Chapter 28: Chapter 28
Stepping into the sixth rank has made the Divine Blade Slash far easier to wield.
But I still can’t unleash its full power. That will take at least fourth-rank — Grandmaster level — before this blade reaches its true potential.
A flash of understanding passed through Li Suifeng’s mind.
The fear in Jin Buhuan’s eyes only deepened.
Like the Red Lotus Sect envoy, he suspected someone was impersonating Li Suifeng through disguise. But that hardly mattered anymore. His only path to survival was surrender.
As for what came next — he’d take it one step at a time.
“From this day forward, I follow Boss Li’s command.”
Jin Buhuan clasped his fists.
“Words are cheap.” No task-completion chime had sounded. Li Suifeng kept his voice flat. “I’ll need to leave a little something behind — just to be safe.”
Jin Buhuan’s body stiffened. He understood exactly what Li Suifeng meant.
But he had no choice.
In Jin Buhuan’s shoes, Li Suifeng would have done the same — no sane man would leave a new subordinate unshackled.
Jin Buhuan had agreed readily enough on the surface, true — but somewhere in the back of his mind, the thought had lingered: once Li Suifeng left and the Moon Lake Strongholds came asking questions, he could always reveal what had happened tonight.
But now that option was gone.
Li Suifeng stepped to the drinking table and closed his hand around a wine cup.
FWIP!
A Life-Death Talisman shot out, burying itself in Jin Buhuan’s lower abdomen.
Despite his unease, Jin Buhuan didn’t dare dodge.
“Hm?”
The talisman sank into his body. A muffled grunt escaped his lips.
An hour later.
Jin Buhuan looked as though he’d been hauled out of the lake — his clothes were drenched in sweat from head to toe.
【Ding!】
【Task complete. Reward: Golden Body Art (maxed). Extract now?】
Task complete?
So Jin Buhuan had genuinely abandoned any other ideas?
Li Suifeng’s expression didn’t change.
Extract.
BOOM!
A warm, gentle flow of true qi suffused Li Suifeng’s limbs and meridians, accompanied by a lifetime’s worth of Golden Body Art mastery.
Iron Shirt is ultimately a crude external hardening art. At its peak, it can turn aside blades and arrows, but against blunt-force impacts or opponents with deeper internal energy reserves, it falls short. Now, with the Golden Body Art supplementing Iron Shirt’s weaknesses, even a fighter whose internal energy surpasses mine would find their strikes partially absorbed if they land a hit.
A smile crossed Li Suifeng’s face.
The best defense was always a good offense — but with the system at his disposal, adding a layer or two of defensive arts only made him safer.
If reaching the Helmsman’s seat triggered another task and delivered the Indestructible Vajra Art…
Li Suifeng’s blood ran hot at the thought.
The Indestructible Vajra Art appeared across the works of every great wuxia novelist — and in every instance, it ranked among the supreme arts. Pair that with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art, and he could challenge even a Grandmaster.
“Do I still need to act the day after tomorrow?”
Jin Buhuan looked at Li Suifeng, eyes brimming with dread.
The agony from before — even as a late sixth-rank master, he never wanted to experience it again.
“Play it by ear. If the Moon Lake Strongholds discover these bodies and tell you to stand down, then stand down. If they still want you to move — show up and put on a performance.” Li Suifeng’s tone was unhurried.
“Understood.” Jin Buhuan nodded.
Qian Bao and the Red Lotus Sect people had arrived in secret. Even within the fortress, hardly anyone knew they’d come.
They’d planned to leave under cover of darkness. Even if the bodies turned up in the river tomorrow, suspicion shouldn’t fall on Jin Buhuan — the saber wounds were too distinctive.
“One more thing — do you know Lin Zhixu?”
Li Suifeng asked the question just as he was about to leave.
The Three Rivers Fortress was his asset now. If Lin Zhixu had agents planted inside it, he needed to know — friend or foe remained unclear.
“Lin Zhixu?”
“Boss Li has met Miss Lin as well?”
Surprise crossed Jin Buhuan’s face, but he answered readily:
“I owed her father, Lin Mobai, a debt of gratitude. When Lin Mobai was killed, Lin Zhixu was sent to the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers. Three months ago, she found me and asked for help against the Divine Fist Gate’s master, Ba Hu.”
“So the intelligence about you intercepting our ship also came from you?” Li Suifeng asked.
Jin Buhuan’s mind raced. After a moment, his expression turned grave. “No.”
“But only a handful of people knew the plan. I can narrow it down.”
His gaze sharpened. He hadn’t realized that besides himself, someone else in his inner circle was feeding information to Lin Zhixu.
“Mm.” Li Suifeng nodded. A question nagged at him.
“If Lin Zhixu has the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers behind her, why does she need your help?”
Or his, for that matter.
“Boss Li — since the Canal Gang leader stopped showing himself a few years back, every faction in Nanzhou has been eyeing the Canal Gang’s carcass. Ba Hu almost certainly has Righteous Manor’s shadow behind him.”
Righteous Manor?
Li Suifeng understood.
Before the Canal Gang’s rise, Righteous Manor had been the undisputed top power in Nanzhou.
Forty-five years ago, the Manor Lord had provoked the wrong person. Overnight, the Seven Heroes of Righteous Manor were reduced to one — Yan Chongyun, the third brother. But Yan Chongyun had managed to preserve the manor’s foundations. After his death, his son “Star-Plucking” Yan Wudao took over as Lord. His Star-Plucking Sword Art had few peers in Nanzhou.
Nineteen years ago, Yan Wudao had dueled the Canal Gang’s leader, Yue Changlong — and lost.
That battle cemented the Canal Gang’s position as Nanzhou’s hegemon.
The Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers was no pushover either — one of Nanzhou’s four great factions, second only to the Canal Gang.
But compared to Righteous Manor, it still fell short.
If Ba Hu was backed by Righteous Manor, then what gave Lin Zhixu the confidence to target him for assassination?
…
Armed with Jin Buhuan’s intelligence, Li Suifeng slipped out of the Three Rivers Fortress and back to his waiting skiff.
True qi cycling through his feet, the little boat shot across the water like an arrow, racing back toward Nanyang.
An hour later.
Li Suifeng returned to Green Stone Alley.
“Hm?”
The instant he pushed the courtyard gate open, his brow furrowed.
It never ended.
Last night, Lin Zhixu had turned up at his door. Tonight, another visitor.
A man stood in the courtyard — early forties, dark-skinned, looking for all the world like an aging farmer. A guileless smile sat on his face. But the sword in his hand, gleaming with cold light, told a different story.
“Friend — walking into someone’s home uninvited isn’t exactly gentlemanly.”
Li Suifeng remained at the gate, his voice mild.
“I’ve never been a gentleman. I’m a killer.” The dark-skinned man set his sword down on the courtyard table before continuing:
“Name’s Crow. I’m from the Green Robe Tower.”
“I’m here to invite you to join us.”