During the Republic of China era, I achieved unparalleled success by returning to the past.

Bang bang bang bang... Crack crack!

Flashes of fire, a surge of cold air, and the two guns were emptied and hung up.

A dozen bullets were fired, and Song Beiyou, enduring his shoulder injury, cleared all the bullets in an instant.

The two were less than ten feet apart, and even a master like Inoue Sai couldn't avoid them.

But a mocking look appeared in his eyes.

"Puff puff puff puff..." The bullets struck the broken leather as if they had been hit, and were immediately shaken away by the surging air force.

However, several of the spiraling bullets, seemingly missing their target, suddenly changed direction and accurately struck the energy node! Inoue Sai's body trembled slightly, his internal energy became chaotic, and his lowered eyelids suddenly opened, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Heh heh, the bullet even carries a chilling aura and can see through my internal energy circulation. Young man, you've piqued my curiosity."

Inoue Sai's wide linen haori billowed with his breath, the hem fluttering slightly, and his straw sandals crunched on the pebbles on the ground with a soft, crisp sound.

Taking advantage of this moment, Song Beiyou once again widened the distance and changed to a new magazine. He had already activated "Candlelight Seeking Scriptures". The instant he fired the gun, he saw through part of Inoue's energy flow. The last few shots were aimed at his key acupoints, which was why he was able to slightly delay Inoue's attack.

"Your sword aura has also broadened my horizons." Song Beiyou remained calm on the surface, but his eyes were fixed on Inoue's every move—the surging blood and qi, as well as the subtle energy flowing in accordance with the rules, even gave him a sense of sudden enlightenment.

Inoue Sai's brows furrowed slowly, forming a deep frown, his haori sleeve fluttering slightly with the movement. This young man before him seemed utterly unremarkable, so how could he control the freezing temperatures and even discern the secrets of his internal energy cultivation? A thought flashed through his mind, and he resolved to capture and interrogate him. His figure suddenly lunged forward, like a monstrous python emerging from its cave; his straw sandals thudded on the ground as he pounced upon him.

Bang bang bang bang bang! The muzzle flashes from both guns were fierce, bullets poured out like water, and spent cartridge cases clattered and tumbled incessantly.

Inoue Sai swung his arm, his long sword dancing in front of him, creating layers of afterimages. His haori (a type of traditional Chinese garment) tumbled in the air, whistling loudly. Wherever the sword energy swept, trees snapped in half, branches and leaves shattered, sand and stones flew in all directions, and dust rose half a meter high from the ground.

However, his forward momentum slowed down.

After decades of rigorous sword practice, his once tranquil mind was stirred once more—his opponent's bullet, carrying a chilling aura, struck a crucial acupoint, disrupting the flow of his internal energy.

Inoue Sai casually cleaved a bullet away with his sword, his straw sandals leaving a half-foot mark on the ground. He coldly glared at Song Beiyou: "To be able to see through my internal energy manipulation is indeed remarkable. But with your level of cultivation, such a consumption must be enormous. Once you run out of bullets, where will you escape to?"

Song Beiyou's heart sank. The "Candlelight Scripture Search" had indeed exhausted his spirit, and he only had two magazines of bullets left. Once the bullets were gone and there was no one to restrain him, given this man's agility and martial arts skills, he would surely have no way to escape and would face certain death.

This person is top-notch in both martial arts and eyesight, and is probably number one among all the masters he has encountered.

Just as his thoughts were turning and he was slightly distracted, he suddenly saw a figure flash before his eyes.

Inoue Sai seized this fleeting opportunity, his haori trembled, and with a dazzling blade of light, he leaped forward and slashed.

The glint of the blade in Song Beiyou's eyes widened rapidly, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, the chill penetrating to his very bones. Faced with a life-or-death crisis, with Zhuzhao seeking the scriptures ahead, he instantly activated the Autumn Cicada's Premonition.

The void suddenly froze, and the dazzling sword light and sharp sword energy slowed down for a moment before our eyes.

