Chen Miaotong frowned as she watched this scene unfold, observing Zhang Rongfang gradually walking away.
She finally couldn't help but ask.
"Society Master, I had a feeling before that the Iron Taoist wasn't avoiding you, but rather avoiding something else?"
Wen Shaodong glanced at Chen Miaotong and, seeing that the girl was beautiful and had a slender figure, his attitude immediately softened.
He carefully recalled the Iron Taoist from earlier.
"What this young lady said makes sense. Indeed, the Iron Taoist's actions were very suspicious. Perhaps he was looking for a suitable new woman to use as a sacrifice."
Non-Self hadn't outnumbered each other and been better prepared, he probably would have already charged forward.
The legend of the Forest Maidens tells of how these women were captured and used as sacrifices.
What Wen Shaodong said made sense, but Chen Miaotong always felt that the person who just left must have been very confident to leave alone, especially in such a dangerous dense forest.
After all, Iron Taoist had killed so many people in succession.
That person still had such confidence.
This inevitably leads to some speculation.
Another point is that Chen Miaotong has been observant since she was a child.
She had seen the subtle changes in the movements between the Iron Taoist and Zhang Rongfang twice before.
This gave her a vague feeling that the person who left might know something.
To put it even more dramatically, she felt that the Iron Taoist were afraid to approach because of that person.
But such speculation was too outrageous, and she dared not say it.
Seeing so many people gathered around, they began to disperse and maintain vigilance under Wen Shaodong's command.
Meanwhile, the members of the Zhengming Society, armed with secret weapons, spread out evenly and remained highly vigilant of their surroundings.
Chen Miaotong felt more and more at ease, after all, having so many people around her made a completely different feeling.
"Little sister, you shouldn't overthink things. Just cooperate with Society Master Wen. You haven't seen how formidable that Iron Taoist was just now."
Lin Huan approached, her expression still showing a hint of lingering fear.
"That man was incredibly strong, and his armor was so thick that we couldn't hurt him at all. We used poison powder and Fire Oil, but we still couldn't hit him."
"I could only watch as the people around me were killed one by one."
Chen Miaotong listened to her description, her heart also tightened.
But at this moment, torches illuminated the Woodland, making the surrounding area bright and clear for a moment.
The light lessened her anxiety considerably.
"Let's go, keep going." Wen Shaodong said loudly, "According to the intelligence we Zhengming Society obtained from the Zhengming Society, the Iron Taoist's residence should be in the abandoned Daoist Temple some distance ahead."
We can simply lie in wait there and wipe this scoundrel out completely!
The members of the Zhengming Society were in high spirits and responded loudly.
The Rogue Person, who had just suffered heavy casualties, and the other two teams of survivors turned pale upon hearing the shouts, but felt a little more at ease.
With so many people here, and with everything prepared in advance, they'll definitely make sure that Iron Taoist can't get away! Wen Shaodong's words gave them immense confidence.
***In the dense forest, Zhang Rongfang sped through the air, constantly leaping over obstacles on the ground.
Fallen dead trees, scattered stones, raised mounds of earth, sunken cracks, and ravines.
The terrain in the dense forest is quite complex.
Occasionally, black birds resembling vultures would fly overhead, emitting strange cries.
These black birds seem to be staring at living creatures.
After running a distance, Zhang Rongfang looked up and could still see new blackbirds landing on the branches.
Before long, a dilapidated black Daoist Temple appeared in front of him.
From Daoist Temple distance, the Daoist temple appears as a dark courtyard surrounded and hidden by trees.
The main gate was broken, half of it was there and half was gone.
The courtyard inside was covered with fallen leaves, branches, and mud.
The original floor tiles were all cracked, chipped, and leaky. Thin green grass had even grown out of some of the grout lines.
The wall has large cracks, and the outside of the cracks is covered by layers of ivy and withered vines.
The dead, withered vines lay below, only to be covered and concealed by new vines.
Layer upon layer, it forms a wall that, from a distance, resembles a structure built of vines.
Zhang Rongfang slowly approached the gate.
Looking inside through the missing part of the door.
Inside the courtyard, a rusty Incense Burner sat forlornly in the center. The Incense Burner was filled with dirty water.
There were also some messy leaves and dead insects floating in the water.
"Is this the Great Heavy Temple?"
Zhang Rongfang glanced at the plaque; the note Gong Shuyin had given him read "Yin Huai Forest Great Heavy Temple".
The original characters on the plaque have long since faded and disappeared, leaving only a few traces.
He stepped into the courtyard and looked around.
Both sides were dark, gloomy rooms with doorways.
