This Is Sending Them to Their Deaths, Isn't It?

There were four towns on the outskirts of Springwatch City, and Little Spring Town had the largest population and was the liveliest.

People from all walks of life gathered here. In sheer numbers, it far surpassed even the busiest streets within Springwatch City.

The truth was, there were still more poor bastards in this world.

There were quite a few martial artists in Little Spring Town as well.

After all, Springwatch City was one of Cloud Prefecture's foremost great cities. Just as Duan Yun's father had said, not only were there many people and doctors, martial halls and sects stood everywhere too, drawing in countless people who wished to train in martial arts and seek breakthroughs.

Of course, the overwhelming majority of martial artists here were from the bottom rung. Those with money and fists had long since gone into the city to live it up.

Duan Yun stood in the largest bookstore in Little Spring Town and asked, "Boss, do you have any more formidable martial arts manuals here?"

The owner answered proudly, "Of course I do, and plenty of them. What kind do you want?"

"Netherworld Realm level," Duan Yun said.

In truth, after several months in the martial world, he had gained some understanding of martial arts realms, though not much.

He only knew of the Qi Sea Realm and the Netherworld Realm. According to that great monk, those in the Netherworld Realm absolutely counted as experts in the martial world. The Red Tower elder of Lu Estate was among them.

And since he was just a little stronger than that Red Tower elder, he should count as a somewhat formidable Netherworld Realm expert.

If he wanted to buy a manual, it naturally had to be at the Netherworld Realm level.

The owner rubbed his ears and said, "What level?"

"Netherworld Realm level," Duan Yun answered honestly.

"Are you looking for trouble? First thing in the morning, you ask me to find a Netherworld Realm manual. Why don't you ask me to fly into the sky while you're at it?"

The owner had several cowlicks on his head. One look and it was obvious he did not have the best temper.

"Then what level do you have here? Qi Sea?" Duan Yun tried.

Seeing that Duan Yun did not look like he could afford anything, the owner said, "I have a few incomplete Qi Sea manuals, but those are the treasures of my shop. Do you have the silver?"

"How much?" Duan Yun asked.

"A copied version costs one hundred taels. If you want the original, don't even talk to me without eight hundred taels of silver," the owner said.

"Farewell." Without another word, Duan Yun turned and left.

He went on to ask at several more shops and confirmed that there were no Netherworld Realm manuals in this area.

Those who claimed they had them were obviously lying in order to swindle people.

There were Qi Sea Realm manuals, but not many, and they were extremely expensive.

By then, Duan Yun had more or less grasped the lay of the land.

Among manuals that could circulate freely on the market, the highest level was no more than Qi Sea Realm. Most were copied editions too, and there might well be traps hidden within them.

According to the owner of the most amiable bookstore, only reputable bookstores like theirs were qualified to sell manuals. Manuals sold by others were either fake or problematic.

The bookstore owner had even used the story of Old Devil Duan passing on his cultivation and turning people into women as an example, to frighten and warn Old Devil Duan himself.

"So the waters of the martial world run deep. Don't casually practice manuals of unknown origin. Ours are the most authentic."

After leaving the bookstore, Duan Yun knew that his hopes of picking up some divine art were slim.

Qi Sea Realm manuals were already outrageously expensive, so Netherworld Realm ones were even more out of the question.

According to these people, manuals that could let someone cultivate to the Netherworld Realm were exclusive possessions of great sects and major schools. Did they think one could simply buy one offhand?

Even if one could buy it, would one dare learn it? Weren't they afraid of becoming a madman?

Duan Yun could understand that, actually.

He had seen the madness of this world's martial artists. Hardly any of them were normal. It was probably related to their cultivation methods as well.

But Duan Yun was not too worried about going mad from cultivation deviation, at least not on the path of the sword.

Because he was a one-in-ten-thousand swordsmanship prodigy!

What others could not master, he could. What would drive others mad would definitely not drive him mad. He could even create and improve techniques himself.

Though his search for a divine art had yielded nothing for now, Duan Yun was not discouraged in the slightest.

That was the confidence of a one-in-ten-thousand swordsmanship prodigy.

Since he could not find a divine art for the time being, he would continue creating his own cultivation method first.

