Iron Armor

After Zhao Jie made his decision, he ordered everyone to disperse and gave the disciples half an hour to prepare.

After half an hour, anyone who failed to report back would have their martial arts crippled and be expelled from the sect.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother! You're so lucky! He actually died!"

Only after seeing Zhao Jie enter the inner courtyard did Ge Xiaogu sidle up to Wang Sheng. Unable to hide his excitement, he spoke in a low voice.

Ge Xiaogu did not dare say Jin Cang's name, afraid Zhao Jie might hear him.

Just yesterday, Ge Xiaogu had been thinking how lucky Senior Brother Wang Sheng was—whoever crossed him died. Now Jin Cang had died too, and Ge Xiaogu became even more convinced. Senior Brother Wang Sheng might be one of those fated people from legend!

"I really am pretty lucky."

Wang Sheng nodded, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Junior Brother, be careful from here on. Stay close to me when we move. There may be a large-scale slaughter ahead. You haven't reached the middle stage of Bright Energy yet, so don't try to show off."

Luo Zhengwen walked over as he spoke.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Wang Sheng solemnly cupped his fists and bowed.

"Hahaha, then I'll accept that salute. In a while, Senior Brother will make sure you come to no harm!"

Luo Zhengwen smiled. He glanced toward the inner courtyard, then deliberately lowered his voice. "Junior Brother, you really do have luck on your side. You clashed with Jin Cang just yesterday, and today he died. If you weren't only at the initial stage of Bright Energy, no one would suspect you. If you had even been at the initial stage of Dark Energy, you wouldn't have made it out of this courtyard today."

"Hahaha, Senior Brother, I've always had good luck. If you ever feel unlucky in the future, just invite me over to hold down the fort. Maybe I can help drive your bad luck away!"

Wang Sheng laughed a few times.

"Get lost. Give you an inch and you take a mile."

Luo Zhengwen shook his head and laughed.

"Why are there a few drops of blood here? What, are you hurt?"

Luo Zhengwen suddenly noticed faint traces of blood on the side of Wang Sheng's short shirt.

"There's blood here? I don't know how it got on me either!"

Wang Sheng asked in confusion.

When he had killed people in the alley earlier, he had tried his utmost to kill without getting blood on himself, finishing quickly and leaving without being tainted by the stench of blood. Yet it seemed some bloodstains had still been left somewhere he could not see.

"Ah! Too many people have died in the city lately. Maybe it's just some leftover blood you brushed against without noticing..."

"Come on. Let's go discuss forming teams with Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters Li Hu, Wei Yu, and the others."

Luo Zhengwen and Wang Sheng arrived where a group of fellow disciples at Bright Energy had gathered.

Ge Xiaogu watched with a face full of envy. He was not qualified to follow them over.

At this moment,

Li Hu, Wei Yu, Wei Lingqin, and the others were worrying.

"Ah! We're about to run into people from the Demonic Cult, yet I still can't break through to Dark Energy. I'm unwilling to accept this!"

Li Hu's expression was grave, and helplessness and disappointment were hard to hide on his face.

Without reaching Dark Energy, one could not join the ranks of the strong.

Transforming Energy Grandmasters were rare. Usually, they had opponents of the same level holding them in check, so they would not casually massacre those at Bright Energy.

But Dark Energy was different. No one could say how many Dark Energy experts the Demonic Cult had.

If even one Dark Energy expert charged into a group of Bright Energy martial artists, it would be an unchecked massacre. No one could stop them.

Decades of cultivation could vanish into nothing in an instant when one encountered a Dark Energy enemy.

That was why Li Hu was so desperate to attain Dark Energy cultivation. The sense of danger in his heart was like thorns pressing against his back, leaving him unable to relax.

"If we can't break through, what can we do? At most, we can gather together. If we encounter a Dark Energy expert, we can only hope to hold out a little longer!"

Wei Yu sounded somewhat frustrated. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall, her long, fair legs crossed as she spoke in a chilly voice.

She had also been unable to break through. Seeing the world about to fall into chaos, without Dark Energy cultivation, she barely had the strength to protect herself. For experts like them at the great perfection of Bright Energy, it was simply torture.

