Chapter 1 Yan Wang

Yan Wang didn't respond to the question, but remained silent for two seconds before her crimson lips parted slightly as she asked, "This young master, might you be Zhu Zhi Zha?"

"Impudence!" Upon hearing this, Bao Qi immediately stepped forward and shouted, "How dare you, lowly commoner! To address His Highness by his given name?"

*Shhh—*

Before he finished speaking, a sharp sound suddenly arose from within the curtain.

In that instant, an invisible surge of energy burst forth, heading straight for Bao Qi.

This move employed by Yan Wang… seemed to have no power, merely "passing" through the curtain like a gentle breeze brushing against willow branches; but in the blink of an eye, this surge of energy rapidly accelerated, solidifying into a thunderous form in mid-air, unstoppable.

No one knew what method, technique, or gongfa she was using...

In fact, among the eight great experts, only two reacted to this move in time.

The first… was Bian Ji.

As Vice Envoy Bian, his internal energy was unmatched; he almost instinctively sensed the danger of this move. Therefore, he hastily mobilized his true power, swiftly raising a single palm, drawing a vigorous palm shadow in the air, intending to meet its force head-on.

And the second… was Shangguan Si.

As the Jinyi Wei (Imperial Bodyguard) Commander, he naturally couldn't sit idly by and watch his subordinate get killed. Unlike Bian Ji, Commander Shangguan, a person of exceptional external skills, relied mainly on his "five senses" to recognize moves, a trait similar to players.

In the blink of an eye! Shangguan Si's figure swayed, arriving first despite starting later, raising an arm to block Bao Qi.

However, what happened next could only be described as "terrifying."

*Chi—puff—bang!*

After three strange sounds…

Bian Ji's palm shadow was pierced through, vanishing like smoke.

Shangguan Si's arm was also pierced through, bleeding profusely.

And Bao Qi… his entire upper body was reduced to a pile of minced meat; he didn't even utter a groan before he breathed his last.

In this situation, the seven surviving experts undoubtedly had the same reaction deep down—"Holy shit!"

As for Zhu Zhi Zha and Chang Wei, who didn't understand martial arts… although they didn't comprehend the intricacies of this exchange, they clearly saw the horrific state of the corpse; therefore, they were both pale with fright, at a loss for what to do.

"Well, you two are indeed experts of the inner court," Yan Wang's melodious voice rang out again two seconds later. "With Vice Envoy Bian's aptitude, to cultivate the ability to transform true qi into form is truly not easy; Commander Shangguan's external kung fu is also powerful and remarkable, truly rare… if you two were to roam the jianghu (martial world), you would surely become top-notch figures in the martial world."

Her tone was very calm as she said these words, and the calmer she was, the more terrifying she seemed…

Terrifying to the point of suffocation.

In the world today, there was only one person who could give these seven experts such a sense of oppression… and that was Cao Qin.

"Senior…" After another five seconds, Shangguan Si stopped the bleeding from his hand with acupressure, and said in a deep voice, "...Just now, my subordinate was rude in his words, please forgive him!"

He was indeed a smart man who knew how to assess the situation. For him, the death of Bao Qi was completely acceptable. If necessary, he would even sell out Zhu Zhi Zha...

"Mm…" Yan Wang pondered for a moment, then continued, "Do you know how to speak to me now?"

"I... I am Bian Ji, paying respects to Senior." Perhaps no one would have thought that Vice Envoy Bian, who usually seemed aloof, would be the second to bow his head after Shangguan Si.

But his actions set a good example… Seeing the attitude of Commander Shangguan and Envoy Bian, the rest of them didn't feel embarrassed anymore.

So, Lu Yuan, Mao Jincai, Jiang Xu, Cao Guo, and Yu Fei clasped their fists one after another, respectfully reporting their names to Yan Wang.

Then, it was Imperial Physician Chang’s turn…

"This old man is Chang Wei, paying respects..."

"Master Chang... there's no need to call me Senior," Unexpectedly, Yan Wang interrupted Chang Wei just as he spoke, "I can't bear it."

These words… at first glance, didn't seem wrong, because Imperial Physician Chang was the oldest of the ten people in this group (although now there were only nine). But thinking about it carefully, something seemed off…

From the previous exchange, it was clear that Yan Wang was quite impolite to this group of people, and she didn't say anything when Bian Ji (nearly sixty years old), the second oldest of the ten, called her Senior. Logically speaking… even if she wanted to refuse Imperial Physician Chang calling her Senior, she only needed to say the first half of the sentence; the second half, "I can't bear it," didn't seem quite right no matter how you thought about it.

