True Solution of the Sword Dao

Nailisha slowly pulled a short sword from behind her waist. Zhou Sixue also drew a pistol-like weapon from her thigh. Lin Qishan and Chen Fengnan, on the other hand, moved to the back—the former’s hand emanated a fiery red light, and the latter likewise took out a gun, though much larger than Zhou Sixue’s, resembling the length of a sniper rifle.

The one in golden armor merely placed a hand on the hilt of the sword.

Lin Fei merely allowed specks of black energy to appear around him, purely using the inherent strength of the Black Demon Sword for vigilance.

The Black Demon Sword is an imitation of a Demon Artifact that grows stronger with each kill. Although it has a strong backlash against its wielder, should one be able to withstand it, the wielder would gain considerable strength. It’s very convenient for concealing one’s true power.

Perhaps due to the distinctive aura of the Black Demon Sword, Nailisha, Zhou Sixue, and the others all glanced over at Lin Fei with a hint of surprise.

"You actually dare to use the Black Demon Sword!!" On guard, they couldn’t help but focus their gaze on Lin Fei.

"My strength is too weak, having only entered D-level; the Black Demon Sword can greatly make up for my lack of strength," Lin Fei said with a helpless expression.

"Aren’t you afraid of the backlash?" Zhou Sixue interjected.

"I’ve endured it once already," Lin Fei nodded in confirmation.

As they were speaking, several people wearing Red Armor emerged from the woods; although their auras were merely at F-level, they looked vigilant, as if they were merely scouts leading the way.

Then, the bushes and thick grass of the forest were quickly parted.

Seven or eight individuals in Red Armor emerged, their auras around D-level.

"My lord, it’s the Red Armor," one of the D-levels called out loudly.

"Oh? Red Armor again?" A well-built tall man walked out from the forest. His face was emotionless, and his eyes seemed to hold an unexplainable flavor, giving off a brutal feeling as if he could lash out violently at any moment.

Unlike those around him, this man was not dressed in Red Armor.

Two people stood beside him, one male and one female. The male was somewhat skinny, attired in Red Armor, with a scythe-like weapon on his back.

The female had a face full of pockmarks and fair skin, with a large black birthmark on her neck and short hair that made her stand out.

"Again with the Red Armor, my lord Saglas. Perhaps it would be better to let my people lead the way. Your people seem to be somewhat incompetent," the skinny man snickered.

"What? Are you saying my people are inferior to yours?" the leading man’s tone rose.

"How would I dare? However, my lord Saglas, it’s not practical to continue wasting time like this," the skinny man’s face briefly clouded, but he quickly resumed his easygoing smile.

"Do I need you to tell me how to do my job?" Saglas replied coldly.

The skinny man chuckled twice and stopped talking.

"My lord, it’s my fault. It seems like someone used a special interference ability around here..." the woman apologized with guilt.

"Keep leading the way!" Saglas commanded, not even looking at her, and turned back.

"My lord, what about these people?" a scout asked.

"Take them all with us!"

Nailisha and the others were utterly baffled.

"Lord Saglas? He seems likely to be a Successor. What shall we do now?" Chen Fengnan whispered.

"Let’s wait and see, maintain respect towards them," Nailisha whispered back.

At that moment, the conversation from the other side reached them.

Saglas’s decision to ’take them all with us’ determined the course of action for Nailisha and her companions.

As the people on this side remained motionless, none taking a step forward, Saglas looked back over his shoulder.

"What? Do you have a problem with that?" His gaze swept coldly over Nailisha, who was standing in front. A faint killing intent emanated from him.

Nailisha’s forehead showed a trace of sweat.

"No... not at all..."

"An Li, lead the way," Saglas commanded as he started to walk back first.

Lin Fei and his group were now involuntarily part of this assembly.

Lin Fei had been planning to leave, but now faced with this situation, he temporarily set aside the thought of departure.

Saglas’s group was divided into two factions. One side was led by the skinny man with about fifteen or sixteen people, half of whom were at D-level. Saglas’s faction, leading about twenty others, had only a few at D-level. The two groups were equally matched in power, with the strongest individuals, Saglas and the skinny man, appearing to be evenly matched in strength. Both sides adopted a collaborative stance.

These people had searched the vicinity for a long time but had yet to find the Red Armor individuals.

Lin Fei and his companions followed behind the group. Trekking through the forest, the large party ahead seemed to possess a formidable lineup. The mixed auras of all the individuals scattered, driving away the local wildlife, and the way forward was quiet and trouble-free.

"You there!" a member of the Red Armor called out to Nailisha and her companions as he walked over from the front. "Head east and scout the area! Also, Lord Saglas has ordered that you hand over the Barrier Stones and Treehouse Stones you used just now for centralized management."

A flash of anger crossed Lin Qishan’s face.

"Why should we??!!" He didn’t finish his sentence as Nailisha pressed down on his shoulder.

"Of course, we’ll hand them over right away," she loudly responded.

Anger was evident on everyone’s faces.

Though Lin Fei and the one in golden armor were indifferent, they too feigned dissatisfaction.

"Barrier Stones and Treehouse Stones are very expensive. Why should we hand them over just because he says to?!" Zhou Sixue spoke angrily.

