Chapter 048: Capsized in the Gutter

“Pfft!”
Once again, a blade plunged down, piercing a disciple’s throat.
“Ah—” A wretched scream rang out as the “corpse” convulsed, then lay utterly lifeless.
Tap tap... tap tap...
The sound of footsteps drew closer. Two Blood Spirit Bandits, blades in hand, approached the spot where Xu Xuan lay.
Xu Xuan lay on the ground, heart chilled to ice, yet strangely calm, his mind racing with calculations.
At this moment, he held his breath completely, nerves taut, every muscle coiled and ready to spring.
From the earlier ambush, he deduced that there must still be many enemies lurking near the towering tree; if he tried to force his way out, the outcome was unpredictable.
If he succeeded in feigning death, he could wait for the Immortal Sect’s rescue, avoiding unnecessary risks and increasing his chances of survival.
But reality seldom matches one's wishes. The footsteps grew ever nearer.
Tap tap... tap tap...
The footsteps grew heavier, and the two Blood Spirit Bandits were now barely half a meter from Xu Xuan.
One of them, his eyes flashing with murderous intent, raised his curved blade high...
Xu Xuan’s vital energy gathered to its peak, ready to unleash a thunderous strike. With his current strength, slaying two ordinary Blood Spirit Bandits should pose no challenge.
But just as the crisis reached its height—
Swish swish—slash!
A cold, blade-like arc of azure light, accompanied by a fierce, whistling wind, sliced through the air from somewhere out of sight.
“Thud! Thud!”
Both Bandits had their throats cut and collapsed together, dead with eyes wide open.
Xu Xuan felt a chill sweep over him; from the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a refined, jade-faced figure descending gracefully from midair.
“Brother Le Feng!” From the other side, Wan Fushan, who had been driven back step by step, cried out in delight.
Though the rest of the Immortal Sect’s rescue had not yet arrived, the strongest among them, Le Feng, was already here.
Swish, slash!
Le Feng’s slender fingers drew swift arcs in the air; cold azure light swept over several more Blood Spirit Bandits.
“Ah ah ah—”
Three or four bandits, some at the fourth or fifth stage of body refinement, were slain in the blink of an eye, unable to resist at all.
Xu Xuan, still lying on the ground, involuntarily drew a sharp breath. Was this the true power of a Qi Refining Immortal?
Le Feng hovered above, effortlessly slaying five or six bandits with a flick of his finger. With such strength, he could look down upon thousands of ordinary body refiners as if they were mere ants.
“To think the Immortal Sect would send such a formidable cultivator...”
The burly, tower-like man, Old Third Cao, changed expression and hurriedly retreated.
Facing a fourth-stage Qi Refining Immortal, his own second-stage Qi Refining martial strength was simply outclassed.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Le Feng sneered, and with a single hand gesture, two sharp arcs of azure light shot out like blades.
Cao’s towering form barely managed to dodge, rolling aside with his body enveloped in a faint, nearly invisible glow of true essence. Yet he was still grazed, leaving a shocking bloody gash across his back.
“A mere martial cultivator dares to oppose our Wind Feather Sect.”
Le Feng’s lips curled in disdain. He drew a deep breath, then crossed his hands, conjuring a shifting mass of flame that radiated intense, oppressive heat.
“Boom!”
A volley of palm-sized blue-red flames rained down, exploding around the iron-tower-like Cao.
“Ah...”
Cao struggled desperately, barely managing to hide behind a tree, his body flickering with faint yellow light as it interwove with the flames. Still, he could not escape; his screams echoed as his body became charred and blackened.
With every move, Le Feng drove Cao to the brink of death—an overwhelming display of strength.

