Imperial henchmen? My divine skills are all hacked versions.

Mencius uttered the word "定" (ding), and the golden power of his words struck the demon god.

The demon god paused for only a moment, then his muscles suddenly swelled, forcefully breaking free from the restraints of the Word of Power, and continued to slash down with his nine-ringed broadsword.

Master Meng was greatly alarmed. He bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood mist, which condensed in the air to form the character "缚" (fù, meaning "to bind").

Several golden chains flew out from the words and wrapped around the demon's limbs and torso, binding it tightly.

The chains dug into the demon's flesh, making a hissing, burning sound.

Master Meng formed a hand seal to maintain the power of the words, then turned and called out to Xu Xian.

"I'm not good at fighting, I can only slowly whittle down this monster, I can't afford to be distracted! Young Master, those armored soldiers in front are yours to handle!"

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and the chains binding the demon creaked and rattled as they were broken.

Xu Xian's heart tightened, and he turned to look at the armored soldiers charging towards him.

He drew his eight-sided sword, spurred his horse forward, and charged.

Yang Xu cursed from the side, grabbed his newly bought knife, and rushed forward.

He faced the armored soldier leader head-on, who was mounted on horseback and looked down at him with his crescent-shaped blade.

Yang Xu parried with his sword, and with a crisp clang, the newly bought sword broke in two, one half of the blade spinning as it flew out and stuck into the ground.

He was thrown back and crashed onto the gravel ground beside the official road, leaving a dent in his back, and he grimaced in pain.

He looked down at the hilt of the knife in his hand and began to curse.

"Five taels of silver for this piece of junk! That old geezer at the blacksmith's shop told me it could cut iron like mud, but it's like mud! It didn't even withstand one strike before breaking!"

He threw away the hilt of his sword, used the ground for support to stand up, looked at the hundred or so armored soldiers at the Meridian Opening Realm in front of him, then looked at his empty hands, and cried out with a bitter face,

"You surnamed Xu! I'm really not going out with you anymore! Last time it was the Golden Body Realm, this time it's the Qi Refining Realm, next time are you going to make me the Dharma Aspect Realm?"

"I'd rather die than work for you again! When we get back, I'll ask Lord Mo to transfer me to an internal affairs position. From now on, you handle your cases, and I'll sit in my office!"

At that moment, Hua Xi leaped up from behind him and struck the leader of the armored soldiers with a palm.

The golden light on her hand was slightly dimmer than before, and it collided with the crescent blade of the armored soldier leader, creating a shockwave.

Normally, with her cultivation level, defeating a peak Qi Condensation cultivator should have been a piece of cake. However, due to her injuries, the power of her palm strike was only 30-40% of its usual strength. Although she had the upper hand, she couldn't defeat her opponent for the time being.

Her palm shadows and the light of her crescent blade intertwined in the air, and the shockwave knocked over several approaching armored soldiers.

A soldier leaped from the side and slashed with his sword.

Xu Xian raised his sword to block, and the sword and blade clashed. The immense force transmitted from the sword made his hands go numb, and he staggered back more than ten steps before regaining his balance.

He shook his numb wrist and looked at the armored soldier, his heart sinking.

"A cultivator at the Meridian Opening Realm! They could be a centurion in the border army! Where did all these soldiers come from? Has the governor of Quzhou rebelled?!"

  

He had just finished cursing when another soldier thrust his spear at him.

Xu Xian parried with his sword, prepared to be knocked back, but suddenly felt that the pressure on the sword was not so great, and he only took two steps back before regaining his balance.

He looked down at his hands and found specks of golden light drifting in from all directions and merging into his body, and the blood and qi surging in his meridians were several times stronger than usual.

He turned his head and saw Jun Jingyan standing next to the carriage, her bamboo slips open, reciting scriptures.

Several Confucian disciples stood behind her, in the same posture, radiating the same golden light, continuously pouring the power of their words of blessing into him and Yang Xu.

The other disciples each used their incantations; one used the "Defense" spell to create a golden defensive barrier in front of them, blocking the arrows fired by the armored soldiers...

Some used the "Swiftness" technique to help everyone dodge swords and spears, while others used the "Courage" technique to make everyone's blood boil.

