The First Venerable of All Paths

"The Divine Ecstasy of Concealment?"

He Jun asked, "Is this poison very potent?"

"It can even poison the soul; isn't that amazing?"

Compared to He Jun, He Tieshan was more knowledgeable and experienced.

"This poison is listed as one of the ten most rare poisons. I thought it only existed in legends, but I never expected it to actually exist."

He Tieshan's expression turned serious, and he said, "The fact that Huang Sanxiang was able to obtain the Divine Soul-Sealing Concealment means that the strength behind him must be extraordinary, something that a small escort agency like Lei Huo Escort Agency could not possibly possess."

"However, my Azure Dragon Escort Agency has never offended such a power."

This is precisely the strangest thing about He Tieshan.

"Let's ask this guy first."

Fang Xuan looked at Yan Zhou's corpse.

"Isn't he already dead?"

He Jun looked puzzled.

How do you conduct an interrogation of a dead person?

"The person is dead, but their soul remains."

Fang Xuan said, "Guanlan, it's up to you now."

Li Guanlan nodded, then raised two fingers together and pointed them at the center of Yan Zhou's corpse's forehead.

Soon, Li Guanlan forcibly pulled a phantom soul from Yan Zhou's corpse.

Then, one after another, chains of soul power wrapped around Yan Zhou's soul body.

"This is... a soul-searching technique?!"

He Tieshan exclaimed in surprise, his eyes filled with horror as he looked at Li Guanlan.

A Soul Master capable of performing Soul Searching Techniques must possess at least a fourth-grade Soul Power.

He never expected that this woman, who preferred to stay in the carriage and rarely spoke, was actually a fourth-grade Soul Master.

No wonder Lao Huang was suddenly restrained when he launched his sneak attack earlier; it must have been her doing.

The Lu family really has a big budget.

Not only were they protected by Fang Xuan, a powerful expert capable of reversing the death of a god, but they also hired a fourth-grade soul master to accompany them.

With that in mind, He Tieshan felt much more at ease on the rest of the journey.

"Snapped!"

Not long after, Yan Zhou's soul exploded and vanished without a trace.

"How is it?"

He Tieshan looked on with anticipation.

No one cared more about Lao Huang's true origins and the purpose of the Thunderfire Escort Agency than him.

Li Guanlan shook his head and said, "All I know is that Lei Huo Escort Agency is indeed targeting Qing Long Escort Agency, but I don't know anything else."

"After all, this guy's soul was too weak, and I couldn't find out any more information from him."

Hearing this, He Tieshan sighed and said, "It's tough on Miss Li, but these things can't be forced."

"Second Uncle, Lei Huo Escort Agency has gone too far."

He Jun said, "Should we send a message to Zhongzhou to warn them to be on guard?"

"Unrealistic."

He Tieshan said, "The two places are too far apart. Even a high-level communication talisman cannot maintain such a long distance."

"Are we just going to let it go like this?"

He Jun, his face full of displeasure, said, "If it weren't for Brother Fang's intervention, all of us brothers would have been killed by them!"

"We'll talk about it once we get to the territory of the Dao Seeking Sect. Once we get there, we can send someone ahead on a flying boat."

He Tieshan made a quick decision.

Although the flying boat was extremely expensive, it concerned the survival of the Azure Dragon Escort Agency, so He Tieshan couldn't care less about that.

"That's all we can do."

He Tieshan clasped his hands in a fist salute to Fang Xuan and said, "We owe this great debt to Brother Fang and Miss Li. Our Qinglong Escort Agency will remember this favor and will repay it handsomely if the opportunity arises!"

"Hey, you're too kind. We're just doing our job for the family."

He Tieshan nodded and said, "Could you give me the bodies of these two people? I need to explain the situation to my superiors when I get back."

"Of course, that's no problem."

Fang Xuan naturally had no objection to this.

Because it was getting late, the group chatted for a few more minutes before saying goodbye and leaving.

Only Fang Xuan and Li Guanlan remained in the room.

"Tell me, what exactly did you discover?"

Fang Xuan returned to his seat and sat down, his tone slightly low.

"How did you know I had made other discoveries?"

Li Guanlan smiled calmly.

Fang Xuan nodded and looked at the soul barrier that had not yet been removed.

"You really can hide anything from me."

Li Guanlan shook his head helplessly, then said with a serious expression, "Fang Xuan, we may have gotten ourselves into big trouble."

"Tell me more about it."

Li Guanlan took a deep breath and said, "I didn't get much information from that person's soul memories."

"However, he knew that behind Huang Sanxiang was an extremely secretive force."

Li Guanlan said, "The 'Soul-Destroying Poison' is the very poison that this force used to control Huang Sanxiang."

"Now, the entire Thunderfire Escort Agency is under the control of this force."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuan did not rush to express his opinion, but instead began to think about it seriously.

"The Zhao family, the Thunderfire Escort Agency, a mysterious force..."

After a long silence, Fang Xuan said, "It seems we might really be in trouble."

"What are you planning to do?"

Li Guanlan asked, "Should we tell them? Or the Lu family head?"

"Not for now."

Fang Xuan shook his head and said, "We're only traveling together for a while, and we'll part ways sooner or later. If we can avoid getting involved in these things, we shouldn't."

His most important task was to go to the Dao Seeking Sect and challenge Zhao Qingcang.

He had no time to care about anything else.

"Okay, whatever you say."

Li Guanlan stood up and said, "Then you should rest early, we still have a long way to go."

The convoy set off as usual early the next morning.

