Chapter 24: Assassinating the Monarch, Grandmaster of Martial Arts

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With these two brief sentences, Prince Jiu not only demonstrated remarkably sound judgment, but also offered an enormous price.

Attacking and killing a king was hardly a reputation anyone would want.

Regardless of which royal house among the various states one might consider, if they had any choice at all, who would employ someone guilty of regicide? It was an immense taboo.

And besides, what the other party had done could hardly be called an assassination.

He had trampled a military formation in full view of the public and slain Prince Jiu amid thousands of troops. That was a hundred times more taboo than the furtive work of an ordinary assassin—one might almost say he had offended every royal house in the realm.

Without a motive of the greatest magnitude, who would do such a thing and completely throw away his own future glory and wealth?

It had to be understood that martial experts of such overwhelming strength were different from command-oriented generals, whose talents could be displayed only after receiving a title and taking charge of an army.

Wherever they went, their accomplishments alone were enough to place glory and riches within easy reach—but there was one thing they could never possess: a traitorous heart.

In that instant, Prince Jiu concluded that this man must fear the consequences of Prince Jiu taking the throne and forming an alliance with Chu. That was why he had dared to defy the greatest taboo under heaven and commit such an act.

Moreover, although this man was so powerful, he was completely unknown. It was possible that he was not even from Wu. Just as Chu had sent the martial grandmaster Gongsun Boyang, it was entirely understandable that Yue would send a powerful expert during Wu’s change of rulers.

Wu and Yue were both far weaker than Chu. If Wu and Chu allied themselves, Yue would face a catastrophe. Conversely, if Chu and Yue formed an alliance, Wu would likewise be unable to escape the destruction of its state.

Prince Jiu had originally planned that, upon taking the throne, his first act would be to surround and kill Chu’s grandmaster, Gongsun Boyang. His second would be to ally with Yue and reclaim the two cities. Refusing to honor an agreement was impossible, but taking the cities back was another matter.

That was why Prince Jiu had immediately called for an alliance between Wu and Yue to attack Chu.

As for making the man an earl, that too represented an enormous price.

Apart from the Son of Heaven of Zhou, who was nominally the sovereign acknowledged by all, the various states were divided according to their strength and traditions into kingdoms, marquisates, and earldoms.

Only the sons of kings, marquises, and earls could be called princes, roughly equivalent to princes in the West.

To make someone an earl meant granting him land and establishing him as a feudal lord. The legitimate King of Wu would have to send envoys carrying all the necessary documents to the Son of Heaven of Zhou, who would register and certify the grant through a ceremony of sacrifice to Heaven before it became valid.

So long as the other party still desired that title, he would have to guarantee Prince Jiu’s safety.

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In an instant, Prince Jiu calculated countless advantages and dangers. The one thing he failed to consider was that the golden-crowned cavalry general charging toward him had not come for any of those reasons at all.

Lu Wu simply felt that serving as someone’s bodyguard was far more trouble than directly killing Prince Jiu.

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As for the supposed dignity of royal authority—

Lu Wu had once mingled among the ranks of extraterrestrial fiends and witnessed them shatter the membrane of Heaven and Earth to devour an entire world. He had once been the spirit of a magical treasure and, after ascending to the Divine Soul realm, moved mountains and overturned seas. He had once bathed in the true waters of the Yellow Springs and touched the source of life itself.

To someone like him, Prince Jiu was not yet King of Wu. But even if he had already become King of Wu, Lu Wu would still kill him if he wished.

Of course, whether he could actually kill him would depend on the disparity between their strengths. But the act of killing the King of Wu itself presented Lu Wu with no psychological obstacle whatsoever.

Lu Wu had not spent all these years playing the wastrel for nothing. Aside from the basic knowledge required for food, clothing, travel, and daily life, his understanding of this era was limited to knowing that copper coins, silver, and gold were all forms of currency. Apart from his astonishing combat strength, he was essentially a standard spoiled young nobleman.

What did an alliance between Wu and Yue, or an attack on Chu, have to do with him?

Thus Lu Wu paid no attention to Prince Jiu’s nonsense. Though he was still some distance away, he swung his halberd and sent a slash through the air.

