Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Liao Xu took out a hand-drawn map from his pocket and spread it on the saddle.

Despite the rough paper and messy ink lines, the layout of Shiqiao Village is clearly depicted.

"Shiqiao Village has been abandoned for three years now, and this is the map that remains."

Liao Xu pointed to the node on the north side of the map and said, "There are seventeen houses in total, with a main road running north to south. According to intelligence, the remnants of the Nine Evil Cults are hiding in the ancestral hall in the north of the village, numbering seven to ten."

"The leader is a deacon at the third level of Qi and Blood, two at the second level of Qi and Blood, and the rest are mostly at the first level of Qi and Blood or ordinary believers."

He traced a few paths with his fingertips and gave the order: "Zhan Zhi, Song Wu, we will enter the ancestral hall from the front."

"Zhao He, Shen Qingyue, you two flank them from the east and west sides."

"As for the three patrol captains..."

Liao Xu looked up at Yi Yang and the other two, speaking politely, but the distance between them was quite obvious. He said, "Please set up roadblocks in three directions outside the village to intercept and kill the fleeing cultists."

Zhang Li nodded immediately, quite satisfied with the arrangement, and quickly said, "Understood, guard the goal."

Zhu Yuanshan also said, "No problem."

Yi Yang, with his sleeves tucked in, asked only one question.

"What if the followers' strength exceeds the intelligence?"

Liao Xu glanced at him for a couple of moments, his eyes clearly showing some dissatisfaction with Yi Yang, this troublemaker, and said, "The source of the intelligence is reliable."

He paused, then added.

"If anything goes wrong, the three of you may retreat on your own; there is no need to linger in battle."

The words were polite, but in plain terms they meant, "Just don't cause trouble."

Zhang Li forced a smile and didn't argue.

At this moment, Yi Zhanzhi suddenly spoke up, saying, "Senior Brother Liao, leave that steward to me."

The boy's voice was clear and sharp, and as he stood under the moon, he resembled a newly sharpened knife, as if he wanted to test its hardness on a bone.

Liao Xu frowned.

"You only recently broke through to the third level, don't be reckless."

Yi Zhanzhi gripped the knife hilt, his chest held high.

"It is precisely because we have just broken through the third level that we need to hone our skills in actual combat."

"Don't worry, senior brother. If anything goes wrong, you can finish him off later."

Song Wu grinned and said, "Junior Brother Zhanzhi has energy; that's how young people should be. Unlike some people, who think about running away before they even fight."

Even though no one was named, everyone knows which way the grass will bend.

Yi Zhanzhi turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Yi Yang out of the corner of his eye.

That bit of boasting, he didn't even try to hide it, thinking to himself: "See? That's what a martial artist is, that's what confidence is."

Yi Yang patted the dust off his cuffs and ignored it.

Liao Xu hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Can."

"But something's wrong, retreat immediately."

Yi Zhanzhi should be decisive.

"Yes."

The group set off under cover of night.

The mountain path was narrow, overgrown with broken branches, and crunched underfoot.

The moonlight was fragmented by the tree canopy, falling to the ground in chaotic patterns. In the distance, an owl cawed twice, sounding eerie.

Yi Yang walked at the back, his steps were slow and his back was bent, but his hearing was already sharp.

Ahead, Liao Xu and Yi Zhanzhi were talking in hushed tones. They didn't say much, but their words were quite useful.

"Senior brother, is that important figure from the Sky Patrol Bureau really the Chief Inspector?"

"Um."

"Internal Qi Realm?"

"Most likely."

Yi Zhanzhi asked in a low voice, "If I can be selected, it will be a meteoric rise to the top."

Liao Xu, however, did not have unrealistic ambitions, saying, "Let's do the job at hand first. Only with an impressive resume will people pay attention."

As Yi Yang listened, he mentally reviewed the situation again: the Director of the Sky Patrol Bureau was coming, and the Thundercloud Martial Arts School was eager to gain merit.

Tang Hao shoved a few of the last patrol captains in, and casually borrowed the knife from Lei Yun Martial Arts School. Not to get rid of himself, he might also be trying to curry favor with Yi Zhanzhi, since the latter is now a big shot in Yunwen Town.

