The bell rang, shaking the heavens and the earth, deafening, yet it couldn’t mask Li Long’s arrogant laughter!

"You have thirty breaths left to escape. After thirty breaths, the nearest Government Military Division will arrive, and by then, you’d better speak to the Divine Machine Steel Crossbow! Thieves from the Thief’s House, how dare you steal from the Chang’an Military Mansion!"

He couldn’t help but feel proud, for the value of the guards is given by the bandits; guards in peaceful times are no different from flowerpots. Although the commanders of the Chang’an Military Mansion have always been responsible for guarding the Secret Realm Dungeon, due to decades of peace, they had no chance to accomplish anything, at most earning an extra allowance.

Thus, Li Long was pleasantly surprised at their discovery. He finally had a chance to make a contribution and make a name for himself in front of the True Man of Locking Dragon. Even a slight reward from a Foundation Establishment True Man is enormously beneficial to a Third-Transition. Isn’t the recent Duke Jin just like that?

Seeing their thief masks made Li Long feel that fate finally favored him. As long as he captured this group of thieves, he could directly enter the Divine Marquis Mansion, and maybe find a way to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill!

The battle at the Divine Marquis Mansion ten years ago established Ying Le’s supreme prestige, and Li Long could only look up to her Fourth-Turn Foundation Establishment as a humiliating stepping stone. This shame he could never forget. Now that he finally encountered a Foundation Establishment opportunity, he had to consider whether this was the only chance in his life.

Li Long remembered that enchanting figure, who stomped his head into the dirt, and the fighting spirit that had gradually extinguished over ten years was ignited again in an instant. But the excitement did not cloud his reason, and he calmly put pressure on the thieves: "Now the Military Mansion must have already entered a state of martial law, sealing the inside and outside. Every post will attack any suspicious personnel... You can’t escape!"

The thieves’ eyes flickered, their faces showing no change.

Back when they were making their plans, Yan Qing and the others had to consider one possibility: What if they were discovered, what to do?

The solution to this problem was obviously only one:

Eliminate all witnesses.

Not being discovered by anyone, or having any discoverer die before raising the alarm, both constitute a successful infiltration.

This wasn’t difficult for them. Let alone Ying Rushi and Pharmacist’s Wish, even Shang Xinlei was a seasoned demon slayer, and to them, humans were much easier to kill than demons. Moreover, given the slack state of the Chang’an Military Mansion, and being in Chang’an City, most Government Soldiers probably wouldn’t activate their defense barriers, with their Spiritual Power likely being at zero long-term. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Yan Qing also learned from chatting with Shang Xinlei that unlike game characters who can permanently store Spiritual Power, regular messengers’ activities gradually lead to Spiritual Power dissipation, and the more Spiritual Power, the faster it dissipates, with sleep being a major contributing factor, like being full of water and it leaking out.

Take a First-Turn Messenger with full Spiritual Power as an example, with normal daily activities and sleep, they would dissipate two to three tenths of their Spiritual Power in a day.

Let alone ordinary messengers, even the noble offspring of clans would only fully charge their Spiritual Power if necessary, as maintaining Spiritual Power otherwise would be an unnecessary expenditure. Although the Military Mansion provides Spiritual Jade subsidies to soldiers on duty, wouldn’t saving them be better? Even if something actually happened in the Chang’an Military Mansion, would it just so happen to land on their own heads? Most people surely have this kind of luck-riddled mindset.

But Li Long was definitely not one of them.

As an informed guardian of the Secret Realm, he must maintain a full Spiritual Power state at all times, coupled with the combat power of a Third-Transition Messenger, it would take a Foundation Establishment to instantly kill him!

The original plan was to sneak in while Li Long was with women, but now that plans had changed, with Li Long destined to spend the night alone, Yan Qing and the others naturally had to change their plans too — engage in a righteous four-against-one, instantly breaking Li Long’s defense barrier to kill him!

