Goddess Painting

Black Wind Canyon, behind the Qingyun Sect.

This is one of the few forbidden areas within the sect, perpetually shrouded in black mist and howling winds.

Even at midday, the sunlight couldn't penetrate the thick miasma.

The jagged rocks resembled the fangs of demons, and the monsters hidden in the darkness let out terrifying roars. Even the most daring inner disciples dared not venture into this place easily.

Zhou Yuanqing, dressed in black, hurried through the canyon.

He seemed to be extremely familiar with the terrain, and even in the pitch-black fog, he could accurately avoid every trap and monster's territory.

After an incense stick has burned.

He arrived at an extremely secluded cave.

The entrance to the cave was hidden by several huge withered vines, and it was impossible to find unless you looked carefully.

Zhou Yuanqing took a deep breath, straightened his somewhat disheveled robes, sighed solemnly, and then stood respectfully with his hands at his sides.

call--!

A gust of cold wind swept by.

The space at the entrance of the cave suddenly began to distort.

A jet-black mist appeared out of thin air and slowly condensed into a blurry humanoid silhouette.

His face was obscured, but one could sense the suffocatingly terrifying aura emanating from him, which was several times stronger than that of Zhou Yuanqing, the leader of the Meridian Opening Realm!

"Master Shadowbringer."

Zhou Yuanqing dared not raise his head, bowed deeply, and his voice trembled slightly.

A hoarse, cold voice echoed from the black mist, seemingly emanating from the deepest hell:

"Was the matter... successfully completed?"

Zhou Yuanqing's body stiffened, and a fine layer of cold sweat seeped out from his forehead.

He hesitated for a moment, then forced himself to speak:

"Reporting back to Lord Shadow Envoy... things... are somewhat difficult to handle."

"Um?"

The black mist surged, and an almost tangible pressure descended instantly, pressing down directly on Zhou Yuanqing's back!

Click!

The rocks beneath their feet shattered instantly!

Zhou Yuanqing's knees buckled, and he almost knelt on the ground. He quickly explained:

"My lord, please forgive me!"

"It's not that I'm incompetent! It's just that Qin Feng... is too strange!"

"He actually has the support of Master Feng Qin and Elder Hua Muyao!"

"Your subordinate... dares not exert force!"

"Hua Muyao?"

For the first time, a slight fluctuation appeared in the Shadow Envoy's voice, and the terrifying pressure subsided accordingly:

"That woman...wasn't she already crippled?"

Zhou Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and quickly recounted his previous experience at Tian Shu Peak in detail.

From the appearance of Master Feng to Hua Muyao's awakening, and then to his own forced retreat.

After hearing the report, the black mist remained silent for a long time.

"Feng Qin... Hua Muyao..."

The shadowy figure muttered to himself, seemingly weighing something.

"Since we have these two old fogies protecting us, let's put Qin Feng's matter aside for now."

"This person has just risen to prominence. Although he is somewhat of a nuisance, he has only just entered the list and there is no need to rush him."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuanqing felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and the huge weight in his heart finally lifted.

"Yes! I understand!"

The Shadow Envoy abruptly changed the subject, his tone turning icy:

"Next, focus on arranging things for the people at the beginning of the list."

"Hurry up! The higher-ups are getting impatient!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Zhou Yuanqing replied quickly.

Just as he was about to step down.

"Wait a moment."

The Shadow Envoy suddenly called out to him, his voice tinged with amusement:

"Since Qin Feng has powerful backers, you must have suffered a lot to escape unscathed this time, right?"

Zhou Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat, and he dared not conceal anything:

"Reporting back to Lord Shadow Envoy... In order to ease tensions, I gave him a token of the 'Earthfall Secret Realm'."

"The Secret Realm of Earthfall?"

The Shadow Envoy paused for a moment, then let out a chilling low laugh:

"Hehehe..."

"Good! Well done!"

"In that case, things actually become simpler!"

Simple?

Zhou Yuanqing was completely bewildered. How was it simple?

That secret realm is filled with countless rare and precious materials!

Giving it to that prodigy Qin Feng would be like adding wings to a tiger.

But he dared not ask further, and could only cautiously probe:

"What does Your Excellency mean?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"

The Shadow Envoy coldly interrupted him:

"Just do your own thing!"

"Get out!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the black mist vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.

Zhou Yuanqing stood there for a long time until the chilling aura completely dissipated before letting out a long sigh, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and quickly turning away from this place of trouble.

……

Tian Shu Peak, Main Hall.

Qin Feng looked at the empty hall, a hint of helplessness on his face.

Although Zhou Yuanqing was forced to retreat, the departure of these twenty disciples still brought Tian Shu Peak back to square one.

"Sigh... all the little bit of savings I managed to accumulate is gone again."

At this moment, Lin Wan'er walked over with a plate of spiritual fruits. Seeing Qin Feng's worried look, she gently tugged at his sleeve.

[My lord, are you still worried about your disciple's matter?]

Qin Feng snapped out of his reverie, looked at his wife's concerned eyes, felt a warmth in his heart, and shook his head:

"It's not that I'm worried."

"We now have enough spirit stones, so recruiting disciples won't be difficult."

"I can put together another team anytime I want."

Lin Wan'er smiled: "Then it won't be long before Tian Shu Peak returns to its former liveliness."

Qin Feng smiled, but a hint of worry flashed deep in his eyes.

All the disciples recruited this time were subjected to inexplicable coercion and warnings.

Although he had scared Zhou Yuanqing away, who knew if the disciples he found would end up in the same situation because of others?

"We need to find a way to have the best of both worlds: to recruit people and to ensure their safety!"

Qin Feng was pondering this in his mind when he suddenly stood up:

"Wan'er, I'm going out for a bit. I have something important to take care of."

Lin Wan'er nodded obediently.

Qin Feng walked out of the main hall and headed straight for the finance hall.

Now that I have plenty of spirit stones, I'll pay off that high-interest loan first! Being debt-free is so liberating!

As for recruiting disciples...

He actually came up with a great idea!

……

At the same time, at the Lin family.

"Hahaha! Great! That's fantastic!"

Lin Zhengnan listened to the servant's report and couldn't stop smiling, his face full of wrinkles.

"All the disciples of Tian Shu Peak have run away? Really, all of them?"

"It's absolutely true, sir! Aside from Qin Feng and the Second Miss, there's not a soul to be seen on Tian Shu Peak now!"

"Hahaha! That's great!"

Lin Zhengnan laughed loudly, just in time to see Wang Tianyi walk in, and quickly went to greet him:

"Elder Wang! Well done!"

"Twenty disciples vanished overnight! This move, cutting off their supply lines, is absolutely brilliant!"

"Now that Qin Feng is all alone, let's see how arrogant he can still be!"