"I was able to escape the pursuit of the Eastern Depot's henchmen today entirely thanks to the help of you Hero. I, Yang, would like to offer you this toast!"
In the lobby of the inn, a middle-aged man with a square face raised a wine bowl, toasted everyone around him, and then downed it in one gulp.
This person was Wang Hao's target this time— Yang Jingzhong!
A refined-looking man wearing a bamboo hat cupped his hands in greeting and said politely, "Lord Yang, you are too kind. It is only right for us righteous martial arts practitioners to help an honest and upright official like you. It is only regrettable that such a good official as Lord Yang has been framed and persecuted by the eunuch faction of the Eastern Depot. Our Da Ming will be wiped out by these eunuch dogs sooner or later."
At the end, the refined man slammed his fist on the table, his face full of resentment, clearly hating the eunuchs of the Eastern Depot.
The other martial arts practitioners around, also wearing straw hats and veils that covered their faces, also showed anger, clearly sharing the same view as the refined man.
Yang Jingzhong waved his hand bitterly and said, "Sect Leader Yue, please don't call me 'sir' anymore. I was no longer a member of the court when I was forced to leave the Da Ming."
It doesn't matter that Yang was framed and persecuted by the Eastern Depot, but my Great Ming Dynasty is in grave danger!
These past few years have been marked by Scourge and internal strife, with the eunuch faction eliminating dissidents and persecuting loyal officials—a situation strikingly similar to the end of the Song Dynasty. If it weren't for the cautionary tale of Yue Wumu, I, Yang, would have loved to go to the capital to confront and vehemently denounce those despicable eunuchs!
With a long sigh, Yang Jingzhong looked up, his expression one of sorrow and desolation, like a loyal man who had been humiliated, and even compared himself to Yue Fei.
These words filled the martial arts practitioners with righteous indignation, making them wish they could immediately draw their swords and rush to the capital to wipe out all those eunuchs.
"What are your plans for the future, Lord Yang? If you need anything, please tell me, and I, Yue, will go through fire and water for you!"
The refined man, who had previously been respectfully addressed as Sect Leader Yue, immediately changed his expression and asked with concern.
Other martial arts figures echoed their sentiments, hoping to help Yang Jingzhong.
"After?"
With a bitter laugh, Yang Jingzhong said, "The eunuch faction controls the government, and the Blood Robe Tower's henchmen are spread throughout the land. There is no place for me in the Central Plains anymore. Now I can only helplessly live in seclusion in the borderlands to spend the rest of my days!"
Before anyone could say anything more, Sect Leader Yue suddenly turned his head and looked at the closed door of the inn.
Other martial arts practitioners seemed to sense it as well, turning around and placing their hands on their weapons, ready to charge at the slightest provocation.
"Bang!"
"Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper! Please help my brother! He's been bitten by a tiger!"
Suddenly, the tightly closed door was kicked open, and a disheveled man, his face covered in dust, rushed into the inn carrying a burly figure on his back, shouting urgently.
The burly figure lying on the ground was covered in blood, and his clothes were torn in many places, looking exactly like they had been ripped by a tiger.
"Please don't worry, sir. I'll have someone prepare some medicine for your injuries right away."
The innkeeper rushed out and called to the waiter, " Little Shitou, quickly go to the cellar and get a jar of strong liquor to clean this guest's wounds."
Yang Jingzhong, standing to the side, gestured to one of the guards behind him. The guard nodded and walked toward the burly figure lying on the ground. He first glanced at the iron sword exposed on the man's back, but seeing that the sword was crudely made, he turned his attention to examine the wounds on the man's body.
After observing carefully for a long time, the guard finally got up and returned to Yang Jingzhong's side, giving a subtle nod to indicate that there was no problem.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and loosened their grip on their weapons.
They were genuinely afraid that the Eastern Depot or the Blood Robe Tower would come after them, which would be troublesome.
"Sect Leader Yue, we must part ways eventually. I won't let you martial arts heroes have done this for nothing. These fragments of Xuan Profound Iron were obtained by chance and are of little use to me, so I'll give them to you!"
Yang Jingzhong gestured to the guard beside him again, and the guard took a bundle from the side and unfolded it, revealing dozens of thumb-sized black and red Tekkai inside.
It is indeed Profound Iron!
This was his reward for Sect Leader Yue and the others; after all, he couldn't let them work for nothing!
