Chapter 1162

Lu Yang was certain—it was pure blind luck that the Immortal Maiden could come up with a method like driving away tigers to swallow wolves.

"Perhaps we could learn from Third Senior Sister and use a magical artifact to safely pass through the Void Refining stage?"

Lu Yang still remembered how Third Senior Sister didn't even need to lift a finger in the demon realm—just relying on her magical artifact was enough to scare the demons into dropping their armor and fleeing. "Using a magical artifact? That's indeed a good idea." The Immortal Maiden nodded in agreement.

"Exactly—like crafting a battle armor magical artifact like Junior Brother Li Haoran's, where the armor automatically defends against attacks, its power nearly matching my true self's strike." Lu Yang said excitedly.

The Immortal Maiden also got excited by Lu Yang's words and continued: "Or perhaps we could craft magical artifacts with different functions—like a gourd that inhales and exhales yin and yang, a jade purity vase that sprays water, a medicine cauldron that breathes fire, a fan that rides the wind... all the Yin-Yang Five Elements techniques covered, so we can handle any enemy we encounter!"

The more they talked, the more excited they became, feeling that using magical artifacts was truly a great idea.

Lu Yang looked eagerly at the Immortal Maiden: "I don't know artifact refinement—do you, Maiden?" The Immortal Maiden looked eagerly at Lu Yang: "I don't either."

"……"

The two stared at each other, then quickly calmed down.

Lu Yang regretted it—if he had known he'd come to the Extreme North, he should have asked Junior Brother Li for a few handy life-saving artifacts before leaving. In a remote place like Mu Snow City, he likely wouldn't find an artifact refiner to help him.

"Little Yangzi, you can curse Ying Tian a few times—then he'll sense it and come over, and we'll have an artifact refiner!" Lu Yang pushed open the door and, as an afterthought, chopped down a tree from the courtyard and carried it back inside.

Although he doesn't know artifact refinement, he can use a similar method.

Lu Yang drew his Azure Edge Sword, carved the tree into a wooden sword shape, then infused it with sword qi. "Done."

His current cultivation fluctuates at the Unity stage, so the sword qi he infused is also of Unity-stage level. Back when he was at the Nascent Soul stage, he had made wooden swords for the Fu Ling sisters as talismans. Now, having cultivated to the Void Refining stage, crafting these wooden swords comes even more naturally to him.

Lu Yang continuously infused sword qi into the wooden swords, mass-producing one after another of these terrifyingly powerful talisman wooden swords. Not long after, he began to feel it was a bit troublesome. He used the Tree-Planting Technique, letting his wood clone wield the Azure Edge Sword to chop wood and infuse sword qi, while he attended to other matters.

"To be safe, I'll add another life-preserving measure." B8888

"Have you heard? A new bounty has appeared on the streets." Before class, the martial academy students gathered in small groups, discussing the latest happenings in town.

"Oh, did the city lord update the bounty again? Where's the bounty notice? I'd like to tear off a few sheets to paste on my windows—last time, when the bounty was for the Silent Daoist, our family didn't manage to grab one." "What bounty? Whether you can read or not, that's called a missing person notice!" Gong Che corrected.

"A missing person notice?"

"Yes, it says the eldest young master of the Meng family, Meng Jingzhou, went missing while sleepwalking, and the Wen Dao Sect and the Meng family jointly issued this missing person notice—anyone who can safely deliver Meng Jingzhou to the Wen Dao Sect will receive a reward of ten billion spirit stones."

"Ten billion spirit stones—how much money is that?" The students gasped in shock. They'd never even seen that many spirit stones, let alone heard of anyone possessing such wealth. Gong Che's family was considered wealthy among them, but even altogether, they couldn't come up with a hundred spirit stones.

"Alright, enough talking—class is now in session." Lu Yang clapped his hands. It seems the news spread quickly.

The missing person notice posted on the main street was put up by him. He had made up his mind: if he ever encountered danger—say, if the number of enemies exceeded the count of wooden swords in a burlap sack—he would disguise himself as Old Meng. His disguise mask is so flawless that even those at the Tribulation Transcendence stage cannot see through it.

Although the Meng family's reputation in the imperial capital is somewhat poor—just slightly worse than that of the Wen Dao Sect—once you leave the capital and ask around on the streets, everyone has some business dealings with the Meng family. Lu Yang counted the number of students and noticed two were missing: "Why haven't Fang Zhi'ge and Liu Yu come? Does anyone know what's going on with them?"

