Southern Border Three Absolutes! Poison Old Man, Insect King, Miasma Mother!

"Ghost Realm?"

The name made Zhang Chu furrow his brow.

What kind of place dared call itself that?

Tu Xiong continued, "Legend says it is the entrance to the Nine Netherworld, a desolate land without a soul in sight, where all living things have perished."

"If Daoist Priest Zhang wishes to investigate, you must not enter directly. You can first settle in Sandstorm City and gather information. It is the city closest to the Ghost Realm."

Zhang Chu nodded at this. A dangerous land that had been spoken of for thousands of years could hardly be compared to ordinary perils.

But before setting out, there were matters he had to clarify. He needed to return to the temple first and ask his senior brother whether his master had any old friends he had cared about back then.

That would make the investigation easier as well.

"Thank you, Lord Tu, for your guidance. This concerns my master, and time waits for no one. Zhang will take his leave now."

The matter of Sword Forging Manor had already been settled. The old manor lord no longer had the heart to seek the sword, and there was no need for Zhang Chu to waste any more time.

Hearing that Zhang Chu was leaving, Deng Wuzong sprang up from his seat of honor, his face full of unconcealed reluctance.

When the Demonic Cult had attacked earlier, if not for Zhang Chu's intervention, Sword Forging Manor would likely have already become a river of blood.

Everyone in the manor owed their lives to Zhang Chu. They had not even had time to lay out a feast in thanks before he was about to depart, and Deng Wuzong truly could not bear it.

"Daoist Priest Zhang, you have given Sword Forging Manor a second life. At least stay a few more days and let this old man fulfill his duties as host." Deng Wuzong rose, his tone earnest.

Tu Xiong, Li Gang, and the others also spoke up in turn.

"Daoist Priest Zhang, you saved all of us. Don't leave in such a hurry. Us brothers will drink a few bowls with you!"

Sun Jingyi also raised her delicate head slightly and urged, "Little Friend Zhang possesses abilities that reach the heavens. Why not remain for a few more days? I can take the opportunity to notify that child Youwei and have her come over."

Zhang Chu shook his head slightly and thanked them for their kind intentions.

"Manor Lord Deng and everyone else, Zhang appreciates your goodwill. But my master has still vanished without a trace, and I truly have no heart to linger. Finding him is urgent, so I shall take my leave today."

Everyone in the hall showed regret, but they also knew that finding his master weighed on him as heavily as Mount Tai.

Deng Wuzong let out a long sigh. Knowing he could not keep him, he simply waved his hand and had someone bring in a tray.

"Very well. This old man knows that you are anxious to find your master, but you must not refuse this token of gratitude."

Deng Wuzong raised a hand and lifted the red silk. On the tray, stacks of silver notes were arranged neatly, each worth one hundred taels. There were no fewer than five hundred of them.

A full fifty thousand taels in silver notes!

Beside the notes sat quite a few precious medicinal herbs rarely seen in the Jianghu, all of them the finest among medicines.

Zhang Chu looked at the gifts before him. He had intended to refuse, but Deng Wuzong's words were so sincere that he could not bring himself to decline. He could also bring them back to help develop True Martial Temple.

"Thank you, Manor Lord. Then Zhang shall accept without further ceremony."

Zhang Chu put away the items and had just turned to leave when a piercing whistle suddenly sounded from outside the manor.

Then came a second, then a third.

"Enemy attack—"

The guard outside cut off mid-roar.

Everyone in the hall changed expression. Deng Wuzong barked, "What happened?!"

A guard rushed in, panic written across his face. "Reporting to Manor Lord, three strange people have arrived outside, dressed like those from the Southern Border. Our brothers outside collapsed the moment they met them!"

Before he had finished speaking, a rotten stench swept into the hall. Several manor attendants clutched their throats, their faces turning purple as they fell.

"Hold your breath!" Tu Xiong shouted.

That vicious, baleful aura came rolling in, mixed with the Southern Border's unique poisonous miasma and putrid fishy stench, blotting out the sky and covering the earth.

