Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Yang Lie gritted his teeth and gave Ah Qi beside him a deep look: "Kid, stick close to me, don't fall behind even a step! Whether the two of us can get through this hell today... is up to fate!"

Xia Jin, sitting in the rattan chair, glanced at Yang Lie and frowned slightly.

"Qin Hu, what are you waiting for? Do you expect me to personally invite him over for tea?"

"This humble servant dares not!" Qin Hu shuddered and quickly bowed.

When he straightened up again, his face was filled with coldness. He strode forward, past the fighting Imperial Guards, and faced Yang Lie directly.

"Yang Lie! Before Prince Jin, why don't you lay down your sword, kneel, and surrender? Do you intend to wait for me, the commander, to make the move?!"

"Qin Hu!! I didn't expect you all to think so highly of me, Yang Lie! You actually came!" Yang Lie gritted his teeth, pulling Ah Qi half a step behind him, his long sword held protectively in front of his chest. "However, you think you can make me surrender? You're dreaming!!"

On the other side, Qin Hu watched Yang Lie's actions, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

The opponent was only at the eighth level of the Innate Realm, while he was already at the third level of the Grandmaster Realm. With such a huge gap, no matter what the opponent did, he couldn't cause any trouble.

He didn't even draw the embroidered spring knife at his waist; he simply raised his right hand slowly.

"Stubborn to the end!"

Qin Hu sneered, his figure suddenly vanishing, and the next moment he appeared in front of Yang Lie. His raised palm pressed directly towards Yang Lie's chest.

Yang Lie's pupils contracted, and he poured all his innate eighth-level true energy into the blade, slashing fiercely down at Qin Hu's palm!

however--

"when!"

Qin Hu's hand changed slightly, and he slapped the side of the blade. A tremendous force came, and Yang Lie felt his tiger's mouth split open. His entire arm went numb instantly, and he could no longer hold onto the long sword. It flew out of his hand and crashed to the ground several feet away with a "clang".

With a single move, the weapon was thrown from his hand!

"Yang Lie, given the disparity between us, you don't actually think you can defy this commander, do you?"

Yang Lie was horrified. Just as he was about to retreat, Qin Hu changed his palm into a claw and swiftly grabbed at Yang Lie's throat. Yang Lie tried his best to turn to the side, but his shoulder was caught squarely in his grasp.

"Snap!"

A crisp cracking sound rang out as Yang Lie's left scapula shattered! The excruciating pain made his vision go black.

"Come here!" Qin Hu sneered, and with a sudden burst of strength, he lifted Yang Lie up like a chicken and slammed him to the ground!

"Pfft!" Yang Lie coughed up a mouthful of blood, his chest was visibly dented, and he had broken countless ribs. His breath instantly weakened.

Ah Qi, who was beside him, had no time to react. He was swept by the aftershocks of the intense internal energy from their fight, let out a muffled groan, and collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Two moves, and he was captured alive!

The gap between a Grandmaster and a Primordial is like an insurmountable chasm.

Qin Hu, carrying the limp Yang Lie, turned and walked towards Xia Jin.

However, at that moment, Xia Jin, who was watching the play, suddenly glanced out of the corner of her eye at a huge rock about 300 meters behind Lingyin Temple.

Under the moonlight, a blurry black shadow seemed to be clinging to the boulder, retreating at an extremely fast speed.

"Little Wei," Xia Jin simply pointed in the direction the dark figure had disappeared, then whispered to Eunuch Wei beside her, "Over there! A rat's trying to escape, follow it and see."

"Understood, sir!" Eunuch Wei was taken aback at first, then immediately nodded.

In the next instant, his figure had already disappeared.

At this moment, Qin Hu had already brought Yang Lie to Xia Jin and threw the seriously injured and blood-spitting Yang Lie on the ground at Xia Jin's feet.

Xia Jin leaned down slightly, observing the Ming Cult protector with great interest.

"Yang Lie, one of the Twelve Protectors of the Ming Cult, is that right?" Xia Jin's voice carried a hint of amusement. "Tell me, what exactly are you Ming Cult remnants trying to achieve by causing trouble and wreaking havoc in the capital these past few days?"

"Xia Jin, you really came back!" Yang Lie coughed violently, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood. He struggled to lift his head and looked at Xia Jin, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes.

But he was, after all, a protector of the Ming Cult and extremely loyal to it.

"Hurry up and kill me! You think you can get anything out of me? Dream on! But you just wait, it won't be long before this capital of Great Xia, no, the entire Great Xia, falls into our hands!"

Xia Jin couldn't help but laugh at the other party's blustering but cowardly demeanor.

"Oh? You're still pretty tough even when you're about to die." Xia Jin straightened up and shook his head. "However... I didn't really expect you to say that anyway."

He turned to Qin Hu and casually uttered two words: "Kill him."

"Yes!" Qin Hu raised his right hand, gathering true energy in his palm, ready to smash Yang Lie's skull with a single blow.

"Wait!" Yang Lie suddenly roared, his eyes filled with madness. "You don't need to lift a finger! You... are not worthy to kill me!"

He didn't know where the strength came from, but he suddenly reached out and grabbed his thick-backed broadsword on the ground not far away.

Qin Hu frowned, thinking that he was going to make a last-ditch effort to fight back. Just as he was about to stop him, he saw Yang Lie grab the knife, but instead of attacking anyone, he swung his arm and used his last bit of strength to throw the long knife away!

"Pfft!"

The long knife pierced through the chest of Ah Qi, who was lying unconscious several steps away!

"This guy!" Qin Hu frowned as he watched Yang Lie's actions.

"Xiao Qi... Uncle... I'm sorry..."

Yang Lie looked at A Qi's body, which was instantly soaked in blood, and a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes.

After doing all this, his lips twitched slightly, then his face turned ashen, his body convulsed violently a few times, and then he remained completely still.

It turned out that he had already hidden a deadly poison in his mouth.

"These remnants of the demonic cult really still act the same way! Hmph! Fine, saves me from getting my hands dirty!" Xia Jin looked at all this coldly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Qin Hu squatted down and checked Yang Lie's breathing and pulse, confirming that he had died from the poison.

"Your Highness, there are still a few scoundrels left in the temple. Should we keep one or two alive to take back for interrogation?"

Xia Jin's gaze swept over the few remaining Ming Cult members, who were now completely under the control of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and she sneered, "What's the point of keeping them here? A waste of food. Kill them on the spot!"

"Understood, sir." Qin Hu understood and said no more, simply waving his hand gently.

The remaining Ming Cult members, trapped, were not even given a chance to beg for mercy before being hacked to death by the menacing Imperial Guards.

In an instant, the front courtyard of Lingyin Temple fell completely silent, with only the heavy smell of blood lingering in the night air.

Just as the last Ming Cult member fell inside Lingyin Temple, the familiar system notification sounded in Xia Jin's mind once again.

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have completed the system task: assist the Embroidered Uniform Guard in successfully eliminating the Ming Cult stronghold at Lingyin Temple.

[Quest Reward: Little Li Flying Dagger (Beginner Level), Forty Years of Cultivation.]