Back in Qingyang City for two days, Shen Zhao had been staying in the backyard blacksmith workshop.
The Dragon Scale fragments obtained from the Fuxi Abyss were treasures for forging divine weapons. In line with the call for energy conservation and emission reduction, Shen Zhao naturally chose to make use of the waste.
During this time, the Nanming Li Fire had successfully merged with him. With the help of the abundant spiritual energy in his body, he could fully unleash the greatest potential of the Nanming Fire Seed.
The azure flames burning inside the furnace smoothly fused the Dragon Scales together, gradually forming a suit of armor.
Clang~
With the final strike of the hammer, containing endless Daoist charm, the soft armor in front of him immediately emitted a dazzling golden light.
"What a pity…" Shen Zhao shook his head and sighed. "That five-clawed golden dragon in the Fuxi Abyss was just a remnant soul, not even one-tenth of its full strength.
Otherwise, the grade of this armor could have been even higher, but it's still acceptable. Below the peak of the Supreme Realm, this armor is indestructible."
After putting away the soft armor, Shen Zhao used the remaining dragon scales to forge a long knife.
Another day passed, and after everything was finished, Shen Zhao finally walked out of the scorching workshop.
He was just about to go to the arena when an uninvited guest arrived – Lu Chen.
As soon as Lu Chen saw Shen Zhao, he immediately stepped forward and saluted, "Brother Shen, you're finally back."
Seeing the faint worry between Lu Chen's brows, as if something was troubling him, Shen Zhao asked, "What's wrong?"
Lu Chen nodded. "Recently, our Qingyun Sect and Qingyang City have discovered many incomplete corpses. My father and my master have ordered us to investigate this matter thoroughly."
"What does this have to do with me?" Shen Zhao shrugged, "Young Master Lu doesn't think I did this, do you?"
Lu Chen quickly said, "Brother Shen, you're being too serious. We know you didn't do this. We just want to ask Brother Shen to help us investigate who the culprit behind this is."
Shen Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Then what have you discovered?"
Lu Chen said, "We would like to ask Brother Shen to come to the City Lord's Mansion."
Shen Zhao thought for a moment and agreed to go to the City Lord's Mansion with Lu Chen.
Inside the City Lord's Mansion, Lu Zhantian and several Qingyun Sect disciples stared at the dozens of bodies covered with white cloth in the front yard, their brows furrowed.
When Shen Zhao arrived, Lu Zhantian immediately greeted him warmly, "Young Hero Shen, you've finally arrived."
Shen Zhao didn't have time for small talk and got straight to the point, "There's no point in talking. Let me see the bodies first."
"Please."
\n\nFlipping open a few white cloths, Shen Zhao's pupils immediately constricted. The few Lu family servants behind him immediately retreated to the side and retched.
\n\nThe corpses were no longer human-like, especially those faces, which looked as if they had been peeled off with extremely cruel methods, making people want to vomit.
\n\nLu Zhantian sighed, "These are only a part of the corpses. Recently, many Qingyang City residents have reported that many men in their homes have gone missing. After investigation, there have been more than three hundred similar cases. It is preliminarily inferred that it was done by a certain evil cultivator."
\n\nAfter carefully examining the corpses, Shen Zhao stood up and wiped his hands with a cloth covered in dust, saying, "City Lord Lu is correct. These people were all killed by the same person.
\n\nFirst, they were hit by a palm, then their throats were sealed with a sword, causing their death. Finally, their Blood Essence was sucked dry. The methods are extremely cruel. I wonder if there are any strangers in Qingyang City recently?"
\n\nLu Zhantian immediately took out a book of entry and exit records, "The records of entries and exits in the past two months are all in here. No suspicious person has been found."
\n\nShen Zhao: "It seems that the murderer should not be in Qingyang City. From the appearance of the dead, if I am not mistaken, they all suffered from a set of evil skills from the Nine Nether before they died, the Corpse Blood Palm."
