Starting from the pharmacy, he grew into a martial saint among men.

"Tap, tap, tap,"

The figure slowly approached, and the followers of the Worry-Free Sect saw clearly the person dressed in black.

A burst of joyful shouts erupted immediately.

But the imposing manner did not diminish, nor did the pace falter.

He approached step by step.

Only then did everyone realize that the newcomer was none other than Shi Potian, a master of the Transformation Realm from the Shi family.

Meanwhile, the head of the deacon Guo Hao was in his hand, filled with panic, despair, and disbelief.

In an instant, the deafening cheers stopped abruptly, and many believers turned pale and knelt down on the ground.

Some of the more astute instructors had already followed the surviving altar master and quietly slipped into the dense forest, quickly escaping.

Shi Potian walked closer and looked up to see corpses everywhere.

"Little Sanzi, I'm back."

No one responded.

He scanned the area, eagerly searching for that familiar figure, but found nothing.

"snort!"

Shi Potian's face darkened, and thunder roared.

He seemed to have practiced a special secret technique; even his cold snort carried the power of a martial arts master.

The heads of the surviving members of the Worry-Free Cult exploded.

It was like a scene of a melon being opened.

This is called Hua Jin, a mysterious force formed by the seamless integration of Ming Jin and An Jin, which can injure people from a distance.

Combined with his unique secret techniques, it becomes even more powerful.

But after using the secret technique, Shi Potian seemed to age thirty years in an instant, and his body was no longer as strong.

Instead, they hunch over deeply, their sharpness gone.

"Wow~ We won!"

The surviving bodyguards cheered.

But after only a few breaths, they fell silent again, secretly shedding tears.

The entire caravan originally consisted of over a hundred, nearly two hundred people, but now it's sparsely populated with only thirty or forty members.

Most of the Ming Jin and An Jin镖师 (bodyguards) were lost, and only a handful of镖师 who had not yet knocked on the gate remained.

How could they possibly be happy in such a situation?

Shi Potian sighed deeply, his voice hoarse: "Clean up the battlefield, record the battle achievements and losses."

"The details of the fallen镖师 (bodyguard/escort) are recorded, and his family is being supported by the镖局 (escort agency) with all its might."

Although he said that, Shi Potian knew that Dawei Escort Agency had suffered a great loss this time.

Within the Azure Dragon Prefecture, it had already fallen to the status of a third-rate escort agency.

It will probably get more and more difficult in the future.

Chu Hong silently moved Shi Yi's body out and straightened his blood-stained clothes.

Shi Potian slowly approached.

Chu Hong's tone was calm, yet his voice trembled uncontrollably:

"Senior Shi, Brother Shi, he died protecting me from a knife..."

"..." Shi Potian remained silent for a long time, finally sighing and uttering a single word, "Hmm."

"Live well, don't let Xiao Sanzi's death be in vain."

-----------------

"Let's continue, let's go!"

A fire completely burned the bodies of the Worry-Free Cult members.

The convoy set off again.

This time, however, the convoy included several new wagons, towing the bodies of the bodyguards.

It's currently the dead of autumn, and with the help of the镖局's secret techniques, the corpses won't spoil even after several days.

This was solely to prevent the Worry-Free Cult from making a comeback, and to divide and conquer them.

Therefore, they should be taken to Huang'an County first, and after the matter is dealt with, they should be brought back to Yunxi County so that they can return to their roots.

Chu Hong, Xiao Yi, and the girl in green walked side by side in silence.

The once lively girl in green was now silent.

This was the first time she had ever witnessed such a brutal battle, seeing so many of her comrades-in-arms fall one by one.

A heavy sense of sorrow welled up in my heart.

"Grandpa, why didn't you intervene? If you had, so many of them wouldn't have died!"

"What's all this talk of 'manifest strength,' 'hidden strength,' and 'neutralizing strength'? Can't you just take them out with one hand?"

Chu Hong still remembers the girl in green rushing to the old man's side and loudly questioning him.