Even this group of battle-hardened experts could not help feeling a chill in their hearts, immediately holding their breath.

"What ferocious miasma!"

Zhang Chu frowned and flicked his hand. A current of Gang Qi swept through the hall, and the poisoned people's complexions improved.

"Could it be that the Demonic Cult has come again to deliver heads?"

With that, he strode outside. His green robes fluttered, his white hair like snow, as though an immortal of the mountains had stepped into the world.

The others followed close behind.

At that moment, three figures came treading through the air and had already stopped outside Sword Forging Manor's central square.

Of those three figures, one was gaunt as firewood, one had an eerie shape, and one was concealed within miasma.

Their only common trait was the unyielding vicious aura gathered around them. Like evil ghosts crawling out of mountains of corpses and poisonous swamps, their overwhelming presence drove everyone back again and again.

"They're people from the Southern Border Three Tribes—the Southern Border Three Absolutes from back then!" Tu Xiong cried out, his eyes wide.

The old manor lord Deng Wuzong's expression changed drastically as well. "It really is those three devils: Poison Old Man, Insect King, and Miasma Mother!"

"Weren't they hunted into the Southern Border by Master Longshu, too afraid to ever emerge again?"

Upon hearing this, Hundred Flowers Sword Sun Jingyi, Long Tu, Li Gang, and the other experts of the manor instantly grew grave.

Who in the Jianghu did not know the fierce reputation of the Southern Border Three Absolutes? Back then, for the sake of the Earth Ranking, the three of them had slaughtered an unknown number of sects. Their methods had been so ruthless they were beyond human outrage.

Had Master Longshu of Bodhi Temple, then ranked tenth on the Earth Ranking, not intervened, who knew how many more people would have died in the Jianghu.

"Why are they here? These three hold the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth ranks on the Earth Ranking!"

The three figures slowly emerged.

The man on the far left was hunched over, draped in a tattered five-colored robe, his face tattooed with black patterns. He was Poison Old Man Wan Du.

The short, fat man in the middle was bald and smiling broadly. Insects occasionally flickered beneath his clothes. He was the Insect King.

The woman on the far right drifted like a phantom, her Lightness Skill exceptionally high, poisonous vapors curling around her. She was Miasma Mother, one of the Three Absolutes.

"I don't know. Back then, the three of them were chased into the Southern Border by Master Longshu and never dared emerge again. They even joined the Southern Border Three Tribes to save their own lives. Now that Master Longshu has passed away, could they be planning to return to the Jianghu?"

Deng Wuzong pressed a hand to his sword and spoke in a low voice, his eyes full of wariness. These three had clearly not come with good intentions!

Just then—

Several more figures with deep, powerful Gang Qi drifted over!

Within the baleful atmosphere, four figures crossed the void one after another and came to stand not far outside the manor.

Seeing the four newcomers—

Sharp gasps immediately rang out across the square.

"Cloud Ridge Sword Sect's Cloud Splitting Sword Pang Tong!"

"Ethereal Fairy Ni Chang of Azure Nether Valley!"

"Rain Listening Tower's Traceless Blade Kuang Zhan!"

"Crimson Blood Gang's Iron Lock Across the River Chi Tong!"

The Jianghu figures in the square recognized the arrivals and called out their names, their eyes filled with shock.

These were all Earth Ranking grandmasters who had long been famous throughout Southern Ridge. How could they not be astonished?

"Rumor has it that Pang Tong's Cloud Splitting Sword has reached perfection, Ethereal Fairy's palm techniques are divine, Traceless Blade kills without leaving a trace, and Iron Lock Across the River possesses boundless strength!"

"Why have these four grandmasters come together? They represent the strongest sects of Southern Ridge!"

First, the long-hidden Southern Border Three Absolutes had appeared together. Then even several of Southern Ridge's great sects had arrived at once. What exactly had happened at Sword Forging Manor?

