CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 51: BATTLE AT THE CITY LORD MANSION AGAIN

Xuan Guang captured Xuanfeng, and inside Yang City, the battle was also raging.

Luo Yan and Bu Lengchuan led three hundred elite members of the Six Gates to attack the City Lord’s Mansion.

On the other side, the City Lord’s Mansion was anything but weak. After being ambushed by Luo Yan last time, the Mansion had called upon the City Lord Army to guard day and night and had people watch Luo Yan’s every move.

When Luo Yan gathered three hundred elites of the Six Gates, the commotion was too great to conceal. By the time they reached the City Lord’s Mansion, two thousand City Guard soldiers had long been prepared for battle.

"We meet again, Lady Song," Luo Yan emerged from the crowd and looked at Song Ziqi standing in front of the City Lord’s Mansion’s entrance.

The grand household’s gate was truly imposing; just the stone steps in front of the gate made Song Ziqi stand nearly half a body higher than the two thousand City Guards arrayed before her.

"Lord Luo, last time you joined with rioters to storm Yang City Lord’s Mansion. This time you’ve come again with such an aggressive approach. Do the people of the Six Gates intend to knowingly break the law?" Song Ziqi was still veiled, dressed in the currently fashionable split-color dress, delicate as a sheltered young lady delicate from a wealthy family.

However, Luo Yan wouldn’t dare underestimate this seemingly fragile young lady; he had been beaten and walked away vomiting blood by "Tiger Roar to Settle Mountains and Rivers" just the other time. It hadn’t even been two days since he’d been injured, and he wouldn’t have recovered by now if not for his master’s help.

"How can you say it’s knowingly breaking the law? The Six Gates has always operated by the law, never bending it for personal gain. Everyone, heed my command: the Song Family of Yang City is implicated in a rebellion. Arrest them immediately. Those who resist will be dealt with as accomplices to treason, execute them without discussion."

Luo Yan couldn’t be bothered to engage in a war of words with Song Ziqi. At this point, these sanctimonious nonsense would only betray his guilt. After declaring the legality, he demoralized the unsuspecting City Guard soldiers and directly ordered the attack. The three hundred Six Gates elites charged forward like a pack of tigers.

Yang City had been at peace for many years; the City Guard Army was lax in training and had become no different from ordinary young adults, their only strength being their armor and weapons. But these held no advantage before the seasoned Six Gates constables, who were active in the worldly society, investigating cases and apprehending criminals.

Moreover, the City Guard soldiers had not been aware of Luo Yan’s identity beforehand, and hearing any resistance treated as collusion with rebels cast their morale even lower. Common crimes were one thing, but rebellion could mean the execution of an entire family.

With such low morale, the collision between the overwhelmingly disparate forces led to an immediate rout. Naturally, it wasn’t the Six Gates members who collapsed; the City Guard soldiers lacked the heart of real soldiers, and confronted with news of rebellion and the overwhelming charge of the Six Gates, their formation broke instantly.

The soldiers on the periphery were useless, but the four hundred soldiers guarding Song Ziqi formed an Array and held firm like a mountain, withstanding the charge of the Six Gates.

These soldiers were truly valiant, handpicked by Song Ziqi over the years and placed within the City Guard Army from the Zhen Shan Army elites. Had it not been for fear of drawing attention, Song Ziqi would have replaced all two thousand City Guards with Zhen Shan troops, and Luo Yan would have come without any chance of return today.

The Six Gates constables were skilled in fighting with those from the worldly society, and usually, they would face maybe a dozen enemies in formation at most. Confronting soldiers from the Zhen Shan Army, experts in the art of war, they were stronger individually but lacked the team cohesion. At first contact, the previously unharmed Six Gates constables began to suffer casualties.

"Let’s go help," Li Xin said to Luo Yan.

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"Alright," Luo Yan nodded.

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Li Xin and Qing Yu leapt into the fray.

