Li Yao had never seen such a fast sword before. As soon as Cao Qiudao moved his hand, the sword light immediately came down with overwhelming force. Not only did he not take any defensive stance, but he also adopted a completely head-on fighting style.
This head-on approach was exactly what Li Yao wanted.
Li Yao roared and condensed the essence of the Qi family's swordsmanship into his Embroidered Spring Blade, unleashing a single slash.
when!
Swords clashed, sparking a dazzling burst of light.
Li Yao was forced back half a step.
Cao Qiudao, however, was forced to retreat repeatedly by the immense force.
Heavy footsteps landed on the high platform, making a series of dull thuds.
Cao Qiudao was shocked and struggled to regain his balance, barely managing to stay upright and avoid falling backward.
Li Yao asked with a smile, "Mr. Cao, how was my strike?"
Cao Qiudao's face was rather unpleasant, but he still forced himself to say, "It's just so-so!"
Immediately, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, his tongue thundered, and he roared as he slashed his sword into the air.
Suddenly, his sword, which was about to strike an enemy general, changed its move midway, from an upward slash to a forward sweep.
The sword, as if it were a living thing, swiftly aimed for Li Yao's throat.
The skill in the swordplay is truly astonishing.
Li Yao dodged aside, unleashing a crescent-shaped blade of light that easily neutralized Cao Qiudao's sword strike.
Li Yao and Cao Qiudao are respectively a master of the sword and a master of the saber.
Both of them are top-tier in skill.
For a moment, swords clashed and swords flashed on the high platform, filled with murderous intent, making one's blood boil with excitement.
The onlookers below the stage kept their eyes following the two figures.
When the battle reached its climax, bursts of enthusiastic cheers would erupt from time to time.
The people of Zhao shouted loudly to cheer on Li Yao.
Before they knew it, the two had already fought more than two hundred rounds.
Li Yao suddenly launched an overwhelming offensive, his footwork perfectly coordinated with every slash he made.
Each cut is executed with a different angle and force, sometimes light and sometimes heavy. Although the main technique is chopping and slicing, it incorporates subtle techniques such as unwinding, twisting, sticking, and slowing, fully demonstrating the unique characteristics of the knife.
Cao Qiudao was forced to retreat continuously by Li Yao's fierce offensive, and his face became increasingly pale.
Suddenly, a dazzling blade of light shot out from the sky.
when!
Cao Qiudao's sword, which was used to slay generals, was cut in two by Li Yao's embroidered spring knife.
With two clangs, the broken sword fell to the ground at Cao Qiudao's feet.
A few strands of hair still floated in the air.
Cao Qiudao stood there, his eyes vacant.
The scene was silent, all eyes fixed on Cao Qiudao.
After a moment, Cao Qiudao's eyes darted around, and he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Li Yao, saying, "I lost."
After saying this, he jumped off the platform with a look of dejection, abandoning even his most beloved sword.
The crowd immediately made way for Cao Qiudao, watching him leave dejectedly.
Everyone secretly shook their heads.
A legendary swordsman has been dethroned by a young man!
One can imagine Cao Qiudao's feelings at this moment.
As soon as Cao Qiudao's figure disappeared, the crowd erupted in a deafening cheer: "Sword God, invincible! Sword God, invincible..."
The cheers echoed throughout Handan, reaching the heavens and lingering for a long time.
Chapter 74 Li Yao Proclaims Himself Emperor and Unifies the World
Li Yao was practicing his swordsmanship in the courtyard, while recalling his battle with Cao Qiudao the day before.
He gained a lot from his battle with Cao Qiudao.
He not only gained a lot of attributes from Cao Qiudao, but also comprehended a lot of sword intent from Cao Qiudao.
He absorbed the strengths of Cao Qiudao's sword intent and incorporated them into his own knife skills, giving him a deeper understanding of knife techniques.
Just as he was concentrating on practicing his swordsmanship, a Mohist suddenly ran over, shouting, "Master, something terrible has happened..."
