Star Sky Professional

The stars shifted, and time flowed like water.

In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

Xun Heihu had grown into a handsome twenty-five-year-old youth, treading upon the country path.

"Ten years... finally back."

He sighed with emotion, looking at his approaching hometown, feeling a bit apprehensive in his heart: 'I wonder how Uncle Luo and the others are doing? How many kids has Sister Cuihua had...'

A few steps forward, he saw a roadside tea stall.

At this time, the world was not peaceful, so those daring to run a tea stall by the roadside usually had some skills.

They even only operated during the day, rolling up all their belongings at night to hide in the county town.

Xun Heihu found a bench and sat down, looking at what was obviously a family of stall owners, he said to the young wife, "Shopkeeper, give me a bowl of coarse tea and ten buns. Do you have any meat?"

"Yes, yes!"

The wife, with rough hands and feet, was quite efficient in her work, wiping the table with a cloth: "Sir, you are fortunate. We just got twenty pounds of beef, perfectly marinated and goes great with drinks..."

"Truly, there's beef?"

Xun Heihu was a bit surprised, as cows were precious production assets in ancient times, and slaughtering them rashly was illegal.

Of course, now the world was in chaos, sects were fragmented... perhaps it wasn't as strict, but probably only the great clans might occasionally slaughter a cow for a meal.

Eating it in such a small country inn was indeed a bit unusual.

"Isn't it?"

The shopkeeper was about to say more when he saw a group of people armed with swords and sabers, obviously martial artists, approaching, and quickly went to greet them: "Please, have a seat, gentlemen..."

Their attitude was clearly more courteous than with Xun Heihu.

Xun Heihu looked at his own coarse cloth clothes and ordinary sun hat but didn't mind.

He glanced at the newcomers and suddenly paused.

These martial artists were all dressed in luxurious clothes, which was fine, but the key was the fierce bird emblem embroidered on their chests, looking quite menacing.

'Five Beasts Sect disciples... Why are they here?'

'No, there's also... her?'

Xun Heihu quickly turned his back, taking big bites of the buns, occasionally sipping his tea.

"Sister Jiang... this time with you leading the pursuit of the 'Eighteen Black Wolf Riders', success is assured."

A male disciple looked at the valiant Jiang Yuyan, his eyes full of admiration, yet with a hint of inferiority.

"Each of the Eighteen Black Wolf Riders is a ranked martial artist, with the three leaders having Inner Strength cultivation, we cannot be careless..."

Even though Jiang Yuyan was wearing the same luxurious clothes, her body had all the right curves, flowing seamlessly like a female leopard, her voice steady and powerful.

'Unexpectedly... after not seeing each other for ten years, Yuyan has also joined the Five Beasts Sect, and she doesn't seem to be an ordinary sixth grade, perhaps she's already advanced to fifth grade?'

Xun Heihu felt a movement in his heart, yet somewhat comforted for his old friend.

At this moment, he took a chopstick of beef into his mouth, his eyes suddenly sharpening.

"Ha ha, shopkeeper... bring your best wine and dishes quickly."

On this ordinary country day, the small inn was evidently quite lively, another group of roughly dressed men entered, clamoring for drinks.

And when men drink, they like to brag:

"Not to boast, my 'Heaven Extinguishing Hand' is enough to be ranked, it's just a pity the instructors of the five major institutions were blind back then and didn't take me in..."

"Ha ha, Brother Bighead is truly a ranked martial artist, he's even friends with the top of the New Wind List, 'Nie Renlong'.

"Top of the New Wind List, Nie Renlong? Could it be that genius with 'Dragon Tendons and Tiger Bones', who just happened to be overlooked by the Five Beasts Sect? How many years has it been..."

"Hehe, after all, now the Five Beasts Sect is embarrassed, the higher Nie Renlong's rank, the more they feel the sting..."

These words caused some of the Five Beasts Sect disciples to be unable to swallow.

Nie Renlong was currently the top of the New Wind List, known as the 'Dragon among Men', but it was said that as a child, his talents were not apparent, quietly cultivating inwardly, yet during bone-checking was overlooked, suffering various setbacks, even his fiancée broke off the engagement...

But later he apprenticed under a master, and rose swiftly, ultimately suppressing the contemporary top disciple of the Five Beasts Sect, 'Du Qiankun', the two fought three times, each time Du Qiankun was defeated, making it so the Five Beasts Sect couldn't even manipulate the rankings internally.

"Sister Jiang..."

Several disciples eyed Jiang Yuyan, only to see her shake her head, and they could only just swallow their anger and eat silently.

At this time, that group of men's sharp voice piped up: "The Five Beasts Sect missing out gems is not the first time... Have you heard? Now in the neighboring Ling State, the top of the Hidden Dragon List, 'Xun Heihu', is said to be from Chu State, later forced to go far away..."

At this, Xun Heihu inexplicably felt a bit guilty.

Back then, he took his parents and fled far away, then settled in Ling State.

His parents hid their identities, bought fields in the countryside, and became small landlords.

He himself attempted to join the largest sect in Ling State, the 'Azure Dragon Gate', but unfortunately, the Azure Dragon Gate favored locals.

To join, he had to follow the 'Foreign Affairs Hall' path, enduring dirty and tiring work.

If there was no other choice, Xun Heihu might have just gritted his teeth and endured.

