Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

In Xiaozhen, on the Southwestern Border of the Zichuan Empire, Feng Ling, dressed as an Adventurer, was sitting at a table with a few other people, her head down as she ate. By now, Feng Ling’s strength had broken through to become a Tier Two Demon Swordsman. Moreover, with her powerful Rhythm Sword Skill, it was believed that even a First Rank Demon Sword Master would fall into her trap if they weren’t careful.

Feng Ling’s face looked very ordinary, with thick brows, large eyes, and slightly coarse skin. Back at the Lord’s Mansion, Feng Ling had managed to get quite a few useful things from Ling Xiao. After a period of adventuring, Feng Ling had discovered that if she didn’t disguise her beautiful face, traveling out here would surely attract a lot of unwanted attention.

The naive idea she once held—that strength determined everything—had long since been erased from her mind. This was especially true for experienced Adventurers, whose methods were endlessly varied. Several times, Feng Ling had personally witnessed Adventurers of only the Sword Master level use poison to plot against a High-level Great Sword Master. In the end, that Great Sword Master died an ignominious death without even knowing who killed him.

A while ago, Feng Ling had returned to her sect, located in an ordinary small town in the southwest of the Lanyue Empire.

Contrary to what many people imagined, not all hidden families completely removed themselves from the public eye. They just acted with a low profile and had little interaction with ordinary people. In the eyes of common folk, Feng Ling’s family was nothing more than a wealthy local household. They weren’t seen as good or bad and kept to themselves. They had a rather high reputation in the local town, so no blind petty thieves would come knocking on their door seeking death.

Only after returning home did Feng Ling discover that her martial brothers and sisters, as well as her parents, were all gone, leaving only some servants behind. It was only after asking them that she learned why her father hadn’t come to save her after so long.

It turned out that one of Feng Ling’s senior martial brothers had discovered a set of Ancient Ruins in a small peninsula nation south of the Zichuan Empire. And these Ancient Ruins had never been discovered by anyone before!

As the Sect Leader of the Qishan Sect, Feng Yuan naturally took this matter extremely seriously. He immediately mobilized the full strength of the entire sect. After all, no one understood what an undiscovered set of Ancient Ruins represented better than the people of the hidden families. Especially for a small sect like the Qishan Sect, if they truly obtained an incredible treasure, perhaps in a few decades, their strength would allow them to rank among the third-rate families and sects!

Sending a portion of the sect’s elites to abduct Ling Xiao... wasn’t it all for this same simple goal?

Which of the lowest-ranking hidden families and sects wouldn’t risk everything to squeeze into the third rate? A simple division of ranks represented very real power and benefits!

If they became a third-rate sect, the Qishan Sect could even negotiate with a small country to become its backer!

Of course, a country might have many such backers, but the sect could still obtain tangible benefits!

What did hidden families need? Crystal Cores from Magical Beasts, all kinds of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures—they desperately needed these things too!

Furthermore, when Feng Yuan left, he had given a strict command: any member of the sect who returned must immediately hurry to that peninsula nation. They were to pour all of the sect’s power into securing those Ancient Ruins!

He just never expected that his daughter’s large group would suffer such a huge loss, with several Disciples even being killed. When Feng Ling’s senior martial brother, a Fifth Rank Demon Sword Master, caught up with Feng Yuan and told him the news, the scholarly middle-aged man pondered for a moment. Despite his wife’s objections, he decided not to turn back to save his own daughter.

Feng Yuan’s words had been very clear: "If that Ling Xiao wants to kill Ling’Er, we might not even find her body if we go back now. If he doesn’t want to kill her, then it makes no difference when we go back!"

"If my daughter isn’t dead, we can discuss it then. But if my daughter loses her life at Ling Xiao’s hands, then my Qishan Sect will pursue the Ling Family to the bitter end!"

And so... just like that, Feng Yuan resolutely continued on the path toward the Ancient Ruins.

By the time Feng Ling learned of all this, nearly half a year had passed. Seeing that no one had returned, Feng Ling grew anxious. ’Not all Ancient Ruins contain treasure. Otherwise, the hidden families would have developed long ago. Why would the balance of power today still be the same as it was hundreds of years ago? In fact, many Ancient Ruins not only lack treasure but are filled with deadly traps and poisonous miasmas. It’s perfectly normal for an entire party to be wiped out by a single mistake.’

Therefore, although Feng Ling somewhat blamed her father for his cold-heartedness, she also knew his temperament. It was to be expected that he would neglect his family when he was so focused on the development of the sect.

So, Feng Ling decided to set out to find her father and the others. Her journey brought her all the way to the southwest of the Zichuan Empire, where she unexpectedly came across a group of Adventurers fighting another. The leader of the group also had the cultivation of a Demon Swordsman, and they seemed to be fighting over ownership of a Magical Beast.

The two sides seemed evenly matched, each with one Demon Swordsman, and they were already locked in combat. Gradually, however, one side began to fall behind because they had to protect a girl whose strength was too low.

Normally, Feng Ling wouldn’t have gotten involved in such matters. Fights between Adventurers were commonplace, and meddling could easily get her dragged in. Feng Ling was no longer the rash and reckless rookie she was when she first started out.