Chen Shi lowered his head, unrolled some talisman paper, and took a small knife from the book box, then walked towards Li Xiaoding.

The nearest Imperial Guard to Li Xiaoding saw the knife in Chen Shi's hand and froze for a moment. Realizing the situation, he quickly shouted, "What are you doing? He has a knife!"

The other Imperial Guards heard this and quickly gathered their True Qi. Behind their heads, divine light surged, and a Divine Altar appeared with a Divine Fetus sitting inside, ready to cast spells as they rushed over.

Li Xiaoding was also startled by the shout of "he has a knife," and he fell off his reclining chair, confused and worried. Without hesitation, he pulled out a paper talisman.

With a buzzing sound, the talisman burned, and a magical force erupted. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a golden light, like a large bell covering him protectively.

Chen Shi looked terrified, trembling all over, and the knife fell from his hand. He quickly shouted, "I need dog blood to draw a talisman! Don't kill me! Brother Li Guang, help me!"

The seven Imperial Guards, ready to cast their spells, stopped when they heard this, holding back their magic.

Li Xiaoding also got up from the ground. Hearing this, he quickly looked at Li Guang, who was also ready to attack Chen Shi. Realizing the misunderstanding, Li Guang laughed and said, "It's a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding! Master, drawing talismans indeed requires black dog blood as a base. The strong Yang energy in black dog blood, combined with cinnabar, makes the talisman more powerful."

Li Xiaoding kicked the black dog, Heiguo, beside him and laughed, "I thought someone was trying to kill me again, but it turns out they want to kill this beast. You scared me!"

He kicked Heiguo again and laughed, "Aren't you going to get over there and meet your end?"

Heiguo, after being kicked twice, reluctantly wagged its tail, annoyed by the fickle humans. Just moments ago, they were patting its head and calling it a good dog, and now they were cursing it.

Heiguo walked towards Chen Shi, who breathed a sigh of relief and bent down to pick up the knife.

Meanwhile, Li Guang and the other six Imperial Guards also relaxed, dispersing their prepared spells. Six of them dispelled their Divine Altars and turned to their tasks, but Li Guang's Divine Altar still floated behind his head, keeping him on guard.

Chen Shi bent down to pick up the knife, taking in the positions of the seven people around him with his peripheral vision.

The way they lifted their feet and prepared to turn was clearly imprinted in his mind.

"Four of them are less than a yard away from me, two are more than a yard away, and Li Guang is the closest. Now is the best time to strike!"

Chen Shi gripped the knife handle, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. His first target was Li Guang!

Although Li Guang still maintained his Divine Altar and Divine Fetus, Chen Shi was confident he could deliver a fatal blow before Li Guang could release his spell!

"Is this Li Xiaoding's camp?" Suddenly, a pleasant voice came.

A young girl in a red gauze blouse and a purple-pink skirt appeared at the camp's edge, carrying a large fruit basket. She smiled and said, "I'm Zi'e from the Ding family, here with the Fourth Miss for a hunt. Our Fourth Miss is still setting up camp, and she heard that Young Master Li is also here for a hunt, so she sent me to connect our families and see if you could help us set up our camp."

Chen Shi's expression changed slightly, his grip on the knife loosening, and the killing intent in his eyes vanished.

The arrival of Zi'e, the Ding family's maid, made him miss the best opportunity to strike.

He could attack while everyone was distracted by Zi'e, but she could prepare her spells in time!

Even if he killed the seven Imperial Guards, he would still die at Zi'e's hands, and he wouldn't have time to kill Li Xiaoding.

Moreover, if Zi'e escaped, the news of him killing Li Xiaoding would spread, bringing disaster to his grandfather and potentially destroying Yellow Slope Village!

This was something he absolutely could not allow.

"I have to give up this chance."

Chen Shi called Heiguo over and walked to the table. Zi'e was just visiting to strengthen ties between the Ding and Li families, so she shouldn't stay long. He would have other opportunities.

Meanwhile, an Imperial Guard quickly let Zi'e in, smiling, "Our young master was just saying he wanted to visit you, but you came first." With that, he took the fruit basket from Zi'e's hands.

Zi'e took out an invitation and walked towards Li Xiaoding, smiling, "Young Master Li is quite the celebrity in Water Buffalo County! At the last provincial exam, Young Master Li surprised everyone. Our Fourth Miss also said she didn't expect Young Master Li to hide his talents so well... I am Zi'e, greetings to Young Master Li. This is my lady's invitation."

