This martial saint is too cautious.

Chapter 324 Meeting (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Traveling along the roads of southern Sichuan.

Lin Yanlian destroyed thirty-six mountain strongholds and twenty-four bandit strongholds.

The intensity of the crackdown on illegal activities is unprecedented.

If Zhen Gang is to be killed, Mo Pi will not be spared either.

Evil people, regardless of their strength, and the lower their moral character, the greater the harm they cause to ordinary people.

Because true martial artists don't personally go to ordinary people's backgrounds; most of them are lower-level martial artists who are skilled in martial arts.

As for the bandits and pirates of Mopi Mountain, a portion of the income they collected had to be handed over to their superiors, leaving them with very little.

Bandits and pirates risk their lives for money.

They risked their lives and engaged in extreme exploitation.

They would intercept caravans and passersby, not only burning, killing, and looting, but also selling women and children to human traffickers.

For three consecutive days, the entire southern Sichuan region was shaken.

Especially among bandits, there was widespread fear, with everyone terrified that this ruthless figure would strike their lair at any moment.

Rumors circulated that a Dharma Aspect Realm expert had made a move, but this rumor was quickly dismissed by everyone. How could a Dharma Aspect Realm expert possibly care about these lowly bandits?

Such important figures travel by air, and one might never see them in a lifetime.

On the contrary, another rumor was more widely accepted.

The son and daughter-in-law of a top-tier expert at the twelfth level of the True Qi realm went missing while traveling in southern Sichuan and were killed by a group of unruly mountain bandits.

As for why the son and daughter-in-law of the True Qi expert did not introduce themselves, it was because the attack was carried out so directly that the people in the convoy did not have a chance to speak.

Of course, some say that the powerful man's son and daughter-in-law revealed their family background, but since they were already in a difficult situation, the bandits chose to kill them to silence them.

This top-tier True Qi expert, upon learning of the murder of his son and his family, came to the Shu Nan Xingdao (a place in Sichuan province) to avenge his son. Unable to find the true culprit behind the murder, he chose to slaughter all the bandits in the Shu Nan Xingdao to avenge his son.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. Why is this person looking for the people who truly harmed his son and his family? What do he want with us?"

"How laughable! You've become bandits, yet you still spout nonsense about 'the vengeful have their grievances, the debts have their debts'? How many of those who died by our blades had grudges against us?"

These bandits communicated frantically among themselves and then made a decision.

Disband on the spot!

Many bandits and pirates disbanded their strongholds, leaving the mountain strongholds deserted overnight.

Of course, some were just waiting to lay low and planned to gather their brothers back once that top-tier True Qi expert had vented his anger.

Late at night, on the Lianjiang River.

With its three bends and nine turns, and rapid currents, those who can fish here are all excellent swimmers.

Not far along the shore, there is a water fortress.

This is not some bandit stronghold, but a water stronghold belonging to the Li family of the Southern Sichuan Road. The Li family controls the waterways within a hundred miles.

"Have you heard about those bandits and assassins who've been causing such panic throughout southern Sichuan lately, brother?"

"I've heard about it, but it has nothing to do with us. We're operating under the Li family's name. The Li family patriarch is the chief inspector of the patrol office. No matter how powerful a True Qi expert is, he wouldn't dare to cause trouble here."

-

On the cliff side of the water village, two middle-aged men began their patrol, talking as they walked.

"That's right. This is the Li family's water stronghold, not the stronghold of those water bandits. As for those guys who came to seek refuge, they know that the Li family is behind us, and they are sure that the True Qi 12th level cultivator wouldn't dare to act recklessly here, so they came here to ask for protection."

"Second brother, don't discuss things upstairs too much. Don't let something slip and lose your life."

"Brother, I'll just say it to you, and besides—we also have that half-step Dharma Aspect Master here to oversee things."

"Shut up!"

The older man sternly interrupted his second son, saying, "Those are matters for adults, how dare you bring them up?"

Just as the two fell silent, a sound suddenly came from ahead.

"Don't let the thief get away!"

Swish!

Upon hearing this, the second brother immediately drew his long sword from his waist and headed towards the direction of the sound.

"What are you doing!"

The older man grabbed his younger brother.

"Brother, why are you stopping me? That's the Second Chief's voice. Thieves have broken in. If we catch them, we'll have made a great contribution."

"What merit are we supposed to achieve? We're just at the Blood Exchange Realm, while the Second Chieftain is at the ninth level of True Qi. Even the Second Chieftain can't catch up with this person in a short time. Are we brothers just going to throw our lives away? We came to this water stronghold only to seek cultivation techniques. This water stronghold of the Li family is obviously a bit strange. Don't go asking around. Once we've obtained the cultivation techniques after three months, we'll leave."