“Junior Brother Le has truly mastered the Spirit Wind Technique and the Falling Flame Art to such a degree—how shameful for the rest of us.”
Wan Fushan laughed heartily, taking the opportunity to swallow a healing pill.
Le Feng was about to pursue further when, from deep within the thicket ahead, a volley of icy blue lights shot forth, chilling the air as they hurtled toward him.
“There are Immortal cultivators among the Blood Spirit Bandits.”
Le Feng was startled. With a sweep of his robe, an invisible force shattered the incoming shards.
“Swish!”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slender shadow flicker deep in the woods, uncertain which leader among the bandits it was...
“Brother Le, don’t let that one escape.”
Wan Fushan watched Old Third Cao flee in disgrace, his face twisted in resentment.
“Don’t pursue a desperate foe. The Blood Spirit Bandits have their own experts. Let’s wait for our companions to gather first.”
Le Feng’s expression remained calm; his gaze swept over the corpses below.
Xu Xuan, still pretending to be dead, suddenly felt as if needles were prickling his skin.
“Brother Xu, the enemy has retreated. You may rise now.”
A gentle voice drifted from above, jolting Xu Xuan awake.
“Brother Le is truly heroic...”
Xu Xuan forced a sheepish smile as he climbed to his feet; even with his composure, he felt embarrassed and awkward.
After all, playing dead was hardly a dignified tactic.
“Well, Xu Xuan, while we fought to the death against the Blood Spirit Bandits—losing several brothers—you lay on the ground feigning death.”
Wan Fushan’s eyes flashed coldly with righteous indignation. “Brother Le, cowards like him must be properly punished when we return, to uphold the prestige of our Sect.”
Xu Xuan kept a stern face, replying, “If Brother Wan is so brave, why did you send weaker outer disciples ahead to serve as shields when scouting the path?”
“These two unfortunate brothers died because of your poor leadership and cowardice!”
Xu Xuan retorted coldly, his voice firm and righteous.
“You... You slander me!” Wan Fushan nearly exploded with rage, pointing a trembling finger at Xu Xuan, who remained calm.
“Brother Wan, calm yourself.” Le Feng finally spoke, his tone upright: “With Xu Xuan’s cultivation, surrounded by five or six bandits and danger on all sides, acting rashly would have meant certain death. His survival through patience and wit preserved a measure of our strength.”
Wan Fushan gritted his teeth in silent fury, unable to argue.
“Of course, when faced with life and death, I hope Brother Xu will act bravely, rather than shrink back.”
Le Feng cautioned Xu Xuan.
“You’re right, Brother.”
Xu Xuan smiled slightly; he understood that Le Feng’s judgment was fair and impartial, not favoring Wan Fushan.
Soon, the disciples gathered, and Le Feng began taking a headcount.
“Brother Le, we’re missing six brothers.”
An outer disciple reported.
Le Feng’s gaze swept the crowd; twenty-four had set out, and he remembered everyone’s name.
“This is bad—Brother Huang is among them... The team he led never returned!”
Wan Fushan’s voice suddenly changed.
Brother Huang was the third inner disciple, after Le Feng and Wan Fushan.
Le Feng’s face grew solemn, brow furrowed.
The death of an inner disciple was no small matter—a significant blow to their mission.
Each inner disciple was painstakingly cultivated by the Sect, especially one like Brother Huang, a Qi Refining Immortal.
Just then, a wild laugh echoed from the woods: “Hahaha... You little Immortal brats, today none of you will leave here alive!”
As the words faded, a fierce wind surged from all sides, the trees rustled, and a blurry shadow could be glimpsed within the forest.

“Swish!”
A sphere shot out from the woods, rolling onto the ground.
Everyone stared, faces pale; Yang Xiaoqian and Yu Qin, two female disciples, immediately felt nauseated.
Xu Xuan gasped, his gaze fixed on a blood-soaked head nearby, the features faintly recognizable as Brother Huang.
“It’s Brother Huang!”
The disciples of Wind Feather Sect were aghast; the timid among them shook with fear.
“We must avenge our fallen brothers!” Some disciples' eyes reddened, murderous intent rising.
Xu Xuan’s heart filled with dread. Brother Huang was a second-stage Qi Refining Immortal, stronger even than Wan Fushan, yet he had died in the forest—proving that even more terrifying foes lurked among the Blood Spirit Bandits.
“Brother Le, since the bandits hide in the woods, why don’t we set them ablaze and force them out for a decisive battle?”
Wan Fushan’s eyes turned as he proposed a strategy.
Everyone agreed, even Xu Xuan saw merit in the idea.
“Ha, excellent plan. Allow me to cast the spell and burn the forest.”
Le Feng laughed, stepping onto a wave of azure light as he moved toward the woods.
Whoosh!
He spread his arms wide, conjuring a surging tide of flame before him; under the azure glow, the flames grew brighter, forming a fiery cloud that was truly awe-inspiring.
“Brother Le’s spell is powerful—he’ll soon rival Senior Brother Yun Yuanhang!”
The disciples below gazed up with admiration and longing.
But Xu Xuan, standing at the rear, felt a growing sense of unease. Something wasn’t right.
“No... To cast such a Qi-consuming spell without anyone standing guard!”
Drawing on memories from his previous life, he finally realized the flaw.
Just as the thought struck him, disaster erupted.
“Bang, swish, swish, swish—”
As Le Feng’s spell reached its peak, a dense volley of poisoned blades shot out from the woods.
At the center, a massive crossbow bolt, forged from enchanted materials, black-red and coldly gleaming, shot forth like lightning, shrieking as it tore through the air.
In an instant, the giant bolt, followed by swarms of poisoned blades, enveloped Brother Le from above.
No!
Le Feng’s face changed, barely able to push the fiery cloud ahead for protection.
Boom—
The barrage crashed into the fire cloud, a violent shockwave rolling out for more than ten meters.
Le Feng, furious and alarmed, shrouded himself in azure light, using his power to withstand the blast. He was engulfed in the chaos, his fate hanging by a thread...
“Brother Le!”
“No! Junior Brother Le—”
Panic erupted among the crowd.
For half a breath—
“Bang!”
A muffled groan sounded from the heart of the storm; Le Feng fell from the sky, coughing blood, his figure unsteady, barely able to stand.

(End of chapter. Summoning recommendation votes.)