"Finally... we are back..."
Zhang Yao took a deep breath, his whole body trembling slightly.
At this moment, he couldn't quite discern whether excitement or panic dominated his heart, only feeling as if his blood was about to ignite.
"Stop, armor up!"
The leading Hall Masters and Escort Leaders halted first, giving low-voiced commands.
"Rustle..."
The group unwrapped bundles, helping each other don armor, trying to keep their movements quiet, but still creating quite a commotion.
However, they were still halfway up the mountain, nearly a hundred meters from Qingping Palace atop Cuiping Mountain, so they weren't worried about alarming the heavily guarded, constantly patrolled rebel troops.
But going any further would risk exposure.
A quarter-hour later, everyone was fully armored, and even Lord Guan Yuan had somehow procured a suit of leather armor inlaid with a Heart Protecting Mirror.
"Move!"
The leading Hall Masters and Escort Leaders swiftly moved the group up the mountain path.
After just a few breaths, the gate tower of Qingping Palace was within sight, with several iron-plated armored soldiers patrolling around with torches, and two standing guard at the palace gates.
From the outside, the sky above Qingping Palace was brightly lit, clearly filled with numerous torches within.
"Hmm?"
A few soldiers seemed to have heard something, quickly gathering to check their surroundings in the torchlight, shouting, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
They hadn't seen anyone, but upon hearing suspicious noises, they immediately became alert.
"Take action!"
Following a shout, over twenty figures leaped out from the shadows beneath the stone steps.
The five Hall Masters and Escort Leaders moved swiftly, like tigers pouncing, covering two or three meters in a single step, reaching the gate tower in the blink of an eye.
This ferocious burst of energy made Zhang Yao, following behind, involuntarily catch his breath, freezing for a moment.
"Bang!" "Bang!"...
The patrolling soldiers' expressions changed drastically, but as they barely unsheathed their steel blades, their bodies were sent flying like ragdolls, crashing to the ground or against the palace walls, their breaths ceasing instantly.
With the power of Perfection Level Martial Artists, each gesture carried immense force, capable of tearing tigers and leopards, killing horses in their tracks, rendering elite soldiers no more than ants before them.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Clang, clang..."
Yet, with just a moment's delay, the two gate guards promptly sounded the alarm bell without hesitation.
The sharp, piercing bell tones spread throughout Qingping Palace immediately.
In the next instant, the two gate guards lay dead, their steel blades broken, their skulls caved in, a gruesome sight.
The five Hall Masters and Escort Leaders, bypassing their bodies, charged directly into Qingping Palace without pause.
"Capture the leader first!"
Zhang Yao and a dozen others, following the five Hall Masters and Escort Leaders, were clear in their target, heading straight for Shangqing Pavilion.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"...
During this time, the sharp bells resounded throughout Qingping Palace, with patrollers sounding the alarms.
A large number of soldiers awoke from their slumber, many already armored, clutching their steel blades as pillows. Upon waking, their first reaction was to seize their steel blades, jumping fiercely from their beds and rushing out.
"Quick! Quick!!"
"Enemy attack! Form ranks!!"
"Follow me!"
With the angry roars of numerous squad leaders, the soldiers rapidly assembled in just a few moments.
Elsewhere, under the leadership of the five Hall Masters and Escort Leaders, the group continued their unstoppable advance, quickly slaying any patrolling soldiers they encountered.
However, Qingping Palace was vast, with many halls and pavilions, allowing the rebel troops time to react. By the time they reached the courtyard, enemies were converging from all directions like a tide, their numbers growing ever larger.
"Quick response indeed! No wonder they are elite border forces!"
Hall Master Liu of Jingtao Martial Arts Hall sneered, bellowing, "Kill! Leave none alive!"
In an instant, the group of over twenty clashed with a large number of soldiers, and a bloody battle erupted immediately.
Zhang Yao, on the right rear flank of the group, faced four or five soldiers charging at them, eyes fierce and vicious, showing no mercy.
"Swish!" "Swish!"
Several steel blades swiftly sliced through the air, aiming at his neck and underarm.
These were the armor's vulnerable gaps; if entangled, someone would quickly pin him down, stabbing through the armor gaps.
These remnants of the Flying Tiger Army were well-trained and ferociously disciplined, not just in name!
"Die!"
Zhang Yao moved, exhaling loudly, stepping forward and striking out with his fist.
At this moment, he cast aside all distractions, focusing solely on the fist techniques practiced diligently and the urge to kill enemies.
"Clang!"
He dodged two steel blades, and the remaining two clashed against his shoulder and waist, sparking but unable to penetrate the fine iron armor plates.
Zhang Yao's move "Crossing Thousand Mountains" struck directly at the chest of a soldier facing him.
The majestic force behind the fist penetrated the iron-plated armor, crushing the soldier's chest, causing him to vomit blood and collapse.
Zhang Yao shifted form, delivering a backhand punch, executing "Overturning Sea and River" from the Great Vajra Fist.
"Boom!"
This punch landed on a soldier's helmet, producing a muffled sound.
The fine iron plating on his gauntlet warped slightly, while the soldier's helmet visibly deformed, skull fractured, eyes losing light.
In just a breath's time, Zhang Yao had dispatched two foes, while the remaining three soldiers were slain by Meng Zongwei and Zhang Yannian beside him.
"Ah!!"
"No..."
"Kill! Kill them all!"
Roars, shouts, and screams... a cacophony of sound filled the courtyard.
From above, the hundreds of soldiers surging forward resembled a black tide colliding with an unyielding reef.
Even the weakest present were Martial Artists at the Great Success Stage, resembling human-shaped beasts, unleashing terrifying lethality.
The soldiers besieging them were swiftly broken, cut down like ripe wheat.
"Kill!"
Zhang Yao roared fiercely, filled with killing intent, joining two senior brothers in charging into the soldier ranks.
Using the eight major killing techniques of the Great Vajra Fist—Vajra Subduing Demon, Sweeping Ten Thousand Armies, Inverted Five Peaks, and Crossing Thousand Mountains—unleashing astonishing might.
In just a few breaths, amidst the massacre, over sixty or seventy of the hundred soldiers rushing from all sides fell.
The five Hall Masters and Escort Leaders, like tigers amidst sheep, slew with brute force, reaping lives as easily as cutting melon.
If one word could describe the scene—
Annihilation!