33: Chapter 33 Liu happy's Journey

Liu Xi, originally named Liu Xiangxiang, entered the palace to become a eunuch as a youth due to his family's poverty. Later, by a stroke of luck, he obtained the Absorbing Qi Technique. From then on, he began his rise, with both his martial strength and status soaring, eventually becoming a close official of the Emperor and taking charge of the East Depot.

Since he began his cultivation, his heart was set on becoming number one in the world.

There are two types of "number one in the world": one in the imperial court, as the supreme sovereign, and the other in the Jianghu, reaching the pinnacle through Martial Arts.

As for being the supreme sovereign, Liu Xi could not even dare to dream of it.

Because he was a eunuch. Since ancient times, it has been difficult for those with physical deficiencies to become monarchs, let alone the fact that his lineage and Legacy were severed. No matter how formidable he became, at most, he could only be a powerful official who dominated the court, one person below the Emperor and above ten thousand others; he could never become the Emperor himself.

Since there was no hope for being number one in the court, Liu Xi could only place his hopes on the Jianghu.

However, upon inquiry, he found that becoming number one in the Jianghu was not that easy either.

The Jianghu is vast, and naturally, there are many capable individuals.

Even though he possessed the cheat-like Martial Arts of the Absorbing Qi Technique, coupled with the catalyst of power and over a decade of development, there were still several great mountains ahead of him that were difficult to overcome.

First was a man named Yan Nantian. Over a decade ago, he was the publicly recognized number one in the world, with Martial Arts that were incredibly domineering.

Later, for some unknown reason, Yan Nantian disappeared, and there has been no news of him to this day.

Liu Xi felt that one of the mountains in front of him had vanished, bringing him closer to his goal of becoming number one, but the effect was limited.

This was because, besides Yan Nantian, there were two other mountains ahead of him.

Those were two uniquely gifted women, one named Yao Yue and the other Lian Xing, both from a power with a transcendent status in the Jianghu—Yihua Palace!

The reason Liu Xi considered these two uniquely gifted was that there was a note in the Secret Manual of the Absorbing Qi Technique stating that it could absorb all the Martial Arts in the world, except for two techniques it could do nothing against. Both were in Yihua Palace; one was the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, and the other was the Hun Yuan True Qi.

Among them, the Hun Yuan True Qi was still manageable; the Absorbing Qi Technique simply couldn't absorb it.

But the Wedding Dress Divine Skill was terrifying. Not only could the Absorbing Qi Technique not absorb it, but it would also be absorbed in reverse.

These two Martial Arts were mastered by Lian Xing and Yao Yue respectively, and the two had used them to suppress the Martial Forest for many years.

Judging from the strength Yao Yue and Lian Xing displayed, Liu Xi could conclude that at his current level, he could not defeat these two women in a direct confrontation unless his Absorbing Qi Technique progressed further.

Thus, he frantically searched for a way to advance further.

Hard work pays off, and he finally found them: first, the Liu Ren Divine Dice, and second, the Remote Energy Absorption Skill.

Legend has it that a peerless divine skill is hidden within the Liu Ren Divine Dice, and once mastered, one would be invincible under heaven.

However, the Liu Ren Divine Dice had been missing for many years, and no one knew its location. Searching for it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Liu Xi felt the hope of finding it was slim, yet he did not want to give up, so he tasked Jiang Biehe with the search, thinking it was worth a shot regardless of the outcome.

He himself focused his attention on the Remote Energy Absorption Skill, which held greater hope.

After much deliberation and planning, Liu Xi found Five Pure Yang Experts and successfully set a trap to lure them in, using ten experts to surround and capture them.

He originally thought the plan was foolproof, but he hadn't expected a mysterious person to suddenly appear and disrupt everything.

In the end, he failed at the final step. He didn't capture the five yang experts, and half of the ten experts he had spent great effort to find were lost.

Liu Xi was so furious he wanted to kill, but he composed himself and continued his actions.

Because the five yang experts had appeared, he had to seize the Opportunity to capture them. Otherwise, if they truly escaped, it would be very difficult to catch them again later.

