The six men were all different in appearance, each clad in a grey tunic; some were small and frail, others lean and wiry. One was imposing and massive, another squat like a stone pillar.

Most of the six were unremarkable in looks, yet their martial arts skill was astonishingly high.

Li Muzhan pressed his attack relentlessly, yet inwardly he pondered. While he might not claim the title of the world's foremost master—still far below Nangong Sidiao—he certainly counted among the top tier.

Yet, any single one of these six men was nearly his equal. Such masters could not possibly be nobodies. To gather them all together—to assassinate General Hua, to kill Ji Chu—there could be no others.

His speed was like lightning, leaving only faint afterimages, but his heart sighed inwardly. These six possessed unparalleled qinggong (lightness skill). Though his internal energy (neili) was powerful, his lightness skill lagged a step behind, leaving him restricted and constrained. With no other recourse, he unleashed the Randeng Mo (Burning Lamp Technique). In that brief interval, General Hua was already heavily surrounded. The nearly hundred horsemen tightened their formation, boxing the General in so tightly that they disappeared from view beneath their shields.

Li Muzhan let out a quiet breath. He had anticipated assassination attempts on the road; the shattered remnants of the Eastern Chu cavalry needed to save face, and they absolutely had to kill General Hua.

As long as General Hua lived comfortably, he remained their shame. For revenge, and for honor, they had to kill General Hua to reclaim their dignity.

He had never expected them to deploy six absolute masters—this was far beyond his calculations.

Li Muzhan called out loudly, "General, you go first!"

General Hua responded from within the throng, "Master, be careful! We'll take the lead!"

"Good!" Li Muzhan roared, and his form actually accelerated. The Randeng Mo fueled his internal energy into a roaring flame, providing the potent drive he needed to speed up.

He moved like a wisp of smoke, circling the six men. If he hadn't deployed the Randeng Mo, dramatically increasing his speed, it would have been impossible to engage all six simultaneously, preventing General Hua and his entourage from escaping.

"Bang!" With a muffled impact, one stout man was sent flying two zhang away, spitting a mouthful of blood as he collapsed, limp and unable to move.

Li Muzhan’s speed increased further. Among the six, despite their exceptional qinggong, there were still variations in skill. The burly man's footwork was inferior, and he took the full force of Li Muzhan's strike.

The immeasurably vast internal energy flooded into the man’s body. Though the burly man possessed profound internal reserves, he could not withstand it. His internal injuries were grievous, and he was out of the fight.

By this time, General Hua and his group had retreated far, already over a hundred zhang away. Li Muzhan finally relaxed, free to deploy the Canghai Shen Wu (Five Spirits of the Boundless Sea).

"Hiss hiss hiss hiss..." His finger strikes transformed into five streams of energy, weaving vertically and horizontally into a dense, net-like cage enveloping the remaining five.

The five figures darted about like spinning tops, deflecting and blocking with open palms, managing to hold the line just barely.

The Canghai Shen Wu was immensely powerful. By employing all ten fingers simultaneously, he could multitask six ways, focusing intently on each opponent as if he were six separate people, instantly gaining the upper hand.

The five men could only evade and dodge; they lacked the force to strike back. Employing every trick they knew, they were suppressed so thoroughly they couldn't lift their heads. Li Muzhan inwardly breathed easier.

He was currently burning his internal energy in a fierce blaze. Though this consumed his neili rapidly, even with the Tianyuan Tunna Mo (Celestial Origin Breath Absorption Technique) and the suction from his Yongquan point, it wasn't enough to keep pace. However, the true consumption was slight, enough to sustain him for a day and a night.

The five suddenly exchanged a look, nodded once, and their figures flew apart, suddenly aligning in a front-to-back column. Each extended one palm to brace the back of the person in front while simultaneously striking at Li Muzhan’s finger energy with the other.

Standing together, at a glance, they resembled the Thousand-Armed Guanyin.

