Assassinate Shangguan Jiang.
Gu Qingfeng searched the opponent's corpse again and finally found an identity token and a thin secret manual on the body.
Spirit Summoning Treasure Skills—Heart-devouring Demon!
Looking at the words on the cover, it seemed as if a bloody aura rushed at him. Gu Qingfeng furrowed his brows and immediately put away the Spirit Summoning Treasure Skills.
Looking again at the token, the front bore the person's name, while the back had three big characters: Evil Suppression Bureau.
"It really was someone from the Evil Suppression Bureau!"
*When Shangguan Jiang revealed his identity before his death, Gu Qingfeng already understood, but now having the token, it was completely confirmed.*
From Xu Jun's words, the people of the Evil Suppression Bureau were a mysterious agency of the Taixuan Dynasty, specifically responsible for handling matters of evil spirits.
But now it seemed.
These people from the Evil Suppression Bureau were not simple.
At that moment,
Shangguan Jiang's already dead body trembled lightly, as if something was about to awaken within it. Gu Qingfeng's expression changed slightly, and he dared not stay in place, immediately leaving with Gu Yang.
Without Shangguan Jiang's obstruction, Gu Qingfeng broke through the blood mist with ease.
At the moment he exited the blood mist, the eerie and cold aura that had been lingering in his heart dissipated without a trace.
Looking back, he saw the blood mist swirling endlessly, and the vast Lin County could no longer be seen.
*His tense mind slightly relaxed, and suddenly a severe pain struck.* Gu Qingfeng looked down and only then realized that many of his wounds had already rotted severely, emitting a foul smell.
If he were an ordinary person, such injuries would have already been fatal.
But Gu Qingfeng had broken through to the Blood Refining Realm, and his vitality was much stronger than ordinary people. Even such severe injuries hadn't really endangered his life.
However,
*if this matter were to be delayed, it would only become more troublesome.*
"Let's go, let's get out of here first!"
Gu Qingfeng left with Gu Yang.
...
Not long after he left,
Shangguan Jiang's corpse inside the blood mist suddenly shook violently, as if a bizarre black shadow was emerging from the corpse. Its blue-black face was hideous and terrifying, with unusually long arms and sharp claws on its five fingers, seemingly able to easily tear apart human skin, extracting their flesh and organs.
The moment this eerie existence revived, it looked at Shangguan Jiang's body with a greedy look in its eyes, then began to devour it on the ground.
In no time,
the corpse's flesh and blood were devoured completely, leaving only a pile of bones scattered on the ground.
The eerie shadow let out a howl, a terrifyingly cold aura exploded from the blood mist, shocking everyone in Lin County.
Ye Yuan, who was in the government office, was greatly shocked when he felt this aura.
"The aura of an evil spirit!"
"No, this is the Heart-devouring Demon!"
In an instant,
Ye Yuan rushed out of the government office. When he charged into the blood mist, he saw the scattered bones and tattered clothes on the ground, quickly recognizing the person's identity with just a glance.
"Shangguan Jiang is dead!"
Ye Yuan's face instantly turned green.
Shangguan Jiang's death wasn't the issue; more importantly, what could have caused Shangguan Jiang to die here?
One must know that Shangguan Jiang was a magician, and even the weakest magician could not be matched by an ordinary martial artist. Moreover, in such a big place as Lin County, the strongest was merely a Refining Skin Realm martial artist.
How could such a martial artist
possibly have the chance to kill a magician?
Moreover—
with Shangguan Jiang dead,
it seemed the thing inside him had already come out.
Just as this thought crossed Ye Yuan's mind, an eerie and cold aura suddenly attacked, giving him a powerful warning sign in his heart. Without thinking, he sidestepped, and in the next instant saw sharp claws tearing through the air, a bizarre black shadow appearing in his line of sight.
"Heart-devouring Demon!"
Ye Yuan's heart sank.
The worst outcome had already appeared before him.
Shangguan Jiang had fallen.
The Heart-devouring Demon inside him was also fully awakened.
Seeing the Heart-devouring Demon charging at him, Ye Yuan's eyes turned fierce, "Damn it, don't let me find out who killed Shangguan Jiang, or this matter won't end!"
——
"Family Head!"
In a courtyard, a middle-aged martial artist in martial attire was respectfully standing before a person.
This person was none other than Gu Qingfeng, who had left Lin County.
"Still no news?"
"Reporting to the Family Head, we have already done our utmost to secretly investigate the situation in Lin County, but it seems as if Lin County vanished into thin air, with not a single bit of information."
The person answered truthfully.
Upon hearing this,
Gu Qingfeng nodded and then waved his hand, saying, "In that case, you may go for now!"
"Yes—"
The person respectfully left.
Gu Qingfeng stroked his beard slightly, with a deep look in his eyes occasionally revealing a flicker of cold light.
*The inability to find any trace of Lin County meant something must have happened there.*
Otherwise,
how could such a large county have no trace at all?
Since leaving Lin County, it had been about half a year.
After leaving Lin County, Gu Qingfeng took Gu Yang to White Stone Dao in Guangyang Prefecture.
The Taixuan Dynasty.
Nine States, Thirty-Six Counties.
One county, twelve prefectures.
Guangyang Prefecture was a prefecture city under the jurisdiction of Taishan County. The Qingjiang Prefecture, which was rumored to have been wiped out by a plague, was also under Taishan County. Lin County was part of Guangyang Prefecture.
Upon first entering White Stone Dao, Gu Qingfeng acted discreetly, gradually understanding the foundations of White Stone Dao's strength.
The investigation found that
White Stone Dao's martial arts foundation was much stronger than Lin County's.
In Lin County, the Golden Bull Martial Arts Hall was a renowned martial arts force in the county. Its strongest was only at the Refining Skin Perfection level.
But in White Stone Dao, even though Refining Skin Perfection martial artists were not numerous, they were certainly not rare.
Beyond Refining Skin,
there were also martial artists in the Blood Refining Realm.
A faction called the Qin Family was guarded by five Blood Refining Realm martial artists, and the Iron Bone Gang was guarded by four Blood Refining Realm martial artists.
These were the two strongest forces in White Stone Dao.
Beneath the two major forces, there were numerous large and small factions with intricate ties. However, whatever the case, as long as one could enter the Blood Refining Realm, they could be called a powerhouse in White Stone Dao.
After clarifying the situation in White Stone Dao, Gu Qingfeng settled there.
A force named the Gu Family quietly emerged.
To the forces in White Stone Dao, the emergence of an unfamiliar family naturally drew considerable attention.
Some people even set their sights on the Gu Family.
But when Gu Qingfeng displayed his Blood Refining Realm strength, many voices fell silent.
In the end,
the Martial World still respected strength.
Although the Gu Family was thinly rooted, having a Blood Refining Realm martial artist was enough to solve most problems.
Forces with a Blood Refining Realm presence didn't want to engage in conflict with those of the same realm for no reason, and forces without a Blood Refining Realm presence didn't dare to challenge the Gu Family.
In this way,
after about half a year, the Gu Family established by Gu Qingfeng had firmly secured its position in White Stone Dao.