Wearing a Straw Raincoat, Storming the Demon Fortress Alone

Beneath a sky thick with dark clouds, two figures clashed back and forth in a dilapidated courtyard. Sword light flashed, and sword qi swept in every direction.

The walls shook beneath wave after wave of sword qi, their cracks spreading wider and wider.

Yi Xiaofeng performed the first form of Matchstick Swordplay. His sword moves changed endlessly, while his footwork was equally elusive.

The Straw Cape Man remained composed, countering each move with sword qi and blocking all of Yi Xiaofeng's attacks.

At first glance, Yi Xiaofeng did not look like a novice swordsman at all. He seemed like a swordsman who had studied the sword for decades.

Sparring with the Straw Cape Man, Yi Xiaofeng felt incredibly comfortable.

Only at this moment did he truly feel his transformation.

He was now a swordsman!

Inside a dark hall.

A White-Haired Old Man sat in meditation. Two balls of azure flame burned fiercely in his palms, occasionally shifting into other shapes as though they were alive.

The doors suddenly opened, and a figure entered.

It was none other than the Young Fortress Master, Shan Tiange.

He walked up to the White-Haired Old Man and knelt before him, saying respectfully, "Old Ancestor, the fortress is already in complete chaos. The righteous and demonic factions are slaughtering one another. If this continues, it surely will not disturb your breakthrough."

Without opening his eyes, the White-Haired Old Man slowly said, "The Sword Saint is still in the fortress. Though he has been afflicted by my curse, his cultivation is far too powerful. He remains a tremendous threat to Zhuo Ye Fortress."

The Sword Saint!

Shan Tiange's gaze flickered.

He hesitated before saying, "The Sword Saint cannot be killed. Setting aside his nearly invincible swordsmanship, the Bei Wei Empress Dowager has always been deeply devoted to him, and the emperor likewise holds the Sword Saint in awe. Had the Sword Saint not acted back then, the emperor might already have died before the gates of the imperial city. If the Sword Saint dies in Zhuo Ye Fortress, Northern Wei will likely..."

Sword Saint Bai Hongxiao was practically a legend in Da Qian Province!

Every sword cultivator revered him.

"It does not matter. Once I break through, Northern Wei will not be able to stop us. I will take all of you elsewhere and rebuild Zhuo Ye Fortress, and you will become the Fortress Lord."

"For now, I cannot act and can only cast curses, so all action still depends on you. Also, the feeding of the Seven-Colored Glass Tree must not stop."

The White-Haired Old Man answered, making Shan Tiange's gaze flicker.

In the blink of an eye.

Two days and two nights passed, and the third day arrived.

Yi Xiaofeng had been constantly exchanging sword techniques with the Straw Cape Man. The Straw Cape Man had quite a few pills stored in his Storage Ring.

One kind of pill could serve as food and did not require excretion. It could be directly refined into spiritual power to stave off hunger. With these pills, Yi Xiaofeng was able to devote himself wholeheartedly to sword practice.

That afternoon, around five o'clock.

The Straw Cape Man interrupted Yi Xiaofeng's sword practice and said, "All right, that is enough. It is time to act. You did not attend the Fortress Lord's seventieth birthday banquet yesterday, so it will likely bring trouble. From now on, your mission is the same as mine: uphold justice on Heaven's behalf and save those innocent commoners who were captured."

The Straw Cape Man spread open his left hand, and a straw raincoat and straw hat appeared in it. He tossed them directly to Yi Xiaofeng.

"Put these on to hide your identity, and stop Zhuo Ye Fortress's crimes while you are at it. Also, your sword is too conspicuous. Change it."

The Straw Cape Man took out another longsword and tossed it to Yi Xiaofeng.

After doing all that, the Straw Cape Man leaped up and instantly vanished.

Delighted, Yi Xiaofeng put on the straw raincoat and then donned the straw hat.

There was also a black cloth inside the hat that could cover half his face.

The straw raincoat was rather large, allowing Yi Xiaofeng to conceal the Azure Nose Sword.

He drew the longsword given to him by the Straw Cape Man. The sword was bright, four fingers wide, and somewhat heavy in his hand.

The viewers were immediately amazed.

"Pretty handsome!"

"Not bad, he's got style now!"

"Next, he's going to solo Zhuo Ye Fortress!"

"Over these past two days, I learned a lot from the stream. I feel like I'm a swordsman too."

