Imperial henchmen? My divine skills are all hacked versions.

"This can't be done..."

Yang Xu strode out the door and mounted his horse.

This is no longer a simple case of tax embezzlement. There are very few people in the entire capital who can use official documents from the Imperial Household Department to replace everyone at the post station without anyone making a fuss. He can't afford to offend even one of them.

He pulled on the reins and shouted to the black-clad guards behind him.

"Form up! Let's head back to Beijing!"

Just as the caravan left the post station, he suddenly reined in his horse.

Across the road stood a one-armed man in a gray robe, carrying a heavy, unsheathed sword on his back, his left hand resting steadily on the hilt.

More than a dozen men in black emerged from behind him, and together with those who emerged from the dense forest on both sides of the official road, there were no fewer than twenty people in total.

The newcomer untied the heavy sword from his back, held it in one hand, and pointed the tip at the ground.

"Commander Yang, your luck isn't so good. I've come today specifically to take your life. Don't blame me!"

"Zuo Dao Helan! A Class B serious offender!"

Yang Xu's pupils contracted slightly. He drew his heavy sword from his waist, dismounted, and his expression turned solemn.

"Form ranks."

He glanced at the enemy's formation again. Two cultivators at the Meridian Opening Realm stood behind Helan Heng. Two of them had a deep and focused aura and sharp eyes. Their cultivation was at least at the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm, a step higher than his own.

The remaining dozen or so were all assassins at the Body Tempering Realm. Judging from the spacing between their positions and their weapon configurations, this group was not a hastily assembled motley crew; they had received regular military training.

Helan Heng charged forward with his heavy sword, followed closely by the group of assassins.

  

Yang Xu's heavy sword clashed head-on with He Lanheng's, sparks flying.

He was knocked back several steps, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Before he could regain his footing, the second man's knife slashed down from the side. He parried with his sword, his left arm going numb from the impact.

Just then, another cultivator at the Meridian Opening Realm approached from behind and struck Yang Xu on the back of the shoulder. Yang Xu groaned and staggered two steps, his left arm hanging down and unable to be lifted.

Three Black Cavalry Guards rushed over to help him block his flank, but one of them was swept away by Helan Heng's sword and crashed into a post post, falling silent after a muffled thud.

The Black Cavalry are holding on desperately.

Twenty against twenty, an even number of people, but the opponent has three at the Meridian Opening Realm, while Yang Xu only has himself, and he has already injured his left arm.

In less than a quarter of an hour, three Black Cavalry guards were killed and five wounded, and their defensive line was compressed to the entrance of the post station.

Yang Xu, clutching his left arm and leaning against the doorframe, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, gritted his teeth and said, "Send the signal."

The deputy pulled out a signal flare and fired it into the sky. The red light exploded in the night sky, but the nearest reinforcements were far away at their base and would take at least several hours to arrive.

Just as Yang Xu gritted his teeth, preparing to trade his life for Yang Xu's, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from the distance on the official road.

There were at least thirty riders, and their horses were extremely fast.

Yang Xu was taken aback. He looked up and saw the figure on the black horse at the front, and paused for a moment.

Xu Xian.

Behind him followed thirty Black Cavalry Guards, the two leading them being commanders of the General Headquarters—one surnamed Feng, at the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm; the other surnamed Lu, at the third level of the Bone Tempering Realm, originally the Inner Palace Guardian, who was demoted last year for making a mistake.

Upon seeing Xu Xian and the others, Yang Xu froze for a moment, then grinned and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Damn, this kid's amazing!"

At the same time, Helan Heng, who was attacking, also looked over and frowned suddenly.

Xu Xian glanced at the troops on both sides, paused for a moment, looked at Helan Heng, and chuckled softly.

"This... 'Guo'er,' we meet again..."

Xu Xian shouldn't have been here. Shortly after Yang Xu set off, he was preparing to go to Willow Lane to investigate clues about Ji Feng's family when a question suddenly occurred to him:

If the other party is the person he thinks they are, someone who can control Ji Feng's entire family in the capital must have also extended their reach to Jingzhou. And since even a lowly officer like him was assassinated, Yang Xu's situation is probably even more dangerous than his.

He immediately went to Mo Feichang and told him his thoughts.

Mo Feichang put down the poem manuscript, glanced at him, and pulled out a troop mobilization order that had already been stamped with the official seal from the drawer and handed it to him. The ink on it had dried completely.

Xu Xian raised an eyebrow slightly, holding the warrant. "When did you write this, sir?"

"This morning."

Mo Feichang picked up the poem again. "When Yang Xu left the city, I was thinking, what if you guessed right? You'll definitely come and ask me for soldiers."

Xu Xian put the troop mobilization order into his pocket, called on Feng and Lu, two commanders, and led thirty Black Cavalry Guards to chase after Yang Xu at full speed.