Yes, every manual he could get his hands on now was trash to him. They were not as cost-effective as creating his own.

At the very least, the Body-Breaking Sword Qi was worth continuing to cultivate deeply.

Thinking of the enemies who might besiege him, Duan Yun made a prompt decision. He would first find a place and work hard to raise the Body-Breaking Sword Qi by another level, while also gathering news of new divine arts.

Compared with cultivating a new divine art, creating one's own cultivation method was clearly far more difficult. It required him, a cultivation prodigy, to work twice as hard!

At the same time, in Riverside City a thousand miles away, an old acquaintance arrived.

Leng Yimeng, the big-breasted goddess constable whom Duan Yun found utterly off-putting, returned to this small city once more.

She stood before this pharmacy, which had already closed down.

She had come because news of Duan Yun, the devil Duan, had reached her.

Duan Yun, devil Duan—the most sinister and terrifying newly risen devil of late, whose evil reputation had spread far and wide.

When Leng Yimeng first heard the name, she had not connected it with the gynecological doctor from Riverside City. She had assumed it was merely someone with the same name.

Only when more details arrived—that the devil was young and handsome, with clear eyes, and looked like a doctor—did Leng Yimeng involuntarily connect Doctor Duan Yun, devil Duan, and the Riverside City case. The more she thought about it, the more alarmed she became.

She had said before that anyone who dared stare openly at her breasts naturally had no guilt in his heart.

But she had overlooked one very special possibility: even if he had ghosts in his heart, he still dared stare at her because he was a devil who could easily handle her however he pleased!

This young Doctor Duan had already left. Apparently, he had been gone for quite some time. Yet Leng Yimeng, the goddess constable standing outside the pharmacy, was still somewhat nervous.

She was afraid that one careless step might uncover certain taboos and alter her life forever.

Nevertheless, Leng Yimeng went inside, entering the cramped pharmacy.

The pharmacy had been closed for a long time, and dust covered everything.

Using her keen nose to sniff out the scents around her, Leng Yimeng walked toward the rear.

Behind the pharmacy was a small courtyard with two crude thatched rooms. A lingering medicinal scent filled the air.

The next moment, Leng Yimeng's tall body could not help trembling slightly when she saw the grass beneath that crooked-necked tree.

From her experience, there should have been a corpse buried there.

Merely looking at that thickly growing grass filled Leng Yimeng with fear.

And that fear climbed another level when she saw the crooked-necked tree shaved bare by Sword Qi and the wall nearly reduced to ruins by Sword Finger.

It really was him!

This devil was truly unfathomable.

That day, when he had turned the Attendant at the county magistrate's residence into a sieve with Sword Finger, he had probably only acted casually. He had not used any real strength at all.

She had once fantasized about joining forces with her sister to see whether they could contend with this devil, but it was obvious she had been overthinking things.

That rookie who had slept in the wilderness at night and understood nothing, that young gynecological doctor who sat there admiring her cleavage and looked harmless to man and beast, really was the terrifying devil Duan of rumor.

So when he had looked at her chest back then, he had actually harbored wicked intentions.

Rumors about devil Duan kept arriving, and talk of his perversity was no longer limited to how formidable his fingers were.

Even men like the Lingshui Twin Heroes could be toyed with by him until they became women. What about a woman like her?

What would he turn her into?

Miserable scenes surfaced in the goddess constable's mind, and her fear reached its peak when she discovered the repaired cellar.

Duan Yun really had repaired the cellar back then. It was old and had fallen into disrepair, and he truly had made preparations to imprison the goddess constable there.

Standing in this cellar, Leng Yimeng suddenly felt a cold wind blow over her. She could not help but startle, afraid that the handsome devil Duan might be standing behind her, smiling at her with that harmless expression.

Leng Yimeng returned to the pharmacy, the fear making goosebumps rise all over her body.

The fact that she could stand here today already counted as good fortune. If that devil had entertained a different thought, she might already have suffered every humiliation and torment in that lightless cellar.

It had been far too dangerous!

Yet the bureau had actually sent her and her sister to investigate this devil. Was this something they could investigate?

Was this sending them to their deaths?