From the fusion of Tongbei Quan to the Longevity Martial Saint

As the group of Jade-Faced Scholars darted through the dense forest, desperately rushing towards the deep pool where they had hidden their ledgers, they indeed saw Gu Changyuan and his men following them in the same direction from afar.

Now, the handsome scholar became even more anxious.

However, these people are used to coming and going freely in Tiger Beach all year round. Their familiarity with the terrain and their climbing ability are far superior to those of Gu Changyuan and his group.

Soon, the Jade-Faced Scholar and his companions arrived at a deep pool that was several tens of meters deep.

With a wave of his hand, the handsome scholar sent one of the salt bandits, who was an excellent swimmer, leaping into the water with a splash.

The salt bandit swam straight down for more than ten meters, and then groped around underwater for a while.

The next moment, they found some ropes on the wall. After the ropes broke free from the stone wall next to them, they started to swim upwards by pulling on the ropes.

At the end of this rope is a very strong fishing line with a hook on it, and on the hook is a piranha that is nearly a meter long.

However, with a fishhook stuck in its mouth, the piranha was unable to hunt other prey properly. It was just listlessly being dragged up to the surface by the hook.

Soon, the salt bandit, who was an excellent swimmer, rose to the surface.

The handsome scholar had already grabbed the iron chain first, and with a strong tug, he pulled the more than one-meter-long piranha out of the water and onto the shore.

The piranha tried to struggle, but it was no match for a master like the Jade-Faced Scholar, who was at the seventh level of Body Tempering.

The scholar with the jade-like face had already pulled out a short knife from somewhere. As soon as the piranha landed on the shore, he immediately cut open its belly and took out an account book wrapped in oilcloth.

Seeing that the account book in his hand was intact and the sealing wax was still on, the jade-faced scholar finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

For some reason, even with the account book in hand and confirmed that it wasn't lost, the handsome scholar still felt that something was amiss.

Suddenly, the jade-faced scholar's pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly understood something.

Sure enough, just as this thought arose in his mind, a figure appeared behind them with a whoosh; it was Gu Changyuan.

When Gu Changyuan saw the account book wrapped in oilcloth in the hands of the jade-faced scholar, and the piranha with its belly cut open on the shore, he knew perfectly well that the cunning jade-faced scholar had hidden the account book inside the fish's belly!

Most importantly, they kept this fish in this very remote and inconspicuous deep pool. If Fang Qing hadn't asked him to follow the Jade-Faced Scholar, he probably would have searched here for ten years without finding the account book.

"Jade-faced scholar, leave your account book, and I'll spare your life!"

The handsome scholar, holding the account book in his hand, wished he could slap himself hard across the face.

He then realized that his cleverness had backfired. The salt patrol guards had no idea that he had hidden his account book there, and the young man from the salt patrol reserve had been misleading and bewitching him, causing him to panic and lead the salt patrol guards to the place where he had hidden the account book.

"Then let's fight to the death!"

With a "whoosh," the handsome scholar drew his long sword from his waist.

Soon, Ding Mingcheng and his men arrived and immediately engaged the dozen or so salt bandits in battle.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, only the Jade-Faced Scholar remained standing on the Tiger Beach salt bandits' side.

The handsome scholar's arm had long been severed and was nowhere to be seen; he was also in a terrible state.

He was, after all, only a master at the seventh level of Body Tempering. Although he was only a step away from the True Essence Realm, Gu Changyuan was now at the Lesser Completion of True Essence Realm. If it weren't for the account book in the Jade-Faced Scholar's hand, Gu Changyuan would have already killed the Jade-Faced Scholar with a single palm strike.

The jade-faced scholar looked around and saw that all the loyal salt bandits who had followed him were lying on the ground, almost lifeless. The jade-faced scholar knew that the situation was hopeless.

Just then, another series of footsteps came from afar, and Fang Qing and Zeng Qian, along with the rest of the Salt Patrol Reserve Battalion, arrived.

Lu Jianfeng also heard the commotion and followed behind Fang Qing and the others.

At this moment, the handsome scholar drew his sword and looked around, knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to escape today.

