Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Outside the bunker, a burly woman wielding a large knife continued to pound on the door.

"Hahaha! This old lady has betrayed us! Don't blame me, blame this damned, run-down village, they didn't take me seriously at all!"

"Damn tomboy! I'll fight you to the death, who's afraid of who?" Liu San Niang drew her Blood-Drinking Sword, ready to go out and slash.

Once the enemy is knocked off the wolf's back, the Frost Breath will leave her completely disoriented.

Just then, Tie Yuanying's voice resonated in the minds of the three:

"Hey! I'm a spy, lying in wait! Your stunt has completely ruined my plans!"

The three people inside the bunker exchanged glances.

Liu Xingmo shook his head.

Tie Yuanying continued banging on the door, continued spewing vulgarities, and continued transmitting his voice:

"Once the door breaks down, pretend you're outmatched and retreat quickly! That way, my plan can continue!"

Liu San Niang replied telepathically, "How would I know if you're a real traitor or a fake spy? We must deal with these outsiders today!"

Tie Yuanying stopped banging on the door and laughed loudly, "Hahaha! I can't beat them! I'm retreating!"

She leaped into the woods and disappeared.

On the ground, a middle-aged man, covered in dust and dirt, was busy reloading his pistol. Seeing this, he cursed angrily, "Damn fence-sitter!"

A shadow loomed over them, and steel claws attacked mercilessly.

The man collapsed, groaning in pain.

"Another one taken care of!" Liu Xingmo fired ordinary bullets wildly into the bushes. "There's still one left who's doing the wooden stunt; let's find him quickly!"

With alternating firing and even the throwing of grenades, the grass rustled and swayed. In late autumn, when grasshoppers are not hopping around, this noise was particularly noticeable.

Ice cream pounced and grabbed a skinny old man.

At this point, all the attackers from the Yin Kingdom were captured.

Liu Xingmo instructed Fu Hei to quickly relay the news of Tie Yuanying's betrayal to Heilongzhai.

Sumali lifted the human-shaped ice sculptures on the ground, first inserting steel skewers into their flesh and bones, then releasing warm energy to thaw them.

The assassin in black was a cold-faced woman with a pale complexion, and she remained silent.

The armored man, stripped of his general-like attire, shivered from the cold, yet still held his neck straight, resigned to his fate.

"Wait, I have something to say..." the disheveled middle-aged man struggled to speak, "I am a member of the Great Yin royal family! I received a message from the academy and came specifically to investigate cooperation matters! I am not your enemy!"

"You come here to kill us without saying a word? Is this how you cooperate?" Only then did Liu Xingmo have time to remove the squirrel headgear, looking down at the prisoner with disdain in his eyes.

The middle-aged man was bound hand and foot, his face buried in the dirt on the ground. He struggled to lift his head and said cautiously, "We're also quite apprehensive about the collaborative project..."

"Shut up! If you have something to say, go back and talk to our elders." Liu Xingmo squatted down, patting the man's face, which was covered in soot, with his squirrel paw. "Discuss the cooperation directly with the higher-ups. Are you satisfied now?"

"No, young man!" the man said quickly. "We made a rule when we came here: if we don't return, the higher-ups will assume we can't cooperate and will switch to a full-scale hostile strategy!"

"Weren't we already enemies?" Liu Xingmo turned to look at the silent assassin. "Spies infiltrated, stealing my heritage! Secret agents ambushed, slaughtering my people!" His tone gradually turned cold. "Now, what excuses do you have left?"

"Me!" The man, sweating profusely, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, "The Yin Kingdom has maintained a friendly attitude, so the students from your village haven't been recalled! Their families are all doing as usual!"

Liu Xingmo narrowed his eyes.

After a long silence, he said coldly, "Get out of here."

Su Mali and Liu San Niang cautiously untied the four people.

Of course, all of the prisoners' equipment was confiscated.

The four men, covered in wounds, stood up. The middle-aged man immediately turned back, the female assassin silently followed, and the other two remained standing.

The armored man, or rather the bare-chested man, stretched out his hand: "Give me back my natal flying sword."

The gaunt old man said anxiously, "And my things too!"

"Hmph! What do you mean 'your'? That was an apology to me!" Liu Xingmo said disdainfully. "If you want your things back, bring your treasures next time to redeem them!"

The shirtless man turned around, but the gaunt old man remained rooted to the spot, refusing to give up, until the shirtless man returned and forcibly dragged him away.

The figures of the group disappeared into the pine forest, their feet crunching on the fallen, withered pine needles.

"Sigh—!" Liu Xingmo sighed deeply.

"Xingmo...you've made a difficult decision. Dabo and Xiaomei will thank you," Su Mali comforted her.

"Enough talk, let's go home!" Liu Xingmo tore off pieces of squirrel skin from his body and threw them on the ground.

Ice Cream was badly injured and, having removed its armor, was licking its wounds. The blood cultivation bestowed upon it by Liu San Niang had reached the second level, first stage, enough to regenerate severed limbs. With the infusion of its master's blood energy, its injuries quickly healed.

This suit of armor is very difficult to repair.

After dressing Xuegao back in her protective gear, the three of them packed their things and headed towards the village.

Inside the cramped bunker, people could only sit on soft cushions.

Liu Xingmo closed the loose door, and through the sword hole in the door, he could see the thick pine trunk receding into the distance.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "That sword strike was truly powerful; it actually pierced through such a thick plate of alchemical steel!"

Liu Sanniang toyed with the two longswords, one black and one silver: "Could these be high-grade Xuan-level magical artifacts? They both have soul imprints inside. Should we erase them?"

"Forget it, we don't have sword energy to control them. Let's just wait for those Yin people to come and ransom them." Liu Xingmo stared intently at the two longswords. "So these are flying swords, what a pity."

At this moment, Su Mali held a piece of jade in her hand and remained silent.

"What's wrong, Mary?" Liu Xingmo asked.

Sumari exclaimed in amazement, "The power of rules... the fourth type of Philosopher's Stone!"

"What is this? Could it be the essence of enlightenment?" Liu Xingmo leaned closer, sensing it carefully.

Within jade, there exists a pure spiritual energy that is concentrated and does not dissipate.

Liu San Niang exclaimed in surprise, "Could this be a remnant soul of a person?"

"That's the essence of enlightenment!" Liu Xingmo's eyes lit up. "A fourth-tier expert comprehends the rules, and their strength leaps forward dramatically. They can extract this understanding and pass it on to future generations."

"Is that so? I've never heard of it before?" Liu San Niang asked.

"I read about it in a book. This kind of thing rarely happens because stripping away one's insights would cause one's strength to regress. Even a dying person will be reincarnated with the insights from this life, and maybe they can awaken their past life memories in the next life."

Liu Xingmo examined the jade stone carefully, becoming increasingly alarmed with each look.

One of them was a fourth-tier powerhouse with a profound understanding of the Great Dao of Rules.

I really found a treasure!

Forget about redemption, those bastards caused me such a disaster, they deserve this kind of compensation!

Hmph! Hahaha!