Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

"Is there anyone else who will agree? This is a rare opportunity, and you might not get another chance if you miss it." Wen Hua's appearance was unexpected for Shen Qing, but he did not refuse. Instead, he continued to shout to the crowd.

“Count me in, Lord Shen. I’m signing up too.” Seeing Wen Hua join without hesitation, Wu Liuding hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and signed up as well.

Although he and Wen Hua had only known each other for a short time and often bickered, they were still good friends. Since his friend was in trouble, he was willing to risk his life to accompany him. Moreover, Wen Hua was right. If he didn't take a chance while he was young, he would definitely regret his retreat today. A swordsman should not be afraid of dangers and should forge ahead.

"Six cylinders, why bother?" Wen Hua looked at Wu Liuding with some emotion. This was another friend worth making, besides Xu Fengnian.

"Tch, don't flatter yourself. I'm only doing this to win first place so I can earn money to buy ingredients for Cuihua's pickled cabbage," Wu Liuding said, pursing his lips.

“I, Sun Qing, am also willing to join.” Huang Qing, seeing Wen Hua and Wu Liuding’s actions, narrowed his eyes, stepped forward, and spoke using his alias. The name Sun Qing was a pseudonym formed by taking one character each from his real name, Sun Shaopu, and his alias, Huang Qing.

"I, Qi Jiajie, am also willing to lend a helping hand to His Highness the Prince of Yue." Qi Jiajie, who had been watching from the outside, looked at Lu Qi in the encirclement with eager eyes. After hesitating for a while, he stepped forward and volunteered.

Putting everything else aside, Qi Jiajie was essentially a pure swordsman, yearning to reach the heights of Li Chungang and become an idol in the hearts of all swordsmen. However, he was forced by Zhao Dun to resort to underhanded tactics due to the emperor's command. But after witnessing Lu Qi's astonishing combat prowess, Qi Jiajie decided to defy Zhao Dun's orders and risk his life to confront the legendary monster, believing that even in death, he could die with a clear conscience.

"You're participating too?" Shen Qing's expression changed slightly upon hearing Qi Jiajie's words, and then she looked at Qi Jiajie with a cold gaze.

Shen Qing didn't have much affection for this person. If he hadn't reacted quickly and broken the other party's move that day, it would have been a problem whether the martial arts examination could have been held smoothly. So when he heard that Qi Jiajie also wanted to join the operation to kill the leopard demon, he guessed that the other party was up to some kind of conspiracy.

"Lord Shen, sometimes one is not in control of one's own destiny in the martial world. But this time, I, Qi, genuinely want to fight the Leopard Demon." Qi Jia looked at Shen Qing with clear eyes and said.

"Alright, I agree. I hope you're not just saying that, otherwise don't blame me for being ruthless." Shen Qing looked at Qi Jiajie, who had a calm expression, pondered for a moment, and nodded in agreement.

Shen Qing could sense that Qi Jiajie's words were truly from the bottom of his heart, so he decided to give him a chance. Moreover, with Li Chungang, Han Shengxuan, and others present, even if Qi Jiajie harbored ill intentions, he probably wouldn't pose much of a threat.

After Qi Jiajie, no other martial artists at the scene spoke up to register.

Seeing this, Shen Qing gave Yang Long a wink, and Yang Long immediately understood and turned to leave, heading towards the army not far away.

At the same time, Shen Qing addressed the surrounding martial artists, "Since everyone is silent, it means you are unwilling to help the Yue Prince's Mansion solve its problems. In that case, the Yue Prince's Mansion will personally deal with the leopard demon. You may leave now."

As Shen Qing finished speaking, Yang Long led four thousand soldiers from below the city. With swords and spears like a forest, they dispersed the group of martial artists surrounding Lu Qi and confronted them.

At the same time, the old swordsman, Han Shengxuan, Li Yibai, Hong Biao, Wen Hua, Wu Liuding, Cuihua, Huang Qing, Qi Jiajie and others took a few steps forward and took over the warriors' encirclement of the weapons. They stood not far from him, staring intently at Lu Qi's figure.

"Lord Shen, you're crossing the river and burning the bridge..."

"We've lost so many lives, what right does the Yue King's Mansion have to drive us away..."

Faced with the soldiers' coercion, all the martial artists spoke with righteous indignation, but in reality, they were mostly unwilling to accept defeat. The leopard demon was right in front of them, how could they not be tempted?

Within the encirclement, Lu Qi paid no attention to the filth of the martial artists and the Yue Prince's Mansion, nor did he make any unnecessary movements. He stood quietly in place, keeping silent. At this moment, he only wanted to recover his strength as quickly as possible. Those weaklings were nothing but ants to him, while the dozen or so people in front of him were the experts who made his heart tremble. Therefore, he wanted to recover to his best condition as much as possible.

"Silence!" Shen Qing shouted at the noisy martial artists. After everyone quieted down, he said coldly, "Fellow martial artists, I gave you a chance just now. It was your own unwillingness to help the Yue Prince's Mansion. Now that the Yue Prince's Mansion has decided to deal with the leopard demon personally, you still don't want to leave. Do you want to take advantage of the chaos later?"

As Shen Qing finished speaking, his sharp gaze swept over everyone. Everyone who was looked at by Shen Qing felt embarrassed. They did indeed have this idea in mind. They wanted to wait until the leopard demon died, then abandon all martial ethics and swarm in. Whoever got what they wanted would be theirs. The Yue Prince's Mansion would probably have a hard time suppressing the riot of tens of thousands of martial artists.

"I'm giving you three minutes to leave. Otherwise, you'll be making an enemy of the Yue King's Mansion. Even if it means letting the leopard demon go, the Yue King's Mansion will wipe out everyone who dares to oppose us." After a brief silence, Shen Qing's face twisted into a ferocious expression, his tone filled with chilling killing intent as he coldly addressed the crowd.

"Kill, kill, kill..." At the same time, Yang Long and his four thousand soldiers all raised their weapons and shouted in unison. An invisible aura of iron-blooded killing intent emanated from these soldiers, making all the martial artists feel that they were not just talking, but were really going to fight.

"Form ranks, raise your spears, archers, prepare!" After three shouts in unison, Yang Long gave the order again.

Four thousand soldiers immediately formed a battle formation, with shields on the outside and spears thrusting out through them like a forest. Archers in the formation drew their bows, nocked arrows, and held them still, waiting for the order to fire at the direction from which the order was to be given.

Although the number of martial artists on the scene far exceeded that of soldiers, they still unconsciously took a few steps back in the face of the battle formation and the soldiers' resolute expressions.

"Order the cavalry to prepare for a charge!" Yang Long gave the order again. The whistling of horns sounded, and on the official road not far away, a mixed cavalry force of three hundred men, composed of surrendered soldiers from the Li Yue tribe, retainers of the Xuanyuan family, and soldiers from Kuaiji City, began to slowly increase their speed. The "clatter" of hooves grew louder and louder as the horses increased their speed, eventually becoming deafening like thunder.

As the sound of hooves grew closer, the archers in the army formation began to draw their bows and aim. A great battle was about to break out, and the air on the scene seemed to become heavy.