Half an hour later, we arrived at Shiqiao Village.

The abandoned village lay prostrate under the moon, like a cleanly gnawed animal skeleton.

Most of the walls had collapsed, the dark window frames were open, and weeds grew wildly from the cracks in the walls. When the wind blew, the leaves rubbed against each other and rustled incessantly.

The air smelled musty and bloody. In the direction of the ancestral hall in the north of the village, the fire flickered, its red glow dark.

Liao Xu raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.

"Someone has been confirmed."

"Proceed according to plan."

Zhang Li went to the west of the village, and Zhu Yuanshan went to the east of the village.

Yiyang was assigned to the south of the village.

Before leaving, Zhang Li leaned over and said with a bitter face, "Old man Yi, if something really is wrong, just run. Don't worry about saving face."

Yi Yang glanced at him.

"the same as you."

Zhang Li sighed, "All I know how to do in this life is run."

Yi Yang didn't laugh, but instead drew his knife and entered the south of the village.

There is an old locust tree in the south of the village, its trunk half withered, and the broken wall next to it is only half a person tall.

Yi Yang squatted behind the wall, the knife resting on his lap.

The night wind blew through the abandoned houses, carrying the stale, bloody smell that lingered in my nostrils.

Yi Yang gripped the hilt of the knife, his inner tension slowly building, ready to respond to any possible situation.

Liao Xu's loud shout came from the direction of the ancestral hall in the north of the village.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of a door being broken down rang out.

Wooden planks shattered, screams erupted, and weapons clashed with a deafening crash.

The battle has begun.

Yiyang did not move.

He closed his eyes and dissected the noise layer by layer.

Liao Xu's sword strikes were swift, subtle, and ruthless.

Yi Zhanzhi's sword strikes were fierce and powerful, full of youthful vigor, with each move pressing forward.

Song Wu's broadsword moved with wide, sweeping strokes, like pushing against a wall.

Zhao He and Shen Qingyue also charged in from the east and west sides.

Everything went very smoothly as planned.

It went too far.

The screams in the ancestral hall subsided too quickly. Ordinary believers were hacked down, and those at the first level of Qi and Blood were suppressed. The two at the second level of Qi and Blood didn't last long either.

But what about that so-called Qi and Blood Triple Enforcer?

No.

Yi Yang did not hear the blood and qi fluctuations that a triple-level martial artist should have.

It's like a large net has been drawn open, but the mesh is empty, and the most important prey has not appeared.

Upon hearing this, Yi Yang immediately opened his eyes, a possibility flashing through his mind, and whispered, "Hunter and prey switched places?"

Inside the ancestral hall.

Liao Xu's longsword was dripping with blood, and seven or eight corpses of the Nine Evil Cultists lay at his feet.

Song Wu cleaved the last Qi and Blood level two cultist in two with a single strike, cursing, "Is that all? Your intelligence was pretty accurate. The scale here isn't very large, and the strength is quite low."

Yi Zhanzhi pointed the tip of his knife at the ground, his chest heaving, his eyes brimming with barely suppressed pleasure.

"The Nine Evil Sects are nothing special."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the back door of the ancestral hall creaked open.

A middle-aged man in a gray robe came out.

The man had rosy cheeks, excessively bright lips, bloodstains on his gray robe, and frighteningly clean hands.

The person who arrived was none other than Wang Gongqin, who had disappeared without a trace.

Nine evil cult deacons.

He looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, including two of his trusted men, but felt no anger or resentment. He then looked at Liao Xu and the others, and said with a comfortable smile, "Thank you."

Seeing the other person's unusual behavior, Liao Xu's eyelids twitched, sensing something was wrong, and he asked, "What do you mean?"

Wang Gongqin opened her palm, and blood flowed within the lines of her palm, forming the shape of a pill.

"If I try to kill these useless people by myself, they will run away, beg for mercy, and ruin the chance."

"Your Thundercloud Martial Arts School's attack was clean, efficient, and the blood energy was dissipated perfectly."

"This Blood Essence Pill is complete."

Liao Xu's expression turned ugly; he realized that he and his companions had fallen into a trap.

"You used us to kill members of the Nine Heretical Cults and used their blood essence to refine elixirs?"

