Against the Assassins 

Zenki and the others were just outside the forest, following the trails left by Mengting and Zhang Yitian. As they hurried along, they could see the thick smoke rising in the distance, the signal that they had planned on when they had succesfully secured Yu Mei from the assassins. Zenki quickly signaled the guards, Mingliang and Zhen Yi, to follow him and set out to reinforce Chen Jing, Zhang Yitian, and Mengting.

As they sprinted towards the origin of the smoke, Zenki's concern for Yu Mei, Mengting, Zhang Yitian, and Chen Jing's safety grew, urging him to hasten his steps.

At the same time, the assassins began equipping themselves with their spiritual weapons, even though most of them are just using the weapons with only a one star rating, they still out geared Zhang Yitian, Chen Jing and Mengting.

As their adversaries prepared to charge towards them, realizing they were ill-prepared to face them head-on, Mengting gave a nod to Zhang Yitian and Chen Jing. This was the signal they had agreed upon earlier - if the reinforcement unit wasn't in the vicinity and they deemed themselves outmatched, they would scatter in different directions after rescuing Yu Mei.

As the bulk of the assassins zeroed in on Chen Jing, their primary target, a few gave chase to Mengting and Zhang Yitian. The latter was sprinting with Yu Mei cradled in a princess carry, hoping to escape the clutches of their pursuers.

Unfortunately, the first one who the assassins successfully pursued and had forced to stop was Zhang Yitian. This was because he was carrying Yu Mei in his arms that decreased his overall speed which resulted in them being caught. Thankfully though, there were only three of them that followed him and Yu Mei as he was not their primary objective.

"Yu Mei, please stay back a little" Zhang Yitian told Yu Mei solemnly

With a solemn expression, Zhang Yitian withdrew his trusted spear from his spatial ring. He knew that he couldn't clash with the assassins' weapons directly since his own was only made by a mortal and was thus an ordinary spear. It would definitely break if he tried to clash with a one-star rated spiritual weapon.

Zhang Yitian took some comfort in the fact that all the assassins pursuing him were at the same cultivation level as he was, which was beginner spiritual ascending martial artist. This meant that he and Yu Mei could still survive if he played his cards right and kept a cool head.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Zhang Yitian narrowly dodged an assassin's saber as it came hurtling towards him. He had channeled lightning into his nerves, enhancing his senses to an extreme level. Despite successfully evading the attack, he knew there would be repercussions. "The aftermath of this move is going to hurt," he thought. Even though he possessed a thunderstrike physique that enabled him to control lightning, he would still suffer some backlash from the exertion.

As he swiftly evaded the first assassin's attack, Zhang Yitian also managed to avoid the second one's vertical strike. But as he sensed yet another assassin charging towards him from behind, he executed a somersault and, while in mid-air, unleashed a powerful stream of lightning from his finger towards the enemy's back.

Ducking to avoid a horizontal strike from an assassin, Zhang Yitian swiftly swept his foot towards the attacker's calf, causing them to stumble and fall to the ground.

He then used his spear to strike the staggered foe with a powerful vertical attack, using his jump to add momentum to the strike. Afterwards, he quickly rolled to the side to dodge another assassin's slash, narrowly avoiding losing more than a few strands of hair in the process.

Observing Zhang Yitian skillfully fighting off the assassins, Yu Mei's thoughts couldn't help but wander towards her own lack of martial training. "If I make it out of this alive," she mused to herself, "I'll tell my father to let me learn martial arts, so that I won't be a liability in situations like this."

Despite dodging a string of coordinated attacks from the assassins, Zhang Yitian sustained minor wounds throughout the skirmish. However, he finally managed to strike back and kill one of the attackers by charging lightning to his finger and successfully hitting the foe while evading an attack aimed at him.

