At the bottom of the crater on the plaza outside the Hall of Martial Valor.0

The chief eunuch rose to his feet in a shaky manner, and the nine tiny golden flood dragons re-emerged from his orifices before returning to the Dragon Wall formation.1

At this moment, the chief eunuch's entire body was drenched in blood, but he was in very high spirits. It seemed that he had benefited immensely from this battle, and even though he still wasn't close to making a breakthrough, he had been elevated from a bottom-dwelling ninth tier martial artist to one that was now firmly in the middle of the pack. Even so, he was still no match for Li Er, so he decided not to squander any more of Great Sui Nation's precious Dragon Qi.0

He forced back the blood that had flowed up to the back of his throat, and he smiled as he willingly conceded, "I lose."1

Li Er looked up at the murky sky to find that after the light of the winter sun passed through the clouds up above, the rays of light seemed to have been significantly warped, and that was clearly very abnormal.0

"But you also lose," the chief eunuch added.0

Li Er smiled as he asked, "Have you used some type of formation to forcibly suppress my cultivation base to the eighth tier?"0

The chief eunuch made no attempt to hide anything as he said in a candid manner, "If we were to dedicate the power of an entire nation to striking down a martial artist at the pinnacle of the ninth tier like yourself, we would undoubtedly be successful, but the price that we would have to pay in the process would be far too severe. 0

“However, an eighth tier martial artist is a lot easier to deal with. It's only a difference of a single tier, but the price that we'll have to pay to bring you down would be significantly discounted."0

The chief eunuch looked directly at Li Er as he continued, "While it's true that someone of your power has the right to be granted an audience with His Majesty, you made a grave mistake by demanding an audience in such an arrogant...0