Chapter 792: Another Person to Silence

An Zhuan waved his hand, and the Phoenix Flame landed on Ma An, quickly burning him to a pile of ashes.

After dealing with Ma An, An Zhuan was about to leave when he saw Daji sitting quietly beside him, so still it was almost unnatural. He couldn't help but chuckle, "How about we share a bed?"

Daji silently turned her head away, clearly a wordless refusal.

"If you weren't interested, why did you tempt me earlier?" An Zhuan muttered, returning her to his summoning space. He then changed into the attire of Gold-Token Eleven and headed towards the palace under the cover of night.

At this hour, the inner city was under curfew, with patrolling guards everywhere and Embroidered Uniform Envoys appearing from time to time.

Wearing this attire saved An Zhuan a lot of trouble. Along the way, the guards and Embroidered Uniform Envoys he encountered not only didn't question him but even nodded to him from a distance.

His identity was only checked at the palace gate. As An Zhuan handed his waist token to the guard for inspection, he secretly marveled at how useful the identity of a Gold-Token Embroidered Uniform Envoy truly was. Ordinary ministers, no matter how favored, were not allowed to enter or leave the palace after the gates closed at night.

If a matter of extreme importance required entry, someone first had to be sent to the emperor's bed-chamber to inform him.

Embroidered Uniform Envoys had much greater ease entering and leaving the palace. Of course, even for ordinary envoys, late-night entry and exit were troublesome, but as a Gold-Token Envoy, the highest rank, he naturally enjoyed many privileges.

Once inside the palace, An Zhuan was on high alert, constantly using the power of the Jade Cong to monitor any disturbances within several miles through small animals.

Mainly, the thought that the leader of the Phantom Tower might be hidden somewhere in the palace prevented him from being careless in the slightest.

He first went to the White Sand Courtyard to change his clothes and put on a mask. Only then did he head towards Ma An's residence. Having been in the palace for so long, he was quite familiar with the living quarters of the Imperial Physicians.

Within the palace, the emperor's bed-chamber and the concubines' quarters were the most heavily guarded. The defensive strength of the maids', eunuchs', and imperial physicians' residences was comparatively much weaker.

With An Zhuan's current cultivation level, he easily slipped inside.

Inside Ma An's residence, following the description he had been given, An Zhuan quickly found a notebook hidden in a secret compartment. It indeed documented Ma An's visit to him.

He then flipped through the other contents, hoping to find something useful. Unfortunately, it only contained records of treating nobles in the palace, some medical recipes and insights, and notes about which imperial physicians he disagreed with.

Just then, a sudden alarm rose in An Zhuan's heart. He quickly tucked the notebook into his pocket and hid himself behind the bed curtains.

Almost simultaneously, a nearby window silently opened, and a figure in black quickly slipped inside.

Upon entering, the figure immediately attacked the bed. Almost instantly, a hand like an eagle's claw tore through the quilt, bursting the pillow inside.

"Huh?" The black-clad figure uttered a soft exclamation, quickly pulled back the quilt on the bed, and found only a pillow, no sign of Ma An.

Hidden in the shadows, An Zhuan was secretly startled. The speed and skill the person displayed in that brief moment clearly indicated a master among masters.

At the same time, he was very curious as to who wanted to kill Ma An.

This guy truly had a bad reputation, with so many people wanting him dead.

A thought suddenly struck him: able to move freely within the palace and possessing such high cultivation, could this black-clad figure be from the Phantom Tower?

At this point, the black-clad figure quickly began searching the room, evidently looking for something.

An Zhuan focused his mind and calmed his breath. The room was small, and the other party would soon find him, so he seized the opportunity to strike first.

With a flash of his body, he launched a direct palm strike towards the figure.

The black-clad figure clearly hadn't expected someone to be hidden there, but his reaction was swift. His body moved with an odd ripple, narrowly dodging the fatal blow at the critical moment, then retaliated with a palm strike of his own.

When their palms met, both were involuntarily shaken.

The black-clad figure was greatly alarmed, "Who are you?"

The opponent was clearly not Ma An; how could Ma An possibly have a ninth-grade cultivation!

An Zhuan felt increasingly certain that, after his cultivation had improved, he was indeed capable of directly confronting a ninth-grade master. Moreover, he still had significant reserves of strength and even felt confident that he could completely capture the opponent.

The opponent's voice was extremely strange, clearly altered on purpose, likely to prevent identity disclosure.

An Zhuan grew even more curious, "And who are you?"

The black-clad figure snorted coldly, a flash of murderous intent in his eyes. His aura surged, and his hands, like eagle's claws, swiftly attacked An Zhuan's vital points.