But whether it was the original plan or the new one, there was a dilemma: What if they were discovered by Li Long or couldn’t overpower him?

Be aware that there were bells in every room of Li Long’s, even in the bathroom, allowing him to raise the alarm in three seconds wherever he was!

Even if the bell were unnecessary, right next to the commander’s courtyard was the Hundred Refinements Institute, and outside of it was a fortress on full alert day and night. Any slight commotion would attract the attention of the Government Soldiers on guard. By then, with several thousand soldiers blocking the Secret Realm, unless Yan Qing and the others had someone who could perform a Foundation Establishment on the spot to fight thousands, they would be drawn to exhaustion.

Although fully aware of the danger posed by Li Long, the problem is a problem because it has no solution. While everyone was ready to take a gamble, in the end, Ying Rushi said she had a way to deal with this issue.

Seeing the thieves charging at them regardless, seemingly unafraid of alarming the soldiers, Li Long frowned slightly, subconsciously moving back to the edge of the wall, knowing that when outnumbered, the most important thing was to stay mobile and not get surrounded.

But for some unknown reason, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and shouted loudly, taking the initiative to meet the combined attack of the thieves!

When he decided to make his move, Li Long unleashed his ultimate technique—

Rising Dragon!

His Murderous Intent Gloves concentrated Dragon-shaped Gang Strength, striking from below upwards, with the ensuing airflow sweeping the entire room! With one forward step, he deeply embedded himself into the floor, glowing with a golden radiance, dimming the room’s light as if a Buddha was performing martial arts, with flames blazing in all directions!

Before the Rising Dragon was even unleashed, Yan Qing felt an overwhelming pressure, feeling as small as a child before a hundred-ton king. No one wanted to face Li Long’s ultimate technique directly, and everyone immediately evaded, leaving only Ying Rushi and Shang Xinlei on the two edges with a chance to attack Li Long!

Boom!

The dragon-shaped energy attack instantly pulverized the beams and tiles into dust; nothing could withstand the full force of the Third-Turn Messenger’s strike. A large hole appeared in the ceiling, faintly displaying the outline of a dragon’s head, with edges as neatly cut as if by a sharp blade.

Yan Qing gasped, noting that the Rising Dragon appeared to be a blunt force attack, but had the effect of a slicing attack! It was like slamming a spoon onto ice cream: although also a blunt force, the edges were equally neat... It was evident that before Rising Dragon, most substances in the world were as soft as ice cream! This move definitely had the effect of lowering the enemy’s defense!

Unlike Yan Qing, who was just passing the time, the female thieves were already at work. Like revolving lights, they launched a relentless attack. Although Li Long was seasoned in battle, he was hit several times as soon as they clashed, causing ripples in his defensive barrier.

"There’s no alarm arrow outside, nor fireworks in the night sky." Li Long’s expression was extremely grim. "You couldn’t possibly have resolved them all... It’s a barrier! You’ve used a barrier token, keeping all activities here from being transmitted! But there are very few items with barrier powers; in the Central Plains, only two have appeared. One is the rare bracelet passed down by the Jie Family, and the other is the rare ring Ying Le brought back from the Northern Border. Who are you really?"

What Li Long spoke of were once famous barrier items in the Central Plains, capable of dramatically shifting the battlefield during the Three Kingdoms’ conflicts. Yet this was just his mortal understanding; naturally, he could not know that Foundation Establishment Messengers also had various methods to create barrier effects.

Though Li Long was clearly at a disadvantage and bewildered, Ying Rushi immediately sensed something was amiss: "He’s stalling for time... He’s already notified the dungeon! Hurry, or it’s too late!"

Li Long just now clearly intended to break through the wall and escape, which is exactly what the thieves wanted to see. Although a barrier, like a defensive barrier, also has health points and can be broken, Ying Rushi could hold Li Long for two to three minutes before exhausting her Spiritual Jade. This was assuming Li Long completely disregarded his own safety... If he prioritized self-preservation, she could even buy five to ten minutes, enough for the other thieves to ransack the secret realm in the dungeon!

