The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 367 - 312, Martial God Path Stage Two Unlocked: Armored Red-Dressed Female Sorcerer

"The eldest son is back!"

As Zhao Douan strode through the gate, surrounded by house servants and maids, You Jinhua and her daughter revealed genuine smiles on their faces.

In a world where travel was fraught with difficulties, some people's partings meant they might never meet again in their lifetime.

Thus, in his past life, Zhao Douan had learned ancient poetry, where farewells and homesickness were always major themes.

Because meetings were so precious, letters sent from afar became laden with importance.

Zhao Douan had not been in this world for long, so his understanding of this was not profound.

He only knew that his return to the Zhao Mansion had caused quite a "stir."

Every servant in the house came out to see him; the first question from his mother was, "Have you eaten yet?" Learning that Zhao Douan had just returned from the palace and hadn't had lunch, she immediately ordered the cook to start a fire.

Next, Zhao Douan was welcomed into the hall, where naturally, there followed a round of warm queries about his wellbeing.

The aunt wore a plain-colored robe embroidered with plump Haitang flowers.

His sister was dressed in a goose-yellow skirt, which made her look exceptionally elegant and fair.

The two women fussed over Zhao Douan, first sizing him up with concern, asking about things like the quality of his meals and whether he had lost weight. Zhao Douan then took out the local specialties he had brought back from Taicang as gifts and recounted some of the sights and events along the way.

As for work matters, he briefly mentioned the gist of them but made no mention of the assassination attempt.

So, when the cook brought out the steaming hot meal, Zhao Douan had a hearty feast.

Although he had stopped in cities along the way while rushing home, it was only upon returning home that he felt his feet truly planted on the ground. With hot food in his belly and fully sated, Mr. Zhao rose, claiming he needed to rest, and went back to his bedroom to relax.

...

The east wing.

You Jinhua and Zhao Pan walked back to their room, where the beautiful woman took off her coat and sat cross-legged on the bed, gently massaging her well-shaped, slender legs to relieve the exhaustion from the hustle and bustle.

The vibrant young girl sat at the round table, eagerly opening the delicacies Zhao Douan had brought back. From the gift box, she took out a jade bracelet with an embedded ice-flower pattern, slipped it onto her wrist, and played with it, delightfully asking:

"Mom, do you think it looks good?"

You Jinhua glanced at her daughter and said with a smile:

"It looks lovely, but be careful not to knock and damage that precious bracelet. Put it away; I'll save it for you as a dowry for later."

"..." Zhao Pan pursed her lips, no longer speaking, and silently covered her wrist with her sleeve, determined not to take the bracelet off but instead said:

"Mom, do you think there's anything between big brother and His Majesty?"

"Ah?" You Jinhua paused in her massaging, staring at her daughter in surprise: "What are you talking about?"

Zhao Pan was sly, her eyes darting around as she whispered:

"Everyone outside says that big brother and His Majesty have that kind of relationship, but we know our own affairs. I don't think so; how many nights has big brother actually spent at the palace? He mostly goes during the day, for official business...

Also, I heard that men and women change after doing 'that thing,' but I don't know how they change, only that there doesn't seem to be any difference. You have experience, so tell me, is it just a rumor?"

You Jinhua clicked her tongue and scolded: "As a girl who's yet to be married, what sorts of things are you thinking about all day? Mind your own business when it comes to your brother and His Majesty."

"I'm just asking, I'm not stupid, and I'll never tell anyone else," Zhao Pan puffed up her cheeks, which had grown plumper and rounder after a luxurious autumn.

You Jinhua kept silent, taking it as an end to the conversation.

While massaging her raised legs, she also couldn't help but let her thoughts drift:

The eldest son... doesn't seem like he's tasted the pleasures of the flesh.

...

...

In the bedroom.

After a full meal and a simple bath, Zhao Douan finally settled comfortably into bed.

"I wonder how the case with Gao Lian will develop. Li Yanfu definitely won't just let things be.

Sigh, the court has finally quieted down... Oh well, it has nothing to do with me. Since Zhenbao said she'd handle it, let it be. If they really make me go to court tomorrow and defend myself publicly, I'll be really nervous..."

Zhao Douan's thoughts were scattered, making it hard for him to fall asleep.

He simply got up, sat cross-legged on the bed in the Chao Tian position, and continued his daily cultivation.

Cultivation was like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall back.

He could not afford to neglect it.

Breathing slowly, he visualized the second image of the Martial God pathway, the "Six Chapters Scripture," in his mind.

Based on his experience, he would enter a pitch-black darkness and then, after completing a cycle of vital energy around his body, wake up again.

However, this time, as he floated into the "Six Chapters Scripture," the darkness gradually dissipated, and he unexpectedly saw scenes appearing before him!

Zhao Douan was astounded!

Finally, there was a change! Had he found stable footing in the Divine Chapter Realm?

What a coincidence, to progress right after returning to the Capital.

Suppressing his excitement, he curiously surveyed his surroundings and found himself in a desolate forest, with a barren suburb in the distance and dark clouds gathering in the sky.

The cold wind howled, suggesting it was probably deep autumn.

"Where is this ... I don't know if Xu is still in the Six Chapters Scripture..."

With experience under his belt, Zhao Douan didn't panic at all. He took a few steps forward and soon emerged from the sparse woods into a clearing.

Before his eyes stood a solitary, dilapidated temple.

