A weak rabbit suddenly revealed claws sharper than a lion's; while you contemptuously stroke its harmless fur, it can tear you to shreds with a fierce swipe anytime it wants, only you don't know it.

This was how Ding Huang felt at the moment. He suddenly understood why the assassin he sent ended up dead in the palace, the question that had puzzled him was answered in a flash.

A usually arrogant military officer forced out a sentence: "Isn't that...isn't that Lord Shangguan?"

Isn't that the Lord Shangguan who would cough up a storm at the slightest touch?

Mingde had no time to pay attention to what others thought of him. He had already approached, and Zhuo Yu didn't even try to dodge. In that instant, there was no time for hesitation. Mingde thrust his sword deep into the old man's heart with a single strike.

Bright red blood gushed out, quickly turning dark. Zhuo Yu's face rapidly decayed, skin peeling off, immediately turning into a skeleton before collapsing.

Stunned, Mingde heard Rong Shiba shout sharply: "Mingde, drop your sword!"

Mingde let go as if electrocuted, the long sword clanging as it hit the ground. The blood on it flowed into the grass, causing it to wither with a hissing sound.

Poisoned blood!

This person's entire body was filled with poisoned blood!

"Don't just stand there!" Rong Shiba's voice was shrill, almost a scream. "That person...he's not Zhuo Yu!"

Mingde turned around in a hurry. In an instant, he saw among the guards behind the old man, one shrouded in a black robe with only a few strands of jet-black hair peeking out from his forehead, raise his head and smile faintly.

With a face as beautiful as jade, even the best sculptor would be hard-pressed to carve such a countenance from the most precious stone.

Rong Shiba abruptly retreated half a step. When he spoke, his voice suddenly gave the illusion that his entire skeleton was trembling and rattling.

"...'Soul-Stealing Hand' Zhuo Yu..."

Zhuo Yu raised his hand. His whole body was wrapped in a black robe, only revealing a smiling face and a pale hand; although they appeared cold and lifeless, his aloofness, sharpness, cruelty and elegance were undeniable.

Mingde suddenly realized something. Following Rong Shiba's terrified gaze, he saw under the sunlight, a barely visible glimmer on Zhuo Yu's five slender fingers, like crystal-clear thin threads, extending towards the princess on the throne several zhang away.

"Puppet strings!"

With puppet strings deployed, within ten zhang, life and death are at his whim!

On the high throne, the hidden guards had their swords and crossbows drawn, the tips of their sharp daggers pointed straight at the Qianwan Emperor's neck, but unfortunately could no longer advance an inch.

"If I had a sister like you," the Qianwan Emperor said with a smile, "I definitely would not hand you over to an inhumane state preceptor and let you become an assassin's tool."

The sweet expression completely vanished from the princess' face. The puppet strings connected all the way to her hands, forcing her to push the dagger forward. But it was too late, the Qianwan Emperor's hands were like iron clamps, making it impossible for her to move a hair.

"Haha!" The princess threw her head back and laughed. "Emperor, do you think I did it for my royal brother? Or do you think I actually did it for the country?"

The Qianwan Emperor sighed, "No?"

"Of course not!" The princess raised her head proudly. "I only did it for Lord Zhuo!"

She was still young and beautiful, with amber eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. But it was all such a pity. The Qianwan Emperor looked at her and sighed softly.

Not far away, Zhuo Yu stood up from the grass. Gazing at the Qianwan Emperor, he said with a smile, "Your Majesty, please tell your guards not to move."

"Oh?" the Qianwan Emperor's eyes went past the princess. "Why?"

"Because you are now less than a chi away from her. If your guards move, I will have no choice but to kill her."

The Qianwan Emperor stood up, "What does that have to do with me? This is a woman who admires you, what does she have to do with me?"

Zhuo Yu slowly walked forward, his steps steady. He passed through the hidden guards' encirclement, none of them daring to move an inch.

"...There is a connection," he said slowly. "...In fact, a big one...because her body is already filled with highly toxic blood..."

