Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 269 Battle in the North of the City

High-grade Earth Profound Pills are already extremely precious! Their value within the Alchemist Association is astonishing. Pills of this grade contain very little of the poisonous component of elixirs. Users will find it remarkably easy to clear the poison from their bodies after consuming them.

Normally, if a pill of only human-grade quality is used, it would take at least half a month for an ordinary martial artist to completely remove the residual pill toxins from their body.

However, if a pill of Earthly Profound quality is used instead, the cleansing time is greatly shortened, not exceeding seven days at most. And a high-grade Earthly Profound pill can clear the toxins in no more than three days!

At this moment, Mo Yuming realized a strange fact—although his own wood-attribute profound skill cultivation was not high, he had shown extraordinary talent and adaptability in alchemy. He had only tried refining pills twice, yet the quality of the pills he produced was already comparable to those refined by Alchemist Yu of the Alchemist Association!

I wonder what Master Yu, who is always complaining, would think if he knew about this.

Mo Yuming compared the two batches of pills he had refined. The amount of medicinal materials used in both batches was the same, but the quantity and quality of the pills obtained were vastly different. Mo Yuming estimated that if his skills were further improved, the quality and quantity of the pills could be further increased, and refining pseudo-heavenly pills would not be a problem.

Mo Yuming was in high spirits and prepared the medicinal herbs, intending to refine another batch of pills while he was still in the mood. But just as he finished preparing the herbs, Ji Xianlin, who was patrolling outside the city, sent a telepathic message to Mo Yuming, informing him that there was a disturbance in the northern suburbs of Jingzhou City. He had already led several Falcon Guards to investigate.

Mo Yuming had no choice but to put away the medicinal herbs, leave the city lord's mansion, and head towards the place where the incident had occurred.

Mo Yuming always wore simple makeup when he went out, as he didn't want too many people to know he existed. This time, he casually grabbed a wide-brimmed felt hat from the government office and put it on. He looked like a shepherd boy.

Mo Yuming crossed the street, exited the city through the north gate, and walked along the official road for about two miles before reaching a fork in the road. This fork was surrounded by many tall trees, whose tall and dense trunks and leaves blocked out a lot of sunlight. Under the trees was a wide open meadow. The official road from Xin County forked here, one leading to the north gate of Jingzhou and the other to Wangxiang Town.

As more pedestrians came and went, local residents set up stalls here, placing several wooden tables, tea, and seasonal fruits and vegetables for travelers to choose from and eat.

After Jingzhou was brought under the control of the Great Xia, the garrison at Wangxiang Town was disbanded and taken over by the Guoan soldiers, who usually maintained order with only a few soldiers. Later, the soldiers discovered that this three-way intersection could serve as a place to guard both locations, killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, the Junan Prefecture, which was in charge of this area, transferred the soldiers from the two city guard posts to this three-way intersection to check pedestrians.

In these times of war, the Great Xia Empire has implemented special security laws, strengthening controls on outsiders, especially in the newly added regions of Jingzhou and Liangzhou. The approach to prevention and control is to maintain strict internal control while allowing for more lenient external control, thus preventing unrest while ensuring the people's peaceful lives and preventing panic.

When Mo Yuming arrived at the crossroads, more than twenty troublemakers and National Security soldiers were already fighting.

The majority of the National Security Guards were veterans discharged from the army, mainly because their age and training did not meet the standards, but their combat effectiveness was not bad. Before the incident, only seven soldiers were conducting routine checks on the travel documents of outsiders. They didn't find anything unusual at first, but later they noticed that there were many more customers than usual in a roadside teahouse. What also aroused their suspicion was that several people dressed as woodcutters had been sitting there for a long time without leaving. This aroused their suspicion.

Normally, woodcutters are in a hurry to deliver their firewood to the city to sell, and rarely sit in teahouses to drink tea and chat. Even if they do, it's usually a group of woodcutters going to the market together, and they'll only rest briefly in a teahouse after selling all their firewood. Once their companions arrive, they'll leave, not lingering in the teahouse for long. But these woodcutters put their firewood aside and didn't seem to be in a hurry to go to the market. Instead, they sat at a table drinking tea and chatting, which was completely unlike normal woodcutters.

The experienced soldiers of the National Security Bureau immediately noticed that many people in the group were acting strangely. Besides the woodcutters, several other tables of merchants and travelers were also seated at the tea table next to them. They had been sitting there for a long time without showing any intention of leaving.

