Li Mu said that he was, because he had been the one who killed the warriors at the peak of the Spirit Manipulation Realm who'd invaded the royal palace.
His stance proved that to be true.
Everyone thought that he was a part of the royal family.
He said he wasn't.
That was because he was not a part of the royal family to begin with.
He was but a eunuch who had no backing.
"In that case, pardon the intrusion."
Dugu Taishang's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean that you are and you aren't? If you are, then you are. If you aren't, then you aren't. You are showing up at the royal palace and getting in our way. Yet, you say you aren't? What are you up to?"
Dugu Taishang felt that he was about to be set up. He dragged Dugu Xin along with him, intending to leave.
"You people think that you can come and go as you please, huh? What do you lot take this place for?" Li Mu flashed around and got in Dugu Xin's way again.
"Sir, I'm an inner circle disciple of the Xuan Sect, and I've now made it into the selection of personal disciples. Have you considered the consequences of taking us on?" Dugu Taishang bowed at Li Mu as he said.
Despite his humble demeanor, pride was written all over his face.
The Xuan Sect was his backing. No one would ever dare to do anything against him.
"Xuan Sect? I don't know anything about any Xuan Sect," Li Mu said plainly.
There was a tinge of irritation in his tone also.
"You're threatening me, huh? Xuan Sect, eh? Sounds like some really dope place indeed. But, if you could successfully threaten me this time, I suppose you would do it again."
"You…Saint-level cultivators should know of the Xuan Sect. Regardless of where you're from, if you'll graciously do us a favor, I shall repay you in kind. But if…"
"So, what you're saying is that...you're free to kill us, yet we can't kill you people then?"
"I suppose you could say that."
"So what happens if I'm not going to do things your way and choose to get rid of you all instead?"
A tinge of killing intent was visible in his eyes.
Well, you're compounding your threats, eh?
No one has ever threatened me, in this life or in my past life.
Now, the expression on Dugu Xin's face changed drastically.
Sh*t!
Grandfather is going too far.
He, who had been a grand chancellor for so many years, knew that they were about to get screwed over.
Hmph~ "You really think the royal family can take on the Xuan Sect? Do you pay no heed to the hundreds of thousands of lives in the royal palace?"
Dugu Xin extended his hand and pulled at his grandfather's sleeve.
Yet, it was too late.
Due to having spent his years dedicated to his training, Dugu Xin's grandfather knew nothing of tact. As someone who had always relied on his own combat prowess or backing to solve his problems, he had never realized that excessive threats would only bring more trouble.
"Let's try this out then."
Shing~
A beam from his sword flashed out.
Sword will was detected above the royal palace yet again.
All the people who were out having a good time in the decadent establishments throughout the city went outside and cast their gazes at the royal palace.
Yet, they saw nothing at all.
The sword will dissipated as quickly as it had come above the royal palace.
Li Mu held his sword in his hand.
Dugu Taishang, who was standing right in front of him, lost an arm.
An arm holding a sword could be seen on the palace grounds.
"This is interesting. Despite the fact that I've yet to give it my all, you're still quick enough to lose your hand to save your skin. I would commend you for that much. It's a pity that you tried to threaten me with the lives of the hundreds of thousands in the city… Hee, hee, hee."
"What…what do you mean?"
"None of you shall leave here tonight. No one will know where you people ended up dead, because I'm going to do you lot in here and now."
"You really are not afraid of the Xuan Sect?"
Dugu Taishang began to shudder.
He had never expected to meet someone who wasn't afraid of the Xuan Sect.
His face was ashen. He had never expected that this warrior of the royal family was actually so powerful.
Dugu Taishang then secretly took out another sword with his remaining arm.
"Should I be afraid? If they dare to make a move against the royal family, I'll just kill every single one of their inner circle of disciples. My level of powers mean that if they were to catch me, they would have to try again in their next lives."
Shing~
Yet another flash of the sword will was seen.
The clang of metal blades rang across the night sky.
Clang~
Yet another clash between the metal weapons could be heard.
The two figures in the air above the royal palace zipped about like tornados.
Pfftt~
The sound of flesh being cut could be heard.
"Your turn now."
The figure stood before Dugu Xin.
"You couldn't…"
Swoop~
His head was sent flying, and blood splattered everywhere.
He had already made this kill, and there was no time for him to hesitate.
