Heavenly Devil Sect

The night was black as ink, and the bamboo grove outside the inn rustled in the wind. Qian Shisan sat in a corner of the hall, gnawing on a chicken leg while idly counting the cobwebs on the rafters.

"One, two... This damned inn has terrible hygiene..."

Suddenly, the inn doors were flung open. Song Qingfeng stumbled inside, his Daoist robe stained with mud and several bloody marks streaking his face.

"Junior Sister Leng! Senior Brother Bai!" he shouted breathlessly. "I found traces of the Heavenly Devil Sect! They... they crippled Senior Brother Zhao!"

Leng Rushuang, who had been meditating to regulate her breathing, abruptly opened her eyes. A cold gleam flashed within them. "What did you say? What happened to Senior Brother Zhao?"

Song Qingfeng dropped to his knees with a thud, his voice choked with grief. "I followed the clues and found them in a ruined temple five li away... Senior Brother Zhao's tendons and hamstrings were severed. His martial arts... his martial arts have been completely destroyed!"

Bang!

Leng Rushuang smashed the wooden table beside her with one palm, murderous intent blazing in her eyes. "Heavenly Devil Sect!"

Bai Lusong remained relatively calm. Frowning, he asked, "Junior Brother Song, did you see how many of them there were?"

"About seven or eight, all experts." Song Qingfeng wiped the sweat from his brow. "They took Senior Brother Zhao north. They said... they said they would use him to consecrate their banner..."

"Bastards!" The Wudang disciples were enraged beyond measure and drew their swords one after another.

Leng Rushuang made her decision at once. "Senior Brother Bai, take two men and remain at the inn to look after the injured junior brothers. The rest of you, come with me to save him!"

Qian Shisan narrowed her eyes and secretly studied Song Qingfeng. This Wudang disciple, who had been so arrogantly full of himself just moments ago, wore an expression of grief and fury now, yet his gaze kept shifting. There were bloodstains on his clothes, but no wounds...

Something isn't right... Alarm bells rang wildly in Qian Shisan's heart.

After the Wudang group hurried away, Qian Shisan immediately raced upstairs and slammed open Li Chen Zhou's door with a bang.

"My lord! Something terrible has happened!"

Li Chen Zhou was studying "Frost Heaven Six Annihilations" and did not even raise his head. "Why are you so flustered?"

Qian Shisan said urgently, "There's something wrong with Song Qingfeng! I saw his eyes darting around just now, and the bloodstains on his clothes were faked! Those Wudang people may be walking straight into an ambush!"

Only then did Li Chen Zhou put down the book, his brows knitting slightly. "Are you certain?"

"Absolutely!" Qian Shisan stamped her feet in anxiety. "And the news he brought back was too convenient. It just happened that Senior Brother Zhao, one of the Wudang Seven, had met with trouble... He clearly wanted to lure them out!"

Li Chen Zhou pondered for a moment, then his ears suddenly twitched. "Too late. They've already started fighting."

The faint sounds of clashing weapons and anguished screams drifted from afar. Qian Shisan's face changed drastically. "To the northeast!"

"Go!"

Li Chen Zhou grabbed the Blood Demon Blade, his figure flashing out through the window like a ghost. Qian Shisan hurried after him, only to find the Earthly Fiends Four already waiting in the courtyard.

"My lord, go on ahead. We'll be there shortly!"

At the Mass Burial Mound three li away, the moonlight was bleak and wan.

Leng Rushuang's sword was stained with blood, and three Wudang disciples had already fallen beside her. Bai Lusong had taken an arrow to the chest and was leaning against a tombstone, gasping for breath.

"Song Qingfeng! You traitor!" Leng Rushuang shouted sharply.

Song Qingfeng stood to one side with a sinister grin. "Junior Sister Leng, a wise man submits to the times. I was poisoned with Seven Insects Seven Flowers Paste. The Heavenly Devil Sect promised me an antidote, and they'll even teach me the demonic sect's Heavenly Devil Art..."

"Shameless!" Leng Rushuang rebuked him furiously, but her grave injuries made her stagger.

Song Qingfeng raised his sword with a cruel smile. "You realize it too late! Today, not one of you will leave alive!"

Kill!

