He didn’t make it far—only about a couple of miles.

The youth in black finally couldn’t run any further.

He had been inside Feiyun Stronghold, where he’d suffered a brutal beating for an entire day.

He’d only just managed to escape that evening, and before he could even catch his breath, Jiang Ran had set him up.

Now, he was at his absolute limit.

His only choice was to stop and fight for his life.

And these men in black were all highly skilled martial artists.

Several of them attacked at once. Fists, feet, and weapons came at him from all directions, leaving the youth in black struggling to fend them off, looking utterly wretched.

But his techniques were exquisite. Though he used his hands as blades, his skill was far from ordinary.

For the time being, he was able to barely hold on.

But by now, rage was boiling inside him, and he roared:

"We... we have no quarrel! Why are you so intent on killing me?!"

’No quarrel? Then why were you spouting threats?’

Why would the men in black believe a word he said?

Their business tonight was supposed to be a secret. Having found someone spying on them, how could they possibly leave a witness alive?

Their attacks became even more frantic, intent only on a swift kill.

The youth in black knew reasoning was pointless. With a powerful strike, he forced the men around him back for a moment.

He immediately changed his footwork and took a deep breath. Coordinating with his steps, his arms executed a series of different moves, yet he held the power back, unreleased.

Streams of Gang Qi, sharp as a blade’s edge, instantly swirled and coiled around his arms.

He brought his hands together, then raised them high.

With a HUM, the gleam of a blade shot toward the heavens, as if he were brandishing a great saber.

The men in black were stunned by the sight. One of them cried out in shock:

"The Grand Transformation Divine Blade!?"

The words had barely faded when the youth in black, using his hand as a blade, slashed down abruptly.

A blade nearly twenty feet long materialized from thin air and fell with a thunderous crash.

To be caught under that falling blade meant either death or grave injury.

The leader of the men in black roared in anger. He shook his arms, and a loud CLATTERING sound erupted from them.

He threw two quick punches, striking the blade’s edge and faintly shaking the immense Gang Qi construct.

Yet it wasn’t enough to stop the blade’s descent.

In the end, he could only cross his arms above his head and focus his inner energy there. With a low HUM...

...his formless Inner Strength met the blade of Gang Qi, stopping it dead in mid-air.

As the two forces collided, a violent gale of Gang Qi erupted in all directions.

The youth in black’s eyes were filled with a vicious light. He pressed down with both hands, intending to cleave the man beneath his blade.

The leader of the men in black struggled with all his might, but he was ultimately no match for the Grand Transformation Divine Blade. He was utterly helpless as he watched the Gang Qi blade press down on him, inch by excruciating inch.

Just as the blade’s edge was about to slice through his body and cut him in two...

...a red glow suddenly flared in the man’s eyes from beneath his black hood.

Immediately after, waves of blood-red True Qi erupted from his body, surging up his arms and flooding into the suspended blade.

It dyed the massive Gang Qi blade a ghastly shade of red.

The face of the youth in black contorted in horror.

"The Blood Cauldron Scripture!?"

As the words left his lips, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood and was thrown backward.

The blade of light vanished. The dissipating Gang Qi shredded the leader’s hood, instantly revealing a rather aged face.

The youth in black looked up, his face a mask of sheer disbelief.

"Gu Mosheng? How can it be you?"

’Gu Mosheng?’

From his hiding spot, Jiang Ran was also slightly taken aback to hear this name.

He hadn’t been idle during his two days in Cangzhou Prefecture.

He had gathered a fair bit of information about the local state of affairs.

Within Cangzhou Prefecture were three major gangs: the Qinghe Gang, the Three-Part Hall, and the Sunset Gang.

The Qinghe Gang’s leader was Fan Yumou, the Hall Master of the Three-Part Hall was Rong Lie... and the Gang Leader of the Sunset Gang was this very same Gu Mosheng.

