One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

The once quiet and peaceful mountain path has now become a chaotic battlefield.

Countless members of the "Quanxing" sect, dressed in various colors and wearing cruel or excited smiles, swarmed out of the shadows of the mountains and forests like locusts smelling blood. They didn't seem to be after any specific treasures or secret manuals; they were purely there to create maximum chaos and destruction. They attacked anyone they saw and smashed anything they could find, wantonly venting their violence and madness.

Incense burners were kicked over, sending ash flying everywhere; prayer flags were torn down and trampled on the ground; deep marks of knives and axes were left on the exquisite pillars; the originally peaceful chanting was completely drowned out by screams, curses, laughter and the clash of weapons.

The Taoist priests of Longhu Mountain, along with the remaining contestants, hastily engaged in battle, their clothes stained with blood as they fought valiantly. However, they were clearly unprepared—the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony had just ended, and some of the experts had either already departed or were resting and healing in various parts of the mountain. No one had anticipated that the Quanxing Sect would dare launch such a brazen attack before the attention of all the extraordinary figures in the world had completely dissipated!

"Help! Help!" A middle-aged man dressed as an ordinary tourist clutched his head and scrambled down the mountain, his face filled with terror. A Quanxing demon, wielding a curved knife and bearing a hideous scar on his face, grinned as he chased after him, raising his foot to kick him to the ground, his curved knife already high in the air, aimed at his back!

"Bang!"

A dull thud!

The savage grin on the scarred Quanxing demon's face froze instantly, replaced by extreme pain and shock. He didn't even see who had struck him; he only felt an irresistible force slam into his face, and he was sent flying as if hit by a charging bull. He crashed into the stone wall beside him with a loud thud, slid to the ground, and passed out completely. His nose was clearly caved in.

Nie Lingfeng withdrew his right foot, reached out and helped the tourist who was slumped on the ground in fright to his feet. His voice was calm and steady: "Run downhill, along the main road, don't look back, and don't take any side paths."

"Thank you, thank you so much, my benefactor! Thank you!" The tourist cried, tears streaming down his face, and kowtowed several times before scrambling down the mountain.

Nie Lingfeng's gaze swept across the chaotic mountain path. The Quanxing sect had a large number of members, but upon closer inspection, most of them possessed mixed and weak auras, merely weaklings relying on their power to bully others; the true elite experts were not present. Their actions, seemingly chaotic, actually followed a certain pattern—primarily creating panic in the area between the mountain gate and the front hall, where tourists and pilgrims gathered, to attract the attention of the Longhu Mountain defense forces.

"A diversionary tactic..." Nie Lingfeng frowned slightly, a knowing glint in his eyes. "Deliberately creating large-scale chaos to tie down the main force. The real target... is it the relatively weak but crucial rear mountain? Or the depths of the Celestial Master's Mansion, where some secrets are hidden?"

He stopped entangled with these small fry, and with a swift movement, he unleashed the Wind God Leg technique, "Catching the Wind and Shadows," with all his might!

"call out--!"

Leaving behind a faint blue afterimage, Nie Lingfeng's true form was already like a gust of wind tearing through the night, rushing towards the back mountain! His speed was extremely fast, weaving through the chaotic crowd and buildings as if entering an empty field.

Occasionally, some reckless Quanxing demons would try to stop him, either wielding weapons or releasing rudimentary Qi energy to harass him from a distance. Nie Lingfeng would not even glance at them, either casually kicking them several feet away, knocking them unconscious, or slightly swaying his body to dodge the attack by the slightest margin, and then slapping the opponent's back of the neck with a backhand, cleanly and neatly finishing them off.

"Too weak..." Nie Lingfeng shook his head inwardly. "Is this the average level of the lower and middle classes of Quanxing? They're nothing but a rabble."

But soon, his forward momentum faltered slightly.

Several powerful, cold, violent, and chaotic streams of "Qi" rose from somewhere on the back mountain, like smoke signals lit in the night. They were fiercely colliding and confronting several other streams of pure, profound, yet somewhat disordered "Qi." The cold Qi was completely different from the balanced and peaceful Qi cultivated by Longhu Mountain and most righteous sects; it was filled with the scent of depravity and destruction.

"We've found the right person."

Nie Lingfeng's eyes narrowed, and he raised his true qi again, suddenly increasing his speed! His figure almost turned into a blurry stream of light under the moonlight. In a few leaps, he had already crossed the many palaces and approached the core area where the qi clashed.

In the woods behind the mountain, two groups of people were facing off, the atmosphere tense and ready to erupt at any moment.

On one side, there were fewer people, but their imposing presence was awe-inspiring.

