Imperial henchmen? My divine skills are all hacked versions.

Xu Xian drew his right hand from his waist and struck out with his palm, shouting, "The dragon soars too high and regrets!"

The golden palm strike landed squarely on the spider, sending it exploding into a cloud of black liquid in mid-air, splashing onto the counter with a hissing, corrosive sound.

He was about to grab the shop owner when he heard the sound of tiles shattering overhead.

Three men jumped down from the roof beam. When they landed, two of the blue bricks beneath their feet broke, and three knives blocked their escape route from three directions.

Xu Xian gently pushed Hua Xi back, "Step back to the door and don't let anyone in."

Hua Xi hugged the turtle and moved back a few steps, leaning against the door frame.

Three swords came slashing down at the same time.

Xu Xian drew his sword to parry, sparks flying as the blades collided. One strike from the front, one from the left, and one from the right—two at the fifth level of Body Forging and one at the sixth level of Body Forging, their movements perfectly coordinated.

He weaved and dodged through the gaps between the three men, sidestepping the first slash that came down from above. He parried the second slash with his backhand with his goose-feather saber, and the third slash grazed his lower back, tearing a gash in his robe.

But Rokujō's sword was too fast.

The fourth slash followed immediately, the blade slicing across his right shoulder, tearing off a piece of his robe and creating a gash on his shoulder, from which blood flowed down his arm.

He grunted and took two steps back. Taking advantage of his loss of balance, the five assassins kicked him in the chest.

He flew backwards, crashing into the counter and scattering pastries all over the floor.

The osmanthus cake wrapped in oil paper rolled to his side, the cake breaking into several pieces, with a silver worm the size of a grain of rice embedded in the filling, slowly wriggling among the cake crumbs.

Xu Xian picked up the osmanthus cake with his left hand, broke it open, examined it carefully, looked up at the three assassins, and sneered.

"You guys are quite sophisticated with your business, you even have minced meat?"

The six assassins flicked the blood off their blades and chuckled.

"Xu Xian, you're only at the third level of Body Tempering, relying entirely on that palm technique. You'll be finished in two moves. Unfortunately, those two palm techniques can't hurt me!"

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Xu Xian sheathed the goose-feather saber, turned over and stood up, gripping the saber tightly again.

"Interesting, it can still stand up..."

The six assassins chuckled and slashed at him again with their swords.

Xu Xian brandished his sword and charged forward, taking the initiative to attack, completely disregarding his injuries.

"The force was a bit stronger than before."

The six assassins narrowed their eyes. "But you won't last long."

"Give it a try."

Xu Xian activated his qi and blood, combining it with the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms for another attack.

The two clashed head-on for several exchanges, each strike delivered with full force.

His left arm was slashed again, and he was kicked in the lower back, causing his ribs to ache.

The progress bar on the system panel is climbing rapidly—the greater the combat intensity, the more additional bonuses are generated.

Hua Xi, who was watching from the sidelines, tilted her head and asked, "Brother, are you about to die?"

She remembered Xu Xian's instructions to only act when he was about to die, but she didn't know if Xu Xian was about to die, so she asked him.

"not yet..."

Xu Xian gritted his teeth and replied as he struck out with his palm.

"You stay here!"

A fifth-level assassin was forced back by Xu Xian's palm strike, his expression changing. "What's wrong with this kid? He's getting stronger the more I hit him?"

The six assassins also sensed something was wrong.

A person at the third level of Body Tempering should not have this kind of energy and blood; he dared not delay any longer.

"Attack together!" the six assassins roared, and the three surrounded them again.

Xu Xian took a deep breath, held the goose-feather saber horizontally in front of him, and went to meet the three of them.

The blades collided, his right arm went numb from the shock, and he was stabbed in the left shoulder, his robe soaked with blood.

"Something's not right with this kid!"

A fifth-level assassin dodged the "Regretful Dragon" attack and shouted, "His internal energy has increased by at least 30%!"

"impossible!"

The six assassins gritted their teeth and slashed fiercely with their blades. "A Body Tempering Realm cultivator whose blood and qi increase by 10% every four or five days is considered genius; to increase it by 30%, is he a god?"

Xu Xian parried the blade that was slashing at him, then chuckled, panting.

"I'm not a god, I'm just a petty person who holds grudges!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill within his body suddenly surging wildly like a floodgate being opened.

A system notification sounded in my mind—

"The Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms have broken through to the third level, unlocking the third palm—'The Dragon Appears in the Field'!"

"Detected that the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms has reached the third level of passing grade, unlocking the next skill - Yi Jin Jing (cracked version)."