"Nine Nether?"
"Corpse Blood Palm?!"
Lu Zhantian and Lu Chen exclaimed almost in unison.
Shen Zhao said, "I'm sure of it. City Lord Lu should also be familiar with the aura of the Nine Nether, and this Corpse Blood Palm is cultivated by absorbing the Blood Essence of countless living beings.
Once the Corpse Blood Palm is mastered, even someone at the Body Tempering Realm can easily kill a Condensing Qi Realm expert. It seems this case is a bit tricky."
As Shen Zhao spoke, he had already roughly figured out who was behind the scenes.
In his previous life, Lin Feng deceived everyone, but the secrets he hid were as transparent as glass in front of him.
That's right, the Corpse Blood Palm was one of the Nine Nether evil techniques that Lin Feng cultivated. With this technique, he could survive in a world of the strong preying on the weak.
The emergence of the Corpse Blood Palm indicated one thing: Lin Feng had also appeared, and he was near Qingyang City. However, finding him might be a bit troublesome.
Lu Zhantian and Lu Chen's expressions turned grim. They knew how terrifying the Nine Nether's power was; it was not something the current Lu family could contend with.
Now that the Nine Nether's evil energy was sweeping through again, who was the target this time?
"Right, Young Master Lu, isn't your Qingyun Sect recruiting new disciples? Have there been any new people joining recently?"
After Shen Zhao asked, Lu Chen immediately sobered and said, "Yes, there are a few outstanding young talents who have been taken in. Especially that one named Lin Feng. He was directly taken as a personal disciple by the Sect Master as soon as he entered the sect."
His words dripped with sour grapes, because Master Zisong, the Qingyun Sect's master, had announced a thousand years ago that he would no longer take disciples. But upon seeing Lin Feng, he was willing to make an exception for him.
This made Lu Chen, who had always been self-important, feel very uncomfortable. His dislike for Lin Feng was almost undisguised.
In addition to this, there was another reason why Lu Chen disliked Lin Feng: since Lin Feng's arrival, he had replaced him as the focus of attention for all the Qingyun Sect disciples. Even his own sister, Lu Xuanji, had started to blush and her heart beat faster. These past few days, the topics of their conversations were no longer about cultivation methods, but instead, all about Lin Feng.
For example: "Brother, do you know? Junior Brother Lin's talent is amazing! He's already at the fifth rank of Body Tempering after only half a day. The Sect Leader said that Junior Brother Lin's talent is the best in the Qingyun Sect for thousands of years."
"Brother, those senior sisters and junior sisters are so annoying. They're always surrounding Junior Brother Lin, which will delay his cultivation."
"Brother, do you know? Junior Brother Lin looked for me today. He's really so gentle, and his smile is so captivating…"
"Brother, do you think Junior Brother Lin will like this outfit of mine? And what else should I pay attention to? Tell me."
"Brother, did you go to find trouble with Junior Brother Lin? Why did you go to him? He's your junior brother! Shouldn't we help each other as fellow disciples? If you do this again, I won't talk to you anymore!"
Lu Chen was driven to distraction by his sister's constant mentions of "Lin Feng," and decisively ran away to take on the investigation of a bloody case, distancing himself from a group of fellow disciples who had already become obsessed with Lin Feng.
Since Lin Feng arrived, Lu Chen felt like his own spotlight had been stolen, which was hard for him to accept, as he always liked to show off.
However, compared to the small problem of not being able to show off, what made him feel even more terrified was that his master, Mo Xinchen's, gaze towards Lin Feng was gradually becoming strange. Whenever Lin Feng was mentioned, his cheeks would inexplicably flush.
Shen Zhao's eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness when he heard this. After a moment of thought, he asked, "How long has your junior brother, Lin Feng, been at Qingyun Sect?"
"Almost a month."
"Has he been publicly accepted as a disciple?"
"The Sect Master will publicly accept him as a direct disciple on the fifteenth of this month."
