386: Mr. Factory Master, please spare my life. I have a treasure to offer to you!

“Hmph, you old eunuch!”

Xiao Fenghe stood with his hands behind his back, his purple robe fluttering without wind, his eyes sharp as knives.

“A stray dog dares to step onto my mountain gate?”

Once upon a time, the Eastern Depot Director Lu Xuan held immense power, a single imperial decree from him could stir up a storm in the Jianghu.

Even a Great Grandmaster like Xiao Fenghe had to avoid his edge.

But now—the East Depot had lost its influence, stripped of its authority to command the Brocade Guard, and even that “noble person” deep within the palace had tacitly agreed.

“The one who slays Lu Xuan shall be ennobled as a marquis and a prime minister!”

Thinking of this, a cold sneer played on Xiao Fenghe’s lips, “Since you, old eunuch, have come today, don’t even think about leaving Qingfeng Sect alive!”

The mountain wind suddenly picked up, swirling countless ice crystals across the ground, reflecting Lu Xuan’s gloomy, pale face.

Lu Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, his face devoid of emotion, only his deep-set eyes were as calm as an ancient well.

He spoke slowly, his voice like water dripping into a cold pool: “Tell me the person behind this.”

These five short words, like bone-piercing ice picks, carried an unyielding chill.

“Old eunuch, less talk! Die for this Seat!!” Xiao Fenghe laughed wildly in his rage, his voice shaking the heavens.

In an instant, a brilliant green light surged around him, appearing like a sudden green sun, blinding to the eyes.

As the Gale Force roared, his purple robe flapped loudly, and countless streams of Qingfeng circulated throughout Xiao Fenghe’s body.

“Qingfeng Palm—Wind Sweeping Clouds!!”

Boom—!

In the center of the plaza, the air suddenly twisted, and a giant vortex of wind appeared out of nowhere.

Green Gale Force churned like an enraged Dragon, shattering bluestone, pulverizing ice sculptures, and even mincing the falling bamboo leaves into dust in its path!

The wild wind howled, as if the entire world trembled under Xiao Fenghe’s single palm strike.

The mountain wind intensified, and the flat plaza situated on the mountaintop subtly vibrated amidst the surging green Gale Force.

Before the East Depot agents could react, they heard a tearing shriek from the heavens.

In an instant, the entire pale green stone staircase writhed like a living thing, and an invisible wave of Qi lifted hundreds of East Depot elites into the air.

Fragments of embroidered spring knives and bronze armor splattered in the Qi current, clanging against the cliff face and sending up a trail of sparks.

Although the Twelve Taibao of East Depot managed to resist with their Grandmaster Protective Aura, the bluestones beneath their feet suddenly exploded.

The heart-protecting mirrors made of profound iron twisted and deformed like thin paper under the tearing force of the violent green Gale Force.

Some tried to grab the railings to steady themselves but were thrown into mid-air, person and stone alike.

The white marble carved Dragon pillars snapped, falling into the sea of clouds with the sound of breaking bones.

Yet, Lu Xuan, at the center of the storm, did not even have a single strand of his hair ribbon disturbed.

He stood with his hands behind his back, under the blazing sun, the golden threads on his ink-colored python robe gleaming with an eerie luster.

All the incoming killing Moves, upon entering Lu Xuan’s three-zhang Domain, seemed to sink into an invisible quagmire.

First to freeze were the bamboo leaves, imbued with the sharp Gale Force; the frost on their edges spread like a spiderweb.

Then, the flying shattered stones developed icy blue patterns on their surface, and hoarfrost bloomed at their sharp edges.

Finally, even the invisible green Gale Force materialized, transforming into thousands of icy crystal ribbons swirling around him.

These frozen killing intentions, suspended under the blazing sunlight, resembled an inverted Milky Way, illuminating the entire flat plaza as if in a dream.

“Great Grandmaster?”

Xiao Fenghe’s pupils constricted, but a cold sneer, as if expecting it, appeared on his lips.

A few days ago, the Eastern Depot Director, that old eunuch, had surrounded Ming Fo Temple, making it impenetrable.

To investigate the reason for this, Xiao Fenghe had later ascended Ming Fo Temple and personally paid his respects to Master Bei Feng.

From Master Bei Feng’s mouth, he learned the news that the Eastern Depot Director, that old eunuch, had broken through to the Great Grandmaster realm.

“Hmph, no wonder you old eunuch are so arrogant!”

Xiao Fenghe suddenly flicked his sleeve, “So you’re just relying on the power of a Great Grandmaster!”

The next moment, he shattered the bluestone with his toe, transforming into a streak of green light that shot straight into the sky: “However, this Sect Revered Master will let you know today—”

“Even among Great Grandmasters, there is a vast difference like heaven and earth!”

“Qingfeng Palm, Ninth Layer—Wind Howl of the Human World!” Xiao Fenghe let out a long howl, his voice shaking the heavens.

In an instant, the entire Qingfeng Sect seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand, beginning to tremble violently.

The sea of clouds at the mountaintop instantly boiled, and from the churning mist, the sound of wind, like a Dragon’s roar, faintly emerged.

