Steam-powered martial arts: My virginity cultivation technique has been broken.

"Ah, an old friend has arrived. The Mechanical Holy Society, it's been so many years."

In that struggle, the Mechanical Holy Society and the forces behind it suffered a crushing defeat and were severely suppressed by the imperial court. Afterwards, they basically disappeared throughout the country and turned into a secret society.

As the saying goes, "Even a centipede with a hundred legs will not fall down when dead."

Rebellious forces of all sizes were numerous throughout the Great Chen Dynasty; those that could plant their flags in the capital could be counted on one hand. The Mechanical Holy Society was indeed a massive nationwide organization, with branches even in overseas countries.

Most of these forces are not pure; some have ideals but no power, some have power but no ideals, and those with both ideals and power are also connected with certain factions in the imperial court, making them deeply entrenched and internally chaotic.

All of this is the result of the Great Chen Dynasty's long-term strategy of "differentiation, weakening, and assimilation."

The imperial court had an absolute military advantage over the rebels.

This mechanical revolution, initiated by the imperial court, resulted in weapons that were immediately deployed to the army. For example, the muskets, now in their fifth generation, possessed the same technological sophistication as the rifles of World War I, and with added magical enhancements, their power was astonishing. A single person wielding a musket could easily defeat an eighth-rank martial artist. Except for militia, the entire army was equipped with them, and civilian possession was prohibited.

For these people to overthrow the thousand-year-old imperial system in this world, the difficulty is several times greater than in their previous lives.

Faced with such a desperate predicament, some insurgents began to resort to extremes.

Ku Ning immediately understood the Mechanical Holy Society's plan: demons and monsters, only demons and a small number of monsters lacked intelligence; they wanted to play with "biological weapons."

"To kill or not to kill? That is the question."

Ku Ning hesitated for a moment, but decided to continue hiding. Since they didn't intend to investigate further, why should he provoke them? If things got out of hand, they could easily trace it back to him. On the train, so many people saw him come to exorcise demons; he couldn't hide it from them even if he wanted to.

He took a deep look at the members of the Mechanical Holy Order, memorized their appearances, and left the forest.

On the other side of the train, after a fierce battle, the evil spirits had been eliminated. All the surviving warriors were panting heavily. Some used their weapons to support their bodies, while others simply sat down on the ground. The wounded were treated, and the uninjured were cleaning up the bodies of the fallen and throwing them into the fire to burn.

The evil spirits in carriage number three of the Jia train were also completely cleansed; no passengers survived, and the carriage was burned. This is the cruel reality: ordinary people encountering demonic possession have an extremely low chance of survival.

After the second battle, the Four Heroes of Hedong realized the importance of Ku Ning. That kid's combat awareness was no joke; the first battle was easily resolved with him by his presence, because he could always find the weaknesses of the evil spirits, not just targeting individuals, but acting like he had a map cheat.

Ma Bing had the same feeling. He had retired from the front lines, and this ability to control the overall situation was not something that ordinary soldiers could possess, let alone that it appeared in a bodyguard. It was unbelievable.

Ku Ning flew down from the cliff and landed on the ground, seeing them cleaning up the battlefield: "The losses are considerable."

Wang Sanpao went to greet him: "Head镖师 An, are you alright?"

Ku Ning handed him the broken sword: "Luckily, it was just a minor demon. No injuries, but the sword is ruined."

Wang Sanpao said, "That's good. I'll buy a suitable one when we get to Nandu."

Jiang Xiaoya was meditating, with two hideous wounds on her arm, emitting black smoke, similar to the demonic energy from before. Hearing Ku Ning's voice, she couldn't help but glance at him. Seeing that he was safe and sound, she felt a great weight lifted from her heart.

Ma Bing stepped forward and saluted Ku Ning: "Captain An, thanks to you for eliminating the demonic threat. If a few more waves had come, we would all have been wiped out."

Ku Ning returned the greeting, saying, "No need to be so polite, you all helped out too. By the way, regarding reimbursement, I used my treasure and destroyed my sword, can we reimburse each other?"

Ma Bing patted his chest and assured him, "No problem. Chief镖头 An deserves the greatest credit for eliminating this demonic threat. I will even apply for a reward and find a good battle sword for him from the armory."

Ku Ning became interested. The armory was full of treasures. In addition to alchemical items, there were also some retired ancient cold weapons that were gathering dust in a corner. Moreover, the fact that they had been preserved meant that they were at least the equipment of famous generals.

Advanced martial artists prefer cold weapons, but advanced martial artists cannot be mass-produced, so the army uses alchemical items more often.

Afterwards, Ku Ning had Wang Sanpao take out healing medicine and give it to the injured people, which was met with a chorus of thanks.

Ku Ning laughed and said, "No need to be polite, you've already paid."

This reminder cooled the initial surge of gratitude.

Everyone thought, "This guy's got money to burn. He even needs to remind us, is he afraid we'll renege on our debt?" As for whether they would renege on their debt? That's a matter of opinion.

In the latter half of the night, everyone remained on guard, but the tense atmosphere had dissipated considerably. Generally, naturally occurring demonic disturbances would only involve a maximum of a thousand or so evil spirits.

This time, two waves came at once, or rather three waves, plus the evil spirit that attacked carriage number three, which is abnormal. Especially the first two waves, they either came together or didn't come at all, and even launched a probing attack. Does the evil spirit have this kind of intelligence?

As dawn broke, reinforcements from the nearest prefecture, Zhongjiang, arrived. More than a thousand local troops, two hundred railway guards, and even the river administration sent a hundred soldiers to help. Above them, there was also a huge airship.

This advanced equipment is quite rare; it was developed in just five years and is only used in the military field, with no civilian applications.

The airship landed on the railway, the hatch opened, and three large cleaning machines drove out, digging and maintaining the equipment. The complex mechanical structure was dizzying.

Ku Ning thought to himself, "Wouldn't it be better to just wrap it in another layer of sheet metal? Aren't we afraid of dust settling in and affecting its operation?"

He didn't know that with the current level of energy utilization, covering the machine with a sheet of iron would affect heat dissipation, and high temperatures would damage the machine. Therefore, most large machines have a complex mechanical aesthetic.

Huffing and puffing, the cleaning machinery moved forward, belching black smoke, working in conjunction with human labor. It took a whole day to clear the road, and before sunset, the train started moving again.

People cheered and jumped into the car, having escaped death—how could this not be exciting!

On the train, Ku Ning received his reward, not much, a little over 20,000 silver dollars. The ordinary people also gave appropriate thanks, ten or eight dollars was not too much, one or two dollars was not too little.

Wang Sanpao counted the items, his face beaming like a chrysanthemum: "Captain An, this is equivalent to several escort missions. You're really smart."

Ku Ning looked out the window calmly, leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed, as if to say, "No problem, these are all useless."

Southern Capital, a water town spanning eight hundred miles, boasts picturesque scenery. Upon entering this area, the air becomes humid.

After the group got off the train, perhaps out of a sense of trepidation at returning home, Wang Sanpao put away his lewd behavior. If it weren't for his shifty little eyes constantly peeking at the private parts of the women passing by, one would really think he was a decent middle-aged man!

Ku Ning said to the Four Heroes of Hedong, "Gentlemen, we need to rest in Nandu for one night, buy boat tickets, and prepare supplies. You are free to do as you please. We will meet at Xishui Wharf at seven o'clock tomorrow morning."