Stepping out of the tent and looking at the chaotic barracks, Lu Pinghai pondered whether they should head out to Tiesuo Pa.s.s or go back to Great Xia. He felt more inclined toward the latter, but because he hadn't fulfilled his promise to the Great Xia emperor yet, he felt somewhat embarra.s.sed about going back.

Even though the token that the other party took out was somewhat of a joke, after that person died, Lu Pinghai had never expected that someone else would know its purpose after so many years later. Furthermore, it managed to find its way to him. However, since the token was in the hands of the other party, Lu Pinghai agreed to complete three tasks to pay back the other party.

At the thought of this, Lu Pinghai looked back into the past. People tended to do this when they were old. Back at that point in time, he had just entered the society and lodged at a weird inn that accepted hirings for a.s.sa.s.sination.

He remembered that the first employer offered him a basket of eggs and a pair of shoes as his reward.

Back then, he didn't even own a pair of shoes.

He undertook his tasks with speed and ferocity, earning himself the nickname of Speedy Sword soon after.

From that time forward, Lu Pinghai left theis inn after a good looking man said something to him.

After so many years, he had already forgotten what that person looked like. However, he still remembered his eyes, which were as clear as a child's.

He remembered his name as well. Ye Qiu.

Lu Pinghai saw that man again after he had earned himself a reputation and gave him a doll that he had carved by hand, which resembled him. He said to Ye Qiu that if he could afford to pay, he would fulfill three tasks for him.

Unfortunately, that man never sought him out, and Lu Pinghai subsequently heard that he had already pa.s.sed away.

He sought revenge for Ye Qiu, lost a finger, and could never wield a sword again. Speedy Sword Lu Qi had long since disappeared.

In place of that, he was then known as Nine Fingers Lu Qi.

Some time later, n.o.body called him by the names Nine Fingers or Lu Qi anymore.

Everyone only knew him as Lu Pinghai, the world's eighth most powerful expert.

Just as he was getting lost in his thoughts, the surrounding Great Xia soldiers all ran off. A bunch of big burly warriors of the winged cavalry, with arms that could run a horse race and fists that could support a person's weight, had replaced them.

After that, it was all history.

Lu Pinghai noticed at once when the empress appeared in the air. His reputation as one of the top ten experts in the world would have been tarnished if he wasn't even able to detect her presence at such a close distance.

He took a glance at the empress in the air. His sleeves transformed into long poles and struck two of the winged cavalry warriors on their chests. Both of them were immediately sent flying off with blood spouting from their mouths.

Just a moment ago, his sleeves transformed into a blade, a spear, a sword, a pole...

His Heaven-grade weapon was this pair of sleeves, known as the Thousand Thread Sleeves. It could manifest countless forms and was able to transform into anything he wanted.

After striking two of the winged cavalry warriors, Lu Pinghai flipped away.

"Lu Qi, I was still worried that I wouldn't be able to find you. I shall send you to meet your maker today!" The empress drew an arrow back and fired.

The moment he left, a deep hole was drilled into the ground. The people in the surroundings felt the tailwind swept up by bone arrows as well as a series of explosive sounds.

That arrow travelled faster than sound.

"Qi..." Lu Pinghai dodged just as he spoke a word. Quite a few bone arrows landed behind him, leaving a row of holes in the ground.

"Zi..." Lu Pinghai dodged again and only managed to squeeze out another word. Once again, a number of holes appeared in the ground behind him.

"Xiao..." Lu Pinghai's voice trailed as he continued to flee.

The number of arrows in the empress's quiver had been reduced by half. Her rate of fire was not too far off when compared to Ren Baqian operating the machine gun.

"Crazy woman!" Lu Pinghai was faced with a rain of arrows even before he could finish saying those three words. He cursed in silence and ran for his life.

The empress landed on the ground before a few of the winged cavalry warriors appeared in front of her and immediately cupped their hands.

"Your Majesty!"

