"Seventh prince, please don't make this any harder than it needs to be. Your situation is already hopeless. Surrender now, and with his merciful heart, His Majesty might still spare your life," the squad captain said. Just like all four of his subordinates, he wore blazing heavy armor, with a tiger helmet, and a fluttering red cape that marked his status as a squad captain in the Blazing Tiger Battalion.
Unlike most royal guards, the King of Yin's guard was divided into two: the Blazing Tiger Battalion that stood in the limelight and battled the king's opponents, and the Shadow Tiger Battalion that groomed assassins, healers and alchemists that worked tirelessly for the king's sole benefit.
But in one case or another, one wouldn't officially become a royal guard until they'd reached the ninth level of the Path Seeker realm. As for the officers, they were expected to have at least condensed their Dharma Bodies.
Of the five men that currently surrounded Zi Shou, four had reached the twelfth level of the Path Seeker realm, while their captain was already at the third level of the Dharma Body. In the Yin Dynasty, this was a powerhouse that could meet the elders of the great clans on an equal footing.
To say nothing of him, even with his far superior talents, there wasn't a man on the scene that Zi Shou could defeat.
"Surrender? Merciful heart? Hahahahaha! Are you taking me for a three years old? Vast as this world may be, I'm afraid there isn't a man that wants to see me dead more than that heartless father of mine! And with this golden opportunity, you're saying that he will let me live?
What a joke! Believe it or not, my conscience is clear! I have always lived this life in an upright and righteous manner! So why should I be killed for crimes I haven't committed? I refuse to accept it and will not go down without a fight!" Zi Shou roared, and if not for the foul Ghost Blade burning in his right hand, the five men might have been moved by his words.
Alas, confronted with such damning evidence, aside from his mother and Wen Tianhua, no one would believe Zi Shou.
"Captain, there is no reason to waste your breath on that Wen prince! His Majesty has given us clear orders. We just have to carry them out!" A burly royal guard said, his hand tightening on his broadsword—eager to strike.
For a royal guard to refer to him as a "Wen prince" was all that Zi Shou needed to know that, in his father's eye, Zi Shou was nothing more than a pawn of the Wen clan. A violent burst of sorrow, rage and unwillingness to see things end this way surged in the seventh prince's chest—strengthening the Ghost Blade.
"Shut up!" But as a flurry of dark and negative emotions welled up in Zi Shou's chest, the captain's voice thundered, forcing his men to take a step back.
"Seventh prince — no — young master, you have to believe me. I've served your father for over three centuries, and there is no doubt in my mind that, of all his nine sons, you are his favorite. Do not let fear and rumors confuse you. His Majesty is just clumsy; I can guarantee that everything he has done up till now was for your own good.
A son can harm his father, but unless forced by the circumstances, a father will never harm his own son! Anyone capable of that isn't a man, but a demon. His majesty is many things, but a demon isn't one of them!" For reasons he couldn't understand, the captain became more talkative, easily speaking words that he'd usually keep to himself.
It was as if his confidence had been boosted to the absolute peak, allowing him to pour out his innermost feelings to all that'd pay attention.
Even his men didn't recognize him.
"Damn it! Don't you feel the least bit ashamed for speaking those words with a straight face? When did they start training the royal guard in comedy? It is one thing to corner me like a rat, another to treat me like a brain-dead imbecile! Burn in hell!" The captain's words had the opposite effect, only fueling the flames of Zi Shou's hatred.
Now determined to fight to the death, the seventh prince raised the Ghost Blade, accepting its infernal powers. Ferocious spectral flames gathered like coiling snakes, swirling around Zi Shou and the Ghost Blade.
Seeing this, the captain frowned.
The King of Yin had given his royal guard simple orders, locate the prince, keep his location a secret from the other forces, then sneak him back into the royal residence here in Linzi. But if they allowed Zi Shou to make a move, it wouldn't be long before the other forces noticed his location.
The time of gentle talks had passed! And without hesitation, the captain stretched his right hand out. A massive surge of Blood Energy gushed forth, seizing all the momentum, and causing a crushing martial pressure to crash on Zi Shou's shoulders.
Unable to resist, the seventh prince dropped onto his knees, unable to make the tiniest move! Still, he resisted, desperately attempting to shrug off the squad captain's martial pressure.
"Futile efforts! Your Highness, though I'm only a Silver-Blooded Warrior and cannot be compared to your honorable self, my 320 years of martial cultivation are not so weak that a boy barely out of his teens can resist my martial pressure! I'm sorry, but no amount of demonic powers can help you out of this one." The captain dismissed Zi Shou's attempt, and stepped forward, ready to complete the capture.
But at that time…
[Karmic Dissociation]
Out of nowhere, two figures appeared behind the five royal guards. One, a voluptuous enchantress dressed like an ordinary restaurant cook, the other, a matchlessly beautiful boy with flowing silver hair, and an unusual pair of red and purple eyes.
'What the hell is this? I have the feeling that they have been here for a while, but before they appeared, I had no idea that we were being observed.' With centuries of martial experience at his back, as soon as Huan Yi and Taotie appeared, the squad captain felt something amiss.
He wasn't the only one. From Zi Shou to the other royal guards, all felt that Huan Yi and Taotie had been observing in silence for a while, yet only noticed them now. This strange and self-contradicting feeling was due to one of Huan Yi's abilities: Karmic Dissociation.
By relying on his Karmic Dissociation, the Demon Child could separate himself and those he picked from the world's Karma, essentially making them invisible to all except experts with an advanced level of mastery over Karma.
But while using that ability, Huan Yi could only physically interact with the people that he isolated alongside him. For the rest of the world, he could only use spiritual abilities like the head-popping trick he'd used before.