"Interesting. I had just heard that a ruthless figure had appeared, someone who killed Ever-Changing Demon Lord with a single palm, and now I run into three old devils from the Southern Border. We caught Sword Forging Manor's excitement at just the right time!"

Cloud Ridge Sword Sect's Cloud Splitting Sword Pang Tong cautiously swept his gaze over the Southern Border Three Absolutes in the square.

The three of them made him feel pressure mounting sharply.

"Indeed. A junior not even eighteen years old actually leapt from tenth on the Human Ranking to tenth on the Earth Ranking in a single bound, crushing the rest of us beneath him. Now that he has encountered these three old devils, who knows whether this newly promoted tenth of the Earth Ranking can withstand them!"

Ethereal Fairy stood to one side in white robes, her pale hand lightly gathering her sleeve, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Zhang Chu had crossed two rankings in half a day, jumping from tenth on the Human Ranking to tenth on the Earth Ranking. It was a sight rarely seen in the world.

But could his strength as the tenth of the Earth Ranking withstand the combined attack of the Southern Border Three Absolutes?

After all, the former tenth on the Earth Ranking, Master Longshu of Bodhi Temple, had chased the Three Absolutes until they fled for their lives.

Rain Listening Tower's Traceless Blade remained hidden in the shadow of a corridor pillar, his sheath concealed within his sleeve, not a wisp of aura leaking out.

Only his blade-like gaze remained fixed upon Zhang Chu and the Southern Border Three Absolutes. Clearly, he too was watching to see how things unfolded.

Crimson Blood Gang's Iron Lock Across the River bared his knotted muscles, a nine-section iron chain wrapped around his waist with soft clinks.

He grinned, violence written all over his face. "They'd better fight until one side dies. Then this old man can see exactly how much this newly promoted tenth of the Earth Ranking is worth!"

More and more Jianghu wanderers gathered around the square, all sect experts from Southern Ridge.

Some had come because of Zhang Chu's reputation and wanted to see his true face. Others wanted to watch the Southern Border Three Absolutes fight Zhang Chu to the death.

Everyone's eyes focused on the green-robed, white-haired figure in the center of the square.

Zhang Chu's several actions had already shaken the Jianghu.

But most had not witnessed them in person. Now that the Southern Border Three Absolutes had arrived hand in hand, they could use this chance to test whether this newly promoted tenth of the Earth Ranking truly lived up to his name.

"You are Zhang Chu?"

At this moment, Poison Old Man leaned on a black wooden cane carved with poisonous scorpions and spoke first.

The tip of his cane touched the ground, instantly corroding a small black pit into it. Even the air hissed and crackled.

"You merely killed an Ever-Changing Demon Lord, yet you leapt from tenth on the Human Ranking to tenth on the Earth Ranking, even taking that damned tenth position. What ridiculous absurdity!"

Miasma Mother also spoke, her damp chill mixed with miasma drifting into everyone's ears. "Tenth on the Earth Ranking was the position of that bald old Longshu who once chased us. You're still wet behind the ears, brat. What makes you worthy?"

The Insect King slowly raised his eyes, a cold gleam flashing within them. "No one can sit in that damned tenth position on the Earth Ranking! Today, you will surely die!"

Ten years ago, that bald Longshu had chased their Three Brothers for thousands of li, even forcing them to hide among the three great tribes. For ten years, they had not dared take a single step out of the Southern Border!

Every moment, they had dreamed of killing that bald Longshu. Now that they heard Zhang Chu had taken Longshu's former position, the scars in their hearts had undoubtedly been torn open once more!

Anyone who dared sit tenth on the Earth Ranking had to die!

"Are you done talking nonsense?"

Zhang Chu's gaze swept calmly over the three of them.

He had thought they had come for Sword Forging Manor. He had not expected it to be because of his ranking!

Tenth on the Earth Ranking? News traveled fast! He had only driven back the Demonic Cult half a day ago.

"You should understand this: ever since Zhang entered the Jianghu, everyone who dared come looking for trouble with Zhang has died!"