Li Yao was still practicing his swordsmanship when the Mohist ran closer, at which point he asked, "What happened?"
The Mohist, panting, stammered, "The...the...the Great King...was...beaten to death!"
Your Majesty is none other than Zhao Yan, the son of King Xiaocheng.
Zhao Yan was actually beaten to death?
Li Yao was startled. Who had such audacity? Daring to kill Zhao Yan?
Although Zhao Yan was a puppet, he was still nominally the king of Zhao.
He quickly sheathed his knife and asked with a grave expression, "What exactly happened?"
The Mohist quickly recounted the whole story.
Here's what happened...
Zhao Pan mocked Zhao Yan for being useless, a mere puppet king. Zhao Yan was furious and started fighting with Zhao Pan.
This Zhao Pan is the fake Ying Zheng created by Xiang Shaolong in the original novel.
Originally, Li Yao planned to groom Zhao Pan to succeed the useless Zhao Yan as the King of Zhao.
After all, he was about to leave this world, and he didn't want to hand over the empire he had built to a useless person.
However, things got out of hand, and Zhao Pan, without any restraint, actually killed Zhao Yan.
I'm afraid the Zhao royal family won't let this go easily, especially Empress Dowager Han Jing.
Li Yao immediately rushed to the Zhao King's Palace.
Upon seeing Li Yao's arrival, Han Jing and other members of the Zhao royal family all demanded the execution of Zhao Pan.
Li Yao couldn't speak up for Zhao Pan, since he himself had proposed and implemented the principles of "rule of law" and "equality before the law."
He had no choice but to imprison Zhao Pan and order the relevant government offices to take over the interrogation of Zhao Pan.
This finally appeased the Zhao royal family.
But then, another big problem arose.
Who will succeed as king?
The royal family of Zhao was already corrupt and decadent, and there were almost no people capable of succeeding the king.
Emperor Yuanzong had always hoped that Li Yao could become the ruler who unified the world.
Therefore, Yuanzong mobilized all available forces to support Li Yao as the King of Zhao.
Since Li Yao took control of the government, the national strength of the Zhao state has soared.
Li Yao has won the support of most people and officials.
Therefore, most people in the court supported Li Yao as the King of Zhao.
As long as a small portion of the royal family objects.
Unfortunately, the dissenting voices were too weak to gain traction.
Thus, Li Yao became the King of Zhao.
After Li Yao became king, he appointed Ji Yanran as prime minister.
Because Ji Yanran is exceptionally talented, she is a great helper.
Next, Li Yao began to eliminate the other six kingdoms and unify the world.
A month later, Li Yao appointed Ji Yanran to manage state affairs, and then personally led an expedition to conquer the six kingdoms.
The cavalry, equipped with stirrups, high-bridged saddles, horseshoes, and ring-pommel swords, saw their combat power soar.
With the assistance of Lian Po and Li Mu, Zhao's iron cavalry swept across the six states in just three years, becoming invincible.
Li Yao first conquered the state of Han, then destroyed the state of Wei, thus unifying the three states of Jin.
Subsequently, Li Yao destroyed the weakest state, Yan.
Then, he attacked the state of Qi, which bordered Yan.
Tian Dan of Qi was secretly captured by Li Yao after Li Yao defeated the Sword Saint and handed over to Shan Rou and Zhao Zhi for disposal.
Without Tian Dan, the State of Qi became mired in a power struggle.
Therefore, Li Yao easily conquered the State of Qi.
Then, Li Yao destroyed the State of Chu.
Finally, he began his campaign against the Qin state.
The Qin state was powerful and occupied a superior geographical location, which made Li Yao go through a lot of trouble.
However, under the powerful iron cavalry, the Qin state quickly disintegrated and collapsed completely.
Subsequently, they attacked the Xiongnu in the north and conquered the Baiyue in the south.
Thus, the world was unified, and only the Great Zhao remained.
Li Yao was the first emperor to be proclaimed as emperor, and he made Ji Yanran his empress.
After becoming emperor, he standardized the language, weights and measures, and currency...