At the same time, a dazzling green light erupted from Xiao Fenghe’s right palm, and a translucent green palm print slowly materialized.

As soon as this palm print appeared, it grew wildly against the wind with the force of thunder.

Abstruse green patterns flowed within its palm lines, and solidified green Gale Force surged at its edges.

In just a few breaths, the green palm print had expanded to over ten meters high, and the oppressive force emanating from it caused the air to emit a strained, explosive roar.

The bluestones on the flat plaza below cracked inch by inch, and the splashing debris, before even leaving the ground, was pulled by a terrifying suction.

It rotated around the illusory palm print, forming a black and green strangling ring.

The distant mountain forests, in the face of this violent Gale Force, emitted continuous sounds of breaking.

Ancient trees, thousands of years old, were uprooted like straw, enveloped in swirling dust, and all were swept into the destructive green giant palm.

The ten-meter-high green palm print, carrying world-destroying pressure, crashed down onto Lu Xuan like a collapsing sky.

As it rotated within its palm lines, it constantly emitted dazzling green light, and the air in its path twisted into vortices.

The rocks and trees along the way were ground into dust, and even birds in the air turned into blood mist the moment they touched the palm wind.

The entire Qingfeng Sect trembled violently under this terrifying power.

The fierce wind roared like ten thousand beasts, and the Gale Force swirled like countless blades.

Shattered stones and broken leaves formed a high-speed rotating death noose around the palm print, emitting a bone-chilling shriek.

Yet, Lu Xuan remained standing with his hands behind his back, his ink-colored python-patterned robe flapping in the storm, only a subtle wrinkle appearing between his brows.

His eyes gleamed with an intense cold light, like two extraordinary ice souls.

A bone-chilling coldness spread from Lu Xuan’s gaze, and the air it touched condensed into fine ice crystals.

The next moment, a layer of frosty white Gale Force suddenly rose around Lu Xuan, solidifying into a translucent layer of ice on his body.

It collided with the descending green giant palm, and the resulting roar caused the world to momentarily pause.

“Cold.”

“So cold….”

Among the four Qingfeng Sect Elders watching from afar, the voice of one Elder suddenly froze, and a crisp sound of ice crystals colliding came from between his teeth.

This Grandmaster, who had Cultivated the Qingfeng Palm for decades, was now trembling uncontrollably.

It was like that snowy night eighty years ago, when he knelt barefoot on the icy ridges of Qingfeng’s sheer cliff, the cold piercing through his thin cloth shoes directly to his bones.

The Protective Aura of the other three Elders also began to emit pained groans under the strain.

They were horrified to find that the white mist they exhaled condensed into tiny ice prisms in the air, and their robes were covered in hoarfrost without them realizing it.

The Grand Elder of Qingfeng Sect tried to circulate his Internal Energy, but found that the True Qi flow in his Meridians became sluggish and viscous, like a stream on the verge of freezing in winter.

This coldness came silently.

It wasn’t the biting cold of a howling north wind, but the bone-chilling cold of still, deep water.

It was like when their Revered Master tested their Heart-Nature, making them meditate in a cold pool for three days.

Only this time, the coldness was even more intense, as if even the thoughts of these Grandmaster experts were about to freeze.

On the silver beard of the Second Elder of Qingfeng Sect, ice crystals were growing at a visible rate.

He suddenly recalled the night in his childhood when he was punished for being lazy and had to face the wall in an ice cave.

The coldness at this moment perfectly overlapped with the most terrifying feeling deep in his memory.

Around the flat plaza, everything began to silently frost over.

Even more terrifying, this coldness did not come from outside, but slowly seeped out from the invisible air, making everyone’s heartbeats slow down.

And the perpetrator of all this strangeness.

Lu Xuan quietly raised his right hand, his pale, bone-like fingertips gently pointing towards the enormous green palm print that seemed to prop up the sky.

In an instant—

“Crack….”

A bone-chilling freezing sound swept across the heavens and earth.

That sky-obscuring green giant palm began to rapidly freeze from the point of contact!

Azure ice crystals spread at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, the entire palm print transformed into an ice sculpture spanning the heavens and earth.

Under the sunlight, within the frozen palm print, one could still see the green Gale Force solidified in its surging state!

The grimace on Xiao Fenghe’s lips suddenly froze.

The blazing sun still hung high, but a drop of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

Before this drop of sweat could slide down, it froze on his cheekbone.

It wasn’t the solemnity of facing a powerful enemy, but the instinctive tremor of prey encountering its natural predator.

It was like the giant python he encountered in the mountain stream as a child; the absolute suppression emanating from its vertical pupils transcended any species boundary.

In the end, it was his Master who saved him, but now, Xiao Fenghe no longer had a Master!

“This is impossible….”

Xiao Fenghe’s pupils contracted violently, reflecting the pale fingertip that pressed against the sky.

Because Lu Xuan had not even used a Move.

He merely casually raised his hand, and an invisible coldness spread through the air.

This indescribable coldness even caused the invisible air of the world to stop flowing.

