Chapter 581: A True Martial Arts Expert

The next second.

Zhu Ying appeared before Dugu Qiubai. At the same time, within the capital, a violent wind suddenly erupted. Seeing this scene, many citizens hurriedly retreated into their houses to seek shelter.

Once Zhu Ying manifested, he walked slowly toward Dugu Qiubai, his eyes filled with indignation.

"Who are you, to dare provoke me within my own capital?"

"The Great Ming Empire worked so hard to build this capital, yet you have destroyed it to such a state. What crime do you think you have committed?"

Facing Zhu Ying's interrogation, Dugu Qiubai suddenly burst into several bouts of laughter.

"So, you are the Imperial Grandson of the Great Ming?"

"That is correct!"

"You certainly are!"

Before Zhu Ying could even respond, Dugu Qiubai spoke preemptively: "The Astral Qi within your body is so dense; you must be the Imperial Grandson of the Great Ming!"

"I didn't expect you to finally show up!"

After saying this, Dugu Qiubai rapidly mobilized the True Qi within his body. Clearly, he had no intention of wasting words with Zhu Ying; he intended to kill him directly!

Sure enough!

In an instant.

With a speed faster than the eye could follow, Dugu Qiubai suddenly appeared right in front of Zhu Ying!

"Die!"

As Dugu Qiubai's voice fell, he released a massive amount of True Qi. The form of this True Qi was far more powerful than ordinary True Qi, existing almost as a state between True Qi and Astral Qi!

"Is that it?"

Clearly, after witnessing Dugu Qiubai's attack, the expression on Zhu Ying's face remained one of extreme disdain!

In Zhu Ying's view, this level of True Qi was simply incapable of doing anything to him.

However! Just as this so-called True Qi was about to touch Zhu Ying, the Astral Qi shield he had formed was actually breached directly!

To be fair, after seeing this, a slight change appeared in Zhu Ying's expression.

Clearly, Zhu Ying had not expected that the True Qi released by Dugu Qiubai could actually break through his Astral Qi shield.

Yet, Zhu Ying did not panic in the slightest. In that flash of lightning, he immediately mobilized the True Qi in his body while simultaneously manifesting the Indestructible Vajra Body.

The entire movement was as smooth as flowing water.

*Boom!!*

With a massive explosion.

The True Qi released by Dugu Qiubai slammed directly into Zhu Ying's body.

Seeing this, a hint of gratification undoubtedly appeared on Dugu Qiubai's face.

In his view, there was no martial arts expert under heaven who could take this move of his head-on.

But in reality.

Zhu Ying succeeded.

In fact, his entire body remained unscathed.

He stood before Dugu Qiubai as steady as Mount Tai.

"How is this possible? Why are you still alive?"

In this instant, Dugu Qiubai's face instead revealed a trace of panic and disbelief.

Perhaps at this moment, Dugu Qiubai finally realized just how powerful Zhu Ying's strength truly was.

Meanwhile.

Inside the Imperial Palace, Liu Lei, the Commander of the Royal Guards, arrived before Zhu Yuan璋 and Zhu Biao.

Liu Lei reported to the two of them in a panicked tone: "Your Majesty, Crown Prince, a martial arts expert is rampaging through the capital, destroying buildings and causing massive casualties."

"What? A martial arts expert?" Clearly, when Zhu Yuan璋 heard what Liu Lei said, his brow furrowed immediately.

Zhu Yuan璋 spoke with considerable anger: "Our Great Ming Empire has already unified this Wuxia World. The martial arts experts of all nations have been wiped out by Xiong Ying. Where could such an expert have come from?"

"And to dare directly destroy the capital of our Great Ming Empire... they are simply seeking death."

Without a doubt, Zhu Yuan璋 was incensed upon hearing this.

In Old Zhu's eyes, the Great Ming Empire currently possessed immense national strength and had only recently completed its unification.

Under heaven, there should naturally be no force capable of threatening the Great Ming Empire.

Yet now, a martial arts expert had appeared out of thin air and begun widespread destruction.

This was naturally unacceptable to Zhu Yuan璋.

Zhu Yuan璋 continued to press Liu Lei: "Where is Xiong Ying? Has this matter been reported to him?"

Liu Lei responded hurriedly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, your subordinate has already informed the Imperial Grandson. Currently, the Imperial Grandson has gone to the capital to deal with this martial arts expert."

"Furthermore, the Imperial Grandson told your subordinate to ensure the safety of Your Majesty and the Crown Prince."

