The team leader's face was ashen as he stood his ground, nearly grinding his teeth to dust.

A hundred men had attacked the mountain, and before they even saw a shadow of their opponents, they were all possessed by ghosts. The three great Dharma Protectors had managed to resolve the immediate crisis, but they were all flustered, disheveled, and covered in dirt.

The martial artists watching the battle from afar didn't say a word, but their gazes were enough to make the three Dharma Protectors' old faces burn with shame.

The three Dharma Protectors could only grit their teeth and stand at the front of the formation, waiting for the experts hidden in the shadows to save their reputation.

As long as the Ao Xue (Proud Snow) Dark Guards could bring back even one head, they could proclaim it a great victory and save the Ao Xue Sect's face.

After a moment, someone did indeed walk down the mountain.

The Ao Xue Sect disciples were indeed carrying blood-soaked swords in one hand and dripping heads in the other. But the heads they were carrying were their own.

The five Dark Guards walked step by step to a place about fifty meters from the front lines, then knelt down simultaneously. As if offering a tribute, they held their own heads high above their heads with both hands. One of the heads even opened its mouth and said, "Dharma Protector, we're all done for!"

If the three Dharma Protectors had ever met Nie Xiaochun, they would definitely have recognized her tone.

"Bastard!" In a fit of rage, one of the Dharma Protectors leaped up, landing in front of the corpses in a few steps. He raised his palm and slammed it down on the bodies on the ground.

The five headless corpses were torn to pieces under his heavy palm, but the Dharma Protector screamed and retreated violently amidst the spurting blood: "The corpses are poisoned!"

"Quick, get the antidote pills!"

"Use Fire Thunder Talismans to burn the corpses, burn everything within fifty meters, don't leave a trace."

The team leader's face had turned ashen.

This was the Ao Xue Sect's first attack on the mountain. They hadn't even seen their opponents before losing five Dark Guards and injuring an elder. A hundred disciples had lost their fighting strength, and the remaining disciples had to divide their forces to protect the wounded and prevent sneak attacks.

The Ao Xue Sect had come with great fanfare, only to be rendered unable to fight in a single exchange. The slap in the face had been too swift.

Just then, a strong wind suddenly rose from the top of the mountain without warning.

The Liang Jie (Two Realms) flag fluttered in the wind, making a series of snapping sounds. The sound of the flag in the wind was like a series of slaps hitting the Ao Xue Sect's face hard.

The team leader Dharma Protector gritted his teeth and said, "Set up camp here, I'll trap them to death..."

Before he could finish speaking, a thunderbolt suddenly exploded in the air. The lightning struck the Ao Xue Sect's flagpole like a sword from the sky, and the pure steel flagpole snapped in two amidst the dazzling sparks, causing the Ao Xue Sect's flag to fall to the ground.

"The flag has been broken!" A commotion immediately broke out in the crowd.

"Breaking the flag before the battle is a very ominous sign!"

"What's an ominous sign? The sect's flag falling to the ground means the Dharma Protector has failed in his duty! What a great crime is that?"

"Dharma Protector failing in his duty, haven't we said that already?"

"Dharma Protectors, Dharma Protectors, what Dharma are they protecting? The sect's Dharma, the sect's face! Now the Ao Xue Sect's face has fallen to the ground, can he still... can't say... can't say..."

These words clearly reached the ears of the three Dharma Protectors. They knew that the speakers had malicious intentions, but they couldn't deny the fact that they had failed in their duties as Dharma Protectors.

The team leader Dharma Protector looked at the whispering crowd with bloodshot eyes, then looked at the long sword in his hand. Finally, he gritted his teeth and slashed his throat with the sword.

Blood splattered, the corpse fell to the ground, and all the Ao Xue Sect disciples knelt down and cried out in grief.

Standing on the mountain, Nie Xiaochun looked at Lao Liu in horror: "Did you predict this too?"

"That grandson is really ruthless!" Lao Liu laughed before saying, "How could I be that magical? This can only be blamed on them for showing off for no reason, insisting on bringing a pure steel flagpole up the mountain, and getting struck by lightning!"

"Rest up! I reckon the Ao Xue Sect's army will be here around noon tomorrow."

While Lao Liu leisurely lit his pipe, I paced back and forth in the room like an ant on a hot stove: "Ye Yang, it's been a whole day, why haven't we heard any news from over there?"

Ye Yang glanced at me before squeezing out a sentence from between his teeth: "Are you grinding flour?"

"You grandfather..." Before I could finish speaking, I saw a team of people rushing out like lightning from the direction of the Ao Xue Sect's mountain pass.

Just from the posture of the elders at the head of the group, riding the wind, I knew that they were the top experts of the Ao Xue Sect who were suppressing the sect.

Behind them were groups of white-clad swordsmen, each embroidered with five plum blossoms, their fierce aura evident.

The elite of the Ao Xue Sect had been dispatched!

After they had passed by, I stammered, "The elite of the Ao Xue Sect have been transferred just like that?"

Ye Yang rolled his eyes at me: "You wimp!"

Feng Ruoxing also said, "Li Po, you should understand that those who can travel the martial world with you are not weak. It's just that you feel they need protection."

I only came back to my senses from Feng Ruoxing's words when I received a message from Nie Xiaochun: "All is well, remain hidden, do not seek, do not worry!"

Later I learned that when the Ao Xue Sect's army arrived at Qin Village, they only saw four large characters left in the house: "We will meet again!"

No one knew how Lao Liu and the others had quietly retreated under heavy encirclement, and no one knew where they had hidden.

The Supreme Dharma Protector of the Ao Xue Sect, in a fit of rage, executed the remaining two Dharma Protectors and ten Dark Guards in succession, becoming another laughingstock of the martial world.

At that time, I didn't have the mind to care about the affairs of Qin Village, because I knew that after Lao Liu and the others succeeded, it would be my turn to act.