It was like a naughty child poking a soap bubble with a stick, casually and effortlessly piercing the power of his Qingfeng Sect’s ultimate Legacy martial Cultivation Technique, “Wind Howl of the Human World.”

Xiao Fenghe’s purple robe suddenly became covered in ice crystals.

The cold Qi permeated the entire Qingfeng Sect, and even he, a Great Grandmaster, was inevitably affected.

“Prefect, please understand!”

Xiao Fenghe suddenly dropped to his knees, and the green jade floor tiles instantly cracked in a spiderweb pattern.

This Great Grandmaster, renowned throughout the Jianghu, now bowed lower than the humblest servant of Qingfeng Sect.

“My Qingfeng Sect has been loyal to the emperor and patriotic for generations, how dare we be enemies with the East Depot? It’s truly…”

His voice suddenly caught in his throat—the air before him suddenly condensed into several ice shards, reflecting his distorted image.

The air was terrifyingly still.

Three breaths later, Xiao Fenghe’s forehead heavily struck the icy surface: “It was Grand Tutor Qing!”

“Three months ago, he visited with an East Palace token, saying… saying that Your Majesty had long been displeased with the Prefect.”

Every word he spoke carried the tremor of chattering teeth, “As long as we cooperated with him in this act, after it succeeded… all Jianghu Schools would be under the jurisdiction of my Qingfeng Sect…”

“He even promised titles of king and prime minister; I was blinded by greed, I was forced!”

“Crack, crack, crack—”

Xiao Fenghe’s confession, instead of bringing a rise in temperature, was met with the sound of fine ice cracking in the air.

He was horrified to discover that the white mist he exhaled condensed into sharp ice prisms in the air, then fell “rustling” at his feet.

The four Elders of Qingfeng Sect in the distance had already sat in a formation, their bodies radiating crimson Gale Force.

The Grand Elder’s hair stood on end, and the boiling True Qi inflated his Daoist robe like a ball.

But the surging heat waves, just three inches from their bodies, were frozen into blood-colored ice crystals, forming a circle of eerie red frost around them.

“Pre… Prefect?”

Xiao Fenghe’s voice began to distort; he realized his tongue was stiffening.

Even more terrifying, the coldness circulating through his Meridians was slowly freezing his True Qi into ice shards.

Xiao Fenghe gritted his teeth, trembling as he struggled to stand up.

He knew better than anyone that this was Qingfeng Sect’s last Opportunity.

If this moment was missed, when the morning sun rose tomorrow, there would be no more Qingfeng Sect in the world.

A hint of determination flashed in Xiao Fenghe’s eyes!

Since defeat was inevitable, he could only accept his fate—victors become kings, losers become bandits, it had always been so.

At this moment, Qingfeng Sect was merely fish on a chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered.

“Prefect…”

His voice was hoarse, his forehead heavily knocking against the icy surface, “My Qingfeng Sect is willing to offer our School’s most treasured possession, only begging you, old sir… to quell your anger.”

An incense stick later.

Xiao Fenghe bowed and led the way, each step taken with trepidation.

He guided Lu Xuan through a deep mountain cave to a hidden Forbidden Ground in the back of Qingfeng Sect.

This place was shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, serving as the secluded Cultivation grounds for successive Sect Masters.

Ordinary Disciples who dared to approach even half a step would be crippled in their martial arts at best, or killed on the spot at worst.

“Prefect, it’s… here.”

Xiao Fenghe’s voice trembled uncontrollably, his finger pointing towards the edge of the cliff.

At the edge of the ten-thousand-zhang abyss, a half-human-height bluestone stood silently, its surface flowing with a tangible green Qi current.

This stone appeared ordinary, yet it exuded an indescribable profundity.

The light green surface of the stone was covered with natural Dao patterns, and each pattern surged with a liquid-like spiritual essence.

Even stranger, despite being only half a meter tall, it gave one the illusion of being as heavy as a mountain.

Xiao Fenghe had tried before; even with his full ten-tenths of Cultivation, the bluestone remained motionless, as if it was rooted to the entire Qingfeng mountain.

“This stone has been here since the time of the Ancestral Master who founded the School…”

Xiao Fenghe cautiously approached the bluestone, stopping three feet away.

The light flowing on the stone’s surface seemed to sense someone approaching, suddenly brightening a few shades, illuminating the cliff face in a misty green.

“Any fated person who touches it for the first time can absorb the Dao essence of heaven and earth within it.”

A hint of reminiscence flashed in Xiao Fenghe’s eyes, “When I first ascended to the position of Sect Master, it was by relying on this stone that I broke through the shackles of the Great Grandmaster realm in one fell swoop…”

Saying this, he smiled bitterly and shook his head: “It’s just a pity that this Opportunity is only available once in a lifetime for each person.”

“The second time it’s touched, it’s no different from an ordinary stone.”

“Even stranger is… each time it’s absorbed from, its spiritual essence diminishes a bit.”

The Ancestral Master’s handwritten notes record that it has dimmed considerably over the past three hundred years…”

If there were no restrictions, his Qingfeng Sect could have long dominated the world.