Chapter 023: Tiger Wings

Wang Bo and Lian Nishang were completely different.

Lian Nishang would be cautious because of Wu Zetian's strength and status, but Wang Bo would not.

The main reason is not that Wang Bo comes from modern times and therefore lacks the reverence for imperial authority that an ancient person like Lian Nichang would have.

It was Wang Bo's strength.

If Wang Bo were merely an ordinary person, or an ordinary martial arts master, his performance would absolutely be no better than Lian Nishang's, and might even be more disgraceful.

Because he knew very well that Wu Zetian could end his life with ease.

When facing an opponent who holds dominion over one's life, humans will instinctively feel awe.

But Wang Bo was no ordinary man, nor an ordinary martial arts master; he was a superman, possessing the Spartan bloodline, impervious to blades and bullets, indestructible as diamond!

Even though Wang Bo is not yet a fully-fledged Superman, unable to extinguish the sun with a single breath, much less create a storm with a puff of air.

But he could still tower above everyone else in this world.

Even imperial authority cannot bend Wang Bo's back.

Therefore, Wang Bo did not hold the imperial authority of this world in awe at all, because the power carried by his fists was even above imperial authority; he could even trample imperial authority under one foot.

Therefore, he, Wang Bo, had no taboos whatsoever!

Upon entering the imperial study, Lian Nishang dropped to her knees with a thud as soon as she saw Wu Zetian and said, 'Your humble subject Yin Ruiji pays respects to the Empress.'

Wang Bo raised an eyebrow; this woman was quite clever, not revealing her true origins.

After all, soul transmigration is something that, even if you tell others, not many would believe.

He reckoned that Lian Nishang had laid her cards on the table probably because she felt his situation was the same as hers—only she hadn't expected that the two of them actually came from different places.

Perhaps Lian Nishang had initially thought that the two of them came from the same place, which was why she told Wang Bo her real name.

Lian Nishang knelt, but Wang Bo did not; he stood leisurely in place, gazing at the first female emperor in history.

Although this woman is not yet the emperor, she will eventually become one.

Historically, this female emperor has been a perennial topic of discussion; aside from her civil and military achievements, most people focus on her romantic affairs.

And Wu Zetian was not inferior to many male emperors; she even changed several male favorites.

Among the more famous ones were Xue Huaiyi, Shen Nanqiu, Zhang Yizhi, and Zhang Changzong!

These are the ones who left their names in history; as for those who did not, they remain unknown.

By the way, the last two were brothers: Zhang Yizhi was the elder, and Zhang Changzong the younger. When the brothers entered the palace, Wu Zetian was already an elderly woman of seventy.

From this it can be seen that Wu Zetian was actually not very different from other male emperors.

Apart from this, the topic people discuss most is whether Wu Zetian was beautiful or not.

Some believe Wu Zetian was very beautiful, or else she could not have so thoroughly bewitched the Li father and son—especially Li Zhi, who seemed utterly entranced. Disregarding that Wu Zetian was his own father's woman, he forcibly brought her back, even at the risk of offending the elder statesmen of the Li dynasty, and step by step elevated her to the position of Empress.

Without Li Zhi's permission, Wu Zetian could never have attained the status of the Two Saints.

Of course, some also believe that Wu Zetian was not actually beautiful, and that her ability to toy with the Li father and son in the palm of her hand relied solely on her extraordinary tactics.

But Wang Bo knew very well that Wu Zetian was beautiful, even exceptionally beautiful.

The reason Wang Bo dared to say this was because he had met the real Wu Zetian.

Though she is merely Wu Zetian of a certain world, she is still Wu Zetian.

And the remarkable woman sitting before Wang Bo gave him a first impression of plumpness, charm, dignity, and beauty.

If Audrey Hepburn is the quintessential Western beauty, then Wu Zetian is a beauty with the most quintessentially Eastern features. Looking across past, present, and future, she would not pale in comparison to any Eastern beauty Wang Bo has ever seen.

Including the vast majority of star beauties.

If there were any woman who could surpass Wu Zetian, it would probably only be those two-dimensional beauties.

"Insolence!"

Facing Wang Bo's gaze, Wu Zetian couldn't help but feel anger, and she rebuked Wang Bo sharply.

Although she had learned from Eunuch Li and Yuchi Zhenjin that Wang Bo was a man without taboos, a lawless scoundrel, she had not expected him to be so utterly rude.

This made her extremely displeased.

Yuchi Zhenjin, without hesitation, drew his Tang blade and hacked at Wang Bo's head.

He had endured Wang Bo for a long time. Now, seeing Wang Bo so insolent toward the Empress, he truly could not bear it any longer and decided to draw his blade and cut Wang Bo down.

Wang Bo neither dodged nor evaded, but extended a single finger to block Yuchi Zhenjin's attack.

A crisp clang rang out.

Yuchi Zhenjin was horrified to discover that the blade he had swung was blocked by Wang Bo with a single finger; the blade, which should have been incomparably sharp and unstoppable, could not even cut through Wang Bo's skin.

"I know you've been putting up with me for a long time," Wang Bo said, looking at the horrified Yuchi Zhenjin and smiling with great delight. "But you overestimated yourself. With your strength, trying to kill me is as hard as reaching the sky."

Yuchi Zhenjin did not believe it; in an instant he withdrew his Tang saber and struck again.

This time, Wang Bo didn't even bother to block, letting Yuchi Zhenjin's blade swiftly hack at his arm, throat, chest, ribs, and other vital spots.

But aside from his clothes being slashed to tatters by Yuchi Zhenjin, not even a single wound was left on Wang Bo's body.

Wang Bo looked at the panting Yuchi Zhenjin with a faint smile and said, "The blade is good, quite sharp—no doubt specially prepared for me. A pity, it still won't do."

Yuchi Zhenjin's heart instantly sank to the bottom of the valley.

Ever since learning that Wang Bo practiced hard-style martial arts, making his entire body impervious to blades and spears, Yuchi Zhenjin had devised a countermeasure.

He had requested this blade in his hand from Wu Zetian.

This blade is named Tiger Wing, a true masterpiece among Tang swords.

The crafting of Tang swords was rigorous, and it also had to account for another purpose in combat: armor-piercing and durability.

Armor-piercing requires hardness and a narrow edge, while durability requires toughness, so Tang swords employed the most advanced steel-wrapping technique of the time.

The Tang dao is made with wrought iron as its outer skin and hundred-refined steel sandwiched in the middle. Part of the cutting edge undergoes localized quenching—a technique known as clay-coated blade burning—which makes the edge hard enough to slash through armor while keeping the blade body tough, resistant to deformation, and durable.

Thus, every Tang sword was a masterpiece, the pinnacle of cold weaponry.

And the Tiger Wing blades were the finest of the fine, made with the best materials, the most advanced craftsmanship, forged by the most skilled smiths—twelve Tang swords were produced in all.

Some of them were given by the emperor to the famous generals of the Tang Dynasty, such as Li Jing, Xue Rengui, and Chen Yaojin, among others.

The remaining ones were kept in the imperial collection, and Tiger Wing was one of them.

To counter Wang Bo's hard qigong, Yuchi Zhenjin specially obtained the Tiger Wing, fully believing that with its sharpness he could easily break through Wang Bo's defense.

After all, Tiger Wing is incomparably sharp, cutting through iron like mud; how could a human body withstand the edge of Tiger Wing?