Ten Directions Sword Master

Bingzhou Prefecture City!

The three soldiers turned their heads and looked over, seemingly interested.

"Sir, you will see the official road ahead... Go straight for more than ten miles and you will reach the prefectural city."

The waiter bent down and quickly took away the Great Wei Tongbao coins.

"However, the roads are not safe these days, with bandits, robbers, and scattered soldiers. It's best to travel with a caravan."

As he spoke, the waiter unconsciously lowered his voice and his eyes began to dart around.

Not long after Lu Li sat down, the fleeing couple got up and continued their journey under the scorching sun, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the soldiers beside them.

"They just left like that, without giving any explanation?"

His hoarse voice was like a broken bellows, leaking air out in a whooshing sound that made people feel uneasy.

"Sir, please have mercy! We only have bedding and clothes on us, no valuables..."

The couple froze, then turned around stiffly. The man had a dark face, strong arms, and a hunting knife on his back.

"Sir, sir! This old man is on good terms with Inspector Xu; he even gave me a piece of cured meat the other day. Please don't tear down my tea stall!"

The old man with sparse white hair, who was tending the fire, jumped up in a panic and shouted anxiously.

A rout?

Lu Li placed his fingers on the Sun-Covering Sword, knowing that the military discipline of the Great Wei Dynasty was chaotic in its later years, and he did not expect to run into it so soon after arriving.

They shouldn't be He Zheng's subordinates. That team rarely leaves the military camp, comes and goes like the wind, and acts ten times more brutally.

Whether the people in the Compass World are real, living beings or merely a fantasy or a mark, this question has troubled him for a long time.

It wasn't until he met a figure whose name was recorded in history during the Northern Wei Dynasty that he understood everything.

Act according to your conscience, be cautious and honest even when alone. The real world is just as it is here.

Being decisive in killing does not mean treating people in the compass world as numbers or as nourishment for accumulating merit.

With that kind of mindset, one is not far from falling into demonic possession.

"They're not wearing armor, and they're far from their warhorses. If we make a move, we can take their lives within ten breaths... But the two at the tea stall are no pushovers either."

Each mission that teetered on the brink of life and death gave Lu Li his own method for judging the strength of his opponents.

You can get a general idea from breathing rate, blood gas concentration, and the firmness of your steps, without actually doing anything.

It is limited to those below the Foundation Establishment stage. After the Foundation Establishment stage, the acupoints open, and the surge in internal energy is secondary. The key is that many unexpected abilities will be gained.

If you use this method again, the answer will be completely different.

"Mr. Lan, those ten gold ingots were used by the rebel army to buy food. If they are taken away, many people will go hungry... We brothers want to join Zhao, but we can only use your heads."

The leading soldier stood up and identified the fleeing couple.

"What kind of bullshit rebel army is this? They've been dragging this out for years and can't even take a single city. Once the imperial court has pacified the refugees in the west, a single newly formed army from the Six Garrisons will be enough to wipe them all out!"

The man drew his hunting knife and held it across his chest, his timidity and fear vanishing without a trace, as he spoke fiercely.

"Everyone who sees it gets a share; three brothers will each receive five gold ingots. It's far more promising than going to the rebel army to shed blood!"

He pulled open the satchel at his waist, revealing a row of gleaming gold ingots.

The three soldiers' breathing became heavy, their eyes fixed on the scene and unable to look away.

The lead soldier coughed, grabbed two golden maces from the table, and shouted, "Do it all, then we'll talk about the rest!"

The other two wielded goose-feather sabers, coordinating perfectly to attack from both sides, quickly forcing the man surnamed Lan to break down his swordsmanship and retreat repeatedly.

The leading soldier, carrying a golden mace, slowly advanced, creating immense psychological pressure. Suddenly, he pushed off with both legs and charged towards the woman like a cannonball.

The double hammers struck, leaving a mess of red and white, completely unrecognizable.

"Tch! Just an ordinary person, and I've been so careful... Third Sister, Fifth Sister, don't hold back, kill him!"

"Sir, that is..."

The white-haired old man trembled as he watched the leading soldier approach with murderous intent. Suddenly, he looked in astonishment toward the direction of the dead woman.

As soon as the leader of the army turned around, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His instincts, honed on the battlefield, made him swing his two hammers backward while simultaneously channeling his inner strength to tighten the muscles in the injured area.

The white-haired old man pulled a thin sword from the pile of firewood and stabbed the victim. Without the chest protector to stop it, the sword would surely have pierced through to the heart.

