The Emperor Reigns Them All

The village, named Luoping, was not the first village explored by Li Ye and others, nor was it the last.

Along the way, Li Ye and others had not been ambushed in the previous villages.

"How dare you rebels attack us!" A youth of the Imperial Clan angrily rebuked as he retreated. "Do you know who we are? Here are the Grand Princes, the Duchesses, and the Heir Apparents of the Tang Empire. If you hurt any one of us, the Imperial Court's officials would arrest and kill you even if you flee to the ends of the earth!"

His roar did not make the attackers shrink back, but attracted the attention of many people. More people rushed to him to attacked him. "You are the Imperial Court's dogs, we're killing you!"

"Stop them!" This youth of the Imperial Clan immediately panicked and hurriedly ordered his attendant.

It was at this time that Li Ye stopped Shangguan Qingcheng who was going to rush out and shook his head gently to her.

Li Ye's meaning was very clear. They only needed to protect themselves instead of rushing out to attack.

The attackers were so fierce and more than twenty had rushed out. More people hid in the weeds and did not show up.

No one knew how many masters there were.

Li Ye's cultivation wasn't low, at least it was not low among the youths of the Imperial Court. But it was not worth being mentioned in the Cultivation World.

Wu You's cultivation was higher than that of him. The attendants brought by other youths of the Imperial Clan shouldered the important task of protecting them. So they were the strongest cultivators in every family and many of them were in the middle-level of Qi-refining.

Among the six youths of the Imperial Clan, Li Ye was the Grand Prince of the Tang Empire. His status was the most distinguished, but he and Shangguan Qingcheng were the weakest among them.

At this time, there was no need to flaunt his superiority.

The attackers rushed out one after another, like bats coming out of a cave, and attacked them from everywhere.

Two attackers rushed towards Li Ye from the left and right.

"You dog, go to hell!"

Li Ye saw their eyes, which were full of murderous intent, coldness, and ruthlessness.

One person held a knife which was going to fall on Li Ye's head. When Li Ye raised his head, a white light flashed across the blade as if there was a hot sun behind the knife. Yes, there was really a sun. The attacker's back was to the sun, which made Li Ye and others in a backlight position.

The other was with a sword and was going to stab Li Ye in his heart. His speed was very fast and his sword was very stable. The body of the sword, his arms, and his eyes were on a straight line. Li Ye could only see the tip of the sword. It was a bright spot, and instantaneously reached him.

"Watch out, Your Highness!"

Shangguan Qingcheng was eager to protect her lord, so she rushed out with her sword.

She had seen Li Ye carry out his cultivation. She knew that Li Ye had inherited the cultivation methods from Yuan Tiangang which was so powerful that Li Yao couldn't resist.

But she had never seen Li Ye fight hand-to-hand with others.

A fight of techniques was totally different from close combat.

The latter was more dangerous and difficult than the former.

Shangguan Qingcheng had never seen Li Ye practice close combat with others before. And close combat attached great importance to practical experience. There was no fighting skill without abundant experience.

So Shangguan Qingcheng went first to protect Li Ye.

Even she quickly found that the two attackers were cultivators with extraordinary skills, and their Spiritual Qi exceeded hers. They might have reached Level 2 of Qi-refining.

Shangguan Qingcheng was surprised. Cultivators of Qi-refining were not anonymous anywhere. Among these attackers, they were also high-ranking fighters. But when they started fighting, two cultivators of Level 2 went straight to attack Li Ye. How bad Li Ye's luck was.

Shangguan Qingcheng had no time to think more.

She drew out her sword to directly fight against the knife-wielding attacker.

Her attack was quick, simple and direct. Although there was not much change, her attack was powerful enough to kill others. The military style of her attack was very obvious.

Her sword reached straight to the neck of the knife-wielding attacker.

The opponent's knife was falling, and her sword was sweeping.

If the other side didn't take back his knife, she would cut off his neck.

But at the same time, her head would be cut open by the other side.

This was a desperate move.

Shangguan Qingcheng's gaze was firm; she had to work hard.

If she couldn't repel this knife-wielding attacker, she would have no time to deal with the sword-wielding attacker, and Li Ye would be in danger.

She cultivated the Taoism of soldiers fighting on the battlefield, so close combat was nothing difficult. And she often practiced with soldiers. But Li Ye was different. He was a dignified Heir Apparent.

That meant he had never been in danger. So he didn't know how to deal with the danger. In the face of close combat, he would be rattled at first, not to mention whether he was skill at close combat.

This principle was simple. The generals and soldiers wouldn't be rattled when they fought with bows and arrows. But when they fought hand-to-hand with knives, at first they would be frightened.

Shangguan Qingcheng must take care of Li Ye immediately. She couldn't let Li Ye be in danger at all.

Her knife went straight to the attacker who didn't take his knife back.

Shangguan Qingcheng's gaze became cold and serious.

The vertically falling knife brought a dazzling light.

The transverse knife made a bright arc.

Shangguan Qingcheng knew that she would die soon.

She did not expect the attacker to be an outlaw who was willing to risk his life.

The attacker's cultivation was higher than her, so his status in the Cultivation Word was also higher than her. She didn't expect that his attack was willing to exchange his life for hers. The attacker lost on this trade!

Shangguan Qingcheng was shocked and puzzled.

But her shock and puzzle disappeared in an instant. Instead, she became panicked as if she had fallen into an ice cave!

The opponent's target was Li Ye!

