Chapter 896: Split Second Decisions

Leaf Dao-Denier had actually gone on the offensive.

Yang Qi had pushed the insults too far, and Leaf Dao-Denier couldn’t take it any longer. For some reason, he always ended up getting furious whenever he dealt with Yang Qi, yet he also always paid a heavy price because of it.

For example, he had worked himself to the bone to recruit the seventy-one patriarchs, who he had intended to eventually assimilate. But in the end, those seventy-one patriarchs became believers in Yang Qi. And before Leaf Dao-Denier had realized what was happening, Yang Qi stole all of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions and devoured the essence of the Tusita Heaven, removing it forever from its place in the universe.

Everything that Leaf Dao-Denier had considered his foundation had been taken away as surely as a bubble that was popped. How could he not hate Yang Qi? How could he not dissolve into a rage? In the end, he really did feel humiliated to have been turned into a consort. Therefore, to have his greatest enemy throw that in his face was just too much to take.

In response, Yang Qi didn’t even move a muscle.

He just smiled as Leaf Dao-Denier bore down with murderous intentions, almost as if the entire thing were some sort of joke.

Before Leaf Dao-Denier could reach him, two emaciated fingers shot out to meet his outstretched palm.

Swish. Rustle.

A shadowy figure appeared in front of Yang Qi, which resolved into an old eunuch. He looked very different from Eunuch Sunflower. His face was a mass of wrinkles, and he was so old that he emanated an aura of rot and death. In fact, he almost looked like a rotting corpse. That said, his martial arts were no weaker than Eunuch Sunflower’s, as only two fingers were enough to completely stop Leaf Dao-Denier.

Thump thump thump.

The black-garbed eunuch took three steps backward, while Leaf Dao-Denier merely stood in place, shivering a bit.

From that alone it was possible to see that Leaf Dao-Denier’s energy arts were actually superior. Of course, that didn’t mean the eunuch would be an easy opponent if they were to actually start fighting.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Leaf Dao-Denier looked at the eunuch and said, “Eunuch Blackheart! Are you really prepared to get in my way? Considering my status, I have every right to take some measly god-general. Don’t forget that you're nothing but a servant!”

Meanwhile, Yang Qi drifted over and stood near the two flower goddesses.

Obviously, this eunuch worked for them.

Eunuch Blackheart was clearly a high-ranking eunuch, similar to Eunuch Sunflower, and was a black-hearted and cruel individual. He obviously cultivated a devilish energy art, yet there was something about it that seemed good and proper. It was as if it took the most wretched, evil elements and converted them into righteous energy.

“Are you insane, Leaf Dao-Denier?” Eunuch Blackheart said coolly. “How dare you start openly fighting in the palace of the flower goddesses. Do you really think being favored by the empress means you can do anything you want? You’d do well to remember that there are rules regarding ranks and status in Joyflower Palace. The slaves are the lowest of the low, but as for the eunuchs and the consorts, well, we rank the same. And above all of us are the women. Not even the highest-ranking man can do anything but bow his head to the women, and that’s even more the case when dealing with flower goddesses. Attacking flower goddesses is a crime that can be punished by having your clan wiped out to the ninth generation, while you get thrown into the Blood Cistern. Understand?”

“Submit to me and prosper, or oppose me and perish!” Leaf Dao-Denier shouted. “If you get in my way, Eunuch Blackheart, then you’ll soon find out the consequences for opposing me. All it would take would be one word from me to the empress, and you’ll end up just like Eunuch Floodwater, living a life worse than death!”

Eunuch Floodwater was the very same eunuch Leaf Dao-Denier had arranged to be thrown into the Blood Cistern, where he wallowed in putrid blood and was perpetually tortured by the gnawing of blood maggots, which slowly bored their way deep into his flesh and bones. The pain of it all was unimaginable.

In response to Leaf Dao-Denier’s words, Eunuch Blackheart shivered. However, he kept his cool. “Arrogant and despotic people like you will always get what's coming to them, Leaf Dao-Denier. A lot of people like you have popped up throughout the hundred-million-year history of the Joyflower Palace. They earn the favor of the empress and start trying to throw their weight around. But in the end, they always lose favor and end up living out their days in misery. Why don’t you try doing something good for a change?”

“Do something good?” Leaf Dao-Denier shouted furiously. “I'm going to kill Yang Qi, that’s what I'm going to do. And if you try to stop me, you’ll be making yourself my enemy, too. Just like him. Then I’ll do everything in my power to put you to death. You just wait and see. All of you. You all care about your future, but not me. That’s how vicious I am!”

Leaf Dao-Denier’s words truly were ferocious. Apparently, he was willing to die as long as it meant taking them all with him.

At this point, Yang Qi chuckled. “Your threats are meaningless, Leaf Dao-Denier. You came here today to try establishing your dominance, in the hopes that word would spread through the Joyflower Palace that not even the flower goddesses dare to oppose you. But considering you can’t lay a finger on me, the exact opposite is going to happen. Everyone will know that consorts like you have no way to establish true power.”

