Chapter 49: Strike First

  The corpse on the ground twisted and transformed eerily, finally turning into an ordinary-looking middle-aged man who couldn't be more ordinary. He appeared to be quite sturdy in build, and judging from his clothes, he should be one of those workers who frequently entered the imperial palace for repairs and renovations.

  That's all that can be inferred from a single corpse.

  Liu Xuan stepped on the trembling staff, "Although it was just a fake possessed and controlled, at least we got a real one!"

  With a swift turn of the long knife in his hand, he stabbed it downwards with a crisp sound. The relatively thin sorghum stick was immediately cut into two pieces by Liu Xuan. A burst of energy surged out, and the thick true yuan spiritual energy made Liu Xuan feel refreshed and invigorated. He couldn't help but take a deep breath, absorbing all the scattered spiritual energy into his body.

  "Although I managed to absorb this spiritual energy into my body through the art of Tu Na, unfortunately, there isn't much that can be used."

  But this delivered supplement is not bad, and it's not good to ask for anything more. As for the fact that Nan Hua Lao Xian's true body is not here, Liu Xuan was not surprised at all.

  The lifespan of a cultivator is long, as long as they can cross the threshold, and there are no accidents, they can live for two or three hundred years. During this period, as long as their cultivation continues to progress, their lifespan will also continue to extend, and it can be said that the lifespan of a cultivator has no end.

  It's precisely because of this that the cultivator is much more concerned with preserving his life than ordinary people. When he was cultivating and fighting with others, he had seen countless methods for preserving one's life, and he himself had several techniques for defending and preserving his own life - especially when it came to escaping with his life after being poisoned, a technique that even his closest comrades didn't know about, which is why he could escape with his life.

  Nan Hua's cultivation may not be that high, but after all, he is a cultivator and will use some small tricks, which is not surprising. The only thing that makes Liu Xuan concerned is that from this matter, it can be known that Nan Hua's cultivation should be stronger than his own expectations.

  "Perhaps his close combat skills were not weak."

  The Xianxia civilization on earth is still in its infancy, and at the beginning, cultivators have very few means of survival. At this time, Nan Hua was able to cultivate successfully, and it's likely that he also understood some combat techniques; otherwise, he would have been killed by someone even earlier.

  "Could it be the legendary Cloud Body Wind Shifting Technique?"

  Of course, this is just his nonsense, and the cloud body and wind body are not things of this world. Even if they really appeared, it was probably Liu Xuan who made them up.

  Look at that withered staff, after its spiritual energy dissipated it turned to dust and was blown away by the wind without leaving a single speck behind. The surroundings also didn't feel anything unusual, it seems that Nan Hua is not nearby but rather hiding far away controlling this person to kill himself.

  This kind of person is not very bold, but he's particularly troublesome. It's unknown what other tactics he'll use in the future, but one thing that can be ruled out is that he won't use assassination again.

  Sheathed the long knife back into her primordial spirit, turned around and grasped the scarlet sword that had been blasted into the ground. After inspecting it for a bit, she discovered that the dragon energy inside the Scarlet Sword hadn't suffered any damage, but the sword body itself had been severely damaged. Although on the surface it looked fine, this sword could no longer be used to fight against others; otherwise, it would immediately shatter into pieces.

  "After all, it's a blade forged 400 years ago..."

  The status of the Chi Xiao Sword comes from its experience and those legends, in terms of actual durability it's not that great, fortunately Liu Xuan doesn't care about this, he brought this sword for the dragon energy inside.

  Now that the Chi Xiao Sword can no longer be used, perhaps it's time to extract the inner dragon energy from it and merge the sword itself into my own long knife. Maybe the long knife will benefit from this and undergo some mysterious transformation.

  As for self-defense measures?

  Liu Xuan has recently been tempering the Six Seals, and with a bit more time, although he won't be able to fully temper all six seals, at least one of them will have some wondrous uses. By then, relying on the Six Seals will be enough for self-defense. Moreover, he has already begun considering putting the matter of cultivating excellent generals on his agenda, so in the future, if there's any trouble, he can just dispatch his subordinates to handle it.

  As for the first goal...

  Turning his head, he saw a general wearing armor and holding a sword, leading the Hu Bao guards to rush in. After seeing the situation around him, he immediately checked Liu Xuan's body and found that although the emperor's clothes were a bit disheveled, there was no bloodstain, thinking that he had not been injured. Without bothering with anything else, he immediately begged for forgiveness: "This general arrived late to escort you, please punish me, Your Majesty."

  "It's not your fault."

  Liu Xuan also knew that these mysterious masters had ways to deal with these ordinary soldiers and generals. In the past, it was taboo for dragon energy to protect the imperial city, but now the palaces of Chang'an did not have dragon energy protection, so they could come and go as they pleased.

  If so, it would be unfair to blame the guards for failing to protect them - it's not that their own people are incompetent, but rather that both sides are on a different level, whether in terms of strength or cognition.

  "Clean up here and don't spread the word about today's events." After some thought, "Just say that the study has been neglected for years and the house collapsed."

  The eunuch bowed his head in response, then ordered his subordinates to carry out the corpses of the guards who had been dead for a long time, and also called for palace maids and eunuchs to come and assist in cleaning up the room.

  Liu Xuan didn't pay attention to specific matters, but instead took the general to another palace chamber, where he fell into a thoughtful silence.

  The general saw the emperor like this, and didn't know what to do, so he could only stand aside. It wasn't until after a while that he heard the emperor's order: "Summon Cao Mengde and Lü Fengxian."

