Chapter 48

Chen Tianxiu shuddered, his face twisting into a bitter grimace. At this moment, his mood felt precisely as though he had been forced to mate with a husky.

"Either refuse cleanly and decisively, or carry out the task willingly. Never give others any opportunity to find fault, nor allow yourself to fall into an awkward and embarrassing predicament where all your effort brings no gratitude." This very sentiment was Xue Ling's motto.

Empress Zhangsun's voice carried a hint of anxiety. Seeing that Li Shimin remained entirely unresponsive, she was on the verge of summoning the imperial physicians into the chamber.

As for the neutral factions in the imperial court, swaying back and forth like grass in the wind—while they could be used to fill gaps in talent shortages, trusting these slippery old foxes was far less reliable than trusting a stray dog.

Qingyang was also well aware that regardless of whether Yang Yuanpu harbored any lingering resentment toward Han Qian for preemptively seizing military authority in Jinling without prior consultation, on the surface, that venerable and admired "Teacher Han" had returned.

"What the hell?" Hearing this, Chen Tianxiu's eyes widened to their utmost, an expression of sheer disbelief plastered across his face.

In the modern era, to enhance the visual spectacle of long-distance racing events, specialized fixed-point tracks were established before the finish line. Only after eliminating each competitor's individual starting time discrepancies would they enter the final one-kilometer decisive stretch.

"Damn human wench, you've truly grown a bear's heart and a leopard's gall!" The aged eunuch gnashed his teeth with venomous malice, blazing fury filling his turbid, aging eyes.

"First Aunt said our family has no relations whatsoever with the Jiang family..." Xue Ling stated dryly, a profound look of shock and disbelief still lingering on her features. After all, the relationship between Wang Ping and Madam Sun could truly be described by the phrase: "Though not born of the same mother, they are closer than actual sisters."

"No! This is entirely President Shi's intention." Liang Liang hurriedly denied the claim, proceeding to elaborate carefully on the relevant plans.

No! She would not do that! The feelings built over the past three years would not simply dissolve over a minor setback like this! He would not allow such a possibility to occur.

In that fraction of a second, nearly half the occupants within the inn erupted into a frenzied state, surging madly toward Ye Han.

"Since you've come from afar, let's dispense with such formalities from now on. I am likely a few years your senior, so I shall call you Brother Chen henceforth!" This amounted to a genuine acknowledgment of Chen Shu as a young entrepreneur, as he perceived Chen Shu to be a person endowed with remarkable independence of thought and profound vision.

The very instant the message was sent, upon catching sight of a statement from the world channel user Vast Ocean and Sky, he paused for a split second, before a faint smile blossomed on his lips next.

Right at that moment within the Panlong Mountains, the elderly master of the Heaven-Opening Sect, Sovereign Absolute Blade, was attempting to slip away stealthily, only to be intercepted by Xingtian.

They evolved various flawed abilities and grew immensely powerful, yet their consciousness shattered amidst this drastic transformation, reducing them to mere monsters driven entirely by instinct.

In addition to these, there were the Dao patterns of Metal, Lightning, and even the Dao patterns of the Sword, the Saber, Darkness, and Light.

Luo Chong smiled faintly, and without hesitation, he directly laid down a chip worth one million, placing it squarely on the wager table over the character denoting "Large."

A flurry of crisp clashing sounds rang out continuously, and the sword radiance illuminating the fighting arena was forcibly neutralized by thirty percent.

"If you go out looking like this and get spotted by paparazzi, you will genuinely land on the front page the very next second!" Guan Xiaotong nodded repeatedly in agreement with Guo Nianfei's words.

Chang Qingyu simply gazed at her own wrist, watching as the red thread slowly faded until only a single loop remained wrapped around her hand.

"Good grief, Boss, you're phenomenal! You actually managed to find it," Tan Long exclaimed with excitement.

"N-nothing much. Just the ordinary kind." Unsure of how best to explain it to the other person, Lin Peng replied rather vaguely.

Without a shred of doubt, Gu Luo tossed the second batch of ingredients directly into the medicine box. Amidst the blazing cauldron flames, the refinement was completed in merely a dozen breaths.

Hearing this, Gu Luo rolled his eyes and retorted, "A reliable Elder Qian? This is a matter of life and death!" With that, he leaped several yards outward and vanished down the path in the blink of an eye, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The Golden Eagle King and the Ape Eagle King found themselves locked in a fierce, entangled battle with the White-Eyed Patriarch and the Mysterious Six-Eared Macaque. After enduring hundreds of rounds of bloody combat, they ultimately failed to escape their doom and were subdued by Master Huaihuai. In one fell swoop, all the flying beast monsters were thus eradicated, assisting the White-Eyed Patriarch in reclaiming White-Eyed Mountain.

At that moment, Lin Peng walked over with his hands loaded with bulging shopping bags, a look of utter defeat on his face. Those bags contained all the various items the three of them had bought—clothes, cosmetics, and a mountain of other miscellaneous goods.

Seeing Ming Cang and Hadisi fleeing while Ling Chu Tian remained concealed within the spatial封锁 grand array, Jade Buddha shifted his posture and appeared directly before the crowd.

The elf wore a dark purple robe, his deep purple hair falling loosely over his shoulders without a hint of disarray. A pair of blue-purple eyes appeared infinitely profound, and a subtle, inscrutable smile perpetually played at the corners of his lips, rendering him truly unfathomable.

"Legend has it that ancient mighty beings once descended from the upper realm into the desolate domain, only to encounter terrifying, inexplicable calamities. That is precisely why beings from the upper realm are so urgently trying to understand just what kind of terrifying entities are concealed within this desolate domain!" The jade thumb ring transmitted its voice directly, revealing numerous rumors unrecorded in ancient texts, leaving one gaping in astonishment.

Who would have thought that after wasting an entire day dawdling and chatting idly with Yan Jing, they had merely exchanged a lot of empty talk with nothing substantial accomplished at all...

Zhang Ning snapped back to his senses and scratched his head, vaguely sensing that the woman in purple had likely perpetrated yet another mischief, yet finding himself entirely powerless to deal with her.