205: Chapter 205 Iron Sword

When Lin Tian found the back mountain, Elder Chen was standing at the entrance of the canyon rift, waving goodbye to the last group of people passing through.

It was a small team of seven or eight people, all wearing the standard martial attire of the Iron Sword Sect. Some had injuries, others carried bulging bundles, and they were walking along a narrow, winding path toward the depths of the dense forest.

Lin Tian hurried to catch up, his gaze passing over Elder Chen's shoulder to sweep across the faces of those people one by one.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped on a slender young Disciple.

That person was wearing the grey Disciple uniform of the Iron Sword Sect, walking in the middle of the group with their head lowered. Their face was as pale as paper, and their steps were unsteady, as if they had suffered a severe internal injury.

More importantly, the Wanling Seal in Lin Tian's Sea of Consciousness trembled slightly—that was an induction of Mental Energy. This person's Sea of Consciousness had suffered an extremely severe shock and had yet to heal; their Mental Energy was as weak as a flickering lamp about to go out at any moment.

"Wait." Lin Tian called out to stop them. Elder Chen turned his head, the team also stopped, and the burly man leading them turned back with a frown.

Lin Tian stepped forward quickly, first cupping his hands to Elder Chen: "Elder Chen, which School are these friends from?"

Before Elder Chen could speak, the leading burly man spoke coldly, his tone quite unfriendly: "What? You want to stop our brothers from the Iron Sword Sect too?"

Elder Chen hurriedly smiled to smooth things over, pointing at the burly man and saying to Lin Tian: "Elder Lin, these few are allies from the Iron Sword Sect. They fought side by side with us in the valley just now. I personally verified their identity tokens, there is no problem."

He turned back to the burly man, introducing Lin Tian with a smile: "This is the Personal Disciple of Peak Master Su of Zixia Peak from our Qixia Sect, the youngest Elder of the Yunhai Fishery. Although he hasn't been in the Sect for long, he is one of our top Geniuses. Young people are thorough in their work, and it is his duty, so please do not take offense."

Lin Tian's thoughts raced.

The Iron Sword Sect—that was one of the top three major Schools in Yunzhou Prefecture. This time, the number of troops the Iron Sword Sect sent to encircle the Situ Family was second only to the Qixia Sect.

These Iron Sword Sect Disciples before him, the leading burly man was a Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm expert, and the others were also not weak in cultivation.

He was currently using his real identity and real face, whereas before, when he had clashed with the Demonic Sect several times in the black market and the dense forest, he had always worn a black robe and a mask, so the other party did not know his true appearance.

If he exposed the Black-Clad Woman in public right now, he had no evidence—he couldn't just use the Wanling Seal in public and rely on Mental Energy identification to accuse a woman who had disguised herself to infiltrate the Iron Sword Sect's team.

Even if he successfully exposed her, how many more Demonic Sect remnants were hiding in the Iron Sword Sect's team? Who would be the companion accompanying the Black-Clad Woman to leave the team?

If he only exposed the Black-Clad Woman but missed her accomplice, his real identity would be directly exposed to the Demonic Sect.

By then, the mysterious person in the black market who instantly killed Demonic Sect experts, the mysterious person outside the dense forest who used a Mental Energy attack to severely injure the Woman in Black Dress, and the Qixia Sect Yunhai Fishery Elder Lin Tian—these three identities would be linked together by the Demonic Sect and become targets of the Demonic Sect's pursuit.

He was not afraid of one-on-one fights, but being targeted by a Demonic Sect organization hiding in the shadows would mean his future days would never be peaceful.

In the blink of an eye, an appropriately apologetic look appeared on his face, and he cupped his hands to the burly man in a salute: "So it is the Seniors of the Iron Sword Sect. This Junior has not been in the Sect long and has not had the honor of meeting you all. It is my duty, so please forgive any offense."

Upon hearing this, the burly man's expression softened significantly, and he waved his hand: "It is fine. Elder Lin is already a Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm expert at such a young age; your future is limitless. If you have time another day, come visit the Iron Sword Sect, and we will treat you to a drink." After saying this, he cupped his hands to Elder Chen and turned to leave with his team.

The pale-faced young Disciple kept their head lowered the entire time, not even lifting their eyelids as they walked past Lin Tian.

Lin Tian watched them walk away, turned to bid farewell to Elder Chen, and left the back mountain with hurried steps.

He did not return to the valley but instead turned into the depths of the dense forest, found a hidden cave, retrieved the bulging bundle he had previously hidden in the bushes, reburied it deep inside the cave, and covered it with gravel and fallen leaves.

Then he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and the Wanling Seal slowly circulated in his Sea of Consciousness.

A moment later, a few grey-feathered birds descended from the branches and landed on his fingertips. He issued tracking instructions to each of the birds.

The birds flapped their wings and flew away, silently following in the direction the Iron Sword Sect's team had left.

About an hour later, a grey-feathered bird flew back through the dense forest, landed on his shoulder, and chirped a few times in his ear.

Lin Tian opened his eyes, and a pale purple light flashed in his pupils and vanished.

The information transmitted back by the bird was very clear: shortly after leaving the canyon, two people in the team had separated from the main group. One was the pale-faced young Disciple, and the other was a tall, thin middle-aged man.

Taking advantage of the others resting, the two had quietly turned into another fork in the path and fled deeper into the Taixuan Mountain Range.

Lin Tian stood up, a cold arc slowly curving at the corners of his mouth. "Finally willing to come out from the protection of the Iron Sword Sect? Thinking you are safe, so you want to sneak away?"

His figure flickered, and he unleashed the Cloud Shadow Step with full power, dashing off in the direction indicated by the two birds.