Chapter 045: Junior Brother Lefeng

Inner Sect?
Xu Xuan had never expected that Wan Fushan would assign him to work in the Inner Sect.
For the outer disciples, entering the Inner Sect was a dream, a wish they could hardly hope to fulfill!
“Heh, don’t get ahead of yourself. You, a mere fifth-level Body Refiner, think you can become an Inner Sect disciple?” Wan Fushan suddenly changed his tone, with a playful, disdainful smile curling his lips. “This time, it’s the Inner Sect disciples going out on a mission, and you’ve been assigned to assist them.”
It was clear he meant to toy with Xu Xuan, his eyes gleaming with mischief, as if he was watching a trapped beast struggle.
Because Xu Xuan was deliberately suppressing his aura, Wan Fushan hadn’t realized he’d already advanced to the sixth level of Body Refinement, or he wouldn’t be so relaxed and at ease.
“Going out on a mission?” Xu Xuan’s heart tightened, his expression shifting slightly.
If they were inside the sect, in broad daylight, Wan Fushan wouldn’t dare lay a hand on him. Even if he tried something underhanded, given Xu Xuan’s current strength and keen senses, it would be difficult.
But once outside the sect, everything changed—opportunities to strike became plentiful.
“May I ask, Senior Brother Wan, what is this mission with the Inner Sect disciples?”
Xu Xuan asked calmly, his face neither servile nor overbearing.
“Heh… it’s just a bandit extermination,” Wan Fushan replied, crossing his legs, his smile growing brighter.
Bandit extermination?
What kind of bandits would require a sect of immortals to intervene? Xu Xuan was full of doubts and confusion.
“Have you heard of the ‘Blood Spirit Thieves’?”
Seeing Xu Xuan’s puzzled look, Wan Fushan answered offhandedly.
“The Blood Spirit Thieves?” Xu Xuan was secretly startled, feeling odd inside. He asked in astonishment, “This notorious and mysterious group—I heard of them long before I entered the sect. Have they become so powerful that even the Immortal Sect must step in?”
He not only knew the Blood Spirit Thieves but had even slain one of their members himself. He hadn’t expected they would attract the attention of the Immortal Sect—it seemed their doom was sealed.
“Hmph, the Blood Spirit Thieves are nothing to our Windfeather Sect. In the past, when the lawkeepers of Pinghua Town came seeking help, we didn’t even bother to respond. But just a few days ago, the Blood Spirit Thieves dared to move near Xingyu Mountain and killed one of our Inner Sect disciples and three Outer Sect disciples. This enraged the elders, and they decided to send disciples to wipe them out,” Wan Fushan said coldly, his eyes full of contempt.
Xu Xuan clicked his tongue in awe. The Blood Spirit Thieves were truly audacious to provoke the Immortal Sect.
He couldn’t help but recall that, not long ago in Yangmu Village, he had killed a member of the Blood Spirit Thieves and discarded two “stolen items” closer to Xingyu Mountain—thinking that, no matter how bold they were, the Blood Spirit Thieves would never dare pursue anything onto the mountain.
Of course, whether these incidents were connected, he couldn’t be sure. If there was any link, then he truly was caught in the web of cause and effect.
“The Blood Spirit Thieves are hardly worth the attention of our sect’s leaders. None of the powerful core disciples would lower themselves to deal with them. Fortunately, a rising star in the Inner Sect, Junior Brother Le Feng, has volunteered to lead twenty disciples to wipe out the Blood Spirit Thieves.”
Wan Fushan paused, then looked at Xu Xuan with a smiling glint in his eyes. “Because there weren’t enough spots, I signed you up, and also Junior Sister Yang. If the mission succeeds, the sect will reward us handsomely.”
Xu Xuan cursed inwardly—Wan Fushan had wasted no time in signing him up for this dangerous work.
Compared to the Windfeather Sect, the Blood Spirit Thieves were nothing, but sending only some disciples to deal with them might prove difficult. Given their infamous brutality and cunning, they were not to be underestimated.