"Hahaha, good thing he didn't attend the seventieth birthday banquet last night, or he would've been targeted to death. The Blood Palm Sect and some players have already joined forces to kill Yi Xiaofeng themselves."

"Things are about to get intense! I'm already looking forward to Yi Xiaofeng's performance!"

Yi Xiaofeng did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he walked over to a wall.

Two days ago, he had noticed a red glow shining through a crack in the wall. But with Bai Hongxiao present, he had not dared to reach in and search.

He walked up to the crack, drew the Azure Nose Sword, and dug inside.

The viewers were instantly puzzled.

What was hidden in there?

Soon, Yi Xiaofeng pulled a sheet of paper from the crack.

It was actually a map recording the entirety of Zhuo Ye Fortress. One area was marked by a black mass, within which was the shadow of a tree. That black mass was presumably the Black Hole the commoners had mentioned, while the tree shadow was the Seven-Colored Glass Tree.

What truly caught Yi Xiaofeng's attention was the ring stuck to the paper.

Storage Ring: Contains five cubic meters of space. Cannot store ordinary living creatures.

"It's actually a Storage Ring!"

Yi Xiaofeng was instantly overjoyed.

He happened to be lacking one of these.

He had too many things hidden on his person and was always afraid of losing them while carrying them around.

He immediately began binding it with his blood.

Wei Qixin had taught him the method of blood-binding back in the valley.

It took roughly half an hour, but Yi Xiaofeng successfully bound the Storage Ring. He placed it on the middle finger of his left hand and stored all the manuals, the Azure Nose Sword, pill formulas, and everything else on him inside it.

Once he was done, he immediately felt much lighter.

Only a piece of iron remained in his left hand.

This was the object he had seen in the torrential rain after first meeting the Straw Cape Man.

The iron piece was only the size of his palm.

Yi Xiaofeng focused his gaze on it, wanting to discern its origin.

Fusion Gold Iron: Can perfectly fuse different metallic materials together. It is a relatively rare material in the Cultivation World and originates from the soil around the Seven-Colored Glass Tree.

The Seven-Colored Glass Tree?

Yi Xiaofeng put the Fusion Gold Iron into the Storage Ring. He frowned slightly, sinking into thought.

Had Bai Hongxiao dropped this piece of Fusion Gold Iron, or had someone else from Zhuo Ye Fortress dropped it?

As he thought, Yi Xiaofeng pulled the black cloth over his face to cover his mouth and nose, then walked out of the courtyard with his sword in hand.

Over the past two days, nearly twenty players had been eliminated, not including Zeng Shu, Qin Qinxue, and Xu Lang.

Especially last night, during the old Fortress Lord's seventieth birthday banquet, eight players had died in a row.

Yi Xiaofeng had not gone to the Slaughter Field last night. He felt that he might very well have been placed on a wanted list.

Yet he was not nervous in the slightest. He was even looking forward to it.

His spiritual power had surged, and after comprehending swordsmanship, he had undergone a complete transformation.

His first target.

Patrol Leader Qiao Tiequan!

Upon reaching the streets of Zhuo Ye Fortress, Yi Xiaofeng discovered that there were still very few people coming and going.

He chose to move through deserted alleys.

If he encountered enemies here, Yi Xiaofeng could deal with them easily.

Enemies in overly open areas could easily surround him.

A light drizzle began to fall.

Dressed in a straw raincoat, Yi Xiaofeng finally experienced what it felt like to be an assassin. Walking through the rain, he felt as though he were the protagonist.

This was thrilling!

"Quick, quick, quick! Search every alley nearby! Even if it's a rice jar, turn it upside down and check it!"

A rough voice came from around the corner ahead.

Yi Xiaofeng immediately leaped up, easily landing on the roof before crouching down.

Matchstick Swordplay contained lightness footwork. With the spiritual power of the Qi Refining Realm Fifth Layer, running across roofs and scaling walls was as easy as breathing for him.

He poked his head out and saw a group of Zhuo Ye Fortress disciples hurrying over.

He suddenly spotted Yang Yu among them. Yang Yu was tied up, shoved forward by the Zhuo Ye Fortress disciples.

That guy was really unlucky.

"Let me go! What exactly are you trying to do? I'm not the murderer, so why are you arresting me?" Yang Yu demanded angrily.

Smack—

The middle-aged man beside him directly slapped him and cursed, "One more word, and Laozi will rip out your tongue!"

Yang Yu's eyes instantly reddened.

I, Yang, have never suffered such humiliation in my entire life!