Yunluo Town, Blood Skull Base

"BANG!" In the main hall, Xue Qinghe smashed the teacup in his hand onto the floor. He pointed at the kneeling Blood Skull members and cursed, "Trash! A fucking bunch of useless trash! It’s been this long and you can’t even find one person. What’s the use of me keeping you worthless bastards!"

"Cap... Captain, the brothers have been searching for Leng Feng day and night, but the Profound Spirit Mountain Range is just too vast. Trying to find one person in there is like finding a needle in a haystack," the kneeling Blood Skull member said, trembling.

Hearing the member’s words, Xue Qinghe walked up to him, lifted his chin, and said softly, "Oh~ So you’re saying it’s my fault you can’t find Leng Feng?"

Staring into Xue Qinghe’s malevolent eyes, the member said in terror, "No, no, no... Captain, that’s not what I meant, I..."

"CRACK!" Before the member could finish his sentence, a crisp snap echoed through the hall. Xue Qinghe had simply snapped his neck.

Looking at the lifeless Blood Skull member on the floor, Xue Qinghe stood up, dusted off his hands, and snorted coldly. "Hmph, I don’t keep dogs that spout nonsense! Take him away!"

After a few Blood Skull members carried the body away, silence fell upon the hall. Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at Xue Qinghe.

"TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP!" No one spoke, and neither did Xue Qinghe; he just tapped his fingers relentlessly on the table. With the rhythm of his tapping, a sinister, cold aura radiated from him, and the temperature in the hall plummeted.

Feeling Xue Qinghe’s ever-growing cold aura, everyone’s hearts were in their throats. They didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, afraid of inviting a fatal disaster. Ever since Xue Qinghe was disfigured, his temperament had become extremely cruel. He would kill at the slightest displeasure, and the Blood Skull member who had just died was a perfect example.

"Xiang Tian, give the order. All members are to be dispatched. Enter the Profound Spirit Mountain Range and search for Leng Feng. If he’s not in the outer ring, go to the middle ring. I refuse to believe he can hide all the way in the inner regions!" Suddenly, Xue Qinghe retracted his aura and spoke coldly to Xiang Tian.

Xiang Tian trembled when his name was called, but after hearing Xue Qinghe’s orders, he breathed a silent, heavy sigh of relief and hastily left the hall.

"The rest of you, each of you will lead a small squad and conduct a carpet search of the Profound Spirit Mountain Range. The moment you find him, fire a Signal Flare to notify everyone nearby! Also, go bring Lin Ziqing over. I have something to discuss with him," Xue Qinghe continued to command.

"Yes, sir!" After receiving their orders, the men immediately went to make preparations.

"Brother Xue, what’s the word? Have you made your decision?" After everyone had left, a figure appeared in the hall. It was none other than Lin Ziqing, the Spirit Crane Sect disciple whom Shen Haoran had previously saved.

"Fine! As long as you lead me to him, the Top Grade Spirit Stone is yours. All I want is his life!" Xue Qinghe said with a ferocious expression.

Hearing Xue Qinghe agree, Lin Ziqing gave a slight smile. "Excellent. Here’s to a successful partnership!"

"Hmph! We’re just each getting what we want," Xue Qinghe snorted coldly.

Lin Ziqing paid no mind to Xue Qinghe’s foul attitude. He just gave a soft chuckle and left the hall.

"Hmph, Leng Feng, this time I’m coming for you myself. I will make sure you die without a burial place!"

...

「In the middle ring of the Profound Spirit Mountain Range, before a waterfall」

"Heaven-Breaking Kill!"

A furious roar echoed out, and a figure shot toward a towering ancient tree like a cannonball!

"CRACK!" The tree snapped and fell.

Watching the toppled tree, Shen Haoran grinned. "I finally did it!" Then he looked at his swollen, red arm and said with a wry smile, "Sigh, as expected of a Profound Tier High Grade Martial Skill. Even after strengthening my body several times, it’s still a bit too much to handle!"

