Chapter 79: First Glimmer of Sharpness!

Late at night.

Inside a dim room.

"Reporting to the Venerable Master, the Changping County government is monitoring us very closely now, and the Spirit Seed feeding plan has slowed down somewhat..."

A man in black knelt on one knee, his face full of reverence.

"It is time to give them something else to do. Go and initiate the next step of the plan; the matter of the Spirit Seeds must not be delayed."

A woman in a blood-red robe sat on the edge of the bed, her beautiful eyes filled with malice.

"Your subordinate obeys."

The man stood up and slowly walked out.

Seeing him depart, the woman's gaze grew deep and distant.

"I truly look forward to that day arriving soon..."

…………

The following days were extremely calm, as if on the eve of a storm; an incredibly oppressive atmosphere hung over the hearts of all the martial artists in the county.

Those cultists and the Black Mountain Bandits seemed to have vanished, no longer stirring up trouble.

However, everyone knew this was only temporary; a great battle would break out sooner or later.

The two sides had clashed many times, and quite a few county martial artists had fallen at the hands of the enemy.

The conflict between the two factions had long since reached its peak; only blood and slaughter could quell the anger of the masses.

Staying at home, Lu Changsheng also felt this atmosphere; a sense of urgency constantly lingered in his heart.

He must seize the time to rapidly improve his strength.

The spiritual items at the volcano must be excavated completely as soon as possible.

Currently, only his footwork and defensive skills remained unimproved; as long as he filled in the gaps for these two techniques, he could charge toward the next level again.

Just as Lu Changsheng was diligently cultivating at home, a sudden piece of news instantly ignited the entire county.

The tax silver and grain being transported from the villages and towns around Changping County to the county seat had been intercepted by a group of unknown martial artists.

Once this news broke, countless people in the city were in an uproar.

With such a major incident, the county could not contain it; it would likely be reported directly to the Prefecture City.

When Lu Changsheng received this news, his expression was quite grim.

He guessed that it must have been that group of cultists acting again, and it was possible the Black Mountain Bandits were involved as well.

He sometimes went to monitor the County Lord's residence at night, and he had noticed that the enemy's plans seemed to have slowed down a bit.

"Could it be that the Venerable Master wants to make a feint to the east while attacking in the west?"

In that instant, his thoughts raced.

He soon thought of a possibility.

The Venerable Master was likely trying to take advantage of the chaos outside the city to accelerate their own plan.

It was obvious that if the experts from the DemonSubduingOffice and the Xuanjia Army left the city to clear out the Wenxiang Sect, the surveillance within the city would surely decrease.

At that time, the enemy would definitely speed up.

He guessed that it might not be many years before they began their move.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

At this moment, a few knocks on the door from not far away interrupted Lu Changsheng's thoughts.

"Who is it?"

Lu Changsheng turned his head to look.

"Creak..."

The courtyard gate was pushed open, and a man in green walked in.

"I pay my respects to Lord Lu; Hall Master Qin requests your presence."

The man bowed respectfully.

He dared not show the slightest negligence toward this currently trending Mysterious-tier Demon Suppression Envoy.

"I understand."

Lu Changsheng nodded slightly.

He then walked directly toward the door.

He knew that the reason they were summoning him this time was likely related to the robbery of the tax silver.

When Lu Changsheng stepped into the main hall of the DemonSubduingOffice, quite a few figures had already arrived.

A group of civilian martial artists saw Lu Changsheng and nodded with smiles to signal their greeting.

Lu Changsheng had now become a leader among the civilian martial artists.

As for the family members, the two sides did not see eye to eye.

The atmosphere in the hall was quite oppressive.

Lu Changsheng exchanged greetings with some friendly individuals and then walked to Yue Shulan's side.

"Lord Lu has been quite the center of attention lately."

Yue Shulan smiled sweetly and teased.

The two were quite familiar with each other, so she was not the least bit reserved.

"Summoning us this time, I fear we are going to have to leave the city to clear out the Wenxiang Sect again."

