Chapter 195 — Two Deals

The ferocity of the Golden Armor Guards had left a deep impression on Zuo Yan.

"But what exactly are they?" Zuo Yan asked, pointing at the three hulking figures. The three Golden Armor Guards stood with their swords planted before them like three small mountains, radiating a crushing sense of pressure.

"Puppets, I suppose," Pu Yao said offhandedly.

"Oh." Zuo Yan answered, but a powerful urge was already rising in him—to study those three puppets thoroughly. There were many methods of refining puppets; the most famous was surely corpse-refining, and things like thousand-year zombies were prime corpse-refining material. Talisman soldiers also belonged to the puppet category, though they were utterly different from refined corpses.

But when he recalled that stunning sword strike from a moment before, he decided to extinguish this dangerous notion.

His eyes fixed on the great crimson swords in the guards' hands. A long while later, a heart-rending scream echoed out of the cave.

"You old devil! I'll tear you apart! Wuwuwu! My Crimson Fire Stone! My Sky-Eye Silver..."

In the sky above Barrenwood Reef.

"How much longer must we wait?" Chang Heng said, somewhat impatiently.

"Heh heh, he'll be out soon enough." Fu Feng was calm enough; beside him, Gui Feng's gaze swept over Barrenwood Reef from time to time. Contrary to their expectations, Zuo Yan was not the only one on the reef—there were other Wukong Yan disciples, though every one of them was a production cultivator.

At first these disciples glanced up at them now and then; later they simply went about their own business.

Barrenwood Reef appeared calm, but many vital places were shrouded in white cloud, revealing nothing. Those clouds also proved that the great formation on the reef had suffered no fatal damage.

Gui Feng found Zuo Yan ever more mysterious. He was puzzled: how could Wukong Yan banish such an important disciple to so remote and desolate a place? Was it confidence in Zuo Yan?

He did not think so. The importance of Barrenwood Reef was beyond doubt, but no matter how confident the elders were, they would never stint on stationing a few more powerful disciples with him.

Such an outstanding disciple—he did not believe the Jiangxiao Sect would willingly lose him.

Yet now Zuo Yan guarded Barrenwood Reef alone, which made Gui Feng feel this was banishment far more than assignment.

The annihilation of the Wu Feng bandits, if word got out, would surely shake the Tianyue Realm; Zuo Yan's personal fame and the prestige of Wukong Yan would both be raised to new heights.

Gui Feng glanced at Fu Feng, whose face showed not the slightest impatience—they had been waiting here five days. To show they bore no hostility, he had brought not one of his thirty-six Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Out of the corner of his eye Gui Feng caught the figure of Zuo Yan appearing below, and his spirits soared at once.

Eh!

His gaze swept to the three enormous shapes behind Zuo Yan, and Gui Feng's pupils shrank to needle points!

Golden-yellow scale armor covered them head to toe, the fine scales gleaming with a pure golden luster; their faces were golden masks, nothing exposed but a pair of eyes.

The three guards in golden armor turned their eyes together toward the three in the sky.

The moment Gui Feng's gaze met theirs, his heart quailed.

The three pairs of eyes were eerily alike—indifferent, icy, devoid of the least emotion, giving Gui Feng even the illusion of emptiness, of dead things! He could feel that in their eyes he was no more than a mole cricket, incapable of stirring the faintest ripple.

Suddenly Gui Feng felt as though he stood inside a furnace; a pressure almost tangible welled up, heavy as a small mountain pressing on his heart.

Gui Feng's expression flickered; he gave a cold snort, shifted his body slightly, and circulated his spiritual power.

The invisible pressure enveloping him vanished on the instant.

Having thrown off their lock, