However, Lin Qingyi was a bit shocked.
Because during their brief battle, he discovered that Shentu Han was not a fourth-grade realm as the intelligence reported but seemed to have already broken through to the realm of the third -grade grandmaster.
However, something didn't seem right.
If his opponent was truly at the grandmaster realm of the third-grade, he wouldn't have been merely repelled by the first blow, he should have been seriously injured or killed.
"Fake grandmaster!"
Pei Xuanjing saw more clearly than Lin Qingyi. The guardian Shentu Han from Mire Sect was a fake grandmaster.
The opponent had indeed experienced a rebirth once, but he hadn't truly understood the essence of martial arts, which made him far inferior to a true third-grade grandmaster.
Nevertheless, handling Lin Qingyi, a fourth-grade martial artist, would be quite simple for him.
During their engagement, after Lin Qingyi's initial attack, the rest was all led by Shentu Han. Lin Qingyi had only room to defend.
Pei Xuanjing noticed that the opponent hadn't fully mastered his newfound strength not long after his breakthrough, otherwise Lin Qingyi wouldn't have been able to hold on for this long.
"What should I do?"
Even though Lin Qingyi clearly knew that his opponent was a fake grandmaster now, he was still no match for him.
If it continued this way, it would be uncertain whether they could leave alive, let alone capture the opponent.
In his panic, he saw Pei Xuanjing by his side, appearing calm and composed.
"Grandmaster Pei, please lend your help. Lin Qingyi will definitely repay you generously," he shouted at Pei Xuanjing.
He didn't care that voicing out might incur the opponent's displeasure, he just wanted to cling to this final lifeline.
Moreover, Pei Xuanjing had come to Tiandu to participate in the Emperor's 'Martial Classics' editing project, and could also be considered a person of the imperial court, a person of the Emperor.
And they were the trusted subordinates of the Emperor.
So on an account, Pei Xuanjing was one of their own.
It's worth noting that Lin Qingyi could think of so many things in such a short time.
When Pei Xuanjing heard Lin Qingyi's call for help, a smile appeared on his lips.
Indeed, he had stayed to get involved in this matter.
However, it didn't feel as good as when someone else invited him to intervene.
Originally, if Shentu Han were merely a fourth-grade martial artist, he would need to find a reason to meddle in this matter.
But when he discovered the opponent was a fake grandmaster, he knew that as long as Lin Qingyi wasn't a fool, he would certainly seek his assistance voluntarily.
"Grandmaster Pei, the Brocade Guards will always be grateful to friends," Lin Qingyi continued.
When Shentu Han heard Lin Qingyi's address for Pei Xuanjing, his expression immediately changed, "Master Pei, our Mire Sect will also remember this favor."
He could not fully assess Pei Xuanjing's strength and didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble at this moment.
In Shentu Han's words, he subtly hinted at his backing, for Mire Sect's power in Jianghu was not to be underestimated.
Unfortunately, Pei Xuanjing ignored Shentu Han's words. He looked at Lin Qingyi, "Since Commander Lin has spoken, I will repay the favor of the wine."
Just an excuse!
Lin Qingyi knew clearly that he owed Pei Xuanjing a favor no matter what.
Seeing Pei Xuanjing ready to make a move, Shentu Han's face changed drastically, gazing at Pei Xuanjing with gloom, his voice cold, "You meddling kid, some things are not your business to meddle with. Don't lose your life over it."
"Ha ha!" Pei Xuanjing laughed coldly.
Without even moving his Flowing Flame Sword, he took a step forward, launching a palm strike towards Shentu Han.
Whoo!
The sound of rushing wind echoed out.
The "Dragon Elephant Skill" at the Sixth Rank already possesses the strength of six elephants, combined with the enhancement of his true essence of martial arts and his mastery of the Blazing Palm technique refined recently, it was almost equivalent to the force of ten elephants.
Shentu Han felt an endless wave of hot air rushing towards him, not daring to confront this force head-on, he met Pei Xuanjing's attack with his Black Iron Ruler and used an agile method to retreat.
Boom!
The already chaotic second floor suffered an even more formidable impact and exploded.
The aftermath of their battle forced the other on-going fighters backward.
"Grandmaster!"
Shentu Han paled with fright. He didn't understand how this young man, who seemed to be just over twenty years old, had already comprehended the essence of martial arts and stepped into the realm of the real grandmaster, while it had taken him countless hardships to step into the realm of fake grandmaster even with the resources of the Mire Sect.