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With fine steel boxing gloves on his hands, Li Xin’s punches were fierce and ferocious. With every move, he tore through the enemy’s defensive layer. Wherever he went, enemy arms and legs were broken, wounds would show a layer of thin ice, faces turned a purplish hue, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

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This was the "Ice Profound Force" Qing Yu gave him. Qing Yu had originally received it, but after studying it, he realized it did not match his current Inner Strength attributes. The "Exorcism Sword Manual" was surrounded by external Yin Qi, but in reality, the Inner Strength cultivated was entirely Yang: extremely fierce and unmatched, completely opposite to the cold Inner Strength of the Ice Profound Force. Although it initially transitioned from Yang to Yin, the Inner Strength still belonged to the Yang aspect; it just contained a bit more Yin Qi, like the Yang fish in the Taiji Yin Yang Fish.

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Qing Yu’s cultivation had not yet reached the level of Yin-Yang Transformation, and switching to cultivating Ice Profound Force would be too costly. However, if he ever reached the point where he could freely transition from Yang to Yin, and achieve Yin-Yang Transformation, a mere two-star "Ice Profound Force" would not be worthy of Qing Yu’s attention.

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So, Qing Yu took this secret manual and gave it as a gift to Li Xin.

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Although Qing Yu did not particularly value the "Ice Profound Force," it was still a Martial Arts that could lead one to the Innate Realm. The Inner Strength cultivated by this technique was extremely cold. Had Li Xin’s cultivation been deeper, he could’ve frozen a person alive.

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Li Xin mainly used his fists for fighting. Qing Yu had another pair of excellent gloves, but unfortunately, their side effects were too significant so he did not give them to Li Xin. That was the "Green Demon Hand" ranked ninth in the "Weapon List" by the Ancient Hero Bai Xiaosheng. Unlike other experts listed in the Weapon List, the majority of Yi Ku’s strength came from these Green Demon Hands.

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These iron gloves were crafted by Yi Ku from the essence of golden iron and steeped in hundreds of poisons, forged over seven years. They could be described as strikingly harmful; a mere touch could result in death due to the intense poison. But the frustrating part was that Qing Yu only obtained the Green Demon Hands, not the antidote for the severe poison they carried.

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In close combat, hands easily come into contact with the enemy and just as easily with oneself. Wearing the Green Demon Hands, if one encountered a strong warrior who could cleverly use the principle of using a minimal force to deflect a much larger one, and it touched oneself, it would be a disaster. Against weaker enemies, using the Green Demon Hands would be akin to using a cleaver to kill a chicken. Hence, the Green Demon Hands have been sitting in the system space, unclaimed.

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Li Xin pried open the battle situation. Behind him, the silhouette of a young man in black appeared as if a ghostly specter, materializing amidst the enemy ranks. His Bishui Sword flickered into and out of existence, its sword forms deadly and unpredictable. Soldiers surrounding him might have had armor for protection, but their eyes, throats, and other such areas remained unprotected. And the soldiers’ armor was less comprehensive than that of the generals; parts like legs and flanks remained undefended.

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With many soldiers surrounding him, thrusting his sword into a body meant Li Xin might not have the chance to pull it out before being besieged. So Qing Yu targeted the legs and tendons. A flash of Sword Light appeared, and surrounding soldiers had their tendons slashed, no longer able to support their own weight, falling haphazardly. This also disrupted the other soldiers’ Array Formation. The defense gaps increased, allowing constables from the Six Gates to swarm in fearlessly, tearing through the defense line.

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"Don’t panic, tighten the Array Formation, change formation," shouted a commanding soldier from the back, noticing the chaos.

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These soldiers, indeed elite from the Zhen Shan Army, heard the command and tacitly changed formation, tightening the defense circle. Sacrificing those who could not be saved, they centered around the core and reestablished the defense circle.

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However, this action also exposed the commander’s position.

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Qing Yu concealed a silver needle coated in potent poison in his left hand beneath his sleeve.

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Finding a gap, he swiftly raised his hand, and the silver needle lodged into the eyes of the shouting commander. Blackened blood seeped from the eye sockets, the poison fierce, traveling through the optic nerves into the brain. The commander did not even have the chance to cry out in agony before succumbing to the poison and dying. The body leaned against the soldier behind, still standing upright.

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