Inside the Mission Hall, a deathly silence reigned.
Wei Tiancheng stared blankly at the protective jade pendant on the ground, shattered into eight pieces. Then he instinctively touched his icy neck, and an uncontrollable urge to urinate surged through him.
He was a ninth-level True Qi Realm genius, one of the rising stars among the Demon Suppression Division's younger generation—Wei Tiancheng, the Windy Sword.
He had come within a hair's breadth of having his throat silently slit.
And his opponent had not even fully drawn his blade from its sheath.
What an utterly crushing, dimension-shattering humiliation!
The lackeys around him had already gone pale with fright, their legs trembling as though they were dancing an "elderly disco."
The way they looked at Lin Feng was no longer the way one looked at a man, but at an ancient ferocious god draped in human skin.
Lin Feng did not spare them another glance, as though he had merely swatted a buzzing fly to death.
He collected the purple scroll representing the Four-star Mission, then turned and left beneath the crowd's mingled gazes of reverence, terror, and a trace of sympathy.
Only long after he had left did the Mission Hall erupt into whispers like those of survivors of a calamity.
"Mother... were my eyes playing tricks on me just now? Wei Tiancheng... got taken down in one move?"
"The sword never even left its sheath, and the protective artifact shattered! Is that something a human being can fucking do?!"
"King Yama Lin... who came up with that nickname? It fits too damn well! It was practically tailored for him!"
Wei Tiancheng was helped away in a daze by his lackeys.
From this day onward, his reputation as a "genius" had completely become a joke within the Demon Suppression Division.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng had already mounted a fast horse and galloped toward Black Wind City with his little lackey, Huang Fugui.
"Master, that move of yours just now was so damn handsome it blew the roof off! At that moment, I felt that whatever Windy Sword, before you, he was just a tiny puddle! One stomp from you, and he'd evaporate!"
Huang Fugui frantically flattered Lin Feng through spiritual transmission from within his arms.
"Cut the nonsense."
Lin Feng said blandly, "Black Wind City lies ahead. Stay sharp and find out what is going on inside. This time, our opponent isn't some brainless Zombies like those in the mine."
"You got it! Just watch, Master! I'm a Peak Second Order Great Demon now. Within ten miles, not even a female mosquito can escape my keen eyes!"
Huang Fugui declared with conviction.
One man and one horse kicked up a cloud of dust, swiftly vanishing beyond the horizon.
At the same time, in a secluded valley twenty miles outside Black Wind City, several tents had been pitched, and the atmosphere was grave.
This was the temporary command post of the other three Bronze Token Demon Slayer squads from the Nan Yan Commandery Demon Suppression Division.
Unlike Lin Feng, who was going it alone, they represented the standard procedure of the Demon Suppression Division when carrying out high-difficulty missions.
At the center of the tents stood an enormous sand table, upon which the terrain of Black Wind City had been accurately recreated.
Three powerful Bronze Token Demon Slayers stood around the sand table, brows tightly furrowed as they debated fiercely.
The leader was a hulking man eight feet tall, broad-backed and thick-waisted, his knotted muscles like lumps of iron. His name was Meng Kuo, and his nickname was Thunder Fist.
At the peak of the ninth level of the True Qi Realm, his cultivation was fierce and domineering. He was a renowned fierce general within the Demon Suppression Division.
"No! A frontal assault is absolutely out of the question!"
Meng Kuo slammed a fist onto the table, making even the sand table jump.
"Since that Old Demon of Black Wind dared to set an ambush and trap Captain Chu, he must have made thorough preparations! Black Wind City is a gigantic trap now. If our handful of men rush in, we'll just be delivering ourselves onto their platter!"
To his left stood a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar and holding a feather fan. His name was Wu Yong, a famed strategist of the Demon Suppression Division. Although he was only at the eighth level of the True Qi Realm, he was proficient in formations and strategy.
Wu Yong gently waved his feather fan and said unhurriedly:
"Brother Meng, calm yourself. Black Wind City is easy to defend and difficult to attack, with perilous terrain. Moreover, the Wind Fiend Sect has operated there for many years, so the city must be filled with spies and mechanisms. In my view, we should put 'steadiness' first. We should first dispatch scouts to determine the reality within the city, draw up a detailed map of its defensive arrangements, then locate the nodes of their formation and seek out its flaws. Only then can we win with a single blow."
"Brother Wu speaks reasonably."
The final person to speak was a quiet woman in green named Liu Qing. She excelled at tracking and assassination, and was an expert at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm.
"But the choice of scout must be treated with the utmost caution. Since the Old Demon of Black Wind could trap Chu Mengxi, his strength is certainly no trifling matter. Ordinary scouts would likely enter and never return."
The three spoke one after another, analyzing the situation with flawless logic and considering every possibility. From the enemy's troop deployments to potential traps and mechanisms, to the weather's impact on battle—even the number of backup plans the Old Demon of Black Wind might possess—they had deduced everything with crystal clarity.
This was the self-cultivation of a professional team.
"Report—!"
Just then, a scout responsible for sentry duty hurried into the tent.
"My lords, a lone rider on a fast horse just passed beyond the edge of our defensive zone. His destination... seems to be Black Wind City."
"A lone rider?"
Meng Kuo frowned. "Who was it? Did you see clearly?"
"He was too far away; I couldn't make him out. Should we send someone to contact him? Could he be reinforcements dispatched from another commandery?"
Wu Yong waved his feather fan and pondered. "Unlikely. The Division has not yet issued the order for a general assault, so reinforcements from other commanderies could not have arrived so quickly. Let him go. Perhaps he is a lone adventurer hoping to make a fortune in Black Wind City. He can conveniently scout the way for us and test the strength of Black Wind City's defenses."
Meng Kuo and Liu Qing both nodded in agreement.
In their eyes, a lone adventurer, no matter how strong, could not stir up much of a storm against the Wind Fiend Sect, which had operated for years. At most, he could make the enemy expose some of their strength.
They lowered their heads once more to study the sand table, drafting what they believed to be a foolproof, detailed battle plan for conquering Black Wind City.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng, the lone adventurer they had regarded as a "stepping stone," had already arrived beneath Black Wind City's walls.
He looked up at the city shrouded in blackish-gray Baleful Intent. The air was saturated with a bloody, sinister aura.
Without pausing in the slightest, he gave Huang Fugui the order from within his arms.
"Time for the all-you-can-eat buffet."
"You handle reconnaissance. Mark every breathing thing in the city for me, whether human or demon."
"I'll handle... clearing the field."
With that, his figure flickered. Like a phantom, he silently melted into the shadows of the city wall and vanished.
Huang Fugui transformed into a wisp of nearly imperceptible yellow smoke, hugging the ground as he slipped through a crack beneath the city gate.
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