When someone asked about Lao Huang, He Jun said that he had sent Lao Huang ahead to scout the route first.

No one else suspected anything.

Fortunately, after the incident at Qingyangang, the convoy did not encounter any further accidents for a period of time.

Even if they encountered bandits in some remote mountains and forests, they would retreat far away as soon as they saw the flag of the Green Dragon Escort Agency.

And so, about ten days later, the convoy finally arrived at a small border town.

Sunset Town!

The town in front of me was gray and drab.

However, Fang Xuan keenly noticed that there were many powerful individuals in this town.

Martial artists at the Qi Condensation Realm are a common sight.

This is something that is rarely seen elsewhere.

Fang Xuan even sensed several extremely powerful auras within the town, clearly those of experts at the Divine Intent Realm.

"This small town of Sunset is truly a place where hidden talents reside."

Fang Xuan couldn't help but sigh.

"That's not surprising."

He Jun explained, "Sunset Town is adjacent to Sunset Wasteland and is a gathering place for many martial artists, rogue cultivators, and mercenaries."

"Don't let the small size of the town fool you, it's a hidden gem."

He Jun chuckled softly, "Here, as long as you have money, we can get you anything."

"Cultivation techniques, martial arts, elixirs, medicinal herbs, the internal cores of various demonic beasts, and even... women!"

He Jun's last two words were quite meaningful.

Seeing Fang Xuan's completely uninterested expression, He Jun covered his mouth with his hand and said, "Brother Fang, you may not know, but these aren't ordinary women, they are..."

"Women from certain powerful families, or even disciples of sects."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuan raised an eyebrow and said, "A sect disciple? No way."

"Hehe, you're thinking too highly of those sects and forces."

He Jun curled his lip, seemingly disdainful.

"These sects and forces are indeed deeply rooted and are cultivation holy lands that everyone yearns for, but they also have many rules."

He Jun said, "Some female disciples, for various reasons, either violate the sect rules or offend a big shot in the sect, will be expelled from the sect."

Fang Xuan nodded in deep agreement.

Even in a small family like the Fangs, the clan rules are extremely strict.

Not to mention those sects and forces.

"You think that being expelled from the sect is the end of it?"

He Jun said in a low voice, "No, this is only the beginning. These female disciples will only truly experience despair the moment they leave the sect."

"They will be captured as prey in the shortest possible time and then exchanged for benefits."

He Jun pointed his long whip at the town ahead and said with a sigh, "In this Sunset Town, a woman who has been expelled from her sect is worth at least as much as a fourth-tier demon king! And the kind that's hard to find even with a lantern."

"That's really... outrageous."

Fang Xuan pursed his lips, and couldn't help but think of Fang Yutong.

Because of his relationship with the Dao Asking Sect, Fang Yutong's situation within the Dao Asking Sect must not be much better, right?

He had already sent a message to Fang Yutong, telling her that if things got really bad, she should go back to the Fang family.

But Fang Yutong replied that she was fine and that her family should not worry.

Now, after hearing He Jun's story, Fang Xuan couldn't wait to arrive at the Dao Seeking Sect to see how Fang Yutong was doing.

"I hope nothing bad happens, otherwise..."

A chilling killing intent flashed in Fang Xuan's eyes.

"I wouldn't mind slaughtering the entire Dao Seeking Sect!"

He Jun glanced at Fang Xuan in surprise, wondering why this guy's aura had suddenly become so terrifying and frightening.

"Let's go, it's our turn."

Seeing that it was already the Green Dragon Escort Agency's turn in the queue, He Jun rode forward and whispered, "Brother Fang, be careful once you enter the town. Those guys are ruthless and heartless."

Fang Xuan nodded and looked up.

Sure enough, they found that many passersby looked at them as if they were looking at a big fat sheep.

Even the fluttering of several Qinglong Escort Agency flags in the wind could not dispel these people's thoughts.

Fang Xuan even saw a martial artist with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face reach into Lu Zhao's carriage.

Fang Xuan's eyes turned cold, and he lashed out with his riding whip.

"Snapped!"

The whip possessed terrifying power, leaving a deep, bone-revealing wound on the opponent's face with a single lash.

The martial artist screamed and quickly retreated, covering his face.

"Kid, you dare touch me?"

This man not only failed to realize his mistake, but also took the initiative to attack, pointing at Fang Xuan and shouting, "Do you know that I am a member of the Vulture Gang?"

"roll!"

Fang Xuan's eyes turned cold as he said, "If you dare to utter another word, you can keep your life."

"Okay, okay."

The man grinned menacingly and said, "We'll see!"

After saying this, the man quickly left the town.

"Hey, this is going to be good. The Vulture Gang is not to be trifled with."

"The Azure Dragon Escort Agency? It seems to be from the Central Plains. Unfortunately, in Sunset Town, even if you're a big shot from out of town, if you offend a local tyrant like the Vulture Gang, you'll probably get a piece of your flesh torn off."

Hearing the comments from the crowd, He Jun's expression grew increasingly grim.

Even the people from the Qinglong Escort Agency glared angrily at those people.

"Calm down, everyone, let's go to the inn!"

He Tieshan said to He Jun, "Jun-ge, you personally lead the men to keep watch tonight, make sure no one sneaks in."

"Brother Fang, you should get some rest tonight."

He Tieshan said, "We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning!"

Fang Xuan naturally had no objection to this.

only.......

He glanced at the few furtive figures in the crowd, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Tonight is unlikely to be peaceful.