The temple directly in front of us had its doors wide open, and the Statue inside were covered in cracks and their colors had long since faded.
Zhang Rongfang approached the temple and looked up.
The Statue is dedicated to a deity with Three-Eyed Four-Armed, holding four different colored Ruyi scepters.
"The Dongzhen Four Symbols Celestial Lord." Zhang Rongfang had been in the Great Dao Sect for so long that he naturally recognized many of the sect's deities, including this special Celestial Venerable who was in charge of truth and falsehood, illusion and reality.
"The Four Symbols Celestial Venerable are usually enshrined in the inner hall. They are deities in charge of mental illnesses. Most of their believers are healers. Yet here they are placed in the main hall."
He wandered around the main hall and found that there were indeed no signs of human habitation around.
On the side of the Statue, in a corner of the temple, a decaying Medicine Chest was also found.
The Medicine Chest was empty; there was nothing inside.
"Is this Daoist Temple belonging to my Great Dao Sect?"
Zhang Rongfang quickly realized that his own major martial art was also from the Great Dao Sect — the Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic.
Gong Shuyin asked him to come here. Is there a connection between the two? Leaving the main hall, he entered the first bedroom on the left.
The bedroom door had long since collapsed.
The door panel lay on the ground, riddled with holes from termites.
Stepping over the door, Zhang Rongfang covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and knocked away the cobwebs in the corner of the door.
Inside the room, two wooden beds were placed side by side, and a brown wardrobe was covered with wormholes.
There are two desks in the corner.
Clearly, this used to be a place where two people lived together.
I walked to the desk and looked at the several books stacked on it.
Zhang Rongfang reached out and picked up a book, gently wiping away the thick layer of dust on its surface.
The cover of the book reveals the words: "Ming Cultivation Record".
When I opened the book, the pages were covered in mold, and the ink had spread so much that it was impossible to read.
Shaking his head, Zhang Rongfang put down the book and opened the desk drawer.
Splash!
A Red-Eyed Black Rat suddenly darted out of the drawer, scurried across the tabletop, and disappeared into the corner.
Besides the rats, there was something else that the rats brought out.
"What is this...?" Zhang Rongfang was slightly taken aback, and reached out to pick up the thing.
It was a delicate, bronze-colored part.
This part is very similar to the kind of indestructible special parts he had collected before.
Immediately, Zhang Rongfang quickly closed his eyes, then opened them again, and accessed the Attribute Panel.
Sure enough, a notification appeared in the Attribute Panel.
' Intuition Warning: This appears to be part of a former Statue. Once you've collected the complete set, perhaps you could try bowing to it.'
"Again?" Zhang Rongfang instantly recalled the strange changes he encountered after collecting the complete Statue last time.
The world is far more complex than ordinary people imagine.
He squinted and placed the part into a special storage compartment in his waist pouch. He planned to study it further when he got back.
The Heavenly Maiden Tong Zhang had instructed him not to touch upon the secrets of the Statue and Spirit Vein for the next three years.
But now Gong Shuyin has brought this up again, and the Daoist Temple he came to is clearly related to this kind of secret.
"Could it be that, as I thought, Gong Shuyin and the Heavenly Maiden are not of the same mind? Or even on the same side?"
Zhang Rongfang never easily trusts anyone after he came into this world.
He wouldn't assume people have malicious intent, but he also wouldn't assume they have good intentions from the outset.
Put away the parts.
He searched the other drawers but found nothing.
Then they went to the other rooms and quickly found something else.
It was a booklet wrapped in cloth, exceptionally dry inside, and protected with straw.
On the surface of the booklet, three large characters are written in vigorous and powerful handwriting: Great Heavy Record.
"It seems to be a record of major events in the past of this Great Heavy Temple?" Zhang Rongfang picked up the book and was about to open it.
Whoosh! Suddenly, a Shadow lunged fiercely at him from outside the door on the left.
The Shadow figure moved with incredible speed, its physique imposing and tall. Its movements created a rustling sound as it pounced.
Zhang Rongfang's expression remained unchanged as he stepped aside.
Puff!!
A broad-bladed iron sword slammed down on the wooden table, smashing it to pieces.
'Fierce Strike.'
Zhang Rongfang suddenly struck out with his right palm, using a move from the Yan Flame Emperor Talisman, striking the attacker's chest and abdomen in the blink of an eye.
But to his surprise, the man reacted quickly, pressing down with his elbow, striking his right palm squarely.
The two collided.
Bang!
Both sides were simultaneously forced back one step.
