A hundredfold return! My unfilial disciples are all reincarnations of the Empress.

The night was deep, at the summit of Xiaozhu Peak.

Lin Feng stood with his hands behind his back on the bluestone, gazing at the distant, rolling mountain shadows, his eyes expressionless.

He glanced down at his right hand, his fingers slowly clenching and unclenching. The memory of that great battle ten years ago had long since faded, leaving only the tearing pain of his dantian shattering, a lingering muscle memory.

"I don't care where you come from."

His voice was very soft, carried away by the night wind through the bamboo forest.

The next morning, Lin Feng flew back to his courtyard in Qinglin City on his sword.

When he landed, Wang Xiao was sweeping fallen leaves in the yard. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw him: "Boss's back!"

Lin Feng glanced at him: "You've successfully cultivated your spiritual root?"

Wang Xiao grinned and released a wisp of his aura. Lin Feng sensed it; it was a cultivator with three spiritual roots. The quality wasn't particularly good, but among rogue cultivators, it was enough to make a living.

"Okay, I'll start teaching you basic breathing techniques tomorrow."

Wang Xiao nearly dropped the broom in his hand: "Really?!"

Footsteps echoed in the courtyard as Liu Yushu emerged from the house. After a week's absence, her aura had become even more stable, and the bottleneck of the ninth level of Foundation Establishment had loosened, showing faint signs of advancing to the tenth level.

"Master." She nodded slightly, her tone calm. "Is the matter at Sunset Mountains settled?"

"All done." Lin Feng entered the room, took the Xuan Tie Bow out of his storage bag, and placed it on the table. "Each of you three gets one. Practice your archery these few days; you'll need it later."

Chi Yao happened to come in from the backyard, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her eyes lit up when she saw the bow, and she picked it up and strummed the string: "A good thing!"

She turned to Lin Feng: "Master, what did the sect say?"

"Don't move for now, keep an eye on things." Lin Feng poured himself a cup of tea. "A demonic cultivator camp of over a hundred people, the leader is at least a Nascent Soul cultivator. Making a rash move could easily lead to disaster."

After a moment of silence, Liu Yushu spoke, "The demonic cultivators have their eyes on me and are entrenched near Qingyun Palace. Master... is it because they have an even bigger figure behind them?"

Lin Feng paused in his tea-drinking motion and glanced at her.

This girl is very meticulous.

"It's hard to say," he said, putting down his teacup. "But one thing is certain—they won't leave anytime soon, and since they're not leaving, they'll inevitably slip up sooner or later."

He turned to look at Chi Yao: "I'm going back to Sunset Mountain Range in a few days. You'll be coming with me this time."

Chi Yao immediately perked up: "A real battle?"

"Yes, I won't make a move. You can just target a lone target yourself."

"clear!"

Chi Yao grinned, her face glowing red, as if she had been injected with chicken blood.

Liu Yushu stood to the side, her eyelashes slightly lowered, her gaze fixed on her hand holding the teacup.

Wang Xiao silently shrank into the corner, muttering to himself, "What about me?"

Lin Feng didn't even turn his head: "You continue sweeping the fallen leaves."

"..."

Three days later, in the evening.

Lin Feng led Chi Yao out of the courtyard, and instead of using his sword, they walked along the ridge towards the Sunset Mountains.

The two were enveloped in purple-gold robes, completely concealing their auras.

Chi Yao followed behind with her back bent, her steps extremely light. She gripped the black iron bow in her hand and scanned her surroundings with her eyes. She got into the zone much faster than Lin Feng had expected.

"Front."

Lin Feng stopped behind a pile of rocks and raised his chin.

Chi Yao followed his gaze—behind the bushes at the edge of the valley, two black-robed mages were squatting by the stream washing something, the water shimmering with a dark red hue. There was no one else around; they were lagging behind, washing something at least half a mile away from the camp.

"Early stage Golden Core, two of them." Lin Feng turned to look at her. "Can you beat them?"

Chi Yao squinted and made a quick assessment, then slung the bow over her shoulder: "A frontal attack is a bit risky, but a sneak attack..."

"Then let's launch a sneak attack."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Chi Yao crouched down and slipped out from behind the pile of rocks.

They kept their bodies extremely low, and their footsteps made almost no sound as they stepped on the gravel.

She circled around for a while, then crouched down in the bushes behind the two demonic cultivators. She deftly took the black iron bow off her back, nocked an arrow, and drew the string.

The sound of the bowstring being taut was barely audible.

The demon was washing his hands with his head down, completely unaware of the movement behind him.

call out--!

The arrow pierced through the night, precisely embedding itself in the back of the neck and exiting directly from the front.

The demonic cultivator didn't utter a sound before his body swayed and he fell into the stream.

Another demonic cultivator suddenly looked up, reacting extremely quickly. He turned around and slashed a black wind with his palm towards the direction from which the arrow came, but Chi Yao had already changed position. The second arrow was already nocked and shot directly through his calf.