"Hehe! Our strength is actually not bad. The truly unlucky ones are disciples like Junior Brother Wang Sheng, who have only just stepped into Bright Energy. They probably haven't even killed anyone before having to face those savage, crazed people from the Demonic Cult!"

Wei Lingqin said with a laugh. Her gaze fell on Wang Sheng, and her lips curled upward. She was simply delighted to see him made a joke of.

Wang Sheng had come together with Luo Zhengwen. Wei Lingqin had looked down on a country bumpkin like Wang Sheng before, and had argued with Luo Zhengwen over it.

Now that Wang Sheng had broken through to Bright Energy, Wei Lingqin looked down on him even more.

In her eyes, how could someone like Wang Sheng, the lowly son of a servant, be qualified to stand at the same Bright Energy level as her?

Wang Sheng breaking through to Bright Energy was, in Wei Lingqin's eyes, like something lowly and servile defiling and contaminating the beauty before her eyes.

If Zhao Jie had not cared so much about appearances and forbidden disciples from fighting among themselves, Wei Lingqin would have been right in his face long ago.

"Senior Sister Wei, you should worry about yourself."

Wang Sheng glanced at her and spoke calmly.

"What kind of tone is that? What kind of attitude? Is that how you speak to your Senior Sister? You dare disrespect your Senior Sister—what are you trying to do?"

Wei Lingqin was about to continue when Wei Yu interrupted her.

"Enough. We didn't gather here to listen to you bully Junior Brother."

Wei Yu swept Wei Lingqin a cold glance.

"I—I wasn't bullying him!"

Wei Lingqin defended herself. Seeing everyone looking at her impatiently, she could only shut up.

"Wang Sheng, follow me later."

Wei Yu thought for a moment, then added another sentence.

Back when Wang Sheng had trained so diligently, Wei Yu had felt that he had no chance of breaking through. Though she pitied his diligence, they had neither kinship nor friendship, so she had not helped him.

Now that Wang Sheng had become her Junior Brother, Wei Yu did not want to see such a hardworking and honest Junior Brother die in this great battle against the Demonic Cult, so she casually mentioned it.

"Hurry up and thank Senior Sister!"

Seeing Wang Sheng look at him, Luo Zhengwen immediately grew anxious.

What was he looking at him for? He was only at the late stage of Bright Energy—how could he compare to Wei Yu at the great perfection of Bright Energy? Besides, having one more person to protect him meant one more chance of surviving.

"Thank you, Senior Sister!"

Wang Sheng was somewhat helpless and could only cup his fists in salute.

"You brat, you don't know what's good for you. You even look unwilling!"

Wei Yu flicked a pebble with her long leg until it landed before Wang Sheng, then teased him with a smile.

"Enough idle chatter. I have a Blood Burst Pill here. Who wants it? I need a Hundred-Forged Sword!"

Li Hu spoke.

Someone like him, who had remained unable to break through to Dark Energy despite being at the great perfection of Bright Energy for so long, naturally cultivated other martial arts as well.

"I have a Sixty-Forged Longsword!"

After several breaths, a Bright Energy disciple with a face like a bitter gourd stepped forward and displayed the longsword in his hand.

Li Hu took it, inspected it for a while, and finally agreed to the trade.

After that, everyone began taking turns stating what they needed and making trades.

Only then did Wang Sheng understand that there was such a benefit to everyone gathering here.

Very soon, it was Wang Sheng's turn.

"I need a protective inner vest. The higher its defense, the better. I can pay money, or I can promise to do one thing for its owner in the future."

Wang Sheng said.

The atmosphere immediately cooled several degrees. No one responded.

After all, in these chaotic times, inner armor counted as a treasure that could preserve one's life.

Yet Wang Sheng was offering only money and a promise, both light as air. Who would be willing to trade?

"My family has a piece of ancestral Iron Armor. Its defense is decent. It's just too heavy—extremely heavy. Wearing it will greatly reduce your speed."

A Bright Energy disciple stepped forward and spoke after weighing his words.

Among all martial arts under heaven, only speed was unbreakable.

Heavy Iron Armor and suits of heavy armor were basically never considered by people of the martial world. They mostly appeared on battlefields where great armies clashed.