Chapter 184: But We Are the Good Guys!

Yue Hongyan, staring at the backs of Xiao Yan and co., turned and looked at Lin Feng, mystified. "Elder..." Lin Feng, through a shake of his hand, conveyed that there was nothing to be alarmed about. He had already left his mana mark on Xiao Yan and co.; as long as they did not leave the borders of Shazhou City, at this sort of distance, he could arrive in time in the event of danger. Miao Shihao, looking interested, covered his lip coyly and smiled. "They're your disciples? Outstanding, all of them."

Lin Feng was already capable of selectively ignoring Miao Shihao's many feminine gestures. "Just a few hopeless brats, sorry that you have to see these," he smiled drily. Repeatedly shaking his head, Miao Shihao gushed admiringly, "I, Brother Shihao, will never sweet-talk or flatter others. Sir, those few disciples of yours are truly extraordinary. When I was at Foundation Establishment, sadly, I did not think that I was as strong or capable. When they form their Aurous Cores or even their Nascent Souls, naturally, they should all be the finest of their stage."

"My friend, you flatter them." Lin Feng smiled faintly. After a moment of thought, he asked, "The Spiritual Conference of Hanhai, is it just for trading of treasures?"

Miao Shihao extended one hand into the air, his five slender, jade-white fingers open. As he examined his fingers, he said mindlessly, "Not just to trade treasures. After the conference is formally opened, there will be many mantras and spells available."

Tipping his head, Miao Shihao stared at Lin Feng and smiled. "However, the majority of the stuff traded privately during the conference are fragments. There are few of the truly valuable. The real good stuff can only be found in the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade's official auctions."

"What are the qualifications for attending the auctions?" Lin Feng asked quietly. "Minimum of Aurous Core, at least one treasure of your own up for auction, and one previous attendee of the conference as guarantor. If you fulfill these three criteria, you can receive an invitation." Miao Shihao said. "You can only act as guarantor for one person each time. If you receive an invitation, you can bring at most two companions." Nodding, Lin Feng smiled at Miao Shihao, "If so, I'm afraid I would need you, my friend, to make a guarantee for me." "No problem at all, since you're interested, I'll definitely act as this guarantor for you." Miao Shihao simpered.

As they conversed, Lin Feng suddenly felt his heart tinge. "Xiao Budian? This feeling...he ploughed into someone's formation?" Remembering that people from the Yu Clan might be in Shazhou as well, Lin Feng still didn't feel entirely confident. "Before the official opening of the auction, I will come here again to find you, my friend. I would ask that you be my guarantor then." He said, standing up.

"You're going already?" Miao Shihao was rather unwilling to see him go. Lin Feng's body shivered, cringing, and laughed drily. "One of my disciples seemed to have got into a little trouble, I'm going to take a look." Covering his lip coyly, Miao Shihao smiled. "You tell your disciples not to look for you when they get into trouble, but actually you care for them a lot." "So it's goodbye now, my friend." Lin Feng turned and walked towards the door; Yue Hongyan bowed and followed behind him.

As Lin Feng pushed open the door, a fragrant odor suddenly drifted towards him as Miao Shihao followed. On his attractive face, a curious grin stretched from lip to lip. "Sir, those disciples of yours are rather to my liking as well, so I came to see how they can surprise me. You would not mind if I tag along, would you?" Lin Feng smiled, "My friend, you insist on witnessing my embarrassment." Miao Shihao seductively rolled his eyes at him, "How unflattering! As if I could bear to." Lin Feng's lips twitched, resisting the urge to punch his nose in, and walked out wordlessly. If this joker wishes to follow, let him.

After they exited the shop, Lin Feng probed mentally and headed straight for the west of the city, arriving in front of a large compound. The compound appeared completely unremarkable, but Lin Feng could subtly sense a strong feeling, sharp and aggressive, baring its teeth yet carefully hidden, as if confronting a sword ready to be unsheathed any moment.

"Someone set up a formation here, a powerful sword formation no less." Lin Feng considered carefully. "A way of the sword, indomitable and indefatigable, treading on the Heavens and singing to the skies. The idea within links the Nine Heavenly Skies and melds Heaven and Earth. Ah, I remember, this should be the way of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect!"

Together with the Mount Shu Sword Sect, the Sword of Radiance Sect, the Intense Flaming Sword Sect and the Great Barren Sword Sect, the Heavenly Master Sword Sect comprised part of the Nine Heavenly Sword Alliance. Its strength even surpasses that of the Sword of Radiance Sect, the Intense Flaming Sword Sect and the Great Barren Sword Sect; within the Nine Heavenly Sword Alliance, the Heavenly Master Sword Sect was a solid second place. The profoundness of its sword Way, its number of masters, the extent of its influence, are all second to only the Mount Shu Sword Sect.

Gazing at the sword formation in the compound before his eyes, a confused expression came over Miao Shihao's face. "How could the Heavenly Master Sword Sect's Skywalking Sword Staircase Formation be here? The Heavenly Master Sword Sect has a dedicated resting place in Shazhou, but that's in the north of the city."

