My Martial Dao Has No Bottlenecks

"You’re looking for death!"

He drew his saber and barked an order to the ten Personal Guards behind him. "Follow me into the cave! The rest of you, keep fighting the fire. Keep an eye on the warehouse. Under no circumstances can we let the fire spread to the other mine tunnels!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Yuan activated his Fierce Bull Force, shrouding his body in its protection, and was the first to charge into the blaze.

Inside the tunnel, thick smoke billowed and the heat was scorching. But what shocked him even more was that about thirty yards from the entrance, someone had erected a crude wall of fire using rubble and burning logs!

Behind the wall of fire, three men dressed in the rough-spun clothes of miners, their faces hidden by black cloths, were continuously tossing oil-soaked firewood toward the entrance.

The moment they saw Zhao Yuan charge in, the three men showed no intention of fighting. One of them blew a shrill whistle, and they all turned and fled deeper into the mine tunnel!

"After them!"

Zhao Yuan wasn’t about to let them get away. Saber in hand, he gave chase. But the three men knew the mine’s layout like the back of their hands. After a series of twists and turns, they ducked into an abandoned shaft.

Zhao Yuan and his men pursued them for several minutes when a muffled RUMBLE echoed from up ahead. A massive boulder, placed there in advance, crashed down from the ceiling, completely blocking their path.

Zhao Yuan was forced to stop, his face grim.

He suddenly remembered Liang Cheng’s orders: ’Secure the scene. Don’t let anyone near.’

"Fall back!" Zhao Yuan ordered decisively. "Search the area where they were just standing!"

...

By the time Liang Cheng arrived, the warehouse fire was mostly under control, but smoke was still pouring from Mine Tunnel #3. Zhao Yuan, who was leading his men to clear the blockage at the entrance, rushed over to report the moment he saw him.

"Senior Brother, it was arson. Someone was hiding in Mine Tunnel #3. They set the fire on purpose and laid a trap to slow us down."

"What are the casualties?"

"Seven or eight miners have burns, but they’re all minor injuries. But I found this in a corner of the tunnel where they were."

He handed over a piece of charred cloth embroidered with half of a twisted flame.

’Fire Worship Sect!’

Liang Cheng took the cloth fragment and clenched it in his palm.

Another Steward from the Lin Family, Lin Mao, stepped forward, his face etched with anxiety. "Town Guardian Liang, there’s something strange about this fire. Mine Tunnel #3 has been sealed for days. How could someone have been hiding inside? If the tunnel collapses from the fire, the losses would be..."

"Steward Lin."

Liang Cheng cut him off. "While Mine Tunnel #3 was sealed, your Lin Family was responsible for guarding the perimeter. Did you notice anything unusual?"

Lin Mao’s expression faltered. He sounded panicked. "My family had men guarding it in shifts, but we were just watching for anyone trying to get in from the outside. How were we supposed to know someone was already hiding inside..."

"Then that’s dereliction of duty."

Liang Cheng’s tone was placid but left no room for argument. "Effective immediately, the Guardian Station’s Personal Guards will assume full control of Mine Tunnel #3. All guards for all mine tunnels will be replaced by personnel dispatched from the Guardian Station."

Lin Mao’s face fell. "I’ll need to report this to the Patriarch..."

"There’s no need."

Liang Cheng looked at him. "You can go back to the Lin Family now."

Lin Mao shuddered, not daring to utter another word, and hastily departed.

Without a second glance at the departing man, Liang Cheng said to Zhao Yuan, "Clear the entrance. Send in men you trust to conduct a thorough search. I want every inch of that tunnel where they were hiding turned upside down."

"Yes, sir!"

Just then, the shrill sound of a whistling arrow shot up from the direction of the Guardian Station. It was the distress signal he and Li Mu had agreed upon!

Liang Cheng’s pupils constricted.

’Just as I thought. A diversion to lure the tiger from the mountain!’

"Zhao Yuan, I’m leaving this to you. Chen Ping should already be on his way back as reinforcement. Coordinate with him and secure the mines. If anyone is foolish enough to get in your way, you have my authority to kill first and ask questions later."

Before his voice had even faded, he had already become a blur, streaking toward the Guardian Station.

...

「Guardian Station — Outside the Dungeon」

Li Mu stood, saber in hand. At his feet lay the bodies of two men dressed in black.

But the men surrounding him and his guards were all masked in black, their eyes savage. Their weapons glinted with an eerie blue sheen, clearly coated in poison.

The dungeon door was broken, but Li Mu and the Personal Guards were holding the line at the entrance to the passageway, refusing to yield a single inch.

"Senior Brother Li, haven’t Captain Chen’s men arrived yet?" a Steward Disciple from the Martial Arts Academy asked, panting heavily. A gash on his arm was so deep you could see bone.

"Soon!" Li Mu gritted his teeth, holding his ground. "We have to hold, even if we can’t. We absolutely cannot let them take Lin Fu. Our Senior Brother will be here any minute!"

The men in black seemed to be losing their patience. They lunged forward as one.

Li Mu swung his saber to meet them. Though his opponents were also just ordinary Transformation Force experts, their coordinated attack was fierce and deadly. The Saber Momentum was sharp and vicious. Within a few exchanges, Li Mu was completely on the defensive, in constant peril as he struggled to fend off their attacks.

CLANG!

A Poison Blade knocked his saber aside. Another attacker seized the opening, thrusting straight for his heart. Li Mu managed to twist away just enough for the blade to scrape past his ribs, drawing a spray of blood.

He grunted and staggered backward.

Just as the Poison Blade came at him again, a streak of pale blue True Qi, imbued with the power of Wind and Thunder, shot through the air like a sliver of cold moonlight. It had been unleashed second, but it struck first.

PFFT!

The saber-wielding man in black screamed as his arm was severed at the shoulder, and he was sent flying. Liang Cheng’s figure appeared in the middle of the melee like a phantom. The instant he unsheathed his Zhenxian Saber, all the remaining men in black were blasted away.

"Liang Cheng!!!"

One of the men in black screamed his name. Then, their jaws moved as they crushed poison capsules hidden in their teeth. In an instant, they all collapsed, dead.

Over a dozen men, all without a shred of hesitation. Their discipline was absolute, their disregard for death complete. For a moment, a dead silence fell over the scene.

After a moment of silence, Liang Cheng turned to Li Mu. "How bad are you hurt?"

"It’s just a flesh wound. Nothing serious."

Li Mu gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand ramrod straight.

Liang Cheng nodded. His gaze swept over the bodies littering the ground. He knelt beside one of the corpses and ripped open the man’s tunic. There, emblazoned on his chest, was a tattoo of a complete, crimson flame.

’Fire Worship Sect!’

Just then, Chen Ping strode in through the main gate, leading several soldiers from the Martial Preparation Hall. His armor was stained with blood; he had clearly just come from a fight.

At that exact moment, a Personal Guard ran out from the dungeon, his voice laced with panic.

"Town Guardian, Lin Fu is dead."

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