Is the gap between individuals indeed larger than that between humans and dogs?
Shentu Han thought of the prodigies in the sect, and couldn't help musing.
However, in the face of this critical situation, he couldn't afford to dwell on it. After pushing away with force, he came to the understanding that he had lost. He smashed through the window and leaped down, trying to escape.
But as fast as his reactions were, Pei Xuanjing was even faster.
After the first palm strike, Pei Xuanjing wasted no time and closed in again, launching a second strike in succession.
'You!"
Such a swift and fierce palm technique left him no chance to dodge.
He could only meet it with the Black Iron Ruler in his hand.
Thump!
Pei Xuanjing's palm landed on the Black Iron Ruler. Although the Black Iron Ruler, cast from Mysterious Iron and forged into the Indomitable Weapon, wasn't broken, it was left with a deep palm mark.
Moreover, it didn't manage to block Pei Xuanjing's Blazing Palm, who continued to hammer the ruler, hitting Shentu Han's shoulder with the same force.
Spit!
Shentu Han spat out a mouthful of blood and was thrown back heavily, smashing through the window and falling from the second floor.
It must be said that the vitality of a third-grade martial artist is extremely strong; although he had received severe injuries and even his shoulder was dented, he still struggled to get up and escape. Pei Xuanjing leaped out of the window and landed beside him, stepping on Shentu Han's Dantian.
Spit!
Shentu Han's Dantian was destroyed, and his True Qi dissipated.
At this moment, although he was not in mortal danger, his cultivation had completely been lost. He only had a little physical strength left, even an ordinary seventh-grade martial artist could capture him.
At the same time, Lin Qingyi managed to apprehend the remaining six opponents. Three of them were killed for their resistance, while the other three were captured.
"Grandmaster Pei, I must thank you for your assistance," Lin Qingyi reverently approached Pei Xuanjing.
At this moment, he respected Pei Xuanjing even more. The power that Pei Xuanjing had just demonstrated was even more terrifying than his superior, the commanding officer.
Such was the horror of a third-grade grandmaster!
This made him more eager to break through to the third-grade realm.
Pei Xuanjing held in his hand the Black Iron Ruler that he had seized from Shentu Han and looked at Lin Qingyi with a smile, "I need Commander Lin's help with something."
Lin Qingyi immediately waved his hand, "Grandmaster, please feel free to give instructions.."
One must admit, there are few tenacious individuals, but they do exist.
For instance, the current Guardian, Shentu Han, of the Mire Sect.
Even though he had been apprehended by Pei Xuanjing, Xuanjing failed to extract much useful information from him.
Even with the assistance of Lin Qingyi, a captain in the Brocade Guards who had brought to bear their standard methods for interrogating an offender, they still couldn't get much information.
Of course, while they couldn't extract information from Shentu Han, his subordinates were less resistant. Xuanjing did obtain some information about the Mire Sect from them.
According to these individuals, they had come to Zhending Prefecture to meet with a significant figure, yet the specifics were known only to Shentu Han and remained unclear to them.
Xuanjing didn't care about these details as they mattered more to the Brocade Guards.
What he wanted to know was the structure of the Mire Sect and how many experts were in it.
Based on the testimonies of these individuals and the clues provided by Lin Qingyi, Xuanjing had a rough idea about the Mire Sect.
Being a professional rebellion entity able to survive for thousands of years, the Mire Sect naturally had its depths and strength.
The current Mire Sect comprised of one Sect Master, one Vice Sect Master, two Supreme Elders, and one each of the Inheritance, Law Enforcement, and Sect Guardian Elders. Then there were the four Dharma Kings and eight Guardians.
All these individuals were genuine Upper Three Realms martial artists. Apart from the eight
Guardians who were Third-grade martial artists, the rest were at least Second-Class martial artists. The Sect Master, Vice Sect Master, and the two Supreme Elders of the Mire Sect were even rumored to be First-grade martial artists, standing at the peak of martial arts.
As for the Guardian Shentu Han, he, a false martial artist, was merely an ordinary Guardian and not one of the eight).
According to these individuals, Shentu Han had only recently become a false martial artist with the help of the Inheritance Elder and resources from within the Sect, subsequently earning the title Guardian.
Four First-grade martial artists, seven Second-Class martial artists, and eight Third-grade martial artists. This was the visible strength of the Mire Sect, which left Xuanjing astounded.