"Your body’s strength is sufficient. You only hurt yourself because your control over your power isn’t precise enough. Still, not bad. You’ve mastered it in only three days. Just keep practicing," Elder Yan commented.

Hearing Elder Yan’s assessment, Shen Haoran chuckled and then turned and jumped into the pool to wash the sweat from his body.

"Hm?" Just as Shen Haoran was enjoying his swim in the pool, he suddenly felt someone spying on him!

The sudden feeling of being watched made Shen Haoran very uncomfortable. He closed his eyes, and his powerful Spiritual Thought surged out like a tide, spreading into the surroundings.

"Found you!" A moment later, Shen Haoran’s eyes snapped open. After taking the giant black ruler from his back, his figure vanished with a SWISH!

"Hm?" After Shen Haoran’s figure suddenly vanished, a soft grunt came from a nearby ancient tree. A figure slowly materialized and began to search for Shen Haoran.

"Are you looking for me?" Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind him. The figure’s hair stood on end. He spun around abruptly, only to see the very person he had been monitoring: Shen Haoran!

"SWISH!" A flash of Sword Light streaked past, and Shen Haoran placed the Soul-devouring Sword against the figure’s neck.

"Don’t move, or my blade doesn’t have eyes," Shen Haoran threatened coldly.

Feeling the killing intent radiating from Shen Haoran, the figure didn’t dare to move and could only let himself be held hostage.

Seeing the figure’s cooperation, Shen Haoran nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, I ask, you answer. If you dare to lie to me..." As he spoke, Shen Haoran pushed the Soul-devouring Sword forward a bit, slitting a wound open on the figure’s neck. Blood slowly began to trickle out.

"Okay, okay!" Feeling the sharp pain from his neck, the figure hurriedly replied.

"You’re with Blood Skull?" Shen Haoran said with a frown, looking at the figure’s attire.

"Yes," the figure nodded.

"How did you find this place? What’s your objective?"

"I... I just needed to relieve myself and stumbled here by accident. I didn’t expect to run into you!" the figure said.

"It seems you guys are looking for me, aren’t you?" Shen Haoran said, catching the implication in his words.

"You disfigured our captain, so now he’s put out a huge bounty. He also spread the news that you have a Top Grade Spirit Stone. Now all the Martial Artists in town are looking for you!" The figure spilled everything he knew.

Hearing what the figure said, Shen Haoran’s brow furrowed tightly. ’So the Martial Skill I created didn’t even kill Xue Qinghe. It just landed me in this much trouble. A Top Grade Spirit Stone... that’s a fatal temptation for any Martial Artist.’

"That’s all I know! Can you let me go now?" the figure said tearfully, seeing the increasingly grim expression on Shen Haoran’s face.

"Go? Hmph, not so easy!" Shen Haoran said with a cold snort.

"Didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill me? How can you go back on your word!" the figure cried in terror.

Looking at the figure’s terrified expression, Shen Haoran gave a cold smile and said, "I said I wouldn’t kill you. But *it* never said that! Changmao, he’s all yours!" With that, he turned and walked away.

"Alright!" Changmao cried out excitedly before appearing in front of the figure.

"AHH!" A moment later, a bloodcurdling scream rang out.

After dealing with the figure, Shen Haoran’s brow was still tightly furrowed. He summoned Elder Yan and briefly recounted the information he’d gotten from the man.

After hearing Shen Haoran, Elder Yan also frowned deeply. "It seems you’ve stirred up some major trouble. This place isn’t safe anymore. We should leave first and figure things out later."

Indeed. Now that the Blood Skull members had found this place, it wouldn’t be long before other Martial Artists came looking as well. Shen Haoran could handle one or two, but what about a hundred? Two hundred? The situation had become dire.

Heeding Elder Yan’s words, Shen Haoran went back to the edge of the pool, picked up his clothes and the giant black ruler, and was about to leave the waterfall.

"Hurry, hurry! That scream just now came from over here!" Just as Shen Haoran was about to leave, a shout came from not far away.

"Shit, they found me!" Shen Haoran cursed, quickly ducking into the mountain forest.