Chapter 1140: Life-Saving Means

Lu Yang was now certain that the Immortal Fairy's idea of "driving a tiger to devour a wolf" was purely a fluke.

"Perhaps I can learn from Third Senior Sister and safely pass the Void Refinement stage using artifacts?" Lu Yang still remembered how Third Senior Sister didn't even need to act personally in the Demon Realm; her artifacts alone scared the demons into disarray.

"Using artifacts? That's actually a good idea," the Immortal Fairy nodded in agreement.

"Right? For example, we could refine an artifact like Junior Brother Li Haoran's battle armor. The armor would automatically engage enemies, with power nearly equal to my own attacks," Lu Yang said excitedly.

The Immortal Fairy also became excited, picking up on his idea: "Or we could refine artifacts with various functions: a gourd that swallows yin and spits out yang, a water-spraying jade vase, a fire-breathing medicine cauldron, a wind-controlling fan... all five elements and yin-yang spells covered. We'd be able to handle any enemy!"

The more they talked, the more excited they became, convinced that the artifact idea was truly excellent.

Lu Yang looked at the Immortal Fairy excitedly: "I don't know how to refine artifacts, do you, Fairy?"

The Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang excitedly: "Neither do I."

They looked at each other and quickly calmed down.

Lu Yang regretted that if he had known he was coming to the Extreme North, he would have asked Junior Brother Li for some handy life-saving artifacts before leaving. He figured it would be difficult to find an artifact refiner in a remote place like Muxue City.

"Xiao Yangzi, you could scold Ying Tian a few times. He'd sense it and come looking for us, then we'd have an artifact refiner!"

Lu Yang pushed open the door, casually chopped down a tree from the courtyard, and carried it back inside. Although he couldn't refine artifacts, he could use a similar method.

Lu Yang took out his Azure Edge Sword and carved the tree into many small wooden swords, then imbued each with sword qi. "Done." His current cultivation fluctuated at the Integration Stage, so the sword qi he imbued was also at that level. He had made wooden swords as amulets for the Fuling sisters during his Nascent Soul stage, and now at the Void Refinement stage, making them was even easier.

Lu Yang continuously imbued sword qi into the wooden swords, mass-producing extremely powerful talisman-like wooden swords. After a short while, Lu Yang found it a bit troublesome. He used the Tree-Planting Art, instructing his wood clone to use the Azure Edge Sword to carve wood and imbue sword qi, while he had other things to do.

"To be safe, I'll add another life-saving measure."

"Did you hear? There's a new bounty on the street." Before class, the students of the martial arts school gathered in small groups, discussing the new happenings on the street.

"A missing person notice?"

"Yes, they say Young Master Meng Jingzhou of the Meng family sleepwalked and got lost. It's a joint missing person notice from Wen Dao Sect and the Meng family. Anyone who can safely deliver Meng Jingzhou to Wen Dao Sect will receive a reward of one billion spirit stones."

"One billion spirit stones? How much money is that?" The students exclaimed. They had never even heard of anyone having that many spirit stones, let alone seen them. Gong Che's family was considered wealthy among them, but their entire family couldn't even produce a hundred spirit stones.

"Alright, quiet down everyone, class is starting now," Lu Yang clapped his hands and said. It seemed the news spread quickly.

He was the one who posted the missing person notice on the street. He had made up his mind that if he encountered danger—for example, if the number of enemies exceeded the number of wooden swords in a sack—he would disguise himself as Old Meng. His disguise mask was so good that even cultivators at the Tribulation Transcending stage couldn't see through it. Although the Meng family's reputation in Imperial City was somewhat bad, only slightly worse than Wen Dao Sect's, if you went outside the city and asked around, everyone would have economic dealings with the Meng family.

Lu Yang counted the attendees and found two missing: "Why aren't Fang Zhige and Liu Yu here? Does anyone know what happened to them?"

Lu Yang had taught for many days, and aside from Gong Che's absence on the first few days, no one else had skipped class. Most of these students' families were not very wealthy, so missing even one day of class was a loss. The students shook their heads, none of them knowing why the two hadn't come.

"Teacher Lu, maybe something happened at Liu Yu's home. I heard Fang Zhige has been staying at Liu Yu's house," Gong Che said.

Shi Yi also said: "Yes, I remember now. Liu Yu mentioned that Fang Zhige initially didn't want to learn boxing, but Liu Yu insisted on bringing him along."

The students' deepest impression of the two was that they were inseparable, often teasing them as a couple. Each time, Liu Yu would blush and say nothing, while Fang Zhige would coldly deny it. As for their progress in learning boxing, Fang Zhige was only at an average level, even worse than Liu Yu.

Lu Yang nodded and continued playing the projection orb: "You all watch this. Gong Che, keep an eye on them. I'm going to Liu Yu's house to check on the situation."

Lu Yang had a strong impression of Fang Zhige. Fang Zhige deliberately maintained an average level; his true strength was at the late Qi Condensation stage, which stood out among the mortal students, and he carried a Qi-concealing talisman with him.

...At Liu Yu's house.

"Sister Yu, I'm so sorry!" Fang Zhige, who usually maintained a cold demeanor, was now in turmoil. He had tried everything to handle this matter himself, but he had ultimately dragged Liu Yu into his troubles.

"It's okay, I don't blame you, but after this is over, you must tell me everything about your past!" Liu Yu cupped Fang Zhige's face and said earnestly.

Fang Zhige gave a bitter smile. This matter over? Would they even be alive afterward?

"Promise me!"

Fang Zhige looked into Liu Yu's clear, autumn-water-like eyes, as if making a decision, and nodded solemnly: "Okay, I'll tell you everything about my past!" Fang Zhige shielded Liu Yu behind him, wary of attacks from all directions.

"Master Luo, I didn't expect the organization to send you."

Master Luo's chilling voice carried on the cold wind to their ears, his tone lighthearted: "Fang Sha, you defected from the Ghost Killer Alliance. Did you think you'd have a way out?"

"I never thought you'd live so comfortably after defecting from the Ghost Killer Alliance. You renamed yourself Zhige, found a confidante, and even went to learn some Tiger Roar Fist like a mortal. It's truly laughable."

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard to imagine that Fang Sha, who passed the final test by killing his best friend, would fall to this state!"

"Shut up!" Master Luo seemed to have hit a raw nerve for Fang Zhige, who couldn't help but shout.

"Fang Sha, given your extraordinary talent in assassination arts, I can give you one chance. As long as you kill that little girl next to you, and kill the students and teacher of the Tiger Roar Martial Arts School, proving that you are still the old Fang Sha, I can spare your life and allow you to rejoin the Ghost Killer Alliance."

"You're dreaming!"

Fang Zhige angrily retorted. It was Liu Yu, it was everyone at the martial arts school, who taught him what emotion was. How could he lay a hand on them?

"You can't do it, can you? I taught you assassination arts back then. It seems today I'll have to reclaim those skills..."

Master Luo sighed, and then his presence vanished, leaving only the whistling north wind blowing mercilessly.

Fang Zhige nervously scanned his surroundings, a bead of cold sweat forming on his forehead, instantly dried by the north wind. Although Master Luo was at the Foundation Establishment stage and he was at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation, if he found the right opportunity, it was not impossible to counter-assassinate Master Luo! Where would Master Luo appear from? But did Master Luo not finish his last sentence?

Liu Yu felt Fang Zhige's grip on her wrist tighten, but she dared not speak, fearing to disturb his thoughts.

With a creak, the wooden door opened, and Lu Yang walked in, looking at the young couple.

"Did something happen to you two? Why aren't you in class?"