The proof of Emperor Wu began with daily rewards for diligence.

Chen Jue was completely unaffected by the half-dead man screaming in agony on the ground. With a "Wind-Facing Blade" move, he twisted his waist and spun around, the blade dancing as it swept out a deadly arc horizontally.

The next moment, within the semi-circular restricted area drawn by the blade.

Before the two martial artists dressed in black short-sleeved shirts could react, they were cut in half horizontally, their internal organs mixed with blood splattered all over the ground.

Chen Jue heard a commotion filled with shock and anger.

Looking up, I saw a large group of thugs wielding various controlled knives, pressing towards the restaurant entrance.

He parried with his knife and quickly retreated into the restaurant.

"The Rat Gang! How dare you attack and kill the inspector!"

"Don't you all want to live anymore?"

Lin Shoucheng, though outwardly fierce, was inwardly timid and looked fearful. He stood up and stared at the three severed corpses at the door, a complex expression on his face.

I wonder what He Yuanshan's nephew ate to grow up like this.

He is incredibly strong; he can split a person diagonally with his inner energy, and he can cut a person in half at the waist without using his inner energy.

No wonder those scoundrels in Group Four caused trouble for Xiao Chen twice, and each time they were utterly defeated in terms of physical confrontation.

With such superhuman strength, he is indeed hard to match among his peers.

Outside the restaurant, the members of the Rat Gang hesitated slightly under Lin Shoucheng's intimidation.

Seeing this, a True Qi Realm martial artist dressed in gray, standing up from the crowd, raised his arm and shouted:

"Why be afraid of them?! Dead men tell no tales! If anything goes wrong, the owner will take care of it!"

"If we don't teach those corrupt officials at Kaiyang Garrison a lesson, how will we ever get our goods back from our employer?!"

"If we don't take back that shipment, we'll all die along with our boss!"

His urgent shouts spurred the hesitant members of the Rat Gang to surge towards the restaurant entrance.

Seeing that the situation was difficult, Lin Shoucheng immediately called for support from the garrison.

But with the situation so dire, they had no choice but to fight desperately.

Chen Jue stepped aside, and together with Lin Shoucheng, they guarded the restaurant entrance on either side.

At this moment, a man who had rushed to the front was being swept up by the crowd behind him and attacked with a knife.

Seeing that the man's swing was weak, Chen Jue twisted his waist and swung his sword to the left, directly slashing at him head-on.

The two swords clashed, producing a clanging sound.

Unable to withstand Chen Jue's powerful strike, the long sword in the opponent's hand was jolted and paused in mid-air.

Without hesitation, Chen Jue twisted his waist to the left and then to the right, the blade flashing as it slashed at the opponent's neck, severing a large head.

In an instant, blood gushed out like a spring, terrifying everyone.

Amidst the rain of blood, Chen Jue seized the opportunity to deliver a powerful kick to the heart, sending another unlucky soul spitting blood as he crashed into the crowd behind him.

Seeing that the Rat Gang was truly determined to kill, Lin Shoucheng disregarded the need to preserve his strength. He circulated his true energy throughout his body and, like Chen Jue, fiercely guarded the restaurant entrance, hacking and slashing at the valiant Rat Gang members who charged into the fray.

Just as the two were guarding the gate and continuously dealing damage...

A True Qi Realm martial artist, hidden in the crowd, suddenly erupted, his blade aimed directly at Chen Jue's throat, forcing him to retreat violently.

The martial artist was at least at the second level of true qi. With the single earth attribute true qi empowering his hands, both his slashes and thrusts carried immense power, forcing Chen Jue to exchange three consecutive blows with him before he could barely maintain his footing.

The warrior pressed his advantage and slashed down with his sword.

Chen Jue held the knife in both hands, parried, and while deflecting the opponent's long knife, he used the momentum from the parry to sweep the knife horizontally.

The martial artist whose blade had been parried was caught off guard and terrified. His eyes widened in disbelief.

