Chapter 87

In the space within the Netherworld Pearl, Ma Wu's divine soul had already completely turned into a semi-transparent dark yellow, struggling painfully in the surging Netherworld True Water.

"I won't let my master off!" Ma Wu screamed with resentment.

Lin Feng chuckled lightly, "This seat knows that your master at the Yuanying stage has inscribed a talisman in your divine soul. As soon as you die and your soul dissipates, he will know immediately. But this seat is not killing you now. I wonder if he can know about your current predicament?"

Ma Wu closed his eyes in despair, never imagining that he would not die, but suffer a fate a thousand times worse than death.

Lin Feng smiled faintly, "Now, tell me, why did your group immediately turn against my disciple and attack when he asked about the Star River Sand?"

Ma Wu swore to all the gods and Buddhas that he absolutely did not want to answer Lin Feng's question, or simply give a wrong answer.

But the restriction of the Netherworld Puppetry technique forced him to answer every question truthfully.

"Raging Wind Society?" Lin Feng was indeed somewhat surprised, never expecting that the Star River Sand would have a connection with the Raging Wind Society.

The Raging Wind Society was an anti-Dazhou organization formed by the remnants of the Xuefeng Kingdom, which had been destroyed by the Dazhou Empire. It was quite active among the many forces resisting Dazhou's rule.

Half a year ago, to take Zhu Yi as his disciple, Lin Feng traveled far to the capital of the Dazhou Empire, Tianjing. There, he had contact with members of the Raging Wind Society. At that time, they kidnapped Zhu Yi, who was a bastard son of the Marquis of Xuanji, to harm the Marquis.

This time, the Dazhou Empire sent a large army into the Ancient Marsh to capture a group of Raging Wind Society cultivators.

Star River Sand had been found on Raging Wind Society cultivators, so when Wang Lin mentioned the Star River Sand, Xue Chao and others immediately decided to capture him without a word.

Lin Feng frowned inwardly, "In the end, I still don't know the exact whereabouts of the Star River Sand. In this vast marsh, where should I look for those Raging Wind Society members?"

He casually handed the Netherworld Pearl back to Wang Lin, "It's best to have a specific target when practicing spells. You can use this guy to practice the Netherworld Finger, but remember, don't kill him. Your master still has use for him."

Wang Lin nodded vigorously, while Ma Wu let out a miserable howl, "I won't let you off even if I become a ghost!"

Lin Feng ignored him, first waving the Black Cloud Banner to leave the area with Wang Lin. Since the other party mentioned that there was a large Dazhou army nearby, the previous spell battle must have alarmed them. Lin Feng naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to stay in the same place, waiting for the enemy army to arrive.

Although the marsh was filled with dense miasma, Lin Feng still tried to expand his perception as much as possible.

He needed to find the Raging Wind Society members, who would not easily reveal their whereabouts. Only when they were caught by Dazhou's pursuers and engaged in battle, would the fluctuations of their magical power be transmitted, allowing Lin Feng to discover their location.

Lin Feng spent nearly half a month searching for the Raging Wind Society members. While searching, he did not give up on looking for the Star River Sand, but still found nothing.

One day, Lin Feng was flying through the thick fog and miasma with the Black Cloud Banner when he suddenly felt a strong magical power fluctuation not far away, with a great momentum, clearly indicating that someone was engaged in a battle.

Lin Feng quickly put away the Black Cloud Banner, landed on the ground, and stealthily approached.

As he got closer, the shadows flickered in the thick fog, and more than a dozen figures intertwined, fighting fiercely.

Lin Feng used a stealth spell to hide his form, and the system concealed his magical power fluctuations, allowing him to approach quietly without being detected by either side.

The two sides were not evenly matched in numbers. The larger group had more than a dozen people, surrounding and attacking three opponents.

These dozen people all wore Mingguang Divine Armor, which emitted a faint light in the thick fog, completely isolating the miasma. Although their cultivation levels were not very high, they moved in a coordinated manner, showing a strength beyond their levels.

They wielded identical lightning longswords, which produced flashes of lightning and thunder as they swung, demonstrating astonishing destructive power.

The dozen people formed a loose formation, supporting each other, with their magical powers resonating and combining, significantly enhancing their combat effectiveness when combined with their armor and longswords.

"Is this the Divine Martial Army of the Dazhou Empire?" Lin Feng watched the dozen people, narrowing his eyes.

The Divine Martial Army was the elite force of the Dazhou Empire, different from ordinary secular armies. It was said to be composed entirely of cultivators, and their targets, who were to be captured, were also cultivators.

