Ten Directions Sword Master

Chapter 84 Seven Sects of Evil Demons

"Thank you for saving me, young master."

The young woman, graceful and elegant, bowed to express her gratitude, her voice soft and melodious, stirring the heartstrings.

"As a disciple of the Yunji Sect, this is the proper course of action."

Qin Feng was swaying with a carefree attitude, not because he was infatuated with the beauty, but because he enjoyed the role of a chivalrous hero who was respected by others.

Every city in Wu County has its own misty alleyways, where countless beautiful women have seduced their way into marriage; it's a common sight.

He also made sure to invoke his sect's name to promote the Yunji Sect.

However, the people in front of them clearly had never heard of the Yunji Sect.

Apart from top-tier forces, ordinary sects are little known after leaving their local area, and they are not seasoned martial arts practitioners.

People like these in the carriage might not even have heard of Mount Tiantai.

"Madam, who have you offended? Why would a professional assassin target you?"

The young woman surnamed Xiong, who looked like a gang leader, examined a knife blade that had fallen to the ground and stepped forward to ask questions.

Of the four of them, Qin Feng and Fang Qing, the young man with the mole, are both disciples of the Yunji Sect.

Like a girl next door, the pretty and sweet Mo Shuyan comes from Yanbofang on Taihu Lake. Her father manages more than ten boats and is one of the masters of the seventy-two peaks of Taihu Lake.

As for Xiong Shengnan, his identity is much more complicated. He comes from a noble family but belongs to a neglected branch of the family. It would be beneath his status to join a sect like the Yunji Sect.

Neither the two temples nor the three monasteries would accept her.

He could only learn some family martial arts at home. Later, he finally found a wandering martial arts master to be his teacher, and only then did he have someone to guide him properly.

The four were of similar cultivation levels, ranging from the mid to late stages of Qi Refining. Considering their early twenties, this was not bad, even in the Southeast where martial arts were flourishing.

Xiong Shengnan was more thoughtful. The three people were dressed in tight black clothes and wore masks. Their target was clear, and they could not possibly be ordinary robbers and assassins.

Although he wasn't particularly strong, he was ruthless in his attacks, decisive in his advances and retreats, and didn't hesitate at all.

If Qin Feng hadn't been showing off that he had cultivated the Seven Symbols of the Cloud Book to the highest level, there would have been no time to save him.

"It might be someone my late husband offended. He was in the mining business and inevitably had to deal with gang members, involving money and other matters. This time, I went to Spring Valley to sort out his belongings and also to the temple to burn incense and ask the master to chant sutras for him."

The young woman wept, her face streaked with tears, as if she had recalled something painful.

"Please, young heroes, escort us back to the county town to avoid falling into the hands of villains."

"Don't worry, with us with you, those petty thieves will just be throwing their lives away!"

Qin Feng thumped his chest, feeling overwhelmed by the title "young hero."

Anyway, the men in black are mediocre, and even if reinforcements are called in, the four of them working together are enough to handle them.

Xiong Shengnan didn't say anything more, but he became more cautious.

If it were just a business dispute, few people would hire such an assassin. It doesn't seem like a gang-like operation; it's more like an organization that specializes in training assassins.

After this unexpected incident, the carriage's stop time was greatly shortened, and it set off immediately after a short rest.

After getting into the car, Qin Feng offered to switch seats so that the master and servant could sit next to him for easier protection.

Lu Li moved to two seats outside, subtly observing the area once more to confirm his judgment.

The master wears cloth shoes, while the maid wears brocade shoes with cloud patterns. It couldn't possibly be just a fun swap; their sizes don't even match—it's like master and servant have switched identities, and the maid clearly knows martial arts, yet she's pretending to be frail. What is she up to?

Was it for four young people?

Unlike them, they, like themselves, had made a last-minute decision to go to Danyang County, and judging from their previous positions, it was the master and servant who boarded the carriage first.

That means one of the merchants in the same industry carried a large sum of money and the news leaked out?

That's possible, but why would the master and servants put on this play? Are they trying to catch a few more fish?

Lu Li couldn't figure it out, so he decided to keep a closer eye on the two of them for the rest of the trip.

As long as malicious intent is harbored, it will eventually be exposed.

On the other side, Xiong Shengnan shared the same thought, his eyes fixed on the young woman.

However, after two days of surveillance, I didn't find anything wrong, but I did feel drowsy and lethargic.

"Dear guests, we will arrive in the county town tomorrow. Welcome to our Tongfu Inn, where you will definitely feel at home."

The carriage suddenly lurched, and the somewhat excited coachman cracked his whip, causing the horse to leap up.

"Madam Wen, we are only a few dozen miles away from entering the city limits. You can rest assured that those villains will not dare to pursue us."

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng spoke earnestly to the young woman.

"Thank you, Young Master Qin, and thank you, young heroes—without you, I, a weak woman, truly do not know how I would have returned."

The young woman rose, performed a deep curtsy, and thanked everyone in turn.

Although Xiong Shengnan harbored resentment, he found nothing unusual along the way. Now that they were almost at their destination, he could only conclude that he had been overthinking things and had wronged the other party.

As night fell, the carriage stopped next to a post station, where the few shared rooms were full of people.

As they approached the county seat, the number of merchants, peddlers, and traveling vendors suddenly increased, and the demand for accommodation exceeded the supply.

The woman could only sleep in the carriage, while the men set up a makeshift tent around it.

Yin hour (3-5 AM).

The carriage curtain was lifted, and the two of them leaped down gracefully, their movements ghostly, like two phantom butterflies drifting into the distance.