As Liu Lei finished speaking, Zhu Yuan璋 actually felt a sense of tension in his heart.

Because he knew very well that whenever Xiong Ying spoke like that, it meant the visitor came with ill intent.

"How strong is this martial arts expert?"

Beside him, Zhu Biao also hurriedly pressed Liu Lei for information. Clearly, Zhu Biao had also guessed that the opponent's strength must be quite formidable.

After a moment of thought, Liu Lei immediately said: "Reporting to Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, this person indeed possesses some strength. Even the Imperial Guards and the Royal Guards joined forces to surround and suppress him, but they were unsuccessful. In fact, many Imperial Guards were wounded by him."

When Liu Lei finished, Zhu Yuan璋 and Zhu Biao exchanged a glance.

Then, Zhu Yuan璋 spoke to Zhu Biao in a very serious tone: "Biao'er, it seems this person comes with ill intent, being able to wound our Imperial Guards and Royal Guards."

"And since Xiong Ying is personally taking action, it is possible this person's strength is comparable to Xiong Ying's."

Zhu Biao nodded and said hurriedly: "Father, you are right. In that case, why don't I join you, Father, to help Xiong Ying deal with this martial arts expert?"

Zhu Yuan璋 said excitedly: "Naturally." He then turned to Liu Lei and commanded: "Lead the way immediately. I want to meet this martial arts expert personally."

However, at that moment, Liu Lei was quite embarrassed. Because the order Xiong Ying had given him was to have the Royal Guards protect Zhu Yuan璋 and Zhu Biao, yet now the two of them wanted to help Zhu Ying fight Dugu Qiubai.

For a moment, Liu Lei was at a loss!

Liu Lei said in a hurried tone: "Your Majesty, Crown Prince, this person's strength is quite formidable. If the two of you go, I fear that..."

Before Liu Lei could finish, Zhu Yuan璋 interrupted him directly: "Fear what? Stop the nonsense and take us there immediately."

Liu Lei had no choice. Since things had come to this, he could only lead Zhu Yuan璋 and Zhu Biao out of the capital.

Of course, to be safe, Liu Lei also led several thousand Royal Guards to provide protection.

At this very moment, high above the capital, Zhu Ying and Dugu Qiubai were locked in a fierce battle.

To be fair, as a powerhouse of the Half-Step Astral Qi Realm, Dugu Qiubai's strength was indeed quite formidable.

He was even a step above Bodhidharma.

Therefore, for Zhu Ying to easily kill Dugu Qiubai was by no means an easy task.

"Speak, who exactly are you?" Zhu Ying questioned Dugu Qiubai coldly. After fighting for this long, Zhu Ying realized this man's strength was extraordinary.

Thus, Zhu Ying was naturally extremely curious about Dugu Qiubai's identity.

Dugu Qiubai let out a cold snort, staring sharply at Zhu Ying as he said: "I am the Sword Demon, Dugu Qiubai."

"Kid, you truly have some skill, being able to unify this world and even slaughter the Shaolin Temple."

"It's just a pity your luck is bad, for you have encountered me."

"Today, this old man will let you witness the strength of the Sword Demon."

After Dugu Qiubai finished speaking, he wasted no more words and directly mobilized the Astral Qi within his body.

It was evident that Dugu Qiubai was getting serious.

"Dugu Nine Swords!"

Suddenly, Dugu Qiubai let out a shout, and nine streaks of sword qi, transformed from Astral Qi, suddenly lunged toward Zhu Ying!

Upon seeing this, there was no emotional change on Zhu Ying's face.

Because once Zhu Ying learned that the person before him was Dugu Qiubai, he had already prepared himself mentally.

"Indestructible Vajra Body!!"

In an instant, Zhu Ying immediately utilized the Indestructible Vajra Body to resist the Dugu Nine Swords.

For the current Zhu Ying, the Indestructible Vajra Body was his strongest defensive technique.

This showed that Zhu Ying placed considerable importance on Dugu Qiubai.

Unfortunately!

The strength of the Indestructible Vajra Body was still slightly inferior to the Dugu Nine Swords.

*Bang bang bang bang!*

In a moment, the Dugu Nine Swords unleashed by Dugu Qiubai pierced toward Zhu Ying's body with thunderous force.

Zhu Ying successfully blocked the first eight sword strikes, but when the sword qi of the ninth strike pierced into his Indestructible Vajra Body, the body instantly exploded and shattered into pieces.

