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Xie Nandu looked at the Empress and asked softly, "What does Your Majesty plan to do now?"

The Empress whispered, "I originally wanted to see that child again and speak from the depths of my heart. But it seems I won\'t be able to see that day. He has no family left, so I\'ll tell you these words instead. Can you pass them on to him at the right time?"

Xie Nandu nodded and replied softly, "Yes."

The Empress glanced at the jade bracelet on Xie Nandu\'s wrist and whispered, "When I married His Majesty back then, no one opposed it. That lass thought it was wonderful too, but she also felt rather envious. However, she was an illegitimate child, even if she could marry someone someday, it could never be as a legal wife too. Such is the mundane nature of the world. Status is very important, but she didn\'t believe it much."

"So when she later married into that influential family, even if it wasn\'t as the legal wife, she was naturally very satisfied too. When all is said and done, it seems like I destroyed her family, so during her final days, she definitely wouldn\'t have liked me."

Tears welled up in the corners of the Empress\' eyes as she said softly, "But we used to be such close sisters..."

……

……

At dusk, Xie Nandu walked out of the palace. Li Heng was still waiting there and could not help but ask when he saw Xie Nandu, "Miss Xie, how is Her Majesty?"

Xie Nandu\'s mind was a bit absentminded and she replied softly, "Her Majesty got tired and fell asleep."

Li Heng nodded and said, "In that case, I\'ll escort you out of the palace."

Xie Nandu looked at this young eunuch and suddenly asked, "What illness does Her Majesty have?"

Li Heng thought for a moment and shook his head as he whispered, "Overwork and exhaustion. Her Majesty isn\'t a cultivator, how can her body withstand the toiling day after day? When His Majesty fought the war, Her Majesty often toiled day and night without sleep for many days at a stretch. After pushing herself like that, how can there not leave behind underlying ailments?"

Xie Nandu fell silent.

Li Heng looked at her and continued, "Miss Xie, during this period, the Empress didn\'t even meet the princes. She only summoned you..."

There were many implications in his words and Xie Nandu understood them all.

……

……

The martial examination continued. When the sun set, Chen Chao had already killed more than ten demons, firmly occupying the top spot. Those few people ranked after him had only killed a few demons, lagging far behind.

It was only the first day and no one had expected that the one who was previously the least favored would now be far ahead of everyone else.

Furthermore, if this trend continued, he might become champion by a significant margin on the day it ended.

If that was the case, the faces of those young cultivators would undoubtedly be slapped resoundingly.

That would be a humiliation to all the young cultivators.

They were determined not to allow such a thing to happen, so at this moment, people could only rely on the cultivators in the microcosm to work hard and push Chen Chao down from the top.

"Is he courting death? How did he kill three demons at the same time again?"

"Ah, he killed another demon!"

"I really don\'t understand why those big shots came up with such an idea. He\'s like fish in water inside there. He originally came from a background of killing demons. it\'s really outrageous!"

Some starlight fell by the lakeside, but the cultivators were unwilling to disperse. Instead, they focused on the changes on the list. At this moment, Chen Chao\'s name had accumulated many blood marks behind it, and it seemed that he was about to leave others far behind.

People were becoming anxious and there was a sense of silence.

"If he continues killing like this, it probably won\'t be as simple as winning first place! He might even set a record, no, create a record! It\'s likely that no one in the next several martial exams will be able to surpass him!"

"Unless those true geniuses take action, or else, it\'s truly impossible!"

"I hope someone steps up to deal with him!"

……

……

The time in the microcosm was the same as the outside world. At this moment, night had fallen. Chen Chao was currently leaning against a large tree, quietly counting the demon beads he had obtained during the day by borrowing the moonlight. If it were at any other time, he would have been delighted. After all, killing so many demons meant he would earn a substantial amount of skygold currency; enough to cover the cost of cultivating spiritual medicines. But now, it was different.

He was no longer that poor and destitute young man. He did not need so many demon beads at all.

However, Chen Chao still subconsciously collected the demon beads. He was cautious and did not know what would happen later. If it turned out that the results could not be recorded, he could still take the demon beads out as evidence.

After shifting his gaze away from the demon beads, Chen Chao glanced at a distant mountain hollow.

He did not know the exact size of this microcosm for the time being, but he knew that there was no difference between it and other desolate wildernesses. On the contrary, this made him feel at ease; like fish in water.

This one day of killing demons, he had exerted a great effort, aiming to secure the top spot. Furthermore, he wanted to become champion with a significant advantage.

This way, he could firmly slap those people\'s faces, just as he had declared at the imperial banquet.

However, he was also aware that besides killing demons, another important aspect in the microcosm was to be wary of other cultivators. Those cultivators might not allow him to have such an easy time.

With these thoughts in mind, Chen Chao sighed.

But he quickly rose and glanced at the dense forest in the distance. After thinking for a moment, he found a large tree and climbed up. In just a moment, he had concealed himself on the tree.

Before long, a figure approached from a distance and wearily leaned against the trunk of the tree where Chen Chao was on, and rubbed his shoulders.

Looking at him, he had damaged areas all over his body, looking like he had just experienced a fierce battle.

Actually, that was right. He had naturally experienced a fierce battle earlier and finally managed to kill a demon.

Chen Chao sized that person up with the moonlight. Soon, he discovered that this guy was precisely an old acquaintance.

Zuo Qing.

Looking at this guy whom he had formed a grudge with by the lake, Chen Chao directly jumped down the tree without any hesitation. It was just that when he landed, he did not make a sound.

He was standing behind Zuo Qing. Then, he extended his hand and patted that guy\'s shoulder.

Zuo Qing suddenly turned around.

Then, what greeted him was a punch.

A fist smashed against his abdomen.

He bent over in pain.

But clearly, the owner of that fist would not let it end there. After that punch, he threw another one toward his chest.

After two punches, Zuo Qing was in extreme agony. He subconsciously tried to reach for the bamboo token at his waist.

With just these two punches, he was already very clear that he was definitely not a match for this person whose appearance he could not even make out. But when he reached for his waist, he realized that the bamboo token was missing.

"Looking for something?"

In his daze, he heard a mocking voice, and then he was punched again.

That punch landed on his nose bridge, instantly crushing it and causing blood to gush from his face.

But even so, the person did not relent. Another punch struck his abdomen, causing him to bend over in pain once again.

"Looking for this?"

When he looked up, a bamboo token was dangling in front of his eyes.

The young man in black holding the bamboo plaque, smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Zuo, we meet again."