Chapter 57

On the city wall.

Qin Feng was already standing here; beside him was a purple-clad woman, dignified and beautiful, bearing an aura of supreme nobility, and in the opening and closing of her eyes there was a hint of a disdainful air that looked down on the world.

"Speaking of which, we're actually from the same clan." The purple-clad woman clasped her fists again and directly stated her origin: "Qin Ziyue, of the imperial clan, Gold Lord of the Black Dragon Guard!"

"Gold Lord?" Qin Feng started in surprise.

The Black Dragon Guard is divided into Iron Guard, Copper Guard, Silver Guard, and Gold Guard, and legend says there is also a Dragon Guard above them.

Each rank has a guard commander.

For example, the commander of the Iron Guard is the Iron Lord.

The commander of the Gold Guard is the Gold Lord.

According to Yan Hongye, the Gold Guard are all in the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, so the Gold Lord is a powerful figure in that realm.

"Hmm!" Qin Ziyue nodded, also silently sizing up Qin Feng, feeling his strong blood-and-qi fluctuations and seeing the pair of wings he carried, she was startled: "Did you kill the Great Peng King?"

"No!" Qin Feng's eyes flickered slightly, "I just tore off a pair of wings, but he got away."

As for Sun Qian?

He didn't mention him.

The matter is too serious.

"That's also amazing!" Qin Ziyue exclaimed, "Even I, facing him, couldn't be sure to keep him, yet you almost killed him. I, who am called a once-in-a-century genius, fall short compared to you."

Qin Feng smiled and changed the subject: "Are you Miss Yan's superior?"

"Not bad!" Qin Ziyue nodded, "She follows my orders and is also my close sister! Since I learned you were assassinated by a great demon, and that a demon might appear at your clan's ancestral grave, I specially came to have a look. I didn't expect not only the Great Peng King to arrive, but also a demon lurking in the guard post to appear; unfortunately, we fell short at the last moment."

"You didn't kill it?"

"Demons are too hard to kill. I only destroyed his fleshly body, but his soul escaped."

"Soul?"

"Only demons or special monsters have a substantive soul; we human martial artists, even if we reach the Martial Saint realm, find it hard to condense one."

"Why?"

"I only know that demons come from beyond the heavens, innately possess souls, and are almost immortal, which is the fundamental reason they are hard to kill."

"Beyond the heavens?"

"I'm not sure of the specifics, but I know that whenever a demon appears, it inevitably brings calamity to a region and unleashes cataclysmic disaster. In the past, demons occasionally appeared, either to enslave, to seek demonic servants, or to secretly accumulate power, but for some unknown reason, their appearances have become more frequent in recent years. Last year, in the northwest, a city was refined by a demon, and over a hundred thousand people all perished miserably."

Qin Feng fell silent.

He thought of his grandfather, of the slain Sun Qian, and of the Yang Cauldron within his body.

"You now have not only the demon race after you, but also a demon." Qin Ziyue suddenly smiled, "Qin Brother, you're going to be in trouble from now on."

Qin Feng gave a wry smile.

"But there's no need to fear, for the strongest in this world is the imperial dynasty, the strongest of the dynasty is the imperial family, and that is the Black Dragon Guard!" Qin Ziyue took out a gold token from her bosom and threw it over, "You're not an outsider, your strength is sufficient, so from now on you can be a Gold Guard!"

Qin Feng caught it, somewhat hesitant.

"Don't refuse. With the Gold Token, you can mobilize the Black Dragon Guard outside the imperial capital, such as the guard posts of Wan'an City and the prefectural cities—you have the authority to do so." Qin Ziyue stood with her hands behind her back, "You answer to me; you may ignore anyone else's orders. Of course, I won't give you compulsory commands; if I ask you to act, there will be corresponding benefits. Moreover, as the master of the Gold Token, you will gain many intangible benefits, such as obtaining techniques below Grandmaster level, three free secret manuals within Grandmaster level, and being able to access information from the guard posts, etc."

"Hongye!" she called out in the distance.

Yan Hongye hurried over, arriving in an instant, and respectfully clasped her fists and bowed to Qin Ziyue.

"From now on you will follow Qin Brother, serving as the intermediary between me and him." Qin Ziyue said, "All the treatment enjoyed by the Gold Guard can be extended to him." "Yes!" Yan Hongye replied respectfully.

"Qin Brother, I will continue to seek that demon, hoping to slay it. I will also seek the Great Peng King's lair to utterly exterminate his line!" Having said that, Qin Ziyue flickered, leapt a hundred meters away, and vanished into the night sky.

The night was silent.

Qin Feng furrowed his brows.

He looked again at the token in his hand and felt a strange sensation.

He had actually become a true Black Dragon Guard.

And a Gold Guard.

Before, he was only responsible to Yan Hongye.

Now he is responsible to Qin Ziyue.

"I'm still an external staff member!" Qin Feng couldn't help but laugh.

"Qin Brother, you've gained benefits and are putting on airs." Yan Hongye felt a tinge of envy, "Holding this token, even walking in the imperial capital will cause court officials to step aside. Let the mayor of Wan'an City see it, and he will tremble as he offers tens of thousands of strings of cash."

"That imposing?" Qin Feng blinked.

"This is not only a privilege, but also represents strength; even in a prefectural city, you would be treated like an ancestral patriarch to be worshipped." Yan Hongye's tone was complex, yet she earnestly said, "Qin Brother, when you performed the ancestral rites that day, you could barely match a Grandmaster; why are you so strong now?"

Qin Feng gave a deep look over.

"Sorry!" Yan Hongye quickly apologized, though her eyes still held curiosity, she changed the subject: "Qin Brother, the thousand-year-old locust tree heart, soul-devouring insects, and flower of death you wanted have all been found; they can be delivered at the latest the day after tomorrow. But we haven't found a Soul Stone, though I heard there is one in Myriad Beasts City, in the hands of a great Grandmaster."

"Myriad Beasts City?" Qin Feng wondered.

He had never heard of it.

However, he had some understanding of a great Grandmaster's strength: after one's true intent is comprehended to perfection, that is the great Grandmaster realm.

It is also the strongest among the strong.

"Myriad Beasts City is similar to Blood Demon City; both are lawless lands filled with endless bloodshed, violence, and slaughter. The dynasty has launched several encirclements, suffering heavy casualties each time, yet afterward the embers reignite, and in the end nothing comes of it." Yan Hongye briefly explained, "There are demons, sect disciples, outlaws, demonic cultivators, and remnants of demon sects there."

Qin Feng rubbed his brow.

Previously, he felt the world's order was relatively good.

But as time passed, the more he came into contact with and understood, the more his scalp tingled.

It's too chaotic.

"Miss Yan!" Qin Feng suppressed his many thoughts, looked at her with a blazing gaze, and said, "I am now a Gold Guard; do I have many privileges?"

"Of course!" Yan Hongye nodded.

I want great tonic spiritual medicine, pills, things to replenish true qi—can you provide them? Qin Feng asked.

Can…… Yan Hongye's eyes flickered, "As a Gold Guard, one cannot obtain it for free; one can only exchange or purchase."

How so?

By completing missions and earning contributions, one can exchange for pills, divine weapons, cultivation techniques, etc., or purchase with gold and silver.

Being able to buy is enough!

Qin Feng smiled.

This is the best news I've heard tonight.

(End of chapter)