"Oh? Interesting." Only then did Zhang Rongfang realize who had attacked him.
It was none other than the Iron Taoist I had seen from afar before.
The Iron Taoist was covered in Black Armor and wore Helmet, with all parts of his body covered except for his eyes.
He also wore a black Daoist robe over his armor.
The Daoist robe was tattered, but one could still vaguely make out a Daoist Sect symbol embroidered on the chest area.
The mark was a strange, Pure Black Taiji Diagram.
A typical Taiji Diagram is clearly divided into black and white, with one half black and the other half white.
However, his Taiji Diagram was entirely black, with only the two yin-yang eyes in the center being white.
Through the Helmet, Zhang Rongfang see the Iron Taoist's bloodshot, menacing eyes up close.
"Are you a person? Or something else?" he tried to ask.
There was no reply.
"If it's a person, we can try to talk to them."
Zhang Rongfang said cautiously.
"If not, then don't blame me if I accidentally kill you."
"..." The Iron Taoist, panting heavily, took a sudden step forward and lunged forward again.
The iron sword in his hand unfolded in an instant, like a peacock spreading its tail, unleashing a vast array of sword shadows.
A sword shadow, as tall as the entire room, pressed down on Zhang Rongfang like a wall.
Amidst the whooshing sound of air being cut.
Zhang Rongfang suddenly reached out, his hands, gloved with metal, clenched forward like Eagle Claw.
The numerous sword shadows suddenly merged into one, transforming into a single iron sword, which he gripped with one hand along its spine.
"Ninth Grade agility and strength. But unfortunately, the moves have too many flaws."
Zhang Rongfang smiled and suddenly slapped the other man hard in the center of his chest.
Bang!
A force surpassing the Ninth Grade struck the Iron Taoist squarely in the chest, sending him flying backward and crashing into the courtyard of the Daoist Temple.
Zhang Rongfang was certain that even someone wearing armor would be injured and rendered temporarily powerless by the force of that palm strike.
Now that he has reached the Tenth Grade, every move he makes, even in his normal state, with a full-force attack, is equivalent to the level of his previous Breaking Limit Skill.
Suddenly, the other party let out a soft exclamation, and seeing that the Iron Taoist was completely unharmed, he got up and ran out of the Daoist Temple.
Judging from his demeanor, the other person appeared to be completely uninjured.
Recalling the special Statue he created last time, with its thin metal wires that burrowed into the human body.
Zhang Rongfang's smile vanished quickly, and he leaped off the ground, swiftly chasing after the other person.
The gambler only lasted a few breaths before he was completely exhausted and collapsed to the ground, dying.
But this one in front of him... Without hesitation, he followed after it.
The two left the Daoist Temple and sped through the forest.
However, the Iron Taoist in front were clearly not as fast as Zhang Rongfang and were quickly overtaken.
Bang.
The two clashed again in a flash. This Daoist had the skill and strength of Ninth Grade cultivator, far surpassing that of ordinary High Grade.
Zhang Rongfang, on the other hand, was much faster than his opponent, and could strike Iron Taoist's body with a palm almost every few moves.
Just as he had expected, the Iron Taoist's armor was thick, and his strength was immense. Even after being hit several times, he felt no pain or discomfort.
He continued to fight against her as usual.
In the blink of an eye, the two crossed a stream and arrived at a slope.
The Iron Taoist brandished his iron sword, swinging it wildly like a mad tiger.
He was already incredibly strong and fast; when he swung his sword, he would break anything he touched.
Only extremely thick trees can withstand being cut down in one fell swoop.
Zhang Rongfang hit him seven or eight times in a row, but it still had no effect at all, and he couldn't even weaken him.
This made him dodge while also thinking about how to deal with the tin monster.
After all, if what Gong Shuyin said is true, his hope for Super Grade might still lie with the person in front of him.
***Just as Zhang Rongfang and the Iron Taoist were locked in combat, on the other side of Great Heavy Temple.
Wen Shaodong, along with the rest of the Zhengming Society members and the Rogue Person, finally arrived at this place.
"According to the intelligence we have, the Iron Taoist would bring people to this Daoist Temple to imprison them after each arrest."
Be careful, everyone. Go in groups of three and search separately.
If there is danger, shout for help immediately.
Wen Shaodong carefully raised his hand and began directing everyone to disperse and search for the person.
"Yes!"
Soon, First Squad people dispersed, armed with secret weapons, and entered the Daoist Temple.
The most anxious of them all was Chen Miaotong, who was worried about her younger sister's safety and was the first to enter the Daoist Temple.
The group searched for a while but found nothing.