Moreover, he found it hard to believe that this was the full extent of the Mire Sect's strength. There must be hidden strength yet to be revealed.
"Is this what a top-ranked force's strength is like? This is absurd!" Xuanjing thought.
"Then what lüld of strength does the Great Ming Empire, which can keep such a top-ranked force hidden, barely surviving in the shadows, have?"
At this time, Xuanjing felt he might have underestimated these top forces.
Or perhaps, as his strength continued to grow, the true face of this world was being revealed to him.
Lin Qingyi whispered to Xuanjing. "Strangely enough, in the past, although First-grade martial artists were not uncommon, there weren't many of them. I once heard an important official mention that around twenty years ago, the number of First-grade martial artists in the Great Ming began to grow rapidly. Their numbers even doubled during these two decades."
"Oh?" Xuanjing was taken aback.
Intent on hearing more, Xuanjing was certain that something must have happened twenty years ago to have influenced the changes in Heaven and Earth resulting in these circumstances.
The revival of Heaven and Earth!
Thinking of the novels he had read in his previous life and connecting them with the traces of fairy god legends in this world, Xuanjing had a bold speculation.
And the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be the case.
It seemed that only such an explanation made sense.
"It seems I need to quickly understand what happened twenty plus years ago. I may even need to look into the historical records and documents of this world." Xuanjing thought to himself.
However, this was not a matter of urgency at the moment. He merely noted it down while continuing to probe for information about the Mire Sect he wanted to know.
Unfortunately, Xuanjing didn't get much information from the events that came next.
He did not find any clues about which individual was backing the Liu family of Anping Prefecture, which he wanted to learn.
According to them, the affairs of the Northwest Dao were personally handled by a Dharma King from the Mire Sect, and they didn't have access to such information.
After spending several days at the inn in Zhending Prefecture, Xuanjing said his farewells to Lin Qingyi and others and continued his journey to Tiandu.
In no more than three days, he had already reached the outskirts of Tiandu City.
The imposing city in front of him seemed to have risen out of nowhere, as if a natural moat blocked the path ahead.
The towering city wall, at approximately sixty feet high, built from huge black stones, each a few feet wide and long, filled with molten black iron in-between, reflecting the metallic sheen, was as solid as an impregnable fortress.
This was the Great Ming Empire's Tiandu.
This was the most central power of the Great Ming Empire, and any movement here would have a significant impact on the entire territory of the empire.
Although the Great Ming had four major cities: Tiandu, West Capital, Dongdu, and Nandu.
But in reality, the West Capital was only the old capital of the Han Tang Dynasty, and the Dongdu was the old capital of the previous dynasty.
Even though the Nandu of Yingtian Prefecture was declared as the national capital by the founding emperor of Great Ming after the founding of the nation, with the ascension of the second emperor, the Shuntian Prefecture naturally became the new capital.
Now, after several hundred years, several Great Ming emperors have lived here, and the status of Tiandu's Shuntian Prefecture has long surpassed that of Nandu's Yingtian Prefecture.
Even though the Great Ming now claims to have two capitals, everyone knows that only Tiandu's Shuntian Prefecture is the real national capital, while Nandu's Yingtian Prefecture merely remains out of respect for the founding emperor.
"Actually, everyone is aware that the people in Nandu's Yingtian Prefecture are nothing more than a group of people serving to keep up appearances!" Gu Ji said to Xuanjing with a chuckle.
In his words, one could perceive the pride and arrogance of a Tiandu official.
Facing Xuanjing•s visit, Gu Ji welcomed him with a smile and instantly ushered him in.
What he had just said was to acquaint Xuanjing with some information about Tiandu.
Xuanjing nodded with a smile, "Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Gu."
He did not mention that he already knew about this, instead expressing his gratitude with a smile.
Gu Ji waved his hand and chuckled, "Speaking of which, I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on breaking into the Upper Three Realms. Your success in martial arts is remarkable, you are truly extraordinary."
Xuanjing modestly replied, "It was merely a stroke of luck, not worth mentioning."
Gu Ji laughed, and then added, "In fact, if I had known earlier, I would definitely have dissuaded you from entering Tiandu at this time, especially to participate in the compilation of the 'Martial Classics'."
Xuanjing was intrigued, and asked, "Why say so, Mr.. Gu? Is there a hidden secret behind this matter?"