Although Gu Li had long anticipated an ambush, he was still nervous when it actually happened.
Because he had never fought another cultivator before, hence the nervousness!
However, the five opponents didn't give Gu Li any time to be nervous. The one whose cultivation was on par with Gu Li's said, "Move!"
Without another word, the other four attacked Ouyang Ji and the others.
Protecting Ouyang Ji, besides Gu Li, were also one hundred Imperial Guards.
Although the Imperial Guards weren't cultivators, as the Emperor's personal guards, their individual combat abilities were the strongest among all military branches. Each of them had trained their physical bodies to an extraordinary degree, capable of taking on ten opponents single-handedly.
Although the Awakening Realm was considered to have embarked on the path of cultivation, it wasn't invincible, because they couldn't fly and were vulnerable to encirclement.
Gu Li was confident in taking on a thousand, but that was because his cultivation had already reached the late stage of the Awakening Realm, and those thousand were ordinary soldiers. If he faced several hundred Imperial Guards, he could only flee.
Seeing the opponents move, Gu Li stepped forward, blocking the strongest one, and said, "The remaining four are yours."
He had great confidence in the Imperial Guards. Their individual combat abilities were already strong, but don't forget that as a military force, they definitely mastered military formations.
Military formations weren't the same as the formations of the cultivation world, but they could still make their strength greater than the sum of their parts.
One hundred Imperial Guards surrounded Ouyang Ji, showing no panic in the face of four Awakening Realm cultivators.
"Mere mortal ants, dare to obstruct us?"
One of them sneered. The five of them came from the five countries, each a disciple of their respective national preceptors. This time, they were ordered to intercept and kill Ouyang Ji. With their abilities, avoiding the surveillance at the Southern Xiang Kingdom's border was naturally easy, and they had been lying in ambush around here for a long time. This place was three or four hundred miles away from Tianrao City and several hundred miles from the northern border of the Southern Xiang Kingdom, making it undoubtedly the best choice for an ambush.
They were also very confident, and excited at the same time. Although they were all cultivators, their combined reputation couldn't match a single hair on Ouyang Ji's head.
But if they could successfully intercept and kill Ouyang Ji, then they would undoubtedly be great heroes of their respective countries.
At that time, fame, status, and even power would be easily within their reach.
Although they were disciples of national preceptors and already held extraordinary positions, they wanted more, believing they deserved more.
This assassination of Ouyang Ji was their opportunity to gain more.
Now, seeing a group of mortals daring to stand in their way, how could they not be angry?
They weren't surprised that someone was able to hold back their strongest member, because if no one was protecting Ouyang Ji, they would suspect that the current Ouyang Ji was an imposter.
But now, they had confirmed that the old man in armor in the center of the crowd was their target, Ouyang Ji.
"Kill!"
Another person struck out with a palm, full of force and power.
"Defend!"
The commander of the hundred Imperial Guards shouted.
A giant shield blocked the palm. With a "bang," it actually blocked the attack.
But it was clearly not a single person's effort. Behind the shield, eight people were holding it together to barely withstand the blow.
The attacker exclaimed in surprise, then sneered, "The Imperial Guards of the Southern Xiang Kingdom are indeed well-deserved of their reputation, but it ends here."
As soon as he finished speaking, the other three launched attacks from the other three directions, putting the Imperial Guards under immense pressure from all sides.
On the other side, Gu Li wielded his sword to fight his opponent, eager to resolve the battle quickly, and his sword strikes were extremely fast.
However, the opponent obviously knew Gu Li's intentions, not engaging in a direct confrontation, but also not allowing Gu Li to leave. He only needed to hold Gu Li back, and after his companions killed Ouyang Ji, they could join forces to kill Gu Li.
Thinking that they could not only kill Ouyang Ji but also kill such a young genius from the Southern Xiang Kingdom, he felt that this was truly killing two birds with one stone.
Yes, in his view, Gu Li, in his early twenties, had cultivation comparable to his own after decades of cultivation, which was a genius.
So young, he truly deserved to die!
He couldn't help thinking jealously.
"How is that possible?"
Just then, a shocked voice rang out. He knew who it was, one of the five.
He was stunned for a moment when he heard the voice, and in that moment of distraction, Gu Li seized the opportunity, stabbing his shoulder with a sword and forcing him back.
