Chapter 660 - The Divine Mother’s Dream, The Primordial Emperor Still Lives - Part 3

March of the next year arrived in a blur.

Willows and wild laurels swayed violently in the wind.

Off the main road, deep in a wooded thicket, blades flashed and clashed in deadly silence.

A swordsman and a blademaster were locked in a brutal duel, their movements fast, fierce, and lethal.

The swordsman wore plain hemp robes. The blademaster, dressed in unremarkable travel clothes. But there was nothing ordinary about the way they fought.

They didn’t speak a word, just stared at each other with cold intensity before lunging back into the fray.

The elite of the rebel army had finally come face-to-face with the killers dispatched by the Great Zhou’s Ministry of Martial Arts.

The blademaster’s style was wild and aggressive, sweeping, thunderous strikes, reminiscent of battlefield executions. It made sense. The Ministry of Martial Arts worked closely with the Ministry of War, and its fighters were often deployed in military campaigns to crush bandits and rebels alike.

The current Lord of Arms, one of the Eight Pillars of the Empire, had developed a method of killing refined through the furnace of war, a vicious, efficient system of combat built purely for slaughter, and had passed it down within the Ministry of Martial Arts.

The imperial court had always been rich in martial knowledge. But with such killing moves in hand, the Empire’s martial artists were like wolves given fangs.

They weren’t just good at fighting. They were born to kill.

KLANG! KLANG! KLANG!

In a flash, the two combatants exchanged more than ten blows, matching each other evenly.

The blademaster’s expression had changed from cold confidence to grim seriousness. For someone like him, who trained with the Empire’s finest, who ate richly, lived well, and had every advantage, being matched blow for blow by a rebel fighter was more than a setback.

It was a humiliation.

He tightened his grip on the blade and asked through clenched teeth, “What style is that?”

The rebel swordsman gave a sharp, wicked grin. “The style of killing tyrants.”

With that, they charged again, blades raised.

But just then, a strange sound cut through the air. It was rapid, heavy footfalls, like a beast crashing through the forest on the hunt.

They both halted, glancing toward the noise, unsure if the newcomer was friend or foe.

And then, a gust of foul wind swept through the trees, sending leaves and branches whipping wildly.

Out from the brush leapt...a nearly naked fur-covered gorilla.

It was a huge, half-naked man wearing only underpants, covered in thick body hair.

It was none other than Sun Juli.

Swinging twin battle axes, he spun like a tornado, kicking up a storm as he launched himself straight at the blademaster.

The speed of it was absurd and unnatural.

Before the blademaster could even process what was happening, the first axe was already in his face.

He scrambled to block.

BOOM!

With one earth-shaking strike, his arms went numb from the impact. Pain exploded through his hands, and feeling vanished.

KLANG!

His blade flew from his grasp, clattering to the dirt.

Horrified, he looked up just in time to see the second axe, slicing through the air with a shriek, gleaming silver as it carved a perfect arc toward him.

SPLATTER!

Blood sprayed through the trees.

His head flew clean off.

Even in the air, the severed head’s eyes were wide open, frozen in horror and disbelief.

PLOP!

It hit the ground with a dull thud, rolling into a pile of dead leaves and muddy rot.

Sun Juli hefted his axes, gave the swordsman a hearty grin and a cupped-fist salute, then bounded off to help elsewhere on the battlefield, muttering gleefully as he went, “Damn, these two axes really are something else... Unstoppable! I’m freakin’ invincible now, hahaha!”

He was absolutely thrilled.

Then the thought struck him.

This axe skill came from Lord Yu...

His excitement dimmed slightly. After all, he hadn’t created the style himself.

But another thought quickly perked him up.

Lord Yu’s basically a god. He’s not even competing in the same world as us mortals. So that means... I'm still top dog down here!

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

As time went on, the name Lord Yu spread far beyond the outlaw circles of the Green Forest Alliance. It echoed across the entire martial world.

People began to ask about him, to study him.

He was like someone with the Midas touch. Every martial artist he trained became a force to be reckoned with.

This, in and of itself, was astounding.

Martial artists all practiced different disciplines, had different body types, different instincts. They used different weapons, swords, spears, axes, whips, etc. It wasn’t like a person could just learn one style and teach it to everyone. And even if they

could

, not everyone had the talent or the constitution to master it.

But Lord Yu? He didn’t discriminate. He taught anyone who asked.

Swordsmen? He could teach them. Axemen, spearmen, whip users? All fine. Even folks with the weirdest, most obscure styles? He had something for them, too.

And he didn’t just teach them. His students improved dramatically. They didn’t just get stronger. They broke through limits and climbed into whole new realms.

