Upon receiving the news, the city guards had opened the gates early.
Lin Xiao took the lead on horseback, charging out of Dingzhou City like wind and lightning.
Behind him, martial artists of the jianghu either ran through the streets or leaped onto rooftops, employing their lightness skills.
At that moment, all of Dingzhou City was abuzz. The jianghu folk displayed their signature skills one after another, scrambling to pursue Lin Xiao.
"Let's go. We should go take a look too."
Liu Yuyang and the others also left the tavern, leisurely following behind.
After leaving Dingzhou City, Lin Xiao continued for more than twenty li before finally reaching an open stretch of land. He dismounted and stood there quietly, waiting for the jianghu martial artists behind him to arrive.
A succession of air-piercing sounds rang out behind him as more and more jianghu martial artists arrived.
Groups of people crouched, sat, or stood on distant trees and the ground.
The burly man who had been shouting earlier had barely arrived before roaring, "Brat, hand over your life!"
He stomped the ground, leaped high into the air, and fiercely cleaved down with the broad-backed saber in his hand.
Lin Xiao did not even blink. The aura around him flickered and vanished.
The man at the peak of the Acquired Realm screamed as he flew backward. By the time he landed, not a trace of life remained in him.
Hiss!!!
Lin Xiao's invisible method of killing directly made everyone suck in a breath of cold air.
They had not even seen how Lin Xiao had attacked, yet that Acquired Realm peak martial artist was already dead.
"Come at me together. It will save this official the trouble of finding you one by one."
"Attack!"
Someone was displeased by Lin Xiao's arrogance and charged forward with a roar.
"Brat, your day of death has arrived."
"Brat, don't be so arrogant."
Whoosh!!!
An air-piercing sound arrived first despite being launched later, shooting toward Lin Xiao's face.
When everyone saw it clearly, they discovered that it was a hidden weapon.
The hidden weapon flew incredibly fast, and it glimmered with black light. One look was enough to tell it had been coated with deadly poison.
There were all sorts of people in the jianghu.
There were those who were open and upright, and naturally there were also those from the gutter.
The one who had fired the hidden weapon was a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man crouching in a distant tree.
That man still held two throwing knives, ready to launch a sneak attack on Lin Xiao at any moment.
Just as everyone thought that flying knife was about to strike true, an invisible wall of true qi appeared before Lin Xiao.
The flying knife was instantly blasted away. It struck a jianghu martial artist charging forward, sending him flying backward and knocking down several others who had been unable to dodge in time.
Lin Xiao vanished from where he stood, leaving everyone stunned.
When had they ever seen such a scene? How could a living man suddenly disappear before their eyes?
Before they could recover their senses, the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man hiding in the distant tree let out a scream. His neck was snapped, and he fell from the tree.
"Are you looking for me?"
An icy, merciless voice rang in everyone's ears.
At some unknown moment, Lin Xiao had appeared amid the crowd of jianghu martial artists.
The roars of dragons and elephants sounded. One of Lin Xiao's hands pressed against the Embroidered Spring Blade at his waist, while the other struck down through the air.
He unleashed the thirteenth level of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill with all his strength.
A terrifying current of air radiated from around him in every direction.
The overwhelming force twisted even the air itself.
Wherever the airflow passed, no one could keep their footing.
Whether Acquired Realm martial artists or Innate Realm martial artists, all were blasted away without the slightest distinction.
"A pack of ants. I wonder who gave you the courage to come demand an explanation from this official."
"Today, this official will let all of Stability Prefecture's martial world know who is master and who is servant."
"From now on, anyone in Stability Prefecture's martial world who dares defy the imperial court will be killed without mercy."
The Blood Knife finally left its sheath.
In an instant, the entire battlefield was engulfed by blood-red Blade Light.
The sounds of flesh being torn rang out.
Blood dyed the earth red. Wherever the blood light passed, either heads and bodies were severed, or limbs flew through the air.
