"Three-star mission? Captured?"
Lin Feng's brows instantly furrowed.
With Chu Mengxi's cultivation, an ordinary three-star mission would pose no threat to her survival even if she could not win.
For her to be captured after failing the mission, the other side was definitely no simple matter.
"What exactly happened?" Lin Feng asked in a deep voice.
"It's a mission in Black Wind City!"
A trace of fear appeared on Zhao Tie's face.
"Black Wind City is a remote border town under Nan Yan Commandery, a lawless place long occupied by an evil sect called the Wind Fiend Sect. Its sect master, the Old Demon of Black Wind, is said to be an extremely formidable evil cultivator with strange methods and a heart as vicious as a wolf's."
"Recently, martial artists have been disappearing frequently in Black Wind City. Even some of our Demon Suppression Division's peripheral personnel have lost contact there. The Division attached great importance to it and listed it as a three-star mission. Captain Chu volunteered to investigate with several brothers, but then..."
Zhao Tie's fists clenched with cracking sounds, his eyes filled with regret and self-reproach.
"They fell into an ambush! Other than one brother who escaped with grave injuries, everyone else was trapped in Black Wind City! The brother who escaped said that the Old Demon of Black Wind was far stronger than the intelligence indicated. He was not merely at the peak of the True Qi Realm—he... he might already have one foot in the Dan Yuan Realm!"
Half-step Dan Yuan!
Those four words made Lin Feng's gaze turn grave as well.
The Dan Yuan Realm was an entirely new level of life.
One condensed a pellet within the dantian, which, like a Demon Core, could store spiritual power endlessly. Every gesture carried immense might.
Though a Half-step Dan Yuan Realm cultivator had not truly entered the Dan Yuan Realm, such a person was still far beyond the ability of True Qi Realm martial artists to contend with.
No wonder Chu Mengxi had failed.
"After the news returned to the Division, how did they respond?" Lin Feng asked.
"The higher-ups are holding emergency discussions and preparing to gather more experts from the neighboring commandery to form an encirclement force."
Zhao Tie gave a bitter smile. "But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. A round trip will take at least several days. Captain Chu... probably cannot wait that long!"
"I understand."
Lin Feng nodded and turned to walk outside.
"Brother Lin, you..."
"I'm going to the Mission Hall."
Lin Feng's answer was simple and direct.
Zhao Tie was stunned at first, then immediately understood. Endless gratitude and excitement surged into his eyes.
Brother Lin was going to make a move!
When Lin Feng stepped into the Mission Hall once more, the entire hall instantly fell silent.
Everyone's gaze unconsciously focused on him, their eyes filled with reverence.
The fearsome name of King Yama Lin had long since sunk deep into everyone's hearts.
Lin Feng ignored the crowd and walked straight to the wall of mystic crystal.
His gaze locked directly onto the four-star mission at the very top of the wall, which emitted an eerie purple glow.
[Four-star Mission: Encircle and Suppress Black Wind City] [Mission Description: The evil Wind Fiend Sect occupies Black Wind City. Its sect master, the Old Demon of Black Wind, possesses unfathomable strength and is suspected to be in the Half-step Dan Yuan Realm. Multiple Bronze Token Demon Slayers have already gone missing. Danger level: extremely high.] [Mission Reward: 10,000 Merit Points, one martial art manual of your choice.]
The three-star mission had become a four-star mission.
What Zhao Tie had said was true.
"I'll take this mission."
Lin Feng extended a finger and tapped the purple mission.
The entire Mission Hall became so silent that a needle dropping could be heard.
Everyone's scalps tingled from Lin Feng's earth-shattering action.
A four-star mission!
An opponent in the Half-step Dan Yuan Realm!
Without the Manager taking action,
Who in the Demon Suppression Division would dare act rashly?
This was no longer a matter of nine deaths and one life. This was ten deaths and no life at all!
"He's gone mad! King Yama Lin has truly gone mad this time!"
"No matter how strong he is, he's only in the True Qi Realm, right? Challenging a Half-step Dan Yuan alone—isn't that courting death?"
"Sigh, he's still too young and hot-blooded. What is too rigid breaks easily."
Just as everyone discussed the matter heatedly, believing they were witnessing the fall of a genius,
A cold and arrogant voice rang out from the entrance of the Mission Hall.
"I wondered who was so recklessly courting death. So it was you, a mud-legged peasant from the countryside."