Song Beiyou used his Cloud Ascension technique, exerting force under his feet to dodge to the side.

The next instant, the blade flashed.

*Swoosh*—Song Beiyou, still unsteady on his feet, felt a chill in his abdomen. He reached down and touched it, only to find hot blood gushing out. He looked down in horror and saw that his black clothes had been torn open, revealing raw flesh.

A surge of excruciating pain rushed over him, causing him to stagger as he landed. With a low growl, he unleashed the power of his Dragon Salamander form, causing the flesh of his nearly ripped-open abdomen to rapidly writhe, contract, and close to stop the bleeding.

Looking up again, five steps away, Inoue Sai stood still, his robes and haori hanging down, his eyes like torches, piercing one's head.

Bang! Bang! Two bullets came whistling from another direction.

"Old man, don't you want your serum anymore?"

Inoue Sai swayed slightly, easily dodging the attack, and slowly turned around.

Song Beiyou's heart sank, and his gaze shifted rapidly. He saw Su Xiaowan moving towards Inoue's room in the half-collapsed courtyard.

That silly girl hasn't left yet! She's trying to risk her life to save me!

"Coming to your death!" Inoue Sai's face darkened. He leaped from the ground in his straw sandals, his hempen clothes billowing, moving so fast that he was just a gray shadow, instantly covering several meters. He touched down on a pine tree trunk with both feet, and his body soared into the sky like a crane, rising more than two meters into the air.

"Star Wheel Slash!"

Inoue Sai swung his sword with arms as strong as iron trees, spinning rapidly in mid-air. The sword energy, round as the moon, swept out suddenly from all directions, leaving no room to dodge.

"Su Xiaowan!" Song Beiyou only had time to call out once.

In the next instant, the already devastated courtyard was filled with smoke and dust again, the roof tiles were blown off, and the porch was broken.

Su Xiaowan could only raise her knife to block in front of her when she was struck by the blade's energy and crashed into the collapsed house.

Song Beiyou's eyes were bloodshot, but his forward lunge faltered. He clenched his teeth, swallowing back the roar that was about to erupt in his throat. At this moment, only by seizing the brief time Su Xiaowan had bought him could he raise his mask and deal with Inoue Zhai; otherwise, not only would he fail to save her, but they would both die.

With a thought, the mask changes, and the hand presses against the center of the forehead.

"Promote him!"

[By infusing twenty years of lifespan, the Tai Chi Dark Force Mask has been upgraded to the pinnacle of Dark Force!]

[Should I infuse 30 years of lifespan into this attempt to break the limit? There is a 50% chance of success.]

"Yes!" Song Beiyou replied without hesitation.

[The Longevity Tai Chi - Dark Strength has been successfully upgraded to the Longevity Tai Chi - Transformation Strength!]

Song Beiyou was overjoyed. In an instant, his clothes billowed, his muscles trembled, and his blood surged like a great river flowing backward or a thunderclap.

The originally dense, silk-like internal energy, which flowed between the muscles and tendons, suddenly melted into a scorching, golden-red energy wave, transforming into a torrent that flowed through the limbs and bones.

This golden-red torrent swept through the vital energy, breaking through the obstructions and clearing away the blockages in the body. The previously blocked acupoints were blasted open one by one by the force of the energy, producing a dull, drum-like resonance.

Finally, the golden-red energy burst through the earth's crust like magma, converged in the central courtyard, and rushed down the Ren meridian, condensing into a sun-like vortex within the dantian.

This is the transformation of internal energy. The energy returns to the dantian, transforming from internal to external.

At this very moment, in the courtyard of the east wing, smoke and dust filled the air. Inoue Sai's haori fluttered as he landed, his eyelids twitching suddenly, his eyes widening in shock.

"You old bastard, die!" Song Beiyou roared, his body like a mad ape, leaping and bounding across ten zhang in an instant, and unleashing a powerful punch that blasted out all nine hundred extreme freezing energies!