Ten Thousand Stars Sect's Innate Peak Grandmaster

The Demon God Smithy selling low-grade spirit weapons also caught the attention of Emperor of Great Feng, Zhu Xuan.

Zhu Xuan read the report submitted by his subordinate, pondered for a moment, and addressed the shadows, "Go and investigate this Demon God Smithy."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

At the Prince Rong estate.

Princess Zixue, Zhu Tingting, stood in a stone pavilion, her mind drifting back to the events of that night in the Green Demon Mountain Range.

These past few days, she had found herself thinking of that night in the mountains almost every day, unable to help herself.

"Princess," her maid ran in at that moment and said, "didn't you always want to replace your longsword with a low-grade spirit weapon? I just heard news that a smithy is selling low-grade spirit weapon swords."

Princess Zixue, Zhu Tingting, was startled, "A smithy is selling low-grade spirit weapons?"

"Yes," her maid replied, "it's a place called the Demon God Smithy, and they are selling two low-grade spirit weapons—a sword and a saber."

"This Demon God Smithy has stated that by six o'clock this afternoon, the highest bidder takes them."

Upon hearing this, Princess Zixue immediately said, "Let's go take a look." She then took her maid and headed toward the Demon God Smithy.

When they arrived at the Demon God Smithy, they saw that it was already packed with people.

Peering through the crowd, Princess Zixue caught sight of a tall, familiar figure.

Seeing this tall, familiar figure, Princess Zixue froze, then her face lit up with excitement. Was this figure not the very senior who had saved her that night in the Green Demon Mountain Range?

She walked excitedly into the crowd, arrived before the shop entrance, and stood before the masked Qin Meng. She bowed respectfully, "Senior."

Seeing it was Princess Zixue, Qin Meng gave a slight nod.

"Thank you for saving my life that night, Senior," Princess Zixue said again, her face full of gratitude.

Qin Meng shook his head, "I told you, if you want to thank someone, thank my young master."

In Princess Zixue's mind, the image of that figure wreathed in demonic energy involuntarily surfaced.

The Demon God Smithy?

Was it opened by that person?

Princess Zixue pulled back her thoughts and looked at the longsword and long saber hanging in the shop, "May I ask, Senior, how are these low-grade spirit weapons being sold?"

"Starting at ten thousand gold, highest bidder takes them by six o'clock," Qin Meng said.

Ten thousand gold, meaning ten thousand taels of gold, was equivalent to one hundred thousand taels of silver.

However, Princess Zixue was not surprised by this price. Ordinary low-grade spirit weapons were generally worth ten thousand gold, and better ones could even sell for twenty thousand.

Time passed.

At six o'clock in the afternoon.

In the end, the sword was purchased by Princess Zixue.

As for the saber, it was bought by the Third Prince of Great Feng.

During the process, two Xiantian Grandmaster experts attempted to seize the sword and saber, but both were killed by Qin Meng with a single strike of his blade.

After Qin Meng revealed his strength as a Xiantian Seventh-Layer Grandmaster, others quickly abandoned their thoughts of interference.

Previously, the Four Great Dharma Kings of the Demonic Cult had been killed by a masked expert wielding a long saber. For these past few days, the Demonic Cult had been gathering intelligence and investigating, so news of Qin Meng was quickly reported to the Prince of Southern Ming by cult members.

The Prince of Southern Ming's eyes turned cold, "Xiantian Seventh-Layer! And his weapon is a long saber."

"Sect Master, I have verified that when the Four Great Dharma Kings were killed, Wei Zheng of the Saber Sect was not near the Ghost Mound," the Demon Dragon General, head of the Twelve Demon Generals, said coldly. "This expert from the Demon God Smithy matches the murderer we are looking for in height, weapon, and strength."

The Prince of Southern Ming pondered, "Left Envoy, I will trouble you to make a trip."

The Demon Face Left Envoy, a late-stage Xiantian Ninth-Layer expert, stepped forward and said respectfully, "Rest assured, Sect Master, I will bring the person back."

The Prince of Southern Ming said in a deep voice, "Also, find out who the owner of the Demon God Smithy is, and bring back Zhou Wei's head while you're at it."