Wang Gongqin looked up, a low chuckle escaping her throat: "It is a blessing that they can dedicate themselves to the Holy Church."

"It's a blessing that you can help."

Unable to tolerate the other party's confident demeanor, Song Wu flew into a rage, relying on his own strength—level three—to rival that of his opponent, and roared, "Fuck your mother!"

He gripped the broadsword with both hands, the blue bricks beneath his feet cracked, and he charged forward, the blade pressing down, creating a piercing whistling sound.

Wang Gongqin stood still and did not dodge.

He only raised his fist when the broadsword was in front of him.

A punch is thrown.

boom!

The fist struck the side of the knife.

Song Wu's broadsword curved in an exaggerated arc, and he was sent flying along with the sword, crashing into the offering table and scattering wood chips everywhere.

Song Wu rolled to the ground and vomited a mouthful of blood, his chest completely red.

He looked up, his pupils shrinking to the size of beans.

"Qi and Blood are perfectly balanced in all four aspects!"

"You're not at the triple level of Qi and Blood!"

Yi Zhanzhi was about to step forward when he stopped.

His hand holding the knife trembled slightly, and he swallowed back the edge he had just displayed. He looked at his senior brother beside him with unease.

Liao Xu also took a half step back, his long sword held horizontally across his chest, sweat beading on his forehead. His Qi and blood were at their peak, only one step away from reaching the Refining stage.

They realized that this was not a whetstone for them, but a monster that could bite through knives.

Wang Gongqin smiled as she looked at the group and burst into laughter, "Why aren't you coming?"

"Aren't geniuses supposed to love defeating enemies far stronger than themselves?"

At this moment, Zhao He and Shen Qingyue rushed into the ancestral hall from both sides.

Upon seeing Song Wu seriously injured, both of their expressions changed.

Seeing that he had arrived, Liao Xu gritted his teeth, knowing there was no turning back, and said, "Don't go alone."

"He's a cult member, so there's no need to follow the rules."

"Let's kill them together!"

The sword moves first.

Liao Xu stepped forward and thrust, the tip of his sword flashing out three cold stars, aiming for the throat, heart, and eyes.

Yi Zhanzhi then swung his sword, the blade fierce and swift, aiming for Wang Gongqin's waist and abdomen. Zhao He's short spear pierced through from the side, the tip specifically targeting the joints.

Shen Qingyue moved nimbly, her short sword circling behind her and stabbing towards the back of her neck.

They were surrounded and attacked from all sides.

Even someone with normal Qi and Blood levels would be flustered and overwhelmed.

Wang Gongqin raised her hand and pressed it against her chest.

He swallowed the Blood Essence Pill.

The next moment, his skin turned red, his veins bulged, and he grew half an inch taller, his shoulders and back causing his gray robe to bulge.

He clapped his hands out.

clap clap!

Liao Xu's sword strike was deflected, the tip of the sword slicing through the pillar, leaving a long gash in the wooden post.

As Yi Zhanzhi's sword fell halfway down, Wang Gongqin kicked the back of the blade, causing it to rebound and split open, with blood flowing down the hilt.

Just as Zhao He thrust his short spear close, Wang Gongqin grabbed the shaft and twisted it with her five fingers.

creak.

The hardwood gun barrel cracked.

Zhao He's face turned pale. He abandoned his gun and retreated, but he was half a step too slow. Wang Gongqin's palm strike grazed his shoulder, causing his arm to droop and making him chatter in pain.

Shen Qingyue stabbed from behind.

The short sword pierced the gray-robed man, but it didn't penetrate too deeply into his flesh.

Wang Gongqin returned the elbow.

boom.

Shen Qingyue was sent flying, crashing into the wall, spitting blood as she fell to the ground, her short sword slipping from her hand and sliding far away.

Only one round.

The five members of Lei Yun Martial Arts School broke up.

The brazier in the ancestral hall shook, and sparks flew everywhere.

Wang Gongqin stood amidst the pile of corpses, his gray robe stained red, and he smiled wickedly.

"The disciples of Lei Yun Martial Arts School have much better blood and spirit than those good-for-nothings."

Yi Zhanzhi's Adam's apple bobbed, and he took half a step back.