Chapter 685: I think she is a bit too old

The two sixth-rank knights who charged first, though dismounted, still possessed a terrifying presence. Their attacks were simple and direct, devoid of the flashy techniques common among martial artists, clearly characteristic of military combat. The blades in their hands exuded a sense of bloodlust, clearly honed on battlefields.

Zu An charged forward to meet them directly. With his current cultivation, these opponents weren't worth him dodging. He refrained from using the Spirit-Linked Finger, recalling that he had used it before as Gold Token Eleven. If observed by someone with discerning eyes in plain sight, it could easily draw connections.

He switched from a finger technique to a palm strike, striking later but arriving sooner. He clapped the sides of their blades, one left, one right. With his current strength, had these two palms connected solidly, their blades would have shattered and their hands broken; at the very least, their hands would have bled, and they wouldn't have been able to grip their weapons.

However, the two men merely swayed slightly before immediately swinging their palms to attack again. Zu An met their palms head-on. After a single exchange, both sides retreated, leaving a clear distance of ten feet between them.

Zu An frowned slightly, noticing faint blue light swirling around the men, with obscure runes flickering into view. He immediately realized this must be a military formation. He was not unfamiliar with this; back in Mingyue City, the Chu family's private army, utilizing military formations, had managed to withstand attacks from a Grandmaster. In this world of cultivation, the reason armies still exist is, at its core, the existence of formations. When attacking, they can combine the cultivation of all individuals, and when defending, they can evenly distribute the opponent's attacks among everyone.

At this moment, the Prince of Qi and his entourage were even more surprised. The cavalry squad under his command was essentially his personal guard, with every member a military expert. The core were fifth-rank, with a few fourth-rank and several sixth-rank soldiers. Combined with their formation, they were more than capable of defeating a peak sixth-rank master. Yet, they had only fought him to a draw? Although they had already estimated his strength as high as possible, this fellow was clearly even more formidable than reported.

However, the Prince of Qi didn't mind. His personal guard unit was capable of surrounding and eliminating even ordinary seventh-rank masters, let alone just Zu An. As if sensing their master's displeasure, the knights' faces flushed. With an angry roar, they charged at Zu An again from all directions.

Many martial arts masters become ineffective on the battlefield because, fundamentally, on a battlefield, weapons come from all directions. The dodging and maneuvering techniques common in the jianghu have little effect. Instead, the key is how to simply and directly eliminate enemies while conserving stamina for prolonged combat. This was not the first time they had dealt with martial arts masters. Such masters found it difficult to adapt to their fighting style, and each time, they met their demise due to the knights' clever coordination.

Seeing the charging figures, Zu An understood that they had blocked most of his dodging space. The few angles left open were deliberate traps; if he dodged in those directions, their attacks would come in relentless waves, directly exhausting him to death.

Indeed, there was no escaping this military formation's coordination. But why should I escape?

He spread his arms, and a faint white chill emanated from him. Immediately, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. As soon as the charging knights were touched by these snowflakes, a layer of frost quickly spread across their bodies. Their previously rapid charge seemed to be afflicted by a slowing spell; their steps grew increasingly sluggish, until they were finally frozen solid into ice sculptures.

Not far away, Chu Youzhao, who had been worried, widened her beautiful eyes. "Snowflake Divine Sword?" She was extremely familiar with her sister's Snowflake Divine Sword. What she saw before her was indeed very similar, yet it also seemed subtly different; she couldn't quite put her finger on it. However, after a rough comparison, she felt that Zu An's Snowflake Divine Sword seemed even more powerful than her sister's.

"This guy is actually a genius?" Chu Youzhao was utterly shocked. It was already remarkable for her sister, with her talent, to have cultivated the 'Snowflake Divine Sword' to that level. How long had her brother-in-law been learning? Even if her sister had taught him right after they got married, it had only been a few months at most. Yet, he had surpassed his teacher?

From the carriage in the distance, the gap-toothed coachman frowned, saying, "This doesn't seem to be the 'Snowflake Divine Sword', yet it clearly carries some of its sword intent. How strange."