As the assassins' fallen comrade plummeted to the ground, another one quickly capitalized on the moment and ambushed Zhang Yitian from behind. With no time to evade, he resorted to blocking the incoming strike with his weapon, causing it to shatter into pieces and sending his body hurtling towards a nearby tree, which he crashed into with a sickening thud.

While still in a kneeling position, using his broken spear shaft as a support, he could not help but think "Is this the end?" while looking at the two assassins approaching him for the kill.

Suddenly, multiple arrows appeared and rained down on the assassins. One of them managed to evade the onslaught, but the other was hit and died from the wounds.

Zenki and about a third of the guards he brought with him suddenly appeared in front of the assassin. "Dad!" Yu Mei called out emotionally, relieved at the sight of her father.

He glanced at Yu Mei to ensure that she was unharmed before turning his attention back to the remaining assassin. He realized that despite their numerical advantage, the assassins' higher cultivation level put them at a disadvantage.

Zenki, having lived a past life on earth before being reincarnated into this world, had gained a vast knowledge of modern warfare tactics. As he faced the remaining assassin together with the guards he brought, he quickly assessed the situation and began to formulate a plan. He signaled to the guards to fan out and surround the assassin.

Zenki then ordered the guards to maintain a safe distance from the assassin and use their bows and arrows to attack from range, while he himself used his own bow and arrow to launch a barrage of arrows at the assassin. The guards were skeptical at first, as they were used to fighting with traditional weapons, but Zenki's expertise in archery quickly convinced them of the effectiveness of this tactic.

As the assassin tried to evade the incoming arrows, Zenki instructed the guards to take turns firing, creating a constant barrage of arrows that made it difficult for the assassin to launch a counterattack.

Zenki also took advantage of the terrain, using the trees and other natural obstacles to his advantage. He instructed the guards to create a pincer movement, with half of them attacking from the front while the other half flanked the assassin from the side.

The assassin, realizing he was outnumbered and outmatched, attempted to flee. However, Zenki had anticipated this and had already instructed the guards to set up traps and block his escape routes.

The assassin, now trapped and cornered, had no choice but to get hit by the arrows.

Thanks to Zenki's knowledge of modern tactics and the guards' willingness to adapt to new methods of fighting, they were able to neutralize the threat with minimal casualties on their side. Zenki's past life experiences proved to be invaluable in this situation and showed the importance of constantly learning and adapting to new strategies in the face of danger.

Zenki: "Zhang Yitian, are you alright?"

Zhang Yitian: "I'll be fine, thank you. I owe you and your guards my life."

Zenki: "Don't mention it. We're just glad we arrived in time."

Yu Mei: "Dad, how did you learn to fight like that? You were using tactics I've never seen before."

Zenki: "Well, my dear, I've had read some books of tactics from a foreign nation and decided to try it if it would work."

Zhang Yitian: "That was impressive. I've never seen anyone fight like that before."

Zenki: "It's all about adapting to the situation and using whatever resources you have. We were outnumbered, so we had to rely on strategy and surprise attacks to even the odds."

Yu Mei: "I'm just glad you're safe, Dad. Thank you for saving us."

Zenki: "Of course, my dear. It's a father's duty to protect his daughter. Now, let's get you both to safety and medical attention."

Zenki commanded several guards to transport Zhang Yitian and safely guide Yu Mei back to the castle for medical attention. As they departed, he couldn't shake the concern about the situation unfolding with Zhen Yi, Mingliang, Chen Jing, and Mengting.

Turning to Zhang Yitian, who was being carried away, he shouted, "Yitian, make sure to recover properly"

Yu Mei, who was walking beside him, couldn't help but add, "And I want to learn martial arts from you, Zhang Yitian! I want to be able to protect myself and help protect my family!"

Zenki nodded his agreement, "Yes, learning martial arts would be a great benefit to you, Yu Mei. We must always be prepared for the worst."

As they continued their walk back to the castle, Zenki couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. He needed to know what was happening with the rest of his team and what actions he could take to reinforce them.