The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 243 Side by Side

The cyan-robed cultivator took this opportunity to fall into the formation, standing with Li Ye side by side. His one hand was behind his back, and the other one was holding a sword. Unlike Li Ye, who bent over slightly, he stood erect, looked forward, and remained calm, as if he was not in danger but just coming for a sightseeing tour.

Li Ye turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. He was also shocked as he saw the cyan-robed cultivator beside him. “Father, why are you here?”

This question was odd, because it was a normal thing for a father to save his son. However, Li Ye knew that after the Battle of Bagong Mountain, his so-called father lost interest in everything in the world. Or in other words, he cared about nothing, and maybe, he already had no emotions or desires. The only thing he cared about was the Tang Empire.

At this point, Li Xian should go and find Li Yan directly. Why was he here?

Li Xian looked back at Li Ye, with no emotions in his eyes, like a breeze blowing through the bamboo forest, but he smiled. “If you die, the Tang Empire will fall, so how can I not come to save you?”

Hearing his words, Li Ye felt weird. After all, Li Ye was his son. But it seemed that what he meant was if Li Ye wasn’t concerned with the Tang Empire, Li Xian wouldn’t come to save him.

However, in Li Ye’s heart, he didn’t care about the Tang Empire, but he had a dream of governing the country. At most, he didn’t want the country to be in charge by outsiders, whether the foreign armies or the foreign sects.

Li Ye sighed in his heart. Sure enough, now, all the people in the world regarded him as the biggest and the most powerful loyal minister of the Tang Empire. He had become the backbone of the Tang Empire.

Li Xian saw Li Ye’s weird expression, so he knew that it was hard for the common people to accept what he had said, but he didn’t care and didn’t want to explain it. He shook his hand, and the long sword in his hand sounded loud. He slightly raised his chin. “You and I have never fought side by side on the battlefield. Since we are the generals of the Tang Empire, how about trying our best to fight to the death today?”

Li Ye wiped away the blood on the corner of his mouth. He twitched the corner of his mouth slightly into a smile. “Whoever falls first, he is losing the Tang Empire’s face.”

“Good!” Li Xian laughed loudly.

The monk corps didn’t expect that someone would enter the formation, so they didn’t respond timely so that this person outrageously entered the formation. But they quickly reacted and besieged Li Ye and Li Xian again, with no intention of retreat.

The two people stopped talking. They wielded their swords together, standing back to back to take care of each other’s rear defense.

With Li Xian’s help, Li Ye had less pressure. He had not recovered from his wounds. After a fierce battle, his old wounds were broken, and he consumed a lot of Spiritual Qi. He was almost on the verge of death. Now, with Li Xian’s help, he felt relieved.

Just now, Li Ye was besieged by the monks. With the power of the military formation, their attacking power and defensive power increased greatly, so the ordinary cultivators at high-level Qi-refining couldn’t compare with them. Li Ye entered the formation alone. He had to kill an enemy with one strike, and each of his strikes had to work. He had no time to slack off, so his attack was extremely brutal. His every strike was very powerful, but he had to consume a lot of energy, and he had no room to give play to his combat skills.

At this time, when he fought back to back with Li Xian, Li Ye could give up the brutal way but used the delicate combat skills to kill people. Although it was not as efficient and violent as what the way had been previously, it was undoubtedly a long-term solution. Very soon, about ten or twenty people fell in front of him.

Although Li Xian was also in the Spiritual Master Realm and he was in his best state when he entered the formation, his fighting ability was not as good as Li Ye’s when Li Ye was in his best state. However, Li Xian wasn’t the general cultivator in the Spiritual Master Realm, so his current condition was not much worse than Li Ye’s.

However, as the battle went on, Li Xian also felt that the pressure of the monk corps was like mountains. If he were the general cultivator in the Spiritual Master Realm, he would be killed without killing many people after he entered the formation. After the Battle of Bagong Mountain, Li Xian’s foundation was injured, so he couldn’t fight for a long time. Soon, like Li Ye’s robes, his clothes were stained with blood.

The two people tried their best to fight, back to back. The monks were not stupid. Gradually, instead of wanting to kill the two people quickly, they began a battle of attrition. They took turns to fight against them. Thus, they could avoid dying for nothing.

Soon, Li Ye and Li Xian killed fewer and fewer people, and they had more and more pressure.

Li Ye and Li Xian both had one more wound. Li Xian spurted out a mouthful of blood. He stumbled and couldn’t help but retreat a few steps. And at this time, several monks seized the opportunity to pounce on Li Xian.

In this critical moment, Li Ye supported Li Xian and turned to his front. The Luke Sword flashed a stream of cold light. Sword Qi burst out suddenly and killed all the approaching monks.

Li Xian was pulled behind by Li Ye, but he wasn’t idle, because several people were rushing toward him. However, after Li Ye supported him, he stabilized his body. He wielded his long sword in succession, either killing the monks in front of him or forcing them to step backward.

After killing the monks in front of him, Li Ye moved forward, like a rabbit, and rushed into the middle of several monks. The sword light shone like meteors, and blood splashed. As quick as a ghost, he moved back and forth among the monks with great ease. In an instant, he killed and injured most of the people in front of him.

When he returned to the starting point, Li Ye didn’t look back at Li Xian but giggled. “Old man, you were injured. Can you hold out?”