Li Muzhan frowned. These five had merged into a single entity. If nothing unexpected happened, they would pool their internal energies, like small streams converging into a great river.

He shifted his body, drifting backward, feigning withdrawal.

The five were upon him in an instant, swift as ghosts. Five palms struck from different directions, their combined gusts howling together.

Li Muzhan quickly dodged, narrowly evading them. A blast of palm wind grazed his shoulder, leaving a searing pain. He was astonished; the internal energy of these five had transformed.

Having previously taken several blows, their substantial internal energy had been unable to penetrate his Vajra Indestructible Divine Art. Now, their energy had become strange—fiery and domineering, like molten iron. He dared not challenge its core strength directly.

Fortunately, he possessed the ability for multiple concurrent actions. While evading, he unleashed the Canghai Shen Wu. The five men had clear roles: three attacked, and two defended.

Li Muzhan’s finger force was condensed and heavy; they had struggled to cope with it before, but now they casually dismissed it, swatting it away with effortless palms.

Li Muzhan’s thoughts raced like lightning, one idea replacing another: these five absolutely could not be allowed to leave. No matter what, they had to be eliminated, or General Hua’s life would be in grave danger.

He suddenly drew the Duanyue Dao (Mountain-Severing Blade) and brought it down in a chopping strike.

The five seemed to react simultaneously, following up with five thrusts—a relentless torrent of cold light, like surging river water, pressing directly downward.

"Clang clang clang clang clang..." The ringing of metal against metal was incessant, like rain hammering on banana leaves, never-ending.

Li Muzhan executed the core principles of the Duanyue Dao style, firm and immovable as a mountain, meeting the attack head-on. Simultaneously, his left hand struck out, five fingers unleashing sharp streaks of finger energy.

The five, as if transformed into the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, calmly absorbed the impact. Li Muzhan, however, felt his arms going numb. The internal energy transmitted through the blade was savage and overbearing, like scorching iron water burning through his meridians.

Li Muzhan understood. This was a bizarre and supreme technique. The internal energies of the five men were different, but when blended, they formed a singular, strange force.

He flickered, appearing behind the last of the five, and slashed down with his blade, intending to win through agility. The five turned, led by the man in the rear, executing five moves while the other four shifted positions, forming a semicircle to enclose him. The five techniques were ferocious, and his Duanyue Dao style was equally exquisite; for a time, a stalemate ensued.

He had spent the entire journey seated behind General Hua, ceaselessly contemplating the Duanyue Dao. He had derived a new move from it, one of unparalleled refinement.

Relying on this single move, he extrapolated and evolved countless variations, then stripped away the excess and condensed them into six core techniques. With these six blade skills, he managed to hold his ground against the five.

Slowly, he retracted the finger energy from his left hand, seemingly dedicating himself solely to the blade work. Yet, stealthily, his left hand gripped a short arrow, secretly channeling the Huanglong Fei Wu (Yellow Dragon Flying Five) internal method.

After another dozen exchanges, he suddenly flung his left hand upward—a streak of cold light vanished into the throat of the slender man opposite him. The short arrow flew far, trailing a spray of blood.

At such close range, the trajectory of the Huanglong Fei Jian was undetectable. The man’s throat struck, and he fell backward stiffly. He had been positioned centrally among the five.

Instantly, the five-man concerted effort shattered, leaving them in groups of two.

His form became ghostly, and he lunged forward. The Duanyue Dao transformed into a silver streak of silk, sweeping through the two men in front. His left hand waved back, startling the other two into shrinking their heads, not daring to advance.

This single blow concentrated the power of his entire body into one strike, radiating a brilliant silver light.

"Ding!" With a sharp sound, the Duanyue Dao severed the bodies of the two men, meeting no resistance. The tip of the blade sliced across the throats of the two men holding swords, and blood instantly spurted forth.

Without pausing, he lunged at the stout man, transforming his blade technique into five variations, flowing freely, maximizing the essence of the Canghai Jiu Wu (Nine Spirits of the Boundless Sea).