The fifteenth of the seventh month was just around the corner. As the Gang Leader of the Sunset Gang, Gu Mosheng was naturally on the guest list for Shopkeeper Wan’s Heroic Assembly.

’So why is he sneaking around Feiyun Stronghold looking for Li Feiyun?’

Just as this thought crossed Jiang Ran’s mind, he heard the youth in black speak with great difficulty.

"I thought... that only Fan Yumou and Fan Jiwu were colluding with Feiyun Stronghold to cultivate the Demon Sect’s Eighteen Celestial Demon Records...

"I never thought that you, Gu Mosheng... would also be cultivating this vile art!"

Gu Mosheng flicked his hands, settling his robes, then clasped them behind his back.

"Just who are you?

"Who ordered you to spy on us?

"How do you know about the Blood Cauldron Scripture? And the Qinghe Gang being annihilated overnight—do you have something to do with that?"

He fired off one question after another, yet he didn’t deny a single one of the youth’s accusations.

Jiang Ran listened in, his mind swirling with questions.

’The Demon Sect?’

’There’s a Demon Sect in the martial world?’

’And what the hell are the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records?’

’But didn’t he just say Fan Yumou and the others were practicing the Blood Cauldron Scripture?’

’How did that suddenly change to the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records?’

’Li Feiyun, Fan Yumou, and Gu Mosheng... It seems the three of them are all in this together.’

’But they don’t seem to know who wiped out the Qinghe Gang, either?’

’Was Tang Huayi’s run-in with Fan Jiwu "abducting a maiden" related to all this?’

’Was she also after the Blood Cauldron Scripture?’

Jiang Ran suddenly sensed the turbulent undercurrents swirling just beneath the calm surface.

But what truly surprised Jiang Ran was the youth in black.

Even now, he still hadn’t cried out for help.

In truth, when Jiang Ran had used that small twig to draw the men’s attention to the youth, he had been fully prepared for the youth to give away his position.

He never expected the man to just leave him with a "You just wait!" before running off.

Now, facing mortal danger, he still hadn’t revealed that Jiang Ran was hiding nearby. That came as a surprise.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard the youth in black let out a cold laugh.

"The person who destroyed the Qinghe Gang... is someone you cannot afford to provoke.

"Don’t think that cultivating the Blood Cauldron Scripture for a few days makes you invincible in the martial world.

"The Demon Sect plagued the martial world for hundreds of years. Even when all Eighteen Celestial Demon Records were assembled, they never managed to truly bring the world to its knees.

"Wasn’t it just a century ago that this cancer was excised by the era’s greatest hero, Chu Nanfeng, together with the masters of the righteous path?

"As for you... you don’t even deserve to be called ’remnants of the Demon Sect.’

"At best, you’re just... trash who happened to stumble upon a piece of the Demon Sect’s legacy!"

"Still running your mouth, even at death’s door."

Gu Mosheng shook his head with a small smile.

"The Blood Cauldron Scripture congeals the bones and boils the blood. Even the slightest contamination is a death sentence.

"If you tell me what I want to know, I can still grant you a quick death.

"Otherwise... the experience will be anything but pleasant."

The youth in black roared with laughter at his words.

"I, Li Tianxin, am not afraid to die! How could I grovel and beg for mercy from the likes of you?"

"Good! A man of principle!"

Gu Mosheng nodded and flicked his sleeve.

"Kill him."

The words had barely left his mouth when two men in black shot forward, their fists and palms aimed straight for the vital points on Li Tianxin’s chest and abdomen.

In that very instant, a figure trailing a series of afterimages arrived in a flash.

The two attackers felt their strikes land on empty air; Li Tianxin had vanished.

They looked up, and before they could even see who it was, they saw the flash of a blade.

Two heads flew into the air.

Gu Mosheng’s expression changed. He stared intently, only to see a man standing not far away. One hand gripped Li Tianxin by the collar, while the other held a saber angled toward the ground. As the man raised his head, his eyes glinted with a razor-sharp light.