Expert

"Official business, all bystanders move aside!"

Seeing Chen Wu approach from afar, a man standing by the waterwheel barked an order; it was none other than the Chief Inspector, Zhang Zhihe.

He held a pair of iron rulers and stood to the left of a middle-aged man wielding a golden melon hammer. Four others surrounded them, standing in a standoff against a lone figure. Because of the distance, they failed to recognize the disguised Chen Wu.

The official who had pointed at Chen Wu that day, Yang Yuchun, a chamberlain of the Crown Prince's Mansion, was also among them. He had changed into a tight-fitting martial outfit and held a pair of Judge's Pens, standing to the right of the man with the golden melon hammer.

Chen Wu was even more shocked, for the person they were confronting was none other than Old Jin!

"Such a grand formation; truly worthy of the Crown Prince's Mansion. I suppose every expert above the Zhou Tian Realm in the city is here?" The three-stringed instrument was gone from Old Jin's hands; he held only his cone-shaped sword.

"Jin Shiyi of the Drum-String Bewitching Sword, you are a Profound Mastery expert, after all, hailed as one of the two pillars alongside the master of the Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower. Naturally, we must go all out. If time were not so limited, there would be more than just us here today." The middle-aged man with the golden melon hammer spoke. "Aside from General Fubo Shui Ziyi and Monk Zhongcheng of the Thousand Leaf Palm, every Zhou Tian expert in the prefecture city is present at this very moment."

"I assume you are the greatest trump card?" Old Jin said. "They are merely Zhou Tian, and the highest among them has only just entered the Concentrated Spirit Realm. They might hold me for a move or two, but to think they can defeat me is pure delusion."

"Speak, which Profound Mastery expert are you?"

"I am Li Changgeng!"

"I wondered who it was; so it's 'Super-Li'!" Old Jin shook his head and laughed. "You started in the military examinations and joined the Wude Palace. You were originally in the army, but the School of Heavenly Principle planted you in the navy as a spy, where you became a high-ranking officer."

"I heard that when you were suppressing the Southern Ocean pirates, you were soundly defeated by a group of them in a naval battle. You were stripped of your rank and sent home to eat plain rice. I never expected to see you in Jincheng Prefecture."

Old Jin tore open Li Changgeng's old wounds the moment he spoke. Li Changgeng's face shifted through various colors, his chest heaving, until he finally managed to retort, "Hmph! A mere rustic like you, what could you possibly know of the inner workings?"

"Don't tell me you want to claim the navy people sabotaged you?" Old Jin's tone grew increasingly mocking. "You, a member of the School of Heavenly Principle, meddled in naval affairs—of course they would sabotage you. Even a rustic like me can see that clearly. You were as foolish as a pig to walk into that trap, and you blame others?"

Such scandalous gossip about a Profound Mastery expert held the attention of everyone present so tightly that no one even bothered to notice Chen Wu listening from the sidelines.

"Damn it!"

Li Changgeng could no longer restrain himself. He swung his golden melon hammer and attacked Old Jin.

As Li Changgeng's hammer swung, it roared like a torrent rising on flat ground, his entire body emitting thunderous echoes—he was a master of supreme hard-body cultivation.

Old Jin was not alarmed but delighted; this was exactly what he had been waiting for. He had used his sharp tongue specifically to goad Li Changgeng into attacking first, separating him from the others—this was the key to finding life within death. He had fallen into an ambush; with four or five Concentrated Spirit and Zhou Tian experts, plus a Profound Mastery expert holding the line, he could never survive if they attacked in unison.

Old Jin did not parry or block with his cone-shaped sword. He merely stepped back slightly to dodge the strike, then pressed the tip of his sword against the golden melon hammer, pushing downward. This forced Li Changgeng's strike into a position where it was difficult to retract, causing him to involuntarily lower his stance. Old Jin then surged forward, thrusting directly at Li Changgeng's throat.

Li Changgeng realized something was wrong. He had attacked in a fit of rage without holding back, and now he had left a massive opening. It was too late to change his move; in a battle between experts, this was the line between life and death.

In this critical moment, his ruthless nature was ignited. Instead of dodging, he released his grip on the golden melon hammer, letting it fly toward Old Jin's chest, betting on his hard-body cultivation to trade injury for injury.

In the blink of an eye, these two experts were about to decide who would live and who would die.

The others were too slow to react. Only Yang Yuchun raised his Judge's Pen to strike at Old Jin's ribs, but he was a half-beat too late.

Old Jin knew this was his best chance and that he could not retreat. Once Li Changgeng recovered and stabilized his footing to coordinate an encirclement, there would be no hope for him.

Therefore, he only tilted his body slightly during his advance and sucked in his chest, making it appear as if his torso had caved in to minimize the impact of the hammer, while his sword hand never faltered.

Old Jin's sword tip struck directly at the artery in his opponent's neck. The moment it touched the skin, he felt a powerful resistance; he understood immediately that this was the protective Qi of a hard-body expert.

Sensing the Qi, Old Jin's cone-shaped sword began to spin violently. The tip emitted a spiral of energy that instantly shattered the opponent's protective Qi, piercing into Li Changgeng's neck. Blood sprayed three feet high, splashing onto the rushing Yang Yuchun.

Bang—

The golden melon hammer smashed a corner of the waterwheel behind Old Jin and flew off into the distance, falling into the Yellow River.

A sharp, stabbing pain erupted in Old Jin's chest.

It turned out he hadn't fully dodged the hammer. It had grazed his chest, and the Qi surrounding the weapon had shredded a layer of flesh and bone, shattering most of his ribs and damaging his internal organs. He was severely wounded, unable to even manifest the Qi of a Profound Mastery expert.