The Demon Face Left Envoy nodded in acknowledgment and withdrew.

In the evening.

Zhou Cheng looked at the pile of over twenty thousand taels of gold in his courtyard, remembering the times he used to wander through gold shops, wanting to buy things he couldn't afford.

Zhou Cheng picked up a gold ingot; how many rings could this be forged into?

Night fell.

Zhou Cheng took Qin Meng and the others toward the Green Demon Mountain Range.

Normally, this would be the time for soaking in a medicinal bath, but since Zhou Cheng had already broken through to the Qi Refining Realm, the medicinal baths used for the Body Refining Realm no longer had any effect.

Upon arriving at the Green Demon Mountain Range, Zhou Cheng began killing demonic beasts at full speed.

After his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique reached the "Pure Perfection" stage, his cultivation speed had slowed significantly. Automatic daily practice only increased it by 1 point; to reach the "Supernatural" stage, it would take about a hundred days. However, killing one hundred Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts increased it by 1 point, so Zhou Cheng spent every night primarily hunting beasts.

For every hundred Qi Refining Realm beasts he killed, his Demon God Garment and God-Slaying Saber also improved by 1 point each.

After hunting for a while, Zhou Cheng arrived at the mountain cave late at night.

Although the fierce winds in the cave no longer had any effect on his Wind-Facing Willow Steps, he still came to walk through the cave every night.

Today, just as Zhou Cheng entered the cave, he suddenly discovered an extra figure inside!

"Who's there!" Zhou Cheng was startled. He swung the God-Slaying Saber in his hand, the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique manifesting as three blade radiances that slashed toward the stranger.

The stranger seemed quite surprised by Zhou Cheng's saber technique and exclaimed, "Fine technique!" As he spoke, he flicked his finger, sending Zhou Cheng's three blade radiances flying away.

Tonight, Zhou Cheng had only brought Qin Meng and Lin Ru with him. The two men struck simultaneously, their saber and sword cutting through the moonlight and reaching the stranger in an instant.

However, the stranger simply flicked both hands, once again deflecting the weapons of Qin Meng and Lin Ru.

"Xiantian Seventh Layer!" The stranger looked at Qin Meng and Lin Ru in surprise.

After deflecting their weapons, he did not launch a counterattack but instead stood there with calm and composed composure.

Borrowing the moonlight, Zhou Cheng saw the stranger's appearance clearly: a thin, white-haired old man with eyes that shone with a piercing light.

Seeing that the stranger held no malice, Zhou Cheng cupped his fists and asked, "May I ask how to address you, Senior? And how did you discover this cave?"

"Discover?" The man chuckled. "The items in this cave were left behind by me decades ago."

Zhou Cheng was stunned; he had not expected the man to be the original owner of the cave.

The old man smiled and said, "I am Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect. May I ask how to address you, little brother?" He looked at Zhou Cheng with a gentle smile.

"You are Senior Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect!" Zhou Cheng was astonished.

Saint Ancestor Taiming of the Da Feng imperial family, Chen Long of the Sun Moon Sword Sect, the high monk Ming De of Shaolin, Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect, and the Mongol Kingdom's Imperial Preceptor were the five supreme grandmasters of Da Feng!

The old man before him was actually one of these five supreme grandmasters, Xing Yao, the founder of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect.

Seeing Zhou Cheng's shocked expression, Xing Yao laughed, "Indeed, this old man is exactly Xing Yao of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect." He then asked, "May I ask how to address you, little brother?"

Zhou Cheng cupped his fists. "I am Zhou Cheng, son of Zhou Wei."

Before he could finish, Xing Yao exclaimed in surprise, "You are the Zhou Cheng who possesses astonishing Buddha-nature and is said to be the reincarnation of a great Buddha?"

Hearing this, Zhou Cheng felt quite embarrassed. "That is merely a rumor."

Xing Yao chuckled, "That brat Huineng would not tell a lie, surely."

Following this, the two began to chat, exchanging words and enjoying a pleasant conversation.

An hour passed quickly.

Xing Yao suddenly asked, "Little brother Zhou Cheng, the Buddhist sect has many rules. Since you are unwilling to join them, would you have any interest in joining my Ten Thousand Stars Sect?"