More than ten black-clad men attacked at once. Blade flashes and sword shadows instantly engulfed the remaining three Wudang disciples. Leng Rushuang fought desperately, but a cold gleam suddenly struck from behind—

Pfft!

Song Qingfeng's sword pierced through her back and emerged from her chest!

"You..." Leng Rushuang spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered as she turned around, only to see Song Qingfeng's face twisted with delight.

"Wudang's 'Winter Plum Sword'? Nothing special!" Song Qingfeng laughed wildly as he pulled out his sword. Just as he was about to strike again—

Boom!

A blood-red blade light descended from the heavens, cleaving three black-clad men in half at the waist! Amid the rain of blood, Li Chen Zhou descended like a demon god.

Soul Absorption Art!

His right hand formed a claw, and five streams of black qi shot out like venomous snakes, instantly coiling around five black-clad men. Before those men could even scream, they visibly shriveled up, becoming five dried corpses in the blink of an eye!

System prompt: Internal power increased by 15 years.

Li Chen Zhou frowned. "Other than the leader, who was decent, the rest were too weak."

Song Qingfeng was so terrified that his soul nearly left his body. He turned and tried to flee.

"Trying to leave?"

Li Chen Zhou made a grasping motion with his left hand, and an invisible force yanked Song Qingfeng back through the air. Song Qingfeng struggled desperately, but could only watch as his internal power poured away like floodwaters after a dike burst...

"No! Spare me! I'll be your ox and horse—"

Before he could finish speaking, he had already become a shriveled corpse.

System notification: Internal power increased by 5 years. Current internal power: 212 years. Current lifespan: 43 years.

Li Chen Zhou withdrew his technique and stood still, sweeping his gaze around. Apart from the gravely wounded Wudang disciples, every member of the Heavenly Devil Sect had been wiped out.

Only then did Qian Shisan arrive, panting for breath. Seeing the dried corpses strewn across the ground, she could not help clicking her tongue. "My lord, that was a little too..."

"Careful!"

Li Chen Zhou suddenly shoved Qian Shisan away while raising the Blood Demon Blade across his chest.

Clang!

A sword light like a white rainbow smashed viciously against the blade, spraying sparks in every direction! The newcomer's sword momentum was like a rainbow. Before one move had ended, the next was already upon him—it was none other than Wudang's supreme art, the Heaven Reliant Dragon Slaying Skill!

"Demon! Return the lives of my Wudang disciples!"

The sword wielder was an incomparably beautiful young woman of about eighteen or nineteen. Her white robes were whiter than snow, and though her features were as picturesque as a painting, they carried Killing Intent. Her swordsmanship was exquisite beyond compare, every strike aimed straight at a vital point, forcing Li Chen Zhou back three consecutive steps!

Qian Shisan cried out, "It's Wudang's Zhang Zhiruo! Madman Zhang's direct granddisciple!"

Zhang Zhiruo's sword did not pause as she shouted coldly, "Devil! You steal others' internal power and slaughter my Wudang disciples. Today, I will take your life!"

A flicker of surprise crossed Li Chen Zhou's eyes. "Fine swordsmanship." He stopped retreating. The Blood Demon Blade suddenly burst forth with dazzling crimson light as he met her attack with "Falling Cold Star" from Frost Heaven Six Annihilations.

Boom!

Blade and sword collided, and waves of force churned through the air. Zhang Zhiruo was thrown back several steps, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of her lips, yet she still stubbornly stood with her sword raised.

"Junior Sister... stop..." Leng Rushuang called weakly. "It was Senior Li... who saved us..."

Only then did Zhang Zhiruo notice the black-clad corpses covering the ground, as well as Song Qingfeng's dried corpse. Her expression changed, but she still refused to lower her sword. "Then why did he absorb Senior Brother Song's internal power?"

Li Chen Zhou said flatly, "He was merely a traitor."

Qian Shisan hurried over to explain, "Miss, you misunderstand! Song Qingfeng colluded with the Heavenly Devil Sect and set this ambush, nearly killing your senior sister. My lord came to save them!"

Zhang Zhiruo was doubtful and turned to look at Leng Rushuang. Seeing her senior sister nod with difficulty, she finally lowered her sword slowly, though the vigilance in her eyes had yet to fade.

"Cough, cough..." Leng Rushuang spat out another mouthful of blood. "Senior Li... thank you... for saving us..."