Martial Arts Overlord-Chapter 516 - 514: Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood
"Brother Lu Qing is a Martial Artist at the first level of the Spiritual Rotation Realm, ranked in the top ten in our Tianming Region. This time, he’s going to Sky Mountain to compete for a spot on the Martial Champions list."
The girl named Liu Xin, dressed in a green skirt, walked over to the blue-clad youth, Lu Qing, and looked at Luo Feng with a smug expression.
Luo Feng glanced at the girl, noticing the admiring way she looked at Lu Qing. So, she’s quite taken with him, he realized.
So that’s why she was deliberately targeting me earlier... it must be because of this...
Thinking about the girl’s earlier petulant attitude, Luo Feng couldn’t help but shake his head. A girl’s mind truly is hard to fathom.
"Heh heh, I am determined to make it onto the Martial Champions list."
Feeling the girl’s adoring gaze, a proud look appeared on Lu Qing’s face. Looking at Luo Feng, he said meaningfully, "The Purple Sun School may be one of the four great schools in the Flowing Cloud Region, but outside the Flowing Cloud Region, it’s nothing. As for that Luo Feng from your school, I’ve heard of him. Comprehending the Grand Momentum at sixteen is indeed remarkable, but I’ll defeat him during the Golden Palace assessment."
"Is that so?"
Luo Feng heard the disdain in Lu Qing’s words and sneered inwardly. He responded with a neutral expression, "Well, good luck to you then. I just hope you don’t lose to someone else before you even get to face him."
Luo Feng had already discerned Lu Qing’s capabilities when they first met. He’s also a Level One Spiritual Rotation Realm expert. However, his aura is erratic; he must have broken through recently. As he is now, he poses no threat to me, he assessed.
Lu Qing detected the sarcasm in Luo Feng’s words. His face darkened, and he said coldly, "All you can do is talk big. When we get to Sky Mountain, I’ll let you witness with your own eyes how your Senior Brother Luo Feng is miserably defeated by my hand!"
"I’ll be waiting."
Luo Feng couldn’t be bothered to argue further. He shrugged and walked away.
"HUMPH!"
Lu Qing watched Luo Feng’s retreating figure, let out another cold snort, his face grim. I’m one of the top ten experts in the Tianming Region. Normally, everyone treats me with utmost respect and flattery. How dare Luo Feng ignore me? This made him extremely unhappy.
"Brother Lu Qing, don’t lower yourself to his level," the green-skirted girl said with a smile.
Lu Qing shot a glance at Luo Feng, his smile not reaching his eyes, and replied, "Don’t worry. A mere nobody like him isn’t worth my anger."
Luo Feng ignored Lu Qing and Liu Xin, walked over to a nearby campfire, sat down, and began talking to a burly man.
From their conversation, Luo Feng learned that the Lu family was one of the three great families of Flow Wind City, and Liu Xin was their Young Miss. No wonder she’s so headstrong and willful, he thought.
As for the blue-clad youth named Lu Qing, he also had a title in the Tianming Region: the Xiaowu Sword. His swordsmanship was exceptional, and he had reached the first level of the Spiritual Rotation Realm ten days ago.
Luo Feng didn’t pay much attention to this information.
Tomorrow, when we reach Wutie Town, I’ll part ways with the caravan. Their identities and status are none of my concern, he thought. As for Lu Qing, there’ll be a chance to deal with him during the Golden Palace assessment. No need to rush things now.
To prepare for the next day’s travel, everyone had a quick meal and then rested, conserving their energy.
Perhaps trying to attract Lu Qing’s attention, the green-skirted girl frequently found opportunities to mock Luo Feng, while subtly praising Lu Qing.
Luo Feng paid her no mind. After eating, he found a quiet carriage, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest, completely ignoring the green-skirted girl’s remarks.
This attitude left the green-skirted girl feeling as if she had strength but nowhere to use it. She gnashed her teeth in annoyance and eventually stalked off in a huff.
「The next morning,」
The night passed peacefully. As soon as the eastern sky began to show the first light of dawn, the caravan set off for Wutie Town.
The green-skirted girl and Lu Qing rode at the head of the column, chatting and laughing. To avoid trouble, Luo Feng sat in a carriage towards the rear, occasionally conversing with the guard captain.
"Feng Luo, you actually dared to travel alone all the way from the Flowing Cloud Region to Sky Mountain! Such boldness!" After their conversation the previous night, Luo Feng and Guard Captain Liu Haichuan had become more familiar. Liu Haichuan looked at Luo Feng with admiration as he spoke.
Luo Feng, sitting on the edge of the carriage, chuckled. "I was just lucky. I didn’t encounter any danger on the road."
Hearing this, Liu Haichuan nodded. The journey from the Purple Sun School in the Flowing Cloud Region to here was incredibly long and fraught with countless dangers. If one’s luck was bad enough to encounter a fifth-level Demon Beast, they wouldn’t even know how they died.
"You still need to be more careful in the future. Luck won’t always be on your side."
"Mm."
As they were talking, Luo Feng’s brow suddenly twitched. His gaze shot towards the road ahead, his expression turning somewhat grave. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Noticing the change in Luo Feng’s expression, Liu Haichuan asked, "What’s wrong?"
Luo Feng said thoughtfully, "There’s the smell of blood..."
Liu Haichuan sniffed the air but detected nothing unusual. He frowned. "Really?"
"Would I joke about something like this?" Luo Feng said seriously.
Luo Feng isn’t the type to lie, Liu Haichuan knew. His eyes flickered, and he raised his arm. "Halt!"
CLATTER! The caravan guards, all well-trained Martial Artists, brought the convoy to an immediate and orderly halt the moment the command was given.