Following which, the empress was gone with the wind as were the arrow quivers that had been slung across the backs of five or so of the winged cavalry warriors.

Lu Pinghai's speed on the ground was so fast that the surrounding people couldn't even see him clearly. The empress fired out half a quiver of arrows everytime she leapt into the sky. She jumped up again every time she landed on the ground, like a northern goshawk preying on wild rabbits. Her focus was always fixed on the view of Lu Pinghai's back.

The arrows shot through the air with explosive sounds, straight toward the north from the center of the central barracks.

After the empress fired the arrows, she changed hands and slung the bow across her back. Her entire body started glowing in red, streaks of tattoo-like purple veins surfaced on her face, and her speed increased to an unmeasurable velocity.

Behind his back, Lu Pinghai felt that something wasn't right, and he turned around, only to see the veins surfacing on the empress's face from afar. After he realized that she was chasing after him at a speed that was 30 percent faster than his own, he yelled immediately, "Qi Zixiao! Hong Wu isn't even dead. Why so much hatred?"

Even though he wasn't entirely sure of Qi Zixiao's powers, he had heard of such situations before. This was clearly a secret technique used by the aboriginals when they fought with their lives on the line, which involved igniting their essence blood!

Previously, Hong Wu had used this technique before. If Lu Pinghai hadn't held on until after Hong Wu's energy drained away, he probably would have sustained injuries that were much more severe than Hong Wu's.

Qi Zixiao's blood essence started to ignite as soon as she saw him, so how deep was her hatred toward him?

Also, such a secret technique was categorized into the third, sixth, and ninth grades. The higher the grade was, the longer the duration would last. The after effects would also be much milder. He felt that the empress's powers definitely wouldn't be weaker than Hong Wu's, and his heart started to tremble immediately.

The empress's complexion was ice-cold and she didn't speak a word. With a stomp of her foot, cracks were formed on a piece of rock the size of an ox before it shattered into pieces with a loud rumble.

When I say I will kill you, then I definitely will!

The both of them chased and fled around, moving further and further away from Liao City. The empress was less than 20 meters away from Lu Pinghai, so he had no choice but to turn around and exchange a blow before flipping away. He made used of this impact to increase the distance between them.

However, every time they clashed, he felt as if he had been hit by a huge hammer.

Now he knew why Hua Sanliu had died at the hands of Qi Zixiao. Besides her immaculate strength, her speed was also phenomenal, and it was extremely difficult to even escape.

Now he could only wait and see how long Qi Zixiao's secret technique would last.

Last time, Hong Wu's technique lasted for an hour. There was no telling how long Qi Zixiao's would last.

If Qi Zixiao didn't know her limits, perhaps he could even capture her, bring her back to face the emperor of Great Xia, and fulfill his promise to him.

Two hours pa.s.sed. Lu Pinghai had spat out three mouthfuls of blood, but Qi Zixiao didn't seem to have any intention of giving up the chase.

At the present, the sky had already started to brighten.

In front of the two of them was a continuous string of barracks.

This stretch of huge barracks surrounded a city and could only be seen from high up in the sky.

In these two hours, the empress had chased Lu Pinghai from Liao City to Tiesuo Pa.s.s.

Lu Pinghai thoughts grew fl.u.s.tered when he saw the barracks in the distance. It would be rather disgraceful if they were to see him in this current situation.

He wasn't sure how much longer Qi Zixiao could continue pursuing given her current condition, but he was already reaching his limit.

They ran from Liao City to Tiesuo Pa.s.s in two hours!

This distance was exactly 200 kilometers.

Currently, both their speeds had reduced to a level that wasn't even 30 percent of their initial speeds. However, in this situation where they had both ran 200 kilometers in two hours and even pa.s.sed over several mountain ridges, even Spirit Wheel experts would be worn out.