Current cultivation level: First level of Yi Jin Jing.

"The Yi Jin Jing is an internal martial arts manual that can harmonize all the martial arts techniques the host has mastered. The synergistic effect of these techniques will increase the daily cultivation progress to 300 points."

"Internal strength cultivation has been simultaneously upgraded: Body Tempering Level 4."

A brand new feeling surged from the depths of his dantian. The fierceness of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill and the killing intent of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms merged and became one under the harmonization of this new internal force.

Previously, each strike of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms would consume a lot of Qi and blood. Now, with the Yi Jin Jing regulating the flow of Qi and blood, the consumption of Qi and blood has been greatly reduced, and the speed and power of the strikes have increased.

He sheathed the goose-feather saber, and with his right hand fingers spread, the golden light in his palm was more than twice as bright as before.

"You just said the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms only has two moves..."

He looked at the six assassins. "Now we have a third move. You try it!"

Step out.

The dragon appears in the field.

The third palm strike was far more powerful than the first two, and the golden palm shadow slammed into the chest of the sixth-level master.

The man parried with his sword, but the blade was bent, broken, and fragments flew everywhere. The force of his palm still lingered as it struck the man's chest.

The sound of breaking ribs echoed through the pastry shop. He flew backward, crashing into the wooden shelf behind him. When he landed, his eyes were still open, but his pupils had already dilated.

Xu Xian struck out with his left palm in a backhand motion—"The Dragon Regrets Its Ascent."

The fifth man on the left hurriedly raised his sword to block, but the sword was also shattered by the impact. The force of the palm strike penetrated the sword and imprinted on his chest, sending him flying and crashing into the wall. It was clear that he was going to die.

The last five-fold assassin glanced at Xu Xian, then looked down at his two companions on the ground—thrown his knife, turned, and ran.

Xu Xian kicked and sent the standard-issue longsword flying towards the man, striking him squarely in the back. The man staggered two steps and collapsed onto the threshold, motionless.

The pastry shop returned to silence, and Mr. Xu leaned against the collapsed counter, panting heavily.

He looked down at his palm—Body Tempering Level 4.

After the Yi Jin Jing was harmonized, all the techniques complemented each other, and the power of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms was increased by more than one level.

The force of that palm strike, "Dragon Appears in the Field," was at least twice that of the previous "Dragon Regrets."

Hua Xi walked over and looked up at the wound on his right shoulder, her brows furrowing slightly. "Brother, you're bleeding."

"I know."

Xu Xian glanced down at his shoulder. "It's healing faster than before, it's not a big problem."

He picked up the goose-feather saber and sheathed it. He took out some medicine from his pocket and sprinkled it on the wound on his right shoulder. He then used his teeth to bite one end of the bandage and wrapped it around his shoulder several times with one hand. He looked at Hua Xi.

"Go back to headquarters and find a man named Yang Xu. Have him take some men to Ji Feng's house."

"What about you, brother?"

"I'll go to Jifeng's house to pick someone up. You run fast, I'll ride a horse—let's see who gets there first."

Hua Xi tucked the tortoise into her arms, turned and ran, her short legs moving incredibly fast, disappearing in a few leaps.

The glans peeked out from her bosom, its tiny, beady eyes narrowing into slits in the gust of wind.

Xu Xian then mounted his horse and galloped towards Ji Feng's house.

...

After running through two streets, three figures suddenly appeared at the intersection ahead. Ji Feng was in the lead, with Zhang Hu and Zhao Bao on his left and right, about ten feet apart.

He spurred his horse forward and stopped beside Ji Feng. "Doctor Ji, it's been a long time."

Seeing that half of Xu Xian's clothes were covered in blood, his right shoulder was wrapped in bandages, and there was a bloody scratch on his face from a splinter of wood, Ji Feng froze on the spot, and the oil paper package in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

The oil paper was spread out, and the osmanthus cake inside rolled out and crumbled all over the ground.

"Xu, Xu Xiaoqi—"

Ji Feng's voice trembled, "What's wrong with you?"

"I've taken over the pastry shop."

Xu Xian ignored the stunned Ji Feng and turned to look at the two dowry maids.

"Zhang Hu and Zhao Bao, protect Lord Ji and return to the headquarters immediately. If he loses even a single hair, I will hold you accountable."

"What about you, Brother Xu?"

"I'm going to the Ji family!" Xu Xian had already mounted his horse and spurred it on, galloping away.

Zhang Hu drew his sword and protected Ji Feng as they sprinted toward the headquarters. Zhao Bao pulled a signal flare from his pocket and fired it into the sky, where it exploded in a red light.