Heavenly List Thirty-One, Ping Yang

By the time dawn had fully broken,

Lu Feng and his group hurried back into QuFu Mountain territory. Only several mountain peaks remained between them and Benevolent Heart Academy.

Just then...

"Whoa~"

Lu Feng suddenly reined in the moving carriage, his expression turning exceptionally grave.

"What is it?" Wen Ningsi poked her head out from the carriage in surprise.

"Take them and go, quickly!" Lu Feng solemnly stuffed the reins into Wen Ningsi's hands.

Boom!

An old man suddenly leaped down before the carriage. The enormous blast of air from his landing frightened the ordinary horses into rearing up, their heads thrown back as they neighed without end.

"An enemy of yours?" Wen Ningsi looked at Lu Feng, her face deathly pale. This old man who had appeared so abruptly possessed strength at least at the Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage, an existence she had no means of resisting.

Man Zhongli and Ning Xiang huddled together in terror, their faces equally filled with panic. From Lu Feng's words, they understood that this newcomer was no friend.

Lu Feng frowned as he watched the old man who had suddenly appeared ahead. Unlike an ordinary elderly man, he was not stooped or hunched at all; his figure was exceptionally upright, and he seemed brimming with vigor. His attire did not quite match his age either—solemn and refined. His clean, spotless green robes and every movement carried the bearing of a cultured gentleman. Yet the trace of yin softness and nether qi between his brows gave him an exceedingly gloomy air.

"Why has Senior blocked the road?"

Without revealing anything, Lu Feng stepped away from the carriage and took up a blocking stance, his wary gaze fixed upon the old man.

The old man abruptly took a painting scroll from his storage artifact and compared it with Lu Feng, seemingly verifying his identity.

Then, while Lu Feng was still stunned, he suddenly launched an attack.

The old man held both hands before him in the shape of palm blades. The instant he stepped forward, both hands gracefully chopped down together. In stark contrast to that elegance, two terrifying blasts of air condensed into blade-like radiance and slashed toward Lu Feng, converging upon him.

The contrast felt like an aged scholar holding a writing brush. He merely lifted his hand and gave a light sweep forward, yet the attack he produced was even more terrifying than a young man wildly swinging a great saber.

The terrifying palm force left two deeply gouged marks across the ground, extending endlessly forward at an angle. Their point of convergence was precisely where Lu Feng stood.

Clearly, this seemingly casual strike had actually calculated the point where its palm force would be strongest.

The aura released by the old man's palm strike made even Lu Feng's breath catch.

At least Heaven Soul Realm Seven Breaths!

An existence of such strength could never produce a weak strike, even with a casual wave of his hand.

Feeling the two terrible streams of palm strength rushing at his face, Lu Feng hastily raised his arms to block. Yet he was still blasted backward by the terrifying shockwave, crashing into the carriage. Both arms that had blocked the attack were nearly fractured.

As he felt the converging attacks, Lu Feng had the sensation, at the instant of impact, that his entire body was about to be sheared apart.

Wen Ningsi had already been frightened pale. In her panic, she heard Lu Feng urge her again and immediately yanked hard on the reins, driving the carriage toward QuFu Mountain.

"Master~" Man Zhongli and Ning Xiang were frantic. Through the carriage window, they saw Lu Feng in the distance desperately holding back the old man, refusing to let him approach the carriage. The helplessness in their hearts hurt so badly that their fingernails dug into the carriage wood.

After consecutively blocking several of the old man's palm strikes, Lu Feng's arms had nearly gone numb. Once the carriage had gone far enough and he no longer had anything to worry about, he no longer dared to meet those attacks head-on. He began dodging with all his might, seeking an opportunity to escape.

Yet he had not expected the old man's palm attacks to seem as though they had calculated every one of his evasive paths. They always intercepted him from exceedingly ingenious angles.

Looking again at the blade marks all over the ground, each pair converged in a shape resembling scissors.

Seeing those strange marks, Lu Feng's expression suddenly tightened in realization. "You are Senior Ping Yang? We have never met before. Could there be some misunderstanding, Senior?"

The old man stopped attacking, keeping a distance from Lu Feng that he could easily control. With a cold, chilling smile, he said, "Someone ordered me to come give you a lesson."

"A lesson?!" Lu Feng froze. Hearing that the old man did not intend to kill him, he suddenly relaxed. But he quickly came to his senses, and his expression instantly became hideous, as bitter as though he had swallowed a bitter melon.

The old man did not deny Lu Feng's form of address. He was clearly the one Lu Feng knew of.

Heavenly List Thirty-One, soul title: Ping Yang.

Thinking of this man's usual "hobby" of killing people, as well as the origin of his soul title, "Ping Yang"...

How could Lu Feng fail to understand the profound meaning of the words "give you a lesson"? He clearly intended to level his yang, leaving him without descendants!

Who could possibly bear such deep hatred toward him?

Lu Feng wanted to weep but had no tears. Moreover, Ping Yang had said he had been "ordered" here, not "invited," which deeply shocked Lu Feng. Even someone like Ping Yang obeyed another's orders?

Bang~

While Lu Feng was still astonished, Ping Yang attacked again. It was still the scissor-like palm force formed by two converging palms, but unlike before, this attack was visibly sharper and more terrifying, its might at least several times greater.

It was as if his earlier attacks had merely been toying with Lu Feng, probing his true strength.

Most crucially, the target had shifted from his upper body to his lower body, carrying a venomous viciousness.

If he carelessly took even one strike, he would certainly be cut clean off at the root!

Lu Feng desperately evaded the attacks as countless methods of resisting and escaping flashed through his mind.