The demonic cultivator let out a muffled groan and knelt on the ground, clutching his wound and trying to shout. Chi Yao sprang out from the bushes, a short knife in hand, and in one step, she was in front of him, cleanly and neatly slitting her throat.

The two bodies lay on the stream, less than five breaths apart.

Chi Yao squatted down, carefully removed the storage bags from the two demonic cultivators, checked their bodies to make sure nothing was left behind, and then turned back to give Lin Feng a thumbs-up.

Lin Feng walked over and glanced at the corpse on the ground: "The technique was alright, but the second arrow was a bit off."

"Next time, aim straight for the kneecap." Chi Yao tucked the storage bag into her bosom, chuckling in a low voice, "Master, shall we retreat?"

"withdraw."

The two retreated along the same route without alerting the main camp.

When they returned to the courtyard, it was past midnight. Liu Yushu was still awake, sitting on a stone stool in the courtyard, flipping through a martial arts manual in front of her.

Seeing the two return, she closed the book: "Was it alright?"

"Not bad." Chi Yao dumped the storage bag onto the table, revealing two yellowed notebooks, several bottles of pills, a pile of low-grade spirit stones, and a token.

Lin Feng picked up the token and examined it. It was made of dark black material, with a twisted rune engraved on the front and a coiled snake pattern on the back.

"A token for demonic cultivators." He examined the token from all angles. "The workmanship is rather rough, but it should be genuine."

He tossed the token to Liu Yushu: "Keep it; you'll need it later."

Liu Yushu held the token in her palm, her fingertips gently tracing the rough texture on it, without saying a word.

Over the next few days, Lin Feng taught Wang Xiao the breathing techniques during the day and cultivated himself by consuming white ginseng at night. Of the fifteen ginsengs, twelve remained. He chose a time when he had more time in the evenings and ate three more. After three days of refining, his cultivation level advanced from the fifth to the sixth level of the Golden Core stage.

Chi Yao wasn't idle either. Every day she practiced archery and movement techniques. When she had free time, she would use her Xuan Tie bow to shoot at the blue bricks on the courtyard wall, leaving the entire wall full of holes.

Liu Yushu continued to meditate until late every night. She had completely mastered the first level of the Taiyin Xuanshui Technique and was beginning to explore the threshold of the second level. Her cultivation level broke through the tenth level of the Foundation Establishment stage, and she was only one step away from the Golden Core stage.

On the fifth night.

Lin Feng had just finished cultivating when his divine sense suddenly detected an unusual fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from the southwest. He frowned, got up, flew out of the courtyard, and stood on the roof to look in that direction.

In the direction of Sunset Mountain Range, demonic energy surged, and it was pitch black, but there were faint traces of spiritual energy colliding.

It looked like someone was fighting against a demonic cultivator.

Without hesitation, Lin Feng drew his sword and soared into the sky, heading straight for the Sunset Mountains.

Before they had flown halfway, they suddenly sensed a familiar presence ahead, and it looked quite disheveled.

He sped closer and indeed saw Su Wanqing and three Qingyun Palace disciples being surrounded by more than a dozen demonic cultivators in a ravine. Two disciples were already lying motionless on the ground, while the remaining one stood in front of Su Wanqing, covered in blood, his sword trembling violently.

Su Wanqing had a cut on her shoulder, her blue dress was stained red, and the color had long since faded from her face, but she still held on.

"Trying to run?" The leading demonic cultivator's voice was hoarse as he slowly walked forward, a black blade in his hand. "You scout who brought the message, don't even think about leaving alive."

Su Wanqing gritted her teeth, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

Just then, a sword aura slashed from the side, wrapped in a chilling frost, and cut the two demonic cultivators at the front in half at the waist.

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Lin Feng landed on a rock above the ravine. His purple-gold robe gleamed dimly in the moonlight, and he held the Frost Sword in his hand, the blade still covered with a thin layer of frost.

"Peak Master Su, you've run far enough."

Su Wanqing looked up and saw him, and visibly relaxed, her grip on the sword loosening slightly.

The demonic cultivators, realizing what was happening, sized up Lin Feng: "Another one coming to die. And you are—"

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Feng had already moved.

The Void Illusionary Shadowless Step was activated, and a purple shadow flashed in the night. The cold light of the Frost Sword was already at the neck of the leading demonic cultivator.

The demonic cultivator hastily retreated, black demonic energy condensing into a shield in front of him. The sword tip struck the shield, producing a piercing clang. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the shield, but it didn't shatter; however, the impact made the man's hands go numb.

"Seventh level of the Golden Core stage?" The demonic cultivator's pupils constricted slightly. "Such a fast sword?"

Lin Feng didn't reply. He flipped his wrist and slashed down with a second sword.

At the same spot, the sword energy, wrapped in even thicker frost, slammed into the shield, and this time the shield shattered instantly.

The demonic cultivator rolled aside in horror, barely managing to dodge the sword strike. The remaining dozen or so demonic cultivators then reacted and attacked, unleashing a barrage of black blades, wind blades, and poisonous mist upon Lin Feng.