At this moment, Yang Yuchun's Judge's Pen arrived. Old Jin, overwhelmed by pain, slowed his retreat, and the pen lightly grazed him. A sensation of alternating cold and heat surged into his body, worsening the damage to his already injured internal organs.

Fortunately, Old Jin had successfully retreated, breaking free from Yang Yuchun's pursuit.

Yang Yuchun, splattered with Li Changgeng's blood, had no heart for pursuit and hurried to check on Li Changgeng, who was clutching his neck.

With his protective Qi shattered and his artery severed by a Profound Mastery expert, Li Changgeng was suffering from the rampaging foreign energy within him. He could not control his body; his face was deathly pale, and blood flowed unabated.

"Quick... chase him..." Li Changgeng struggled to speak, but still ordered the others to hunt down Old Jin.

The others exchanged glances. Yang Yuchun signaled to one of them, who hurried forward to support the swaying Li Changgeng. The rest, including Yang Yuchun and Zhang Zhihe—one Concentrated Spirit and three Zhou Tian experts—all attacked Old Jin simultaneously.

Severely wounded, Old Jin dared not face them head-on. He leaped back onto the frame of the waterwheel, focusing on regulating his breathing to suppress the cold and heat within him.

Yang Yuchun and the others were relentless, attacking from four different directions.

Old Jin steadied himself, parrying the strike of the short-staff expert who had reached him first. His spiral energy erupted, sending the man flying backward. He then tapped his foot, vaulted into the air, dodged the Judge's Pens, iron rulers, and curved blades of the other three, and landed on the highest point of the waterwheel.

Old Jin exerted force through his feet, causing the slowly turning waterwheel to grind to a halt.

Yang Yuchun leaped onto the waterwheel frame and used his light-body technique to rush toward the top, his gaze locked firmly on Old Jin.

Zhang Iron Ruler and another expert with a curved blade climbed up the sides of the wheel as well.

Seeing this, Old Jin exerted force again, causing the waterwheel to accelerate its rotation. The curved-blade expert, who was attacking from the downstream side, was lifted higher by the wheel's rotation, emerging ahead of the other two.

Ignoring the others, Old Jin dove down, thrusting directly at the curved-blade expert.

The expert was startled and scrambled to defend, but because Old Jin was too fast, he was forced to clash head-on.

Bang—

Under the impact of metal against metal, the curved-blade expert, already significantly weaker than Old Jin, was caught off guard by the downward strike. He felt his entire body shudder, lost all control, and was sent flying away by the immense force.

Splash—

The scimitar expert was sent flying over a dozen meters, plummeting into the Yellow River.

Old Jin used the scimitar expert's body as a springboard, leaping away from the waterwheel and casting off Yang Yuchun and Zhang Zhihe, who were still clinging to it.

Just then, a short staff struck out—it was the very same short-staff expert Old Jin had repelled earlier. With no leverage in mid-air, Old Jin had no choice but to muster all his remaining true energy to clash head-on with the staff once more.

Already severely wounded, unleashing his true energy in rapid succession was a heavy toll, even for a master of the Profound Realm. After the exchange, Old Jin's face turned deathly pale, and a trail of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

The short-staff expert fared no better; struck by Old Jin's thunderous blow, he followed the scimitar expert into the Yellow River and vanished without a trace.

Old Jin had anticipated this. He knew these two Circulatory Realm experts had been recruited by the Crown Prince's Mansion and were certainly doing the bare minimum. Falling into the river was merely an excuse for them to slack off; otherwise, even his full-force strike would not have been enough to completely incapacitate a Circulatory expert.

Old Jin had targeted these two from the start precisely with this intention, and it had proven effective.

However, the crisis was far from over. Delayed by the short-staff expert, Yang Yuchun and Zhang Iron Ruler caught up. Just as Old Jin landed, the iron ruler and the Judge's Pen struck simultaneously.

Old Jin was forced to hold his breath and muster his true energy, swinging his sword to parry the Judge's Pen. His chest caved in further as he dodged the iron ruler, and he thrust backhanded to temporarily force Zhang Zhihe away. Yet, this only worsened his internal injuries; while his true energy still flowed, his footsteps grew increasingly unsteady.

The two opponents saw this, and their offensive intensified. Strike after strike followed without pause, pushing Old Jin into a precarious situation. Before long, he was struggling to parry.

Seeing Old Jin trapped in a desperate plight, the expert who had been tending to Li Changgeng could no longer restrain himself. He unsheathed his Iron Claw and lunged silently toward Old Jin's back, hoping to land a sneak attack.

"Watch out—" Chen Wu could not help but shout a warning.

Before the Iron Claw could strike, it was as if Old Jin had eyes in the back of his head. He shifted slightly, evading the claw. His right hand moved to parry Yang Yuchun's Judge's Pen, while his left hand caught the Iron Claw, guiding its momentum forward so that it collided squarely with Zhang Zhihe's iron ruler.

"Chen Gawa, run—" Old Jin roared, blood spraying from his mouth once more!

It turned out Old Jin had recognized Chen Wu all along!

Hum—

A sword sang! The precious blade left its scabbard!

Instead of running, Chen Wu drew his sword and leaped forward.

He did not charge into the fray, but instead rushed toward the prone Li Changgeng!

The Iron Claw expert panicked and scrambled to turn back, but Old Jin erupted with true energy to pin him down. Unable to break free, he could only watch helplessly as Chen Wu seized the immobilized Li Changgeng.

"Now, shall we talk?" Chen Wu pressed his sword against Li Changgeng's lower back.