In his current predicament, setting up a formation was clearly impossible. Though he possessed many formations capable of dealing with Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage opponents, there was no way he could deploy them beneath Ping Yang's very eyes.

The Blood-colored War Corpse, bolstered by the Bone Phosphorous Divine Palm, could threaten Ping Yang, but it absolutely could not confront him head-on. Only an ambush like the one used against Midnight Yaksha Luo would work, yet the terrain here was open and offered no chance to hide.

The Golden Luan Sword Lotus might delay him for a moment or two, but against genuine Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage Heavenly Dao Soul Fire, it certainly would not endure long. Unless he had no other choice, Lu Feng was unwilling to expend such a rare treasure.

Besides, even if he managed to delay Ping Yang for an instant and escape back to QuFu Mountain, relying on the might of the great formation, he still could not guarantee he would be able to withstand an existence like Ping Yang.

As Lu Feng dodged and considered his options, he suddenly noticed Ping Yang's attacks slowing.

Then Ping Yang called coldly toward behind a nearby hillside, "Who is there? Get out here this instant!"

Ping Yang had another habit when doing that sort of thing: he disliked having others watch. He preferred handling it alone, quietly enjoying the process by himself—enjoying the despairing, agonized cries of the person subjected to it.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lu Feng pressed down his hands, which had been numbed and left trembling by the impacts. As Wood Element Qi circulated, he secretly healed the injuries within his body.

Following Ping Yang's shout, a hunched old woman slowly emerged from behind the hillside, leaning shakily on a cane.

Feeling the aura emanating from the old woman, Lu Feng's expression tightened again.

She was also a Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage soul cultivator.

And judging by her manner, she too seemed to have come for him?

Relying on the disparity in their strength, Ping Yang knew Lu Feng could never escape his grasp. He was in no hurry to kill this lamb already on the chopping block. Instead, he looked displeasedly at the old woman. "You came for him too?"

The old woman coughed, her voice hoarse. "Since Esteemed Guest got here first, this old woman will not act. Once this brat dies, I shall leave. Do as you please." Lu Feng's face darkened. If he had only faced Ping Yang, perhaps he might have had a ten or twenty percent chance to escape by giving everything he had. But with this old woman added to the mix, there was no possibility of survival.

Yet at Lu Feng's moment of despair, Ping Yang's face likewise darkened.

"This brat's life is still useful," Ping Yang said to the old woman. "If you bear a grudge, why not remove a few of his arms and legs to vent your anger?"

Lu Feng froze, then abruptly understood. Ping Yang had only said he was here to teach him a lesson—he had not come to kill him!

Once he understood this, Lu Feng immediately came up with a plan.

Without another word, he charged toward the old woman and fought her with all his strength.

"You court death!" the old woman spat darkly, swinging her cane to meet Lu Feng's attack. Her strikes were vicious to the extreme, every one a poisonous move meant to take his life.

In an instant, Lu Feng was completely suppressed and fell into a disadvantage, at risk of being beaten to death by the cane at any moment.

Seeing this, Ping Yang finally could not remain still. He rushed forward and joined the battle.

What had begun as giving Lu Feng a lesson had somehow been drawn along by him, turning into a fight to help him fend off an enemy.

Lu Feng watched this with a crafty look and made as though to flee. Yet the moment he made any movement, the two people locked in fierce battle suddenly both looked at him.

Lu Feng was so startled that he withdrew his foot. Without question, if he dared flee, the two of them would immediately stop fighting and subdue him first.

The shockwaves from their battle swept through the surroundings, causing mountains to collapse and the earth to split as the ground trembled unceasingly.

The nearby mountains could not withstand the force of their collisions and crumbled where they stood.

Lu Feng knew that at Ping Yang's level, the only suitable battlefield was above the clouds in the highest heavens. If they fought on the ground for long, everything within several miles would certainly be shaken into ruins.

Clearly, neither took to the sky solely because they wanted to keep a close watch on him.

Seeing this, Lu Feng knew he would have difficulty escaping. He instead began seeking an opportunity to set up a formation, intending to make a desperate final stand.

But just as he drew the formation disk he wanted from his storage artifact, another terrifying aura rapidly approached from behind him.

Lu Feng's heart clenched, and his face instantly turned pale.

Another Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage soul cultivator!?

He had truly made far too many enemies...

In his despair, Lu Feng suddenly saw that Xiong Yuan was following behind the approaching Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage soul cultivator.

Not an enemy!

In an instant, Lu Feng felt at ease.

Thinking of how Tang Yuan had been escorted to QuFu Mountain by the Body Sect, he understood that this Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage soul cultivator was most likely from the Body Sect.

In the distance, Ping Yang and the old woman sensed Xiong Yuan and the other person's arrival. Wary of that robust aura, they stopped fighting.

The old woman glanced from afar at the old man beside Xiong Yuan and left without the slightest hesitation.

After glaring at Lu Feng with a frown, Ping Yang too left unwillingly.

"Who were they?"

Xiong Yuan came to Lu Feng's side and asked with concern.

Lu Feng gave a bitter sigh. He had already vaguely guessed who stood behind Ping Yang. This sort of lesson, and the deliberate dispatch of someone like Ping Yang, clearly carried ulterior motives like those used against Lecher. Together with the words, "This brat's life is still useful," the answer was not hard to infer.

Ping Yang had most likely been sent by Jun Ziya to vent the resentment she had suffered in the Sword Ruins. Yet because she feared that the path of mystic qi was tied to the means of breaking through their relationship, she had not ordered him to kill Lu Feng.

As for the old woman, who had plainly wanted his life, Lu Feng could not determine which faction she belonged to. After all, in recent days, the factions he had offended were too numerous to count, and every one of them wanted him dead.