Chapter 107: One of Us!

So this is Mount Black?

Luo Tian lifted his head slightly and looked up at the dark, brooding peak before him. Its cliffs were all made of black stone, so from a distance the whole mountain seemed like a strangely shaped gaping maw, as though it could swallow everything in a single bite.

For some reason, the sight made Luo Tian feel faintly uneasy, as if this journey would not go smoothly.

He shook his head and forced the thought from his mind. Tying the horse he had just bought to a side, he strode briskly up toward the summit.

The horse was fit for long-distance travel, but when it came to mountain paths, it was of little use. Luo Tian had no choice but to go on foot.

The so-called den of the bandits had no rolling logs or falling-stone traps; in the world of cultivators, strength ruled all, and if someone truly acted, no scheme would do much good.

Though Mount Black was not considered a lofty peak, the path wound and twisted endlessly, and along it a young man’s back grew smaller and smaller with each passing step.

Tap, tap, tap.

Luo Tian’s feet alternated swiftly upon the mountain path, the sound of his steps striking the ground like urgent drums. Though it made noise, it somehow made the place feel even quieter.

The sense of unease only grew stronger. Luo Tian drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed that strange feeling.

It was said that once cultivators reached a certain realm, they could faintly sense the future. Though it could not quite be called prophecy, it did grant some awareness of fortune and misfortune. But Luo Tian believed his own cultivation still lay within the ninth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm. Even if he had reached the late stage of the ninth level, he had not yet broken free of that realm’s boundaries.

As for this unease, Luo Tian preferred to believe it was simply fear of the unknown.

Huh?

Jiang Zhenglong was arranging for his underlings to pack away several letters. They might not be of much use, but better than nothing; if he could fool a few people, then it would count as a gain.

Had he not deliberately let one disciple escape before, and had he not revealed his strength in the Meridian Flow Realm, would he not be counting on those fools from the Sunward Sect rushing over one after another to deliver themselves to him?

Who could have guessed that this low-tier sect would be so unreliable? In the end, only a few had come, far too few to vent the rage burning in his chest.

Several bandit gangs were here. The plundered wealth was secondary; the pretty girls they had abducted were the truly reliable source for filling the reserve forces of the Blossom Hall.

How many women would willingly do such work?

Jiang Zhenglong shook his head slightly. Those forced into it by reality were always the minority; most people still had to be coerced.

Just then, faint sounds drifted into Jiang Zhenglong’s ears like threads of silk.

Someone was coming?

At the thought, Jiang Zhenglong’s excitement surged once more.

A cultivator in the Meridian Flow Realm had physical qualities far beyond those of the Spirit Gathering Realm. Even a newly entered Meridian Flow cultivator who had only just undergone the Red Light Transformation was still a world apart in realm. So when Luo Tian was still some distance away, Jiang Zhenglong had already sensed him.

He took a few unhurried steps forward, glanced at the underlings slowly packing the letters, and frowned. “Hurry up. Another disciple of the Sunward Sect is on the way.”

Those useless things could not even finish their work properly. How was he supposed to enjoy his performance if they dragged on like this?

“Yes, yes.”

The underlings hurriedly answered, quickening their hands considerably.

Who was coming?

Yuan Yishui and the others exchanged looks, puzzled. Could it really be that an elite disciple from one of the Four Great Families of the Sunward Sect had rushed over? No one knew whose head this would count as. They only hoped that Young Master Long would be a little kinder to them over the next few days and stop making things so miserable.

No food, no water, no sleep. It was truly torment.

Li Yang, however, made up his mind. No matter who came, he would quickly urge the person to flee. Though for an outer sect disciple to escape from a Meridian Flow cultivator was little short of fantasy, Li Yang still did not want anyone else to come and die in vain.

It was enough if he could do even this little.

The summit was now in sight. Luo Tian quickened his pace again, and at last stepped onto the top.

The moment his figure appeared, Li Yang and the others froze.

Brother Luo?

Though they had not expected Luo Tian to come, on reflection, it was not impossible.

As the outer sect disciple with the fastest cultivation progress, Luo Tian’s fame had already faintly surpassed the true elites of the Four Great Families. Shen Lingfeng, who had once been defeated by Brother Luo in the East District Grand Tournament, had by now entered the first tier among outer sect disciples as well—but so what?

Brother Luo’s strength was plain for all to see. It was not impossible that he had the courage and confidence to take on this mission.

Only, the opponent was a Meridian Flow Realm expert who had deliberately suppressed his strength. Brother Luo had not known that in advance and had rushed over so anxiously. In the end, it would likely be nothing more than a death sentence.

The moment Li Yang thought of this, panic surged through him. “Brother Luo, run! You’re no match for him!”

The instant he heard that voice, Luo Tian saw Li Yang. Then his heart lurched.

