Standing on the city wall, Luo Feng surveyed the town, strewn with corpses. Could it be the Demon Sect? he wondered.

With a slight frown, Luo Feng leaped down from the city wall, preparing to inspect the bodies.

As soon as his feet touched the street, several Demon Beasts feasting on the corpses lifted their heads. Their cold pupils fixed on Luo Feng, transparent drool dripping from their mouths.

ROAR!

Accompanied by terrifying roars, the Demon Beasts' eyes flashed with a brutal light as they lunged at Luo Feng.

Luo Feng did not panic. He clenched his left hand into a fist and threw several consecutive punches. The bodies of all Demon Beasts within ten zhang exploded, spraying a mist of blood into the air.

The remaining Demon Beasts, recognizing the terrifying strength of the youth before them, whimpered and turned to flee.

Luo Feng had no interest in these low-level Demon Beasts. Brushing off his hands, he began to inspect the surrounding corpses.

These people must not have been dead for long, as the bodies had only just begun to decompose.

Luo Feng found a corpse that had not been gnawed on by the Demon Beasts. To his surprise, there were no wounds on the body. Moreover, the person's expression was serene, as if they were merely asleep.

This is...

Luo Feng noticed two bloody holes on the corpse's neck. Pulling open the collar, he saw two puncture wounds, each as thick as a little finger, still oozing blood.

He inspected several other bodies and found the situation to be the same.

It seems it wasn't the Demon Sect.

Luo Feng exhaled. These bloody holes must have been left by the fangs of some Demon Beast; these people had died because a Demon Beast had drained all their vital essence.

Standing up, Luo Feng looked at the corpses littering the ground, his brow furrowed. What kind of Demon Beast could slaughter an entire town?

Panlong City was frequently attacked by roaming Demon Beasts. Luo Feng had even accompanied his father to hunt down Demon Beasts that attacked towns in the past, so such a scene was not entirely unfamiliar to him.

However, Demon Beasts usually only ambushed lone humans. Instances of an entire town being massacred like this were rare. Among the corpses, he had seen an expert at the eighth-level of the Hell Realm. Luo Feng speculated that the Demon Beast that assaulted this small town possessed power at least equivalent to the ninth-level of the Heavenly Court Realm.

Just as he was wondering what kind of Demon Beast it could be, Luo Feng's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and his gaze shifted towards the end of the street.

A moment later, the sound of conversation drifted from around the street corner, and several young figures emerged.

Luo Feng looked at them: three young men and two young women, all appearing slightly older than him and dressed in blue brocade robes.

The snow plum pattern... they are students of White Plum School.

Luo Feng's gaze fell on the snow plum emblems on their chests, and he let out a sigh of relief.

The uniforms of White Plum School students featured a snow plum emblem on the chest. Although White Plum School might not be one of the four great academies, its power was still formidable, ranking among the top five of all academies in the Flowing Cloud Region.

"Who's there!"

The five students from White Plum School only just noticed Luo Feng. They immediately stopped, their sharp gazes fixed on him, poised for a confrontation.

Luo Feng took out his student token and said, "There's no need to be alarmed. I am a student of Purple Sun School."

Seeing the token in Luo Feng's hand, which identified him as an inner court student of Purple Sun School, the five of them relaxed. The oldest male student stepped forward, clasped his fist, and said, "Song Tao, White Snow School."

"Chen Xiao, White Snow School."

"Li Hong."

"Fang Tian."

"Zhu Qi."

Since they had introduced themselves, Luo Feng, not intending to hide his identity, returned the gesture, "Purple Sun School, Luo Feng."

Luo Feng… I think I've heard that name before.

The red-robed young woman named Zhu Qi heard Luo Feng's name, and her daimei furrowed.

"Luo Feng, are you also here for a mission?" Song Tao, who seemed the most composed of the group, inquired.

Luo Feng shook his head. "No, I was just passing by. I intended to rest here for a bit, but I didn't expect…"

Hearing this, Song Tao sighed. Looking at the corpses scattered everywhere, he said, "We were also shocked when we arrived. We searched the entire town but found no survivors. We don't know what kind of Demon Beast did this."

"Whatever Demon Beast it is, I, Fang Tian, will definitely kill it!" A hot-headed young man beside them, with fierce brows and angry eyes, shot a glance at Luo Feng and declared in a low, firm voice.

Song Tao looked at Luo Feng and said, "Luo Feng, we plan to hunt down this Demon Beast. Are you interested? If we succeed, we'll split the bounty six ways."

The young man named Fang Tian, after sweeping his gaze over Luo Feng, said scornfully, "Brother Song, the five of us are enough. Why invite him? I'm not willing to share my portion of the bounty with someone for nothing."

Luo Feng glanced at Fang Tian, then said to Song Tao, "There's no need. I have urgent matters to attend to."

"Since you have other business, I won't insist," Song Tao said, a little regretfully.

"Then, I bid you farewell." Luo Feng said this and turned to leave.

After taking a few steps, Luo Feng glanced back at the five of them. He hesitated for a moment, then stopped and said, "I advise you not to pursue this Demon Beast. It would be best to return to your academy and report this matter to the Headmaster of White Plum School."

Among these five, Song Tao was the strongest, at the mid-stage of the eighth-level Hell Realm. Aside from Fang Tian, who was at the early stage of the eighth-level Hell Realm, the others were all at the seventh-level Essence Storage Realm. They simply lacked the strength to contend with experts of the ninth-level Heavenly Court Realm.

Fang Tian, who was extremely competitive, heard Luo Feng's words and retorted with a cold sneer, "What do you mean by that? Don't act so high and mighty just because you're from one of the four great academies!"

"Believe it or not, the choice is yours."