The waiter swiftly pulled a dagger from his trouser leg, leaped a few times, and arrived on the other side, lurking menacingly.

"Seriously, they're all villains..."

This wasn't Lu Li's first time in the Northern Wei world. The previous times he traveled to the city, he hadn't directly observed this era, which was described in history books as the darkest and most chaotic.

In contrast, the Great Chu, which suffered from famine and poor harvests for years, appeared much better.

The fleeing couple were traitors who absconded with the rebel army's grain and funds. Three soldiers, under the banner of the rebel army, planned to kill witnesses and embezzle gold ingots. The old and young at the tea stall were ruthless and secretly harmed countless lone merchants.

The two soldiers wielding knives dealt with the man surnamed Lan, exchanged a glance, and then ran towards Lu Li.

The white-haired old man and the waiter were not very strong and had not yet developed internal energy. After their sneak attack failed, their threat level was greatly reduced.

First, deal with the strangers, then work with the boss to take down the two men to prevent the news from leaking out.

A flash of white light, and two soldiers had holes in their necks, clutching their wounds and stammering, unable to utter a sound.

The Sun-Covering Sword was forged from the golden yin, and its blazing light was dazzling when enhanced by internal force. The two soldiers who were in the early stage of Qi Refining never expected that the unassuming young man would suddenly attack. In a flash, they lost their lives.

Lu Li didn't stop. With a sway of his body, he casually swung his sword twice, and the white-haired old man and the waiter fell down with a muffled groan, as if they had willingly met the sword tip.

"Whose family are you from? Or are you a spy for the Imperial City Guard?"

The leader of the soldiers' eyes twitched, and in a flash, his two companions and two bandits were killed.

The way he asked for directions earlier made me think he was an inexperienced young man just starting out, but in the blink of an eye he turned out to be a fierce tiger.

"I ask, you answer."

Lu Li finished off each corpse with a sword strike, without even looking up, and continued speaking to himself.

"How large is the rebel army? Who is their leader? What is their cultivation level? What is their relationship with He Zheng?"

"The rebel army is said to have over ten thousand men, but the core force consists of five hundred members of the Death-Strike Battalion. The leader, Zhao Sanqin, was a bandit in his early years and should be at the late Foundation Establishment stage... Zhao Sanqin's younger sister was abducted and killed by Captain He. The two sides are irreconcilable enemies with a deep-seated hatred."

The leading soldier stared wide-eyed, not blinking, wanting to strike first, yet still wary of the ghostly swordsmanship he had just witnessed.

That exquisite swordsmanship could not have been taught by ordinary martial artists or third-rate sects, and through this questioning, it was certain that he had an official identity.

Otherwise, why would they pay such attention to the rebel army and the military colonel He Zheng? Instigating local forces, assassinating and carrying out secret investigations are precisely the strengths of the Imperial City Guard.

"What is your relationship with the rebels? Have you already joined them?"

Lu Li lifted the lid of the tea stall, revealing several packets of sleeping pills and a pile of blood-stained, tattered clothes.

As expected, his main occupation was banditry. Today, seeing that there were many people and he was in a strong position, he dared not use the drug, and as a result, he lost his life by mistake.

He then walked to the body of the man surnamed Lan, bent down, and picked up the satchel full of gold ingots.

"Chief Zhao sent out invitations to heroes, saying he would take down the military camps and distribute grain to relieve the disaster victims... A fellow villager of mine had a connection with a man surnamed Lan. Hearing that this man was inquiring about merchants leaving Bingzhou, I followed him along the way, just to give it a try."

The leading soldier licked his lips, looked at the unsuspecting young man crouching down, and revealed a bloodthirsty grin.

"My lord, spare my life! I know Bingzhou intimately and can manage it all..."

His muscles bulged, veins throbbing like earthworms, and he lunged forward.

Two golden maces struck one after the other, first hitting the vest, then the back of the head, creating a whistling sound.

Squeezing out one's vital energy and accumulating power for a single strike, the force of the blow can surpass that of a fully healthy person when facing a life-or-death situation.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Lu Li swung his sword backhand, like a gazelle hanging its horns, striking the leading soldier in the most vulnerable spot, causing the two golden maces to collide with each other with a loud crash.

The deafening roar made the leading soldier's hands go numb and his blood surge.

Another sword thrust came, but the golden mace blocked it. The sword, however, darted through like a snake, circled around, and the head, with a look of resentment in its eyes, flew into the sky.

"If everyone's a villain, then let's all go together."

The Sun-Covering Sword spun, leaving not a trace of blood, its brilliance dazzling.