Lu Yang had taught for so many days—aside from Gong Che skipping class the first few days, no one else had missed a session.

These students' families are generally not wealthy; missing even one day of class is a loss.

The students all shook their heads, none knowing why the two were absent.

"Teacher Lu, maybe Liu Yu's family had something happen—I heard Fang Zhi'ge has been staying at Liu Yu's place." Gong Che said.

Shi Yi also said: "Right, I remember now—Liu Yu said Fang Zhi'ge didn't want to come learn boxing at first, but she dragged him here."

The students' deepest impression of the two is that they're inseparable—often teased as a couple. Every time Liu Yu blushes and stays silent, Fang Zhi'ge denies it with a cold face. As for their progress in learning boxing, Fang Zhi'ge is only at an intermediate level, his skills not even matching Liu Yu's.

Lu Yang nodded, then continued playing the recorded shadow orb: "You watch, Gong Che—you keep an eye on them. I'm going to Liu Yu's place to check the situation."

Lu Yang has a deep impression of Fang Zhi'ge—he deliberately stays at an intermediate level, his true cultivation being late-stage Qi Refining. Among the ordinary students, he stands out like a sore thumb, and he still carries a Concealment Qi talisman on him.

.. Liu Yu's residence.

"Liu Jie, I'm sorry!" Fang Zhi'ge, who usually maintains a cold demeanor, is now in utter turmoil of mind. He tried every way to handle this matter himself, but in the end, he still dragged Liu Yu into his affairs.

"It's fine—I don't blame you. But after this matter is over, you must tell me everything about your affairs!" Liu Yu gripped Fang Zhi'ge's face, speaking earnestly. Fang Zhi'ge gave a bitter smile. "Over? After it's over, will we even still be alive?"

"Promise me!"

Fang Zhi'ge gazed into Liu Yu's eyes, clear as autumn water, as if making a certain resolve, and nodded solemnly: "Good—I will surely tell you my past in full detail!" Fang Zhi'ge shielded Liu Yu behind him, vigilantly scanning the surroundings for attacks.

"Luo Shi, I didn't expect the organization to send you here."

Luo Shi's gloomy voice came on the cold wind, tone light and teasing: "Fang Sha, you defected from the Ghost Slayer Alliance—did you really think there was still a way out?"

"I didn't expect you to be living quite comfortably after defecting from the Ghost Slayer Alliance, even giving yourself the name Zhi'ge, gaining a red beauty confidante, and going to learn something like Tiger Roar Fist alongside ordinary people—truly laughable."

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I could hardly imagine that the Fang Sha who passed the final trial and killed his best friend would end up in such a wretched state!" "Shut up!" Luo Shi seemed to have struck a nerve in Fang Zhi'ge's heart, and he couldn't help but shout aloud!

"Fang Sha, considering your extraordinary talent in assassination techniques, I can give you one chance: as long as you kill the little girl beside you, kill the students and teacher of the Tiger Roar Martial Academy, proving you're still the original Fang Sha, I can spare your life and allow you to rejoin the Ghost Slayer Alliance."

"You're dreaming!"

Fang Zhi'ge roared in anger—it was Liu Yu, it was everyone at the martial academy who made him understand what emotion is—how could he possibly lay a hand on her? "Can't you do it? When I originally taught you assassination techniques, it seems today I can only take back this entire set of skills..."

Luo Shi sighed, and afterward, he never appeared again—only the north wind howled, mercilessly sweeping across.

Fang Zhi'ge vigilantly observed his surroundings, a drop of cold sweat tracing his forehead, blinked away in an instant by the north wind.

Although Luo Shi is at the Foundation Establishment stage, Fang Zhi'ge is at the peak of Qi Refining Great Completion—but as long as he finds the right opportunity, it's not impossible for him to counter-kill Luo Shi using assassination techniques! Where will Luo Shi appear from?

But did Luo Shi's last words remain unfinished?

Liu Yu felt Fang Zhi'ge's grip on her wrist tightening, yet she dared not speak, fearing to disturb his train of thought—a creak sounded, the wooden door pushed open, and Lu Yang walked in, gazing at this young couple.

"What happened to you two? Why didn't you come to class?"