Xu Qi An stepped on the stirrups, causing the warhorse from the Qing State military camp to whiny and kneel on all fours. He flew into the dense forest like a great bird.
His black gold long sword flashed, instantly taking a head. Blood fountained from the severed neck.
Don’t look, don’t look… Xu Qi An recalled the tragic deaths of the merchant caravan, hardening his heart. His blade rose and fell repeatedly, taking the lives of one bandit after another.
With his cultivation at the threshold of the Forge Spirit realm, slaughtering these fierce bandits was as easy as cutting melons. Combined with his black gold sword that could slice through iron like mud, no one could withstand even a single exchange.
“Swish swish!”
A searing blade light slashed towards him from behind, silently felling branches and leaves in its path, the cut edges perfectly even.
Xu Qi An’s powerful spiritual sense allowed him to detect the attack in advance. He twisted his waist and spun, his black gold sword shattering the blade light. He saw a man wielding a large steel blade.
The man cut down a Tiger Tally Guard blocking his path and charged at Xu Qi An with a vicious grin. At the same time, two lean men holding standard military sabers attacked Xu Qi An from the left and right.
Suddenly, Xu Qi An found himself in the dangerous situation of being surrounded by men on all sides.
On the imperial road, Jiang Luzhong, who had been observing the battle with narrowed eyes, let out a laugh: “Those three bandits have decent skills. One is at the peak of Qi Condensation, while the other two are slightly weaker, but not novices who have just entered Qi Condensation.”
Hearing this, a Silver Gong Night Watchman spoke up: “Should we help him?”
The Night Watchmen all looked at Jiang Luzhong, waiting for his order.
In their view, Xu Qi An, who was only in the Qi Condensation realm, couldn’t possibly withstand the encirclement of three experts at the same level. Moreover, he was still inexperienced, having killed few people and lacking combat experience.
On the battlefield, combat experience was sometimes more important than cultivation level.
Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng knew that Xu Qi An was attempting to break through to the Forge Spirit realm, but this wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as he was exhausted, affecting his combat ability.
Jiang Luzhong quietly formed his fingers into a sword shape, staring intently at the surrounding Xu Qi An, ready to intervene at any moment. “Wait a bit longer.”
Three at Qi Condensation… The man with the steel blade had a strong aura, at the peak of Qi Condensation… The other two were significantly weaker… Were the mountain bandits in Yun State of such high quality? Encountering three Qi Condensation cultivators so casually?
Xu Qi An gripped his sword, his expression calm. He took the initiative, swinging his blade at the man with the steel sword. At the same time, he visualized the image of a roaring golden lion in his mind.
“Roar!”
A deep, majestic roar erupted from his throat, shaking the forest and momentarily freezing both sides of the battle.
The man with the steel blade felt as if thunder had exploded next to his ears. His pupils briefly dilated, and his thoughts froze.
That split-second of hesitation determined his fate.
“Slash!”
In the gleam of the razor-sharp black-gold sword, the man with the steel blade was split in two. His shattered organs were mixed with blood, spilling onto the ground.
After slaying one, Xu Qi An pressed his advantage. Without pausing, he turned, once again visualizing the image of a giant in his mind. In an instant, he seemed to transform into a battle god capable of fighting heaven and earth, his aura surging.
Clang… Slash…
One of the lean men swung his blade to block, but it was easily broken. The black gold sword sliced open his chest.
Seeing the situation turn dire, the other lean man turned to flee but was stopped by a volley of arrows from the Tiger Tally Guards. Xu Qi An caught up, once again visualizing the roaring golden lion, shaking the man’s spirit, and killed him with a single slash.
The entire process took only a dozen or so breaths.
This… Exclamations of amazement erupted from the watching Night Watchmen.
“The richness of his qi is completely beyond that of an ordinary peak Qi Condensation cultivator. Even I would only dare say I’m slightly stronger than him,” a Silver Gong said in shock.
“What we should be concerned about is where he got that Buddhist visualization technique. That was the Lion’s Roar,” another Silver Gong added.
“There’s another issue. He seems to be cultivating two visualization techniques simultaneously… and both have reached a profound level. This is enough to challenge the Forge Spirit realm.”
“He’s only been with the Night Watchmen for two months.”
As they spoke, the Silver Gongs fell silent, their expressions complex.
The Bronze Gongs had an even more exaggerated reaction, staring wide-eyed at Xu Qi An’s figure, their minds replaying the scene of him cleanly killing three Qi Condensation cultivators.
Even within the Qi Condensation realm, different individuals had varying combat abilities. The Qi Condensation cultivators of the Night Watchmen’s office were generally stronger than ordinary martial artists.
But the difference wasn’t usually this dramatic.
Xu Qi An’s ability to kill three jianghu martial artists in a short time without suffering any injury meant that none of the Bronze Gongs present could last ten moves against him in single combat, even accounting for the power of their Bronze Gongs.
Usually, they all interacted casually as equals. Only now did they realize: you could actually take on ten of us?
Jiang Luzhong knew even more – Xu Qi An’s ultimate skill was the “Heaven and Earth Single Slash,” which he hadn’t even used.
…
After clearing out the bandits, the Tiger Tally Guards brought out a group of bound ordinary people from the dense forest, 25 in total. After questioning, it was determined they were merchants.
Among them, one woman stood out. She wasn’t slender and delicate like a young girl, but voluptuous and alluring like a ripe peach. Only experienced men of the world could truly appreciate the charm of such a sensual woman.
“Thank you, noble officials. Thank you, noble officials…”
The rescued merchants expressed their gratitude profusely, repeatedly kneeling and kowtowing.
Governor Zhang comforted them with a kind expression, revealing his identity and promising to escort them back to the center of Yun State – White Emperor City.
“Bury all these corpses, then organize the goods. We’ll take them with us,” Governor Zhang ordered.
Jiang Luzhong nodded and instructed the Tiger Tally Guards to get to work.
“Wait a moment!”