Everyone looked at the princess in shock. The puppet strings shimmering in the sunlight had tightly controlled her limbs and body. If Zhuo Yu moved his fingers slightly, she would immediately be torn to pieces. The splattered poisoned blood would affect everyone near the throne. If Zhuo Yu wanted her to die more miserably, perhaps even the officials standing a bit closer below would not be spared.

"You see?" the Qianwan Emperor said softly to the princess. "He doesn't care about your life or death at all. In his eyes, you are nothing more than a tool for him to kill, not even a handy one. I guess in his heart, your status as a tool may not even compare to the puppet strings."

The princess smiled, her eyes even intoxicated.

"Emperor," she said, "do you know how many people Zhuo Yu has killed?"

The Qianwan Emperor did not answer.

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine," she closed her eyes devoutly. "I am willing to be the thousandth."

The Qianwan Emperor was momentarily speechless. He abruptly raised his head to look at Zhuo Yu and asked sternly, "What exactly do you want?"

Zhuo Yu said, "I want you to order a retreat!"

The Qianwan Emperor's hands clenched tightly into fists, nails digging deep into his flesh.

"I want you to withdraw the troops from the front lines, retreat thirty li! We can bow our heads in submission, but we cannot allow the price of ceding three thousand li of land and paying heavy taxes every year!"

The Qianwan Emperor sternly rebuked, "I have already been very lenient with you by only demanding land and taxes!"

"No, esteemed Emperor," Zhuo Yu said softly, "This trick may work on that foolish little king, but it's far from enough to deceive me. The people of Xiwan are few and the land is vast, unable to bear heavy taxes. If they present large sums of gold and silver every year, this country will be reduced to an empty shell in no more than twenty years! By then, you can easily take over the entire Xiwan without deploying a single soldier!"

His voice was low and clear. In an instant, the few important ministers who originally proposed this idea were all rendered speechless.

The Qianwan Emperor stared intently at him. This man's reputation had long spread throughout the world. Everyone knew he was ruthless enough to do anything. When a person is already merciless and unscrupulous in normal times, if you push him to his bottom line, he can truly fight you to the bitter end.

Zhuo Yu raised his head. The iron-scented wind from the hunting grounds ruffled his hair, and his black battle robe fluttered in a great arc, as if he was a god of war descending upon the world.

The princess's face changed color. The puppet strings were getting tighter and tighter. She could even hear the faint sliding sound of her skin being cut.

...Was she about to be freed? She closed her eyes sweetly.

The thousandth one...perhaps it would be different?

Just at this moment, the Qianwan Emperor suddenly let out a cold laugh, "—State Preceptor Zhuo, I pity you...You can actually be considered a hero."

He abruptly retreated half a step. Zhuo Yu was just about to kill the princess with a flick of his finger when he suddenly heard a voice behind him, "State Preceptor, you...you should...you should just admit defeat!"

This cowardly young voice was too familiar. Zhuo Yu turned his head and saw the secret guards escorting a young man in splendid attire, standing on high ground a few zhang away.

The princess turned her head and exclaimed in surprise, "—Royal Brother!"

Everyone present was startled. That timid, cowardly young man turned out to be the little king of Xiwan!

State Preceptor Zhuo's expression remained unchanged, but his fingers trembled slightly. This was actually abnormal. His many years of cultivation had reached a point of renouncing the seven emotions and six desires. No person or matter could make him move his lethal fingers even slightly.

The little king didn't dare to look directly at his subjects and hastily lowered his head, "State Preceptor Zhuo manipulated the court...threatened me...I have already negotiated with the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty to remove the State Preceptor, cede land, pay reparations, and present annual tributes...At least, at least we can be a vassal state of the Celestial Dynasty..."

The people present, as if by prior agreement, all showed a hint of undisguised disdain and contempt on their faces. Even the secret guards holding the little king couldn't help but reveal a trace of a sighing expression.

Zhuo Yu slowly turned his head back, seemingly not wanting to look at the little king anymore.

