I bought a secret manual of the Hehuan Sect for ten yuan.

"Captain Zhuang, after waiting so long, we've finally made a move! Whether our Team Five can avenge our defeat depends entirely on this battle!"

"Don't keep anything from me! Let me learn properly!"

Fan Linsen inspected his pistol while smiling and speaking.

"Stop making sarcastic remarks!" Zhuang Yan's gaze remained fixed on the situation inside Yunxi Residence across the street. "The enemy dared to make a move in Beidu; you should know what that means!"

"I've done everything I can to plan, but to be honest, and I'm not afraid to admit it, I've carried out so many missions, and I've never felt this uncertain before!"

"I know very well what kind of strength Team Five is. You should have also studied it in detail since you took over, right?"

"I simply don't believe they failed in Jiangcheng due to carelessness. There's only one explanation: their opponent was too strong!"

"If the people who attacked them were here tonight, I wouldn't even be 50% sure of winning. Unfortunately, nobody believes my judgment. They insist that Team Five was too incompetent and that they were caught off guard because they were careless and underestimated their opponents!"

"We all need to be prepared. I have a strong feeling that the command team might have to go up tonight too. If anything happens to Sun Shizheng, the two of us will only have one option: to atone with our lives!"

"All prepared!" Fan Linsen brandished the gun in his hand, ignoring Zhuang Yan's lack of a turn around, his expression suddenly turning extremely serious. "To live and die together!"

"To live and die together!"

The two stopped talking and became completely absorbed.

The others in the room were operating the equipment on the table skillfully. They didn't say anything, but they all heard Zhuang Yan's words and knew what they would face tonight.

"Captain, all locked!" A man operating the equipment suddenly stood up, stepped aside, and pointed at the screen after Zhuang Yan and Fan Linsen came forward.

"Three here, five over here, and three here..."

"Send out the location." Zhuang Yan took two steps back, touched his earpiece, and said, "Don't let your guard down. The enemy should know we're here. Since they dared to come, they must have made preparations!"

"In my judgment, they are unlikely to make such a basic mistake. These people are probably just bait; there are stronger enemies outside the detection range of our equipment!"

"In short, Sun Shizheng's safety is the top priority!"

"Continue testing!"

After he finished speaking, he walked back to the glass window and continued to watch the situation at Yunxi Residence across the street.

The outer perimeter of Yunxi Residence.

"Mr. Zhang, there don't seem to be many people from the Xuan'an Bureau around Yunxi Residence. We should be able to handle it. But what if someone else gets there first..."

"What do you know! If it were that simple, do you think they would have waited until tonight to make their move..."

Before Zhang Xu could finish speaking, his expression shifted. "They're here!"

More than a dozen figures darted out of the darkness at the same time, moving with incredible speed; they were clearly all experts!

"A scoundrel has appeared!"

Upon hearing the voice in his earpiece, Zhuang Yan immediately gave the order, "Groups one, two, and three, eliminate the scoundrels! Everyone else, hold your positions!"

Inside the room, three holographic projection screens are in operation. The left and right screens display thermal imaging images and electromagnetic detection data, while the middle screen shows a 3D map of Yunxiju and its surroundings.

Countless micro-drones have woven together a low-altitude detection network, centered on Yunqiju, and are expanding their range so that no living thing within a five-kilometer radius can escape detection!

"You were right, it really was just bait!" Fan Linsen stared at the screen. "The formation was neat, the speed was steady, and they approached Yunxi Residence from three directions. They wanted to test our defensive positions and firepower."

"This is outrageous! Do they intend to wipe us all out before capturing us?" Zhuang Yan's gaze sharpened. "Even if they're bait, we'll take them down first!"

"Chirp chirp chirp—"

"Bang bang bang—"

From three different directions, groups one, two, and three of the Cloud Dwelling simultaneously launched their attack, their indigo beams piercing the darkness.

Gunshots rang out, followed by screams of agony.

These three action teams consisted of five people each. Two of them carried ordinary firearms, while the other three used pulse suppression guns specially made by the Xuan'an Bureau.

This specially designed firearm has no bullets; it fires electromagnetic pulse beams and is specifically designed to deal with martial arts masters.

When a martial arts master is hit by a pulse beam, their internal energy flow is instantly disrupted, which is equivalent to temporarily sealing their martial arts cultivation!

Members of the Xuan'an Bureau armed with standard firearms would provide follow-up fire before the victims recovered, demonstrating excellent teamwork.

However, some still slipped through the net.

There were a total of fifteen people rushing towards Yunxi Residence, five in each direction, and one of the five in each direction managed to evade the attack of Xuan'an Bureau.

"Looks like they're experts at the Heavenly Realm!" Fan Linsen stared at the screen. "You're right, there are three Heavenly Realm experts just as bait. This group is indeed extraordinary!"

Zhuang Yan, touching his headset, issued the order: "All groups, be careful! The enemy is about to counterattack. Switch to pulse wide-area mode. Snipers, provide support if necessary!"

"Immediately move to a new sniper position after firing!"

He then glanced at Fan Linsen and said, "They might not necessarily be bait, but there are definitely more than just these people!"

"The situation is worse than I anticipated; the sniper may be exposed prematurely."

Fan Linsen smiled. "The Shadow Martial Arts Hall's operating procedures should have been changed long ago. That martial artist registration system is practically useless!"

"With so many experts infiltrating Beidu, I guarantee they don't have a single one on file!"

"As long as those martial artists don't care about their lives or are confident that they won't fall into the hands of the Shadow Martial Hall, the registration is nothing to them."

Zhuang Yan smiled as well. "The Shadow Martial Hall's system wasn't originally designed to target top martial artists. Besides Han Beichen, who else can restrain those top martial artists?"

"He can't stay in Beidu forever. Even if he stayed in Beidu, what problems could he solve? China has more than just Beidu as an important city."

"Did you notice something?"

"There seem to be more and more martial artists in this world, and top-tier martial artists are appearing more and more frequently. Could this be some kind of omen?"

"That's true!" Fan Linsen didn't seem to care much. "Maybe it was just a coincidence that we happened to run into each other."

As the two were talking, a battle report came through their earpiece: "The scoundrels have been eliminated!"

"Two people were killed in Group 1! One person was killed in Group 2! One person was killed in Group 3, and one was seriously injured!"

"Sniper number two has moved to sniper position number 17!"

"Stay vigilant, don't let your guard down!" Zhuang Yan clenched his fist, his gaze sharpening.

Despite making thorough preparations and waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, he still lost four elite soldiers in the end, which pained him greatly!

Fan Linsen gritted his teeth, then quickly relaxed. "Aren't we going to make some adjustments?"

Zhuang Yan pointed to the thermal imaging screen, "It's too late!"

......

"Mr. Zhang, those people from the Xuan'an Bureau are too strong!" The man's voice trembled slightly. "They actually wiped them all out. Those were Heavenly Realm experts!"