Seeing this, Gu Li immediately wanted to counterattack, but when he turned around, his pupils shrank.
He saw that the Imperial Guards who had been protecting Ouyang Ji were now standing behind him, as if Ouyang Ji was protecting the Imperial Guards.
But how could this be?
A thought flashed through Gu Li's mind, but soon, he realized something was wrong. He had held back one of the opponents, so there should be four people over there, but now there were only three.
Wait... there's blood on the ground...
Gu Li followed the direction of the bloodstains and found a person pinned to a boulder with a spear, and spiderweb-like cracks had appeared on the boulder.
What's going on?
Gu Li wondered.
But soon, he saw the answer.
He saw Ouyang Ji shout softly, "Go!" and a spear flew out of an Imperial Guard's hand. Gu Li could only see a shadow flash past his eyes, and the next moment, a corpse appeared on a large tree not far away. The corpse was pinned to it by the spear, piercing the heart, killing it instantly.
And over there, only two people remained.
"Run!"
The two shouted and fled towards the border in a panic, but Gu Li happened to be on this side. He instantly came back to his senses and swung his sword to block one of them.
Because the other person had also been killed by a spear.
Gu Li didn't know what was going on, but he felt that he couldn't slack off.
His opponent was already terrified and had lower cultivation than him. In his panic, Gu Li slashed his sword, and the person's head was separated from his body.
All dead? No, there's one more.
Gu Li turned to look at the person who had been entangled with him earlier, but he found that the person had disappeared.
Gu Li wanted to chase, but confused voices came from behind him.
"Marshal, what's wrong?"
Ouyang Ji was appointed as the marshal of the northern front. Except for Gu Li calling him "Mister," everyone else had to call him "Marshal."
Hearing this, Gu Li was shocked and hurried back.
"Mister!"
Gu Li found Ouyang Ji sitting aside to rest with a slightly pale face, and couldn't help but worry.
Ouyang Ji waved his hand and said, "I'm fine, just a little exhausted."
Exhausted?
Gu Li was stunned again. The word "exhausted" was generally used for physical strength, but he was a cultivator, so he thought of the spiritual power in his body. Combining Ouyang Ji's performance just now, he believed that Ouyang Ji was also a cultivator, and much stronger than him.
But why was he so exhausted?
Ouyang Ji didn't know what Gu Li was thinking. He seemed to be talking to himself, "It's the first time I've used this power, so I'm not familiar with it. Fortunately, it wasn't the national preceptors of each country who came this time, or it would have been dangerous."
The first time? Power? Unfamiliar?
Gu Li carefully listened to the information, although he didn't quite understand, but he confirmed that Ouyang Ji was not an ordinary person.
"I didn't expect Mister to be a cultivator as well," Gu Li said with emotion.
"Cultivator?" Ouyang Ji shook his head. He said, "This isn't the power of a cultivator. This is what I gained from reading."
"To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth, to establish a life for the people, to continue the lost learning for the past sages, and to establish peace for all generations."
"If I really have to say what kind of power this is, then it's called Righteous Qi!"
...
At the Longevity Tavern, Gu Changsheng had been watching this scene. Seeing Ouyang Ji slowly learning how to use Righteous Qi, his face was full of smiles.
"To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth, to establish a life for the people, to continue the lost learning for the past sages, and to establish peace for all generations."
Yao Xian murmured, and from these four sentences, she realized a kind of broad-mindedness that was not for oneself but for the world. At the same time, she also realized that in the future, those who could cultivate Righteous Qi were all people with the world in their hearts.
Because only a broad-mindedness that embraced the world could stimulate the fusion of the body's righteous energy with the power of heaven and earth, becoming Righteous Qi.
There wouldn't be many such people, but as long as one such person appeared, it would definitely be a great fortune for the world.
There were actually people who wanted to get rid of such a person.
"I really want to slap those people to death," Yao Xian muttered.
Gu Changsheng smiled slightly after hearing this and said, "Let him handle it himself. You should think about it now, among a group of mortals, the strongest is only the Leap to Mortality Realm, and suddenly a saint appears, tsk tsk..."
"It will scare them to death!" Yao Xian also smiled like a flower.
