Chapter 96: The Six Classics

The next evening, Xing Yan suddenly issued an order summoning all martial artists under his command, including the street wardens of the six streets.

Upon their arrival, he announced the rules: no one was permitted to leave, and any violation would be treated as treason on behalf of the Medicine King Gang, punishable by immediate execution. The atmosphere on the scene instantly turned grim and deathly silent.

"It seems that because of what happened yesterday, the Shen family is launching a major counterattack today, and this is to keep the intelligence secret," Zhuang Jin thought to himself as he exchanged glances with Duan Tao and Miao Lun, members of his small circle. They shared the same realization.

A stick of incense after the summoning order was issued, the last street contingent arrived. Seeing that the time was right, Xing Yan announced the plan: "Yesterday, the Medicine King Gang launched a sneak attack, causing great losses to our Shen family. Such provocation cannot go unanswered..."

"Tonight, here in the North City, our Shen family will exert full-scale pressure on the Medicine King Gang, with two districts attacking one... The target for our East Bridge Dock and Flatwater Wharf districts is the neighboring Anping District of the Medicine King Gang..."

"The Incense Master of that district is Dong Pei—shrewd, cunning, and deep in his schemes. He was the one who proposed the hunting operation against us. When the battle begins, he will be watched by our District Wardens, so you need not worry about him attacking you. Of course, due to a certain tacit understanding, our District Wardens will not interfere in the skirmishes below... However, even though we suffered some casualties from yesterday's raid, our Shen family martial artists outnumber theirs by more than three to two. If we cannot win with these odds, why even call ourselves martial artists? We might as well slit our own throats now."

Hearing this, the tense mood among the martial artists eased. With a three-to-two numerical advantage, they were no longer as fearful, even considering the ruthless methods of the Medicine King Gang.

The street wardens, including Zhuang Jin, looked at each other, feeling even more reassured. Last night’s raid had mostly taken its toll on the lower-level squads, while the street warden level had suffered no losses. Even those who were injured were not incapacitated, so they could participate in tonight’s battle. Thus, the ratio at the street warden level was even more favorable, effectively two to one.

'A full-scale defense and counterattack, crushing them with superior numbers and raw strength—this is the grand, righteous path... To launch such a large-scale plan immediately after yesterday's raid shows thunderous, decisive speed, as if everything had been prepared long ago.' To Zhuang Jin, this strategy possessed the essence of being fast, precise, and ruthless, promising a high success rate. He did not know that this comprehensive plan had been modeled after the raid on the night of May 9th, adopting the essence of "blitzkrieg."

After outlining the plan, Xing Yan swept his gaze over the martial artists and commanded: "I hereby announce, move out immediately!"

...

The two Shen family districts coordinated their rapid advance. Using one of the Medicine King Gang's streets as bait, they forced the enemy to fire a signal flare. Before long, Dong Pei, the Incense Master of Anping District, arrived with his men from the other five streets. It could be said that they had poured out their entire strength.

The enemy was cautious and vigilant, yet they underestimated the Shen family's resolve—or rather, the gap in raw strength. It was an open strategy, one that clever schemes could not offset.

"Incense Master Dong, this is a battle for those below; let us refrain from intervening," Xing Yan said, as he and another District Warden, Liu Licheng, subtly flanked the man.

Seeing Dong Pei's heavy expression as he pulled out a distress flare, Liu Licheng did not stop him. "Incense Master Dong, don't dream of reinforcements. At this point, I might as well tell you: tonight, the entire Shen family is on the offensive."

As they spoke, emergency distress flares from the Medicine King Gang lit up the sky across the entire North City.

The Shen family District Wardens and the Medicine King Gang's Incense Masters stood in a standoff, while the fighting below had already begun, quickly devolving into a chaotic, intertwined melee.

The squads under Zhuang Jin, Duan Tao, and Miao Lun formed a battle formation to crush two streets of the Medicine King Gang. Meanwhile, the three of them confronted a fifth-meridian martial artist of the Medicine King Gang.