Li Yang knew his strength, yet still spoke so certainly. Could it be that the enemy before him was a Meridian Flow Realm expert?

Otherwise, why would he need to run from merely a Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator?

Once that thought arose, Luo Tian immediately prepared to turn and flee. But reason held him back from acting.

Though he had the Mysterious Trace Step, that was a footwork suited to shifting and dodging, not a true speed technique. And even if it were a speed technique, there was no chance he could escape a Meridian Flow cultivator alive.

No matter how strong his Heaven-Transforming True Fiery Origin Energy might be, he had not undergone the transformation by which vital energy became true force. That was a difference in essence, something impossible to make up for.

Hearing Li Yang speak, Zhao Yishui instantly grew anxious. It had not been easy to find a somewhat capable outer sect disciple who might entangle this Jiang Zhenglong; if there was no fierce battle, how would he ever find a chance to escape?

Jiang Zhenglong being here was the greatest threat. Even if they were not tied up, no one would dare entertain even the slightest thought of fleeing.

The reason they had not dared to resist or run until now was not because the ropes bound their bodies, but because Jiang Zhenglong’s existence bound their hearts.

“Brother Luo! Please save us!” Zhao Yishui shouted sharply. “You can’t abandon us! We are fellow disciples—how can you ignore us?”

Wang Lin only stared blankly for a moment before reacting as well. So long as Jiang Zhenglong could not make a move, what could those dozen or so underlings, trash not even in the Spirit Gathering Realm, possibly do to him?

Anyone who dared block his path to survival, he would butcher as easily as chopping melons and vegetables!

“Brother Luo, don’t go! Look at the state we’re in now!”

Wang Lin began shouting like a slaughtered pig.

Bastards!

Li Yang gritted his teeth in fury. These fools, though honest to a fault and a little simple-minded, had learned enough from experience to understand the desires of men’s hearts. He instantly knew what Zhao Yishui and the others were plotting and cursed them loudly. “Animals! You still want Brother Luo to lose his life? Brother Luo, ignore them and run!”

Seeing Luo Tian ascend the mountain in a sheath of white light, Jiang Zhenglong naturally was not anxious in the slightest. He looked at Luo Tian with the playful gaze of a cat eyeing a mouse, curious to see how this fellow would react.

A ninth-level Spirit Gathering cultivator was no match for him, absolutely not.

When the previous Sunward Sect disciples had been tortured to death by his hand, some had been unwilling, some enraged, some terrified, some despairing. Watching the looks in their eyes as they died was a thoroughly delightful thing.

Jiang Zhenglong greatly enjoyed such things. His pleasures also included forcing decent women into prostitution. Of course, that was yet another kind of exhilaration.

What to do?

Anxiety flared in Luo Tian’s heart. Facing a Meridian Flow cultivator head-on, he was certainly no match.

Fight? He could not win.

Run? He could not escape.

Before even the slightest regret could take shape, Luo Tian’s mind whirred at full speed, searching only for a way out.

Looking at Jiang Zhenglong’s appearance and build, Luo Tian suddenly had a thought. “May I ask your esteemed name?”

What, did he want to know whose hands had killed him?

Jiang Zhenglong chuckled and regarded the boy pretending composure before him with pity, generously granting him his final wish. “Jiang Zhenglong!”

That crisp, straightforward answer instantly stirred a sliver of hope in Luo Tian’s heart.

“Brother Luo, you you have to run!” Li Yang was beside himself with urgency. Hadn’t he made himself clear enough? Brother Luo was not as foolish as he was, so what on earth was he doing now?

Fight!

Hurry up and fight!

Naturally, Zhao Yishui, Wang Lin, and the others were also burning with anxiety, though what they were thinking was very different from Li Yang’s.

If they did not hurry and engage, how would they ever find a chance to flee this certain death?

“What is the relationship between Brother Zhengfeng and Brother Jiang?”

Luo Tian spent considerable effort calming himself. His body relaxed, and he appeared entirely unrestrained and unperturbed, as though speaking with an old friend.

Brother Zhengfeng?

A thought stirred in Jiang Zhenglong’s mind. “He is my third brother. Why, could it be that you—”

“Haha.”

Luo Tian laughed aloud. Just now he had already felt that Jiang Zhenglong bore some resemblance to Jiang Zhengfeng, whom he had met only once. Now, hearing the name, he grew certain of it, and his confidence in the plan also rose. “In that case, we are all family! I’m Luo Tian. If you ask Brother Zhengfeng later, he’ll certainly know me. We nearly made a dragon shrine out of the wrong temple!”

Jiang Zhenglong was somewhat confused. Family? What in the world was this about?

