The morning mist had not yet dispersed.
On the official road outside Qingshui Town, the Nine Heavens Sect’s mountain-returning caravan was already in formation.
Mo Feng was in a terrible mood today.
Absolutely terrible.
He rode on his snow-white spirit horse, glancing back at the swaying carriage behind him and the young man beside it who was yawning while dragging a black iron heavy sword by its hilt.
“Lin Yue, where exactly did you go last night?” Mo Feng finally couldn’t hold back.
He urged his horse closer, his tone thick with suspicion.
Lin Yue rubbed his bloodshot eyes and answered casually, “Steward Mo, I just went to the Chen Family Villa to ‘enlighten’ the Chen Young Lady a bit. I also helped her fix the leaking roof. Busy all night, my back’s about to break.”
“Fix the roof?”
Mo Feng sneered.
“Fixed it all the way into her room, didn’t you? I’m warning you, if the Chen family complains to the Disciplinary Hall after we return to the mountain, saying you extorted property, I won’t be able to protect you!”
Lin Yue lazily waved his hand.
“Steward Mo worries too much. The Chen Young Lady saw how handsome and dashing I am and insisted on keeping me as a ‘gatekeeper.’ I, a man devoted to the Dao, naturally refused. That’s why she was crying and shouting, forcing the deed into my hands.”
Mo Feng was so angry the veins on his forehead throbbed.
He simply turned his face away, refusing to pay any more attention to this scoundrel full of nonsense.
His heart was bleeding.
That was the best-located estate in Qingshui Town.
Although the Chen family had fallen on hard times, that villa was worth at least a few hundred low-grade spirit stones.
And yet, this kid managed to swindle it away in a single night?
Dragon’s Maw Gorge.
This was the only way back to the Nine Heavens Sect.
The cliffs on either side of the gorge were as if carved by knives and axes, with only a narrow goat path less than three zhang wide running through the middle.
In local legend, this was the place where a wicked dragon had fallen, a place of perpetual, howling, sinister winds.
“Halt!”
Mo Feng suddenly reined in his spirit horse, his right hand gripping the white jade fan handle tightly.
As a Qi Refinement stage cultivator at the peak, he possessed an almost instinctive intuition for danger.
At this moment, the gorge was eerily quiet.
Even the usual sharp whistling of the wind had vanished.
“Steward Mo, why have we stopped? I was just about to take a nap,” Lin Yue asked lazily, leaning against his heavy sword.
“Shut up!” Mo Feng’s expression was grave as he stared intently at a massive boulder near the gorge entrance.
“Since you’ve come, sir, why bother hiding?”
Clap, clap, clap.
Slow, rhythmic applause sounded from behind the boulder.
A young man dressed in a dark purple robe walked out.
His features weren’t bad, but a prominent aquiline nose gave his whole face a somewhat gloomy cast.
A frivolous smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
“Steward Mo, three years apart, and your perception hasn’t dulled. A pity… your cultivation is as rotten as ever.”
Mo Feng’s face changed drastically upon seeing the man, and he exclaimed,
“Zhao Wu? You dare return to Nine Heavens Sect territory?”
Lin Yue, who had been half-squinting, quietly opened his eyes a slit.
Zhao Wu.
He searched his memory for a moment.
This was also a “celebrity.”
Three years ago, he was the number one genius among the outer sect disciples, even pre-selected as a core disciple.
But because he tried to harass the personal disciple of an inner sect elder in the back mountains (though he failed), his cultivation was publicly crippled, and he was expelled from the sect.
“It was I, Mo Feng, who personally oversaw your punishment and threw you down the mountain,” Mo Feng said, holding his fan horizontally, spiritual power beginning to surge around him.
“It seems three years of exile haven’t taught you what ‘awe’ means.”
“Awe?” Zhao Wu smiled a sinister smile, his eyes revealing a hint of madness.
“Mo Feng, do you really think I’ve been begging for scraps these three years? I joined the ‘Blood Fiend Sect.’ I’ve long since successfully established my Foundation!”
“Foundation Establishment?!”
Mo Feng cried out involuntarily.
Most outer sect stewards of the Nine Heavens Sect were at the Qi Refinement stage.
If the opponent had reached Foundation Establishment, this would be a one-sided slaughter.
“But don’t worry, I’m not here for you today.”
Zhao Wu’s gaze swept past Mo Feng, landing squarely on Lin Yue—or more precisely, on the corner of a green jade token peeking out from Lin Yue’s robes.
“Junior Brother Lin, what good fortune,” Zhao Wu licked his lips, his eyes greedy.
“Chu Wanning’s Lifebound Jade Token. A treasure like this… is a waste like you worthy of holding it?”
Lin Yue sighed, took the jade token from his robes, and tossed it in his hand a few times.
“Old brother, if you want it, just say so. Don’t act like I stole your wife. But this thing is hot. Are you sure you want it?”
“Hand it over, and I’ll give you a quick death.”
Zhao Wu slowly drew a dark red longsword.
The blade emitted a nauseating smell of blood.
“Steward Mo, look at this mess,” Lin Yue said with an innocent expression, looking at Mo Feng.
“He’s here for me. Why don’t you take the team and go ahead? I’ll stay behind and ‘catch up’ with him?”
Mo Feng’s heart was in turmoil.
Run?
As a steward, abandoning a disciple and supplies to flee alone would surely lead to his cultivation being crippled upon returning to the mountain.
Fight?
But that’s Foundation Establishment!
However, when he saw Lin Yue’s utterly calm, unflappable demeanor, his heart suddenly jolted.
Something’s wrong.
Very wrong!
This Lin Yue yesterday eliminated a Shadow Ghost at the Chen residence that even I couldn’t sense.
Today, facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he’s not afraid at all?
Could it be… this kid has been hiding his cultivation all along?
Could he have an inner sect elder behind him, setting a trap?
Thinking this, Mo Feng gritted his teeth and actually took a step forward.
“Junior Brother Lin, don’t panic! We are fellow sect brothers. How can I let you face this traitor alone! Zhao Wu, if you want the token, you’ll have to get through me first!”
Lin Yue was stunned.
He had intended for Mo Feng to scram so he could test his newly unlocked moves freely.
So why had Mo Feng suddenly gotten all heroic?
“Steward Mo, why bother?” Lin Yue scratched his head.
“He’s Foundation Establishment. Your fan… probably can’t fan him away.”
“Enough nonsense! Stand with me to face the enemy!”
Mo Feng shouted loudly, his fan slashing out a cyan-colored wind blade.
“Ant.”
Zhao Wu swung his longsword disdainfully.
A bloody sword light instantly shattered the wind blade.
The residual force sent Mo Feng staggering back over ten steps, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
“With skills like that, you dare to play the hero?”
Zhao Wu let out a cruel laugh, his figure vanishing like a ghost.
The next moment, he appeared above Lin Yue’s head.
The blood-red longsword descended with a shrill shriek.
“Die!”
Lin Yue didn’t move.
He didn’t even blink.
Just as the blade was three inches from his scalp, Lin Yue gripped the hilt of the black iron heavy sword with one hand and casually flicked it upward.
CLANG!!!
A deafening crash, as if two iron mountains had collided violently in mid-air.
A visible ripple spread through the air.
The scattered rocks around them were instantly pulverized into dust.
Zhao Wu felt an overwhelming, mountainous force transmitted through his sword.
The tiger mouths of both his hands split instantly.
That blood sword, capable of severing magical artifacts, was actually rebounded by that ugly iron pillar.
He tumbled several times in the air before barely landing, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“How is this possible?! You’re only Qi Refinement. Where did you get such strength?”
Lin Yue shook his numb wrist, looking at the heavy sword with disgust.
“I told you it was heavy, but you had to crash into it. Old brother, did you use pills to rush your Foundation Establishment? Seems pretty weak to me.”