Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

The system notification sounded in Xia Jin's mind without warning.

"Hmm?" Xia Jin's fingers, which were turning the pages, stopped.

Lingyin Temple?

A glint of light flashed in his eyes.

"It seems my previous guess was correct. Every time I encounter certain keywords, the system will issue a corresponding task."

Xia Jin closed the booklet in his hand and gently placed it back on the pile of files. He looked up at Qin Hu, who was standing to the side.

"Qin Hu!"

"Your humble servant is here!" Qin Hu immediately bowed.

"I've glanced through these pamphlets. The Lingyin Temple mentioned here... perhaps there are some issues."

Qin Hu's eyes narrowed, and he tentatively asked, "What does Your Highness mean...?"

"Immediately gather your most trusted and capable men; they must be skilled and few in number. Tonight, they will accompany me out of the city."

Qin Hu's spirits lifted, and he clasped his hands in a fist salute without hesitation: "Yes! This subordinate will immediately go and select the men, guaranteeing that they will all be the best of the best within the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

......

Moonlight shone through the thin clouds onto the earth below, and the entire Lingyin Temple could be vaguely seen.

At this moment, dozens of Ming Cult members gathered in a side hall of the temple, all their eyes fixed on the figure in the center.

"Protector Yang, why do we have to stay cooped up in this dilapidated temple and starve?" A burly man with a fierce face spoke first, his voice clearly tinged with dissatisfaction. "We're staring at these clay idols every day; our mouths are practically boiling with stale air!"

"That's right, Boss Yang!" another skinny man with a pointed chin chimed in. "The capital of Great Xia is full of wealthy families! With our skills, finding a few rich families to stay with is a piece of cake, isn't it? It's much better than staying here!"

"That's right! Even if we can't do anything big, we can still find some fun at the manor outside the city! This life is so boring!" Discontented voices rose and fell. These Ming Cult members, who were used to licking blood off the ground, really couldn't stand this restraint.

The man known as "Protector Yang" had his back to the crowd. The sheathless, thick-backed broadsword behind him gleamed darkly in the dim firelight.

Upon hearing this, he slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

His cold gaze instantly silenced the noise in the hall.

"Want to leave?" Protector Yang's voice wasn't loud, but it rang clearly in everyone's ears. "Sure, whoever thinks they have too much time on their hands can leave now. The temple gates aren't locked; you can go wherever you want to 'move around'."

A cruel smile appeared on his face: "However, let me tell you this first: once you get out, whether you live or die is up to you. I, Yang Lie, will not stop you."

Yang Lie coldly added, "It was Left Envoy Pei who personally ordered you to take refuge here. If you have any questions, go ask him yourselves."

The words "Left Envoy Pei" silenced the restless followers, who had been eager to make their move, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over their heads.

No one dared to provoke that elusive and powerful Ming Cult Left Envoy.

Having quelled the situation, Yang Lie turned around again, gazing out of the hall, seemingly lost in thought.

Just then, a boy who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old quietly sidled up to him. He tugged at Yang Lie's sleeve and whispered, "Uncle Yang... did we really stop all our work just because... that prince came to the capital?"

The boy's name was A Qi. He was an orphan whom Yang Lie had rescued by chance during one of his outings, and Yang Lie had kept him by his side ever since. Nominally, he was a member of the Ming Cult, but in reality, Yang Lie treated him with a familial affection, almost like a nephew. Only he dared to ask Yang Lie so many questions.

Yang Lie glanced down at A Qi, the hard lines on his face softening slightly, but he still didn't explain, only nodding almost imperceptibly.

A deep sense of apprehension flashed in the depths of his gaze as he looked toward Kyoto.

He trampled through Langya Mountain and slew a Grandmaster with his sword... That Prince Jin is no ordinary person who can rival him.

......

"Is this Lingyin Temple?" Xia Jin asked calmly, looking at the tightly closed temple gate in the distance.

"That's right, Your Highness, Lingyin Temple is just ahead!" Qin Hu nodded, but his gaze fell on the faintly visible figure on a withered tree to the left of the temple gate.

"Alright, let's get started!" Xia Jin waved her hand.

"Whoosh—smack!"

A sharp whistle pierced the night sky, followed by a short warning whistle, but it stopped abruptly in an instant!

"Oh no! There's..." A member of the cult who was on lookout outside the temple only managed to utter half a cry of alarm before being silenced by the muffled sound of a sharp weapon slitting his throat.

Inside Lingyin Temple, the Ming Cult members' expressions changed drastically. They grabbed their weapons and stood up, looking around warily.

"Who goes there?!"

As soon as the chaos began, the long-neglected gate of Lingyin Temple was smashed open by a tremendous force!

Amidst the flying sawdust, more than a dozen dark figures surged in like fish. These people were dressed in flying fish robes and held embroidered spring knives. At least they had the cultivation level of the first level of the Innate Realm!

"It's the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Kill them!" The Ming Cult members were filled with shock and anger, and relying on their numbers, they bravely rushed forward.

However, the difference in strength was laid bare at this moment. Most of these Ming Cult members were only at the fifth or sixth level of the Acquired Realm. How could they be a match for these elite Imperial Guards? The Imperial Guards moved with precision and coordinated perfectly, and often a Ming Cult member would fall within three to five moves.

The massacre was almost entirely one-sided!

Yang Lie's eyes turned cold. He drew his long sword from behind him and swung it, forcing back two Imperial Guards who had surrounded him. Then he grabbed the still-stunned Ah Qi and growled, "Stay close to me! Charge out!"

He quickly glanced around and found that only the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) in the direction to his side and rear seemed to be weaker, so he immediately decided to break through there.

But before he could even begin, a deep, slightly mocking voice came from the direction of the front gate:

"Yang Lie! I never expected that you, one of the Twelve Protectors of the Ming Cult, 'The Mountain-Slaying Blade,' would still be alive!"

"That voice, could it be...?" Yang Lie seemed to have thought of something and suddenly looked up towards the gate.

Outside the kicked-open door, a man dressed in a black dragon robe sat on a rattan chair, with two people standing on either side of him.

The man on the right is Qin Hu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who spoke earlier.

Although Yang Lie did not recognize the person on the left, their effeminate aura gave Yang Lie a more dangerous feeling than Qin Hu's.

As for the figure sitting in the rattan chair in the middle, wearing a black dragon robe, who could make Qin Hu stand at attention and have such a master guarding him... in the entire Great Xia Dynasty, there was only that one.

Yang Lie's heart sank to the bottom, and his scalp tingled.

Prince Jin, Xia Jin!

He actually came in person!