His words struck Eunuch Blackheart and the two flower goddesses like blows to the pits of their stomach, and they immediately knew that they couldn’t allow Leaf Dao-Denier to achieve his goals.

If he did, the consequences would be too horrible to contemplate.

“Enough with your lunatic ravings, Leaf Dao-Denier,” Eunuch Blackheart said. “There’s no point. If you keep causing problems here in the flower goddesses’ palace, I’ll call on the eldresses to officially accuse you of misconduct. The Joyflower Palace has strict rules and laws, and not even the favored consort of the empress can break them.”

When Leaf Dao-Denier heard the word ‘misconduct’, he frowned. Truth be told, he wasn’t completely confident in his guess as to how the empress would view the matter. If she withdrew her favor from him, an accusation of misconduct could end up with him dead or worse. However, he still couldn’t bring himself to admit defeat and was dead set on getting his hands on Yang Qi.

His eyes darted this way and that, like those of a wolf, and although it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, anyone who could see him would be able to tell that he was coming up with a plan.

Swish!

Suddenly, he blurred into motion and launched another attack on Yang Qi! He moved with indescribable quickness, using the ultimate manifestation of the taiji to travel between that which was illusory and that which was real. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Yang Qi, reaching out toward him with his fingers splayed.

Yang Qi could see that Leaf Dao-Denier was really putting everything on the line.

Without hesitation, he thrust his palm out, filling it with a combination of numerous types of power: flexible power, rigid power, reactive power, tensile power, and even the power of the dao.

The seemingly casual palm hit Leaf Dao-Denier, then Yang Qi floated backward like a leaf in the wind. As for the power of Leaf Dao-Denier’s palm attack, it had been completely negated, making it impossible for him to grab hold of Yang Qi.

Snorting coldly, Leaf Dao-Denier threw both hands out in front of him and summoned an enormous taiji symbol.

“Taiji Spreads in all Creation; Void Seizing!”

Yang Qi seemed like a fish stuck in a net. Leaf Dao-Denier grabbed him, then spun to meet an incoming attack from Eunuch Blackheart, which sent him staggering backward.

However, at the same time, he burst out laughing. “Sorry to say I just got Yang Qi! And before long, I'll be the most powerful person in existence! You just wait, Eunuch Blackheart! You’re going to end up just like Eunuch Floodwater, living a life worse than death. People who oppose me always end up dead!”

Even as his words echoed out in the palace, Leaf Dao-Denier vanished into thin air.

“Repulsive!” Eunuch Blackheart said, and prepared to give chase. However, Jade Nightqueen stopped him. “Don’t. He might think he won a victory, but he didn’t.”

“But he captured Yang Qi!” Eunuch Blackheart said, visibly confused.

“I'm right here. Did you really think I would let him capture me?” Yang Qi strolled out into the palace hall, a mysterious smile on his face.

“You….” Eunuch Blackheart couldn’t have been more shocked. “You’re a power double!?”

It was only at this point that he noticed the tell-tale signs.

Eunuch Blackheart was no ordinary individual, so he quickly regained his composure. “So you’re even more of an expert than I realized. What exactly are you doing here in Joyflower Palace?”

“I'm here for Leaf Dao-Denier,” Yang Qi replied bluntly. “Eunuch Blackheart, I know how important you are, so please have a seat so we can talk this matter over. I have something very important to tell you. You see, Leaf Dao-Denier is keeping a big secret….”

Just as he had done with the flower goddesses, Yang Qi wove a tantalizing tale that left Eunuch Blackheart completely stunned.

Meanwhile, Leaf Dao-Denier had returned to his own palace.

Laughing maniacally, he looked over at Yang Qi, who was completely bound by the taiji symbol. “Yang Qi, I bet you never would have guessed that I cultivate a divine ability that is the bane of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. My Taiji Indestructible Chaos-Magic World-Terrorizing Profound Art provides incredible speed and spectacular fist strikes. And in the blink of an eye, it can disrupt all sorts of magical and natural laws. Because of it, you have no way to open the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, which means that you’re completely at my mercy.”

Waving his hand, he allowed the taiji symbol to open up.

Yang Qi’s power double stepped out, and sure enough, found that the area was locked down with ironclad power. He really couldn’t open a way to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, at least not without spending quite a bit of time and effort to do so.

‘Who could have guessed that a technique like this existed,’ he thought. ‘No matter how powerful a technique is, there’s always something out there that counters it. Everything must abide by the principles of mutual augmentation and suppression. Thankfully, I was clever enough to leave the treasure storehouse when the empress came back, otherwise she might have been able to trap me there.’

The Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart could be considered invincible, but if he couldn’t get into it, it would be no help.

Right now, his cultivation base was too low, which meant that if he faced people vastly more powerful than him, who could close his path to the chart, he would be in deadly danger.

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