This place was merely a stop for travelers to rest and refresh themselves; the conditions were rudimentary, certainly not a place for leisurely strolls. A normal person would at most sit down for a cup of tea and a short rest if thirsty, and then leave. What's even more suspicious is that a middle-aged woman dressed as a noblewoman, who arrived in a carriage, was sitting at the tea table next to the woodcutter's, drinking tea with her maids and attendants, completely disregarding her image and status. These noblewomen are usually extremely conscious of their image; they would never sit idly in such a crude place, let alone show their faces among rustic villagers.

Something unusual was amiss. The soldiers on duty immediately contacted the Falcon Guards hidden nearby, and then several men approached the noblewoman to question her. Before they could even ask anything, the woodcutter, vendors, and merchants at the next tea table simultaneously became unnaturally tense, all abruptly ceasing their conversation and focusing their attention, intentionally or unintentionally, on the National Security Soldiers. An invisible killing intent surrounded the soldiers, and these battle-hardened soldiers were highly sensitive to such aura. They immediately prepared for battle.

Seeing the soldiers draw their swords in a defensive stance, the group dropped their pretense, kicked away the firewood, pulled out the weapons hidden among it, and attacked in unison, surrounding several Guoan soldiers and intending to kill them to silence them.

Several soldiers were surrounded by more than twenty men, outnumbered and on the verge of being overwhelmed, when several crossbow bolts shot out from the distant woods, heading straight for the assassins attacking the soldiers. These assassins were no ordinary men either; the men on the periphery quickly turned and used their weapons to deflect the crossbow bolts.

These crossbow bolts, though small, were improved versions of demon-slaying arrows. When the swords struck the bolts, they exploded with a 'bang,' blasting the weapons and their wielders beyond recognition, sending them flying several meters away like rag dolls. If you were lucky, the weapon shattered, and the person was merely thrown back; if you were unlucky, the weapon and the arm holding it were pulverized together. The worst fate was being reduced to dust along with half a head, a gruesome death.

The besieged soldiers escaped the encirclement and saved their lives. At that moment, several Falcon Guards dressed in blue tight-fitting clothes, each wielding a crossbow and a scimitar, flew out of the woods.

Just as the Falcon Guards were preparing to join the battle, a sedan chair parked by the roadside suddenly exploded, and two dark figures flew out, blocking the Falcon Guards' path. One of the figures in black pushed his hand forward, and an invisible wall of energy blocked all six or seven Falcon Guards halfway, preventing them from advancing.

"Heavenly Rank!" Several Falcon Guard members quickly retreated and huddled together, forming a defensive formation to withstand the Heavenly Rank attacks. Although the enemy had suffered two or three casualties, their fighting strength remained intact. With the appearance of two Heavenly Rank experts, the Falcon Guard members and the National Security soldiers were all in danger. Meanwhile, the woodcutter and woman on this side began a frenzied attack on the soldiers. Within a few moves, the group was defeated, and everyone was wounded.

"Insolence!" With a furious shout, a figure appeared out of thin air above the Falcon Guard members. With a casual wave of his hand, countless points of light appeared on the air barrier, instantly obliterating it. The pressure on the Falcon Guard members was greatly reduced.

"We helped them deal with those bandits in the past, I'll handle this!" Ji Xianlin swung his arm again, and dozens of beams of light forced the two men in black back several feet, clearing the path in front of the Falcon Guards.

The two men in black were startled by Ji Xianlin's profound martial arts skills, but seeing that he was alone, they were not afraid. They then declared:

"Fellow Daoist, although your profound skills are high, it is wishful thinking for you to think you can defeat the two of us! Why don't you stop now and watch from the sidelines?"

"Cultivation to the Heavenly Rank is not easy, yet you do not know how to cherish it and instead engage in banditry, truly a scourge to the world. Today, I, Ji, will rid the people of this menace!" Ji Xianlin coldly shouted.

"You bandits occupied Jingzhou, raised an army in rebellion, and yet you call us bandits? You've completely turned black into white!" one of the men in black shouted angrily.

"Oh? So you bunch of rabble were sent by Wu Yi? You've indiscriminately dispatched 300,000 troops to invade the borders of my Great Xia, and you even accuse us of rebellion? Wu Yi's appetite is too big! When did our Great Xia Empire become part of your Zheng Lan Kingdom? Having a big appetite isn't a good thing. Sometimes you have to see if your teeth are strong enough. You broke your teeth and then blamed the rock for being too hard! What an idiot!"