  He originally thought that the position of Lang Zhong was empty, but now it seems necessary to determine as soon as possible. The person in front of him is quite suitable, but for the time being, it's best to discuss with Cao Cao and Lü Bu first.

  As for this officer in front of him, his name is not small either.

  His surname is Zhang, his name is Liao, and his style name is Wen Yuan. He currently serves under Lü Bu's command in the Hu Bao army and happened to be on patrol duty today, which is why he was able to bring soldiers with him.

  Actually, Liu Xuan counted and found that there were not a few officers who could lead troops by his side.

  Not to mention Cao Cao and Lü Bu, Lu Zhi and the others also had the ability to lead troops in battle, but they were too old, and Liu Xuan wanted to separate military and politics, so it was impossible to rely on them for specific command of battles from now on.

  Ba Jian didn't mention, Cao Cao's four brothers were also capable men, the key was whether he dared to use them. Originally, he still feared that one side would become too powerful and lose control, but now he couldn't care about that anymore. Nan Hua's appearance made him realize that if he didn't speed up, this world might deviate further from its original track. Who could guarantee that Nan Hua wouldn't teach another Zhang Jiao-like disciple to build a new force?

  "It is necessary to strengthen one's own strength as soon as possible, and at the same time, it is also necessary to restore control over this land as soon as possible."

  While thinking, Lü Bu and Cao Cao arrived together. Liu Xuan called the two to sit on either side of him, then asked Zhang Liao to take a seat at the end. After dismissing his attendants, he opened his mouth and asked: "What is the current military situation?"

  Lü Bu and Cao Cao arrived without knowing what had happened, thinking that the Emperor merely wanted to see them and casually ask about the reorganization of the troops.

  The Hu Bao army naturally didn't have any major problems, the Hu Bao army's organization was the most complete, it just needed to add a few horses and it could fill up the thousand cavalry troops, the only difference being training.

  In terms of combat power, Hu Bao Jun has always been the strongest and is currently the only reliable army.

  "The Hu Bao army did not suffer much loss and can come out of the formation at any time."

  Lü Bu thought for a moment, and the place where troops could be used at present was only Tongguan in the east - there was no need to use the elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, just ordinary soldiers relying on the pass would be enough, even if there were only three thousand soldiers, it would be possible to ensure that the eastern side of Chang'an was safe. At the same time, Lü Bu also left Zang Ba and Cao Xing in Tongguan.

  So the only threat to Chang'an is from the west, and Li Jue and Guo Si are both in the northwest commanding troops. Could it be that these two are leading their armies here to attack Chang'an?

  Cao Cao also thought of this, and immediately turned his head to look at Liu Xuan, but saw that the emperor's expression was calm and not flustered, as if it didn't seem like a major war was imminent.

  He didn't know that Liu Xuan had already made up his mind, and he wouldn't neglect both internal affairs and military strategy. He had previously separated the military and political administration, so these generals no longer had to deal with internal affairs. If they were stuck in the capital all the time, it would be easy to stir up trouble. It was better to find them something to do.

  Now that Dong Zhuo has been gotten rid of, Liu Xuan no longer needs to put on a good face for him. Taking advantage of the fact that Dong Zhuo is currently at odds with the heroes of Guandong, wouldn't it be great to directly eliminate the remnants of Dong Zhuo's forces in the western provinces?

  "Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, Niu Fu, is currently stationed in Shaanxi. He must have already learned of Dong Zhuo being trapped in Luoyang. He will certainly lead his troops to attack us. I want to take the initiative and attack him before he is prepared, and eliminate one problem first."

  If Li Jue and Guo Si made Liu Xun slightly apprehensive, then Niu Fu was the arch-nemesis of the northwest. No other reason, because he was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, now that the emperor had escaped from Dong Zhuo's control, as a relative, Niu Fu would certainly be viewed by the court as a thorn in the eye, and killing him would be a pleasure.

  Both sides have no possibility of reconciliation, so Niu Fuxing will go all out to attack Chang'an and regain control over the emperor, only in this way can he ensure the safety of his entire clan.

  It's better to take the initiative than to wait for him to strike. The cowherd must not have expected that the emperor would dispatch troops to attack him before he had even stabilized his position in Chang'an, and the possibility of being caught off guard and eliminated is extremely high.

  Lü Bu and Cao Cao both thought for a moment, feeling that the chances of winning this battle were quite high. Although Niu Fu's army was made up of elite soldiers from Western Liang, Niu Fu himself was only an average commander with nothing special about him, and there were no capable generals under his command. Lü Bu leading the troops to attack this person would likely result in an easy victory.

  "At the same time, issue an imperial edict immediately, proclaiming Dong Zhuo's various crimes to the world and calling on all heroes in the world to join forces to punish this villain!"

  This thing has actually been done for a long time, it's just that the imperial edict hasn't been sent out yet. At this moment, when sending troops, this edict must be sent out as soon as possible, and then we can properly punish the 'bandits'.

  None of these are the key points, the key point is that Liu Xuan wants to send someone to contact Li Jue and Guo Si, to comfort them with kind words, first stabilize these two families, so as not to let these guys join forces against him.

  These orders are nothing out of the ordinary, and have nothing to do with Cao Cao either. He's busy organizing the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and is worried about the source of his troops. Even if there was a battle, it wouldn't be his turn to take the field anyway.

  But unexpectedly, Liu Xuan summoned him to come out and said: "Meng De and Wen Yuan led the left wing of the Imperial Guard to go and completely eliminate the remaining Yellow Turbans in the north of Chang'an." After finishing speaking, he suddenly added a sentence: "Try to leave as many alive as possible."