Standing at the forefront was none other than Lu Jin, the "Flawless One"! The old master Lu was no longer the refined and amiable man he usually was. His beard and hair stood on end, his eyes blazed with fury, and the violent energy around him surged and churned like tangible flames, causing his white robes to billow wildly! Floating before him were seven or eight talismans radiating different lights—golden "Vajra Talismans," purple "Thunder Talismans," crimson "Fire Cloud Talismans"... The talismans moved without wind, their spiritual light flowing, exuding a chillingly dangerous aura. Lu Jin was like an enraged lion, fiercely guarding something behind him (or rather, the path leading to a deeper place).

Standing to Lu Jin's side and slightly behind was Zhang Lingyu, his face grave and a trace of blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth. The cuffs of his white Daoist robe were torn, clearly indicating that he had just engaged in a brief exchange. His hands were forming a mudra, and the pitch-black, viscous "Water-Dirty Thunder" beneath his feet was slowly flowing out, like a swamp of poison poised to devour any invading enemy.

On their opposite side, the opposing force had a clear numerical advantage, and their aura was even more unpredictable and chaotic.

Leading the group was a bald, thin old man wearing a wrinkled brown jacket. He slowly twirled several beads of different colors with a restrained luster in his hands, and wore a seemingly kind but actually sinister smile on his face—Yuan Tao, the weapon refiner.

Standing next to him was a tall, seemingly simple-minded fat man carrying a bulging, tan cloth bag on his back, with a vacant look in his eyes, seemingly oblivious to the tense situation before him—Han Dan'er.

A little further away, three men and one woman stood in a fan shape, their auras intertwined, subtly forming a unified whole.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties, with long pink hair casually tied back. Her face was alluring and seductive, and her eyes possessed a captivating charm. A half-smile played on her lips—Xia He, the Bone Scraper.

Three men: one wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a well-tailored suit, looking like a refined scholar, but with a cold, calculating look in his eyes behind the lenses—the root of evil, Shen Chong; a smiling, fat monk, draped in a monk's robe, holding a string of prayer beads in his hand, yet giving off an extremely incongruous and eerie feeling—Lei Yanpao, Gao Ning; and the last one was a middle-aged woman with a melancholy air and a deep weariness in her eyes, as if she had no interest in anything—the intestinal poison, Dou Mei.

All four madmen of Quanxing are here!

"Grandpa Lu," Yuan Tao paused his work of playing with the prayer beads, his voice hoarse, tinged with feigned respect, "let's not beat around the bush. Hand over the *Tongtian Lu*, and we brothers will immediately turn back and descend the mountain, never to harm a single blade of grass or tree on Longhu Mountain again. See how much this fighting and killing damages our harmony? You're getting on in years, why get so worked up?"

"Bullshit!" Lu Jin's beard and hair bristled, his furious roar echoing across the platform like thunder. "The Tongtian Lu is the champion's prize of the Luotian Grand Ceremony! It was decided by me and the Old Celestial Master! Now it is passed on to Ling Yu. You bunch of cowardly, wicked Quanxing demons, do you even deserve to lay a finger on it? Today, if any of you dare to cause trouble on Longhu Mountain, not one of you will live!"

"Whether someone is worthy or not isn't something you can just decide with words." Shen Chong pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting a cold light. His gaze passed over Lu Jin and landed on Nie Lingfeng, who had just flown over and quietly landed beside Lu Jin. A mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips. "Oh, looks like another one who doesn't know what's good for him. What, the runner-up of the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony who only knows how to admit defeat, also wants to get involved in this mess? Be careful you don't lose your life."

Nie Lingfeng ignored Shen Chong's provocation. He quickly scanned the situation and felt somewhat reassured—although Lu Jin and Zhang Lingyu appeared to have been through a battle, their main forces were still intact. Then, he nodded slightly to the furious Lu Jin beside him, clasped his hands, and said, "Elder Lu, I am late."

Upon seeing Nie Lingfeng, Lu Jin's tense expression eased slightly, and a hint of admiration and satisfaction flashed in his eyes: "Not too late! Young Nie, you've come at the perfect time! These Quanxing scumbags have been bullying Longhu Mountain, thinking we're all powerless. Today, I will act on behalf of Heaven and show them what true power really means!"

He whirled around, staring intently at Yuan Tao, his eyes blazing with murderous intent that seemed almost tangible. His voice was as cold as ice from the depths of hell: "Since you're so determined to die, then—this old man has no more reservations!!"

Before he finished speaking, the seven or eight talismans in front of Lu Jin simultaneously erupted with dazzling light! Blinding golden light, raging purple lightning snakes, blazing crimson flames... powerful forces of various attributes intertwined, transforming into a destructive torrent of talismans, carrying a piercing shriek as it swept towards Yuan Tao and the others! Wherever the talismans passed, the air was ionized and scorched, emitting a pungent, acrid smell!