Chương 36: Suspicious Martial Emperor Vs Librarian Old Lady

I maintained some of my attention on the female Martial Emperor and the other Martial Emperor I've anchored. This process is akin to observing multiple screens simultaneously through my peripheral vision. While I couldn't make out the details clearly unless I concentrated, I could still perceive their overall movements. I accidentally learned this method a while ago while eavesdropping on others. Next, I focused most of my attention on Ren Qingquan, who is still resting in the Royal Library.

In this mess involving multiple Martial Emperors, I must plan my next course of action carefully. Should I have Ren Qingquan hide in the capital city, or should we flee immediately before the Martial Spirit Sect fully surrounds the city and cuts off all escape routes? As for fighting them? That's simply not an option. Ren Qingquan only has Xiao Cai as his ace. However, a dozen Martial Emperors and who knows how many Martial Lords are about to engage in the impending fight.

Even though Xiao Cai is a cultivator, I seriously doubt she's capable of taking on a Martial Emperor at this stage. I haven't witnessed a Martial Emperor in action before. Yet, the vast disparity in energy levels between Xiao Cai and a Martial Emperor is enough for me to infer the outcome. As for Ren Qingquan and my combat power... It's better not to talk about it in depth. The most I can do is burn points and transfer a boulder or other big thing to smash enemies.

As for Ren Qingquan, maybe he could control a refined insect corpse to enter a Martial Emperor's ear. But, I kinda doubt it's possible. According to what I read, once someone reaches the level of Martial Lord, they can release vital energy from their body to attack or enhance their weapon. This means they could immediately defeat the insect that had entered their ears by releasing their vital energy into it. In any case, I introduced myself to Ren Qingquan as the Heavenly Comprehension System.

Based on the name, it's clearly a support-type system rather than a combat-type one. Therefore, it makes sense that I lack a strong immediate combat capability. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ After recounting the combat power from our side, I need to think of a method that won't make Ren Qingquan suspect I've hidden an extra ability. Otherwise, the trust between human and system (fake) might not be maintained.

As I was making plans, I noticed that the Martial Emperor I anchored at the Southern Market has reached a familiar location. I focused on him and observed that he had quietly slipped past the palace entrance! From the list of locations for the Martial Emperor level assassination target written in the rebellion plan scroll, I remember that the librarian here is included. Additionally, the librarian granny is somehow one of the highest-priority targets.

I investigated the Martial Emperor of the Martial Spirit Sect and discovered he is moving further into the palace. This is in a different direction from the library, which suggests he isn't planning to go after the librarian, at least not for now. Still, I utilized [Anchor]'s connection to transmit a sound directly into Ren Qingquan's mind. The sound wasn't overly loud, but it was a recognizable smartphone alarm tone that nearly half of Earthlings are familiar with.

The moment Ren Qingquan heard that alarm, he randomly grabbed around in his sleep as if trying to find his smartphone. After flailing his hand for a few seconds, he woke up with a jolt, 'I am late!' When he woke up, Ren Qingquan looked around in half a daze. Once he regained his senses, Ren Qingquan realized he had been duped. Then, he immediately knew who the culprit was. After all, except for him, I am the only one who knew about that alarm sound.

'System, you better have a good reason to wake me up at midnight.' I don't have time for a joke with him. If a Martial Emperor battle occurred here, Ren Qingquan could be torn apart by the shockwave. If he died, I would lose the only person who allows me to use [Anchor], leaving me forever trapped in this dark space. [Emergency Mission: Exit the palace grounds safely. Detail: While examining some books, the System detected a suspicious Martial Emperor-level figure near the library. Exit the royal library and palace grounds as quickly as possible. Deadline: Immediately. Reward: 5 points Punishment: None. But if a Martial Emperor battle happened nearby, you might be turned into minced meat from the stray attack.]'What do you mean by suspicious Martial Emperor, and why should I run away?' [The Martial Emperor that System found is using stealth to sneak near the library while carrying weapons. No matter how System sees it, they're definitely suspicious compared to the other Martial Emperors you've met before.] [System fears this suspicious emperor will fight against the equally strong librarian and accidentally kill you during their exchange.] I partially lied to Ren Qingquan to conceal that I was hiding some abilities from him. To be exact, I am hiding my [Anchor] ability.

'Battle between Martial Emperor? Honestly, I want to see it. But I prefer to keep my small life rather than satisfy my curiosity, at least for now.' Thankfully, Ren Qingquan accepted my explanation. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He patted Xiao Cai, who was reading a random romance novel, and said, "Let's go back to Fatty Zhang's house. My back hurt after sleeping in the library for several days."

It seems Ren Qingquan understood how dangerous the situation could be, as he chose to return to the Zhang family residence right this instant. Although Ren Qingquan has never witnessed an attack by a Martial Emperor, Xiao Cai's ability to single-handedly destroy Martial Saint-grade beasts still remains fresh in his memory. Xiao Cai can easily slaughter Martial Saint beasts comparable to the Qi Refining stage. It's hard to imagine how intense a battle between Martial Emperors would be.

As Ren Qingquan prepares to leave, the Martial Spirit Sect's Martial Emperor arrives at one of the larger buildings in the palace. Seeing the location, I immediately knew who the target was. The person inside that building is likely the leader of the palace guards, one of the Martial Emperors who almost always stays in the palace. Currently, he should be weakened after being poisoned by a slow-acting toxin during dinner.