Upon seeing that the Jade-Faced Scholar was still alive, Fang Qing breathed a slight sigh of relief. After thinking for a moment, Fang Qing, standing behind Ding Mingcheng and the others, spoke:

"Jade-faced Scholar, you probably didn't guess that you had already fallen into our trap from the very beginning. The moment I arranged for someone to deliver the message to you, making you feel reassured, you had already lost."

Upon hearing this, the jade-faced scholar's pupils shrank sharply, and the next moment he abruptly turned his head to look in the direction of Lu Jianfeng, who had arrived last.

"Lu Jianfeng, you bastard, so it was you who tricked me!"

"Over the years, I have secretly given you so many cultivation resources and helped you break through to the sixth level of Body Tempering."

"I never expected you to be even more ruthless than me."

Lu Jianfeng, who had just arrived, looked completely bewildered.

Lu Jianfeng had always regarded the handsome scholar as his father.

Just moments ago, Lu Jianfeng was still thinking about how to rescue the Jade-Faced Scholar, even if it meant exposing his own identity.

But when he saw the handsome scholar constantly referring to the child as a "bastard," Lu Jianfeng stood there completely bewildered.

At this moment, Zeng Qian, who was standing next to Fang Qing, also looked at Lu Jianfeng, who was standing in the distance, in disbelief.

Originally, she did not believe Fang Qing's statement that "Lu Jianfeng is very likely to be a traitor." But now, seeing the jade-faced scholar recognize Lu Jianfeng among so many people and expose Lu Jianfeng's past, especially his claim of providing Lu Jianfeng with cultivation resources over the years.

The relationship between the two is clearly not simple!

Gu Changyuan, Ding Mingcheng, and the others narrowed their eyes and turned to look in Lu Jianfeng's direction.

Lu Jianfeng and the others naturally knew that he was the adopted son of one of their former subordinates.

But now it's clear that Lu Jianfeng has another identity.

The handsome scholar was now like a wild beast driven to the brink of despair.

He knew he wouldn't survive this time, so he wouldn't let Lu Jianfeng, who had set him up, get away with it.

"You all don't know this, do you? This bastard was born from the pregnancy of a rich girl I robbed. After I got tired of his mother, I simply dumped Lu Jianfeng downstream from Tiger Beach."

"I had already found out that your salt patrol would be patrolling that area recently, and as I expected, one of your salt patrol's bronze guards picked it up."

"Later, I contacted him privately several times in the name of Lu Jianfeng's father, and even sponsored his cultivation and helped him enter the Salt Patrol Guard reserve camp. But this bastard never expected that he would betray me!"

Lu Jianfeng desperately wanted to say "I didn't," but no one at the scene believed him.

The handsome scholar burst into arrogant laughter the next moment.

"I never imagined that I'd be outsmarted by this bastard I released myself! My cleverness has backfired!"

After saying that, the jade-faced scholar threw the account book in his hand into the air, then focused his energy on his long sword, intending to shred the account book in one stroke.

Gu Changyuan's movements were even faster than his!

Gu Changyuan's longsword drew a graceful arc in the air, and the jade-faced scholar, who was originally about to slash at the ledger, had his raised hand freeze in mid-air.

The next moment, the point where his raised hand connected to his shoulder began to fall directly downwards.

The handsome scholar, however, remained frozen in place, then with a "thump," he fell straight backward and lay motionless.

Then, his hand holding the knife fell to the ground with a "thud".

Gu Changyuan had already leaped high and grabbed the ledger in his hand first.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief when he opened the oilcloth and confirmed that there were real account books inside.

Just as everyone was looking at Gu Changyuan and finally breathing a sigh of relief after getting the account book, the next moment, they heard the sound of tree branches snapping behind them.

The sound instantly drew everyone's attention.

Lu Jianfeng, with his back hunched, originally wanted to take advantage of the Jade-Faced Scholar attracting everyone's attention to escape quickly, but in his panic, he stepped on a dry branch on the ground, which made his whole body stiffen, and he subconsciously turned his head to look.

When he saw dozens of eyes staring intently at him, Lu Jianfeng broke out in a cold sweat.

……