In an instant, a person sat up in the tent, glanced into the carriage, and smelled a sweet fragrance. Xiong Shengnan then fell into a deep sleep.

However, it should just be a kind of sleeping potion and shouldn't be life-threatening.

"After enduring for several days, they've finally shown their true colors. I'm going to see what they're up to."

Lu Li unleashed his Vast Void Steps and followed at a distance.

It seems that the master and servant had no intention of harming the passengers in the carriage. Could it really be that they were just passing by, and after being chased, they used others to protect them, concealing the fact that they practiced martial arts?

After running for nearly ten miles, the two stopped in front of a desolate ancestral home, where the positions of master and servant had been switched.

The little maid standing in front changed dramatically, transforming from a delicate girl into a clever and charming young woman.

The beautiful young woman's cultivation level was clearly much lower; her face was flushed, her mature body heaving as she gasped for breath.

"He's only a Foundation Establishment stage martial artist. I misjudged him before."

Lu Li hid in a withered tree in the distance. Both of them had mastered the art of concealing their aura, which caused him to misjudge.

When she was attacked earlier, the little maid probably wasn't sure if anyone would save her, so she used her internal energy, which is why he saw through her weakness, but he also thought she was only at the Qi Refining stage.

"The two of them are standing in front of the cemetery, as if they're waiting for someone?"

A quarter of an hour later, a young man who was so thin he looked like a gust of wind could blow him away walked out of the Yi family.

"Wen Nanzheng, you've won this bet—I hope you'll have the same luck at next year's Seven Kills Gathering, and that a few idiots will jump out to take the fall for you."

The thin young man's voice was intermittent and somewhat eerie.

"Hehe, Young Master You, we agreed beforehand not to reveal our identities and not to use martial arts above the Qi Refining stage. Little sister hasn't broken any rules, has she?"

"The little maid, or rather Wen Nanzheng," she said crisply, her laughter like the tinkling of silver bells.

"Our Rakshasa Palace lures people into illusion, making them unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, and they must offer up their entire bodies and souls—your Xuanming Palace uses the body as a weapon and the soul as a thread to carry out assassinations."

"The assassins you lured are not as useful as the companions I recruited. Giving up voluntarily is already a dignified ending."

The gaunt young man coughed violently, as if he were coughing up his heart and lungs: "What good is giving you the mica marrow crystal? We took it while the Liu family was in turmoil, but we can't hide it for more than a few days. The Canal Gang should have found out by now—once they track us down, can you protect it?"

"Then there's no need for you to trouble yourself, Young Master You. At least I can have it for a few days."

Wen Nanzheng said with a smile.

"Remember my words, see you at the Seven Killings Assembly!"

The young man surnamed You tossed out a crystal, snorted coldly, and a burly man with bronze skin crawled out of the tomb behind him.

He reached out and put his hand on the burly man's shoulder, then strode away with lightning speed, disappearing from sight in a few leaps.

"A Refining God-level Living Corpse! What a grand gesture! No wonder he's the only son of the Grand Elder of the Xuanming Palace; he's treated differently."

Wen Nanzheng looked in the direction where the young man surnamed You had disappeared, tossed the mica crystal in her hand up and down, played with it for a while, and then put it away.

"Let's go find our master—if the rough men from the Canal Gang catch up with me, it won't be difficult for me to escape, but I can't take you with me. I'll have to leave you with them."

After the master-servant roles were switched, the mature young woman shed her disguise and displayed her alluring charm at any time.

Hearing her young mistress's words, she gave a soft "yes" and swayed her body to follow.

"The Rakshasa Palace and the Xuanming Palace—these are the Seven Demonic Sects!"

Lu Li's expression changed drastically. He never expected that chasing two small fish would lead to the involvement of two behemoths.

The Seven Demonic Sects are a force on par with the Four Confucian Academies, but they are far more famous.

Don't worry about whether it's a good reputation or a bad reputation.

Moreover, the martial arts training room often suppresses demonic sects when ranking them.

In fact, any one of the Seven Demonic Sects is comparable to the combined strength of the other three academies, excluding Yingtian Academy.

The Rakshasa Palace is predominantly populated by women. They first lure people in with their voices, fragrances, and colors, and later, a single smile or glance can bewitch them into a dream, causing them to sink into a woven fantasy.

Its palace master once cultivated the Rakshasa Illusionary Dream Scripture to an extremely high divine realm, seducing a powerful figure from the Earth Ranking who willingly served the Rakshasa Palace.

The Xuanming Palace uses the physical body as a vessel and the soul as a thread, employing secret methods to create living corpses, even turning experts into "human puppets," and can still protect—

He retained his martial arts skills from his lifetime.

There is another secret assassination technique called the "Connecting Mechanisms," and all the Xuanming Palace disciples who follow this path are top-notch assassins in the world.

Wen Nanzheng and the young man surnamed You were both at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, clearly direct disciples of their respective families.

The unexpected incident on the road was nothing more than a gamble between the two over mica crystals.

It seems that the relationship between the Rakshasa Palace and the Xuanming Palace is closer than imagined, with conflict but no complete breakdown, which is very different from the seven evil sects presented to the outside world.

It is unclear whether the Seven Demonic Sects did this intentionally, or whether these two sects have a special relationship.

When the young man surnamed You left, the living corpses he summoned also startled Lu Li.

The burly man, who appeared dull and lifeless, possessed an aura as deep and boundless as the ocean, far surpassing the Foundation Establishment realm.

We're all Foundation Establishment martial artists, what do you mean by calling out a Refinement Realm bodyguard?