The crowd turned toward the voice and saw a handsome young man in a lavish black robe trimmed with silver, slowly entering under the escort of a group of lackeys.
The young man had refined features, but his eyes brimmed with lofty arrogance. Hanging from his waist was, astonishingly, a genuine red-bronze token!
"It's Wei Jin's cousin, the Windy Sword, Wei Tiancheng!"
"Didn't he leave on a long-distance mission? Why is he back today?"
"Now there's a good show to watch! Wei Tiancheng's temper is far fiercer than that useless cousin of his! And he's a true genius—at twenty-two, he's already at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm. His swordsmanship has few rivals among the Demon Suppression Division's younger generation!"
Wei Tiancheng ignored the surrounding chatter. His gaze, like a sharp sword, locked firmly onto Lin Feng, his eyes brimming with undisguised killing intent and contempt.
The moment he returned, he heard that his cousin had had a hand crippled and had been frightened into shutting himself indoors, becoming the laughingstock of the entire Demon Suppression Division.
And the culprit was this newcomer named Lin Feng standing before him.
How could he possibly endure that?
"Boy."
Wei Tiancheng slowly walked up to Lin Feng and looked down at him, a cruel curve rising at the corner of his lips.
"I heard it was you who crippled one of my cousin's hands?"
Lin Feng glanced at him, his gaze as calm as though he were looking at a stone by the roadside.
"You're courting death!"
Wei Tiancheng flew into a rage. He had roamed the Demon Suppression Division for years—when had he ever suffered such disregard?
"A country bumpkin who rose through Chu Mengxi's favor dares act so insolently before me? Let me tell you this: if you kneel today, kowtow a hundred times to my cousin, and break one of your own arms, I might consider sparing your dog life. Otherwise..."
Before he could finish speaking,
"I told you, don't bother me."
Lin Feng's voice sounded faintly.
The next moment.
"Buzz—"
A faint blade hum, so soft it was almost imperceptible, flashed through the air.
The anger on Wei Tiancheng's face instantly froze.
All the onlookers around them were stunned.
They had seen nothing.
They only saw Lin Feng lightly rest a hand on the hilt at his waist before lowering it again.
There was not even a trace of the blade being drawn.
What was... that supposed to be?
Had he admitted defeat?
Or had Wei Tiancheng's aura frightened him stupid?
"Hahaha, I thought he had some backbone. Turns out he's a silver spear with a wax tip! What, you don't dare make a move?"
Seeing this, Wei Tiancheng's lackeys immediately became arrogant again and began mocking him one after another.
Yet Wei Tiancheng himself stood frozen in place, the color draining from his face at a visible speed until he was deathly pale.
Beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
"Boss, what... what's wrong?"
The lackeys also sensed that something was amiss and asked carefully.
Wei Tiancheng did not answer. Slowly, with an incomparably stiff and sluggish motion, he raised his trembling hand toward his neck.
Hanging around his neck was a protective jade pendant made from Thousand-Year Cold Jade.
This pendant was a magical artifact that an elder of his Lineage had spent a great fortune to obtain. It was incomparably hard, impervious to water and fire, and was said to be able to withstand the full-force strike of a Half-step Dan Yuan expert.
It was also one of the reasons he dared to run rampant through the Demon Suppression Division.
But at this moment.
His finger lightly touched the jade pendant.
"Crack."
A nearly inaudible sound rang out.
A hair-thin, mirror-smooth crack split the flawless Thousand-Year Cold Jade pendant straight down the middle.
Then, before everyone's horrified eyes, the entire pendant silently split into two halves, slid from his neck, fell to the ground, and shattered into pieces.
The entire Mission Hall instantly fell into deathly silence.
Everyone was like ducks with their throats seized, mouths hanging open without being able to utter a sound.
They finally understood what had happened just now.
It was not that Lin Feng had not drawn his blade.
His blade had simply been so fast that it surpassed the limits of their understanding!
So fast that they could not see it at all!
Had that strike been meant to kill,
What lay on the ground now would not have been the jade pendant, but Wei Tiancheng's head!
"Gulp."
Wei Tiancheng swallowed with difficulty. An icy chill shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, nearly freezing the blood throughout his body solid.
He stared blankly at the shattered jade on the ground, then looked at that retreating figure.
The pride and dignity unique to a genius
Were utterly smashed to pieces in that moment.
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