"Oh, then what do you suggest we do, brother?"

"The best course of action is to flee; let's pretend we didn't hear anything."

The older man, holding a long knife in one hand, led his younger brother in the opposite direction of the sound.

However, the two stopped after walking only a few hundred feet, because a figure was slowly walking towards them.

"Big brother, this person—"

The second brother looked at the masked young man approaching and was somewhat at a loss. The person was wearing a mask, so he should be the inspector of the Shu-Nan Circuit. Master Li was the chief inspector. The person in front of him should be one of their own. But if he was one of their own, why would he come from this side of the cliff? Shouldn't he have entered through the gate of the water village?

The older man also gripped his long knife tightly, but did not stop him. Instead, he took the second brother's hand and said, "Second brother, the moon is quite round tonight. Let's go admire the moon."

"Brother, there isn't even a single star today, so where did the moon come from?"

"Are you blind? You can't even see such a big moon?"

Beneath the mask, Lin Yan's lips curled slightly. He had heard the conversation between the two brothers clearly, which was why he didn't make a move and let them pretend to be deaf and mute as they walked away to the side.

These two people entered the Li family's water stronghold only to seek martial arts techniques; they did not have much interaction with the Li family's water stronghold.

In the center of the water village.

A masked young man wielding a gun was currently fighting two men. His spear moved like a dragon, exuding a murderous aura. Facing attacks from both sides by two middle-aged men who were both at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm, he was not at a disadvantage at all.

It even subtly suppressed the two of them.

The gunmanship came wave after wave, until finally the two middle-aged men were forced to retreat.

The masked youth swung his spear, knocking back the middle-aged man on the left. The next moment, the spear tip surged with true energy, like a shooting star, and fiercely stabbed towards the man on the right.

The man on the right's expression changed drastically, and he raised his knife to defend himself.

boom!

The terrifying power of true qi caused the middle-aged man to drop his long sword. The man panicked and quickly retreated.

However, the spear was faster than he was retreating!

Just as the middle-aged man was about to perish under the spear, a powerful aura roared in, and terrifying energy far exceeding the True Qi surged forth, enveloping the area and falling towards the young man.

"court death!"

A cold voice resounded.

"Half-step Dharma form?"

Zhao Linyuan's eyes narrowed sharply as he sensed this energy, which was significantly different from true essence. He was shocked, but at that moment—it was too late to retreat.

The only thing he could do was to kill one of these half-step Dharma Aspect Realm experts before their energy descended, just to break even.

"Gunshot!"

With a soft shout, Zhao Linyuan's spear tip spun like a spinning top, piercing directly into the middle-aged man's chest.

Just as Zhao Linyuan's spear pierced the middle-aged man's chest, a contemptuous voice rang out: "I don't like this kind of melodramatic thing, waiting for someone to be injured before arriving."

That sound—

Zhao Linyuan's eyes narrowed slightly; the name seemed somewhat familiar.

The next moment, Zhao Linyuan saw a masked man carrying an old man appear in mid-air.

The man loosened his grip, and the old man fell from mid-air, crashing to the ground with a clear sound of bones breaking.

This scene shocked Zhao Linyuan, and also caused another middle-aged man and several water village warriors standing around to show fear on their faces.

Senior Zhang, who was at the half-step Dharma Aspect Realm, was smashed down like a dead dog.

"Junior Brother Zhao, let's deal with these people first before we catch up."

Hearing a familiar voice, Zhao Linyuan finally confirmed that the masked man who dealt with the half-step Dharma Aspect so easily was his junior brother Lin.

Indeed, Junior Brother Lin is already a true Dharma Aspect Realm expert, so dealing with a half-step Dharma Aspect Realm expert is naturally no problem for him.

"good!"

Zhao Linyuan nodded. He watched as Junior Brother Lin transmitted his voice while simultaneously eliminating another True Qi Ninth Level martial artist with a single finger. He knew that Junior Brother Lin was worried and wanted to deal with the most threatening one first. As for the remaining people, none of them were his match.

Just as Zhao Linyuan swung his spear, preparing to kill the trembling warriors standing in place, dozens of sword lights shot out from the depths of the water fortress.

Bang bang bang!

The dozen or so people surrounding him all fell to the ground.

Zhao Linyuan: ————

A few breaths later, Zhao Linyuan shook his head slightly. Junior Brother Lin was worried that he was injured and would not be a match for these people, but he also wanted to save face, so he took action to deal with these people for him after leaving.

Fifteen minutes later.

In the main hall of the water village, the two brothers met again.

Lin Yan also removed his mask, and Zhao Linyuan also removed the veil from his face.