Most of his disciples were Green Forest Alliance rogues and rebels.

To the Ministry of Martial Arts, these were nothing but yapping little mutts, snarling, but ultimately toothless.

But after training under Lord Yu, those mutts turned into tigers.

The Empire was shaken.

The entire martial world was shaken.

Everyone wanted to know. Who exactly was Lord Yu?*

And then, like a feather drifting on the wind, a new rumor began to circulate.

Lord Yu had a teacher. His name was...

Li Yuan.

“Li Yuan? Who is he?! Where the hell did this Li Yuan come from?!”

The Lord of Arms, head of the Ministry of Martial Arts, gritted his teeth, eyes icy as he demanded answers.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

“Li Yuan?”

Far in the northern reaches of Swallowcloud Province, the always low-profile head of the Li Clan rose slowly from his chair, leaning heavily on a cane. Back hunched with age, he shuffled to the ancestral hall and looked up at the shrine where the clan’s founding ancestor had always been venerated.

He knew, had always known, who had truly shaped the Li Clan into what it was today.

That someone...was Li Yuan.

Soon after, a well-dressed man with a scholarly air hurried into the hall.

“Father,” he said urgently. “News has reached us.”

The clan head, Li Hu, lifted a hand, cutting him off, then coughed a few times before rasping, “Mingze... The age of the extraordinary is long gone. The names of gods and devils have been forgotten. Even if this man is who they say he is...what makes you think he can stand against the storm of Heaven and Earth? This is probably just some elaborate ploy. Hype, nothing more.”

Li Mingze clenched his fists. His voice was ice. “Then tell me, Father, if this man dares smear our ancestor’s name...should the Li Clan stay silent?”

Li Hu shook his head. “Don’t act on impulse. Think carefully before you move. Mingze, you’re still too hot-blooded.”

Li Mingze gave a sheepish smile. “I just...it’s about our ancestor, isn’t it? Someone out there’s using his name to show off, and I can’t help but feel angry.”

Li Hu said calmly, “Let’s wait and watch. If he’s earned that reputation, he must have some real skill. But if he truly has anything to do with

our

ancestor...then he’s far more than what the rumors claim.”

“Yes, Father,” Li Mingze replied respectfully.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Imperial Palace, Central Capital.

“Where are you, my beauties? Hmm? Still hiding from me? If you don’t come out soon...I might just start killing people, hehe.”

The Emperor, fat-faced and slack-jawed, was playing blind man’s bluff in his bedchamber, blindfolded and draped in a dragon robe.

Around him were trembling courtesans, each one carefully selected for beauty.

They hid and hesitated, unsure whether to stay or run.

Because the tyrant was holding a blade.

If he caught a girl, and he happened to be in a good mood, he might enjoy himself and let her go.

If he wasn’t, he’d do as he pleased, then kill her with a laugh.

And to make things worse, he had a rule. If half an hour passed and he hadn’t caught anyone,

all

of the women would die.

The palace beauties were paralyzed with fear.

But the Emperor? He was having the time of his life.

When it was over, the air reeked of sex and blood. Guards silently entered, cleaning up the corpses that littered the floor.

The Emperor sat back in satisfaction, basking in his twisted pleasure.

Just then, an eunuch hurried in, whispering urgently into his ear.

The Emperor frowned. “Li Yuan? Another rebel?! Why are you telling

me

? Go tell the Grand General. Or the Lord of Arms.”

He chuckled, eyes glinting with madness. “Yin and Yang in perfect harmony, desires freely indulged... Stealing others’ essence to refine pills and prolong life, that’s what the Heavenly Master taught me. My path to immortality! Hehehe... Go, go. Don’t interrupt my cultivation.”

The eunuch hesitated.

The Emperor’s face turned cold.

The eunuch dropped to his knees in terror and blurted, “Your Majesty, the man’s name is Li Yuan.

Li Yuan

, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor scratched his greasy scalp and kicked him to the floor. “And what of it? What’s so special about Li Yuan?!”

The eunuch trembled, kowtowing again and again. “Your Majesty... That name... Li Yuan... He was the maternal grandfather of Emperor Xuan. Father of the Central Capital Princess. The one who slaughtered everyone at the Swan Pavilion. Rumor has it...even the Human Emperor was close to him. He’s a figure out of myth, Your Majesty...”

The Emperor froze, as if lost in thought, or in the haze of a memory.

But a moment later, he snapped back with a shriek.

“Guards! Drag him out and behead him! Calling a rebel my ancestor? Are you

insane

? That’s treason! You think I’d share blood with a traitor?! You deserve death a thousand times over!”