The Northern Song Dynasty returned south, seeking the truth of the Dao.

Wang Zhenhuan had never seen a martial artist fight before, but now he realized it. When a martial artist fights, spiritual energy is revealed on their body. The burly man at the head of the group was dark blue, while the tall, thin man and the woman were light blue.

These three were the main force of the attack, and they were the leaders of the group of martial artists that Wang Zhenhuan had seen earlier from the city gate. The rest of the group were all dressed in deep red. Although Daoist Xuanyangzi was surrounded, he remained calm. He lowered his head and listened intently.

Whenever his opponent made a move, he could often strike first despite being the one to react. A purple aura emanated from his body, easily neutralizing the attack. Wang Zhenhuan now clearly saw that the spiritual energy emanating from Daoist Xuanyangzi was a pale purple.

Seeing the Taoist priest handling the situation with ease, Wang Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to take a step forward, he suddenly bumped into something. He looked down and was immediately startled!

The young soldier he had chatted with that morning was now lying on the ground, his eyes wide open in death, three copper coins clutched tightly in his hand. Now he understood why these martial artists had inexplicably attacked Daoist Xuan Yangzi.

It seems he asked a question that morning, and the soldier got separated from his unit. These warriors questioned him, and he betrayed them. This was evident from the fact that these warriors had braved the rain to climb the mountain that morning.

This group of people are obsessed with the scriptures to the point of madness. They would rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free. If Xuan Yangzi hadn't possessed cultivation, he would probably have been killed by them long ago.

Moreover, they seemed quite experienced, merely engaging in prolonged combat without seeking to injure their opponent. Whenever Daoist Xuan Yangzi attempted to perform hand seals or retrieve talismans, they would proactively step forward and interrupt his actions.

Wang Huanzhen grew increasingly alarmed; these martial artists had clearly come prepared. Their purpose was clear: to capture Daoist Xuan Yangzi. And their reasons for doing so were not hard to guess.

They're definitely waiting for the man on the platform to return. Now that these people have witnessed Master Xuan Yangzi's cultivation level of Purple Qi, and yet still dare to act this way, they must have something to rely on.

In other words, subconsciously, they believed that as long as the man arrived, they would surely be able to defeat Daoist Xuan Yangzi. Therefore, the man's strength was self-evident.

At the very least, it's a light purple-hued deity!

It's even possible that it's Ziqi Zhengyuan, who's even a level above Daoist Xuanyangzi! No, that's not right! Wang Zhenhuan saw the three or four people lying on the ground and overturned his own idea.

Judging from the situation on the field, the blue and red qi cultivation levels posed no threat whatsoever to Daoist Xuan Yangzi. If Daoist Xuan Yangzi hadn't been blind, they would have been killed one by one long ago.

Thinking about it this way, it's highly likely that the man possessed a higher cultivation level than Daoist Xuan Yangzi, reaching the Zhengyuan realm. Only in this way could the matter be definitively settled. Otherwise, at the same cultivation level...

Taking down Daoist Xuan Yangzi easily won't be a simple task. Moreover, those with blue and red qi cultivation levels have no impact on the battle. Although Daoist Xuan Yangzi has an eye ailment.

But don't forget, he's a Taoist priest. He hasn't used a single spell or talisman yet. Therefore, Wang Zhenhuan is nearly 80% certain that the middle-aged man's cultivation level is at the Purple Qi True Abyss.

This put Daoist Xuan Yangzi in danger. Although Wang Zhenhuan was anxious, he remained clear-headed. He knew he lacked cultivation, and rushing in blindly would only hinder Xuan Yangzi. Therefore, he was trying to think of a way to break the deadlock.

To see if he could help, he closed the young soldier's eyes, moved to another spot, and observed the battle for a while. He gradually noticed something amiss.

These martial artists appeared to have formed a formation, surrounding Xuan Yangzi in the center. They were constantly circling him, trying to affect his hearing and cause his attacks to miss.