Therefore, after these words were spoken, the people who had gradually come to their senses all turned their faces towards Imperial Physician Chang, revealing suspicious expressions.

"Hmph... even if I can't hide it from your eyes, why did you have to expose it?" In the next second, the old age on Chang Wei's body seemed to disappear in an instant; his slightly hunched body straightened up all of a sudden, and the complexion on his face seemed to have become more youthful, and even the tone of his voice was no longer like that of an old man, but revealed the vigor of a middle-aged man.

"Lord Chang... you..." Zhu Zhi Zha, who was standing next to Chang Wei, was the last to come to his senses, and he was also the most surprised by Imperial Physician Chang's transformation.

"Heh... Your Highness, to be honest..." Chang Wei said with a sneer, "This old man was not an imperial physician many years ago..." As he spoke, he put his hands behind his back, assuming a standard pose of a peerless expert.

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the seven great experts next to him all changed drastically. Especially the two from the Jinyi Wei and Dongchang (Eastern Depot)… for them, having such a person mixed in with the imperial physicians specially used by the royal family, and they were completely unaware of it, was definitely a major dereliction of duty.

"It's normal that you couldn't find out his identity." At this time, Yan Wang seemed to have seen through those people's thoughts, and coldly interjected in the room, "This person is Chang Xingsui, the number one expert in Dongying (Japan) forty years ago. He is not only at the peak of martial arts, but also proficient in medicine, divination, and astrology; he can be said to be an all-rounder." She paused, "But... about thirty years ago, Chang Xingsui suddenly disappeared from the Dongying martial world. Some say he is already dead, and some say he went out to sea to seek immortality. But in fact... he disguised himself and mixed in with the Wokou (Japanese pirates) ships, and came to the Central Plains."

"Heh…" Chang Wei sneered upon hearing this, "I never thought… that in this deep valley on the edge of the desert, there would be someone who knows so much about me…" He waved his sleeves and asked unceremoniously, "But I wonder… how did you know all this?"

"Simple," Yan Wang replied, "Of course, someone told me."

"Who?" Chang Wei asked sharply, casting a sharp gaze into the curtain.

"Me~" Responding to him was another voice.

A feminine, indifferent voice.

The moment this voice rang out, everyone present changed their expressions… including Yan Wang.

As the voice faded, Cao Qin's figure had already appeared between Zhu Zhi Zha and Chang Wei.

No one saw how he came, as if he was standing there all along.

"Cao Qin…" Chang Wei's expression became very serious, and his hand unconsciously moved towards the collar of his chest.

"What? You want to release a smoke bomb?" Cao Qin didn't even look at him, and said leisurely, "Oh… no, it should be called 'ninjutsu'; it sounds more impressive that way."

After hearing him say this, Chang Wei put his hand down: "You... even know 'ninjutsu'?"

"I know a lot more than that," Cao Qin replied. "The day you entered the Taiyuan Hospital, I knew you were no ordinary person." He said slowly, "Since then, you have been lurking as an imperial physician for more than twenty years; during such a long period of time... I naturally had ample time to find out your origins."

"Hmph! Bluffing..." Chang Wei said, "If you really knew my identity as early as when I entered the Taiyuan Hospital, why didn't you expose me?"

"Why should I expose you?" Cao Qin asked without even thinking.

"Of course, it's because..." Chang Wei wanted to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.

Then, his expression became quite ugly.

"Understood, right?" Cao Qin replied, "Since you can endure for more than twenty years, I can accompany you to endure for more than twenty years. When you show your true colors, I will take you down." He picked up the wine pot with a smile, and took another sip, "Catching you on the first day you sneaked in is not much of a punishment, because you already had the 'death' consciousness. Therefore, I won't let you die… I just quietly watch you pretend, watching you waste half your life on something that can't succeed, and finally, when you think your great cause is about to be accomplished, let you know that everything is in vain..." Each of his words was like a biting cold wind, scraping against Chang Wei's mind and soul, "This... is the best way to deal with people like you."