The moment those Profound Iron were displayed, all the eyes of the martial arts world converged on them, filled with an undisguised fervor.
As a martial artist, one naturally desires to obtain a divine weapon, and Profound Iron) is a representative of such weapons. By simply incorporating a small piece of Profound Iron, the weapon can be upgraded to a higher level.
How could such a treasure not tempt them?
"Then we, Yue and the others, will have to accept the offer without being impolite!"
Yue Buqun pondered for a moment, but ultimately took the lead in responding and took out a piece of Profound Iron to put into his pocket.
Seeing this, the other martial arts practitioners also took out pieces of Profound Iron from their bundles and accepted them. In no time, the bundle of Profound Iron was completely divided up, and everyone had a smile on their face, clearly very satisfied with the reward.
"Watch out, there's an ambush!"
Suddenly, Sect Leader Yue, who possessed the highest cultivation level, seemed to sense something, his expression changed, and he spoke a warning.
Just then, the man who had carried the burly man in earlier suddenly threw out several pieces of gravel, extinguishing all the candles in the inn and plunging it into darkness.
The burly man lying on the ground suddenly sprang to his feet, drew his greatsword from his back, and charged forward as well.
Needless to say, this burly man was Wang Hao, and the man who carried him in was 9527.
The two charged at Yang Jingzhong and his group together.
At the same time, dozens of figures rushed in through the windows and doors, charging towards Yang Jingzhong and his group without stopping.
Being in darkness makes it easier for assassins to carry out their attacks, while the lack of sight greatly reduces the combat effectiveness of martial arts practitioners.
"Clang clang clang..."
A series of clanging sounds rang out, sparks flying, barely illuminating a few figures.
After only a short exchange, several screams rang out, indicating that the victims had been killed; those who died were naturally unsuspecting martial artists.
Wang Hao ignored these martial arts figures and, together with 9527, charged towards Yang Jingzhong.
Their main mission this time was to capture Yang Jingzhong alive and extract information from him about his collusion with foreign tribes beyond the Great Wall.
The Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, having reached 60% completion, was indeed formidable. In just a few moves, it eliminated several martial arts masters of Super-First-Rate strength and was already close to Yang Jingzhong, who was preparing to flee.
Just as Wang Hao was about to kill the guard and capture Yang Jingzhong, a sword light suddenly shot towards him.
"Clang!"
Sensing the terrifying power of the sword strike, Wang Hao had no choice but to abandon his attempt to capture Yang Jingzhong and instead turn his sword to defend himself.
" Mount Hua Swordsmanship, you're Yue Buqun!"
Using the sparks from the clash of their swords, Wang Hao recognized his opponent as the same Sect Leader Yue who had spoken with Yang Jingzhong earlier.
He had seen the sword move that had just suddenly attacked Ning Zhongze, and it was a deadly move from the Mount Hua Swordsmanship. With all these conditions combined, the identity of the opponent was obvious!
It must be Yue Buqun, who was secretly cuckolded by Feng Qingyang!
Sensing the tingling and numbness in his right arm, Wang Hao felt extremely cautious.
Although that sword strike was a hasty response, it still used eight-tenths of its strength, yet the opponent still nearly injured him. Yue Buqun's cultivation level has definitely reached the Grandmaster level.
Although he was only at the Early-Stage Grandmaster Realm, it was still quite remarkable.
It's important to understand that the Grandmaster Realm is a completely different concept from the previous realms; it represents a fundamental improvement with a tremendous increase in strength.
Some powerful Early-Stage Grandmaster Realm can even instantly kill Super-First-Rate experts, and Yue Buqun is undoubtedly such a powerful figure.
If Wang Hao hadn't possessed profound skills, making him virtually Invincible among his peers, he would have been instantly killed by a single sword strike.
When Yue Buqun heard Wang Hao call out his real name, he was greatly alarmed. Immediately, a murderous intent surged within him. Without saying a word, he drew his sword and launched a fierce attack on Wang Hao, seemingly intending to kill him on the spot.
However, Wang Hao, who was on guard, was no pushover either. His Ten Stances of Bloody Battle incorporated the essence of the Nine Swords of Dugu, giving him the ability to counter enemy moves.
Furthermore, he studied the sword techniques of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects in the caves inside the Cliff of Contemplation on Mount Hua, making him extremely familiar with the sword techniques of the Mount Hua Sect.
