Dual-wielding! 100x proficiency, I'll grind my way to godhood!

While Chen Mo was bombing the imperial army, a group of elite black horses charged straight into the stone village at the foot of the mountain; all of them were Grandmasters.

The stray dog ​​at the village entrance was the first to notice the commotion. It rushed over and barked twice, then fell silent the next second.

The disciples of Shennong Sect guarding the village heard something was wrong outside and rushed out to check. They saw a row of men in black standing outside the wall.

"Which side are you on, friend...?"

Before he could finish speaking, the man collapsed and died on the spot.

The remaining disciples were also beheaded in succession.

Immediately afterwards, the men in black kicked down doors and broke into houses one by one.

The adults, children, and elderly were all strung together in a long string.

The village chief rushed out, trying to plead and say kind words:

"Gentlemen, let's discuss this..."

A hard slap landed, knocking him to the ground in the mud, his mouth full of blood.

"Take it all, and hurry!"

In less than half an hour, the entire village, once bustling with life, vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, Chen Mo bombarded the area five times in the air.

The imperial army on the official road had learned its lesson and spread out their ranks, moving along the road and then hiding.

The number of casualties has decreased significantly, but it still can't stop the deaths.

Two grain carts were blown up and burned, and the supervisory team killed more than a dozen deserters on the spot.

Even so, some members of the team still couldn't withstand the pressure and secretly ran away.

The Shennong Sect's contact point at the foot of the mountain had a rule to report their safety once in the morning and once in the evening.

The news of peace arrived promptly in the early morning, but there was still no news by evening.

The patrolling disciples noticed something was wrong and immediately went down the mountain to investigate.

When they returned to the mountain, their eyes were all red, and they were suppressing a huge rage.

Wang Fucheng was still worried, so he personally led a team down the mountain a second time to conduct a thorough investigation.

The ground was covered with clear hoof prints, a total of fifty horses.

The ground was covered with rope marks from binding people and scratches from dragging bodies, all pointing north towards the direction of the imperial army.

As evening fell, Chen Mo returned to the small courtyard on the mountaintop.

Everyone in the courtyard stood silently, the atmosphere heavy with tension.

Shangguan Hong hurried forward, her voice trembling noticeably.

"Young master, something has happened in Stone Village."

"What's wrong?"

Chen Mo spoke calmly, revealing no emotion.

"Everyone in the village has been arrested."

Shangguan Hong looked up, her eyes reddening.

He remained silent for a long time, but he knew the truth.

People from the martial arts world would never do such a thing.

People in the martial arts world fight for martial arts techniques and opportunities. Kidnapping a group of innocent farmers is pointless and will only ruin their reputation if word gets out. No one would do something so foolish.

The only ones capable of such ruthlessness and unscrupulousness are none other than those three in the Golden Palace.

"My lord, call for reinforcements! I'll lead men down the mountain to pursue them!"

Qingzhu suddenly rushed out from the crowd, her eyes bloodshot.

"Can't catch up."

Chen Mo shook his head slightly, his tone icy.

"Even if we manage to catch up, they only need to draw their knives to kill all the hostages on the spot. If we make a move, it will mean the death of everyone."

Qingzhu stood frozen in place, her fists clenched tightly, trembling with anger, but she couldn't utter a single word.

"They kidnapped the entire village to force me to show myself and compromise. We'll just wait for them to come to us."

That night, Chen Mo returned to Blue Star to make preparations before returning to Tianxuan Continent.

The next day, before dawn had fully broken, a massive army of cavalry had already pressed down to the foot of the mountain.

A steady stream of troops continued to arrive, and the deafening roar of the troops could be heard from miles away.

The main force of a million soldiers was still on its way, but the cavalry that had arrived earlier already stretched as far as the eye could see.

At the gun emplacement, Qingzhu asked in a low voice:

"Young master, shall we fire the cannon?"

"no."

Chen Mo spoke calmly.

