Who Did She Think Was a Peerless Prodigy, an Outer Sect Steward?!

Senior Brother Sandao absolutely couldn't be merely in the Nascent Soul Realm!

Even a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Late Stage couldn't have blocked that Sword Qi so effortlessly.

For a moment, he even wondered whether Senior Brother Sandao had also caught the wave of cautious cultivation that had recently become popular in the Supreme Dao Sect.

But that couldn't be right. Judging by his performance, he didn't seem to be deliberately hiding his cultivation level.

"Senior Brother, are you... really only in the Nascent Soul Realm?" he couldn't help asking.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he began to regret them.

Should he have asked that?

"What, do you think a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm can't do this?" Xu Xing lowered his hand. "You're from the Sword Sect, after all. You need to broaden your horizons."

"...You're right, Senior Brother."

It wasn't wrong. There really were peerless prodigies who could defeat Foundation Establishment cultivators while at Qi Refining, fight Golden Core cultivators to a draw while at Foundation Establishment, and even trade a few blows with Nascent Soul cultivators once they reached the Golden Core Realm.

Put that way, it did seem perfectly reasonable that a Nascent Soul cultivator could effortlessly block Sword Qi of the same level...

Reasonable my ass!

Senior Brother Sandao, weren't you an outer sect steward?

They'd said peerless prodigies could do that. Since when did "peerless prodigy" have anything to do with an outer sect steward?!

If all the Sword Sect's outer sect stewards were that incredible, the Sword Sect would've ruled the entire Great Profound Realm by now!

Still, he didn't ask anything else. Senior Brother Sandao had already explained, and pressing further would be downright rude.

"Let's continue."

The three of them resumed collecting samples, but didn't touch the Sword Peak again.

Before long, they'd collected nearly all the samples in the Secret Realm. They'd even extracted a few strands of spiritual energy from the air.

That was enough for the mission.

As for the Sword Peak itself, they'd leave it to the elder to investigate.

"Since the mission's complete, let's get out of this Secret Realm as soon as possible. Something about it just feels wrong," Li Fengping said bluntly.

Aside from that Sword Qi, the mission had gone very smoothly, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them.

And he'd seemed a bit unlucky over the past couple of days, which left him feeling uneasy.

Contribution points mattered, but safety mattered more.

"Mm." Jiang Jing had the same feeling. "What do you think, Senior Brother Sandao?"

"I'm fine either way." Xu Xing remained as casual as ever.

One of his reasons for coming was to observe how the younger generation of disciples handled unexpected situations. So far, they seemed to be doing well enough.

Seeing that they both agreed, Li Fengping quickly took out a talisman identical to the one they'd used to enter.

He poured in his spiritual power and ignited it. A swirling, gray-mist-filled oval vortex appeared once more, but this time there was no eerie red glow.

Jiang Jing and Li Fengping were in no mood to linger. As soon as the passage opened, they hurried inside.

Xu Xing walked up to the entrance, then suddenly turned to look at the Red Moon in the sky.

Whoosh~

A gentle breeze blew, and visible ripples spread around the Red Moon hanging high in the heavens.

"Be still. It's not time yet."

At his quiet words, the Red Moon settled. Xu Xing turned around and stepped forward, vanishing into the swirling gray mist.

Outside the Secret Realm, Li Fengping was holding his phone, apparently sending the elders the photos he'd taken inside.

Jiang Jing leaned against a nearby tree and gave Xu Xing a slight nod when he emerged.

Two minutes later, Li Fengping put away his phone. "All right, I've sent the elders the photos from inside the Secret Realm. I'll send these samples back to the Sword Sect, too. Senior Brother and Senior Sister, keep an eye on your accounts over the next couple of days. The contribution points will be deposited directly."

"Now that the mission's complete, Senior Brother Sandao, Junior Brother Li, I have other things to take care of, so I'll be off. I hope we have a chance to work together again."

This mission had been quite easy, and Junior Brother Li was an honest fellow worth working with.