With his strength alone, Lin Xiao slaughtered more than a hundred jianghu martial artists until their courage shattered.
"Is he even human?"
"With such strength, could he be a Grandmaster?"
"Run! That man is a demon!"
"Trying to run?"
"Too late."
Seeing some who had luckily escaped with their lives trying to turn and flee, Lin Xiao could not help letting out a cold snort.
He flicked his fingers, and true qi transformed into bullets that pierced straight through the fleeing people's bodies.
"Brat, what exactly do you want? Are you really planning to wipe us out to the last?"
Seeing that they could not escape, some jianghu martial artists began trying to reason with him.
"So what if this official wipes you out to the last?"
"You..."
Seeing Lin Xiao's unyielding strength, those jianghu martial artists did not know how to refute him.
Lin Xiao was right. His strength was here for all to see; killing them was like crushing ants. Even if he wanted to wipe them out to the last, what could they do?
At that moment, one sharp-eyed jianghu martial artist spotted a man in his fifties or sixties rushing over from afar and was instantly overjoyed.
"Look, that seems to be Chief Qiu."
"It really is Chief Qiu."
"Chief Qiu, save us!"
"Chief Qiu, quickly kill this demon and restore the prestige of Stability Prefecture's martial world!"
Just as Lin Xiao's blade was about to fall and kill a jianghu martial artist,
A deep, vigorous male voice rang out.
"Brat, spare others when you can. Too much blood on your hands will bring karmic consequences."
"Ding, system mission issued." "Defeat Iron Palm Gang Chief Qiu Li. Reward: max-level Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms."
"Hmm?"
Upon receiving the system prompt, Lin Xiao accepted the mission without the slightest hesitation.
Boom! The massive sound was like an evening drum and morning bell, leaving everyone's ears briefly deafened.
It turned out that Qiu Li had exchanged a move with Lin Xiao in order to block the Embroidered Spring Blade.
The Embroidered Spring Blade was sent soaring high into the air by the rebound force.
Qiu Li's hands were wrapped in a black glow. Even so, the incomparably sharp Embroidered Spring Blade broke through his defense, and the black glow shattered at once.
As the black glow dispersed, it revealed a pair of callused palms.
Lin Xiao stood with his long blade held downward, his gaze fixed on the newcomer.
"You are Iron Palm Gang Chief Qiu Li?"
"That is correct. It is this old man."
"My lord, could you give this old man some face and let this matter end here?"
Lin Xiao cast Qiu Li an indifferent glance. "You want me to spare them?"
"Indeed."
Qiu Li wore a green robe and stood with his hands clasped behind his back, every inch the bearing of a Grandmaster.
Lin Xiao nodded. "It is not impossible for this official to spare them, but that depends on your strength. If you can defeat this official, then sparing them will naturally be possible."
"If your strength is lacking, I am afraid that even you will not leave here today."
Qiu Li frowned slightly. "My lord, must you truly leave no room for sentiment?"
Lin Xiao said calmly, "As an official of the imperial court, this official's foremost duty is to share His Majesty's burdens and resolve his troubles. Naturally, this official stands with the imperial court."
"Stability Prefecture's martial world has been poisoned too deeply. They do not place the imperial court in their eyes at all. Naturally, this official must eliminate every unstable factor and sweep away all petty villains for the court."
"Fine. Since that is the case, this old man will seek your instruction."
Anger also rose in Qiu Li.
This Jinyiwei truly did not know when to advance or retreat. It seemed he could only show him a little color.
Naturally, he could see that Lin Xiao was also in the Grandmaster Realm.
Yet he was extremely confident in his own strength.
Of those who could break through to the Grandmaster Realm, which one was not a person of unwavering will?
How could he possibly fear Lin Xiao?
Moreover, Lin Xiao was merely a first-rank Grandmaster, while he himself was already a third-rank Grandmaster.
He already held the advantage in cultivation, and with his Iron Sand Palm, he refused to believe he could not take down this mere Jinyiwei.
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