Yang Xu also felt the power of the enhancement, and his ferocity flared up. With bloodshot eyes, he roared at the armored soldier in front of him, and with half of his sword, he forcefully cleaved open the helmet of one of the soldiers.

Unable to pull his broken sword out of his helmet, he simply threw it away and grabbed another soldier's spear with his bare hands. Veins bulged on his forehead, and he actually pulled the soldier and spear off his horse.

But the Confucian disciples had never experienced real combat.

A young Confucian scholar was using his incantation when a soldier charging from the side cleaved his bamboo slips in two with a single blow, knocking him unconscious as he crashed into a carriage.

Jun Jingyan's face grew paler and paler, and the golden light on the bamboo slips faded.

Last time at the Sima residence, she used her essence and blood to empower Xu Xian for ten breaths, and afterwards she was exhausted for three days.

This time she was smarter. Instead of using her own blood essence, she used her fellow disciples to cast the blessing together. Although the blessing power of a single person was not as strong as that of blood essence, it was more lasting.

Xu Xian cleaved through an armored soldier in front of him with a single sword strike. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Jun Jingyan's pale face and his heart tightened, knowing that she wouldn't last much longer.

These Confucian scholars are all going to the battlefield for the first time, and it is not easy for them to have lasted this long.

He gripped the eight-sided sword even tighter and met a soldier with armor, unleashing the fourth move of the Holy Spirit Sword Technique!

The tip of the eight-sided sword drew a silent arc in the air. Before the soldier could react, the sword pierced his throat, and he turned into a pool of ink on the ground.

Xu was startled. A person died and turned into ink?!

He drew his sword and trembled with another armored soldier. In three moves, he took the man's head. The same thing happened again. The blade sliced ​​across the soldier's chest, but instead of blood and flesh flying everywhere, only a pool of thick ink splattered on the ground.

It slowly seeped into the soil, leaving a deep black stain.

"What is this thing? Alive? Dead?"

Jun Jingyan's expression was solemn, and the golden light on the bamboo slips flickered.

"This is the transformative power of the Confucian painting school. When one's artistic cultivation reaches a high level, the objects depicted in the painting can be brought to life. These armored soldiers are not real people; they have stepped out of the painting!"

"Anyone with such skills must be at least a fifth-rank painter!"

Xu Xian was puzzled but impressed, and immediately gripped the eight-sided sword and charged forward again.

Although the armored soldiers at the Meridian Opening Realm are not as agile as True Immortals, their strength, speed, and defense are not weak.

He was only able to barely stand up to the challenge head-on thanks to the support of his Confucian disciples.

Without the blessing, two armored soldiers could have easily beaten him to death.

His mastery of the Holy Spirit Sword Technique grew ever more refined in battle, and the power of his Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms increased with each strike. In the face of life and death, his understanding of martial arts improved far faster than it did in the training grounds.

The sword light and palm shadows alternated, wide and sweeping, and actually subtly overwhelmed the seven or eight armored soldiers who were besieging him.

The Eight-Sided Sword became more and more fluent in his hands, and every thrust and palm strike carried a fluidity he had never experienced before in the martial arts arena.

There was almost no gap between the alternation of sword light and palm shadow, and the armored soldiers were forced to retreat repeatedly.

However, he also knew that this was the effect of the blessing given to him by the Confucian disciples. Once the blessing was broken, his combat power would drop back to the seventh level of Body Tempering in an instant.

With the help of the buff, Yang Xu managed to hold off the attack from several armored soldiers.

Although he no longer had his sword, he was still at the sixth level of the Meridian Opening Realm. After fighting for a while, he had already taken down three armored soldiers, each punch turning them into ink and dissipating them.

Hua Xi was still locked in combat with the leader of the armored soldiers, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his face even paler than before.

The leader of the armored soldiers was forced to retreat step by step by her, and several nicks had been chipped into the blade of his crescent-shaped sword.

The battle lasted less than a quarter of an hour before Master Meng finally annihilated the demon.

The demon's enormous body gradually shattered under the strangulation of the golden chains, finally turning into a pool of thick ink that spilled on the ground.

Master Meng released his hand seal, and the golden light on the bamboo slips suddenly dimmed, his face turning somewhat pale.