Luo Feng pondered over the subtle discord in Lu Zhao’s swordsmanship.

Swipe!

Seeing Luo Feng lost in thought, Lu Zhao’s eyes turned cold. He pushed his Shattered Shadow Step to the extreme, stirring the airflow into a haze of shadows, darting wildly through the dense forest. His true form hid in the shadows of trees, circling to Luo Feng’s side.

"Die!"

He infused all his Yuan Qi into his treasured sword. Lu Zhao’s right arm became a blur, and the sharp sword light vanished instantly into the void.

Though this strike lacked the previous intent realm, its angle was extremely tricky, its speed faster, like a cold venomous snake diving at Luo Feng. The surrounding air it touched was sliced into tatters by the sharp aura, unable to recombine.

"I’ve been waiting for you."

Luo Feng sneered, executing the Sky Cloud Step, leaning back and shooting backward.

At the same time, a dazzling fiery glow lit up the whole forest. Eight Sky Fire King’s Arms appeared behind Luo Feng, covering the vast void. The intense heat distorted the surrounding air violently, creating ripples like water waves.

"Invincible in battle!"

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and Luo Feng’s robes puffed up instantly. The forceful fist wind, like a meteoric storm, blasted out fiercely. The wild, domineering aura seemed like a comet crashing down, threatening to destroy the world.

"No!"

Feeling the terrifying power contained in the fist force, Lu Zhao’s face changed drastically. He gripped his sword with both hands, sweeping half a circle in front of him to pull up a sword curtain as a shield, seizing the chance to retreat.

But it was too late.

Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam...

In the air, a dense mass of fist shadows enveloped the entire space where Lu Zhao stood.

Crunch!

The sharp sword light was shattered by two punches. Swallowed by the fist shadows, Lu Zhao could only desperately channel his Yuan Qi, reinforcing his Protective Gang Energy in hopes of withstanding this terrifying strike.

In an instant, deafening sonic booms erupted. The azure light screen on Lu Zhao’s body vibrated violently, and after withstanding over a dozen fist shadows, it finally couldn’t hold, exploding abruptly.

"No!"

Lu Zhao let out an unwilling, fierce roar, then was instantly engulfed by the fist shadows again.

In moments, everything fell silent.

The direction where Lu Zhao was, within a range of dozens of meters in the forest, was unrecognizable. The ground sank nearly ten meters, forming a massive concave shape.

Lu Zhao lay at the pit’s bottom, his clothes in tatters, his body covered in blood, barely clinging to life. His eyes were filled with venomous hatred as he glared at Luo Feng.

Sizzle!

Luo Feng swung his saber down, carving a massive saber mark into the ground, completely extinguishing Lu Zhao’s life.

"Those who cause their own destruction can’t survive..."

Inserting Emperor Yan’s Sky-breaking Saber back into its sheath, Luo Feng shook his head. With a gesture, the storage ring on Lu Zhao’s right hand flew into his hand.

Just as he was about to inspect the contents of the storage ring, Luo Feng suddenly noticed a point of light flashing beneath Lu Zhao’s torn clothes.

Hmm?

Raising an eyebrow, Luo Feng brought his two fingers together, slicing through the air.

Riiiip.

The already tattered clothing crumbled completely, revealing a shocking sight. A brocade bag in Lu Zhao’s bosom spilled out over a dozen storage rings!

Swipe!

With a wave, Luo Feng collected all the storage rings. After a quick glance, his brow slightly furrowed.

These storage rings were covered in blood, some of it still fresh. From the lingering aura, they appeared to belong to different people.

"So that’s it. These people were ambushing other teams to seize wealth. They suddenly attacked us probably because they saw us kill an Asura and wanted to claim it, but they ran into me instead."

After a brief consideration, Luo Feng immediately understood the cause and effect. The trace of pity he felt for Lu Zhao quickly dissipated.

With the Demon Sect threatening us, this person still harmed other Golden Palace disciples for a little profit, even more malicious than a Demon Sect disciple. Had he not been killed by me, who knows how many others would have died.

"I’ve avenged you all, may you rest in peace."

Exhaling, Luo Feng stored the storage rings away.

Hmm! Someone’s coming?

Just thinking about how to deal with Lu Zhao’s body, Luo Feng’s brow furrowed. A kilometer away, five figures were racing in this direction at incredible speed.

Taking one last glance at the body, ensuring no suspicious traces were left, Luo Feng darted into the dense forest, heading toward where Xia Yunjing and the others were.

Lu Zhao was a disciple of the Sky Sword Pavilion and a master on the New Dragon List. If it were discovered that he killed Lu Zhao, it would be quite troublesome.

Whoosh!

The air flowed, and leaves rustled. The first to arrive was a young maiden in a red martial outfit, with striking features and a heroic but feminine presence. Four more figures landed beside her soon after.

The heroic maiden glanced in the direction Luo Feng had left, her brows slightly furrowed. From a kilometer away, she sensed someone here and rushed over at full speed, only to have the person leave before arriving; in terms of Qinggong, she wasn’t his match.

Instinctively, the heroic maiden began pondering the person’s identity.

In the last New Dragon List assembly, she ranked twenty-fifth. There wouldn’t be more than twenty people in the Six Southern Domains’ Golden Palaces who surpassed her Qinggong cultivation. This person couldn’t be an unknown figure.

The names of the top thirty masters on the New Dragon List flashed through her mind, but none matched the figure she saw earlier.

"Ah!"

At this moment, a shout of surprise came from the side.

"Sister Lin, look quickly!"

The girl in red turned her head, raising her eyebrows.

"Lu Zhao, the Bloodless Sword, he’s dead here?"