Among the three monks in front of him, Li Xian killed one, injured one, and forced one to retreat. He snorted as he heard Li Ye’s words. “Weren’t you also injured? You’ve got more injuries than me. I think you are the one who can’t hold out.”

Several monks pounced on Li Ye. He roared in a low voice and stamped on the ground violently. He punched out, hitting away the monks like sandbags. He said with ease, “I am young, so I can hold out, but I think you will collapse first.”

Li Xian was hit at his waist. His gaze became cold. His realm burst out suddenly. The monks in front of him were stunned. After he seized the opportunity to kill several of them, he laughed. “All my life, I have never lost the face of the Tang Empire’s Imperial Clan!”

A moment later, he heard Li Ye’s laughter. “Then, you have to hold out!”

In the air, Tian Luo and Fa Yi saw Li Ye and Li Xian fighting against the monk corps fiercely. They looked solemn, and their eyes were as cold as snow.

Tian Luo’s face darkened. “It turns out to be Li Xian. This pair of father and son is really powerful!”

Fa Yi sighed and said with emotions, “There are countless heroes in the Tang Empire. But when it comes to father-son heroes, I’m afraid that no one can compare with these two people. The new and the old Prince An, like father like son, are both great military and political talents. They have made distinguished achievements and they are famous all over the world.”

Tian Luo snorted. “The Tang Empire is going to fall, and the Imperial Court is collapsing. The Imperial Clan rarely has such a pair of father and son. But, so what? Even if they can kill a hundred more people, they will also die in the military formation of the monk corps.”

Fa Yi was silent for a while and slowly said, “You’re right. If such heroes can die in the monk corps, it is a worthy death.”

In the oblique valley, Xu Pingjing said coldly, “I didn’t expect that the old Prince An, Li Xian, would appear at this time. He, indeed, didn’t die in the Battle of Bagong Mountain that year. A few years ago, there was a conspiracy in Chang’an. When Li Yan ascended the throne, I heard the news that two people in the Spiritual Master Realm fought in the West Garden. At that time, it was said that Li Xian had not been dead. I’ve never seen him before. I’ve never thought he is alive.”

Bai Jingxue’s gaze was as cold as frost. “This pair of father and son always surprises people. After the Battle of Bagong Mountain, everyone in the world thought that Li Xian was dead, but he didn’t and he also stepped into the Spiritual Master Realm. Li Ye couldn’t cultivate for 20 years, but he suddenly reached the Qi-refining stage in one day. In less than 10 years, he has become the Spiritual Pool Spiritual Master. His fighting ability is unexpectedly powerful.”

Upon hearing Bai Jingxue praise Li Xian and Li Ye, Zhang Jiuling immediately felt unhappy. He sneered. “Even though they can surprise people, they can’t make any differences. The fall of the Tang Empire is destiny, and no one can change it. The Tang Empire is going to fall, so no one can survive. Even though Li Xian and Li Ye have powerful fighting abilities, they can’t make any differences. Can they resist the general trend? As the youths of the Imperial Clan, their luck and the nation’s luck are a whole. At present, the Tang Empire has little luck left, so how much luck do Li Xian and Li Ye still have?”

Wearing a Maitreya-like smile, Wu Jinling said, “Taoist Zhang, don’t worry. Look, Li Xian and his son were injured again. Well, it has been an hour since Li Xian entered the formation. It isn’t easy for him to help Li Ye hold out up to now. At present, Li Xian and Li Ye both run out of strength. I dare to say that this pair of father and son will die together in an hour at most!”

Wang Sanxian nodded to agree with him. “The monk corps of Buddhism is very powerful. Even if we five people enter the formation together, we will inevitably end up dying. If Li Xian and his son didn’t kill two hundred of them today, I don’t know how we will deal with them in the future.”

Speaking of this, he sighed. “Li Xian and his son are our country’s cultivators. If they die because they kill the monk corps and remove the obstacle for my Taoist sect’s going out of the world, it is a worthy death.”

Everyone nodded, but only Bai Jingxue snorted. It seemed that she was disdainful of this behavior.

Looking at the mirror, Xu Pingjing said surprisingly, “Li Xian was hit again. He is dying!”

“It seems that you are very happy that Li Xian was hit again.”

At this point, a cold voice was heard in the air. The voice was full of anger. As soon as it appeared, Xu Pingjing felt as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Everyone’s expression changed, and they all turned toward the direction of the sound. In the air, someone walked straight toward them, stepping on the clouds as a carpet under his feet. Every time he took a step, he walked hundreds of feet. Soon, he came before everyone.

Wearing star-and-moon robes, the person carried a gorgeous white sword on his back, full of sharp momentum. He looked like a sharp sword.

Everyone’s face became gloomy as they saw this person. Wu Jinling exclaimed, “The first Chief of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, Nangong Diyi?”

The coming person was Nangong Diyi.

He proudly looked down at everyone, like looking at insects. He said disdainfully, “As the Taoist sects of the Tang Empire, you witnessed Buddhism going out of the world, but you didn’t defend our country and go to kill enemies. At present, Li Xian and his son sacrificed their lives to fight Buddhism to the death, but you just looked on it coldly and even made sarcastic comments. What about your senses of shame? What about your hearts of Taoism? Do you want to ignore the ancestral laws? If Buddhism really takes charge of the world, what should the Taoist sect do?!”