Her graceful figure and charming appearance, enhanced with makeup, made her even more attractive, drawing the Imperial Guards back, hoping to chat with her a bit more.

After all, outings like this were about men and women getting closer; otherwise, who would come to the mountains to hunt?

Chen Shi sat on a bench, bent over, ready to bleed Heiguo, and suddenly froze.

"Everyone is close again, and the best chance to strike has come again, but now there's Zi'e in the way... Forget about Zi'e!"

Heiguo gritted its teeth, feeling a bit unwilling. The old master would give it a piece of exotic beast meat after cutting it, but the young master wouldn't give it anything.

It closed its eyes, ready to take the cut, but suddenly there was a gust of wind, and Chen Shi, holding the knife, disappeared from its sight.

Heiguo was stunned and was about to turn its head when Chen Shi's knife was already at Li Guang's throat. With a forceful pull, blood spurted out!

Li Guang's eyes widened, his mouth opened to shout, but Chen Shi's hand, holding the blood-stained knife, was already behind the next Imperial Guard. The sharp knife pierced the guard's heart from behind, avoiding the ribs.

Then, pulling out the knife, Chen Shi turned to face the guard, stabbing the knife into his heart from the front, again avoiding the ribs.

Chen Shi pulled out the knife, but it slipped from his hand, covered in blood and too slippery to hold.

Without thinking, Chen Shi stepped more than a yard forward, his two fingers stabbing into the third Imperial Guard's eyes, bursting the eyeballs and piercing the skull, scrambling the brain.

Chen Shi withdrew his fingers, twisted his waist, turned, and as he turned, his left foot stepped out, covering eight feet in distance. As his left foot landed, his right foot kicked out, hitting the fourth Imperial Guard's neck.

The kick was like a heavy axe chopping down, twisting the guard's neck with a cracking sound of breaking bones.

The guard's body tilted to the ground, his face not yet touching the earth when Chen Shi leaped over him, his palms slamming down on the fifth Imperial Guard's ears, causing blood to flow from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, his eyes nearly popping out!

Meanwhile, Li Guang's scream finally came, but it was mixed with the gurgling sound of blood.

Li Guang raised his hand to cover his neck, realizing only then that his neck was nearly severed by Chen Shi's knife, only the back muscle holding it together.

"This kid is so fast!"

A thought flashed through his mind, "Why is he killing us?"

His vision darkened, only seeing Chen Shi's small figure pouncing on the sixth person, who still had a look of shock on his face, clearly not yet reacting.

Chen Shi's right hand curled four fingers, forming a fist but not a fist, and with a sudden force, punched the sixth Imperial Guard's chest, with the sound of cracking bones.

The guard spat blood, but the Divine Altar behind his head had formed. However, before he could cast his spell, Chen Shi's left hand pressed on his face, a massive force making him feel like an elephant was stepping on his face!

"Boom!"

His head hit the ground's rocks, shattering both stone and skull!

Chen Shi crouched down in a bow stance, his gaze falling on the seventh Imperial Guard.

The guard gathered his True Qi, activating his Divine Altar, the Divine Fetus inside awakening, filling him with divine power.

But just as this power surged, Chen Shi's knee smashed into his groin, shattering everything there!

His body was lifted by the force, flipping head over heels, but before he hit the ground, Chen Shi's other foot kicked his temple.

Crack.

His neck bent to one side.

Then, with a thud, Li Guang's body hit the ground, followed by the second and third Imperial Guards, staggering and about to fall.

Suddenly, Chen Shi flashed back to the second Imperial Guard, pulling out the knife.

Everyone was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. By the time they reacted, it was too late. Zi'e was particularly shocked, just about to activate her Divine Fetus and cast a spell. But as the Midnight Demon Slaying Sword was forming, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Looking down, she saw two blood-stained hands gripping her head and jaw.

Zi'e's vision spun wildly, her view shifting from her chest to her back.

Chen Shi twisted the girl's neck, and before she fell, his hand was already at her chest, pulling out the knife from her heart.

"Thud."

Bodies fell one by one.

Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound. Chen Shi turned to see Li Xiaoding burning a Golden Bell Talisman. The talisman burned, forming a golden bell shape.

Li Xiaoding trembled all over, his eyes filled with fear, staring at Chen Shi standing there.

He was at the Divine Fetus Stage, capable of easily killing Chen Shi with his spells.

But he was too scared, his mind blank, unable to recall any of the spells he had learned.

He even forgot he was a cultivator, forgot he had a Divine Fetus!

——Next chapter update at 6 PM! During the new book period, please vote and spread the word~