7: Chapter 7: A Decisive Victory, Mission Reward: Little Li Flying Dagger

Broken Mountain Blade gritted his teeth fiercely and took a deep look at Ah Qi beside him: "Kid, stay close to me later, don't fall behind even half a step! Whether we two can break out of this death trap today... will be up to fate!"

Xia Jin, sitting on a rattan chair, swept his gaze over Broken Mountain Blade and couldn't help but frown.

"Commander Qin Hu, what are you still standing there for? Do you expect this Prince to personally invite him over for tea?"

"This subordinate wouldn't dare!" Commander Qin Hu shuddered and quickly bowed.

When he straightened up, his face was already filled with coldness. He strode forward, passing the fighting Imperial Guard, and faced Broken Mountain Blade directly.

"Broken Mountain Blade! In front of Prince Jin, why haven't you discarded your blade, knelt, and surrendered? Do you want to wait for this Commander to take action himself?"

"Commander Qin Hu!! I didn't expect that you all really thought so highly of me, Broken Mountain Blade! To think you all came!" Broken Mountain Blade gritted his teeth fiercely, pulled Ah Qi another half-step behind him, and held his long blade in front of his chest. "However, thinking you can make this master surrender? Simply dreaming!!"

On the other side, Commander Qin Hu watched Broken Mountain Blade's actions, a flicker of disdain flashing in his eyes.

The opponent was merely at the eighth layer of the Innate Realm, while he himself was already at the third layer of the Grandmaster Realm. With such a huge gap, no matter what the opponent did, he couldn't stir up any trouble.

He didn't even unsheathe the Embroidered Spring Blade at his waist, simply raising his right hand slowly.

"Stubborn fool!"

Commander Qin Hu sneered, his figure suddenly disappearing, and the next moment he appeared in front of Broken Mountain Blade. The raised palm pressed directly toward the opponent's chest.

Broken Mountain Blade's pupils constricted. He poured all his Innate eighth-layer True Qi into the blade without reservation and slashed fiercely at Commander Qin Hu's palm!

However— "Clang!"

Commander Qin Hu's palm shifted slightly, striking the side of the blade directly. A massive force surged through it; Broken Mountain Blade felt his tiger's mouth split, his entire arm went numb instantly, and he could no longer hold the long blade. It flew out of his hand and landed on the ground several meters away with a "clatter."

One move, and his weapon was knocked from his hand!

"I say, Broken Mountain Blade, with the gap between you and me, you didn't actually think you could resist this Commander, did you!"

Broken Mountain Blade was horrified. Just as he wanted to retreat, Commander Qin Hu turned his palm into a claw, flashing toward Broken Mountain Blade's throat like lightning. Broken Mountain Blade tried his best to dodge sideways, but his shoulder was caught squarely, unable to be avoided.

"Crack!" A crisp sound of bone breaking rang out, and Broken Mountain Blade's left scapula shattered on impact! The heart-piercing pain made his vision go black.

"Come here!" Commander Qin Hu snorted coldly. The hand gripping Broken Mountain Blade's shoulder exerted force, lifting him up like a chick, and then slammed him fiercely onto the ground!

"Pfft!" Broken Mountain Blade spat out a mouthful of blood. His chest was clearly sunken in, ribs broken, and his aura instantly withered.

And Ah Qi, who was beside him, couldn't react in time before being swept by the aftermath of the True Qi surging from the two's exchange. With a muffled groan, he collapsed softly to the ground, unconscious.

Two moves, and he was captured alive!

The gap between a Grandmaster and an Innate is like a chasm.

Commander Qin Hu carried the limp Broken Mountain Blade and turned to walk toward Xia Jin.

However, at that moment, Xia Jin, who was watching the show, suddenly caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye toward a huge rock about three hundred meters behind Lingyin Temple.

Under the moonlight, a blurry black shadow seemed to be pressed behind the giant rock, retreating backward at an extremely fast speed.

"Little Wei." Xia Jin simply pointed vaguely in the direction where the shadow had disappeared and whispered to Eunuch Wei beside him: "Over there! There's a mouse trying to slip away, follow it and take a look."

