Chapter 125: 117 Heart Selection, Part 1

Countless snow-white feathers kept falling.

They fell piece by piece on a pitch-black figure.

All around was pitch black, only countless feathers like raindrops, disappearing when they hit the ground.

They disappeared upon touch.

The figure raised his head, revealing a gaunt face wearing a silver mask.

Whoosh!

Suddenly woke up.

In the dense forest, on a large tree branch, a man dressed in black with white hair draped over his shoulders, wearing a silver mask, slowly opened his eyes.

He lifted his head and glanced at the faint sunlight above.

“It’s getting colder again.”

He jumped down from the branch, patted off some leaves from his clothes, and carefully took off the mask.

Bending down, he wet a cotton cloth with water from last night’s water pouch and gently wiped his face.

Quickly putting the mask back on, he leisurely moved forward in the previous direction.

It was said that there was a secret scroll silk in Tan Yang, so he came too.

The scroll silk had special functions, supposedly making someone never betray you.

Never deceive you.

So he felt it was something he most needed.

So he came.

Passing through a small grove, a temporary camp appeared ahead.

Three people dressed as dart couriers saw him and warmly greeted him.

“Young Master Fan, why were you missing early this morning? Here’s some meat soup we just stewed, with some of our dried bread in it, give it a taste.”

A female dart courier with delicate features and a slight shyness in her eyes, encouraged by her companions, came over with a bowl of food.

Even with only half of Young Master Fan’s face revealed, it was very good-looking.

Everyone speculated that the other half of his face might be injured, so he intentionally covered it.

But even so, Young Master Fan’s inherent temperament and cultivation made her heart flutter.

Handsome, gentle, with scholarly knowledge and experience showing in his words, mysterious, and always a trace of inadvertent bewilderment and melancholy.

All these made the female dart courier instinctively want to get closer, to help him, to understand why he had such emotions in his heart.

“Thank you…” Young Master Fan said a word of thanks, gently taking the bowl of soup.

He looked down at the slightly murky soup.

A faint white foam flickered on the surface of the soup.

Intricate foam, continuously bursting. Just like in his dream, countless feathers falling then disappearing.

He could feel the good intentions of the female dart courier.

But…. he didn’t know her at all.

Didn’t even know her name, why were they so nice to him?

Young Master Fan raised his head, looked at the gentle smiling face of the female dart courier, then at the two male dart couriers beside her, with either sunny or approving smiles.

“I understand….” Suddenly he woke up. “I understand…. you… you must want to deceive me!”

The female dart courier’s expression suddenly blanked, turning somewhat confused.

“Young Master Fan, what’s wrong with you?”

“Deceive me… this world is just like this, mother was right… how could there be so much pure kindness in the world…. Most kindness is a lie! It’s deceit!!”

His expression became gradually ferocious.

Boom!!!

In an instant, he shot out a palm like lightning, the terrifying force landing instantly on the female dart courier’s forehead.

Her entire head was jerked back, her neck snapping with a crack, completely breaking.

“You!!?” The other two dart couriers were shocked and angry, standing up.

But unfortunately, the difference in strength was too great.

The black shadow flashed.

The two futilely grabbed their knife handles, flying backward. Heavily falling in the forest.

Large amounts of blood gushed from their mouths and noses, they convulsed a few times, then were completely lifeless.

Young Master Fan shivered, standing slowly in front of the extinguished fire pit.

Looking at the three fallen around him.

His body gradually calmed down.

“They were just holding knives… yes…. they originally wanted to harm me, just that I discovered in advance. Sure enough…. there isn’t so much pure kindness in the world…. everyone… everyone wants to deceive me….

Don’t rush… can’t rush…. I surely… surely can find someone truly good to me…. surely.”

Without even looking at the bodies on the ground, he walked step by step into the depths of the forest.

*

*

*

Mingjing Palace.

Zhang Rongfang and Xu Yi Daoist sat opposite each other.

The two had just finished discussing experiences and insights on self-cultivation, both gaining something.

At first, Xu Yi Daoist thought Zhang Rongfang was just a rising star, showing considerable talent in literary cultivation.

But surely couldn’t compare with his many years of hard cultivation.

But after several exchanges, he found that Zhang Rongfang’s various insights were far deeper and more comprehensive than he imagined.

So he gradually adjusted his attitude, interacting with him in an equal manner as peers.

Both benefiting greatly.

Zhang Rongfang had just broken through the ninth grade, the ninth limit, seeming to have an even more extended and enduring transformation of his body.

From yesterday to today, he could continuously feel changes happening in his body.

Additionally, concerning the limit-breaking skill.

The Great Dao Teaching after all was a great teaching, with hundreds of Daoist temples and Taoist views in the Great Spirit alone.

Second only to Zhenyi Sect.

Such a great teaching, its superior martial arts naturally had unique traits.

After cultivating the Primordial Talisman limit-breaking, Zhang Rongfang’s talismanic skill grade had reached the fifth grade.

Only two layers away from the perfect seventh grade.

Therefore, a new limit-breaking skill appeared in the insights he gained.

“Speaking of which, recently I have been reading the scriptures and geographical records of the Daoist texts, and I have a question. I wonder if Uncle Xu Yi can explain?” Zhang Rongfang said.

“What question? Speak freely, and if I can answer it, I will.”

Xu Yi Daoist, calm and composed, gently stroked his long beard, feeling quite satisfied with Zhang Ying, a junior who came to seek guidance on the Void Observation Skill.

“It’s related to the current martial arts world of the Great Spirit.” Zhang Rongfang said seriously, “In our Great Dao Teaching’s martial arts, the highest level is Seventh Grade. Each can protect oneself without harm and is considered superior. But this Seventh Grade, after all, is somewhat low compared to other major sects. If faced with trouble and disputes… how should we protect ourselves?”