An Zhuan's heart tightened. This person had actually been holding back; his true cultivation was at the peak of the ninth grade!

In an arena, you could feign weakness, hide your true skill, and gradually probe your opponent's trump cards before revealing your own to deliver a killing blow.

However, in the palace, this was impossible. With the emperor residing at the center, and imperial guards and Embroidered Uniform Envoys patrolling everywhere, any engagement had to be resolved in the shortest possible time, meaning one had to go all out from the very beginning.

An Zhuan dared not be careless and quickly gathered all his attention to respond.

Both tacitly refrained from using elemental combat techniques, clearly fearing that the elemental fluctuations would alert the emperor.

Although no elemental techniques were used, the exchange between them was still extremely dangerous, with every move aimed directly at the opponent's vital points, showing no mercy.

Initially, An Zhuan was somewhat unaccustomed, as he had just advanced to the ninth grade and hadn't even fully adapted to the eighth-grade realm yet.

However, since transmigrating to this world, he had countless times teetered on the edge of life and death, having endured numerous life-or-death struggles.

Furthermore, with the powerful recovery ability of his Primal Chaos Sutra, he could completely trade injuries, and the wounds sustained would simultaneously promote the advancement of his Phoenix Nirvana Sutra cultivation.

Thus, for the first twenty to thirty moves, he was at a disadvantage, hit several times by his opponent, with blood splattering and staining his clothes red.

However, after thirty moves, he gradually recovered from his disadvantage, and the fight became a stalemate.

By the forty to fifty move mark, he had gradually gained the upper hand.

The black-clad figure grew increasingly alarmed as they fought. How could this person's body be so formidable? Despite suffering such heavy injuries, he seemed unaffected and his aura grew even stronger. When did such a master appear in the palace?

Several times, he was tempted to use elemental combat techniques, but the thought of the emperor still being in the palace forced him to abandon the idea.

Feeling the increasingly strong fighting intent from his opponent, he gradually felt a chill and knew that if the fight continued, he might perish there.

Thus, he suddenly unleashed a flurry of claw shadows. As his opponent defended, he flashed his body, leaped out the window, and vanished into the night.

An Zhuan knew he was trying to escape, so he deliberately cooperated, letting him leave, wanting to use the opportunity to see who he truly was.

He quickly followed. The other person's movements were strange, disappearing almost in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, An Zhuan had been using the Jade Cong to monitor the area for several miles, so no matter how the other person detoured, he could always keep track of him from a distance.

Even so, there were several times he nearly lost track of the person. The other person was too fast. If An Zhuan hadn't possessed the Great Wind skill and also been skilled in speed, he would most likely have lost them, even with the Jade Cong as a small radar.

He followed the person's winding path until they finally arrived in front of a palace.

Seeing the three large characters "Kunning Palace" on the distant plaque, An Zhuan was instantly startled. Could it be someone from the Empress?

He immediately realized that the black-clad figure was likely Eunuch Lu. No wonder during their earlier exchange, he had felt the opponent's moves were unusually effeminate, and there was a faint, strange smell about him.

Now he understood: it was the mixed scent of spices eunuchs used to mask their body odor.

Why would Eunuch Lu want to kill Ma An from the Imperial Medical Institute?

Could the Empress herself be the leader of the Phantom Tower?

He dared not trespass into Kunning Palace. After the last assassin incident, Kunning Palace's guard forces and formations had been significantly strengthened. Even with his current ninth-grade cultivation, it would likely be very difficult to enter silently.

But just because he couldn't enter didn't mean he had no other options. He looked towards the Empress's bed-chamber and raised his Jade Cong.

Inside Kunning Palace, a large black cat, which had been ardently pursuing a small white female cat, suddenly shuddered all over, then dismounted and quickly ran towards the Empress's bed-chamber.

No matter how plaintively the small white cat cried out behind it, it never looked back.

What a scoundrel, no, what a scoundrel cat!

At this moment, the Empress was languidly reclining on a soft couch, her graceful, full figure subtly outlined by the breeze. A seductive smile played on her lips. "The palace cats are at it again," she remarked.

Standing opposite her was the black-clad figure who had just fought An Zhuan to a standstill. He said bitterly, "This servant will find time to castrate that large black cat; it spends all day tormenting the female cats in the courtyard!"

The Empress laughed. "You can't take your anger out on the cat just because you're incapable. They're harmoniously enjoying themselves; how does that bother you?"

The black-clad figure opposite her trembled, as if deeply insulted. Alas, he could not refute any of it.

The Empress, not wanting to provoke him further, changed the subject. "What happened to you? You're a mess."