***
This Senior Brother Sandao definitely could not have merely been at the Nascent Soul stage!
Even a practitioner at the late stage of the Nascent Soul would have found it impossible to block that streak of sword qi with such ease.
For a moment, he even suspected that Senior Brother Sandao had also been tainted by that 'steady-stream' cultivation trend that had recently become so popular within the Taishang Dao Sect.
But that was also not quite right; looking at his current performance, he did not seem to have any intention of deliberately concealing his own cultivation realm and boundary.
"Senior Brother, are you... truly just at the Nascent Soul stage?" He could not help but ask the question aloud.
However, as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a trace of regret in his heart.
He wondered if he should not have asked such a question.
"What, do you actually believe that a Nascent Soul stage practitioner is incapable of doing such a thing?" Xu Xing lowered his hand. "You are a member of the Sword Sect after all; you should broaden your horizons a bit."
"...What Senior Brother says is also true."
It was true when put that way; there were indeed some peerless geniuses who could reverse-kill those at the Foundation Establishment stage while still at the Qi Refining stage, fight to a draw with Golden Core practitioners while at the Foundation Establishment stage, and even exchange a few blows with Nascent Soul practitioners upon reaching the Golden Core stage.
Thinking about it this way, it seemed quite reasonable for a Nascent Soul to easily block a sword qi at the Nascent Soul level...
Reasonable, my foot!
Senior Brother Sandao, are you not an outer sect deacon?
It was already stated that those were geniuses; when did a term like 'genius' ever have anything to do with an outer sect deacon?!
If the outer sect deacons of the Sword Sect were all this formidable, the Sword Sect would have long since ruled the entire Taixuan World!
However, he did not ask any further; Senior Brother Sandao had given an explanation, and to keep asking would be somewhat ungrateful and disrespectful.
"Let us continue."
The three of them continued to collect samples, but they did not touch that sword peak again.
Very quickly, the samples within the secret realm were mostly collected, and even a few wisps of the spiritual energy in the air were extracted.
It was already sufficient for the requirements of the mission.
As for this sword peak itself, it was better to let the Elder investigate it personally.
"Since the mission is completed, let us quickly leave this secret realm; I always feel that there is something wrong with this place," Li Fengping said directly.
Aside from that one streak of sword qi, the process of this mission had been quite smooth, but he constantly had the feeling that something was staring at him.
Combined with the fact that he seemed to have been quite unlucky these past two days, his heart felt a bit uneasy.
Contribution points were very important, but safety was even more important.
"Mhm." Jiang Jing actually possessed this same feeling in her heart. "What does Senior Brother Sandao think?"
"Anything is fine with me." Xu Xing still maintained that casual attitude.
One of his goals for this trip was to observe the adaptability of the new generation of disciples; looking at the situation now, there were no major issues.
Seeing that both of them agreed, Li Fengping quickly took out a talisman, identical to the one used when they entered.
After injecting magical power to ignite it, the elliptical vortex billowing with grey mist appeared once more, but this time it did not possess that eerie red light.
Jiang Jing and Li Fengping did not wish to stay any longer; once the passage opened, they quickly walked inside.
Xu Xing walked to the entrance of the passage and suddenly turned his head to look at the red moon in the sky.
Phew—
A gentle breeze blew past, and ripples visible to the naked eye shimmered around the red moon hanging high in the firmament.
"Do not be noisy; it is not yet time."
With a soft word, the red moon returned to a state of tranquility. Xu Xing turned around and took a step forward, his figure vanishing within the billowing grey mist.
Outside the secret realm, Li Fengping was seen holding his mobile phone, presumably sending the photographs taken within the secret realm to the Elder.
Jiang Jing leaned against a large tree nearby, nodding slightly upon seeing Xu Xing emerge.
Two minutes later, Li Fengping put down his mobile phone: "Alright, I have already sent the photographs from within the secret realm to the Elder. I will also send these samples back to the Sword Sect. Senior Brother and Senior Sister, please keep an eye on your accounts over the next two days; the contribution points will be credited directly to them."
"Since the mission is completed, Senior Brother Sandao, Junior Brother Li, I have matters to attend to so I will take my leave first. I hope there will be an opportunity to cooperate again in the future."
This mission had been quite easy, and this Junior Brother Li was also an honest person, making him worthy of cooperation.