The young man before me displayed skillful swordsmanship, as if it were second nature.

The advantage he gained from the surprise attack was wiped out by the opponent without him even realizing it, and then it was a matter of life and death in one strike!

"brush!"

A large spray of blood splattered onto the restaurant entrance, covering the faces and heads of those who rushed in.

Lin Shoucheng wields the "Mountain-Opening Horse-Driving Saber," a technique characterized by its compact movements, primarily involving close-range interceptions and parries to deflect force.

Therefore, when he kills, he is a bit slow, completely unlike Chen Jue's Six Harmonies Blade Technique, which is characterized by its wide and sweeping movements, where life and death are inevitable.

"Their men have stormed in! We're at a disadvantage now, retreat a bit!"

Lin Shoucheng unleashed his true energy, forcefully parrying three cleavers of varying lengths, then seized the opportunity to stab one of them to death before quickly retreating.

In his twenty years in the industry, this was the first time he had ever fought such a tough battle.

After all, Linjiang is the largest metropolis in the lower reaches of the Tongtian River, and the place where the four first-rank aristocratic families and the Jiangnan Wanhu Mansion are located.

Even if local gangs were powerful in the past, they would never have been so brazen as to target government officials.

This is a heinous crime that will be dealt with severely by the government; it's not a matter of settling scores with just two people.

The two fought and retreated under pressure.

Because Chen Jue's swordsmanship was too unrestrained, although he kept using the "wrap-around-the-head" technique to protect his neck, back of the head, and arms, he inevitably got scratched by the cleavers extended by the Rat Gang as he opened and closed his swords.

At this moment, Lin Shoucheng, who was struggling to fight, quietly came to Chen Jue's side and protected his entire right flank with his dense and short sword techniques.

In an instant, Chen Jue felt the pressure lessen and unconsciously launched a counterattack, cutting down three of the Rat Gang's henchmen before safely retreating to the central bar.

"Uncle Lin, let's play like this. You protect my right flank, and I'll take care of the damage output."

Chen Jue could tell that Lin Shu's swordsmanship was not suitable for direct field battles, but rather for street fighting to entangle the enemy and provide support from the side.

However, out of respect for his seniority, he was unwilling to put the pressure on him, a junior.

But now, at this critical juncture of life and death, if we stubbornly cling to our own opinions and try to save face for our elders, wouldn't that be a path to certain death?

"Xiao Chen, you've only just reached the first level of True Qi cultivation. Can you withstand this?"

Lin Shoucheng was not a pedantic person. Compared to saving face, he was more worried that Chen Jue's cultivation level was too low. If he were to face the pressure of the battle group as the main force, he would quickly run out of energy.

If Chen Jue falls first, how many more people can he kill with his third level of True Qi cultivation?

"Don't worry! My foundation is solid, and my qi and blood are extraordinary. Even if I fight for another half hour, it won't be a problem!"

Chen Jue and Lin Shoucheng were arranged diagonally, with Chen Jue alone at the very front. He was wrapped up all over his head and body, almost spinning like a top, sometimes executing "Night Battle Eight Directions Hidden Knife Style", sometimes "Shoulder Chop", and sometimes "Sweep to the Waist"...

The two fought their way back and forth until they reached the second-floor stairwell. Although Chen Jue was wounded multiple times, the Rat Gang members left behind a pile of corpses.

Upon reaching the second-floor stairwell, Chen Jue instantly felt the pressure lessen, miraculously stabilizing his stance and battle line.

The stairwell was narrow, only wide enough for two or three rat gang members to rush up to the platform side by side.

Taking advantage of the terrain that allowed him to hold the pass, Chen Jue hacked six of the surging henchmen to death in less than a minute, greatly increasing his killing efficiency.

The corpses that fell down the stairs severely slowed down the henchmen rushing up behind them, making them like leeks that automatically offered themselves up to be harvested, and they were cut down several times in the blink of an eye.