Fragrant Virtue Hall

He knew very well that if the man before him wanted to kill them, it would take only a single slash.

Even the sect master might not be his match, so what could a few disciples who had yet to enter Jin do?

Lu Feng stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze resting on Li Ming.

"I heard you say just now that if you hadn't joined the Fire Saber Sect, you would have been eaten by demonic beasts long ago. What did you mean by that?"

"There aren't many demonic beasts around here."

Li Ming froze for a moment, evidently not expecting Lu Feng to ask about that.

He shook his head. "My lord, what you don't know is that the demonic beasts have only been gone these past few years."

"More than ten years ago, things weren't like this."

His voice grew heavy, as though he were opening the pages of an old story he had no wish to tell.

"Back then, demonic beasts ran rampant around Nanxi City. Not only were first-order demonic beasts everywhere, there were several second-order demonic beasts too. Villages were slaughtered one after another, the dead piled up like mountains, and there was nowhere to flee."

"The sect master stepped in and slew those high-order demonic beasts. Later, he recruited large numbers of disciples and led us in clearing them out year after year. We killed them for more than ten years before their numbers dwindled to what they are today."

When he spoke, his voice carried undisguised gratitude.

Lu Feng looked at him but said nothing.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "Did you ever see the bodies of those disciples who failed to break through?"

The others all shook their heads.

Li Ming lowered his voice. "The consequence of suffering Qi deviation while cultivating the Fire Flame Art is self-destruction."

"Not even bones remain."

Self-destruction.

Lu Feng frowned.

There were no bodies; flesh and bone had turned to ash.

"One last question. Apart from the forbidden area on the back mountain, are there any other forbidden areas in the Fire Saber Sect?"

The others thought about it again.

"No," Li Ming replied.

"So apart from the back mountain, you're free to come and go anywhere else?"

No sooner had he spoken than Liu Xiang suddenly spoke up.

"How could that be? No one but the sect master himself is allowed within a hundred paces of Fragrant Virtue Hall."

"Fragrant Virtue Hall?" Lu Feng turned his gaze to her.

Li Ming picked up the thread. "That's where the sect master goes into seclusion to cultivate."

Lu Feng nodded slowly.

"Don't mention meeting me today to anyone."

With that, Lu Feng's figure flickered. He used Treading on Snow Without a Trace and vanished deep into the dense forest within a few breaths.

Once they were sure Lu Feng had really left, the four of them let out a long breath.

Liu Xiang's legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground, her back already soaked in cold sweat.

"I was scared to death..." She clutched her chest, her voice trembling.

Li Ming made a gesture and led the other three into a secluded hollow in the mountain. Only after making sure there was no movement around them did he carefully open the jade slip.

His fingers had barely brushed its surface when his eyes flew wide open.

"Iron Wire Fist! This really is a Ming Jin cultivation art!" His voice was shaking.

"And it even notes the key points for breaking through to Ming Jin. It's far safer than the Fire Flame Art!"

He raised his head and looked at his three companions, unable to contain the wild joy in his eyes.

Liu Xiang leaned over to look at the jade slip's contents, then looked up toward the place where Lu Feng had disappeared, a complicated expression on her face.

A cultivation art a demon-slaying envoy had given away so casually was something they couldn't obtain even in their dreams.

The young man with a scar at the corner of his eye suddenly spoke. "Are we going back to the sect, then?"

Li Ming carefully tucked the jade slip into his robes and stood up, his voice firmer than ever before.

"Not for now. These demon-slaying envoys are most likely here for the sect master. Let's find somewhere safe and break through to Ming Jin first."

Hearing this, the other three nodded emphatically.

Meanwhile.

Lu Feng did not return directly to the Fire Saber Sect.

He followed the official road outside Nanxi City and visited the villages within several dozen li, one by one.

At each village, he stopped for a while and talked with a few of the elderly.

The answers he received were remarkably consistent.

Only the elderly, women, and children remained in the villages. All the young people had gone to the Fire Saber Sect.

Their reasons for going were exactly the same: joining the Fire Saber Sect let them cultivate martial arts, strengthen their bodies, and protect their families.

When demonic beasts attacked, the Fire Saber Sect would send disciples to protect them.

Lu Feng stood at the entrance to the last village, gazing at the distant mountain where the Fire Saber Sect stood.

In the eyes of these villagers, Zhu Ren was a savior, the man who had given them a way to survive.

After a long while, Lu Feng withdrew his gaze, turned, and left.

After nightfall, Lu Feng returned to his lodging in the Fire Saber Sect.

The moment he pushed open the door, he saw the others sitting around the table.

When Zhou Si saw him enter, she immediately stood up.

"How did it go? Did you find anything?"

Before Lu Feng could speak, Liu Yong, who was sitting nearby, gave a sarcastic snort. "What could he possibly find? He's just a demon-slaying guard."

Lu Feng ignored him. He sat down at the table and looked at Zhou Si. "What about your side?"

The others exchanged glances and shook their heads.

"No." Zhou Si's brows were knitted. "I followed Zhu Ren all day. He made two rounds of the sect, went to the back mountain, then returned to his study and reviewed documents for a while. Everything was normal. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary."

Lu Feng asked, "Did he go to Fragrant Virtue Hall?"

"Fragrant Virtue Hall?" Zhou Si was taken aback. She thought back carefully, then slowly shook her head. "No. What place is that?"

Lu Feng did not answer immediately.

He poured himself a cup of water and drained it in one gulp, then recounted everything that had happened while he followed the four disciples that day.

"According to what you said, Zhu Ren kills the disciples who break through to Ming Jin to silence them... So his secret is hidden in Fragrant Virtue Hall?" Zhou Si said in a low voice.

Lu Feng nodded.

"Whether it is or not, won't we know if we go take a look?"

Liu Yong sprang to his feet, picked up his sword, and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Zhou Si hurriedly called after him. "Calm down! What if there are traps in Fragrant Virtue Hall? If we just charge in like this..."

Liu Yong kept walking. Without looking back, he tossed out, "You're dragging your feet. By the time you're done discussing it, it'll be dawn."

With that, his figure vanished into the night.

Zhu Lin shook their head and stood up. "Forget it. Let him go. With Liu Yong's strength, I doubt he'll come to any harm."

The others made a few quick preparations and headed toward Fragrant Virtue Hall as well.

It was deep into the night.

The Fire Saber Sect was silent, and the lights in the disciples' quarters had long since gone out.

When Lu Feng and the others reached the entrance to Fragrant Virtue Hall, they saw two gatekeeping disciples lying on the ground, blood spilling from their mouths. Clearly, Liu Yong had injured them.

The hall doors stood wide open, dim yellow firelight spilling out from within.

They strode into the hall.

In the middle of the hall, Liu Yong held his sword in one hand, its tip pointed straight at Zhu Ren.

Zhu Ren stood in front of a stone door, his right hand pressed to his chest, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

The chest of his scarlet robe had been torn open, faintly revealing the armor beneath.

Zhu Ren raised his head, his gaze sweeping from Liu Yong to Lu Feng and the others.

"My lords, for some reason Lord Liu insists on entering my secret chamber. Please, talk him out of it." As he spoke, he coughed again, and another trickle of blood welled up at the corner of his mouth.

The others stood where they were, not moving an inch.