The shock brought by An Jiu's arrow paled in comparison to the thin line of blood spurting from the Crown Prince's neck.
He Cai succeeded in his strike, and the Shadow Guards beside the Crown Prince lunged at him like madmen with their swords.
Surrounded by dozens of men, He Cai had almost no chance to resist. His body was instantly pierced by over ten swords, blood spraying everywhere, his chest and abdomen riddled with holes like a sieve.
Feng Shi, witnessing the Crown Prince assassinated right under his nose, burned with fury. With a sharp cry, his swordplay grew even more frenzied.
Feng Shi knew that with the Crown Prince dead, if he didn’t fight his way out, he would surely die here today. Every emperor sought legitimacy, and upon ascending the throne, would go to great lengths to whitewash their past. As the most credible witness, Feng Shi was someone the Second Prince would never tolerate.
Seeing the Crown Prince dead, the Second Prince suppressed his wild joy and ordered the surrounding Crane Control Army to assist Chu Dingjiang in dealing with Feng Shi.
But how could ordinary martial arts masters intervene in a battle between Transformation Realm Masters? The Crane Control Army could only clear out the Crown Prince’s remaining loyalists on the periphery—they were of no help to Chu Dingjiang.
An Jiu had paid a steep price for firing that last Dragon Subduing Bow arrow. She stood motionless for a long time, her entire right arm trembling uncontrollably. Blood seeped from her ears and eyes—not much, but against her deathly pale face, it looked terrifying.
Mental strength was not an inexhaustible resource. Like Inner Force, once overdrawn, it inflicted severe damage to the body.
An Jiu’s vision was bathed in red. The chaotic battlefield in the distance churned in her mind, and as the turmoil settled, only one clear thought surfaced—sleep.
She wanted so badly to sleep…
Elder Zhi’s condition appeared slightly better than An Jiu’s, though his eyes were gradually losing their luster, as if wisdom itself was leaving his body.
Amid the chaotic battlefield, few noticed the changes in Elder Zhi and An Jiu. Since both were Transformation Realm Masters, others instinctively avoided them while fighting.
Chu Dingjiang was gradually finding it difficult to hold his own against Feng Shi. If not for the Startling String arrow draining his Inner Force at the start, he might still have had a fighting chance. But now, if this continued, he could lose his life at any moment.
"Where there is life, there is hope"—Chu Dingjiang had always been a man of extreme composure. Seizing a brief opening, he swiftly retreated ten zhang.
Feng Shi, also aiming to escape, naturally didn’t press the attack and took the chance to withdraw as well. Among those present, no one could stop him now. Standing atop the roof, he glanced down at Chu Dingjiang for a few breaths before swiftly departing.
The sun rose.
The chaos at the Gate of Splendor gradually subsided. Rivers of blood stained the ground, the stench thick in the air, the sky above the palace reflecting a deep crimson.
Chu Dingjiang turned and saw An Jiu standing in the bloodbath, leaning on the Dragon Subduing Bow like a stone monument. His heart sank. Summoning the last of his Inner Force, he appeared before her in an instant, his voice hoarse as he called, "A Jiu."
An Jiu lifted her head slightly.
The morning breeze was cool, carrying the heavy scent of blood. Chu Dingjiang’s robe had long been torn to shreds, his close-fitting outfit clinging to his muscular frame. His chest and arms bore over a dozen wounds of varying depths, some still bleeding. But An Jiu knew these were only superficial—his condition wasn’t too dire."Hi." She grinned, her hair fluttering slightly in the morning breeze, framing her pale face with a breathtaking beauty.
Yet in the next moment, her smile froze as her entire body fell backward.
"A Jiu!" Chu Dingjiang grabbed her in an instant, the small wounds that had just begun to scab on his arm tearing open again. Fresh blood gushed out, soaking the dark robes they both wore. (To be continued...)
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