Chapter 63: Mission Accomplished

"Be on your way, Senior Brother Zhao."

Chu Chang raised his hand, and his sword fell.

"Squelch."

A head filled with unwillingness and regret soared into the sky.

Chu Chang calmly sheathed his iron sword, then flicked his finger to release a wisp of flame, completely reducing Zhao Meng's corpse and that heavy black sword to ash.

He did not delay; his figure flickered, and he instantly darted out of the cave.

Meanwhile, outside the valley.

The intense battle had already subsided.

Hu Li of the Black Tiger Stronghold had breathed his last under Yin Jiu's relentless torture, his body dissolving into a puddle of foul-smelling black liquid.

The remaining bandits were all dead or wounded.

Yin Jiu was currently sitting weakly on that repaired bone chair, directing his subordinates to clean up the battlefield in preparation for entering the cave to capture Zhao Meng.

"Junior Brother, take a few men inside and drag that scum out," Yin Jiu ordered in a hoarse voice.

"Yes, Deacon!"

A Blood Evil Sect Disciple was just about to step forward.

"No need to look."

A cold, clear voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire valley.

Yin Jiu's expression changed drastically, and he looked up abruptly.

He saw that the heavy blue mist originally shrouding the valley entrance had, at this moment, begun to condense frantically.

Wisps of bone-chilling ice-blue Qi transformed into ice blades filling the sky, dyeing the entire firmament a deep blue.

"Rise!"

At the edge of the valley, Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue revealed herself.

She formed hand seals with both hands, and the ice-attribute Qi within her body erupted completely.

"Frozen World! Seal!"

Accompanied by her delicate shout, countless thick glaciers suddenly emerged from the ground of the entire rocky valley.

These glaciers spread at an astonishing speed, instantly freezing the remaining Blood Evil Sect Disciples and those black iron Puppets within solid ice.

"Not good! It's the Divine Sword Sect's ice-attribute Dao technique! Retreat!"

Yin Jiu's eyes were splitting with rage. He had never expected that at his weakest and most complacent moment, there would be someone waiting to reap the rewards!

He slammed his hand against his chair, transforming into a streak of bloody light that shot into the sky, attempting to forcibly break through this sky-filling ice seal.

However, before he could even fly ten zhang.

A dazzling golden sword light, carrying an unrivaled, domineering sharpness, ignited from the void and slashed fiercely at that streak of bloody light.

"Boom!"

The bloody light shattered.

Yin Jiu let out a miserable scream as he fell from mid-air, slamming heavily onto the hard icy surface.

Clutching the deep, bone-exposing sword wound on his chest, he looked with horror at the gray-robed youth slowly emerging from the thick fog.

"Who… who on earth are you?!"

"The people who have come to claim your life."

Chu Chang smiled slightly, his figure leaving an afterimage in place.

"No!"

Amidst Yin Jiu's desperate screams, the brilliant sword light completely swallowed both his vision and his life.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The originally bloody and chaotic rocky valley was now completely covered by a thick layer of solid ice.

The sunlight managed to pierce through the clouds and mist, shining onto the glaciers and refracting magnificent yet cold light.

All traces of everyone were buried deep beneath this unmelting ice.

Chu Chang and Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue stood side by side on the glacier.

"Did you get the item?" Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue looked at Chu Chang.

Chu Chang smiled and patted the Storage Pouch at his waist: "I got it. Not only that, but I also scavenged quite a few good things from Yin Jiu and Hu Li. This trip to Black Wind Valley has been very rewarding."

Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue also smiled slightly; that momentary radiance made even this frozen world lose its color.

"Then let's go. The commotion here is not small, and more powerful experts from the Demonic Path will soon come to investigate."

"Alright."

Their figures instantly vanished into the Mist Forest.

Ten days later.

The cold and bloodiness of Black Wind Valley were finally left far behind.

When the familiar, towering, and continuous mountain range appeared on the horizon, Chu Chang and Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue both breathed a sigh of relief.

The Divine Sword Sect had finally arrived.

Amidst the overlapping peaks, clouds and mist curled, and cranes cried out.

Massive stone swords pierced straight into the clouds, emitting an awe-inspiring and righteous Sword Intent.

Compared to the desolate, evil lands of Black Wind Valley, which were filled with rot, slaughter, and Devilish Qi everywhere, this was simply another world.

At a post station ten miles from the Sect, the two changed out of their previously disguised coarse cloth garments and put on the Divine Sword Sect's iconic white training attire.

Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue washed off the herbal juice from her face, restoring that cold, ethereal, and immaculate peerless beauty!!

And Chu Chang also restrained that mercenary, ruthless temperament of a Loose Cultivator, transforming back into that seemingly gentle, reserved, and even somewhat unremarkable Outer Sect Disciple.

"Senior Sister, after returning to the Sect, regarding what Zhao Meng said before he died…" Chu Chang walked along the mountain path, tilted his head slightly, and said in a very low voice.

Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue paused, a trace of gravity flashing in her cold, clear eyes.

Zhao Meng's frantic roar before he died: "That is not some secret treasure at all; it is a life-taking poison!"

For these past few days, it had been hanging over her heart like a dark cloud.

"This matter is of great importance," Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue replied in a lowered voice. "The 'mind-calming detoxification essence' is a supreme detoxifying treasure passed down by the Sect for many years. If it truly has some secret as Zhao Meng claimed, the interests and high-level figures involved are definitely not something we can touch right now."