“Junior Brother Xu, you’ve just entered the sect, so this is a chance for you to prove yourself. Your name is already on the list; you wouldn’t back out now, would you?”
Wan Fushan narrowed his small eyes, his smile tinged with cold menace.
Xu Xuan felt a chill in his heart. Wan Fushan was using this mission to send him out, and who knew what tricks he might have planned.
Still, since this was a group operation, Xu Xuan felt a little reassured.
“Thank you for the consideration, Senior Brother Wan. How could I pass up such an opportunity?”
After a brief pause, Xu Xuan agreed with an expressionless face.
As he watched Xu Xuan leave, Wan Fushan’s smile faded, his face shifting between light and shadow: Xu Xuan had remained calm and composed from start to finish, neither angry nor flattering, displaying a maturity far beyond that of a newly initiated disciple.
From their previous confrontation to today’s exchange, Wan Fushan was increasingly convinced that Xu Xuan was not simple.
“If I don’t get rid of this one soon, he may become more and more troublesome in the future…”
Wan Fushan felt a sense of urgency.
Still, standing at the pinnacle of a Qi Refining Immortal, he possessed overwhelming strength. No matter how talented Xu Xuan was, at the fourth or fifth level of Body Refinement, he would never escape his grasp.
…
For the next two days, Wan Fushan did not assign Xu Xuan any other tasks, allowing him to prepare for the upcoming mission.
Xu Xuan learned from the other disciples that those who signed up for the mission were allowed two days’ rest beforehand.
Taking advantage of the break, Xu Xuan focused on cultivation, absorbing the remaining power of the spirit ginseng.
But the final move of the “Steel Formula,” Dragon-Serpent’s Seventh Transformation, required him to circulate all his inner force in an instant, executing a high-level technique to unleash a perfectly explosive power.
On this last move, he was still a hair’s breadth away, even though he sensed he was close to reaching the seventh level of Body Refinement.
During these two days, Yang Xiaoqian visited again, her tone and demeanor much friendlier than before.
“This mission is no easy task. The Blood Spirit Thieves are infamous for their cruelty and cunning, always elusive. Wan Fushan has signed us both up, and he’ll surely try some dirty tricks. We must both be extra cautious… especially you, since you’re only at the fourth level of Body Refinement. All the outer disciples on this mission are at least at the fourth or fifth level.”
Yang Xiaoqian suggested they look out for each other, her concern obvious as she warned Xu Xuan.
She still believed his cultivation was only at the fourth level, not having noticed his recent advancement during their last confrontation with Wan Fushan.
After all, Xu Xuan had only broken through to the third and fourth levels in the past month—if he advanced again so soon, it would be unbelievable.
Xu Xuan merely smiled and did not explain, nodding slightly. “Looking out for each other is not a bad idea, but Wan Fushan may not let things go smoothly for us. In the end, when danger strikes, the only thing we can truly rely on is our own strength.”
Hearing this, Yang Xiaoqian’s eyes shimmered like autumn water, ripples of light flickering in them. The calm, resolute, and mature Xu Xuan before her had completely replaced the image of the impoverished, frail, bullied youth she once knew.
After a brief chat, Yang Xiaoqian took her leave. Her tall, slender figure, bathed in the setting sun, appeared somewhat thin and delicate.
The next morning, the outer disciples who signed up for the mission gathered under Wan Fushan and another deputy steward, heading toward the Inner Sect’s Hall of Heaven and Earth.
From a distance, Xu Xuan gazed at the towering, twenty-to-thirty-meter-tall spiritual hall, gleaming with a faint metallic silver under the morning light, radiating a pressure of spiritual energy.

The ambient spiritual energy around the Hall of Heaven and Earth was even denser than elsewhere in the sect.
According to other disciples, this hall was the council chamber for the sect’s senior members.
This mission to exterminate the bandits was not a major event for the Windfeather Sect, so they merely gathered in the square before the hall.
There were twenty outer disciples in total, the weakest at the fourth level of Body Refinement, most at the fifth, and a few at the sixth.
Among those he knew were Yang Xiaoqian and Zhao Linlong, the proud young man from Pinghua Town.
Zhao Linlong was polite to Yang Xiaoqian, but looked down on Xu Xuan for his humble background, his gaze tinged with arrogance and disdain.
Though Zhao had also bribed Wan Fushan when entering the sect, his innate pride and sense of superiority made him hard to stomach, so Wan Fushan had likely sent him along on this dangerous mission as well.
The group gathered before the Hall of Heaven and Earth, waiting in silence for a while.
“Why hasn’t Junior Brother Le Feng arrived yet?”
The other Inner Sect disciple beside Wan Fushan seemed slightly annoyed.
“Junior Brother Huang, you may not like what I’m about to say. Junior Brother Le Feng has only been in the sect two and a half years, yet he’s advanced from the fifth level of Body Refinement to the third level of Qi Refinement Immortal. Such talent and potential are truly remarkable. Though you’re close to Senior Brother Yun Yuanhang, you should watch your words.”
Wan Fushan replied with a smile.
“Hmph, he only had a low-grade spirit root when he joined. He’s no genius—I don’t believe he can surpass Senior Brother Yun,” Huang sneered.
“Shh!” Wan Fushan nudged him, “Junior Brother Le has arrived.”
As he spoke, from the left side of the hall, a handsome youth floated in, stepping on a wave of green light. His features were refined, his eyes like stars, a gentle smile on his lips, his bearing cultured and graceful.
What a striking youth!
All the outer disciples below faded into insignificance, feeling ashamed by comparison.
Especially as the elegant young man, shrouded in morning mist, floated in midair atop a spiritual artifact, he seemed even more ethereal and otherworldly.
Even Yang Xiaoqian at Xu Xuan’s side was briefly stunned: she had never imagined there could be such a dazzling youth in the Immortal Sect.
“Levitation on an artifact… When did Le Feng reach the fourth level of Qi Refinement?”
“The fourth level? How is that possible?”
Wan Fushan and Huang both turned pale, unable to believe their eyes.
Xu Xuan, though shocked, thought to himself: with such a cultivator leading the mission, their chances of success were at least fifty percent.