He had never been threatened in his past life.
Xuan Sect, eh?
Hmph~
Guess I'll just go there and check in once.
Li Mu disappeared without a trace.
Before long, the sound of bodies dropping to the ground could be heard throughout the royal palace.
Li Mu flew outside the city as soon as he was finished with the ones in the palace.
...
Back in the palace...
Two eunuchs at the Spirit Manipulation Realm rushed to the emperor's side to protect him, when that sword will from Li Mu shot into the sky.
"There was an intruder."
The eunuchs were a lot more composed than they had been before.
They were at ease now that there was someone formidable taking care of things.
"He's here again?" the emperor asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty. That man has appeared again, and the ones who were trying to ambush the palace were even more powerful this time."
The eunuch beside the emperor elaborated in a rather shaky voice.
"Was he able to hold the line this time?"
"The intruder seemed to be someone at Saint level as well."
"It'll be fine. He will definitely be able to hold them off," the emperor said with confidence.
"I'll go out to back him up," the eunuch beside the emperor said, and he flew off in Li Mu's direction.
Even if he was unable to hold them off, so what?
They were all prepared to die.
They hadn't expected to be able to live for these two more days.
They lived to repay their debt to the previous emperor after all.
Huh?
He was only halfway there.
And the battle was already over.
The Saint won.
He won again!
Isn't this all going a bit too quickly?
That other guy was a Saint-level warrior too!
Bright flashes of a magnificent light were seen here and there all over the royal palace. The palace was all quiet again moments later, as if nothing had happened.
The formidable warriors all over the royal palace were dumbfounded.
Li Mu searched outside the city for a while, returning to the palace after finding no other assassins lurking about.
"We can't afford to let people know about this. It's best that we keep this a secret. Regardless of how things are with the Xuan Sect, it's still best to not prod at the hornet's nest for the time being."
Back in the emperor's study room.
The heads of the guards and the eunuchs stood to attention, listening to the emperor.
"All of them were from Clan Dugu. There's even Dugu Xin's head in their midst."
The head of the guards took a look at the eunuchs in the room, bowing before making his report.
"Let me take a look."
The emperor was shaking.
All the eunuchs were looking on in excitement.
The threat from Clan Dugu had been defused for real.
The head of the guards waved his hand and several other guards carried a box of heads into the study room.
The small, cramped study room was filled by the stench of blood right away.
The emperor went on to meticulously check the heads one by one, fearing that he would overlook something.
"They're all dead?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty," the head of the guards bowed and answered.
"Ha, ha, ha, this is great. Well then, you're telling me that the army of Clan Dugu has just lost all their commanders, eh?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty."
Confidence was visible in the emperor's eyes as he said, "Deploy our troops and take down the 500,00-man army at once."
"Affirmative."
"The tide has turned just like that," an old eunuch beside the emperor commented.
"I have that mysterious man to thank for this. We would all have died without knowing what happened otherwise," the emperor commented, reeling from the shock.
He had never expected Clan Dugu to have a Saint-level figure in their ranks.
If it hadn't been for the mysterious man, there would have been a regime change right there and then.
The noble clans fighting for supremacy would eventually die out.
The emperor still wondered who that man was.
"Do not leak a single word about what happened tonight outside these walls. Act as if nothing has happened," a voice was heard by everyone in the room all of a sudden.
They all felt as if someone was speaking right next to their ears.
"Who…"
They all looked at each other, and then turned to look at the head of all the eunuchs in the room.
The eunuch nodded.
All of them wore faces of reverence immediately.
"Yes, sir."
All of them bowed and answered right away.
"Sir, could you please show yourself? We would like to thank you in person." The emperor got up also and bowed solemnly at the air in front of him.
There was no response despite their having waited for a while.
"Your Majesty, I think that our savior has left," an old eunuch commented after a while.
Sigh~ "Forget about it. If he is unwilling to see me, it simply means that I'm not good enough. Relay my orders. No one shall say anything about what happened tonight to anyone else. Have the secret police find a way to blow all of this over."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"The heads…find somewhere and bury them all."
The emperor had initially thought about hanging the heads and bodies on the city walls for some time. Given the circumstances, however, it seemed that the only way to deal with the parts was to bury them.
He wondered why his savior wanted to keep all of this a secret, but he was not about to disobey what he had been told to do.
All the departments in the palace got to work before long.