Lu Changsheng smiled faintly.

"Indeed. I hope Lord Lu will look after me."

Yue Shulan's tone was gentle.

Her strength was only at the Refining Meat Perfect stage; to be promoted to a Mysterious-tier Demon Suppression Envoy, one must have Bone-forging strength.

Given their friendship, she naturally hoped they could form a team, which would increase her own survival probability.

Just as the two were talking, three Deputy Hall Masters walked quickly toward the main hall, and a faint pressure permeated the entire space.

Qin Ruobing and the other two walked onto the high platform at the front.

Their sharp gazes swept across the hall.

The people around them fell silent one after another; for a moment, one could hear a pin drop.

"You have all heard about the incident, haven't you?"

"Summoning you all today, the main task is to maintain the flow of traffic between the county seat and the villages and towns."

Qin Ruobing looked at the people below with a majestic face.

"Everyone here will be led by a Mysterious-tier Demon Suppression Envoy to go outside the city and escort the grain and tax silver; the Xuanjia Army will also cooperate with you..."

"We obey your orders."

The crowd nodded one after another, their loud voices resounding through the hall.

Soon, Qin Ruobing began to divide the teams according to the list.

Before long, more than thirty teams appeared in the hall, all led by Mysterious-tier Demon Suppression Envoys.

Lu Changsheng was naturally one of them.

He scanned his teammates, and Yue Shulan happened to be among them.

Besides her, there were four men and one woman, five colleagues who also fell under Lu Changsheng's jurisdiction.

These people were all at the Refining Meat realm; for this large-scale mission, no Apprentice Demon Suppression Envoys were summoned, as Refining Skin martial artists were too weak in this level of confrontation.

Before long, the people in the hall left one after another.

Lu Changsheng also led his team out of the hall.

"Everyone, gather at the corner of West Street in half an hour."

Time was tight, so Lu Changsheng issued the order directly.

"We obey your orders."

The group nodded respectfully.

Among the four men and one woman, the leader was a young man with an honest and thick-featured face named Xiao Chao.

His martial path realm was at Refining Meat Perfect. Another woman in yellow had quite delicate features; her name was Lu Xue, and her realm was also Refining Meat Perfect.

Added to Yue Shulan, their team's strength was not bad.

It seemed Qin Ruobing was also looking after him quite well.

Then Lu Changsheng walked toward his family home.

After arriving home and packing some clothes and dry rations, he immediately rushed to the west of the city.

After the group gathered at the corner of West Street, they quickly rushed out of the city.

……

Noon.

Nanfu Town.

This town was more than a hundred miles away from the county seat; it was nestled against mountains and rivers, and the town was quite prosperous.

A few miles outside the town, on a small path paved with gravel.

A group of figures was rushing forward quickly.

It was Lu Changsheng and his party.

They did not choose to ride horses; ever since martial artists reached the Refining Meat stage, their endurance and speed had skyrocketed, and running more than a hundred miles continuously was almost effortless.

Soon, Lu Changsheng led the group to the outskirts of the town.

He scanned the front; the atmosphere inside the town was very oppressive, a row of earthen walls had already been piled up, and quite a few people were patrolling with long spears.

Seeing Lu Changsheng and his group, they all showed vigilance.

At this moment, a middle-aged man in white clothes walked out.

Behind him followed a large group of guards wearing armor.

"Who are you? What is your business here?"

The man in white looked suspicious.

Although he recognized the official uniform of the DemonSubduingOffice, he dared not let people in directly.

Some demons were extremely good at disguising and hiding, causing the people in the town to suffer greatly.

Lu Changsheng did not explain; he directly took out his mission token and handed it over along with the documents inside.

The middle-aged man took the token and documents, glanced at them, and upon seeing the secret code, his expression suddenly became extremely respectful.

"This subordinate pays respects to Lord Lu; please forgive my offense just now, my Lord."

"No matter. Are the goods ready?"

Lu Changsheng waved his hand and got straight to the point.