"Qi Zixiao is here! Hurry and send a.s.sistance!" Lu Pinghai seized the moment and yelled, but this one breath had caused him to slow down. As he turned around, his sleeves took six consecutive punches from the empress. He was flung into the sky, throwing up blood as he fell in the direction of the military camp.

Lu Pinghai's yell had alerted numerous people in the Great Xia camp. A din immediately brewed up before tens of silhouettes leapt out.

The people who leapt out from the Great Xia camp cried out in alarm after seeing the both of them, "It's Lu Pinghai and Qi Zixiao!"

"We ran for two hours from Liao City to here. She's already exhausted, so act swiftly," Lu Pinghai shouted as he threw up blood. He was feeling incessantly agonized. This Qi Zixiao was unexpectedly so strong!

The moment he spoke those words, the movements of those silhouettes suddenly became sluggish.

Additionally, there were another two silhouettes who had just landed outside of the barracks. Upon seeing them, the others felt a little more confident. Even though these two people weren't among the top ten strongest in the world, they were Spirit Wheel experts.

Even if they couldn't defeat Qi Zixiao under normal circ.u.mstances, after having run here from Liao City in two hours, Qi Zixiao should probably already be reaching her limit.

"Do it!" someone shouted. Then, more than ten silhouettes charged toward the both of them.

The empress wasn't the least bit concerned and had her eyes fixed tightly on Lu Pinghai. The purplish veins on her face grew more concentrated, and the color became darker. Droplets of blood seeped through the surface of her skin as well.

Looking at the empress, Lu Pinghai was on the verge of cursing.

Why is she fighting so hard?

What hatred does she have for me?As if chasing me around for two hours isn't enough, even when you're already reaching your limit, you still want ramp up your essence blood ignition?

At this point, the empress totally couldn't be bothered by the rest of the people. She raced up to Lu Pinghai and once more threw him off with a succession of blows. She then leapt into the sky and stomped on Lu Pinghai, landing within the Great Xia barracks with a loud bang.

Even with blood spurting out of his nose and mouth, Lu Pinghai was still able to dig himself out of the hole in the ground, jump out of it, and continue running.

He was now able to witness it. Qi Zixiao wasn't putting her own life at stake, she was practically exchanging her life for his!

The empress chased after Lu Pinghai once again. With both hands grasping his shoulders, she continued das.h.i.+ng forward.

Tents, fences, corners, and everything else. Like shredded paper, everything was smashed into pieces as the empress rampaged through.

Lu Pinghai was throwing up blood as he collided into everything in front of him.

From an aerial view, the trail of the empress looked as if it was a yellow dragon.

Together, the empress and Lu Pinghai were the dragon's head.

Beside the yellow dragon, dozens of people were chasing them. Of the two Spirit Wheel experts, one of them was wielding a sword. When the other expert raised his hand, a meter long wooden pillar emerged from the sky and struck the empress on her back.

The empress couldn't care less. She consecutively took three blows to her back, each one striking at a higher speed. However, blood spouted from her mouth when she took the third blow.

Presently, the appearance of the empress was horrifying. Almost all of her exposed skin was covered with the purplish veins. There were also blood droplets seeping through her skin, turning her white inner garments red.

Yet, she still maintained a death grip on Lu Pinghai, not allowing him to budge at all. She held him and rampaged through, creating a straight line within the Great Xia camp. People, fences, city gates, houses, courtyard walls. Like a bulldozer, everything in sight was destroyed.

Just like that, they rampaged into Tiesuo Pa.s.s.

Hong Wu heard a familiar sound coming from the outside, stepped out of his residence, and saw a red silhouette holding a man while rampaging toward him. They knocked him over and bashed through his residence, all the way from the south toward the north gate.

Hong Wu was almost shocked to death, and hurriedly chased after them, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

However, the empress couldn't hear a single thing at the moment. Both of her eyes had turned black, without the least bit of brightness.

With a strike of his palm, Hong Wu eventually struck the empress down upon the ground, finally stopping this disastrous bulldozer.