"Chu Chang, when you hand in the mission later, just present the item and don't say a single extra word. As for the cause of Zhao Meng's death, just say he resisted arrest and was killed by us working together, and his remains were destroyed by a Talisman during the battle."

Chu Chang nodded slightly: "I understand. A tall tree attracts the wind; I understand this principle."

The two walked side by side, encountering many Sect Disciples along the way.

When those Disciples saw Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue, every one of them showed looks of amazement and respect, stopping to salute: "Senior Sister Lin!"

And when their gazes swept over Chu Chang beside Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue, most revealed a trace of confusion and jealousy.

An unknown Outer Sect Disciple was actually able to travel with the cold, aloof, number one beauty of the Inner Sect; this naturally sparked quite a bit of private discussion.

Chu Chang ignored this, his expression calm.

Arriving at the fork between the Inner Sect and Outer Sect, Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue stopped and looked at Chu Chang: "I am going to report back to Master and incidentally sound out the Sect leadership's attitude toward this matter. You go to the Mission Hall to submit the mission, and be careful in all things."

"Rest assured, Senior Sister." Chu Chang cupped his hands.

Senior Sister Lin Ruoxue looked at him deeply, then her figure flickered, and she sped toward the main peak of the Inner Sect like an elegant white cloud.

Chu Chang withdrew his gaze, a faint smile playing on the corners of his mouth, and turned to walk toward the "Mission Hall" located at Tianxuan Peak of the Outer Sect.

The Outer Sect Mission Hall was crowded year-round.

This was the most important place for Outer Sect Disciples to obtain cultivation resources and exchange for Cultivation Techniques and Medicinal Pills.

On the massive white jade stone wall, dense golden characters flickered, recording various Sect missions of varying difficulty.

Chu Chang stepped into the hall and immediately felt a wave of noisy heat.

He ignored the others and walked straight to the "High-Level Mission Submission Counter" located in the deepest part of the hall.

The counter here was crafted from a single piece of pitch-black ink jade, appearing solemn and cold.

Ordinary Outer Sect Disciples rarely came here, because those who dared to accept high-level missions were all ruthless characters famous in the Outer Sect.

The person in charge of registration was an elderly deacon, surnamed Liu, who was currently resting his eyes.

Chu Chang walked to the counter and tapped the tabletop lightly: "Deacon Liu, this Disciple has come to submit a mission."

Deacon Liu slowly opened his somewhat cloudy eyes and cast a faint glance at Chu Chang. When he saw the attire on Chu Chang that represented an ordinary Outer Sect Disciple, his brows could not help but furrow slightly.

"Name, mission number." Deacon Liu's voice was somewhat hoarse and formulaic.

"Outer Sect Disciple Chu Chang, I accepted the mission to hunt down the traitor Zhao Meng and retrieve the Sect's secret treasure; mission number: Tian-09."

"What?!"

Deacon Liu's originally cloudy eyes suddenly erupted with two sharp beams of light, his body lunging forward as he stared fixedly at Chu Chang: "You accepted the mission to hunt down Zhao Meng? And you want to submit it?"

This mission had been hanging in the Mission Hall for over half a month. Because the rewards were extremely generous, it had attracted many Inner Sect elites to form teams and go, but in the end, they all met with failure, and two teams even lost contact in Black Wind Valley.

A mere Outer Sect Disciple actually said he wanted to submit this mission?

Inside the hall, the originally noisy sounds also eerily quieted for a moment.

Many Outer Sect Disciples around who were selecting missions cast looks of shock, suspicion, and even amusement toward Chu Chang.

"Who is this kid? Is his brain broken?"

"Chu Chang? Never heard of this guy; this name doesn't seem to be on the Outer Sect Prodigy Ranking."

"Heh, he's probably crazy about wanting to show off, bringing a fake to fool Deacon Liu. He's going to have a rough time later."

Facing the whispers around him, Chu Chang remained composed.

He reached for the Storage Pouch at his waist. As his palm flipped, an exquisite white jade box and an identity token stained with dried blood were placed flat on the ink jade counter.

"This is Zhao Meng's identity token. He resisted stubbornly in Black Wind Valley and has been executed on the spot by this Disciple. This is the Sect's secret treasure that was retrieved; please examine it, Deacon."

Deacon Liu took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart.

He first picked up the identity token belonging to Zhao Meng, channeling a wisp of Qi from his hand into it.

A moment later, a faint red light lit up on the identity token. The aura remaining inside was indeed Zhao Meng's, and the soul fire representing his life characteristics had been completely extinguished.

"The identity token is real…"

Deacon Liu's voice trembled slightly.

Afterward, he reached for the white jade box with a solemn expression and carefully opened it.

"Hum!"

The moment the box opened, a stream of extremely pure, gentle green light instantly gushed out.

The light contained a peculiar fragrance that permeated the hall. Everyone who smelled this fragrance felt the restless Qi in their bodies caused by cultivation instantly calm down, and even their Divine Soul became a bit clearer.

In the hall, a series of gasps sounded instantly.

"This… this is the 'mind-calming detoxification essence'!"

"Heavens! It really is the secret treasure stolen from the Sect!"

"This Chu Chang actually completed the mission?! Him alone? How is this possible!"

The surrounding mockery and suspicion vanished in an instant, replaced by endless shock and awe.