In the Imperial Study Room.
The Emperor was reviewing the documents, and Little Guizi was standing beside him.
Suddenly, a little eunuch hurried in. Little Guizi looked at him and walked towards him quietly. After listening to his report, his expression suddenly changed. After the little eunuch left, he quickly walked to the Emperor's side and said, "Your Majesty, Bo Ri and Moragu, the two great grandmasters of the barbarians, are now fighting against Shi Chengtian and Dugu Xiong in a teahouse called Xiangmanlou!"
Bang!
The Emperor, who was reviewing documents, put down the brush in his hand and said while frowning, "Didn't I tell both parties that they should only exchange moves tomorrow after the welcome ceremony? How could they engage in a fight in advance?"
Little Guizi shook his head to express his confusion at the matter as well.
Whether it was Shi Chengtian or Dugu Xiong, they were both grade-9 great grandmasters. Although they came to the capital for different reasons and agreed to stand up against the barbarians, they were not under the control of the imperial court.
Even the Emperor could only treat them with courtesy and not force them to do anything they did not want to.
Not to mention the duo of Bo Ri and Moragu.
Thus, even though they had fought ahead of schedule and completely disrupted his plan, the Emperor couldn't do much about it.
"Your Majesty, shall we go to Xiangmanlou now to see how the battle is going?" Little Guizi asked.
After thinking for a while, the Emperor shook his head and said calmly, "There is no need to go. We must have confidence in Dugu Xiong, and even more confidence in Shi Chengtian."
Little Guizi nodded and said, "Yes, that's true. Your Majesty has spent so much energy to invite Shi Chengtian to the capital to take action. It is indeed time for him to do his job. The Sword Sovereign is also considered a famed powerhouse."
"This time, we must deal a blow to the arrogance of the barbarians and let them know that there are also strong powerhouses in our Grand Xia Dynasty. They are not allowed to act recklessly here!"
The Emperor let out a smile.
He too had the same thought.
Why did he make painstaking efforts this time just to invite the two grade-9 great grandmasters to come to the capital to help out? Wasn't it so that he could suppress the barbarian envoys?
Because this was not just a simple diplomatic visit but was also a test and judgment of the strength of the Grand Xia Dynasty by the barbarians!
If this time the Great Xia imperial court was unable to contend against the envoys and was suppressed by them, with no one that could stand up to them, then the barbarians would think that Grand Xia's fate had been used up and there were no more powerhouses in Grand Xia anymore. Then, after the envoys returned, the northern border would soon be attacked by the barbarians with greater ferocity!
However, if this time the imperial court's grade-9 representatives could suppress the barbarian envoys and let them know that Grand Xia was not to be messed with, then the northern border would be peaceful for a period of time.
…
…
There was a restaurant facing the Xiangmanlou teahouse.
At this moment, the restaurant was completely empty, with only two people left in it.
One looked tall and sturdy with a clean face, wearing a red official robe with flying cranes embroidered on his chest. He was Feng Bao, the superintendent of the Eastern Depot. The other one was wearing a suit of armor and had a stern look on his face. He was the General Who Stabilizes the North, the Empress's brother!
The two of them were sitting close to the window so that they could clearly see the situation inside Xiangmanlou on the opposite side.
"Superintendent Feng is very capable to have asked the grade-9 great grandmaster Sword Sovereign Dugu Xiong to come. It seems that the Eastern Depot is not as useless as what His Majesty had said it to be. You still have some ability," the General Who Stabilizes the North said with a smile.
Faced with the ridicule of the General Who Stabilizes the North, Feng Bao was not angry.
His Eastern Depot was neither friendly with those from the Jianghu, nor those in the military or the court officials. He had long been used to such remarks.
"I don't have that great of an ability, to be able to command the Sword Sovereign. It is the Sword Sovereign himself who has a chivalrous heart. He has long hated the barbarians who have repeatedly violated the borders and killed the citizens of Grand Xia. Therefore, this time, he decided to come to the capital to fight against the barbarian envoys."
Feng Bao shook his head and continued with a smile, "It was unexpected that Senior Shi Chengtian would come. Originally, I was worried that the Sword Sovereign alone might not be able to deal with all the barbarians. Now that Senior Shi Chengtian is also here, there should not be any trouble. This time, the barbarian envoys can't cause any commotion."