This is one of the reasons why they have been able to fight Master Xuanyangzi to this day. They have exploited Master Xuanyangzi's weakness of having an eye ailment. They use the sound of mixed footsteps to confuse his hearing.

Furthermore, the constant feints and diversions that interrupted Master Xuanyangzi's spellcasting led to the current situation. Therefore, it seems those people lying on the ground did not die in vain.

They paid the price with their lives so that their comrades could surround Daoist Xuan Yangzi with an array. Truly, these are the outlaws of the martial world—ruthless not only to their enemies but even more ruthless to their own.

The only way to break this deadlock is to disrupt the martial artists' formation and allow Daoist Xuan Yangzi to escape from the encirclement. In this way, the martial artists will lose their composure.

However, disrupting the formation was no easy task. He was currently unarmed and lacked any spiritual cultivation. Rushing in recklessly would only become a burden and a hindrance to Daoist Xuan Yangzi.

Thinking of this, Wang Huanzhen suddenly stood up and ran towards the roadside. Returning to the carriage, he climbed on, waved his hand, and the horse headed towards the scene of the fight.

Wang Zhenhuan was anxious and kept cracking his whip. The horse, in pain, suddenly accelerated. Caught off guard, he was knocked down and crashed headfirst into the carriage. But at that moment, he couldn't care less about the pain.

Upon rising, he saw that the people at the center of the fight were now completely distracted by the carriage. Wang Zhen feigned surprise and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you attacking people? I've already reported you to the authorities!"

As he shouted, he took out his riding crop and lashed the horse's rump hard. He used all his strength in that lash, and the horse let out a loud neigh and charged towards the crowd.

The tall, thin man and the woman exchanged a glance, then simultaneously withdrew. Seeing this, the others followed suit. Soon, only the burly man at the head of the group remained around Daoist Xuanyangzi.

"Sir, watch out! I can't drive yet!! Get out of the way to the right!!"

Wang shouted loudly, seemingly to warn him, but actually to inform Daoist Xuan Yangzi. He told Xuan Yangzi to dodge to the right, indicating that the enemy was on Xuan Yangzi's left, which was the only method that could be thought of at the moment.

He silently prayed, hoping that Daoist Xuan Yangzi would understand his thoughts. However, to his surprise, whether out of genuine stupidity or feigned ignorance, the burly man showed no sign of backing down and simply spread his legs wide on the spot.

He assumed a horse stance, arms outstretched. With a roar, he grabbed the horse by the neck. Before Wang Zhenhuan's horrified eyes, he abruptly brought the galloping horse to a halt!

The burly man's eyes were bloodshot, and his roar mingled with the horses' painful neighs, echoing through the valley. The carriage behind the horses came to an abrupt halt from its high speed, the impact immense.

The carriage crashed directly onto the horse's back with a loud bang and fell apart. Wang Huanzhen, who was on the carriage, was thrown off. The horse let out a mournful cry and then died.

Wang Huanzhen flew through the air, watching the crowd scatter and retreat, his heart filled with satisfaction. At least he had achieved his goal; at this moment, he felt no fear, only peace.

He closed his eyes, letting his body glide through the air. Suddenly, a pair of warm, large hands grabbed him mid-air. Wang Huanzhen opened his eyes, and Xuan Yangzi's familiar face appeared before him.

At this moment, Daoist Xuan Yangzi flew through the air, holding Wang Zhenhuan in his left arm, and took out a yellow talisman from his robes with his right hand. Without even looking at it, he threw it out, and the talisman spontaneously combusted upon leaving his hand.

It transformed into a fireball the size of a palm. This fireball grew longer in the wind, and the flames, propelled by the wind, grew larger and larger. Until it became a huge fireball more than ten feet wide, it fell rapidly to the ground.

The burly man at the head of the group had just brought the carriage to a stop. He was exhausted and had not yet mustered any new strength. He could only watch helplessly as the fireball, like divine punishment, rained down on him from the sky.

boom--

After a loud bang, Master Xuan Yangzi landed gracefully with Wang Zhenhuan on the ground...