Fortunately, Zhu Ying's reaction was timely; with a sudden movement, he successfully dodged the impact of the sword qi.

This was the strength of Dugu Qiubai.

As a top-tier powerhouse of the Wuxia World, Dugu Qiubai's strength had already reached the Half-Step Astral Qi Realm. Furthermore, due to his long years of cultivation, he was, to some extent, only one step away from the true Astral Qi Realm.

This was also the reason why Dugu Qiubai had traveled thousands of miles to the Great Ming capital.

For Dugu Qiubai, he needed to kill Zhu Ying and then inherit the Astral Qi within his body; only then could he smoothly break through to the Astral Qi Realm.

"Brat, do you have any strength other than running away?"

Seeing Zhu Ying evade his ninth sword strike, Dugu Qiubai could not help but mock him.

However.

Zhu Ying did not pay Dugu Qiubai any mind, because in his eyes, Dugu Qiubai was currently acting like a clown.

In reality, the reason Zhu Ying and Dugu Qiubai were fighting so evenly was primarily because he had not yet exerted his true strength.

In other words, Zhu Ying had actually been playing around with Dugu Qiubai.

But next, Zhu Ying was going to get serious.

And just then, accompanied by the Royal Guard Commander Liu Lei, Zhu Yuan璋 and Zhu Biao arrived within the capital.

Currently, both Zhu Yuan璋 and Zhu Biao had reached the Peak Grandmaster Realm.

Thus, both of them sensed the massive Astral Qi contained within Dugu Qiubai's body.

"This old fellow indeed has some strength. I didn't expect there to be Astral Qi within his body. Interesting."

After Zhu Yuan璋 spoke, Zhu Biao, standing beside him, immediately responded: "Father is right. This person's strength is at least at the Half-Step Astral Qi Realm."

"He is on the same level as Bodhidharma from before."

"Of course, perhaps this person's strength is even greater than Bodhidharma's."

Upon hearing Zhu Biao's words, a trace of panic could not help but appear on Zhu Yuan璋's face.

"I truly didn't expect that in this Wuxia World, there would still be so many experts."

"I thought that after unifying the world, we could rest easy in this Wuxia World, but it seems things are not so simple."

Meanwhile, in the void above.

Dugu Qiubai once again manifested his Astral Qi, and at the same time, he transformed that Astral Qi into the sword qi of the Dugu Nine Swords at extreme speed.

This time, the sword qi was even more powerful than before.

"I want to see if you can still dodge it this time!"

As Dugu Qiubai finished, these sword qi streaks suddenly rushed toward Zhu Ying once more.

However, Zhu Ying took a deep breath, and then, he swung both hands.

Suddenly, eighteen giant dragons appeared before him.

"Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!!"

It was clear that Zhu Ying had lost his patience.

He decided to directly use the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms to settle things with Dugu Qiubai.

In fact.

When Zhu Ying unleashed the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, Dugu Qiubai immediately panicked. After all, the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms were far too famous.

Almost every martial arts expert in the world recognized this technique!

"Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms? How can you use the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!"

For a moment, extreme tension filled Dugu Qiubai's eyes. Simultaneously, the technique of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms rushed toward Dugu Qiubai.

Even in the void, the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms unleashed by Zhu Ying directly suppressed the sword qi of the Dugu Nine Swords.

Afterward!

The technique of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms surged toward Dugu Qiubai.

Eighteen golden-shining giant dragons rushed toward Dugu Qiubai from different directions, leaving him with no way to dodge and forcing him to take the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms head-on.

The next second.

Dugu Qiubai forcibly manifested a Martial Domain, attempting to use this method to resist Zhu Ying's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

To be fair, Dugu Qiubai was well aware of the ferocity of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!

He naturally did not dare to be careless.

However!

Even though Dugu Qiubai had manifested his Martial Domain, the effect was almost negligible.

It was even useless.

*Bang bang!*

Almost instantaneously, the so-called Martial Domain was completely crushed by the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms!

The eighteen giant dragons simultaneously crashed into Dugu Qiubai's body.

At this moment, Dugu Qiubai had no way out.

"AAAHH!!"

With a scream from Dugu Qiubai, he fell from the void.

This was the greatness of Zhu Ying.

No matter what realm of martial arts expert he faced, as long as Zhu Ying became slightly serious, he could easily annihilate them.

And so.

This Half-Step Astral Qi Realm powerhouse of the Wuxia World vanished into nothingness. (End of Chapter)