Is This an Assassin at the Fourth Level of Martial Arts

"Ah—!" The young eunuch, finally reacting, let out a miserable shriek before dying on the spot.

That fatal strike had landed solidly on the unfortunate young eunuch's chest, instantly spraying blood all over Wang Hao's face.

The thick stench of blood rushed into his nose, snapping Wang Hao back to his senses.

"Assassin!!"

Taking advantage of this fraction-of-a-second delay, Wang Hao let out a squeal like a slaughtered pig. His legs, as if loaded with springs, violently launched him backward.

At this moment, only one thought occupied his mind: Run! If he didn't run, he would die!

Seizing this momentary chance of survival, Wang Hao threw all dignity out the window. When his legs gave out, he simply rolled across the ground like a donkey. Scrambling to his feet on all fours, he sprinted wildly while screaming at the top of his lungs, his voice as shrill as a drake about to be butchered.

"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!"

Only then did Wei Xian, Cao Chun, and the surrounding guards in the distance finally snap out of their shock over the sudden ambush.

No one could have expected that in the heavily guarded imperial palace, under the coverage of a Saint-tier grand array, someone could actually sneak right up to the Emperor!

The assassin, having missed the first strike, flashed a look of obvious surprise in his bloodshot eyes. He seemingly hadn't expected that this rumored pampered, weakling of a young emperor would react so swiftly in a life-or-death situation, acting with such despicable decisiveness—pulling someone to block a blade and rolling on the ground, all in one smooth motion.

"Hmph! Truly the makings of a tyrant! To be so vicious at such a young age! You will definitely grow up to be a demon who brings disaster to the world!"

Watching Wang Hao's wretched fleeing back, the killing intent in the assassin's eyes grew even stronger. "I cannot let you live today."

With a cold snort, he gave his wrist a violent shake. True Qi erupted from the long blade, directly shattering the already dead young eunuch's corpse into pieces, sending flesh and blood flying. Following that, he executed an incredibly profound footwork. His entire body seemed to turn into a ghostly afterimage under the moonlight, completely ignoring the dozens of guards swarming him. The edge of his blade pointed straight at Wang Hao's head!

"Audacious madman!"

Wei Xian roared furiously, his shrill voice sounding like a night owl's cry. The aura of the 5th Layer of the Martial Dao, the Acupoint Opening Realm, explosively erupted. He turned into a red blur, pouncing toward the assassin like a bloodthirsty giant red bat.

At the same time, Cao Chun also drew his blade. With a flash of cold light, his first strike was a killing move.

However, facing the pincer attack of two great masters and the encirclement of dozens of guards, the assassin in black nightclothes handled it with ease, the corners of his mouth even curling into a sneer of extreme disdain.

"A tyrant rules, and the people suffer! The Great Zhou Dynasty's fate is sealed!!"

The assassin even laughed aloud, his voice magnetic and his body radiating righteous energy. "Today, I shall exact justice for Heaven and slay you, little tyrant!"

Hearing this while sprinting around a rockery, Wang Hao almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

What grudge? What enmity?

"Brother, please be reasonable! It's my first day on the throne! My butt hasn't even warmed the dragon throne yet!"

Wang Hao frantically complained in his heart as he ran: All those bad things in the past were done by my deadbeat dad, what does that have to do with me? Besides, I've been a shut-in deep within the palace for sixteen years, I haven't even killed a chicken. My greatest sin was peeking at the palace maids taking a bath, I haven't done anything atrocious! How am I suddenly a tyrant ruling the nation? This blame was shifted onto me way too fast!

But this assassin clearly wasn't listening to explanations.

The assassin flicked the long sword in his hand, creating a rain of sword flourishes. It was breathtakingly beautiful, yet bone-chillingly cold.

Swish, swish, swish!

Several guards at the 3rd Layer of the Martial Dao, the Bone Forging Realm, who charged forward first, couldn't even take a single strike from him. Amid a clashing of metal, their weapons were instantly severed. They flew backward screaming, each with a sword gash deep to the bone on their chests.

"Mid-stage of the 4th Layer of the Martial Dao?"

Logically speaking, while the 4th Layer of the Martial Dao was considered skilled in the martial world, it was not top-tier within the imperial palace. Facing over a hundred highly trained Imperial Guards, plus Wei Xian and Cao Chun, two masters at the 5th Layer Acupoint Opening Realm, this assassin should have been dead meat, unable to even get close.

However, something bizarre happened.

The assassin's True Qi was ridiculously profound, even faintly carrying a golden luster. He twisted and maneuvered through the crowd with extremely weird footwork, like a butterfly weaving through flowers without a single petal touching it.

"Give me your life!"

Wei Xian and Cao Chun finally fought their way into the core circle.

Wei Xian let out a sharp whistle. Pouring boundless True Qi into the whisk in his hand, the originally soft threads instantly turned into millions of steel needles, sweeping toward the assassin's back like a net and sealing off all room to dodge.

On the other side, Cao Chun had a dark expression. The waist blade in his hand gleamed black, carrying a nauseating sweet and bloody scent as he slashed at the assassin's neck. One look was enough to tell the blade was coated in poison.

Two great masters of the 5th Layer Acupoint Opening Realm unleashed a full-force pincer attack, front and back, in seamless coordination.

Logically, let alone a 4th Layer martial artist, even a master of the same 5th Layer would be facing certain death at this moment.

However, the scene that unfolded next left Wang Hao, who had just scrambled up to hide behind a pillar, completely dumbfounded. He even wondered if there was something wrong with his eyes.

He saw the assassin, in the midst of a fatal, inescapable situation, suddenly step on an inexplicably loose cobblestone in the imperial garden.

This should have been a fatal mistake.

His posture broke into an incredibly weird and awkward stumble, causing his entire body to slip to the left.

But!

It was precisely this seemingly pathetic mistake that "just right" allowed him to dodge Wei Xian's sky-covering whisk needles, while simultaneously avoiding Cao Chun's fatal slash!

What was even more outrageous was that because of this sudden evasion, the two eunuchs couldn't pull back their attacks in time and almost crashed into each other. Wei Xian had to forcibly reverse his True Qi, letting out a muffled groan from the backlash; Cao Chun's blade grazed the hem of Wei Xian's robes and struck empty air, the flung poison splashing onto a Taihu rock and corroding it with a sizzling sound.

"How can this be?!" Wei Xian exclaimed, his face full of disbelief.

But this was only the beginning.

More mind-boggling events unfolded one after another.

Whenever a fatal attack was about to land on the assassin, it was as if the world itself was helping him. He was always able to contort his body at an unimaginable angle, or slip on his feet, or have his clothes snag on a branch, thereby "coincidentally" dodging a fatal blow.

There was even a time when an Imperial Guard's spear had clearly pierced his back—and that was a military weapon forged from hundred-refined steel! Yet, because the guard pushed too hard, with a "crack," the spear shaft actually broke!

It broke!

The spearhead fell uselessly to the ground. The assassin, completely unharmed, backhanded his sword to slit the throat of the dumbfounded guard.