The stout man gritted his teeth, suddenly releasing his sword and letting the blade pierce his chest. He clamped both palms onto the Duanyue Dao, blood bubbling from his mouth, his eyes wide with viciousness as he stared at Li Muzhan.

Li Muzhan frowned. The Duanyue Dao felt embedded in stone. He flicked his long sleeve, sending the stout man flying, but this momentary delay allowed the remaining two to close in.

The two men had dropped their swords, joining one hand, while the other palm struck out toward Li Muzhan.

Li Muzhan secretly sighed with relief. Having broken the five-man formation, the remaining two posed little threat.

"Whoosh!" A light whistle sounded, and a black streak shot directly toward his face. Li Muzhan tilted his head, dodging, while his blade swept toward the slender man who had fired the hidden weapon.

The slender man recoiled, evading the Duanyue Dao. The other man struck out with his palm, silently, as if merely making a threatening gesture.

An alarm suddenly rang in Li Muzhan's mind. He hastily moved to the side, faintly catching sight of a flash of white fluff. His heart chilled; such venomous hidden weapons were truly difficult to guard against.

The alarm sounded again, and he retreated rapidly, but it was a step too late. His foot immediately went numb. Looking down, he saw he had stepped squarely on a silver needle, as fine as a hair.

He smiled wryly, feeling an icy chill penetrate from the sole of his foot, climbing up his leg, and in an instant, entering his dantian. His dantian felt like it had solidified into a lump of ice.

He inwardly chuckled bitterly. He never thought he, too, would suffer a sneak attack—truly capsizing in a gutter.

The two men exchanged a look, overjoyed, and slowly pressed toward Li Muzhan.

This poison was intensely potent; even an elephant couldn't withstand it. Furthermore, this toxin specifically countered martial arts masters. For those without internal energy, the poison took effect slowly; the deeper the internal energy, the stronger and faster the onset.

Internal energy would stimulate the poison’s potential. For someone like Li Muzhan, survival was impossible. But to be safe, it was best to kill them personally.

Li Muzhan slightly lowered his eyes. A faint greyish pallor washed over his face, dimming its luster. "Kill!" the two roared in unison, striking out with both palms.

Li Muzhan remained motionless, allowing the two blows to land on his chest. At the critical moment, his chest muscles suddenly contracted, the flesh collapsing inward, mitigating the force of the palms.

"Bang!" With a dull thud, the two men were thrown backward.

Li Muzhan floated forward like a ghost, catching up to them. One palm each, and the two were sent flying again—two muffled "bangs." They landed silently and did not stir again.

Li Muzhan spat out a mouthful of blood, which was dark black, foul-smelling, and putrid.

He struggled to stand firm and glanced at the two distant figures. Their poison was indeed bizarre; it had frozen his dantian and immobilized his internal energy. Had it been anyone else, once poisoned, they would have had no power to fight back, left entirely to the whims of their attacker.

But they did not know that his internal energy was not wholly confined to the dantian, but was spread across his protective energy 'membrane' (qimo).

The poison was fierce, but more terrifyingly, it seemed to possess a life of its own, with internal energy as its sustenance.

These two palms had agitated the internal energy, immediately attracting the toxins, which began to bore out of the dantian toward the energy membrane, like sharks scenting blood.

Thanks to the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, his physical body was tough, and his organs powerful. His liver began to function, dissolving the poison, preventing him from immediately falling unconscious.

Li Muzhan swallowed a pill, concentrated his thoughts for a moment, and began to move slowly. A gurgling sound emanated from inside his body, like flowing river water.

He considered two paths. One was to use the Guantian Ren Shen Zhao Jing (Observing Heaven and Man Divine Illumination Scripture) to cleanse the marrow and expel impurities, but this required entering a meditative state, which was ill-advised now.

The second method was the Da Long Xing (Great Dragon Form), utilizing its blood refining capabilities to neutralize the toxin. That might prove effective.