My knowledge of this comes from the fact that the person who secretly poisoned the palace guard leader is a spy from the Martial Spirit Sect. This detail was included on the assassination target list within the rebellion plan. When Ren Qingquan and Xiao Cai left the library, the Martial Emperor had already arrived inside the building and was rushing toward a specific target. Soon, I saw him stealthily enter a room through the window.

After entering, his speed suddenly surged, and the Martial Emperor drew his dagger toward the sleeping palace guard leader. The guard leader opened his eyes and reacted swiftly, grabbing the sword he placed nearby and preparing to slash. However, before he could deliver a powerful strike, the Martial Emperor had already appeared in front of him. Because of his poisoned state and grogginess from waking up suddenly, the sword he held flew out of his grasp.

The palace guard leader ignored the sword that had flown into the distance. Instead, he clenched his fist and threw a punch toward the Martial Emperor. The Martial Emperor parried the punch with his dagger while spitting something from his mouth. Although I felt disgusted by the Martial Emperor's sudden action, I must say it was extremely effective. The thing he spat out while blocking the palace guard captain's punch was a small needle that most likely contained poison.

How the Martial Emperor hasn't died from poisoning while storing that needle in his mouth is a mystery. When the needle pierced the palace guard captain's skin, that area immediately turned blackish red. At the same time, I could see the force behind his punch suddenly weaken several times. With that opportunity, the Martial Emperor quickly slashed a dagger to his opponent's neck and killed the palace guard captain.

Once the palace guard captain died, the Martial Emperor stabbed the corpse several times in the chest and abdomen. Perhaps he wanted to make sure the palace guard captain was thoroughly dead. Watching the Martial Emperor leave the palace guard captain's house, I saw him moving toward another target. The further he walked, the more familiar the surrounding scenery became to me. Soon, he arrived in front of a massive library and stealthily entered it.

He cautiously approached the librarian, who was still engrossed in reading a book. Once he got closer, he suddenly launched an attack by throwing several poison-tipped daggers. In response, the librarian waved her book without looking up. Using the hardcover, she easily blocked all the incoming daggers. The Martial Emperor saw his surprise attack fail and stepped back a few paces. When I thought he was going to retreat, the librarian jumped over the counter while grabbing a spear that stood next to the counter.

Initially, I thought the spear was just a decoration because of its colorful tassel, bells, and other adornments. That's why I didn't bother examining it closely. However, observing how smoothly the librarian moved as she grabbed it, it appeared to be her weapon rather than a mere ornament. With the spear in her hand, the librarian followed the Martial Emperor from the Martial Spirit Sect. After running a short distance, the Martial Emperor suddenly stopped and turned around, his mouth puffed out like a balloon.

With his face pointing toward the librarian, the Martial Emperor opened his mouth. As soon as he did so, a powerful air current burst out. Simultaneously, the air near his mouth seemed to ignite, burning the air he exhaled. These effects caused a massive fireball to suddenly shoot toward the librarian. Amid the flames, the librarian frowned and swiftly rotated her spear like a fan. That caused the flame to disperse, but some of them set part of the library ablaze.

"The library is on fire!" The librarian shouted in a voice that could even be faintly heard from Ren Qingquan's location. That shout roused some people, who soon tried to put out the flame. Then she followed the escaping Martial Emperor. I felt her moving the vital energy in her body to use a technique before her speed suddenly improved several times. She swiftly closed the gap with the fleeing Martial Emperor and thrust her spear while exerting vital energy to activate a Martial Arts Technique.

The thrust produced a sonic boom and a shock wave that radiated outward. This shock wave shattered a building and destroyed a quarter of another building's roof before fading away. As for the Martial Emperor at the center, he used a technique to defend against the attack. Although he appears to be knocked back by the shockwave, he was only lightly injured. Instead, he used that shockwave to propel himself away from the librarian and continued to flee. Still, she didn't cease her pursuit.

Using a different technique, she significantly increased her speed and closed in on the fleeing Martial Emperor. This time, she executed several quick, successive thrusts, forcing the Martial Emperor to halt and block each attack. The Martial Emperor responded by throwing a dagger at the librarian while flexibly moving his body like a snake. As he prepared to continue fleeing, the librarian tried to block the ambush, but he twisted his body in an inhuman way, altering the inertia of his movement.

Instead of running away, he suddenly threw a kick toward the librarian. She safely blocked it with the shaft of her spear. But the same can't be said of the ground that the spear touched. The impact of that kick caused the ground supporting the librarian's spear to cave in, as if a meteor had struck that area. It even caused a small crater to form. After causing massive destruction, the Martial Emperor jumped away, using the spear as a platform to hold the force of his jump.

In anger, the Librarian threw her spear toward the Martial Emperor. Like a shooting star, the spear shot out, leaving a whistling sound that echoed everywhere. The Martial Emperor heard it and tried to dodge. However, the constant whistling may have confused his judgment. Nevertheless, he didn't move far enough, and the spear grazed his left arm. Upon contact, his left arm immediately turned into bloody mist. After grazing and exploding his arm into a bloody mess, the spear continued forward and struck the ground.

The moment it touched the ground, an explosion and a shock wave spread far and wide. The crater caused by that explosion is even more exaggerated than the previous one. Yet, whether it was the explosive sound or the injury, it didn't stop the Martial Emperor. Instead, he ran even faster and activated some sort of technique that made him blurry before disappearing from the librarian's sight and fleeing once more.