After saying that, Jiang Jing cupped her hands, merged with her sword light, and flew away upon her sword.
"I am also leaving."
Another streak of light charged out from the mountain forest, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
In an instant, only Li Fengping was left in the original spot, but he was quite used to it; most sword cultivators were like this—free, easy, and uninhibited.
It was a pity; he had originally wanted to add Senior Brother Sandao as a friend, but the man had walked too quickly, so he could only wait until next time.
While Li Fengping thought, he flew high into the air upon his sword. After determining his position, he quickly transformed into a small dot on the horizon.
Now that the mission was finished, he had to go and see Senior Brother Lin and the others, and while he was at it, return the family jade plaque to him and discuss the plan for the next step.
The day had not even passed yet, and Senior Brother Lin and the others were to be detained for ten days!
Sha— Sha—
Not long after the three had left, a giant python slithered to the position where the three had just been standing.
Suddenly, space distorted for a moment, and red light was faintly revealed, just as it had been when Li Fengping opened the passage earlier.
Poof!
Blood and gore splattered as the upper half of the giant python's body vanished into thin air. Blood spilled upon that protruding mountain rock, and the remaining half of the body writhed continuously.
However, as its vitality drained away, the remnant corpse lost the strength to thrash about, rolling all the way down until it finally hung across two trees.
Some fierce beasts caught the scent of blood and found their way over one by one. After a round of competition, a brown bear emerged victorious; it chased away the other fierce beasts and sat down to feast alone upon that half of the snake corpse that had already lost its life.
"Alas—life has truly become increasingly difficult recently. Tell me, how did this tiny Xuanjian City suddenly fall into chaos?"
"Who could have imagined that a great cultivator would actually emerge from seclusion in this vicinity?"
These were two people, one tall and one short, dressed in black robes embroidered with the patterns of demons and ghosts. Their auras were gloomy and sinister, lacking only the four words 'I am a villain' written upon their faces.
The brown bear that was feasting upon the snake corpse sensed danger and suddenly turned its head to look at the two, letting out a low growl in an attempt to frighten them away.
"What should we do regarding the Zhang siblings? If someone else gets there first, will our efforts over these past few years not have been in vain?"
In order to find the Zhang siblings, they had spent a great deal of time and risked danger to kill so many people.
Before they even had the chance to do anything, they had fled in a sorry state.
"There is no other way; we can only hide for a while. Even a Void Returning Stage great cultivator has fallen; the physical frames of us two brothers truly cannot hold up against that."
The two did not even spare a glance for the brown bear. As the bear watched the two walk past it, a trace of confusion flashed within its beady eyes.
In the next second.
Bang!
Its entire head exploded directly, and its massive body collapsed abruptly, rolling down the mountain with a thunderous sound and snapping several small trees along the way.
It was merely a bear that had not yet developed spiritual intelligence; to the two of them, it was no different from crushing an ant to death.
Very quickly, the two arrived at the place where the secret realm passage had previously opened.
"Brother, are we truly no longer going to care about the young master's side?"
The tall one licked the blood stained upon the back of his hand, revealing an expression of enjoyment. Combined with his sinister temperament and facial features, he appeared extremely perverted.
The short one saw this and sighed silently in his heart.
He was also well aware that the appearance and temperament of his two brothers were very problematic. This younger brother of his even possessed some perverted small hobbies, having tortured and killed quite a few people in the process of tracking the Zhang siblings.
That was why he had abandoned everything to leave Xuanjian City, to avoid being discovered and then being slain in the name of the Dao.
In this day and age, there were very few demonic practitioners like the two of them who looked like 'villains' from the inside out.
"The young master has already been warned; if he is unwilling to leave, we have no choice. We cannot sell our lives to him."
The young master had a background; perhaps he could hold his own, but they two brothers could not.
Speaking of which, it was unknown who that great cultivator who emerged from seclusion was, actually choosing Xuanjian City. Would it not have been better if you had gone somewhere else?
Damn it, I curse you to—
Before he could finish the curse, a flash of red light suddenly appeared before his eyes, followed by an irresistible force of suction and pulling.
In the blink of an eye, the world had undergone a massive change. A red moon hung high in the sky, and everything the eye could see was a patch of crimson; at a glance, it was clearly not a good place.
"..."
'No, I was only cursing in my heart, and I hadn't even finished the curse yet. Is it necessary for retribution to come this quickly?'
***