A young man beside her looked at Lu Zhao’s body, his eyes revealing a trace of coldness. Clenching his fists, he said:

"Before Junior Sister Jin died, she said that it was Lu Zhao who attacked them while they were battling disciples of the Demon Sect. I wanted to avenge Junior Sister Jin and the others, but unexpectedly he is already dead! Truly, evil deeds are met with evil ends, and good deeds with good returns!"

The group were disciples of Yuangang Hall, and the woman in red was Lin Hongyi, who was ranked twenty-fifth in the last New Dragon Ranking and was known as the Crimson Skeleton.

Earlier on their journey, they found the bodies of some Yuangang Hall disciples, one of whom still had a bit of breath. From her lips, Lin Hongyi learned of Lu Zhao’s ambush, and immediately led people on a pursuit, but didn’t expect to find Lu Zhao’s corpse here.

"Hmm, Lu Zhao’s storage ring is gone, surely the person just now killed him!"

"That person might be Lu Zhao’s companion, killed him to silence him over unevenly split loot. They killed Junior Sister Jin and the others, we must not let them go!"

"Indeed, Sister Lin, let’s chase after them!"

The Yuangang Hall disciples spoke with growing excitement, exuding threads of murderous intent.

"Wait."

The red-clothed girl stopped them.

One person asked in confusion, "Sister, what’s wrong?"

"The cause and effect of things are not yet clear, don’t jump to conclusions. Besides, their Qinggong is better than mine, we can’t catch up to him."

Lin Hongyi shook her head.

"Sister, his Qinggong is even better than yours!"

The Yuangang Hall disciples widened their eyes, staring straight at Lin Hongyi.

It was no wonder they were so shocked. At the last New Dragon Ranking Tournament, Lin Hongyi ranked twenty-fifth, and now she had reached the late stage of the Seventh Spiritual Rotation Realm. In the next New Dragon Ranking tournament, she had a great chance of breaking into the top twenty, or even the top fifteen!

That someone’s Qinggong could surpass Lin Hongyi’s was truly unbelievable.

Like being doused with cold water, several people took a deep breath. "Sister, could that person be a master in the top twenty of the New Dragon Ranking?"

Lin Hongyi did not answer, but instead turned and walked to Lu Zhao’s body. With her jade-like fingers, she brushed over the saber marks left by Luo Feng, and slowly said:

"This person is a saber man, and his boxing realm is also quite good. Among the top twenty masters of the New Dragon Ranking, there are only two saber men: one is the seventh of the ten new dragons, the Purple Dragon Swordsman, Han Wudao. The other is the eighteenth on the New Dragon Ranking, Yi Feifan, the Divine Wind Saber. Han Wudao specializes in saber techniques and only uses a saber to kill. Yi Feifan’s saber technique is as fast as the wind, and those killed by him would be utterly disfigured, the saber marks wouldn’t be so domineering. It shouldn’t be either of them."

"Then who is it? Could that person be a disciple of the Demon Sect?" Several people looked puzzled.

Lin Hongyi stood up, glanced in the direction where Luo Feng had left:

"I have remembered his Qinggong. As long as he appears again, I will recognize him. If he is not Lu Zhao’s accomplice, that’s good; if he really killed Junior Sister Jin and the others..."

Lin Hongyi’s clothes flapped loudly, her bright eyes slightly chilling, as she punched towards the dense forest on the left.

With a rumbling sound, what seemed like a weak punch carried incredibly terrifying power, creating a whirlwind that swept out, splintering the trees within a hundred-meter fan-shaped area, pulverizing them with fierce Qi Force.

The Yuangang Hall disciples watched with their hearts pounding, knowing Lin Hongyi was serious.

One person said: "Sister, what about Lu Zhao’s body?"

Lin Hongyi glanced at the body coldly and said:

"Such a despicable person, just leave him here to feed the Demon Beasts. If that person is a disciple of the Golden Palace, he’s surely headed to Blackwater Lake, we’ll wait for him there."

Bang!

With those words, Lin Hongyi stepped forward, her figure shooting out like a bullet.

She moved entirely in a straight line, and every tree blocking her path was crashed through. Looking closely, one could see a thin layer of golden light on her body’s surface, like a female War God, imposing as a mountain.

The other four Yuangang Hall disciples were already used to it, using their Qinggong to follow closely behind Lin Hongyi.

"Among those five people just now, one person’s aura far surpassed mine, probably a Martial Artist in the Seventh Spiritual Rotation Realm, but I don’t know who it was."

After a few miles, Luo Feng slowed down, still somewhat surprised as he recalled the aura of those five people.

A moment later, he took a deep breath, no longer thinking about the person’s identity, and secured the storage rings on him, planning to examine them slowly when he had the chance.

Golden Palace disciples are very wealthy, and Lu Zhao was a youthful talent ranked fortieth on the New Dragon Ranking. The wealth in these dozen or so storage rings should be quite a surprise.

Swish!

His figure flickered as Luo Feng headed towards where Xia Yunjing was.

He had not gone more than a mile when he spotted a few people.

Xia Yunjing and the others were very worried about Luo Feng and had come along the way looking for him. Seeing him, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lu Zhao is dead?" Xia Yunjing glanced at Luo Feng and asked.

Luo Feng nodded, saying: "He still had a few storage rings belonging to others. On his way, he probably killed quite a few people."

Hearing this, their expressions shook, and Nanxuan bit her lip, saying: "That person is so despicable! Amidst such a formidable enemy, he still does such things; isn’t he afraid of being held accountable?"

"But this is the Misty Swamp, full of demon beasts and Demon Sect disciples. As long as no evidence is left behind, who would know it was their doing?"

Luo Feng shook his head and said: "Alright, let’s not talk about them. We need to head to Blackwater Lake; the decisive battle might soon begin."

"Alright."

The five made their decision and immediately hurried on their way.