"Understood, Master!" Eunuch Wei was startled for a moment, then immediately nodded.

The next instant, his figure had already disappeared.

At this time, Commander Qin Hu had already brought Broken Mountain Blade to Xia Jin and threw the heavily injured, blood-spitting Broken Mountain Blade onto the ground at Xia Jin's feet.

Xia Jin leaned over slightly, examining this Ming Cult Protector with interest.

"Ming Cult's Twelve Protectors, Broken Mountain Blade, right?" Xia Jin's voice carried a hint of playfulness. "Tell this Prince, what exactly are you Ming Cult remnants plotting by stirring up trouble and causing havoc in the Capital all this time?"

"Xia Jin, you really have returned!" Broken Mountain Blade coughed violently, spitting out more blood foam. He tried his best to lift his head to look at Xia Jin, a flash of wariness in his eyes.

But he was a Ming Cult Protector after all, and extremely loyal to the Ming Cult.

"Get on with it, kill me if you want! You want to extract information from my mouth? Dream on! However, you all just wait. It won't be long before this Great Xia Capital—no, the entire Great Xia—will fall into our hands!"

Xia Jin looked at the opponent's fierce but cowardly appearance and couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh? Facing death, yet still so tough." Xia Jin straightened up and shook his head. "However... this Prince didn't actually expect you to talk anyway."

He turned to Commander Qin Hu and uttered two words lightly: "Kill him."

"Yes!" Commander Qin Hu raised his right hand, True Qi gathering in his palm, about to smash Broken Mountain Blade's skull with a single strike.

"Wait!" Broken Mountain Blade suddenly roared, his eyes carrying a hint of madness. "You don't need to do it! You... are not worthy of killing me!"

He didn't know where the strength came from, but he suddenly reached out and grabbed his own thick-backed long blade on the ground not far away.

Commander Qin Hu frowned, thinking he was going to make a desperate counterattack. Just as he was about to stop him, he saw that after Broken Mountain Blade grabbed the blade, he didn't attack anyone. Instead, he swung his arm, using his last bit of strength to throw the long blade fiercely!

"Pfft!" The long blade pierced through the chest of Ah Qi, who was unconscious on the ground a few steps away!

"This guy!" Commander Qin Hu watched Broken Mountain Blade's actions and couldn't help but frown.

"Little Seven... Uncle... I'm sorry..."

Broken Mountain Blade looked at Ah Qi's body, which was instantly soaked in blood, a flash of guilt appearing in his eyes.

After doing all this, the corners of his mouth suddenly twitched, and then his face turned dark green. His body convulsed violently a few times, and then he stopped moving completely.

It turned out he had already hidden potent poison in his mouth.

"As expected, these Demon Cult remnants still have this style! Hmph! Fine, it saves me from dirtying my own hands!" Xia Jin watched all this coldly, a flash of cold light in his eyes.

Commander Qin Hu squatted down and checked Broken Mountain Blade's breath and pulse, confirming that he had died from the poison.

"Prince, there are still a few small fry left in the temple. Should we keep one or two alive to take back for interrogation?"

Xia Jin's gaze swept over the remaining few Ming Cult members who had been completely controlled by the Imperial Guard, and he sneered: "Keep them for what? To waste food. Execute them on the spot!"

"This subordinate understands." Commander Qin Hu understood, said no more, and simply waved his hand lightly.

The remaining few trapped Ming Cult members didn't even have a chance to beg for mercy before they were hacked to death by the surrounding, tiger-eyed Imperial Guard.

In an instant, the front courtyard of Lingyin Temple became completely quiet, leaving only the thick smell of blood permeating the night wind.

And just inside Lingyin Temple, at the moment the last Ming Cult member fell, that familiar System notification sound rang out once again in Xia Jin's mind.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the System task: Assist the Imperial Guard in successfully clearing out the Lingyin Temple Ming Cult stronghold.

[Obtained task reward: Little Lis Flying Dagger (Entry-Level), forty years of cultivation.]