The General Who Stabilises the North coldly snorted.
He could tell that Feng Bao was trying to compete with him, so he chose to wait it out.
If Dugu Xiong lost too badly during the match and his master had to come forward to turn the tide, Feng Bao would no longer be able to laugh.
In the eyes of the General Who Stabilizes the North, Sword Sovereign Dugu Xiong might indeed be very strong, taking into account his ability to kill the Six Blue Wave Demons when he was merely still in the grade-8 realm. After entering grade-9, and coupled with the inheritance of Sword Saint Ye Qingcheng, his strength should have become unimaginable.
However, no matter how strong he was, he was still miles away from his master, Shi Chengtian!
Thus, he was actually hoping for the two barbarian masters to not be too weak so that they could beat Dugu Xiong.
In this way, his master would be in a greater spotlight in the end!
"Look, it's starting…" the General Who Stabilizes the North coldly said.
In the teahouse on the opposite side, Dugu Xiong had already made his move.
Feng Bao also stopped the conversation and stared at the opposite side unblinkingly.
…
Weng!
The sound of the sword could be heard, and the sword aura could be felt thereafter. Bo Ri, who was standing opposite Dugu Xiong, could clearly feel that there were seemingly thousands of sword qi cutting towards him.
If it was an average grade-7 grandmaster that was up against Dugu Xiong, they would have already found it unbearable from the start.
As Dugu Xiong's sword was unleashed, Xiangmanlou was not only instantly filled with his sword aura, but even the temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees in an instant, making people feel like they were in an ice cave. Even the internal energy of a martial artist seemed to be frozen under this sword attack.
Immediately after.
Dugu Xiong moved.
It was difficult to describe the feeling of Dugu Xiong's sword.
It was neither too complicated a move, nor did it contain too many mysteries. However, anyone who saw this sword ray would feel that it let out an unspeakable brilliance.
If it was a master who was not strong enough, they would not even be able to react in the face of such a sword move and might have even been killed in merely one move.
"Good sword!"
But Bo Ri merely laughed and let out a roar when facing such a sword. With his legs spread out and his internal energy sinking into his dantian, an invisible air wall was formed around his body.
Weng!
With a long whistle from Bo Ri, the "cold ice sword domain" brought by Dugu Xiong shattered like a mirror hit by a stone.
However, Dugu Xiong's dazzling sword was not stopped just like that. With a cold glow, it pierced the wall of energy formed by Bo Ri's vigorous internal energy. Although a lot of strength in the sword was lost, the tip of the sword went straight to Bo Ri's chest.
Crack!
The tip of the sword pierced into Bo Ri's flesh and came to an abrupt stop a centimeter into his body.
"What?!"
Dugu Xiong was shocked when he saw this. He didn't expect that there would be someone in this world who would not evade and simply blocked the sword using his bare body.
In a split second, Dugu Xiong had decided to withdraw and retreat.
However, although his sword attack was fast, the recovery of his sword was a tad bit slower.
Of course, Bo Ri would not let go of this opportunity. Grinning, he stuck his hands out like a dragon.
Thump!
Dugu Xiong was blown away and flew back more than ten meters alongside his sword, crashing into the ground fiercely.
"Hehe, it seems that you have yet to fully cultivate and digest the inheritance of the Sword Sage. If so, you deserve to be beaten to death by me today!"
Bo Ri strode forward towards Dugu Xiong.
Dugu Xiong had obviously been defeated, and he had almost no more power remaining to fight again. However, Bo Ri didn't want to stop. He wanted to kill him.
Facing such a scene, the Eastern Depot Supervisor Feng Bao and General Who Stabilizes the North Xie Feihong both stood up and looked at them in disbelief.
Even Xie Feihong was deeply shocked.
Although he had hoped that Dugu Xiong would lose, he had never thought that Dugu Xiong would lose within merely one move!
He was a grade-9 great grandmaster!
What kind of monster was this barbarian master Bo Ri?
What about his senior brother, Moragu, who is rumored to be stronger?
Could his master, Shi Chengtian, stop him?