"It’s alright, these can be bought back with Energy Stones. As long as we’re still here..." Nailisha spoke softly. "Let’s find a chance to sneak away. Otherwise, we’re likely to be used as cannon fodder."

She took Zhou Sixue’s Treehouse Stone and her own Barrier Stone and handed them both to the member of the Red Armor, who then delivered them to Saglas, who was walking at the front of the troop.

"Let’s go," Nailisha led the way towards the east.

The rest could only follow.

Interestingly, no one from the other group came with them.

"They seem to have no fear that we might run," she noted.

Zhou Sixue wondered aloud.

"We can’t possibly run," Nailisha said calmly.

Chen Fengnan, walking ahead, nodded somberly, "Indeed, we started off too naively..." He pushed aside some grass at the side.

Inside the grass, the nearly torn and tattered corpses were immediately revealed.

Insects resembling flies buzzed around. A thick stench began to permeate the air. All the bodies were clad in Black Armor.

Lin Fei squatted down, flicked a finger, and a force invisibly flipped over one of the bodies. A swarm of the disturbed insects flew up, scattering like dark ash.

"A male in Black Armor, the flesh is fresh; he can’t have been dead long."

Although the bodies were covered in flies and other such insects and the flesh was turned inside out with half the face gnawed away, revealing flesh and bone, one side resembling a normal human face, and a strong odor of decay, the others saw exactly as Lin Fei had said—the bodies hadn’t been dead long, the blood was still a dark red. It was probably due to the hot and humid forest that caused the flesh to spoil so quickly.

The corpses wore Black Armor, and their epaulettes had been removed. It was clear that they had been killed by the Red Armor.

"That person who was with Saglas must not have been walking together without reason. They must have had some motive..." Chen Fengnan analyzed.

"It’s very likely that there is a group of very strong and cruel Red Armor here, otherwise they wouldn’t need so many people sticking together, which is also not conducive to dividing the merits," a person in golden armor said quietly.

With this said, everyone felt a bit troubled.

A light breeze blew, making the trees rustle, and in the dense forest all around, it seemed as if an enemy could appear suddenly from anywhere.

Crack!!

Suddenly, a faint sound came from beside the group.

"Who’s there!!" Zhou Sixue, already on edge from the corpses and the words of the golden-armored person, reacted quickly at the sudden noise, drawing her firearm and aiming in that direction.

There was no response. The woods were silent.

"Sixue, don’t be nervous!!" Nailisha said softly.

Hiss!!

Another noise suddenly came from beside the group. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Zhou Sixue reflexively pulled the trigger.

Silent and swift, a white beam of light shot into the forest to the side.

Ah!!

"It’s a human voice!!" Chen Fengnan shouted.

Two more white beams of light shot out from Zhou Sixue’s hands.

"Damn it!! It’s a cryo gun!! Kass is dead!!"

There was a commotion of footsteps quickly approaching from within the forest.

Several people in Black Armor rushed out, one of whom still had remnants of frost on their shoulder.

"We’ve hit the wrong person!" Zhou Sixue’s complexion changed, sinking in her heart.

Then several more people walked out from the woods. Two of them weren’t wearing Black Armor and exuded a strong, dangerous aura.

"Oh no! They are the Successors!!"

Nailisha turned pale.

Hitting the wrong person wasn’t a big deal but accidentally provoking Successors could be...

Lin Fei and the one in golden armor also felt a bit troubled. So far, every Successor they’d encountered concealed their true strength with a powerful aura, so they couldn’t determine the opponent’s level.

But judging from the performance of Xia Longque, it seemed that all Successors likely had formidable strength.

Behind them, in the woods, footsteps from Saglas and his party approached quickly after hearing the noise.

The Successors who emerged from the woods were a man and a woman who looked similar, possibly twins. They were both dressed in armor adorned with green patterns. The woman had a patch of white frost melting from her elbow—a clear sign she was the one hit by Zhou Sixue.

"Kass is dead, kill them," the woman said indifferently.

"Yes, my lord," a bald man with a grim expression on the other side agreed.

Icicles quickly began to form on the trees surrounding Saglas as he approached with a stern face.

"What happened?" he glanced at the two people in front of him.

Nailisha and the others were caught in the middle, between both sides.

"So, it’s Lord Saglas," the leading twins’ expressions changed slightly as they spoke in unison. "Lord Saglas, these people killed one of my subordinates without reason and also intended to ambush me. I was about to deal with them."

A slim man beside Saglas explained the situation in detail after questioning his subordinates, whispering, "Indeed, this group was too sensitive; they are Successors from the Qia Family with considerable strength..."

"My lord," the twins called out loudly, "you’ve heard the situation. As long as you..."

"So what if you kill them?" Saglas said coldly.

Suddenly it became silent around them. All eyes were fixed on him.

The twins were completely stunned, "Saglas...".

In the blink of an eye, a layer of frost covered the trees around them, and a white world of ice and snow spread out over the area in an instant.

Saglas stood still, indifferent, with the apparition of a snow-white woman emerging slowly behind him.

"I hate it most when people threaten me..." His aura of coldness spread far and wide, forcing all present, including his own people, to back away.

The surrounding trees also started cracking from the freezing temperatures.

(Thank you to arthur0320 for the continuous ten thousand point reward... that’s too generous...)(To be continued. If you like this work, I invite you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your votes for Monthly Tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)