The three drove to the entrance of Long Nian's manor. The guard, seeing Long Xiao, was about to drive them away again, but Elder Xiao said, "Long Nian invited us."
After a moment's hesitation, the guard stepped back and opened the manor gate.
As soon as they drove into the manor, the guard closed the gate, as if afraid they would escape.
The car drove forward and soon arrived at the parking lot in front of a three-story building.
Long Xiao had been here before and knew this three-story building was Long Nian's residence.
Long Xiao pulled Zheng Xiaoyi to stand in front of the car and shouted, "Zha Cai, I, Long Xiao, am here. Come out."
With a burst of hearty laughter, a spirited old man with a red face emerged from the building, followed by a group of people, including Long Nian and some of his capable assistants.
Zha Cai stopped about ten meters away from Long Xiao and looked at Zheng Xiaoyi, saying, "Long Xiao, do you like my disciple?"
"I have a wife, how could I like your disciple?"
"If you don't like my disciple, why are you holding onto her?"
"Zha Cai, you've captured my sister Luan. I've come to exchange her."
Zha Cai waved his hand and said, "An exchange? Is it necessary? If you like my disciple, you can take her. If you want Luan Jiping, I'll release her immediately."
Long Xiao didn't expect Zha Cai to agree so readily.
Zha Cai waved his hand, and someone brought Luan Jiping out of the three-story building.
Luan Jiping's eyes were vacant, clearly drugged.
"Zha Cai, what did you give my sister? Why is she like this?"
"Aren't you a divine doctor? Save her yourself." Zha Cai said gloatingly, looking at Long Xiao, and waved again, signaling his subordinate to push Luan Jiping towards Long Xiao.
Long Xiao never expected Zha Cai to be so arrogant.
Luan Jiping stumbled forward and stopped in front of Long Xiao. Long Xiao reached out, grabbed Luan Jiping's wrist, and injected a life force into her. Luan Jiping soon regained consciousness.
Long Xiao stood with his back to Zha Cai, blocking his view, and whispered to Luan Jiping, "Sister Luan, it's Long Xiao. You were drugged. Pretend you're not awake, and I'll have Elder Xiao send you back."
Luan Jiping nodded slightly, and her eyes, which had begun to move, became straight again.
Long Xiao feigned seriousness, pricked her with a few silver needles, and seeing no reaction from Luan Jiping, said, "Elder Xiao, take Sister Luan back first. I'll deal with them."
Elder Xiao nodded, took Luan Jiping, got into the car, and prepared to leave.
Long Xiao turned to Zha Cai and said, "Zha Cai, I'm here. Let them go. Whatever you have to say, say it to me."
Zha Cai nodded and waved his hand. The guards hurried to open the manor gate and let Elder Xiao and the others leave.
Long Xiao waited until Elder Xiao's car had driven away and the gate was closed before saying, "Zha Cai, you brought me here. What do you want?"
Zha Cai smiled and said, "Your life."
Long Xiao calmly glanced at the group of people behind Zha Cai and asked, "Do you have the strength for that?"
Zha Cai burst into laughter, "Of course, we do. I've been preparing in this manor for half a month. If you hadn't come, you might have survived. But now that you've entered this manor, you won't leave alive."
Seeing Zha Cai's arrogant demeanor, Long Xiao also laughed. Both of them laughed heartily, as if they were old friends.
After laughing for a while, Zha Cai beckoned to his subordinates and said, "Get ready. Today, Long Xiao will die here."
Zha Cai's more than twenty subordinates moved swiftly. They spread out to the sides, as if setting up some kind of formation.
The "Dragon Treasury" contained knowledge of formations, but Long Xiao considered formations useless in modern society and had only skimmed through them, not studied them carefully.
After Zha Cai's men dispersed, Long Nian and his people quickly retreated into the three-story building. Only Long Xiao and Zha Cai stood facing each other in the parking lot.
Three minutes later, all of Zha Cai's men had disappeared. Zha Cai looked around and said, "Let's begin, Long Xiao."
"Wait." Long Xiao asked, "Who exactly are you people, and why do you want to kill me?"
Zha Cai shook his head and said, "Is there any need to tell you? You'll die whether I tell you or not. It doesn't matter to you anymore if you know."
Seeing that Zha Cai didn't want to tell him which organization they belonged to, Long Xiao didn't ask further.
Zha Cai took a few steps back, and his figure became blurred, as if he were walking further and further away. Gradually, Long Xiao could no longer see Zha Cai. He didn't know how Zha Cai achieved this.
Formations often combined with illusions, changing the flow of qi in the earth to affect the qi in a person, and altering a person's energy to influence the brain.
Since Zha Cai intended to defeat Long Xiao using formations, Long Xiao naturally released his five-elemental qi to observe the surrounding qi fluctuations.
The information fed back by the five-elemental qi appeared in Long Xiao's mind, and everything around him became colorful.
Without much effort, Long Xiao located Zha Cai and his subordinates.
Long Xiao pretended not to see them and began to wander around, searching for people.
Not long after, Long Xiao discovered that Zha Cai's subordinates were surrounding him from all directions, each holding a long saber, ready to deliver a thunderous blow.
The strength of these men couldn't be very high. Experts usually acted alone; it was rare for over twenty experts to surround one person.
Long Xiao wasn't concerned about these men; he worried about hidden experts or dangers beyond these twenty-odd individuals.
After careful observation, Long Xiao found no immediate danger, but he couldn't locate Zha Cai.
The attack began suddenly. More than ten long sabers simultaneously slashed at Long Xiao. All of them believed Long Xiao couldn't see them, so they assumed the best positions and attacked simultaneously.
Long Xiao, who was prepared, dodged the incoming sabers with the 'Chimei Xiaoyao Step' as the blades descended. He took a few steps forward and circled behind these men.
Long Xiao used his 'Fierce Dragon' fist, knocking two of Zha Cai's subordinates away with each blow.
"He can see us, dodge!" someone shouted.
The group dared not attack Long Xiao any further. As they scrambled to evade, Long Xiao landed two more blows, sending two more flying.
The twenty-odd men scattered and dodged. Long Xiao let out a cold snort and said, "Trying to run? It's too late."
Long Xiao plunged into the group of assassins like a wolf entering a flock of sheep. A series of thuds echoed as more than ten men were sent flying.
Another series of thuds followed, and more than ten men fell heavily to the ground, motionless.
The remaining attackers were completely panicked. Some, terrified, threw down their sabers and fled.
Long Xiao's five-elemental qi surged, and the scattered sabers on the ground flew up, chasing after the fleeing men.
A scream rang out as the sabers, embedded in the backs of the fleeing men and piercing through their chests, caused them to fall to the ground, lifeless.
Zha Cai watched Long Xiao wreak havoc in the courtyard, his face turning green.
"Zha Cai, I already told you Long Xiao is not to be trifled with. Don't provoke him without a foolproof plan, but you wouldn't listen."
"Killing him is my mission. I will do everything in my power to slaughter him."
Long Nian sighed and said, "Think of another plan. Without someone stronger than him, a direct assault is suicide."
"How strong is Long Xiao?" Zha Cai asked.
Long Nian shook his head and said, "I can't tell either. The strength he displays is at most intermediate Earth realm, but I've seen him kill an intermediate Earth realm expert in one move."
"He can project his true qi externally; that's a sign of Heaven realm."
"I also suspect he's Heaven realm, but his displayed strength doesn't match. Only his ability to control the saber with true qi seems to fit."
"It seems we can only let him go this time," Zha Cai sighed.