While the overall ratio of Shen family street wardens to Medicine King Gang minor incense masters was indeed two to one, the local skirmishes varied. For instance, Wei Xun and Du Shiyuan were two-on-one against a fourth-meridian opponent, while Xue Yandao was locked in a one-on-one duel with a sixth-meridian master. In their small group's case, it was three-on-one.

Duan Tao recognized the man. "Minor Incense Master Tang, please be on your way!"

"Indeed, Minor Incense Master, think of your wife and children; you should try to meet your end with some dignity," Miao Lun added with a chuckle.

"You dare threaten me? You are courting death! Do you dare fight me one-on-one... Ah, despicable!"

Tang Ruoming had barely finished his retort before he lost focus. The veteran fifth-meridian Miao Lun seized the opening and struck with his palm. Only by desperately changing his stance and trading a wound for his life did Tang Ruoming force Miao Lun to hold back, narrowly averting disaster.

'Tsk, tsk, these two have such dirty hearts—using superior numbers and verbal taunts to disrupt the opponent's focus,' Zhuang Jin thought. Seeing the man distracted by Duan Tao and Miao Lun, he seized the opportunity to sneak a palm strike into Tang Ruoming’s back. The man let out a miserable scream. When he turned to counterattack, Zhuang Jin had already drifted away, and when he tried to pursue, he was pulled back by Duan Tao and Miao Lun.

"Haha, Brother Zhuang, well done!"

"Kill!"

Seeing this, Duan Tao and Miao Lun pressed their advantage, beating the dog while it was down. Before long, Tang Ruoming could not even manage a desperate, suicidal counter-strike; he died in frustration under their combined efforts. Afterward, they went on to surround and kill another fifth-meridian minor incense master of the Medicine King Gang surnamed Lu.

By this time, the battle was drawing to a close. Zhuang Jin and Miao Lun were content to stop while they were ahead, though Duan Tao still seemed eager for more. However, looking at the overall situation, he had to give up. To continue now would not be helping to share the burden, but rather stealing credit, which would only invite resentment.

...

That night, the Shen family's East Bridge Dock and Flatwater Wharf districts joined forces to annihilate six minor incense masters of the fourth to sixth meridians, and over seventy martial artists of the first to third meridians of the Medicine King Gang. Only Incense Master Dong Pei managed to escape with a dozen injured men.

Subsequently, District Wardens Xing Yan and Liu Licheng led their street wardens and squads to pursue the victory. They were unstoppable, capturing six streets—Anyuan, Anhua, Anyuan, Anhe, Ansheng, and Anluo—in one night, effectively swallowing the entire Anping District.

It was not just their sector; the Shen family’s full-scale counterattack that night yielded fruitful results everywhere. Almost overnight, they compressed the Medicine King Gang's presence in the North City inward. It was a fierce counter-assault that resulted in a glorious victory over the Medicine King Gang.

...

Two days later, on August 12th.

'The battle contributions from the night before last have been finalized. I have over five hundred... Killing two fifth-meridian masters, even though it was a group effort and I only got a third, plus the street warden share and the spoils from the occupied streets... That saying is true: in a battle of this intensity, as long as you don't die, you will never lack battle merits!'

This caused Zhuang Jin's original tally of just over a hundred to swell rapidly. At the very least, he would not be short on exotic beast meat for the next month or two.

'Although ganging up on the weak is a legitimate strategy in warfare, one's own strength is always more reliable!'

Zhuang Jin felt the slight swelling in his meridians and knew that his fifth-meridian accumulation was complete. 'The breakthrough to the sixth meridian is now!'

He focused his mind, guiding his inner energy toward the Jueyin meridian of the hand, which opened without resistance. With this, the three yang and three yin meridians of the hands—the Shaoyang, Shaoyin, Taiyang, Taiyin, Yangming, and Jueyin—were all fully connected, forming a great cycle. During this process, his inner energy was continuously refined and thickened, leaping to a new level.

The sixth-meridian realm was achieved.