"Captain, what’s wrong?" The sudden stop startled the caravan guards.
The green-skirted girl and Lu Qing also rode back.
The green-skirted girl, mounted on her horse, glanced at Luo Feng, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Uncle Liu, what happened?"
Liu Haichuan looked at Luo Feng and said gravely, "Feng Luo says there’s a smell of blood up ahead. I’m afraid there might be trouble."
"The smell of blood? Why didn’t I sense anything?" Hearing this, Lu Qing sneered, looking mockingly at Luo Feng. "Feng Luo, you aren’t so scared that you’re hallucinating, are you?"
As a Level One Spiritual Rotation Realm Martial Artist, I don’t smell any blood. Of course, I don’t believe him, he thought.
Luo Feng retorted coolly, "I’ve warned you. Whether you believe it or not is your business."
The green-skirted girl’s delicate brows furrowed, and she seemed about to say something, but Liu Haichuan stopped her, saying, "Alright, let’s go up ahead and see for ourselves. The truth will come out then."
"Fine!" the green-skirted girl snorted coldly, glaring at Luo Feng. Her meaning was clear: If we don’t find anything up ahead, you’ll be sorry!
Luo Feng lay down in the carriage, resting his head on his hands, ignoring her glare.
"Continue forward! Everyone, be careful!" Liu Haichuan called out loudly, glancing at Luo Feng.
With his words, the dozen or so carriages slowly moved forward again.
Seeing Luo Feng ignore her, the green-skirted girl’s delicate brows furrowed. She said to Lu Qing beside her, "Senior Brother Lu Qing, let’s go to the front. If we don’t find anything, let’s see how he explains himself then."
"Mm." Lu Qing gave a faint smile, shot Luo Feng a cold glance, and the two of them spurred their horses forward.
The caravan hadn’t gone far before it stopped again. The green-skirted girl, who had been so smug moments before, now stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the scene ahead. Beside her, Lu Qing also frowned, his expression grim.
"What happened here?"
"How horrible! Who on earth killed them?"
Uproar ensued. The guards’ faces were pale, and a hint of fear laced everyone’s voice.
WHOOSH!
Hearing the commotion, Luo Feng leaped up and walked to the front of the caravan with Liu Haichuan.
Ahead of the caravan was a stretch of wasteland, with several wrecked carriages scattered about.
In the middle of the carriages was the remains of an extinguished bonfire. Around it lay a dense pile of corpses—at least thirty or forty bodies, heaped together to form a small mound.
The mound of corpses formed a ring. In its center was a pit filled with blood, now dried, its crimson color stark and jarring.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, upon seeing the scene, Luo Feng couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
"Let’s go take a look." Liu Haichuan glanced deeply at Luo Feng. The blood here has already dried; it would be difficult to smell it even within a hundred meters. Yet Luo Feng sensed it from so far away... it’s incredible, he thought.
Everyone has their secrets. Prying too much is often a good way to shorten one’s life, he mused, taking a deep breath and stepping forward without further thought.
The green-skirted girl, her pretty face somewhat pale, bit her red lip when Luo Feng came beside her. She huffed, "Consider yourself lucky this time. You just happened to guess right!"
Luo Feng’s mind was preoccupied with the cause of the incident, so he had no inclination to bother with her. He joined Liu Haichuan beside the mound of corpses.
"This blood pool is man-made," Liu Haichuan said with a frown, after carefully examining it.
"Man-made?" Luo Feng was taken aback.
Liu Haichuan picked up a few gold notes, his frown deepening. "And this probably wasn’t the work of bandits."
Luo Feng nodded. The valuables are still on the corpses. If it were horse bandits, this would be impossible, he reasoned.
Lu Qing, who had approached at some point, glanced at Luo Feng, his expression somewhat grim. As a Level One Spiritual Rotation Realm expert, my cultivation is the highest among everyone here. I should have been the first to discover this, but Luo Feng beat me to it. It’s as humiliating as being slapped in public, he fumed internally.
Gritting his teeth, Lu Qing suppressed his anger, looked at the blood pool, and said, "If I’m not mistaken, this is likely the work of a Blood Demon Sect Disciple."
"A Blood Demon Sect Disciple!"
Hearing this, the nearby guards’ faces all changed.
Luo Feng’s eyes flickered; he had a faint premonition.
Lu Qing nodded. Enjoying being the center of attention, he explained, "The Blood Demon Sect has many bizarre Martial Arts that require the fresh blood of living people for cultivation. A Blood Demon Sect Disciple must have been cultivating here."
Could it be... Xue Jiuyou?! A name flashed through Luo Feng’s mind upon hearing Lu Qing’s words, and his expression changed slightly.
Lu Qing noticed this. A hint of mockery flashed in his eyes as he chuckled, "Feng Luo, as a student of one of the four great academies in the Flowing Cloud Region, you seem quite afraid of a Blood Demon Sect Disciple?"
If you knew who was responsible for all this, you’d probably wet your pants in fear, Luo Feng scoffed inwardly.
Beside them, Liu Haichuan hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, "We’ll take a detour to Wutie Town."
Luo Feng nodded. By now, I’m about seventy to eighty percent sure that Xue Jiuyou is the one behind this. He’s a Level Six Spiritual Rotation Realm expert. Even injured, his strength is nothing to scoff at.
"Why a detour? Now that we’ve found traces of a Demon Sect Disciple, how can we just ignore it?" Lu Qing said forcefully, his gaze sweeping over Luo Feng. His words were clearly directed at Luo Feng.
"We don’t know the enemy’s strength yet. It’s too risky." Liu Haichuan shook his head, a flicker of dissatisfaction at Lu Qing’s arrogance in his eyes.