Luo Feng couldn't be bothered to argue. He took a deep breath, pushed off the ground with his foot, and crossed two hundred meters in a single stride, landing on the city wall.

Song Tao's face showed his astonishment. "Two hundred meters in a single step!" he exclaimed in a low voice. "What superb Light Martial Arts!"

He was an expert at the mid-stage of the eighth-level Hell Realm, and the Light Martial Arts he cultivated was a Yellow-Grade, supreme-quality technique, allowing him to cross up to a hundred meters in a single step. Luo Feng's speed was double his, and he had made it look effortless.

Unwilling to concede, Fang Tian curled his lip and said, "It's just impressive Qinggong, nothing remarkable. It's not like he's one of the Four Great New Talents."

The red-robed young woman, Zhu Qi, her eyes suddenly brightened as if she remembered something. Looking in the direction Luo Feng had disappeared, a blush crept onto her cheeks, and she exclaimed excitedly, "I remember who he is now!"

Everyone turned to look at her. Song Tao asked, puzzled, "Zhu Qi, what's gotten you so excited?"

Biting her red lip, the young woman replied with excitement, "Luo Feng of Purple Sun School! He's this year's Number One New Talent! Ah, I can't believe I didn't recognize him earlier."

"The Number One New Talent? No wonder he's so fast," Song Tao said, also surprised.

Fang Tian swallowed hard, his mouth agape. It took him a long moment to close it.

"Brother Song, what should we do now? Since Luo Feng advised us to find our Headmaster, he must have discerned something." Zhu Qi patted her gently developing chest, her emotions having calmed. She looked at Song Tao and asked.

Song Tao pondered for a moment, then said, "We return to the academy immediately and report this to the Headmaster!"

The others had no objections. Even Fang Tian merely pursed his lips and nodded in agreement.

Luo Feng leaped down from the city wall and immediately employed Teng Dragon's Step, speeding towards Purple Sun School.

Ordinarily, he might have been interested in investigating the Demon Beast that attacked the town. However, with the Duanmu Family to deal with, he didn't want to expend energy on other matters.

"Is that Luo Feng of Purple Sun School ahead? Please wait a moment."

After he had covered some distance, a voice suddenly called out from behind him.

The voice sounded somewhat familiar. Luo Feng stopped and turned to see a tall, slender figure rushing towards him at extreme speed. It was Xu Zhi, known as One Leaf Crosses The River, whom he had seen at the victory banquet!

Xu Zhi executed his Qinggong, and a mist diffused around him. From afar, he seemed to be riding the clouds and mists, his speed like lightning.

"Luo Feng, I finally caught up to you." Xu Zhi stopped beside Luo Feng, panting heavily.

He had spotted Luo Feng near the small town and had given chase with all his might using his Qinggong. However, as time passed, he found the distance between them not only failed to close but actually widened, eventually forcing him to call out to Luo Feng to stop.

Luo Feng looked at Xu Zhi and asked, puzzled, "Xu Zhi, what are you doing here?"

Xu Zhi was a disciple of the Nanmo Palace of the Twelve Golden Palaces, and the Nanmo Palace was not in this direction.

Xu Zhi caught his breath for a moment before replying, "I'm here on a mission."

"Do you need something from me?" Luo Feng asked.

"Yes." Xu Zhi's expression turned grave. "You must have seen the situation in the town earlier. Actually, it's not just this town. Three other towns to the south have also become cities of the dead."

"Other towns have been attacked as well?" Luo Feng was somewhat surprised.

Xu Zhi nodded. "That's right. My mission is to investigate this matter and then eliminate the Demon Beast responsible."

"You want me to help you with your mission?" Luo Feng immediately understood why Xu Zhi had sought him out.

Xu Zhi didn't deny it. "Yes. This Demon Beast is exceptionally powerful. In a town I investigated before this, two mid-stage Martial Artists of the ninth-level Heavenly Court Realm had their vital essence drained by it."

So that's the case, Luo Feng thought. To be able to kill two mid-stage Martial Artists of the ninth-level Heavenly Court Realm, that Demon Beast must possess power at least equivalent to the late-stage of the ninth-level Heavenly Court Realm. With Xu Zhi's current cultivation, triumphing over such a beast would be incredibly difficult.

"I have urgent business to attend to right now, so I'm afraid I can't help you," Luo Feng said after some thought.

Less than a month remained until Duanmu Xiao's fortieth birthday. Luo Feng wanted to use this time to cultivate and improve his strength; he had no time to waste on other matters.

Xu Zhi reached out to stop Luo Feng, a mysterious smile playing on his lips. "Don't refuse so quickly. I won't ask for your help for nothing. I have something here that I'm sure will interest you."

"What is it?"

Xu Zhi swiped a finger across his storage ring and took out a thin booklet, which he handed to Luo Feng.

Luo Feng glanced at it. It was a Yellow-Grade, supreme-quality Swordsmanship Secret Manual. He didn't take it and refused directly, "I'm not in need of Martial Arts Secret Manuals right now."

Xu Zhi gave a wry smile. "You should at least look at it first before deciding."

Luo Feng frowned, opened the Secret Manual, and saw that it was indeed a very ordinary Swordsmanship Secret Manual.

Glancing at Xu Zhi, Luo Feng continued to flip through a couple more pages. His heart suddenly jolted. There were small, handwritten characters on the pages. The writing was already somewhat faded, clearly aged. These characters were actually cultivation insights, seemingly related to the Grand Momentum.

"This is?"

Xu Zhi smiled. "I came across this by chance. The Secret Manual itself is indeed not very valuable. However, its previous owner was an expert who had comprehended the Grand Momentum. It records some of his insights into the Grand Momentum. Since you've also comprehended the Grand Momentum, it should offer you some guidance."

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