How many years of painstaking effort, how many years of enduring hardships, how many years of rising early and working late into the night, how many years of diligent governance. Stepping over blood and flesh to reach this point today, only to discover that what he had been supporting was merely such a dynasty.

The Qianwan Emperor sighed and said in a barely audible low voice, "...Born in the wrong era."

The princess suddenly screamed, "Royal Brother! How can you bow and scrape before foreigners? You have completely lost face for our royal family!"

The little king trembled, "I...I didn't bow and scrape! I didn't! I didn't!"

The princess wanted to pounce on him and grab him fiercely, but as soon as she moved, she was restrained by the puppet strings. She wailed and cried, tears streaming down her beautiful face. She fell to her knees and shouted loudly, "Zhuo Yu! Zhuo Yu! Kill me! Kill me!..."

The hidden archers all around stood up, countless arrowheads glinting with iron light pointed at Zhuo Yu. With a single order, they could turn him into a hedgehog.

No matter how shockingly peerless a top expert was, even if his fame shook the world to the extent of Zhuo Yu, it was impossible to escape alive under the arrowheads of hundreds or thousands of people.

Zhuo Yu hesitated for a moment, glancing at the princess as if considering whether to save her or not. The princess knelt on the ground, her delicate hands desperately clawing at the earth beneath her knees, as if only in this way could she slightly vent the heart-wrenching pain in her heart. Her fingernails were brutally snapped off, and black blood flowed onto the ground like a thick, black despair and helplessness.

Zhuo Yu closed his eyes and said in a low voice, "...Sorry."

With that, he slightly grasped his five fingers. In an instant, blood surged, and amidst the sky-high poisonous blood, dismembered limbs shattered and splattered on the ground. The heavy stench of blood was like an overwhelming nightmare, as if even the sky had turned gloomy.

"Protect His Majesty!"

"Quick!"

"Save the Emperor!"

The shrill, highest-alert whistles of the secret guards came from Rong Shiba's mouth. In an instant, the most concentrated and formidable experts in the world all pounced towards Zhuo Yu, who was standing a few zhang away. Rong Shiba took the lead, glancing at Mingde as he leaped, only to see him look towards the Qianwan Emperor before taking a step forward.

Rong Shiba shouted sternly, "What are you doing at a time like this?!"

—What are you doing at a time like this, what are you still doing?

Zhuo Yu was like a black lightning bolt, leaping through the rain of arrows in a few bounds towards the only exit of the hunting ground—the mountain valley in the southeast corner. He was indeed the top expert in the world. Rong Shiba only managed to grab a piece of his robe before feeling a chill between his legs.

He quickly retreated half a step, and the puppet strings barely grazed his muscles. His leg was almost crippled.

"Damn, a grown man using these womanly strings, too vicious!" He had just thought this in his heart when he heard Zhuo Yu say faintly amidst the rapidly receding wind, "...As long as the method is right, even the softest things can be harder and sharper than steel."

Rong Shiba gasped. It was said that State Preceptor Zhuo Yu of Xiwan could manipulate people's minds. Could this really be true?

In the blink of an eye, there was no time for him to think any further. Rong Shiba quickly stepped forward and grabbed Zhuo Yu's wrist. At the same time, several hidden guards pressed down on Zhuo Yu's shoulders, lower back, and chest from different angles.

Although dangerous, it restrained his retreating momentum to a certain extent. They were already close to the valley at the southeast corner, with weeds growing along the roadside and a huge rift cliff not far away. In this precious moment, Rong Shiba shouted loudly, "Mingde! Go!"

Zhuo Yu only had time to raise his head, and then he saw a young man, moving at a speed that even the world's top lightness skill experts would find hard to match, holding a sharp blade and thrusting straight towards his heart from above everyone's heads.

A single blade!

This dangerous path paved by countless people, this overwhelming murderous aura permeating the air, this offensive built with flesh and blood, all seemed to exist only to allow this single blade that tore through heaven and earth to appear before him at this very moment.