Waves of force surged outward, clearing the air on either side. The earth sank in a long furrow as the attack raced toward the feet of Prince Jiu’s horse.

Eighteen Slashes of Layered Mountains and Overlapping Ridges—Breaking the Heavenly Gate!

Seeing that he could not persuade the other man, Prince Jiu could only close his eyes and await death.

“Hmph!”

A withered, gaunt hand reached out from the side and stopped before Prince Jiu’s horse.

Boom!

The invisible true energy that had torn through the earth came crashing forward like a great river in flood, colliding with an ancient mountain that had stood unmoved for ages. The waves of force exploded in every direction, even blasting away several of Prince Jiu’s fiercely loyal guards as they tried to throw themselves forward and block the attack.

“Prince Jiu, that was not what you said back then.”

Having blocked Lu Wu’s airborne halberd strike, the gaunt hand withdrew into its sleeve. The old man joined his broad sleeves before him and stood in front of Prince Jiu’s horse. With his refined, spare features, he turned around and challenged the prince.

Prince Jiu was overjoyed.

“Master Boyang—be careful!”

He was about to explain, but after uttering only four words, his voice turned into a cry of alarm.

The golden-crowned cavalryman’s first strike had failed, but the enormous black horse beneath him charged straight forward. Riding the horse’s momentum, the long halberd swept upward from below.

Eighteen Slashes of Layered Mountains and Overlapping Ridges—Single Pillar Supporting Heaven!

“You insolent whelp!”

Gongsun Boyang did not even turn his head. He merely swept his right hand backward.

As his wide sleeve unfurled, a mass of azure cloudlike radiance rolled forth like a banner and met the rising halberd of the golden-crowned rider.

The movement appeared casual and effortless, but it was meant to awe Prince Jiu.

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In truth, he had already employed the supreme art he had cultivated with his very life—Innate Astral Energy!

True energy was formless. But once it merged with the primal energy of Heaven and Earth and transformed into Innate Astral Energy, it acquired a definite color and shape.

Innate Astral Energy differed according to the inner landscape of each martial grandmaster.

Gongsun Boyang came from Chu, a land rich in rivers and marshes. His Innate Astral Energy therefore possessed qualities of water and wood, giving it an azure hue.

Clang—rip!

The ethereal, cloudlike astral energy collided with the golden-crowned rider’s long halberd, producing the unmistakable sound of steel striking steel.

The next moment, a violent gale erupted. The long halberd bent like a bow, and horse and rider were hurled backward through the air.

Gongsun Boyang, however, merely frowned. When he raised his arm and looked, he saw that a small tear had opened in the sleeve of his robe.

Clop, clop, clop.

The Black God flew backward through the air for six yards. After landing, he retreated three steps in succession to bleed off the remaining force before finally steadying all four hooves.

Lu Wu remained seated on the horse’s back, as unmoving as a mountain, without the slightest sign of injury. Only the halberd shaft in his hand, as thick as a duck’s egg, had been bent into an arc.

“What astonishing true energy,” Lu Wu praised.

As he spoke, he gripped the butt of the halberd with his left hand, seized the shaft with his right, and drew his hand upward along it. The bent shaft immediately straightened once more.

Gongsun Boyang had originally intended to kill the golden-crowned cavalryman with an effortless stroke and establish his authority. Yet not only had his attack failed, it had also torn his sleeve. The situation was becoming rather embarrassing.

He turned to face Lu Wu directly. Before he could speak, Lu Wu offered his praise for the man’s “astonishing true energy,” instantly choking back whatever words Gongsun Boyang had intended to say.

There were many ignorant people in this world. But Gongsun Boyang had never encountered anyone who could cultivate martial arts to such a level while still failing to recognize Innate Astral Energy.

He carefully examined the golden-crowned cavalryman before him from head to toe, and finally could not restrain himself from asking, “May I ask your honored name, your age, and the identity of your teacher?”

If he had not misjudged the matter, then this golden-crowned cavalryman, who slaughtered people as casually as cutting grass, was certainly tall and imposing—but even his bones had not fully fused. Clearly, he was still an immature young man who had yet to finish growing.

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