Not only Chang Wei, but even the officials from the imperial court felt a chill down their spines when they heard these words. At this moment, they were truly grateful in their hearts… "It's good that we are on the same side as Eunuch Cao." However, there was still a hint of hidden fear in their hearts… "What if I have something that he has already gotten a hold of, but he just hasn't revealed it… what should I do?"

"You... you..." On the other hand, Chang Wei, the person involved, was already furious, and his inner strength and murderous aura involuntarily spread out from his body.

But Cao Qin was unmoved, just stood in front of Zhu Zhi Zha and continued, "At the age of forty, you were already a legend in the Dongying martial world. Like many overlords, when you gained power that others could not reach, what you thought of was how to permanently preserve it, so... you came to the Central Plains." He paused, "You are very smart, you know that my Great Ming is vast and abundant, with many experts, even if you are invincible in Dongying, there may not be anyone in the Central Plains martial world who can defeat you. So you hid your identity, disguised as a wandering doctor, outwardly living a nomadic life, wandering around and helping people, but in reality, you were inquiring about the news of the 'art of longevity'."

At this point, Eunuch Cao glanced at Yan Wang, "But at that time, the legend of 'Yan Wang' did not yet exist. After you searched the jianghu without success, you thought of the royal family..." He chuckled, "Heh... this idea is indeed not wrong, if there really is an art of longevity in this world... then the Son of Heaven of my Great Ming Empire will definitely spare no effort to seize it; even if he can't get the real thing immediately, he can at least get the news. So, after several years of searching, you finally entered the Taiyuan Hospital by exception with your superb medical skills. At this point... you felt that half of your plan had succeeded." He spread his hands, shook his head, "Unexpectedly, this wait has been nearly thirty years. Now you are almost seventy years old, and you can't wait any longer. Coincidentally... this time the emperor sent people to search for the 'art of longevity' in the Burial Heart Valley, and happened to designate you as the only accompanying imperial physician. Hehe... I think you must have been overjoyed when you heard this news, right?"

Hearing this, Chang Wei stared at Cao Qin and replied, "Okay... you know everything, but so what?" As he spoke, he took out eight shurikens from his chest and placed them between his fingers, "I have now arrived in the Burial Heart Valley, and I am already standing in front of Yan Wang... as long as I kill you all, and then subdue that woman, the art of longevity will still be mine."

"Hahaha..." Cao Qin looked at Chang Wei's appearance and laughed a few times to the sky, "Chang Wei, you really are hopeless... you yourself said... I 'know everything', so do you think... at this moment, the fact that you and everyone present can 'stand here alive'... I wouldn't have expected it?"

Cold, these words made everyone except Yan Wang feel a bone-chilling coldness.

"There are many medical officials in the Taiyuan Hospital; why do you think the emperor would choose a dying old man like you to follow us to climb mountains and wade through rivers?" Cao Qin added another blow to Chang Wei with a question that revealed the obvious answer.

"Ah—" At this point, Chang Wei had nothing to say.

A second later, he roared and suddenly attacked.

Eight shurikens, like dancing bees and butterflies, seemed to have their own consciousness, bypassed Cao Qin... and swarmed towards Zhu Zhi Zha.

Chang Wei was arrogant and regarded himself as invincible in the world. Even Yan Wang's actions did not surprise him (he only pretended to react like Zhu Zhi Zha). He didn't even take the seven great experts around him seriously. However... Chang Wei was still a little wary of Cao Qin. He knew that confronting this unfathomable monster head-on would probably not lead to victory, so... he chose to attack Zhu Zhi Zha, trying to use this to expose Cao Qin's flaws. Once Eunuch Cao was killed by him, the others would probably not even have the courage to fight him.

However… what Chang Wei never expected was…

Cao Qin didn't move.

The Dongchang Eunuch just stood indifferently in place, without even turning his head, allowing Zhu Zhi Zha to die under the shurikens.

"What!" Chang Wei was shocked again. Since the other party didn't move at all, naturally there was no flaw to be revealed, and his subsequent attacks had no way to begin.

"What's wrong?" Cao Qin picked up the wine pot and took a sip. "Are you thinking, as a matter of course, that I stood between you and His Highness to talk to you in order to protect him?" He shook his head with a smile. "Alas... it's no wonder you're doomed to die without a whole corpse."

Before the word "corpse" could be uttered, seven different techniques and inner energies... had crashed onto Chang Wei's back like a torrential rain.