52: Man in black

"Crack. Boom."

The protective barrier shattered in response.

The sword light swept past, merciless.

Jiao Xuan collapsed to the ground.

Lin Feng turned his body, casting a cold gaze toward the Five Elements Array.

Inside the array, the two lackeys were still attacking the light barrier in vain, their faces filled with despair.

Lin Feng pinched a spell seal and pointed into the air at the Formation Plate.

The Five Elements Array's light swirled, and several sharp rays shot from all directions toward one of them.

At the same time, he manipulated the flowing cloud immortal binding silk, instantly wrapping it around the other person.

Puff. Puff.

Two muffled sounds rang out almost simultaneously. The interior of the array instantly returned to silence.

Lin Feng waved his hand to retract the five Formation Flags.

He quickly looted all the Storage Pouches.

With a flick of his finger, he cast three Fire Bullet Talismans to clean up the scene.

There was not a ripple of emotion in his heart as his figure flashed, and he fled into the distance.

Lin Feng piloted the qinggang sword, transforming into a streak of cyan light flying at a low altitude, speeding through the mountain ranges and forests, striving to put as much distance as possible between himself and the trouble-ridden Double Dragon Market.

However, just as he flew over a valley filled with thick fog and miasma, a blurry figure appeared ahead, blocking his path.

'Such fast movement technique.' Lin Feng's heart sank. He steadied himself, and the qinggang sword let out a faint hum as it hovered in mid-air.

'Qi Refining Tenth Layer Peak?'

The person was wearing a gray cloak and a wooden mask on their face, revealing only a pair of eyes. They were watching him quietly, with no Killing Intent around them, yet they did not move out of the way.

Just as Lin Feng was about to strike first, the Masked Man suddenly spoke in a deliberately altered, slightly hoarse voice: "Fellow Daoist, good skills. That trash Jiao Xuan—I've been an eyesore to him for a long time."

Lin Feng frowned slightly, remaining silent. Thoughts raced through his mind: 'Did he see it?'

The Masked Man paused, then continued: "I witnessed the whole process, but I have no intention of becoming your enemy, nor will I report you to the Jiao Family. On the contrary, I want to make a deal with you."

"In Jiao Xuan's Storage Pouch, there is an inconspicuous black iron plate engraved with three flame patterns. This item is useless to you, but it has some use for me. If you are willing to transfer it to me, I am willing to purchase it with Spirit Stones, or... exchange it for some information about the Jiao Family that you might be interested in."

Lin Feng weighed the situation rapidly: 'This person's cultivation is higher than mine, yet he chose to negotiate rather than rob me by force. What he says is highly likely to be true.'

He probed Jiao Xuan's Storage Pouch with his Divine Sense and indeed discovered a black iron plate that matched the description. The material was ordinary, and aside from the patterns, it had nothing special about it.

"How can I trust you?" Lin Feng felt a sense of resolve.

The Masked Man chuckled: "If I wanted to harm you, I could have just attacked and tried to rob you directly. Why would I waste my breath here?"

Lin Feng was silent for a moment, then flipped his wrist. The black iron plate appeared in his palm. With a flick of his finger, the iron plate flew steadily toward the other person.

The Masked Man reached out to take it, looked at it carefully, and nodded in satisfaction. He then tossed back a small cloth bag: "This is five hundred Spirit Stones, a small token of my gratitude."

He put away the iron plate and continued: "As an extra bonus... The Jiao Family has a Bloodline sensing secret technique. Although Jiao Xuan is dead, his father has likely already sensed the dissipation of his Bloodline and locked onto your aura in the general direction. Do you think flying on your sword will allow you to escape a thousand miles away? Hmph, right now this airspace is likely being heavily scanned by the Divine Sense of a Jiao Family Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Rashly taking to the sky is no different from walking into a trap. It would be best for you to stay away from this area for the near future, travel on the ground, and conceal your tracks. Perhaps then you will have a sliver of a chance to survive."

After speaking, he stepped back, instantly melting into the thick fog and disappearing without a trace.

Lin Feng was not sure whether what the Masked Man said was true or false, so he could only land nearby to gather information.

Sure enough, less than half a day later, he saw a streak of sword light in the distant sky attempting to leave the mountain range at high speed. Suddenly, three Jiao Family Cultivators stepping on flying Magical Artifacts shot up from the forest below, blocking that streak of sword light.

Several days later, Lin Feng accidentally stumbled into a crude underground black market. It was small in scale, with only a dozen or so stalls, and those coming and going were all hurried Loose Cultivators, evidently conducting shady transactions outside of the formal markets.

Lin Feng restrained his aura and mixed in, intending to rest for a while and see if he could hear any news.

Soon, the conversation of several Loose Cultivators nearby caught his attention.

"Hey, have you heard? That precious Young Lord of the Jiao Family was slaughtered by someone a few days ago. Right outside the Double Dragon Market." A man with a full beard lowered his voice.

"Really? Who is so bold? Aren't they afraid of that Jiao Family Foundation Establishment Old Ancestor going crazy?"

"Who knows? Maybe it was a bandit Cultivator, or maybe... hehe..." Another thin, small Cultivator smiled meaningfully, "The Meng Family side has been a bit unusually quiet lately..."

The bearded man snorted: "Just surface-level brothers. Who doesn't know that the Meng and Jiao families occupy the Double Dragon Market, seemingly managing it harmoniously on the surface, but secretly wishing the other would die out tomorrow so they could swallow all the benefits alone? Maybe it was a dirty trick played by the Meng Family."

"Shh. Keep it down. Do you have a death wish?" The third person looked around, "You dare to say such things recklessly."

The few of them whispered a few more words before turning to discuss other things.

Lin Feng was shocked, but his face remained calm.

'Could it be that the Masked Man is from the Meng Family? What exactly is that black iron plate used for?'

Lin Feng politely declined the invitation from those Loose Cultivators to continue traveling together, and his figure silently disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

Several days later, Lin Feng was carefully navigating through the miasma and strange rocks, trying to find a path to cross this natural chasm.

Swish, swish, swish.

Five figures flashed out from the shadows of the stone walls and the thick fog, instantly sealing off all his retreat paths.

The leader was a middle-aged Cultivator with a gloomy expression, stepping on a crimson flying knife, with a cultivation of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer. The four people behind him all had a cultivation of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

"Kid. You are the one who killed Young Lord Jiao Xuan? Hand over the Young Lord's belongings and come with us back to the Jiao Family to receive your death."

Lin Feng's heart tightened, and his muscles tensed instantly. The qinggang sword slid into his hand; the cold temperature of the hilt helped him calm down.

'One Qi Refining Tenth Layer, four Qi Refining Fifth Layer—I can't run.'

He put on a look of panic, his voice trembling: "Seniors, have you mistaken me for someone else? How could I possibly have the ability to kill the Jiao Family Young Lord..."

Before he could finish speaking, the crimson flying knife was already slashing toward his face.

"Damn it." Lin Feng cursed inwardly, flashing to the side like a willow catkin in the wind, narrowly dodging the blade. The Saber Qi scraped his cheek, stinging painfully.

He threw out three Formation Flags, sticking them into the ground, and a simple maze array instantly rose. At the same time, the qinggang sword swung backhand, using the Flowing Cloud Water-Splitting technique, aiming directly at the lower body of a Qi Refining Ninth Layer Cultivator on the left.

"You're courting death." The Cultivator hurriedly parried.

In the time it took to parry, Lin Feng had already crashed into his chest. The sword tip pierced through his throat, and hot blood sprayed all over Lin Feng.

"Number Five!" The others roared as they lunged forward.