Zu An waved his palm. The phoenix’s flames covered Ma An, quickly burning him to ashes. Had been planning to leave after dealing with Ma An, but he gave the quietly seated Daji a look and asked with a chuckle, “So, do you want to take a nap together?”

Daji silently looked away, wordlessly rejecting him.

“Why did you tempt me then, if you had none of those intentions?” Zu An grumbled. He stored her away and changed into his Golden Token Eleven uniform before walking toward the imperial palace under the cover of night.

There was a curfew at night, and there were guards patrolling everywhere. There were even Embroidered Envoys walking around from time to time. The uniform saved him a ton of trouble. Not only did the Embroidered Envoys who ran into him not question him, they only nodded toward him in greeting from afar.

Only when he reached the palace gates was his identity inspected. Zu An handed the guard his waist token. He sighed. The golden token envoy’s identity really was too useful. After all, no matter how much a normal subject was favored, they weren’t allowed to pass through the palace gates once they closed. If there was something urgent where they absolutely had to come back, they had to contact the emperor’s palace first.

It was much easier for Embroidered Envoys to come and go. For normal Embroidered Envoys, coming and going in the middle of the night was still troublesome, but he was currently a golden token envoy at the highest rank, so he had much more authority.

Once he entered the palace, Zu An maintained a hundred and twenty percent of his vigilance. He used the jade badge’s ability to check his surroundings for any suspicious activity. The Shadow Group’s master was hiding somewhere in the imperial palace, so he didn’t dare to act carelessly.

He returned to his residence and changed into a different set of clothes, then put on a mask. Then, he rushed to Ma An’s residence. After spending some time in the palace, he knew where the residences of the imperial hospital’s staff were. Inside the imperial palace, the emperor’s palace and the chambers of the imperial concubines had the strictest security. The residences of the other maids, eunuchs, and doctors were much less secure.

With Zu An’s current cultivation, he easily snuck inside. Once he was in Ma An’s residence, Zu An found the notebook based on the earlier description of where it was. Sure enough, recorded inside was the matter of Ma An seeking out Zu An today.

He looked through the notebook for more information, thinking he might find something useful. Unfortunately, there were only records about the health checkups of visiting nobles, insights regarding medicine, which doctors weren’t easy to deal with, and other such things.

Suddenly, Zu An became vigilant. He quickly put away the notebook and hid behind a bed curtain.

A nearby window opened silently at almost the same time, and a black-clad individual rushed in. The instant they came in, they charged toward the bed, ripping through the covers with their claw-like hands. The pillows inside were torn to shreds.

“Hm?” The black-clad individual voiced their surprise. They quickly pulled back the covers and saw that there were only pillows inside. Ma An was nowhere to be seen.

Zu An, who was hiding in the shadows, was surprised. Judging from the speed and technique this person had just displayed, they were definitely an expert among experts! At the same time, he was curious. Who was it that wanted Ma An dead? There really was something wrong with this guy’s character. He actually had so many people after his life.

He suddenly thought of something. If this person could move freely inside the imperial palace and even had such a powerful cultivation, then who else could this be but someone from the Shadow Group?

The black-clad individual quickly searched through the room, clearly searching for something.

Zu An gathered his focus and concentrated. The room wasn’t big, so the other party would soon find this place. That was why he needed to seize the opportunity and strike first. His figure flashed, and his palm struck at the other party.

The black-clad individual didn’t expect someone to be hiding in the room, but they reacted quickly. Their body moved strangely, barely avoiding the fatal strike at the crucial moment. Then, they retaliated with a palm.

Both palms met, and both parties couldn't help but become shocked.

The black-clad individual was frightened and asked, “Who are you?” This person wasn’t Ma An! How could Ma An possibly have nine ranks of cultivation?!

Zu An became more and more confident. After his cultivation had increased, it was enough to face a ninth rank directly after all. Furthermore, he hadn’t gone all out. He was confident he could completely capture this person.

The other party’s voice was extremely strange, as if their voice had been deliberately altered for fear of revealing their identity. Zu An became more and more curious, asking, “And who are you?”

The black-clad individual snorted. Killing intent flashed through their eyes. Power surged around them, then their hands struck at Zu An’s vitals like the claws of a hawk.

Zu An was shocked. This person had been holding back earlier as well! Their real cultivation was at the peak of the ninth rank!