"Ready, we were just waiting for you, my Lord."

The middle-aged man immediately clapped his hands.

The gate behind him opened slowly, and a convoy drove out; there were more than ten carriages, and the ground was pressed down with tracks, clearly carrying a lot of cargo. A team of black-armored guards followed the convoy, which was the Xuanjia Army from the county seat.

Moreover, several Xuanjia soldiers were leading a few fine horses.

Clearly, the County Lord had already issued the order, just waiting for the DemonSubduingOffice to send people to cooperate.

The leader of the Xuanjia Army was a burly man holding a long spear, with an extraordinary aura.

This person was also a Refining Meat Perfect martial artist.

Added to the twenty ordinary Xuanjia soldiers cooperating, their strength could not be underestimated.

"This subordinate Tan Zhengnan meets Lord Lu."

The burly man stepped forward, cupped his fists in a salute, his expression quite respectful.

"You recognize me?"

Lu Changsheng smiled slightly.

"This subordinate has had the honor of seeing you a few times, my Lord."

Tan Zhengnan smiled slightly.

"We won't delay any longer; let's hit the road immediately and send the money and grain back to the county seat as soon as possible."

Lu Changsheng issued the order directly.

In the entire team, his official rank was the highest, and everyone present had to obey his command.

"Creak..."

Hearing this, the coachmen immediately drove the carriages forward.

Lu Changsheng and his group mounted the warhorses prepared by the Xuanjia Army and drove toward the county seat together.

They traveled all the way without discovering anything unusual.

It was not until they had traveled for more than an hour, just as the convoy arrived next to a dense forest, that a sudden change occurred.

"Whoosh..."

A group of men in black rushed out immediately, their speed extremely fast, numbering more than twenty.

The leader was an old man with a pigeon-like face, his hands resembling chicken claws, and his aura was quite powerful.

This group of people immediately blocked Lu Changsheng and his convoy.

"Not good, this person is the Bone-forging strongman on the wanted list, He Wanpeng."

Seeing this, Yue Shulan's pupils shrank, and her body began to tremble.

The group of Xuanjia soldiers also immediately recognized this person.

As a Bone-forging Mid-stage strongman, he had been on the county government's wanted list for several years.

This person enjoyed torturing women and children to death; he was extremely cruel and detestable.

Xiao Chao and Lu Xue were also full of worry.

Among them, only their captain, Lu Changsheng, had Bone-forging strength.

However, He Wanpeng was a veteran Bone-forging strongman, and their captain might not be able to hold him off.

Thinking of this, a haze appeared in everyone's hearts.

If Lu Changsheng could not hold him off, they would likely all die here.

A trace of determination flashed in the eyes of Yue Shulan and the others.

Even if they were no match, they would fight to the death; falling into the enemy's hands would only mean being humiliated to death.

"Hehehe... will you dismount and surrender, or shall I torture you all to death?"

He Wanpeng was arrogant, his murderous aura intimidating everyone present.

The group of Wenxiang Sect members around them looked at Lu Changsheng and the others as if they were looking at dead men.

They didn't even bother to cover their faces; they wanted to torture the others to death in broad daylight.

Lu Changsheng's expression was extremely calm; he drew his long blade and jumped off his horse.

For this kind of trash, he didn't even need to reveal his full strength; he could blow the opponent away with just one-tenth of his power.

Yue Shulan and the others also dismounted one after another, holding their long blades, their expressions tense.

Just as they were preparing for a desperate fight, Lu Changsheng moved.

"Kill."

Lu Changsheng raised his long blade and rushed up quickly.

When he arrived in front of He Wanpeng, he slashed fiercely, a sharp blade light flashing by.

"Die for me!"

Murderous intent erupted in He Wanpeng's eyes.

He drew his blade and slashed forward.

With this strike, he had used his full strength, intending to blow the opponent away in one move.

He extremely enjoyed this pleasure; the sound of enemies wailing was so sweet.

Seeing this, both sides immediately rushed into the fray.

(End of chapter)