The Prince of Qi had been sitting atop his tall horse, waiting for his subordinates to beat Zu An to an unrecognizable pulp. The next second, however, all of his men were completely wiped out. He was both astonished and enraged. "As expected, you're a gigolo! Even your skills were taught by a woman."

Rage value from Zhao Zhi +444,444,444...

He couldn't distinguish the difference and subconsciously believed it to be Chu Chuyan's 'Snowflake Divine Sword'. Zu An had indeed just performed the Snowflake Divine Sword, but he had not awakened ice-elemental abilities, so its power was certainly not comparable to Chu Chuyan's. However, he could also summon the Snow Phoenix, and combined, they were enough to fool anyone. Moreover, the Snow Phoenix's power was linked to his cultivation; now that his cultivation had improved, the Snow Phoenix's power had also greatly increased.

Hearing the other party's words, he chuckled, "It takes skill to be a kept man, you know. Especially for a peerless beauty like Chuyan, how could she fancy an ordinary man? If you have the ability, go try it yourself. Chuyan is definitely out of your league, so who else... Oh right, there's a woman named Yu Yanluo, the former most beautiful woman in the capital. If you can manage to mooch off her, then it won't be too late to mock me."

The gap-toothed coachman in the distance angrily exclaimed, "Bastard! This fellow is truly detestable, daring to slander Madam's reputation!"

Rage value from Butler Fu +666!

However, Zu An's attention was currently focused on the Prince of Qi, and he didn't notice this rage value income in the background.

The woman in the carriage let out a soft laugh. "It's fine. This young man is still so amusing."

"Eh?" Butler Fu looked back at the carriage in surprise. From the meaning of her words, it seemed they had known each other before.

At this moment, the Prince of Qi also gasped. "To speak of being a kept man with such righteousness, there's truly no one but you."

Not far away, Murong Qinghe nodded in agreement, quietly whispering to Chu Youzhao beside her, "Brother Chu, your brother-in-law is truly shameless."

Chu Youzhao's face also flushed with embarrassment. "He really is different from ordinary people."

Zu An sighed. "It seems you can't mooch off Yu Yanluo, no wonder you're so infuriated and embarrassed."

The Prince of Qi proudly declared, "I am of distinguished birth and possess high cultivation. Countless women willingly throw themselves at me, so why would I need to shamelessly live off a woman?"

"Are they coming for *you*? No, they're after your family background and your father," Zu An scoffed. "Only someone like me, who is clearly penniless and powerless, yet can make the most famous beauty in the world fall for him, truly possesses skill."

The gap-toothed coachman in the distance gasped. "This fellow's shamelessness truly exceeds this old man's imagination."

The woman in the carriage smiled faintly. "You haven't seen his more shameless side." As if recalling something from the past, her plump red lips curved into a perfect smile.

The Prince of Qi sneered, "My family background and my royal father are both part of my charm; why should I deliberately separate them? Whose fault is it that you weren't born into a good family?" With his knowledge and experience, he naturally wouldn't be led by the nose by the other party.

Zu An sighed. "So you can only attract common, superficial women who are after those things. Can you win the favor of a top-tier beauty, one whose family background is comparable to yours, like the Demon Sect Mistress Yun Jianyue, or the former most dazzling beauty in the capital, Yu Yanluo?"

The Prince of Qi's face twitched. Both of these women were famously beautiful throughout the land, and their status commanded respect. How could they possibly fancy a junior like him? He couldn't help but retort, "As if you could win the favor of those women!"

Murong Qinghe also nudged her lover beside her with a strange expression. "Brother Chu, your brother-in-law is truly shameless, using women like them as examples."

Chu Youzhao also had a strange expression. She naturally knew that given the status of those women, only individuals of the Emperor or Prince of Qi's caliber could be their equals. Her brother-in-law bringing them up was indeed a bit out of line.

Zu An, with an expression as if he had been waiting for him to say that, spoke with a touch of Versailles-style bragging, "I can't say about the Demon Sect Mistress, but Yu Yanluo has long been deeply in love with me. However, I find her a bit too old, so I've been slow to accept her affections."

The gap-toothed coachman, who was watching the scene unfold while drinking water from a kettle in the distance, immediately spat out his water upon hearing this.

The woman in the carriage: "..."