Unlike the Qin Empire, where the four major families controlled vast resources and discourse, the Dazhou Empire, under the joint efforts of Emperor Liang Pan and Marquis of Xuanji Zhu Hongwu, had centralized imperial power, creating a grand imperial atmosphere. Cultivators were mostly concentrated under imperial control.

The legendary Divine Martial Army was a military force composed of elite cultivators of various levels from within the Dazhou Empire.

Being able to manage the freedom-loving cultivators militarily was partly due to the strong methods of Emperor Liang Pan and Marquis of Xuanji, and partly because the imperial family could provide a large amount of cultivation resources to these cultivators. As a result, the cultivators from the Divine Martial Army were extremely powerful and advanced rapidly in cultivation.

In recent years, the Dazhou Empire's alchemy skills had made significant progress, and a large number of powerful magical artifacts were refined and equipped to the cultivators of the Divine Martial Army, arming them to the teeth.

Generally, a cultivator with a lower major level, such as a Qi Condensation cultivator facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, would find it difficult to pose a threat to the Foundation Establishment cultivator unless they had powerful magical artifacts or spells. Quantity could not make up for quality.

However, the Divine Martial Army, with their默契配合 (coordinated cooperation), strict discipline, and powerful equipment, changed this.

A lone Foundation Establishment cultivator could be surrounded and killed by a team of Qi Condensation cultivators from the Divine Martial Army.

Lin Feng carefully observed the three people surrounded by the team of Divine Martial Army cultivators, who were now struggling to hold their ground, facing numerous dangers.

The three people were not weak in cultivation. Two of them were at the 11th level of Qi Condensation, one with a flying sword rotating in the air, showing considerable skill in swordsmanship, and the other at the 12th level of Qi Condensation, the peak of the Qi Condensation stage.

However, these two were being pushed back by a team of Divine Martial Army cultivators, whose highest level was only the 10th level of Qi Condensation.

If not for the occasional assistance of the third companion, these two would have been killed long ago.

Lin Feng's attention was mostly on the third person, but this person was enveloped in flames, making it impossible to see their appearance.

Lin Feng only knew that the person was a woman, a woman surrounded by flames, a woman who was like a flame herself!

She wore a full set of crimson attire, red boots, a red cloak, and her hair, like a burning flame, and the flames dancing in her eyes!

"Her cultivation is only at the early Foundation Establishment stage, but her combat power is truly formidable," Lin Feng assessed her strength, realizing that this red-clothed woman was no ordinary person.

However, despite her ferocity, the red-clothed woman did not fight with all her might, but seemed to have some reservations.

This was because, on the outskirts of the battlefield, a middle-aged man stood, wearing the Xuan兽乌光铠 (Xuan Beast Black Light Armor) that only a middle-ranking officer of the Divine Martial Army could wear. The armor glowed with a dark light, and the beast head on the chest was fierce and terrifying.

The middle-aged officer exuded a powerful aura, with vast magical power, clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator no weaker than the red-clothed woman.

Seeing her companions frequently in danger, the red-clothed woman let out a cold snort, and with a wave of her arms, she wielded a black great halberd.

The black great halberd glowed with black light, merging with the flames around her, transforming into a red-black storm that swept out in all directions.

The team of Divine Martial Army cultivators had solemn expressions, standing shoulder to shoulder. They swung their dozen snow-white lightning longswords together, creating a dozen rolling arcs of lightning that merged into a massive blade of light, colliding with the red-black storm.

The faces of the dozen Divine Martial Army cultivators turned pale, and even so, their legs were firmly planted on the ground, being pushed back, leaving dozens of deep grooves on the ground.

The red-clothed woman frowned, as the main opponent had not yet joined the battle. The combined efforts of a team of Qi Condensation cultivators alone could withstand her attack, making her unable to relax.

At this moment, the middle-aged officer suddenly spoke, his voice like rolling thunder, "Yue Hongyan, put down your weapons and surrender. It is your only way to survive."

The flames around her gradually subsided, and Lin Feng could now see the true face of the red-clothed woman, Yue Hongyan.

Surprisingly young, a girl of only fifteen or sixteen, with fiery red hair that was not tied up, flowing freely like a burning flame.

Her red eyebrows were like two fine swords, devoid of any tenderness, instead exuding a fierce and masculine aura.

Her flawless face, like white jade, had a higher nose bridge than other women, showing her strong will. Her originally rosy lips were now only a faint shade of blood red.

Hearing the middle-aged officer's words, Yue Hongyan smiled proudly, her lips parting slightly.

"Phew!"