Knowing yourself and your enemy will naturally give you a significant advantage in a fight.
Moreover, when Wang Hao was on Peach Blossom Island, he often guided the girls Yushu in their cultivation during the day and cultivated alone at night. He had long been accustomed to fighting in the dark, which gave him an advantage in this respect.
All these advantages combined allowed him to fight Yue Buqun was at the Early-Stage Grandmaster Realm, with equal skill and without being at a disadvantage. He even had the mind to observe the sword moves of those martial arts practitioners by using the faint light emitted from the clash of weapons.
That's right, it's a sword technique!
He discovered that these martial arts practitioners were all using longswords, clearly indicating they were highly skilled in swordsmanship.
" Mount Heng Swordsmanship, Mount Tai Swordsmanship, Mount Song Swordsmanship, Mount Hengshan Swordsmanship, so you are from the Five Mountains Sword Sect."
Wang Hao understood and finally figured out the identities of this group of martial arts practitioners.
He was quite familiar with the sword techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, so he could easily tell at a glance that the sword techniques of those martial artists were from the Five Mountains Sword Sect.
"You Five Mountains Sword Sect are truly something else, actually helping a traitor. Is this what you call righteous people?"
While parrying Yue Buqun's increasingly fierce sword moves, Wang Hao chuckled coldly and mocked.
"You eunuch traitors, stop your nonsense! How could you possibly slander Lord Yang, such an honest and upright official!"
Yue Buqun remained silent, but on the other side, a young woman fighting with three assassins couldn't help but shout angrily.
Taking a moment to glance at the woman, Wang Hao noticed that the longsword she wielded was supple, a soft sword. A thought struck him, and he called out loudly, "Is this one of the Five Masters of the Mount Heng Sword Sect?"
When he gained Zhao Fengxue's approval at the Blood Wind Hall, he received a secret book from Zhao Fengxue, which not only recorded many secrets of the imperial court, but also introduced the major forces in the martial arts world.
Among them, five of the new generation of masters from the Mount Heng Sword Sect are the most outstanding, known as the Five Dings of Mount Heng, all of whom possess Super-First-Rate cultivation.
This differs somewhat from the original work by Old Master Jin, which shows that Three Dings of Mount Heng, not five.
But that's alright, after all, there are still ten years before the Smiling, Proud Wanderer storyline begins, and it's normal for one or two people to fall in those ten years.
"This young lady Dingzhen her word, and I will never change my name or surname!"
Seeing that Wang Hao recognized her, Dingzhen Zhen simply stopped hiding and took a moment to lift the bamboo hat and light veil on her head, revealing a stunningly beautiful face that also reflected a flash of light.
"Holy crap, why is your head reflecting light? Are you Saitama from One- Superman?"
Seeing the other person's bald head, which was so shiny it reflected light, Wang Hao quickly turned his head away, unable to bear looking at him.
It wasn't that he was blinded by the glare, but rather that his bald head was too much of a hindrance to his already stunning good looks.
Although the light was dim, he could still see that Dingzhen's face was absolutely beautiful, no less so than Zhou Xueyi's, and only slightly less so than Dongfang Bai's.
Unfortunately, it looked quite awkward with that bald head, even for a well-rounded young man who had transmigrated from the modern world.
However, this Dingzhen a young age, she had already reached the Early-Stage Super-First-Rate, and her swordsmanship was formidable. She was able to withstand the siege of three Peak First-Rate assassins with ease even in unfavorable circumstances.
You bastard!
The young girl Dingzhen was enraged by Wang Hao's actions and immediately wanted to abandon the three assassins and attack Wang Hao. Fortunately, the three assassins were quite professional and quickly intensified their attack to Dingzhen back.
They could also see that Yue Buqun was a Grandmaster- level expert. If he joined forces with Dingzhen, Wang Hao might be defeated and killed. At that time, Yue Buqun, who would be free to fight, would be a considerable threat.
They could all be wiped out if things go wrong, so we absolutely have to keep this little nun occupied.
"Awoo! Awoo!"
Suddenly, a series of rapid wolf howls rang out, and Wang Hao's heart sank, a bad premonition rising within him.
He could naturally recognize that the howl, which sounded like a wolf, came from Wangcai. Judging from the urgency of the sound, Wangcai had clearly sensed something was wrong and was trying to warn him.