However, hearing the other party address his third brother with such a familiar, casual tone, and seeing him introduce himself first with the air of someone wholly open to verification, Jiang Zhenglong could not simply conclude he was being fooled. Although Jiang Zhengfeng’s name was famous in Windmire City, renowned far and wide, how could someone from a backwater place like the Sunward Sect know him?

Thus Luo Tian’s performance immediately won Jiang Zhenglong’s trust.

Still, Jiang Zhenglong was not a fool. He would not be persuaded by a few words alone. He steadied himself and said, “So you’re Brother Luo. How am I to know whether what you say is true or false?”

Before Luo Tian could answer, Zhao Yishui immediately changed his tune. “Brother Luo, save us! Since everyone knows each other, then everything can be discussed! Young Master Long, we are all one family, one family!”

Li Yang felt sick to his stomach. Jiang Zhenglong controlled a bandit gang that robbed respectable women and then forced them into prostitution. It was a despicable act beyond measure, and he had even tortured several outer sect disciples of the Sunward Sect to death in front of their eyes. For a beast like that, Zhao Yishui still dared to call him family?

But toward Luo Tian, Li Yang still held some trust.

What kind of person was Brother Luo?

He cared for his disciples and offered guidance at practically a giveaway price. Could such a noble spirit compare with someone like Jiang Zhenglong?

When friends associated, even if their personalities were not identical, there had to be some bottom line to friendship. Was Brother Luo such a person?

Li Yang did not believe it, but he did not speak again. He intended to see what Luo Tian would do.

Brother Luo was behaving like this. He must have his own plan.

“How should that be proven?”

Luo Tian frowned, as though truly thinking through the matter. Then he raised both hands toward Jiang Zhenglong. The Breaking-Origin Gloves had already been taken out and donned on the mountain path. As his hands lifted, golden light flashed. Though no one knew what they were, they gave off an aura that made people unwilling to ignore them.

“What is that?”

As the city lord’s son, Jiang Zhenglong had seen and heard much more than ordinary people, so he naturally had an eye for such things. Though he did not know what Luo Tian was wearing, he could tell at once it was no ordinary item.

“Brother Jiang, since we’re all friends, I won’t stand on ceremony then!”

A smile remained on Luo Tian’s face, but inwardly he forced down his tension. Relaxing his whole body, he took a few steps toward Jiang Zhenglong. “These gloves were bought by Brother Zhengfeng for me from Manager Li at the Windmire Auction House!”

Manager Li?

Jiang Zhenglong watched Luo Tian draw near, and a trace of caution inevitably rose in his heart. But hearing that name, he immediately became utterly convinced by Luo Tian’s words.

In the eyes of a young master of the Jiang family, a mere manager from the Windmire Auction House was no better than a speck of dust, to be summoned and dismissed at will without consequence. But that did not mean everyone else had the same ability.

After all, Manager Li was one of the auction house’s people. In ordinary days, those he received were all either powerful experts at or above the Meridian Flow Realm, or wealthy merchants and magnates. Even at the Core Formation Realm, so long as their needs were not too unusual, Manager Li was qualified to receive them.

At the very least, he was a figure of some standing, not someone from the Sunward Sect that just anyone could hope to meet.

Jiang Zhengfeng’s name, Manager Li’s name, these gloves that clearly looked valuable, and Luo Tian’s relaxed, natural demeanor—layer by layer, they stripped away Jiang Zhenglong’s vigilance and suspicion until nothing remained.

To know one fact might simply be luck.

To be able to name two, one at least had some chance encounter or connection to that level.

But for a mere outer sect disciple of the Sunward Sect to produce such a pair of glittering golden gloves, this was enough to make Jiang Zhenglong completely lower his guard.

Though he did not know how this Luo Tian had come to know his third brother, if he had been personally accompanied by the third brother to buy a treasure from Manager Li, then no matter what, Jiang Zhenglong could not slight him!

A smile immediately surfaced on Jiang Zhenglong’s face. He nodded slightly. “Very well, Brother Luo, let me have a look.”

Luo Tian’s back was soaked with cold sweat. Seeing Jiang Zhenglong’s expression, he knew at last that the man had been fooled by him. Only then had he gained the conditions for a sneak attack.

The two drew closer at last. Luo Tian’s vital energy continued circulating within his body and had not been withdrawn, the white radiance still shrouding him from head to toe.

Suddenly, in Jiang Zhenglong’s eyes, Luo Tian’s left and right hands drew near each other as if to remove his gloves. Then his ten fingers interlocked and clenched into fists all at once, and white light exploded violently!

What was he doing?

Could it be that these gloves had some hidden function, requiring a supplement of vital energy?

Luo Tian’s vital energy surged, both fists joined together. Without the slightest hesitation, the enlarged fist shot out like a cannonball and smashed straight toward Jiang Zhenglong’s right arm!