"This looks like a private residence." Lin Feng's eyes flashed. There was no need to enter; Lin Feng raised his hand and drew a circle of light in mid-air. Within the circle, images flashed and transformed, and the figure of Xiao Budian instantly materialized. The little brat twisted and turned slyly, passing through the layered sword formation like a slippery fish. From time to time, bursts of sword Qi would erupt, forming a web of death and blocking Xiao Budian's path. He did not attempt to go against them heads-on; twisting his fingers and stopping from time to time, he managed to continuously calculate the pattern of the formation's transformations, wandering through it unobstructed. What's even better was that, without breaking the formation by force, he would not alert the one who set the formation up.

The trio, Lin Feng, Miao Shihao and Yue Hongyan, all stared at Xiao Budian curiously, unaware of what was going on in his little head. Surrounded by the destructive sword Qi, Xiao Budian has already penetrated the periphery sword formation and entered the main hall of the residence. Here, Xiao Budian's speed visibly slowed; after some lengthy calculations, his face crumpled. "It's not working. Screw the calculations!" Xiao Budian curled his lips, holding his palms together. Wind and Thunder Energy amassed, blasting through the masses of Sword Qi barriers blocking his path. The sword formation was completely activated; countless bursts of sword Qi formed a staircase in front of Xiao Budian, reaching up to the Heavens. It's just that every step on this staircase was formed by innumerable bursts of sword Qi; as the ladder extends, the sword Qi became more solid, forming bursts of sword aura. At the very top, the concentrated sword Qi were indistinguishable from real swords, awe-inspiring and incredibly intimidating.

Xiao Budian laughed, wind and thunder at his feet as he stepped onto the Heavenly staircase. Lin Feng and Miao Shihao looked at each other, coming to a realization. "So it's because the master is not in the formation." With the scale of the ruckus Xiao Budian made, there was still completely no reaction, with only the sword formation reacting automatically; obviously, the master who set the formation up was not in the compound now. Lin Feng was silently puzzled, "Did Xiao Budian find something strange about this compound?" He watched patiently as Xiao Budian rapidly scaled the sword Qi staircase; any step he walked was immediately shattered, as if treaded on by an ancient beast. At the upper steps formed by sword aura, the magic power was more consolidated, and correspondingly, the attacks stronger. Wind and thunder raged in Xiao Budian's hands as his strength rised. Storms and thunder, weaved together, smashed onto the steps of sword aura, blasting the aura into smithereens as well.

"The formation of an Aurous Core cultivator...it's so strong!" Drops of sweat appeared on Xiao Budian's forehead as he pants, cheeks red as fire. He did not halt, charging straight onto the top step composed by sword radiance. Right as he steps onto this step, numerous bursts of sword radiance streaked straight at him ferociously; the idea within was impossibly savage, penetrating even the Heavens and the Earth. However, with the previous preparation, the power of Xiao Budian's Infinite Thunderstorm spell had already risen to a whole new level, its strength equal or even surpassing the strongest attack of an Aurous Core cultivator. To Xiao Budian now, such strength was at the edge of losing control. However, he had an extremely good grasp of the degree, halting the power of the Infinite Thunderstorm at the critical point of his control and manipulating the tremendous wind and thunder energy to battle the sword radiance triggered by the formation. In a serious of fierce vibrations, the wind and thunder dissipated, and the sword radiance was smashed and disintegrated as well.

Chuckling, Xiao Budian stepped over the final step. Stepping onto the highest step, he did not reach the rooftop of the main building but rather, a secret room beneath the building. The secret room was completely empty, with no decorations or furnishings, save for the floor in the center of the room, where a Spiritual Herb was planted. The Spiritual Herb was over a meter tall, its slender stem, like bamboo, divided into eight segments, appearing a radiant dark blue.

Even across the formation, Lin Feng could sense the incredible Medicinal power it contained; the Concept appeared to connect above the Nine Heavens, just like the sword Way of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect. Beside him, Miao Shihao gasped. "'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb? This thing is not common at all. It can only be found at the blessed spot - Heavenly Master Sword Sect's headquarters, Mount Tongtian."

"'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb?" Once Miao Shihao said the name, Lin Feng realized that the Spiritual Herb before his eyes was the most important ingredient of Celestial Elixir, the secret Spiritual Medicine of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect. Celestial Elixir has the same effect as the Trāyastriṃśa Elixir of Creation in Lin Feng's system. They can both raise the Mastery of the user; it's just that its effect was not as aggressive as the Trāyastriṃśa Elixir of Creation. Raising the mastery level of cultivators using the Celestial Elixir involved a certain chance of failure; but even so, it was definitely one of the few notable Elixirs of the entire Grand Celestial World, reinforcing the high status of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect.

This particular 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb has only eight segments, obviously yet to fully mature. However, Xiao Budian could not care less; although the only one in the secret room, he still glanced around furtively and then, grabbing the 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb, pulled it out of the earth. Yue Hongyan, staring at this scene in shock, looked at Lin Feng hesitatingly. "Sir, Tianhao, he is..." Lin Feng, lips twitching, did not reply as Miao Shihao chuckled ceaselessly. "What else? Stealing their Spiritual Herb. Or to be exact, not just stealing, but robbing in broad daylight. Breaking past their sword formation and robbing them unabashedly. Oh god, I'm going to die of laughter. This little brat is interesting, I like him! Fits Brother Shihao's liking!" Lin Feng looked at Xiao Budian, expressionless, as he howled silently. "Disciple, Disciple! We're the good guys! With this move, our image was destroyed!"