Lin Feng dodged several wind blades to the side, and instantly summoned the Glazed Shield. Golden spiritual light enveloped his body, blocking the poisonous mist and black blades that came crashing down.

Su Wanqing gritted her teeth and got up from behind, wanting to come up and help, but the injury to her shoulder was too deep, and she lost her strength as soon as she raised her arm.

Lin Feng didn't turn his head: "Don't move, I'll do it myself."

With his left hand forming a hand seal, he condensed spiritual energy into three wind blades and flung them out, cutting down two demonic cultivators who rushed at him. At the same time, with his right hand, he used his Frost Sword to slash at a person who was attacking from the side. The moment the sword light fell, that person's upper and lower body were separated.

The remaining demonic cultivators exchanged glances, then decisively dispersed, some turning and running away.

"Trying to leave?"

Lin Feng took a step forward, activating his movement technique once more. The purple shadow chased after him, and with a flash of sword light, the fleeing man was pierced through from behind.

In just a dozen or so breaths, none of the dozen or so demonic cultivators who had surrounded Su Wanqing were left standing alive.

The only smell left in the ravine was the stench of blood.

Lin Feng sheathed his sword, turned and walked to Su Wanqing, bending down to examine her injuries: "The wound on your shoulder is quite deep; it needs to be treated as soon as possible."

Su Wanqing forced a smile despite the pain: "Thank you, Peak Master Lin."

Lin Feng took out a top-grade antidote pill from his storage bag, poured one out, and handed it over: "Put it in your mouth to stop the bleeding."

Su Wanqing took the medicine and put it in her mouth. The medicine dissolved quickly, and the bleeding from the wound visibly slowed down. She sat on the ground for a few moments before speaking, "I brought my disciples to keep watch, but we ran into the demonic cultivators changing shifts."

"Those two..." She looked at the two disciples lying on the ground, her face paling slightly.

Lin Feng went over and checked their breathing. One of them had stopped breathing, while the other was still breathing faintly, but was severely injured, with demonic energy still seeping out of its chest.

"I'll take this back and see if it can save them."

He picked up the surviving disciple and turned to Su Wanqing: "Can you walk?"

"Yes." Su Wanqing struggled to stand up, her steps unsteady but still relatively stable.

Lin Feng flew back on his sword with the two of them, while Su Wanqing followed behind, barely managing to keep up by using her spiritual energy.

It was almost dawn when they arrived at Qingyun Palace. The disciples on night watch were shocked to see Su Wanqing covered in blood and immediately went to report. The sect leader quickly dispatched a physician to carry the seriously injured disciples to the medical hall, and Su Wanqing was also helped to have her wounds treated.

Lin Feng stood outside the hall for a while, waiting for True Person Xuanqing to come out.

"What's going on?" The sect leader frowned.

Lin Feng briefly explained the situation: the demonic cultivators were changing shifts, and Su Wanqing ran into the encirclement. He rushed over to handle it.

After listening, Master Xuanqing remained silent for a long time before sighing, "It seems we can't just stand by and watch. Now that they've started making moves, they'll inevitably target Qingyun sooner or later."

"I'll take some people over there again tomorrow to check it out," Lin Feng said.

Master Xuanqing nodded and said nothing more.

Lin Feng returned to Xiaozhu Peak; it was already fully light.

When he pushed open the courtyard gate, Chi Yao was squatting in the yard polishing the Xuan Tie Bow. Seeing him return, she looked up and asked, "Master, how was it?"

"Peak Master Su was slightly injured, and I took the opportunity to eliminate a dozen or so demonic cultivators."

Chi Yao said "Oh," and then asked, "Then I'll continue practicing archery tomorrow?"

"Keep practicing, don't stop these next few days."

Lin Feng went inside and rested with his eyes closed for half an hour. After dawn, he went out again and headed straight for the Sutra Repository.

He spent most of the day searching through ancient books and finally found a record in a tattered scroll that matched the runes on the token.

The coiled serpent pattern and twisted runes are the symbols of a branch of the demonic path called "Blood Serpent Hall." This branch existed ten years before the great war, specializing in assassinations and infiltration. It is affiliated with a larger force, the name of which is not clearly stated in the book, but one term is mentioned: "Upper Sect."

Lin Feng closed the tattered scroll and stood motionless in the library.

Upper Sect?

He locked up the ancient books and left the library.

That afternoon, he took Chi Yao to Sunset Mountain Range again, this time approaching from another direction and using his divine sense to explore the area from several miles away.

The number of tents was about the same as last time, but the number of demonic cultivators patrolling had doubled, and there was a small flag planted at intervals, with a coiled snake pattern on the flag, which should be some kind of warning formation.

Chi Yao lay prone in the grass for a long time, then said in a low voice, "It's stricter than before."

"They've definitely increased their vigilance since we killed those two last time."

"Shall we continue?"

"No rush." ​​Lin Feng withdrew his divine sense. "Let's go back first and come back in a couple of days."

For the next two weeks, everyone in Qingyun Palace was on edge.