Xu Yi Daoist laughed.

“Don’t you have the Wish Wheel?”

This sentence caught Zhang Rongfang off guard.

He suddenly thought of the excellently crafted Wish Wheel. Yes, the martial arts accompanying the Wish Wheel are also of the Great Dao Teaching, aren’t they?

“Could it be…?”

“Just as you thought.” Xu Yi Daoist nodded, “In our Great Dao Teaching, either we produce no experts, or when we do, they are top-notch strong people combining Talismanic Skill and Wish Wheel. In this way, coupled with the longevity path of Literary Cultivators, we earn the respect of the Spirit Court. These two are the foundation of our teaching.”

After saying this, he let out a slight sigh.

“Unfortunately, there are no longer many people in our sect who can cultivate the Wish Wheel Skill alongside Talismanic Skill together.”

“I see….” Zhang Rongfang nodded in understanding, “I have one more question. Recently, in Tan Yang City, there have been several disturbances by vicious criminals, and it’s said that a major Red List criminal has appeared. What exactly is the difference between the Red List and Black List and the famous master of the Nine-Grade System that we know? Do you know, Uncle Xu Yi?”

“The Nine-Grade System was established by the Spirit Court as a rule to classify all martial artists in the world. But in reality, in the very early stages of the Spirit Court, long before the Nine-Grade System, there were only the Black List and Red List.”

Xu Yi Daoist reminisced slightly.

“Later, due to disturbances caused by the secret sects and the divisions of the Ming Sect, during the disputes across various regions, there were massive casualties. Many martial artists, believing in their rich heritage and decent strength, went to exterminate the secret sect, only to end up dead.”

“Hence, to standardize the world, the Spirit Court introduced the Nine-Grade System.” Xu Yi, knowledgeable, explained.

“So you’re saying that the Nine-Grade System is related to the secret sect?” Zhang Rongfang realized.

“Yes. The secret sect back then… caused quite a stir…” Xu Yi shook his head, reluctant to delve into that.

“As for the difference between the Black List, Red List, and the Nine-Grade masters you are asking about. Actually, the Black List may still contain remnants from the secret sect era. Every person on both lists is a major wanted target by the current court.

And the masters within the Nine-Grade System are not weak either; among them, the top ones are no inferior to the Black List masters.”

Xu Yi’s tone was slightly ambiguous.

But Zhang Rongfang had already gathered the underlying meaning.

If you can’t beat them, you can’t beat them.

He didn’t expose it, as he had already entered the Ninth Grade, so he was deeply curious about other Ninth Grades and the notorious two lists.

However, within the chaotic situation in Tan Yang, with the arrival of the Snake King and the appearance of Red List masters,

there was no need for him to get involved.

With his supernatural abilities, as long as he proceeded systematically, he would eventually reach heights unattainable by others.

Especially after finding a method to break through the limits…

At present, he shifted the topic to discuss the changes and patterns between the Golden Core and Nascent Soul with Xu Yi.

*

*

*

Late at night.

A hundred meters away from the Department of Justice, in front of the courtyard where Zhang Rongfang resided.

A shadowy figure silently appeared at the side of the courtyard, outside the wall.

In his hand, he held a grappling hook, which he gently tossed upwards. The claw caught onto something, and he began to climb up bit by bit.

Soon, he stood atop the wall and leaped down.

The figure landed on the courtyard ground.

Once steady, he glanced around and quickly made his way into the inner house.

Standing before the door, a fine, long, and rigid iron needle appeared in his hand, which he used to gradually move the latch aside.

With a barely audible creak.

The door opened.

The shadow slipped inside.

The interior was neatly arranged; Zhang Rongfang was not residing here, as he had temporarily moved to the Dao Palace in recent days.

The shadow searched around the room and soon found a small locked box in the drawer.

He gently took out the small box and placed it on the ground.

Producing a tool resembling a pry bar, he was about to begin unlocking when,

suddenly, faint footsteps sounded outside the door.

Accompanied by the sound of a hiccup, the footsteps gradually receded.

The shadow let out a slight breath of relief and resumed his lock-picking task.

“Who!!?” suddenly a female voice scolded sharply.

The shadow tensed abruptly and, holding the small box, rushed out of the room.

In the courtyard, someone had already entered through the gate.

It was none other than Qingsu!

She immediately spotted the small box in the shadow’s hand. Her eyes widened in anger, and she drew the short sword from her waist, launching an attack.

With two swift movements, the two engaged and exchanged several moves in an instant.

Qingsu, primarily trained in the Golden Roc Secret Record, had incredible speed.

The short sword in her hand, wielded at high speed, was fierce and relentless.

But although she was fast, the shadow was even faster.

With a single hand, he matched Qingsu blow for blow.

After ten or so moves, Qingsu began to feel a sense of familiarity.

“What martial arts are you using!? Why…”

She demanded with a low voice, stepping back a pace.

Unexpectedly, the shadow did not answer her, instead turning to fling out a grappling hook, using its momentum to pull himself, stepping several times on the wall.

As he vaulted over the wall, about to land,

he suddenly sensed a sharp wind behind him.

Midair, he couldn’t block it; forced to turn, he raised his hand.

Clang.

His arm collided with the flying dagger.

The dagger dropped.

But his black-clad right arm was also slashed open, revealing a silver-black metal armguard underneath.

“You!!?” Qingsu looked startled, immediately pushing open the gate to rush out, hot on the heels of the black-clad figure, pursuing rapidly all the way.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep