Several experts capable of silent movement had already slipped behind the man, closing in from all sides.
He lifted his chin slightly, letting the banquet hall’s light fall across his face. A mountain goat mask covered his features, its red-and-white patterns sharp and striking.
“Try stopping me… if you can…”
Slowly, deliberately, he stepped forward.
“Ka-cha!!”
Lightning tore across the cold, dark sky above the vast forest.
Wisps of white mist drifted through the woods, drowning the towering trees in a pall of gloomy fog.
“Boom.”
A heavy footstep thundered from deep within the forest, startling the insects and beasts hidden beneath the earth. Bushes rustled faintly as bugs and worms scattered in terror.
Moments passed, and the forest seemed on the verge of returning to its eerie calm.
“Boom.”
Another step echoed.
“Boom.”
“Boom.”
“Boom.”
A steady, rhythmic cadence followed, each stride sending tremors through the ground. Something immense was approaching through the white fog.
Before long, a colossal gray titan emerged from the forest. In its hand was a cudgel as thick as a man’s waist.
Its face bore only a single eye and a single mouth. The eye was absurdly small, no larger than a walnut, surrounded by layers of wrinkled gray cuticle, resembling the aperture of a camera.
Step by step, the titan advanced until it came to a halt before two enormous trees.
The ancient giants loomed over the fog-shrouded forest, their vast canopies spanning more than ten meters, blotting out the occasional flash of lightning above.
“Bam.”
Without warning, two massive crimson eyes opened in the air before the titan.
Each eye alone was nearly as tall as the titan itself.
A crimson glow spilled from the elongated eyes, staining the surrounding fog a deep, blood-red.
“Oh…”
A long, heavy voice rumbled from behind those eyes, carrying a note of puzzlement.
“It’s you, Chao Hu.”
The titan lowered the cudgel from his shoulder and bowed deeply in respect.
“I’ve failed… I let that woman get away…”
The red eyes rotated slowly, then fixed their gaze upon him.
“The shard. The largest shard was seized by her. She cannot escape… you still have a chance.”
“Yes. I still have a chance.” The titan, Chao Hu, nodded. “I’ve ordered my subordinate to release a piece of Phantom Breaking Jade. Half a month from now, I’ll locate her directly. This time, she won’t get away.”
“I trust you.” The massive eyes spoke at a measured pace.
“I grew careless last time… this time, I won’t let my guard down.” A flicker of madness and cruelty danced within Chao Hu’s lone eye.
“Be careful. The more lives she takes, the stronger she becomes. That is the nature of the Scarlet Dragon Tribulation,” the colossal eyes cautioned.
“I understand.”
…………
In the span of a mere seven days, a seismic change struck Donglin Manor in Jie Long City.
The Sect Master of one of the city’s two greatest sects, Green Star Sect’s Meat Dragon, had been hosting an evening banquet for allied sect leaders when he died under mysterious circumstances.
He was not alone.
Every leader who had attended that banquet perished as well. In a single night, half of Jie Long City’s factions were decapitated, opening an enormous opportunity for White Sands Sect.
Yet something about it all felt strange.
As White Sands Sect moved swiftly to absorb Green Star Sect’s remaining forces, its own Sect Master never appeared in public. Rumor had it that he had fallen ill and was recuperating at home. Others claimed that he had suddenly entered solitary confinement that very night, handing all authority to his deputy and subordinates.
Jie Long City’s lifeblood was fishing. The sects controlled the majority of the ships and boats. With the factions thrown into chaos, the fishing industry was inevitably dragged into the turmoil.
Soon after, whispers spread throughout the pugilistic world. Many inner force experts in the city had either suffered inexplicable accidents, vanished without a trace, or retreated into seclusion.
Some even linked these events to Crimson Whale Sect’s recent summons, which had by now become common knowledge. It was widely speculated that Jie Long City had refused to obey, prompting Crimson Whale Sect to send agents to mete out punishment. The rumors were vivid, detailed, and frighteningly convincing.
Lu Sheng folded the memo in his hand.
It contained the latest intelligence on the upheaval in Jie Long City, delivered by his spies.
In truth, there was no need for him to read it at all.
Every one of those changes had been wrought by his own hands.
He was the one who had killed them.
As for those who had “entered solitary confinement,” they had done so out of necessity. Their inner Qi had been drained dry by him. Seclusion was the only way to conceal the fact that their inner force had been completely exhausted.
Over the past seventy days, Lu Sheng had crossed the several-hundred-li stretch between the Crimson Whale and Jie Long City countless times, yet not a single soul had discovered his movements.
In just seven days, he had absorbed the inner force of forty-three experts. Their inner Qi was far too impure. After conversion into Aquarius Qi, less than ten percent remained.
In total, it had only yielded three additional drops of liquefied Qi.
Lu Sheng shook his head.
Only inner Qi forged through the cultivation of top-tier techniques was truly worth harvesting. Everything else was largely a waste of effort.
During his operations in Jie Long City, eighty percent of the inner Qi he obtained came from the city’s top five experts. The remaining forty-three combined contributed a mere twenty percent.
Three drops of liquefied Qi. Roughly equivalent to three hundred years of inner force.
Lu Sheng focused inward, sensing the Qi flowing through his Yin Crane Web. Factoring in what he had absorbed from the Mountain Tiger Clan earlier and after conversion, his Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill now held seven drops of liquefied Qi.
The slower pace was deliberate. He had been carefully keeping Yin and Yang in balance.
Both his Aquarius Qi and Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill had reached seven hundred years of cultivation.
With Jie Long City dealt with, Gong Zhi City was next.
If he could extract another three drops of liquefied Qi there, his cultivation would rise to eight hundred years. After that would come Li Huan City, and then Xi Chuan Manor.
His eyes narrowed.
The moment he discovered that Yin Crane Web allowed him to absorb inner Qi, his advance became unstoppable, like an inexorable tide.
As the liquefied Qi within him continued to expand, even his formidable body began to feel the pressure, a faint sense of bloating spreading through his frame.
Under the equilibrium of Yin and Yang, he had gained several hundred years of cultivation in mere days.
Such speed rivaled the rate at which he had once upgraded his techniques using Yin Qi alone.
“Reporting to Sect Master, a letter from the court’s Intelligence Agency.”
The guard’s soft voice drifted in from outside the door.
Pulled from his reverie, Lu Sheng returned to the present.
“Bring it over.”
The door opened. The guard entered, placed the letter gently on the table, bowed, and withdrew.
Only after the door closed did Lu Sheng turn around. He walked to the table, picked up the envelope, and broke the seal.
It was an invitation from Taoist Baifeng, requesting a meeting to discuss Crimson Whale Sect’s recent actions.
The wording was sharp, bordering on accusatory, clearly intended to apply pressure.
Lu Sheng laughed softly.
“I forgot. They still think I’m at the Third-Vein Level.”
To the outside world, his known combat record extended no further than his initial clash with the umbrella girl. Every battle that followed, including the slaying of Emissaries and Officiators, had been deliberately concealed.
As a result, Taoist Baifeng and Xiao Hongye’s understanding of him remained frozen in the past.
In their eyes, he was nothing more than a Nobleman from a declining bloodline who had attached himself to the Shangyang Family.
Taoist Baifeng was at the Three-Vein Level. So was Xiao Hongye.
To the current Lu Sheng, neither of them posed the slightest concern.
He set the letter on the table and sank into thought.
It would still be worth attending.
Now that he knew he was not the Scarlet District Mistress’ target, there was little harm in gathering more information firsthand.
After burning the letter, Lu Sheng attended to several sect matters, then stepped out to have his meal.
Around the same time, Jade Lotus sought him out with fresh reports from across the region.
“This is the summary intelligence report on the chaos in Jie Long City, where Green Star Sect’s Sect Master Meat Dragon and an entire cohort of experts met with misfortune in a single night.” He presented a carefully prepared scroll.
“Put it aside. Any other matters?” Lu Sheng’s tone was calm and emotionless.
“Besides that, Young Master Shangyang Ce departed the Northern Lands this morning aboard a large vessel bound for the frozen ocean,” Jade Lotus reported gravely. “Young Miss Shangyang Jiuli has also sent over a list of new medicinal herbs she requires. Some of them are not in our stores and will need to be gathered personally.”
“News!”
A guard suddenly rushed to the doorway.
“Miss Chen Yunxi has set out for here. Lord Ning San has dispatched men to escort her. Please give your instructions, Sect Master.”
“Yunxi?” Lu Sheng frowned slightly.
“What is she coming here for?”
He had been so preoccupied lately that he had not visited her in some time. Others around him had been handling her care in his stead.
This was a critical period. The conflict between the Scarlet District Mistress and the Wandering Heart Society could erupt at any moment. There was a real chance he might be dragged into it.
On top of that, Ye Moling, the Deputy Manor Lord of Ashoka Manor, was still investigating the death of the Officiator. Given Lu Sheng’s involvement, a single misstep could expose him.
At such a time, Lu Sheng had no mind for romance.
Yet Chen Yunxi was his fiancée. Now that she was coming to see him, he could not simply turn her away.
After a moment’s consideration, he spoke.
“Take her to the garden.”
“Yes, sir!”
Lu Sheng paused, then asked,
“Did she come alone? Or are there others with her?”
“In reply to Sect Master, she came alone. Young Miss Yunxi left home in disguise and came here secretly.”
Lu Sheng’s expression darkened.
Beside him, Jade Lotus barely managed to suppress a laugh.
“Sect Master has been extremely busy of late. You may not know this, but Miss Yunxi often visits the temple to burn incense and pray for your safety.”
At those words, Lu Sheng’s expression softened.
“She’s been thoughtful.”
He waved his hand lightly.
“You may go. Handle the remaining affairs as you see fit. Also, keep an eye on Deputy Sect Master Chen Ying’s condition. Prepare some recovery-promoting medicine for him and monitor his diet closely.”
“Understood. Rest assured, Sect Master. I’ll see to it personally.”
Lu Sheng nodded. He trusted Jade Lotus completely.
After issuing a few more instructions, he turned and headed toward the garden.
The sky hung low and gloomy. After nearly an hour of waiting in the garden, Chen Yunxi finally hurried in, dressed in men’s attire.
“Lu Sheng! You haven’t visited me.”
The brightest, sweetest smile bloomed across her face.
“I’m not going anywhere tonight. I’ll stay here with you, how about that?”
Lu Sheng smiled back at her. He studied her for so long that Chen Yunxi lowered her head shyly. Only then did he chuckle.
“I want to. But it wouldn’t be good for you.” He reached out and gently caressed her cheek.
A faint thread of Yin Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi slipped silently into Chen Yunxi’s body through that touch.
Born from life force–based techniques, Aquarius Qi, when carefully controlled, could nourish the body and vital essence without forming an Yin Crane Web. It was exceptionally effective for strengthening the physique and extending one’s lifespan.
That was precisely why Lu Sheng intended to eliminate any hidden ailments within his fiancée first, before doing the same for his family members, such as Lu Quanan.
Yet the smile on Lu Sheng’s face vanished the instant his inner Qi fully entered Chen Yunxi’s body.
He sensed it.
A trace of an unfamiliar, abnormal aura.
Hidden deep within her was an extremely well-concealed presence, one that bore an uncanny resemblance to the aura of the Scarlet District Mistress.
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