With that, Jiang Jing clasped her hands, merged with her Sword Light, and flew away on her sword.

"I'm off too."

Another streak of light shot out of the woods and disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

In no time, Li Fengping was the only one left. He was used to it, though. Most sword cultivators were free-spirited and unrestrained.

What a shame. He'd wanted to add Senior Brother Sandao as a friend, but he'd left too quickly. He'd have to wait until next time.

Thinking this, Li Fengping rose into the sky on his sword. After confirming his direction, he soon dwindled to a tiny speck on the horizon.

The mission was done. He needed to go see Senior Brother Lin and the others, return Senior Brother Lin's family jade token, and discuss their next move.

The day wasn't even over yet, and Senior Brother Lin and the others were going to be locked up for ten days!

Rustle, rustle.

Not long after the three of them left, a giant python slithered to where they'd just been.

Suddenly, space twisted, and a faint red light showed through, just like when Li Fengping had opened the passage earlier.

Pfft!

Blood sprayed everywhere. The giant python's upper half vanished into thin air, and its blood splattered across a protruding boulder. The remaining half of its body writhed and twisted.

But as its life ebbed away, the mangled body lost the strength to move. It rolled downhill before finally catching on two trees.

Drawn by the smell of blood, several beasts came over. After a fierce scramble, a brown bear came out on top. It drove the others away, then sat down to gnaw on the lifeless half of the snake.

"Ugh. Things have been getting harder and harder lately. How did this little Mystic Sword City suddenly become such a mess?"

"Who could've guessed that a great cultivator would emerge from seclusion nearby?"

The two men, one tall and one short, wore black robes embroidered with demon and ghost patterns. Their sinister auras made them look like they had "I'm a villain" written right across their faces.

The brown bear, busy gnawing on the snake, sensed danger and whipped around to face them. It let out a low growl, trying to scare them off.

"What should we do about the Zhang Siblings? If someone beats us to them, won't all our hard work over the past few years have been for nothing?"

They'd spent so long searching for the Zhang Siblings, and risked their lives to kill so many people.

They hadn't even gotten the chance to do anything before they'd been forced to flee in disgrace.

"There's nothing we can do. We'll have to lie low for a while. Even a great Void Return cultivator has fallen. The two of us just can't take that kind of beating."

Neither man spared the brown bear a glance. As it watched them walk past, a trace of confusion flickered in its beady eyes.

The next second—

Bang!

Its entire head exploded. The huge body collapsed and rolled thunderously down the mountainside, snapping several small trees along the way.

It was just a bear without a shred of spiritual intelligence. Killing it was no harder for them than crushing an ant.

Soon, the two men arrived at the place where the Secret Realm passage had opened earlier.

"Brother, are we really not going to do anything about the young master?"

The tall man licked the blood on the back of his hand, his face filled with pleasure. With his sinister aura and features, he looked utterly deranged.

The short man sighed silently.

He knew their appearance and aura were a problem. His younger brother even had some twisted little habits, and had tortured and killed quite a few people while hunting down the Zhang Siblings.

That was why he'd abandoned everything and left Mystic Sword City, so they wouldn't be discovered and have to get hunted down by righteous cultivators.

There weren't many demonic cultivators like the two of them these days, villains through and through.

"We already warned the young master. He refuses to leave, and there's nothing we can do. We can't exactly sell him our lives."

The young master had connections. He might be able to handle things, but the two brothers couldn't.

Come to think of it, they still didn't know who the great cultivator emerging from seclusion was. Why choose Mystic Sword City of all places? Couldn't you have gone somewhere else?

Damn it, I hope you—

Before he could finish the curse, a flash of red light suddenly streaked across his vision, followed by a force that dragged at him, impossible to resist.

In the blink of an eye, the world had changed completely. The Red Moon hung in the sky, and everything in sight was scarlet. It was obviously a terrible place.

"..."

Seriously? I only cursed him in my head, and I hadn't even finished. Did my comeuppance really have to come that fast?

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