"Mm, that's good."
Hearing Shen Zhao say this, Lu Chen's eyes immediately lit up, and he whispered, "Brother Shen, did you also notice something wrong with this Lin Feng?"
Shen Zhao snorted lightly, "On the fifteenth, I will personally attend Qingyun Sect's disciple acceptance ceremony. You'll know then."
Shen Zhao was, in fact, all too familiar with Lin Feng.
As a nine-lifetimes opponent, Shen Zhao could guess what methods and schemes he had with his eyes closed.
The reason Lin Feng's so-called arrangements and schemes against him could work was thanks to Yu Xiyan.
A fly who became powerful and held power by relying on a woman, Shen Zhao despised him from the bottom of his heart, no matter what.
Especially those so-called plans to finally eliminate him, the boss. If Lin Feng knew that he didn't want to be at the mercy of the system anymore and had taken the initiative to give up his life, he wondered if Lin Feng would collapse?
Back at the fighting club, Shen Zhao immediately called Liang Hao and Fahai over and told them about the matter concerning Lin Feng.
Upon hearing this, Liang Hao said directly, "Does this matter need to be so complicated? With one of my arrows, tens of thousands of disciples from the Tianyan Holy Sect, even if they had to turn their fighting spirit into horses, would rush over to help. They could drown that ant with a single spit."
Fahai was very practical: "Amitabha, since Benefactor Lin is so powerful, he must have many treasures on him. This humble monk thinks we should persuade him to donate them to this humble monk to save all sentient beings."
Shen Zhao: "You two can put aside your nonsense for now. Now that things here are done, we will set off for Qingyun Sect tomorrow. But before that,
"I need to address your strength. Especially you, Fahai. Your Arhat Golden Bell is okay against those with lower cultivation, but beyond that, your protective golden bell is like paper."
Shen Zhao then took out two Dragon Cores. "Take these. One each. Fuse them and increase your cultivation as quickly as possible. I'm counting on you two to cause some trouble for me."
Upon hearing this, Liang Hao and Fahai were immediately excited. Without a word, they took the Dragon Cores and swallowed them, beginning to focus on refining them.
After setting up a spirit array for the two of them to ensure nothing unexpected would happen, Shen Zhao found Su Yunying and handed her the Dragon Scale Armor.
"Boss Shen, what's this..."
"This armor is forged from dragon scales and can help you defend against attacks from blades, swords, and palm strikes. You might need it tomorrow when we go to Qingyun Sect."
"Is there a risk involved in going to Qingyun Sect?"
"Definitely. Do you want it or not?"
"Yes!"
Su Yunying happily accepted the Dragon Scale Armor. The moment her hand touched it, the armor immediately transformed into a golden stream of Qi, entering her body.
"This is..."
"Don't ask."
"Oh."
As they spoke, Shen Zhao took out another cultivation technique. "This is Water Wind Steps. Study it carefully. Your Cloud-Dispelling Palm is already at six-tenths proficiency. Combined with this footwork, it will definitely increase your combat strength several times over."
"Thank you, boss Shen."
"Don't thank me yet. You'll have to repay me when you become Empress."
"..."
On the other side, in Chang'an, within the Jade Xiao Palace.
"Your Majesty, Lin Feng's whereabouts have been discovered."
"Where?!"
"Qingyun Sect!"
"Qingyun Sect?"
Yu Xiyan's face was as cold as frost. Recalling Lin Feng's harmless-looking face, which concealed the most wicked of hearts, she couldn't help but clench her fists.
"You may leave."
"Yes!"
The offering immediately turned into clouds and smoke and dissipated.
Yu Xiyan immediately summoned Shangguan Qiuyue: "Qiuyue, I'm going to the Qingyun Sect. While I'm away, everything in the palace is up to you."
"Your Majesty is going out of the palace again?"
"This matter must be handled."
"This subordinate understands."
-----------------------
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