Night Visit

Clad in luxurious attire, radiating formidable auras, or exuding cold arrogance, nearly a thousand guests of the Flying Cloud Pavilion, including those suspected by the pavilion of being mysterious experts, stood gathered.

Luo Feng gazed into the distance from within the crowd.

The Pavilion Master of Flying Cloud Pavilion was fawning over a burly, imposing general. Luo Feng's aura sensing ability allowed him to determine that the general was likely at the Cosmic-tier Ninth-tier level.

“General Shifeng, everyone is here,” the Pavilion Master said hastily.

“Hmph.” Shifeng Zhan snorted, then his cold, sharp gaze swept over the crowd below.

“Shifeng Zhan?” Luo Feng's ears twitched in the crowd below, and a surge of joy filled him. He had been planning to find a way to ascertain Shifeng Zhan's appearance, to avoid mistaking his target. Now, he had a clear view.

“Last night, which one of you trespassed into the Chunyu Family's estate?” Shifeng Zhan demanded coldly.

The nearly thousand individuals below, all of whom had extraordinary backgrounds, remained silent, not a single one uttering a sound.

Perched high on the back of the desolate beast, the 'Azure Armored Serpent Dragon,' Shifeng Zhan continuously scanned every person below. Suddenly, he pointed a finger at a sinister-looking man cloaked in a black robe in the distance and barked, “That black-robed fellow, take him away later.”

“Yes!” Two deputy generals beside him responded.

“General!” The black-robed man's face turned grim. He opened his mouth and called out, “General, I am from the Luanyang Territory…”

“Enough with the nonsense.” Shifeng Zhan sneered. “Your strength, your attire, they all make me suspect you are the culprit who broke into the Chunyu Family. Hmm—that tall, disheveled-haired fellow, take him too. And this one, this scrawny fellow hiding at the very edge looking half-dead, take him as well.”

“You!”

“Him!”

“The one in the white robe.”

“This blue-haired one.”

Shifeng Zhan pointed out dozens of people consecutively. These dozens were all extremely powerful, mostly peak Star-tier, and even two Cosmic-tier experts.

“And that black-haired young man, his strength is also considerable, take him away,” Shifeng Zhan said, pointing at Luo Feng, causing Luo Feng to frown. In the Xueluo World, without instruments to detect strength, it relied purely on sensing ability. Luo Feng had deliberately suppressed his aura and concealed his true strength, intentionally releasing an aura of approximately peak Star-tier.

Unexpectedly, he was still singled out.

“Good, a total of 58. The culprit is very likely among these 58. Take them all away, escort them back to the prison!” Shifeng Zhan waved his hand.

…

Luo Feng did not resist but was escorted back with the other 57 by the army. In terms of strength, Luo Feng was confident he could eliminate Shifeng Zhan and his men… and because he was so confident, he remained completely at ease. There was no need to unleash a massacre in such a public setting until the very last moment.

“What's wrong with this General Shifeng? Is this how he catches culprits? He comes to our Flying Cloud Pavilion, finds a group of guests, points at whoever he dislikes, and calls that catching culprits?”

“Are you an idiot? General Shifeng is from the Shifeng Family. The Chunyu Family's embarrassment is a cause for joy for the Shifeng Family; how could they seriously try to catch anyone? If they were truly serious, they would have investigated thoroughly last night, not waited until now. It's purely a formality, just for show. However, those 58 people are certainly unlucky.”

Inside the Flying Cloud Pavilion, many people were discussing animatedly.

…

In Yangang City, within the General's Mansion prison.

Luo Feng and the other 58 were held in groups of five or six in individual cells. These cells were constructed from special rocks found in the Xueluo World, rocks capable of existing under cosmic origin energy and super-gravity. Specifically, the harder varieties chosen were strong enough to withstand the fierce blows of peak Star-tier experts.

“This is bad luck. I have to meet Patriarch Wang tomorrow. What am I going to do?” In Luo Feng's cell, one of the six occupants, a richly dressed fat man, shook his head and sighed loudly, his voice clear enough for other cells to hear.

“Big trouble, big trouble,” the fat man kept sighing.

“Shut up.”

“Hey, fatty, keep your voice down.” A chorus of shouts immediately erupted from other cells.

The fat man glanced outside, saw the soldiers looking over, and then loudly lamented again, “If I can't meet Patriarch Wang, and this business deal falls through, the losses will be huge! What bad luck, truly a disaster from the heavens!” After shouting twice, he finally stopped under the reprimands of others.

Luo Feng stood silently in his cell, observing everything unfold.

…

Meanwhile, a few of the leading prison guards began to whisper.

“Brothers, the General's arrest of these 58 people is purely for show. He hasn't even come to interrogate them. And his personal guards came earlier to tell us to interrogate them, then release those without issues, and keep a few in jail. Just make it look good!” One of the soldier leaders whispered, “Did you hear that fat man shouting? He seems to be a businessman, and he's in a hurry to meet someone. We could extort a good sum from him.”

“Hmm, it's an opportunity.”

“Anyway, it's just for show. One less won't make a difference.”

The few leaders among the many soldiers guarding the prison chuckled to each other and immediately gave orders: “Go, bring me that fat man who was shouting the loudest. We need to interrogate him thoroughly.”

“Yes, sir.”