In a proper duel, both sides could hide their skills and test out their opponent first, making them use their trump cards, and then use their own ultimate moves to take the other party out. But no one would do that in the imperial palace. There was an emperor overseeing this place, and there were many guards and Embroidered Envoys patrolling around. That was why one had to quickly deal with their opponent, so one would always go all out.

Zu An didn’t treat this matter carelessly and quickly focused his attention.

The two tacitly chose not to use elemental abilities for fear of alerting the emperor. Even though they didn’t use elemental abilities, their attacks were still fierce and vicious. Every attack was aimed at the opponent’s vital point without a shred of mercy.

Zu An was still a bit unaccustomed to his new strength, as he had just reached the ninth rank. In fact, he hadn’t even fully adapted to his eighth rank cultivation yet. However, ever since he had arrived in this world, he had constantly fought on the brink of life and death several times. He had already experienced many desperate battles.

Together with his Primordial Origin Sutra’s powerful regeneration, he could just fight while exchanging damage for damage. The Phoenix Nirvana Sutra would also increase his cultivation the more damage he took.

That was why he was left at a disadvantage in the first twenty to thirty moves, and blood splattered all over his clothes. But after thirty moves, he gradually regained some ground, getting on even footing with his opponent. By the time they exchanged forty to fifty moves, he had already gradually obtained the advantage.

The black-clad individual became more and more shocked. Why was this person’s body so tough? He was able to keep fighting after suffering serious injuries as if it were nothing… No, he was becoming stronger and stronger! Since when had the imperial palace ever had this kind of expert?

On several occasions, they almost couldn't hold back and nearly used elemental skills. However, the emperor was in the palace right now, so they could only give up on that thought.

The black-clad individual was starting to become more and more scared. Their opponent’s aura was becoming stronger and stronger. They knew they might just be finished if they continued to fight here. As such, they launched a barrage of claw strikes at their opponent. While Zu An was defending himself against the attacks, they rushed out of the window and disappeared into the darkness.

Zu An knew that the black-clad individual wanted to escape, so he had deliberately let them slip away. He wanted to use this chance to see just who this person was. As such, he quickly pursued the individual. Their movements were strange, allowing them to vanish almost instantly. Fortunately, Zu An had the jade badge, allowing him to see everything within a few li. No matter how this person tried to confuse him, he could still remain on their trail.

But even so, he almost lost the person on several occasions. They were just too fast. If it weren’t for Zu An’s Grandgale ability and the fact that he excelled in speed as well, he would’ve lost the black-clad individual even if he had the jade badge’s radar.

After winding around from side to side, they ended up arriving in front of a palace. Zu An was shocked when he saw the three words ‘Palace of Peace’. This person was actually someone working under the empress?

He quickly reacted. That black clad individual was most likely Eunuch Lu. No wonder he felt that the person’s attacks were more reserved, and that there was a strange smell coming from them. Now, he realized that was the smell of perfume mixed with the smell of urine.

Why had Eunuch Lu wanted to kill the imperial hospital’s Ma An? Don’t tell me the empress is the Shadow Group’s master?

Zu An didn’t dare run into the Palace of Peace. After the last assassin attack, the Palace of Peace’s security had been strengthened, and even its rune formations had been upgraded. It wouldn’t be possible for him to sneak in silently even if he had nine ranks of cultivation now.

But just because he couldn't enter didn’t mean there was nothing he could do. He looked in the Palace of Peace’s direction and raised the jade badge. A big black cat that had been working at a small white female cat suddenly shivered all over. Then, he got off the small white cat and ran toward the empress’ palace. The small white cat cried out in resentment, but she still didn’t turn around.

You playboy! No, playcat! Zu An thought.

The empress was lying lazily on her seat, her glamorous curves in full view. A seductive smile appeared at the corners of her lips. “The palace’s cats are causing trouble again.”

A black-clad individual was standing across from her, precisely the one who had just fought with Zu An. He said hatefully, “This servant will castrate that big black cat after this. All he does is torment the courtyard’s female cats all day!”

The empress chuckled, “Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean you should take it out on other people’s cats. That fella is well received by those female cats, so what does it have to do with you?”

The black-clad individual’s entire body trembled, as if he had been greatly humiliated. Unfortunately, he couldn't retort against any of the empress’ words.

The empress didn’t want to incite him any further and changed the topic. “What the heck happened to you?”