Out of caution, he played a game of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," and things went very smoothly!

Although he lost the body double he had cultivated for many years, it was worth it to capture the five yang experts.

But Liu Xi never expected subsequent changes: first, through a series of accidents, Zhao Qianhe, one of the five yang experts, was accidentally killed by his subordinate Chong Tian, and later, a mysterious person jumped out and unexpectedly killed Meng Zhongliu.

Two of the five yang experts he had worked so hard to gather were suddenly gone, and Liu Xi flew into a rage on the spot.

Then, something terrifying happened: that mysterious person was not only incredibly strong but could also use the Remote Energy Absorption Skill!

The Remote Energy Absorption Skill—his hope of becoming number one in the world, the Realm he had painstakingly sought—had truly appeared before his eyes.

At that moment, Liu Xi was very excited, but even more terrified because he was the one being absorbed.

The "Remote Energy Absorption Skill" was truly the supreme level of the Absorbing Qi Technique. Not only could it absorb a person's Martial Arts from a distance, leaving them unable to resist, but its speed of absorption was also far superior to his current level of the Absorbing Qi Technique. If it weren't for the fact that he had absorbed the Martial Arts of countless people over the years and had a deep accumulation, he probably wouldn't have been able to withstand such intense absorption.

But even he couldn't hold out for long.

Therefore, Liu Xi had no choice but to think of an unconventional trick to escape.

In the end, he used a ruse to make Chong Tian a scapegoat, winning himself a chance to flee and successfully escaping.

After escaping, Liu Xi had only one word on his mind—run!

The mysterious person's strength was too terrifying. Even with the Black-Clad Arrow Squad and a group of subordinates, he wasn't confident in dealing with them.

After returning to Chang'an, he still felt unsafe, so he gritted his teeth and hid in the imperial palace.

Actually, the imperial palace wasn't foolproof either, but it was the only safe place he could think of.

No matter how high the mysterious person's Martial Arts were, they wouldn't dare to take action in the imperial palace.

Because doing so would be a provocation to the Imperial Court.

To this day, no one from the Jianghu has dared to do such a thing.

As expected, the mysterious person didn't come, which allowed Liu Xi to temporarily put his heart at ease, yet he still felt it wasn't safe.

What if the mysterious person was delayed by something?

To be safe, Liu Xi decided to continue laying low. After all, he spent most of his time in the imperial palace serving the Emperor, and he had a dedicated temporary residence in the palace. Although it wasn't as comfortable and free as living in his own manor, it wasn't bad either.

Just like that, Liu Xi stayed in the imperial palace for a month.

During that time, he was also thinking of a solution, as hiding in the imperial palace forever wasn't an option.

Besides serving the Emperor, he also managed the East Depot. Although he could handle affairs within the imperial palace, it was ultimately inconvenient.

If the Emperor were to give him a mission and require him to go out on official business, he wouldn't be able to defy the imperial decree.

Not to mention, he still needed to capture people to absorb their skills and restore his power.

Previously, he had been intensely absorbed by the mysterious person. Although he wasn't sucked dry because of his deep accumulation and timely escape, he had still lost a significant amount of power.

Now, if he wanted to recover, the simplest and most effective way was to make it up from others.

However, Liu Xi had the highest Martial Arts in the imperial palace, so there were no suitable people for him to absorb. Even if he wanted to use his subordinates as "experience packs," the imperial palace was full of eyes and ears, making it inconvenient.

Furthermore, he was also pondering the matter of the Remote Energy Absorption Skill.

After subsequent investigations by his subordinates, Liu Xi could confirm that three of the five yang experts were dead, and the remaining Tie Ruyun and Li Gao had also gone into hiding.

There was still no news of the Two Yin Experts.

This made him feel somewhat desperate, and he even considered giving up on practicing the Remote Energy Absorption Skill.

The five yang experts were already hard to find. He had finally managed to gather all five after so many years, only for three to die and two to hide. Trying to gather them all again would undoubtedly be even more difficult. Moreover, time waits for no one, and there wasn't much time left before the Seven Stars Align.

At the critical moment, his confidant Tan Tian proposed a different view.

...