The soldiers immediately went to fetch the fat man.

…

Inside the prison.

The fat man, leaning against the cell door, looked out. When he saw a group of soldiers running over, a faint smile appeared on his face. One soldier shouted, “The superiors have ordered a thorough interrogation of you! Take him away!” Then they opened the door to escort the fat man.

The fat man turned and smiled at the other five in the cell: “Gentlemen, I'll be leaving first. I won't be accompanying you any longer!”

With that, he leisurely departed with the soldiers.

Just a moment later.

A soldier ran back and shouted, “The superiors have interrogated him! The previous one had no suspicion whatsoever and has already left the prison. The rest of you 57 had better confess properly. Those who don't will be rotting in this prison forever.” After speaking, he turned and left directly.

“The fat man got out!”

“Confess properly? What's 'confess properly' if not extorting money?”

“You just realized? You're really slow.”

Noisy discussions erupted from various cells. The few leaders hiding in the distance heard the chatter and smiled, then ordered: “Bring them in one by one, we need to interrogate them thoroughly!”

…

Interrogation?

It was purely about paying a sum of money, and whether it was enough! When it was Luo Feng's turn for interrogation, he produced a purple blade coin, immediately causing the eyes of the soldier leaders to light up. Their attitude instantly became incredibly friendly, and they quickly released Luo Feng.

…

During the day, Luo Feng leisurely emerged from the General's Mansion prison and walked around the outside of the mansion.

In the evening, dusk had fallen.

Luo Feng, who had been leisurely eating and drinking alone in a restaurant for a long time, finally left the establishment and strolled through the streets of Yangang City, blending into the crowd.

“It's about time!”

“Yesterday, Chunyu Chong was captured late at night. So today, I'll go for Shifeng Zhan as soon as it gets dark.” A glint flashed in Luo Feng's eyes. “I'm really looking forward to it… Xueluo Crystal? What exactly is a Xueluo Crystal, and what kind of magical properties does it possess that even the Virtual Universe Company pays special attention to it?”

Because he had visited the General's Mansion during the day (by being arrested and imprisoned), Luo Feng was quite familiar with it.

“No wonder the Shifeng Family is called a nouveau riche family. This General's Mansion… in terms of strictness of defense, it's not even one-tenth of the Chunyu Family's.” Luo Feng moved through the General's Mansion as if walking in his own backyard, his figure ethereal, flashing past. He shook his head as he went, “I only sensed three Cosmic-tier experts!”

Based on his familiarity with cosmic spatial fluctuations, he vaguely sensed three powerful auras.

And one of those auras was very familiar to Luo Feng, because… he had seen it during the day!

“It's Shifeng Zhan,” Luo Feng smiled.

Whoosh!

His phantom-like figure drifted past rockeries, crossed corridors, and finally landed on the third floor of a luxurious palace within the General's Mansion.

“Why is breaking through to the Domain Lord tier so difficult? I've followed everything Big Brother said about cultivation, and I've done it all perfectly, yet I just can't break through this bottleneck. Hmph, Big Brother must be afraid that I'll reach the Domain Lord tier and threaten him.” Shifeng Zhan, bare-chested, wearing only a long robe, walked up the stairs, his mind filled with worries.

When he reached the third floor.

He casually looked up, preparing to head to his meditation room, but suddenly his body trembled. A look of disbelief appeared in his eyes as he stared at the black-haired young man in loose robes standing on the third floor of the palace.

“You…” Shifeng Zhan's battle intent instantly surged to its peak. At the same time, he prepared to transmit a call for help. However, despite his shock, Shifeng Zhan still had some confidence, because he himself was a peak Cosmic-tier Ninth-tier expert. The person before him couldn't be much stronger than him. If he could just stall for a little time, his Big Brother, Shifeng Xiong, would arrive!

Whoosh!

Luo Feng, who had been standing by the window in the distance just moments before, appeared before Shifeng Zhan as if teleporting. His speed was far beyond what a normal Cosmic-tier Ninth-tier could achieve.

“Pfft!” A palm strike, swift as lightning.

“No.” A giant battle saber appeared in Shifeng Zhan's hand with a flick. He desperately tried to block with the saber as a shield.

But Luo Feng's palm strike, as if illusory, instantly pierced his abdomen and then withdrew. Only then did the shield slowly move to block. Everything was like a dream, flashing by in an instant!

Phantom Seven Absolute Blades — Ephemeral Bloom!

With Luo Feng's current understanding of domains and laws… dealing with such weak secret techniques, from a Cosmic-tier Ninth-tier who had barely grasped one or two layers of a domain and knew nothing of laws, was practically a slaughter.

“I, I…” Shifeng Zhan clutched his abdomen. There was a knife-like wound, from which blood slowly flowed. It was purely a cut made by Luo Feng's palm strike.

“You, you…” Shifeng Zhan looked at Luo Feng in terror.

His Dantian was destroyed!

Moreover, his soul was suppressed by an incredibly powerful psychic energy, preventing him from even emitting a trace of it.

“Hello there, General Shifeng,” Luo Feng said with a smile, looking at Shifeng Zhan.

A scene flashed through Shifeng Zhan's mind, recalling the Flying Cloud Pavilion. Yes, this black-haired man, wasn't he one of the 58 people he had singled out earlier?