Mu Xiaoxiao had been unable to recover since seeing Nan Shiying.
For the past month, the Princess Consort had been in seclusion, reportedly ill again. Many had previously said that the Princess Consort could not handle her good fortune, and that even if she ascended to a higher branch, she would not become a phoenix. Now, such talk was even more prevalent, and as more people said it, more believed it.
Although the capital appeared calm and undisturbed these days, she felt as though a storm was brewing. Her mother, having heard something from someone, was again planning to arrange a marriage for her, and she was so annoyed that she had no choice but to sneak out again.
Mu Xiaoxiao did not want to be caught in the vortex of court affairs, but now, she feared she had already been swept into it.
The Princess Consort, who was recuperating at the Imperial Academy, had actually appeared in Fengyu City, participated in the martial arts大会, and advanced to the quarterfinals.
What an earth-shattering secret this was.
How had she discovered it?
Mu Xiaoxiao's hands and feet felt somewhat numb, but she had to maintain her composure under Lin Yuzhi's probing gaze, at least not revealing too much of her thoughts.
Nan Shiying turned her head, her expression betraying no emotion at Mu Xiaoxiao's appearance. Yet, in that mere glance, He Cangling was knocked off the stage by Gu Sanmen.
"Boom~"
The entire venue erupted in an uproar.
He Cangling, the former alliance leader and a hot favorite for the current alliance leader, had been knocked down in such a short time!
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one could have believed it.
Not only was He Cangling's face pale, but even Ling Dongji, who had been defeated by him earlier, looked extremely grim. He had originally thought that Gu Sanmen was his equal, but he had not expected this person's martial arts to have reached such a level.
He Cangling had already reached the peak of perfection, his martial arts unfathomable. Yet, such a master could not even last the time it takes for an incense stick to burn against Gu Sanmen. And when he challenged He Cangling, he was only able to last for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before being defeated. The gap between him and Gu Sanmen was like a chasm.
If Gu Sanmen and He Cangling had fought back and forth, and He Cangling had lost by a single move, then even if people were surprised, they would not have been so shocked.
Where had this Gu Sanmen come from?
If Kou Zhenhai and He Cangling were evenly matched, then would the position of alliance leader be taken by Gu Sanmen?
He Cangling, Tianchi Laoren, Ling Dongji, and Ye Huanzhen, who had entered the quarterfinals, were now out. Of the fifteen participants, only eleven remained.
Currently, standing on the stage defending their positions were Kou Zhenhai, Gu Sanmen, and Gui Yidao.
Lin Junyi stepped onto the stage, challenging Kou Zhenhai.
Cheng Shifei challenged Gui Yidao.
In the middle stood Gu Sanmen, unchallenged, like a king, occupying the highest position.
The competition saw another upset, with Lin Junyi of the Lin family defeating Kou Zhenhai and successfully challenging him. On the third stage, as Cheng Shifei lunged forward with his iron fist towards Gui Yidao, Gui Yidao bent down, pulled out a short, flat blade from his怀, and unleashed a move called 'Zhenhai Style'.
A Japanese person?
The move Gui Yidao used to repel Cheng Shifei was not from Lin Yuan martial arts, but from the flat, short blade techniques favored by the Japanese. Gui Yidao hailed from the Douhai Sect, and the Douhai Sect was near Yuzhong County. Yuzhong County was separated from Japan by the sea. Before Gui Yidao unleashed Zhenhai Style, no one had ever thought that this person was not from Lin Yuan.
How could their Lin Yuan martial arts alliance leader be taken by a Japanese person?
The Japanese held themselves in high regard. Before becoming a vassal state of Lin Yuan, they had ambitiously desired to seize Lin Yuan's territory. In the Battle of Weixia Province, the Japanese navy was directly repelled back to their homeland by the Lin Yuan navy. The island of Weixia Province, within Japanese territory, was directly occupied by Lin Yuan. Weixia Province was close to Japan, and the Lin Yuan navy was stationed there for training and deterrence.
The Admiral of the Weixia Province Navy held a second-rank official post and commanded tens of thousands of naval forces, guarding Lin Yuan's borders.
Although after the Battle of Weixia Province, Japan had become a subordinate state, and Yuzhong County, as a place of trade between Japan and Lin Yuan, had many Japanese merchants settling there, integrating seamlessly with the local populace. However, they were ultimately not of the same race, and Japan's ambition would not diminish with the passage of time.
A cat hiding its claws did not mean its claws were no longer sharp.
Now, for the Douhai Sect to send a Japanese person to participate in the martial arts大会, it was unclear whether the sect leader had failed to discover his Japanese identity or had done so intentionally.
Cheng Shifei's iron fist attack on Gui Yidao changed direction. As Gui Yidao drew his Japanese short blade and unleashed Zhenhai Style, Cheng Shifei forcefully slammed his fist downwards towards Gui Yidao's arm.
"Crack~"
The sound of bone breaking and the sound of the blade slicing through clothes and into flesh rang out simultaneously. Gui Yidao's left arm, which held the short blade, had its bones broken. Cheng Shifei's waistcloth was sliced open by the short blade, leaving a wound an inch deep and eight inches long.
Both retreated simultaneously.
In one exchange, both were injured.
Gui Yidao's left arm was broken, equivalent to losing a hand. He dropped his long saber, took the short blade with his right hand, lowered his center of gravity, and spread his legs slightly, adopting a standard attacking posture that only Japanese ninjas would use.
Ninja.
The faces of the older generation of martial artists turned somewhat grim.
In those days, these ninjas had stirred up bloody storms in the martial arts world. How dare they show their faces again?
Using the techniques of the Douhai Sect could no longer help Gui Yidao win. Faced with the choice between obtaining the position of martial arts alliance leader and revealing his Japanese identity, Gui Yidao chose the former.
His father was an outcast of the Kato clan. After his collateral relatives seized the position of family head belonging to the main lineage, his father was forced to come to Yuzhong County, where he met and married his mother, and later they conceived him.
Fifteen years ago, his father told him everything about Japan and the Kato clan. It was then that he learned he was not from Lin Yuan, but from Japan.
Gui Yidao did not want to admit it. Why was he not a Lin Yuan person? He was born in Lin Yuan, grew up in Lin Yuan, spoke Lin Yuan's language, and wore Lin Yuan's clothes. Why did he have the blood of such a lowly, despicable race as Japan in him?
He left home, and later returned.
He came to understand one thing: since he had Japanese blood in him, why could he not make Japan a territory of Lin Yuan?
This way, no one could say he was not a Lin Yuan person.
When he returned, his father told him why he had confessed everything to him. Originally, the Kato clan had expelled his father from Japan not merely as a banishment; they had sent his father to Lin Yuan to become a nail, a nail of Japan. And he, this small nail, would naturally inherit his father's legacy and be a nail, a dog, for Japan.
At that time, Gui Yidao wondered if he, this dog, could bite off Japan's throat.
From that day on, his father began to teach him ninjutsu. Two years later, he joined the Douhai Sect, learning the long saber of the Douhai Sect while simultaneously studying Japanese ninjutsu. Whether it was due to his bloodline or not, he was more adept with his short blade than his long saber.
When he came of age and made a name for himself in the martial arts world with his long saber, the Kato clan found him.
They gave him a mission.
Either seize the position of alliance leader or disrupt the Lin Yuan martial arts world.
He wanted to return to Japan, return to the Kato clan, and personally plunge his short blade into the Emperor's heart. He wanted to ask them, by what right did they use the impure blood in his body to threaten and control him!