Everyone knows it.

The villagers must have been taken hostage at the front of the army formation.

At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the densely packed military formations at the foot of the mountain suddenly parted to both sides, making way for a straight path.

Three fine horses slowly emerged and stopped in front of the two armies.

At the head is the late emperor, in the middle is the former emperor, and the youngest is the current emperor.

Behind the three, rows of villagers from Stone Village were forced to kneel in the mud, with cold steel knives held against each of their necks.

Several rows of houses were densely packed together, housing the entire village's elderly, weak, women, and children.

"Young master."

Shangguan Hong's voice was extremely tense.

"Hong'er and her master's wife followed me down the mountain."

Chen Mo remained calm.

"Hong'er, take the village roster with you."

The three men walked down the mountain and stopped in the open space between the two armies.

Opposite him, the late emperor sat on his horse, looking at Chen Mo with a smug expression.

"Why don't you kneel before me?"

Chen Mo smiled faintly:

"My knees are stiff, I can't kneel down."

The emperor's face instantly flushed red, and he took half a step forward, shouting sternly:

"presumptuous!"

The late emperor raised his hand in a gesture, without even lifting his eyelids.

Ultimately, among these three, the current emperor is the youngest in seniority and has the weakest voice.

He could only swallow back his overwhelming anger, his chest heaving violently, his face full of frustration.

"Zhang Deshuai".

The old emperor spoke in a cold voice.

"I won't beat around the bush with you. Hand over the true scriptures, and I'll grant you a complete corpse. I can also forgive and forget the villagers behind me and your 100,000 followers on the mountain."

He sat upright on his horse, his posture high and mighty, seemingly waiting for Chen Mo to kowtow and express his gratitude.

This is not negotiation; it is an imperial edict that brooks no argument.

Chen Mo's smile remained unchanged, his attitude unyielding.

"Your Majesty need not trouble yourself to ensure the corpse remains intact. My Shennong Sect's 100,000 disciples do not need anyone to show mercy."

He took half a step forward and looked directly at the three of them:

"I'd like to ask the three of you. The eighty-seven honest villagers of Stone Village have been farming for generations and have no connection whatsoever with us."

"You've taken them hostage because you know you can't beat me, or because you're afraid I won't show myself?"

The late emperor in the middle had a cold smile on his face:

"I'd like to ask you! What kind of righteous skill is it to rely on those bizarre iron birds in battle? Hiding your head and tail, how dare you talk to me about rules?"

"What I did was aboveboard; it's your own incompetence that's the problem."

Chen Mo said calmly.

The late emperor wanted to argue, but he was too lazy to waste words.

He turned his head to face the axemen behind him and coldly uttered a single word:

"kill."

A flash of cold light, and the steel blade fell.

An old man in the front row fell directly into the mud.

Dozens of villagers behind him instantly broke down and cried out, but the soldiers used the backs of their knives to suppress them, and they could only tremble and dare not move.

The old emperor looked at Chen Mo again:

"Now, are you willing to talk properly?"

The last remaining smile on Chen Mo's face vanished completely.

He looked at the old man lying on the ground, who was over fifty years old and had thick patches on his trouser legs.

Chen Mo reached into his robe and pulled out an ancient book with a blue cloth cover.

The four characters "Nine Yang Manual" on the cover are clearly visible and eye-catching.

The three people opposite them instantly fixed their eyes on the booklet, their eyes filled with greed.

Chen Mo pinched the cover with two fingers and gently tore off a page.

"Old man, if you dare to kill someone, I dare to tear up the sacred scriptures."

Chen Mo held the thin sheet of paper in his hand, his voice chillingly cold.

"You kill one person, I tear off one page. There are eighty-seven people in the village, and I just changed it to eighty-seven pages last night."

The reigning emperor spoke in a cold, menacing tone.

"Are you really so cold-hearted as to watch eighty-seven people die because of you?"

Chen Mo spread his hands.