"Enough talk, let's get to the point!"

With a loud bang, spiritual energy surged, and the three collided in mid-air. They began exchanging blows.

Meanwhile, although the Falcon Guards had joined the ground forces, they still outnumbered the enemy. Moreover, the enemy consisted entirely of highly skilled martial artists, while the National Security soldiers were comparatively weaker. Within moments, they had already suffered defeat, with one soldier killed and another seriously wounded. Rescue troops were still en route and unable to arrive immediately.

Just then, the melodious sound of a flute drifted from afar, its gentle melody soothing and refreshing, like a gentle breeze. Though the sound was distant, it was captivating, and without realizing it, both sides slowed their fighting and reduced the intensity of their battle.

At this moment, a boy dressed as a shepherd, sitting on a jade horse, wearing a felt hat, and playing a jade flute walked over.

As the flute music rose and fell, the dozens of people fighting together became engrossed in the melody, forgetting their battle. Several even dropped their weapons and danced to the music. A few others stood there, seemingly lost in thought, and began to cry and laugh loudly.

At this moment, the two Celestial Realm experts who were entangled with Ji Xianlin in mid-air noticed the situation below, but due to the strength of their opponent, they could only barely manage a draw even when working together, and were unable to spare any attention to help others. They could only lament their predicament in silence.

Taking advantage of a brief opening in the opponent's attack, one of them shouted sharply at the ground, attempting to awaken the person who was bewitched by the flute music. But in that brief moment of distraction, Ji Xianlin seized the opportunity, his sword strike piercing the air and precisely striking the opening. The old man frantically tried to resist, but it was too late. The tacitly coordinated defense between the two crumbled instantly, the hard-won balance was shattered, and Ji Xianlin immediately gained the upper hand. The old man was forced to join forces in a passive defensive stance.

However, his shout still had an effect. Mo Yuming's illusionary flute music was broken, and both sides in the battle woke up from the illusion one after another. However, the people who were trapped in the illusion varied from person to person. Some were able to wake up quickly, while others remained in the illusion for a period of time.

Seeing his illusionary sound broken, Mo Yuming naturally wouldn't let this brief opportunity slip by. With a leap, he jumped into the crowd, brandishing Wu Qing's golden silk sword, and stabbed at those who had just regained consciousness. In a matter of moments, he had taken down three people, one of whom was the martial artist who had charged ahead and killed a soldier.

After severing the noblewoman's arm, the assassins finally came to their senses. Seeing a boy dressed as a shepherd kill three and wound one, they enraged and swarmed towards Mo Yuming.

Mo Yuming has now mastered the metal-elemental sword technique 'Azure Shadow Sword Art,' giving him a significant advantage in combat. He no longer needs to rely on his own profound energy to fight head-on. The 'Azure Shadow Sword Art' is renowned for its speed; when unleashed, it's like a faint, ethereal shadow drifting around, making it impossible for opponents to see where the sword is aimed. Furthermore, Mo Yuming is now at the fourth level of the metal-elemental Earth Rank, meaning his metal-elemental strength alone is not much weaker than that of these bandits.

After a series of clanging swords, Mo Yuming used a move called "Azure Shadow Chaos" to knock away all four bandits at the same time, leaving a wound on each of them.

With Mo Yuming's addition and six or seven bandits already eliminated, the strength and numbers are now roughly equal. The less powerful Guo Anshi has finally escaped danger, and the five of them together are basically able to protect themselves.

Meanwhile, the two Celestial Realm cultivators battling Ji Xianlin in the sky were in a precarious situation. Their earlier distraction in awakening their companion had allowed Ji Xianlin to seize the opportunity, shattering the balance and gaining the upper hand. The two were now in grave danger under Ji Xianlin's swordplay, desperately resisting. Any moment of carelessness would result in a cut from the ever-present sword light. They now had seven or eight wounds in total. While none were vital or deep, the numerous wounds would inevitably lead to blood loss and pain. Over time, the consequences of their injuries would worsen, with increasingly severe effects.

Ji Xianlin, who held the upper hand, fought with increasing ferocity, widening the gap between the two sides. At this point, neither of them had the will to fight anymore; they were simply held back by Ji Xianlin. If either of them were to withdraw from the battle, the other would certainly suffer a terrible fate—even if they survived, they would be crippled.