This broken temple resembled more a Daoist Temple, yet its architectural style differed slightly from that of the current era — it was much older, abandoned for countless months, perhaps.

The paint on the main gates was mottled and blackened, riddled with holes from rot. The lanterns that once hung from the eaves lay on the ground, only their bamboo skeletons remained.

Spider webs blanketed the temple's plaque, which hung askew under the eaves, its lettering appearing deliberately destroyed. The steps before the temple doors were cracked, with weeds sprouting from the fissures.

"This must be the first stop in the Six Chapters Scripture, hmm, the architecture is ancient, yes, it's unmistakably the style from six hundred years ago. Could this be a place Xu once saw and drew into the painting?"

Curious, Zhao Douan approached the temple entrance, ascended the steps, and pushed open the doors with force.

"Creeeak—"

What met his gaze was a serene and desolate courtyard overrun with wild grass, with a Pill Furnace lying toppled in a corner.

His eyes followed the path nearly concealed by the wild grass, leading to the main shrine, weathered by innumerable years.

The doors of the shrine were firmly shut. On the two pillars outside, it looked as if someone had hacked and chiseled away at the inscriptions, destroying the original couplets.

"Is anyone there?" A chill touched Zhao Douan's heart for no reason as he marveled at the heavy yin energy of this place.

After calling out loudly twice to no response, only two crows flew up from behind the temple, cawing as they flapped their wings and perched atop a branch, looking down from above.

"No one? The atmosphere of this Six Chapters Scripture is quite different from the last one... Could the NPC be in the main shrine?"

Zhao Douan grumbled, accustomed to treating the scrolls from the Martial God pathway as if they were game levels to be cleared.

He was already walking toward the main shrine when suddenly, a chilling breeze accompanied by an intense premonition of danger struck him from behind!

It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end in an instant!

"Something's not right!"

He spun around abruptly, his pupils constricted sharply.

There, level with his eyes in the air behind him, dangled a pair of red embroidered shoes. The owner appeared to be a woman.

The shoes slowly descended from the sky, and he clearly saw above them a section of ankle that was white and smooth like jade.

Further up, two lustrous and slender jade legs appeared, soon obscured by the sweep of a bright red skirt hem.

"What kind of ghost woman..." Zhao Douan found himself breathing rapidly, his body seemingly locked in place by some force, hardly able to move. He strained to lift his head and finally caught a glimpse of the woman descending from above.

It turned out to be a classic woman clothed in a ceremonial red marriage gown, the dark red of the garment reminiscent of dried bloodstains, decorated with motifs of golden auspicious clouds and mythic beasts.

However, her face was partially covered by a dark golden mask, its design archaic and mysterious, leaving only half of her chin visible.

In her hand, she held a balancing rod, painted in red and gold, with tassels dangling from one end along with a bound ring of green jade.

At that moment, the bride-like female sorcerer descended from the heavens, looking down at Zhao Douan with cold detachment.

Her indifferent gaze met his as her balancing rod struck Zhao Douan's skull, causing a throbbing pain throughout his body, then darkness veiled his vision, and his consciousness became murky.

He was forcefully ejected from his meditative cultivation state.

Before Zhao Douan was kicked out of the Six Chapters Scripture, he faintly heard an utterly exasperated voice:

"Annoying... dead... now..."

...

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Inside the bedroom at Zhao Mansion.

"Huff, huff..." Zhao Douan abruptly woke from his meditative trance, gasping for breath, sweat beading on his forehead.

Only upon confirming his "return" did he breathe a sigh of relief, recovering from the state of having been killed.

"If I saw correctly, my skull was just cracked open..."

Zhao Douan felt his intact forehead and twitched at the corner of his mouth, "Others use the staff to lift the bridal veil, but you used it to crack my skull... Xu, what kind of things are you drawing? A ghost woman? An ancient sorcerer? Certainly doesn't look like a Martial Artist..."

Zhao Douan grumbled incessantly but deduced two things from his brief encounter:

First, the "bride" in the painting wasn't a ghost, but very likely some powerful sorcerer, because the sensation of being immobilized in the courtyard, along with the subtle Mana fluctuations, were typical of a sorcerer's techniques.

Of course... why a sorcerer would not use magic to kill but physical means instead... Hmm, considering that the Martial God pathway also involved Dual Cultivation, it was somewhat understandable.

Second, this must indeed be the content of cultivation for the Six Chapters Scripture.

"The previous 'Martial God Map' let me follow Xu for a while, to imitate and learn from him, to refine my spirit."

"This 'Six Chapters Scripture' obviously involves 'combat practice.' If I'm not mistaken, the cultivation content is to defeat this ancient female sorcerer... Tsk, this seems more and more like a game, even like a soul game... Damn it, I'm not good at this, Black Wukong just watches others fight, never having the slightest idea on his own..."

Zhao Douan sighed. Despite his complaints, he felt a tinge of excitement.

What he lacked was indeed the experience of fighting against strong opponents, which was just arranged for in this scroll.

"Just don't know which historic powerhouse this balancing rod-wielding female sorcerer is. Hmm, Xu wouldn't make it up out of nowhere; she must be someone he had a clash with, right?"

"Wait a minute... the golden mask..."

Zhao Douan suddenly paused, recalling the unique dark golden mask on the face of the bride-like female sorcerer, which couldn't help but remind him of the armored female Shadow Guard he had seen in Taicang Prefecture.