If she died, Li Ye would be in danger!

How could he survive the attack of the sword-wielding attacker without any close combat experience?

Li Ye was in Level 2 of Qi-refining when he was ennobled. He didn't have any experience of close combat, how could he survive the close-up assault from a Level 2 cultivator who risked his life?

Shangguan Qingcheng fell into extreme of regret and self-reproach in an instant.

These attackers scolded them as "running dogs" as soon as they came out from the weeds. It was obvious that they hated the officials of the Imperial Court and aristocrats very much.

These cultivators were against the Imperial Court!

So they spared no effort to exchange their lives for the lives of Grand Princes, Duchesses, and Heir Apparents!

Many ideas flashed through the mind of Shangguan Qingcheng in an instant. When she was on her deathbed, Shangguan Qingcheng was angry, self-reproached, and unwilling. She roared, which even brought a crying voice. "Your Highness!"

The two knife blades tore the air. They didn't meet, but ran to their respective destinations.

"Clank!"

The sound was clear and abrupt!

Shangguan Qingcheng widened her eyes.

The knife stopped and was an inch away from her forehead. It was sharp and dazzling, and the wind of the knife made her hair tremble.

The knife couldn't move forward anymore.

Because the knife had been stopped by a sword.

The sword was engraved with runes and a dragon design, named Luke.

It was Li Ye who held the sword.

"Pfft!"

The vertically cutting knife had stagnated and the transverse knife finished a complete arc.

Shangguan Qingcheng cut off the attacker's head.

At this moment, the heartbeat of Shangguan Qingcheng seemed to have stopped, but in a blink of an eye, it shook again like a drum and almost jumped out of her mouth.

Her white face became paler and almost transparent.

She felt herself being pulled aside by a powerful hand, suddenly but not roughly. Then she saw the Luke Sword flashing in front of her eyes, bringing a green light. It was as beautiful as a butterfly flapping its wings on peony flowers after rain.

Shangguan Qingcheng turned around uncontrollably. The change came so suddenly that she had not recovered from the shock yet. She realized that her footsteps were floating as if she had already left the ground. She saw the sky and white clouds moving under the dazzling sunshine like the flowing water. She saw the green hills and green waters unfolding like a picture scroll. But all of it abruptly stopped when a group of armed cultivators suddenly appeared.

When her gaze returned to a stable focus, a bloody mist blossomed like a lotus flower in front of her eyes. She also saw a sword stop before her before falling to the ground. She recognized the sword, which was used to stab Li Ye, and later was stopped beside her body.

Shangguan Qingcheng finally saw the complete scene before her. The sword-wielding attacker had been hurt by Luke Sword and blood gushed from his neck. He threw his sword and fell to the ground with his neck covered.

She was surprised and puzzled. She also felt unexpected and overjoyed, because the enemy was dead. She could at least be sure that Li Ye had not been injured.

At this time, she saw Li Ye's side profile. He stood with a sword, calmly facing the subsequent attackers. He still had the same look, with no other expression on his face.

"Are you all right?" Li Ye's voice came into Shangguan Qingcheng's ear. She saw that he did not bow his head, but kept looking ahead. But he slightly tilted his head, as if he could tell from her breath whether she was unusual.

"I'm fine... Your Highness..." Suddenly, Shangguan Qingcheng found that she was held by Li Ye at his side. Her whole body was attached to him, like a koala holding a tree trunk. She was frightened and jumped away from Li Ye in a hurry. Her cloud-like white face blushed in an instant, delicate and beautiful.

Then she saw that an attacker took the opportunity to attack Li Ye. His sword went straight to Li Ye's throat and was only three inches away from Li Ye's throat in an instant. Shangguan Qingcheng's eyes widened and it was too late for her to stop the attacker.

She saw Li Ye tilting his head and avoiding the tip of the sword. A strand of his hair was cut off, falling like a dandelion.

The Luke Sword had been held upside down in Li Ye's hand. The sword went upwards, blocking the other side's long sword at this moment. At the same time, Li Ye took a step forward and twisted his waist so that the Luke Sword slid down along the other side's long sword and stabbed the enemy in his throat. It was quicker than the wind blowing away clouds.

His movements were neat and smooth, without any redundancy or hesitation. His footsteps and stature, together with his sword, made sure to kill the enemy in one stroke. Everything seemed so natural, as if everything should be like this, which gave people a pleasant sense of appreciation.

Shangguan Qingcheng was shocked. Until now she realized that this artistic conception could only be created by a master of fighting skills.

Why did Li Ye have such exquisite close combat skills? When did he cultivate it? Was this also the inheritance of Yuan Tiangang?

Shangguan Qingcheng was in a turbulent mood and had too many doubts in her mind, but she did not forget her duty, the instinct of a guard and a general. So when Li Ye's Luke Sword fell, she had rushed out with her knife to fight against the following attackers.

This time, there were three attackers around Li Ye.

"You rebels, go to hell!" Shangguan Qingcheng did not want Li Ye to be in danger again. She was determined to share Li Ye's worries, so she gave a low cry to attract the attention of these attackers.

However, before Shangguan Qingcheng rushed to these attackers, three strips of colorful cloth flashed and accurately hit the three attackers who rushed to Li Ye, causing blood to flow from their chests. The three flew away and fell down in the crowd without a sound, with no chance to scream.

At the same time, a fragrant voice sounded and a light figure came to Li Ye's side. "Elder Brother Ye, I'll help you!"