But Li Long did not flee; instead, he actively engaged them in battle. This was definitely not the tactical acumen of a Military Town Third Transition, especially since he lacked the power to fight four at once.

Now, having fallen into a joint attack, he neither attempted to break out and escape nor continued to use verbal threats to oppress them. Instead, he openly displayed his shock and fear, as if a pure maiden was actively telling bandits, ’I’m easy to bully’, ’I won’t run’, ’Come on, grandpa’.

Unless Li Long was seeking death on purpose, his only aim must be to stall them... There must be unknown security measures present, and Li Long was quite certain they would trigger successfully even within the barrier, which is why he entered the scene to buy time!

Yan Qing and the others dashed toward the room’s bookshelf without hesitation; the door was right beside the wall next to the bookshelf. There must have been some mechanism, but despite observing for three days, they had not found anything, nor did they need to—Pharmacist’s Wish, wearing iron boots, kicked the wall down with one foot!

In the face of a nearly hundred Qi Blood Pharmacist’s Wish, a foot-thick brick wall was barely harder than tofu!

"How dare you—" Li Long’s eyes were filled with rage, roaring as he tried to stop Pharmacist’s Wish and the others, his right hand gathering dragon-shaped energy again, clearly about to launch Rising Dragon once more!

But at that moment, the clear sound of a sword ringing from the side instantly made his scalp tingle, his entire body bristling with fear!

Gui Cang Secret Sword · Seven-Day Sacrificial Refinement · Elevenfold Enhancement!

Sword Drawing Technique · One Point Fivefold Enhancement!

The secret sword brewed for seven days, yet when it was unleashed, the poetic spectacle resembled the trace left by a flying bird, stunning the room’s atmosphere. Li Long could only redirect Rising Dragon to intercept, the dragon-shaped energy snapping at the sword aura arc light, the ensuing shock wave shattering all porcelain and glass in the room!

Yet still, Li Long’s defensive barrier was mostly shattered despite his defensive item being a Third-Transformation Curiosity, and fending it off with Rising Dragon, proving the ferocity of this sword. Had it been an ordinary Third-Turn, it could have meant instant death!

The Gui Cang Secret Sword of the Jie Family is just that unreasonable; though merely a Second-Turn Token, it could even slay a Third-Turn Messenger!

"Sorry," Ying Rushi stood before the hole in the wall: "I can’t let you pass through my sword barrier; it’s my task."

"A barrier token only works with the messenger present," Li Long said coldly, "Which means you’re the bearer of the barrier token... Plus with this Gui Cang Secret Sword... Are you a child of the Jie Family? Jie Yuan Shao? Or Jie Zhenluo?"

"No," he immediately rejected his own guess: "Your swordsmanship route is that of Qi Kingdom’s one-handed swordsmanship... You are a person of Ying Le! The ring on your finger is heralded as Ying Le’s Conch Ring!"

"Indeed," Ying Rushi freely admitted, since the Conch Ring was bestowed by Ying Le himself, she had no fear of exposure, "I did not expect the Rising Dragon Hand to be so knowledgeable."

Li Long suddenly fell silent, then slowly grinned with gritted teeth, his face filled with hatred and anger. A black-purple plume appeared around him, his murderous intent clear to see, practically setting his gloves on fire.

"This scar," he pointed at the grotesque centipede-like scar on his face, with a grim voice: "Was left by Ying Le, at the Divine Marquis Mansion!"

"Is that so? But Your Majesty spared your life, yet you do not show gratitude and harbor resentment, which is indeed very disrespectful." Ying Rushi pushed the sword hilt with her thumb, slowly drawing out a rustic longsword, its edge gleaming, dominance radiating, "Seems I must give you a deeper lesson than the scar..."

She curved her lips into a mad arc: "How about death?"