He began to take the opportunity to suppress Zhu Wushi's people and weaken Zhu Wushi's power. He even asked the emperor to close the Dragon Guard Villa.
However, Zhengde did not agree.
That day, Li Yao was practicing his boxing in the courtyard when Lu Yichuan rushed over to report: "Your Majesty, the Emperor has summoned me on urgent business."
Chapter 172 Ambush, Sixteen Men in Black
Da da da...
On the official road, eight swift horses, as fast as lightning, formed a long line and sped forward, raising clouds of dust wherever their iron hooves passed.
Amidst the thunderous gallop of hooves, a slender figure stood at the very front of the procession.
This man had a cold and stern expression; it was Li Yao.
Two hours ago, Zhengde summoned him and told him something shocking.
Recently, dozens of tragic incidents have suddenly occurred in Baoding Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, Taiyuan Prefecture and other places.
Those who were killed were mostly martial arts masters from the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world).
Many of them were spies planted in the martial arts world by Emperor Zhengde.
Emperor Zhengde once ordered the Six Doors to investigate the case with all their might.
However, the Six Doors sent out several constables, but none of them returned without a trace.
Therefore, Zhengde thought of Li Yao.
With Li Yao's unfathomable skills, he should be able to find out who committed this series of tragedies.
Originally, Zhengde was somewhat worried that Li Yao would not agree.
To everyone's surprise, Li Yao agreed immediately after hearing the story.
This puzzled Zhengde greatly.
However, it would be best if Li Yao could agree.
After leaving the palace, Li Yao spoke with Lu Yichuan, Bai Sanniang, and Guo Juxia, then led seven Imperial Guards and left the capital, heading south.
"Hoo..."
When the eight horses galloped to the vicinity of a sorghum field, Li Yao suddenly raised his whip and reined in the horses.
The seven Imperial Guards behind him, seeing Li Yao's actions, quickly reined in their horses.
As the seven Imperial Guards were wondering what was going on, Li Yao looked around and shouted, "There's an ambush!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of arrows piercing the air could be heard. Countless arrows, like raindrops, shot out from the sorghum field at an arc towards Li Yao and the others.
Ta-da!
The seven Imperial Guards drew their swords and slashed at the incoming arrows.
In the blink of an eye, a layer of arrows had been piled up on the ground around them.
Faced with a dense barrage of arrows, Li Yao swiftly reached out, grabbed a handful of arrows, and threw them back.
Immediately afterwards, screams of agony came from the sorghum field not far away.
Soon, the rain of arrows stopped.
However, sixteen men in black suddenly emerged from the sorghum field.
These people carried all sorts of weapons: swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks.
One of them not only had a very special shape for his knife, but also a very special way of holding it, making him particularly eye-catching.
"Japanese!"
Li Yao's lips curled up slightly.
He then ordered the seven Imperial Guards, "Form the True Martial Seven-Section Formation!"
"yes!"
The seven Imperial Guards jumped off their horses and formed a formation in an orderly fashion.
The sixteen men in black were stunned for a moment, and the leader, a Japanese man, waved his hand.
The remaining fifteen men in black, brandishing their weapons, charged forward.
The two sides immediately clashed.
Only the Japanese and Li Yao have not yet made a move.
The True Martial Seven-Section Formation set up by the seven Imperial Guards was taught to them by Li Yao.
Li Yao once selected seven loyal and reliable Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) with excellent qualities and taught them the Zhenwu Seven-Section Formation.
However, he made some changes to the formation.
The True Martial Seven Intercept Formation of Wudang uses a sword as its weapon.
Li Yao should use the Embroidered Spring Knife.
Swordsmanship and knife skills are quite different after all.
Therefore, he combined the Qi Family Knife Technique and the Heartless Slash, and made some modifications and optimizations to the True Martial Seven Intercept Formation to adapt it to the knife technique.
Moreover, he incorporated the concepts of dissolving power and speed from the Phantom Divine Skill into the True Martial Seven-Section Formation.
In this way, the modified True Martial Seven Intercept Formation not only has powerful defensive capabilities, but also incredibly powerful offensive capabilities.
Li Yao once had Gu Santong fight against the Zhenwu Seven Intercept Formation.
As a result, the two sides were evenly matched.
Even when Gu Santong used his Absorption Technique, he was unable to absorb the internal energy of these seven Imperial Guards.
This greatly surprised Gu Santong.
Although the individual internal strength of the seven Imperial Guards was not particularly strong.
However, once the formation is complete, its power is immense.
To Li Yao's surprise, the fifteen men in black were also incredibly strong.
The two sides fought for more than a dozen rounds, but no victor had yet emerged.
The Japanese were even more surprised than Li Yao.
The fifteen men in black he brought with him were all top-notch experts; together, they were enough to rival the world's best.
Unexpectedly, even seven mere Imperial Guards couldn't do anything about it.
The Japanese man's gaze sharpened as he looked at Li Yao.
Suddenly, he moved!
A swift slash came down.
Bang!
A dazzling blade of light, sharp and incomparable, seemed to tear through the void, rushing towards Li Yao like lightning.
The ground crumbled inch by inch, as if it had been exploded, and plumes of smoke rose wherever the blade's light passed.
"What powerful sword energy!"
Li Yao was surprised.
I never expected that the other party would be such a master.
Immediately, he cupped his hands and unleashed a burst of energy formed from the true qi of the Great Dao.
boom!
The violent energy surged and rippled outwards like waves.
Dust swirled and danced, and the sorghum on both sides, unable to withstand the violent force, fell down one after another.
Forced by the immense force, the Japanese man was thrown backward several meters before he managed to regain his footing. His feet had carved a deep trench in the ground.
A look of surprise flashed in the eyes of the Japanese man, along with a sinister and ruthless killing intent.
He roared and launched another attack.
The samurai sword in his hand slashed left and right, the swordsmanship simple and unadorned, yet incomparably fierce.
Li Yao grabbed a knife from the ground and pulled it into his hand.
Immediately, a slash was made in mid-air.
The curved blade light, like a crescent moon, transformed into a flying rainbow, slashing through the air.
This strike was extremely simple.
It was a ruthless strike devoid of any emotion.
Bang!
The force of the Heartless Slash broke through the Japanese man's sword force, its momentum undiminished, and continued to press towards the Japanese man.
The Japanese man was thrown backward as if he had fallen into an abyss.
Finally, he crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and leaving a large crater in the ground where his back had struck.
puff!
The Japanese man's clothes suddenly ripped open at the chest.
A gruesome bloodstain appeared on his chest.
The Japanese were stunned.
Unexpectedly, Li Yao's sword energy was still preserved in him, and it was only at this moment that it was unleashed.
At this moment, Li Yao noticed that several orbs of light had fallen from the Japanese.
He quickly focused his gaze on the orb of light.
Luck +33!