When Chen Yuan returned to the Ci'en Temple's mountain gate, the fighting was still ongoing, but it was nearing its end. The ground was covered with corpses, including martial monks from Ci'en Temple and constables from Ping'an County.

Among them were many people Chen Yuan knew well.

But they all lay quietly on the ground, some still curled up, groaning.

"Boom!"

A massive explosion echoed. Chen Yuan looked up and saw the four black-robed figures surrounding Zhang Xuan blasted back, falling to the ground, clutching their chests and glaring at Zhang Xuan.

A cyan wall of Qi seemed to have solidified around him. He coldly surveyed the dead.

The next moment, his fingertips flickered, and four streams of Qi burst forth, striking the four black-robed men in their dantian.

"Ah..."

"No, no..."

"Zhang Xuan, you've crippled us!"

The black-robed men roared in fury, simultaneously raising their arms. Four jet-black crossbow bolts shot out.

But Zhang Xuan did not dodge or evade. He swept his long saber horizontally, obliterating all the incoming bolts.

"Mere clowns, daring to flaunt your might before me!"

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly.

On the other side, Li Mingqi was being miserably beaten by Jie Nan. His body was already stained with blood, and the refined steel saber in his hand had been shattered. Two of the patrolling Sky Guards were dead, and three were wounded.

Only Yue Shan and a fellow with a scar on his face were barely holding on, but it was a desperate struggle. Their faces were covered in sweat, and their gazes at Jie Nan were filled with dread.

A master at the Condensing Fiend realm was indeed beyond their reach.

If Li Mingqi hadn't borne most of the pressure, they would have been wiped out entirely.

"Bang!!!"

Jie Nan shifted his feet, leaving behind an afterimage, and slammed a palm into Li Mingqi's left shoulder, unleashing a thunderous sound. Li Mingqi was sent flying several yards, crashing heavily to the ground.

"Lord Zhang, save me quickly!"

Li Mingqi shouted hastily.

Jie Nan's palm had shattered his left shoulder, leaving him with almost no combat strength.

Zhang Xuan glanced expressionlessly at Li Mingqi. With a gust of wind under his feet, Zhang Xuan instantly appeared before Jie Nan, slashing down with his saber.

Jie Nan was aghast. He hastily dodged to the side, his right palm swirling with black fiendish Qi, and struck out violently.

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly, neither dodging nor evading, and countered with a palm strike.

"Boom!"

Cyan Qi and black fiendish Qi intertwined. In less than half a breath, Jie Nan's body seemed to be subjected to an indescribable force. He was blasted back several yards, rolling and sliding across the ground before stopping.

"Zhang Xuan!"

Jie Nan's face was extremely grim. His strength was so far below Zhang Xuan's that he was no match at all.

He turned his head to look at the Four Ghosts, who were sprawled on the ground with several constables holding blades to their necks. Jie Nan's eyes turned cold. He glanced at the sun's position, calculating the time.

An hour, it was almost time.

But...

Why hadn't the Holy Envoy arrived yet?

"The thing I hate most in my life is bald donkeys. Will you surrender, or will I break all your meridians and capture you?" Zhang Xuan said with his left hand behind his back.

His face was neither happy nor sad, extremely indifferent.

"Brother Yuan..."

Wang Ping staggered to Chen Yuan's side, grinning.

"You're injured?"

Chen Yuan frowned, looking Wang Ping up and down. He was covered in blood, and the long saber in his hand was somewhat chipped.

Wang Ping scratched his head and smiled:

"It's nothing, it's all the blood of those bald donkeys. They are really ruthless and not afraid of death."

Even now, Wang Ping felt lingering fear.

Those monks were truly fearless, completely ignorant of death. Wang Ping could even sense that they yearned for death.

"Brainwashed..."

Chen Yuan shook his head.

No wonder the imperial court was so fiercely pursuing the Unborn Church. Their fanaticism was undermining the foundation of the imperial court.

"After this is over, I must stay in a brothel for a few days..." Wang Ping smiled lightheartedly.

"Let's talk about it after we get back."

Chen Yuan had no interest in women right now.

"Arrogant!"

Jie Nan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his eyes flashing. He suddenly pulled out a black, fist-sized bead from his chest and hurled it at Zhang Xuan.

"Heavenly Thunderball?"

Zhang Xuan's pupils shrank, and he instantly retreated several yards.

"Boom!!!"

A deafening explosion erupted, blasting a huge pit in the ground.

Zhang Xuan's clothes were slightly disheveled, and the Qi around him was somewhat unstable.

"Hmm? Gunpowder?"

Chen Yuan, who witnessed this scene from a distance, was immediately surprised.

But it didn't seem to be sulfur.

Seeing that Zhang Xuan had withstood the attack of the Heavenly Thunderball without being injured, Jie Nan cursed inwardly:

"Damn it!"

Then, he turned and tried to escape into Ci'en Temple.

"Want to leave?"

Zhang Xuan's face was gloomy, and a cyan light flashed in his hand.

......

Looking at Jie Nan's corpse on the ground, Zhang Xuan's eyes were cold. He ordered several constables to bind the four black-robed men tightly, pierce their bones with iron chains, and hold them to the side.

With Jie Nan's death, all resistance from Ci'en Temple was officially crushed.

Except for the four captured alive, everyone else lay on the ground.

Chen Yuan quietly came to Li Mingqi's side and helped him up:

"Lord, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I won't die..."

Li Mingqi breathed a sigh of relief.

Standing up, Li Mingqi looked at the direction of Ci'en Temple with some fear. He said loudly to Zhang Xuan:

"Lord Zhang, this official is too badly injured, so I won't... won't go in."

No one knew if there were still rebels from the Unborn Church inside. Li Mingqi felt that for his own safety, it was better to be careful. Anyway, he had a share of the credit.

He couldn't expect too much.

"County Lieutenant Li can stay here, Chen Yuan..." Zhang Xuan called.

Chen Yuan responded and slowly came to Zhang Xuan's side, cupping his fist:

"Lord."

"You follow me inside..."

"Yes."

Li Mingqi narrowed his eyes at this scene, wondering what he was thinking.

At this moment, all command authority was in Zhang Xuan's hands. He ordered all the remaining constables, except those guarding the four black-robed men, to enter Ci'en Temple to search for monks.

He then led Yue Shan, Chen Yuan, and three Sky Guards towards the main hall.

Chen Yuan led the way, guiding them to the small dilapidated temple and telling Zhang Xuan that he had stopped there and dared not go further to investigate.

"Someone came here before?"

Zhang Xuan's expression tightened as he saw the bloodstain on the ground.

This was the trace left by Chen Yuan when he killed the limping fat man. Although he had thrown the body into the jungle behind the door, he had not had time to remove the bloodstain.

Because Chen Yuan's time was short, no matter what he did, he would leave traces.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xuan quickly led the group through the small door.