But the old man simply shook his head, pointed to the top of the valley, and calmly said:

"Grandpa can't intervene, otherwise none of them will survive."

Although he didn't say anything.

But Chu Hong gleaned a lot of information from those words.

First of all, the old man must be a powerful expert above the Transformation Realm.

Only the strongest can eliminate martial artists of the Transformation Force and Dark Force with a single hand.

The reason he didn't make a move might be that the Worry-Free Sect also has experts of this level.

Perhaps there are rules and restrictions between them.

If the old man dares to take the initiative against these people, they will also attack without hesitation.

At that time, none of them will survive.

In an instant, the image of Shi Yi's death resurfaced.

Shi Potian's words of advice still echoed in my ears.

Strength! Strength! Strength!

If they had real strength, they wouldn't be feeling so humiliated today.

His thirst for power reached its peak.

As he walked, his body unconsciously adjusted its posture, resulting in an awkward gait.

It's like standing in a meditation posture, yet it's also like walking and moving forward, with the flow of Qi and blood throughout the body being rapid.

The Hunyuan stance has actually improved after these adjustments.

-----------------

A surprise attack decimated the core of the Worry-Free Sect in this direction.

Deacon Guo Hao died as a result, and the remaining followers dared not even try to plunder the guards' tiger whiskers.

They restrained their men, making them avoid the caravan at all costs.

This is why the caravan traveled smoothly without any obstacles.

After resting for a night on the road, the caravan finally arrived in Huang'an County at noon the next day.

At this time, the area outside Huang'an County was devastated.

Everything was dilapidated and ransacked, clearly indicating that it had been looted.

Of course, most of what was looted were the properties of aristocratic families and wealthy merchants outside the city.

The outer city area also suffered heavy losses due to the riots by the Worry-Free Cult.

Once the goods arrive, the transaction is completed.

Even now, Chu Hong still doesn't know what this shipment actually carried.

All that is known is that the magistrate of Huang'an County and the inner city family came hand in hand and took the goods away with great care.

It was time for the old man and the girl in green to leave.

The girl in green shouted to Xiao Yi:

"Junior brother, think it over carefully. We'll come back to pick you up in a month at most."

"This place is too small; it's not suitable for you."

Although Xiao Yi did not agree to leave, the girl in green already regarded him as her junior brother.

Even if Xiao Yi doesn't leave, she will still kidnap him.

Afterwards, the girl in green waved goodbye to Chu Hong and said earnestly:

"Live well, don't let Brother Shi's death be in vain!"

"If possible, I hope to see you in the Azure Dragon Prefecture."

"Yes!" Chu Hong nodded solemnly. "I will."

The caravan did not linger; after handing over the goods, they immediately turned around and returned to Yunxi County.

They could wait, but their fallen brothers could not; they needed to return home as soon as possible.

The group traveled swiftly and soon returned to Yunxi County.

When the caravan entered the city, everyone was shocked.

The caravan suffered heavy casualties and was shrouded in gloom.

Immediately, those with ulterior motives began spreading rumors, and the news spread throughout the county and beyond in an instant.

Some say they lost their goods and fled back.

Some say they had an internal conflict and secretly kept the goods.

There are even claims that they colluded with the Wuyou Cult, dumping goods on them and then secretly returning.

They completely disregarded the facts, fabricated stories, and went to great lengths to suppress the issue.

This enraged the returning bodyguards, who were all furious and wanted to draw their swords on the spot.

Finally, Shi Potian spoke up to stop them, and everyone calmed down.

"Let them say what they want. The county government and the inner city families will give everyone justice and shut up those who spread rumors!"

Shi Potian was not lying.

On that very day, Yunxi Army and yamen runners came out together and arrested all the rumor-mongers, throwing them into jail for interrogation and punishment.

At the same time, a formal notice was issued to inform everyone of the significant contributions made by the security escort agency.

The Dawei Escort Agency and its surviving escorts received the respect they deserved.

Meanwhile, in a room inside the Chengfeng Martial Arts School courtyard.

"Why! Why! Why!"

"Why are they still alive? What were those people doing?"