The two brothers exchanged a smile, and Lin Yan spoke first, "Junior Brother Zhao, what are you doing here?"

"I joined the army and was assigned to carry out missions in the southern Sichuan region."

Zhao Linyuan thought of the rumors he had heard in the past few days: "Junior Brother Lin, that powerful figure who has been causing unease among the bandits in the entire Shu region recently must be you, right?"

Thinking of the rumors circulating outside that a True Qi 12th level martial artist was behind it, Zhao Linyuan smiled. These people would never have imagined that the one who actually made the move was a Dharma Aspect Realm expert.

"Well, before I reached the Dharma Aspect Realm, I served as a patrol inspector in the Southern Shu region. This time, I was thinking of upgrading my patrol inspector rank to gain some points, which I could then exchange for martial arts resources from the imperial court in the future. I can use these wicked bandits to upgrade my rank."

Zhao Linyuan did not doubt Lin Yan's explanation. Moreover, considering Lin Yan's background and the situation in Guangping County, he figured that Lin Yan must have suffered a lot of exploitation from gangs before he learned martial arts. He must have deeply hated bandits who were similar to gangs, so it was understandable.

"Junior Brother Zhao, is the Li family hiding some kind of secret?"

Facing Zhao Linyuan, Lin Yan didn't stand on ceremony and directly asked the question that had been bothering him.

He came here with some escaped river bandits who had fled to the Li family's water stronghold.

Lin Yan was no stranger to the Li family.

When he was first assassinated in the city, it was because the patrol office leaked his whereabouts. Afterwards, the Li family gave him a lot of points as compensation. At that time, he was only at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm and was just an inner disciple in Chengyi Sword Academy. Although he knew that it was very likely that the Li family had leaked the information, he ultimately chose to take the compensation and leave.

As an inspector, Lin Yan was not surprised that he colluded with bandits; collusion between officials and bandits was not uncommon.

What he was curious about was why the Li family wanted to take in these river bandits and wait for them to pay tribute.

And why does this ordinary water fortress need a half-step Dharma Image to oversee it?

Finally, there was the appearance of Junior Brother Zhao.

"If it involves military secrets, Junior Brother Zhao doesn't have to say anything."

Lin Yan added, and Zhao Linyuan shook his head upon hearing this: "Actually, I don't know either. I was just ordered to investigate the situation of all the waterways along the entire Shu-Nan Road and then report the findings to my superiors. I just didn't expect that there would be two True Qi Ninth Level cultivators and one Half-Step Dharma Aspect Realm cultivator in the Li family's water stronghold."

After saying that, Zhao Linyuan looked at Lin Yan: "Senior Brother Lin, this Li family water stronghold must be hiding a big secret. The Li family has announced that the water stronghold is responsible for breeding mutant cuttlefish, but mutant cuttlefish are only useful for skin resurfacing and blood transfusion, and it is not enough to warrant such a large-scale defense."

"My judgment is the same as Junior Brother Zhao's."

Lin Yan nodded, and the light fell on the half-step Dharma Aspect elder on the ground.

He didn't kill this person earlier because he wanted to learn the secrets of the Li family's water stronghold. As a half-step Dharma Aspect Realm cultivator, he was the strongest person in the entire stronghold and would undoubtedly know the most.

Lin Yan flicked his right hand, and a burst of Dharma power shot towards the old man's chest.

"Ahem!"

The old man groaned and opened his eyes. There was a momentary look of confusion in his eyes, but when he saw Lin Yan and Zhao Linyuan standing in front of him, his expression immediately returned to normal.

"I am a retainer of the Li family. The Li family of southern Sichuan is a branch of the Li family of the capital region. The Supreme Elder of the Li family is a powerful expert at the fifth level of the Dharma Aspect Realm."

The old man knew very well that the one who could render him powerless must be a Dharma Aspect Realm expert. Bringing up the Li family of Shunan might not be enough to suppress him, since the current head of the Li family of Shunan was only at the half-step Dharma Aspect Realm. But the Li family of Kyoto was different; it was a powerful family with several Dharma Aspect Realm experts.

"If the incident of the water village harboring the water bandits was just a misunderstanding, and now that those water bandits have been killed by the two of you, why not stop here? I guarantee that the Li family will not pursue this matter."

Listening to the old man's words, Lin Yan narrowed his eyes slightly. People who have lived a long time do indeed have quick minds; they can figure out how to survive in no time.

"If you want to live, then tell us what the Li family is planning here."

Lin Yan remained cold and unmoved, but the moment Lin Yan finished speaking, the old man's face suddenly turned pale.

At the same time, Lin Yan's expression changed, and he grabbed Zhao Linyuan and retreated backward.

PS: Continuing with the second update.

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