They hardly stopped along the way, their horseshoes clattering all the way on the official road.

When they arrived at the post station, Yang Xu's defenses had already been pushed back to the entrance, with the corpses and wounded soldiers of the Black Cavalry lying haphazardly on the ground.

Before his horse could stop, Xu Xian drew his goose-feather saber, dismounted, and pointed the blade at the battlefield.

"Lord Feng, Lord Lu, and... Lord Yang, the big guy is yours! The rest of you, follow me!"

Old Lu flashed a half-mouth of yellow teeth. "Watch me, you weedy Helan! What a small world! I'm going to personally drag you back today!"

Commander Feng nodded silently, took a spear from his horse, and walked forward.

Feng and Lu did not question Xu Xian's order at all—not because of his high rank; as a mere squad leader, he was insignificant compared to a commander. But before they set off, Mo Feichang had said something to Feng and Lu in front of everyone.

"Xu Xian will be in charge of this mission; the two of you will follow his orders."

Mo Feichang's original words were more effective than any troop mobilization order.

The two drew their weapons and leaped towards each other's two peak-stage Qi Convergence Realm cultivators. Commander Feng faced off against the man who had previously ambushed Yang Xu from behind, while Commander Lu confronted He Lan.

Both commanders were seasoned veterans. They didn't test each other; every move they made was a killing blow. In the blink of an eye, they dragged the two opponents from the front lines to the flank.

Yang Xu stretched his arms and kicked the heavy sword at the remaining cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm.

Xu Xian glanced at the remaining enemies, a dozen or so Body Tempering Realm assassins, their cultivation levels ranging from the third to the eighth level of Body Tempering, with the fourth level being the most numerous.

He himself was at the third level of Body Tempering, and basically everyone else had a higher cultivation level than him.

He sheathed his goose-feather saber, preferring to use his palm instead.

The first assassin swung his knife, but Xu Xian dodged the blade by sidestepping it. He then flicked his right palm out from his waist and unleashed a powerful strike, "The Dragon Regrets."

The golden palm strike landed squarely on the opponent's chest, sending him and his sword flying as they crashed into a stone pillar beside the road. The sword slipped from his hand, and he slid to the ground, motionless.

The assassins nearby were stunned for a moment, their faces showing surprise.

The intelligence they received stated that Xu Xian was at the third level of Body Tempering, so how could he kill his fourth-level companion with a single palm strike? Is that even possible?!

"He only has one move, and such a powerful move must consume his energy. At most, he can only land three more blows even though he's at the third level of Body Tempering..."

One of the assassins, now at the fifth level, steadied himself. "Don't be afraid, everyone! There are four of us! Spread out! Don't let him hit you head-on!"

The assassins spread out, forming a fan shape to surround him. Xu Xian took a step forward and charged directly into the center of the fan-shaped encirclement.

The second palm strike of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, "Flying Dragon in the Sky," was unleashed from both palms simultaneously. Golden palm shadows swept across half a circle, striking the two assassins closest to him, their swords shattered and they were sent flying.

The other three took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack from behind. Xu Xian dodged and weaved through the gaps between the three, and the three knives only grazed the edges of his robe.

He slapped the middle man in the ribs, sending him flying, and then slapped the left man in the shoulder, sending him tumbling and falling.

The assassins panicked.

They had seen experts in the Meridian Opening Realm fight, but they had never seen martial artists in the Body Tempering Realm fight like this.

Every palm strike is a powerful move, every palm strike is an instant kill, he doesn't even need to adjust his breathing, it's as if the energy and blood consumption of these moves doesn't exist for him at all.

A fifth-level Body Tempering assassin stood rooted to the spot, gripping his knife, watching Xu Xian send his companions flying one by one with a single palm strike. The tip of his knife trembled incessantly; he dared not approach.

"What...what are you?!"

Xu Xian raised an eyebrow, stepped forward, and sent him flying with a palm strike, crashing into a tree. The tree trunk snapped in half, and leaves fell one after another.

"You dare insult me! You're courting death!"

This is the hidden advantage of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.

The core of this skill is not the moves, but the foundation!

In the original story, Jinlun possessed abundant internal energy and could fight five opponents without being at a disadvantage. However, after synchronizing with this world, he became someone with much higher blood and qi than others at the same level, and his recovery speed was also much faster!

If someone else were to use a palm technique of the level of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, they would have to take a while to recover after each strike. However, Xu Xian can strike one palm after another, using his ultimate move as a basic attack, weaving his ultimate move into his basic attacks, and canceling the recovery animation of his basic attacks.

The only pity is that the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms only focuses on killing. Each level only unlocks the palm technique, without increasing the upper limit of Qi and blood or improving cultivation.

Otherwise, given his current attack frequency, with the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill and the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms boosting his cultivation, the progress bar on the system panel would probably have already completed several rounds!