But he held several ancestral techniques, also possessing the Supreme Treasure of the True Martial Talisman at his side, he immediately refused to endure such indignity, choosing to be a wandering hero of the martial world.

And indeed, when it came time to compare talent, no matter how gifted, or wealthy, it simply couldn't beat someone who seemed blessed by the heavens!

In short ten years, he had made a name as the top of Ling State's Hidden Dragon List!

Ling State's Hidden Dragon List was similar to Chu State's New Wind List, exclusively ranking young experts, the peak being Fourth Grade Fetal Breath Realm.

And this was just Xun Heihu's apparent strength.

"Damn... you wandering performers dare to slander the Chu State overlord like this, today I will teach you a lesson!"

A disciple finally couldn't hold back, a claw striking out with a whistle.

Although it was just ordinary Eagle Claw Skill, with Inner Strength's blessing, it carried massive, unstoppable power!

"Huh?"

The group of men roared, "Dare to pick a fight?"

They immediately started fighting with the disciples of the Five Beasts Sect.

...

"Hmm? Something's not right..."

Xun Heihu muttered to himself, "Senior... The beef just now had a certain spice that seemed off. If combined with the tea, it appears it can hasten the dispersal of one's inner strength... Of course, this change is quite obvious, and once discovered, an inner strength expert could expel the toxin with their qi... But if engaged in battle, where the inner strength is already rapidly depleting, it might be overlooked..."

With the lessons and guidance from Elder Liu Xun, coupled with years of experience roaming the martial world, Xun Heihu had become an adept old hand in the realm, not easily falling for such a ploy.

But the same couldn't be said for the disciples of the Five Beasts Sect.

Sure enough!

At a certain moment, those men exchanged glances and suddenly each displayed a special move or wielded a weapon.

This escalated what was a common brawl in the martial world directly into a life-and-death combat mode.

"Not good!"

At this moment, Jiang Yu Yan also sensed something amiss.

Whoosh!

A silver thin sword resembling a chopstick appeared in her hand, swirling into a flower-like pattern.

The silver light flashed like mercury spilling on the ground, and the farmer's wife hiding in a corner clutched her neck and fell, blood gushing out.

"Senior sister? You killed the wrong person..."

At this point, a Five Beasts Sect disciple, still confused, shouted.

"No, my inner strength..."

"The inner force is dissipating too quickly... there's something wrong!"

However, fools were few among them, and the disciples of the Five Beasts Sect realized something was wrong, but it was already too late.

"Haha, serving the Dark Green Son!"

Along with a rough voice, countless hidden weapons shot out.

After a wave of the Dark Green Son, only two or three Five Beasts Sect disciples were left standing.

From the back kitchen, an elderly man and a strong man with a sneering expression emerged: "So what if you're an expert with inner strength? You dare come to exterminate the Black Wolf Eighteen Riders? It's not like we haven't killed inner strength experts before..."

"Hmm? It's a Black Wolf trap?"

The remaining Five Beasts Sect disciples were shocked; they had been hit with the 'Dissipation Powder,' rendering their inner strength nearly useless.

Now, they were no different from ordinary fourth or fifth-grade hard skills martial artists.

Facing the Black Wolf Eighteen Riders was a certain death!

"Hmm? Why is there still one left?"

The old Black Wolf noticed Xun Heihu still eating and was slightly stunned, "Quickly silence him, and then let's finish off these little bastards and leave... No matter how powerful the Five Beasts Sect is, they can't catch us across states, can they? In another place, we're heroes again."

"Hehe... the boss is indeed the boss. Before we set out, we already swept through the nearby villages. There's no need to worry about small gains this time, we've really hit the jackpot," the third-in-command laughed.

"Nearby... villages... swept through?"

Xun Heihu suddenly looked up, the bun in his hand falling to the ground.

"Hmm? You are..."

Jiang Yu Yan saw Xun Heihu, and her face revealed a hint of hesitation, "Xun... Heihu?"

"Hmm?"

The Black Wolf Eighteen Riders were shocked; they had deliberately used Nie Renlong and Xun Heihu to provoke these Five Beasts Sect disciples to stir up the fight.

Otherwise, they weren't blind; they could see the marks on Jiang Yu Yan and the others' clothes...

But they didn't expect that the main character was right beside them?

That was unexpectedly too coincidental, wasn't it?

"You... looted the surrounding villages?"

Xun Heihu shouted in a deep voice, his figure blurred.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Black Wolf Eighteen Riders didn't even see a shadow before they fell over.

Even the three leaders with inner strength met the same fate.

"What?"

Jiang Yu Yan, witnessing the scene, finally understood the weight of a first-state young hero from a region!

No matter how hard she had trained over the years, reaching Martial Arts Fifth Grade — Chao Yuan Realm! — and being considered a postnatal peak expert...

But faced with such an innate expert, she would still be defeated as easily as cutting through vegetables.

If it happened to her, then what could one say of these bandits.

Thud!

The elderly man was grabbed by the neck and pressed against the wall, "Speak... did you rob Bajia Village?"

Xun Heihu's voice was somber.

"Hehe..."

Blood trickled from the corner of the old man's mouth, knowing he wouldn't survive today: "Enough... I've eaten my fill and taken my leisure... it's worth it!"

Bang!

As soon as he finished speaking, his neck twisted unnaturally, and his body was casually discarded to the side...