"What will I do then? After they die, I will avenge them by killing you all and giving them a grand funeral. That will be doing justice to the villagers."

The old emperor stared intently at the sacred scripture, his chest heaving violently as he suppressed his overwhelming rage.

"What do you want?"

"A page of true scripture can save a life."

Chen Mo looked directly at the other person.

The late emperor's voice was deep and cold, carrying an imperial aura.

"I command a million-strong army! You dare to bargain with me?"

"Old man, how many of your million-strong army did I kill by blowing them all up myself?"

Chen Mo met his gaze indifferently.

The late emperor was speechless for a moment and remained silent.

"Who knows if you're just trying to fool people with fake scriptures again!"

The emperor couldn't help but blurt it out.

Last time in the battle in the capital, Chen Mo tricked them with a fake scripture.

"shut up!"

The late emperor shouted sternly.

Chen Mo glanced indifferently at the reigning emperor:

"No matter how despicable I am, I would never do such a vile thing as using the lives of dozens of innocent people as bargaining chips."

He paused, his tone laced with extreme sarcasm.

"In this respect, I am indeed inferior to the three of you."

The three people opposite remained silent.

The late emperor clenched his fist tightly in his sleeve, his nails digging deep into his palm, his hatred boundless.

After a long silence, the old emperor squeezed out two words through gritted teeth:

Release them.

The first person to be released was the village chief.

As soon as the rope was untied, the village chief scrambled toward Chen Mo and immediately knelt down to express his gratitude.

"Young Master Zhang! Thank you so much for saving my life!"

"Uncle Zhou, there's no need to kneel."

Chen Mo reached out and steadily supported him.

"You're in charge of counting the villagers; we'll exchange them one by one."

Xu Wanqing opened the village roster, checked one person's return, the village chief verified one person's information, and crossed out one person's name.

Chen Mo tore off a page of the sacred text and handed it to a soldier of the imperial court.

The soldier took it with both hands and quickly presented it to the late emperor.

The three of them took turns examining the object closely, their expressions grave, and no one uttered a sound.

As with the previous content, they studied it every day until they knew it by heart. They were only missing the key parts, but they could still be sure that it was the genuine Nine Yang Manual.

Although this exchange method is unfair to them, all they need right now is to get the real "Nine Yang Manual".

The transaction continued smoothly.

The silence between the two armies was eerie. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers watched silently as each page of the sacred scriptures was exchanged for countless lives.

As the sun began to set, Xu Wanqing put down her pen and finished marking the last name on the roster.

"Young master, all eighty-six people have been rescued."

Her gaze swept over the body of the old man who had been killed first, and she lowered her voice to a whisper.

The late emperor carefully organized the eighty-seven pages, wrapped them tightly in the imperial yellow silk, and tucked them into his bosom, his eyes filled with a triumphant and sinister look.

At that very moment, three figures suddenly rose into the air.

Three fierce palm strikes slashed down at the innocent villagers!

Chen Mo's pupils contracted sharply, and he leaped forward, taking the force of a palm strike head-on with both palms.

The force struck him, and he slid backward more than ten steps, his shoes carving two deep furrows in the mud.

Shangguan Hong withstood the second palm strike, letting out a muffled groan as blood instantly spilled from the corner of her mouth.

The final, deadly palm strike landed directly into the crowd.

A cloud of smoke and dust exploded, and more than a dozen people instantly collapsed to the ground.

The elderly, women, and children were all wailing in pain.

High above, the reigning emperor looked down at the dead and wounded scattered across the land, and suddenly grinned, a smile that was both sinister and arrogant.

"Zhang Deshuai, I accept the true scripture."

He spoke each word clearly and deliberately, his voice carrying throughout the entire venue.

"You have killed countless of my soldiers these past two days; you will pay with all of your lives!"

"All soldiers, listen to my command! Attack!"

Three figures turned and rushed back into the army formation.