a country cannot be without a master for a day. In a few more days, the prime ministers will have to find the last will and ask the new master to take over. Of course, currently it is the crown prince who is acting as regent.

  Lu Guanping's calm attitude infected Batu and Chang Sunjing, and their expressions suddenly relaxed.

  "There are two pieces of news, the master of the Yu tribe is said to be a disciple of a certain powerful person from the Demon Gate, and this time's eastern expedition has many active figures from the Demon Gate." Changsun Jing recalled another matter.

  "If it's a plot by the Demon Gate, then the Demon Queen and Evil King entering the capital would have to be rethought. Perhaps it's not just supporting the Seventh Prince..." Lu Guan said contemplatively.

  In the room, there were only Meng Qi, Ruan Yushu, Lu Guan, Hu Dao Ren and Chang Sun Jing, Ba Tu. This kind of thing can be said directly.

  "What's another message?" Meng Qi asked coldly with a straight face.

  He felt that if he continued like this for a long time, his facial nerves would be out of order.

  Batu said uncertainly: "The Yu tribe sent an envoy to negotiate, but apart from delaying time, it seems to be related to the Demon Gate and wants to find some kind of demon treasure?"

  "Treasured object of the Demon Sovereign? He's been subdued in the Imperial Capital?" The Tiger Daoist was shocked and lost his composure.

  Meng Qi and Ruan Yushu had never heard of Mo Zun, so they could only wait for Hu Dao Ren to explain.

  "Dao Chang, do you know what the Demon Emperor's treasure is?" Zhangsun Jing was also inexperienced.

  Hu Dao Ren sighed: "The Demon Lord is the previous generation's Grandmaster of the Demon Gate, who reunified the fragmented Demon Gate. His strength is slightly above that of Mo Hou and Guo Shi. It is said that he has already touched the realm of Tianrenheyi, breaking through the void, and is known as the strongest master of the Demon Gate after the Demon Ancestor."

  However, at the height of his power, during the resurgence of the demonic gate, when we all thought he would break through the void in the most brilliant moment of his life, he suddenly saw through the red dust, abandoned his great cause, and floated out of the world, disappearing from the rivers and lakes, unknown whereabouts. By age calculation, he should have passed away many years ago.

  "At that time, Mo Hou was still young and couldn't suppress the demonic sect, causing it to fall into chaos again. By the time she became a great master, the demonic sect had produced other top-notch experts such as Xie Jun, Gui Wang, and Yin Shi, thwarting her ambition to reunify the sect once more. Especially Xie Jun, who was pursued and attacked by Mo Hou several times but remained unscathed, almost rivaling a great master."

  "As for the magical treasure, I am not a member of the demonic sect and do not have a thorough understanding, so I do not know."

  Meng Qi was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He is now particularly sensitive to the idea of renouncing worldly life and becoming a monk.

  Batu thought for a moment and said: "My family's young master seems to know something about Mo Zun's whereabouts..."

  "Let's not say more, wait until Mr. Lu has seen Minister You and then we'll talk again." Lu Guan stopped the conversation, fearing there were ears on the other side of the wall.

  Out of the room, the moonlight was like frost. Zhang Jing rubbed his hands and said: "Meng Da Xia, I didn't expect your knife skills to be so excellent. I've always boasted that I'm a genius with knives, but today I realized that my knife skills are still far behind."

  "You're still young and didn't have much of a reputation before, so you must be relatively new to martial arts?" Tiger Dao Ren said with a smile.

  Chang Sun Jing nodded after a moment of contemplation, "I was originally a beggar, but I happened to obtain a secret book and cultivated superior true yuan. My knife skills are all self-taught through actual combat."

  "Come and take a look." Meng Qi suddenly spoke up.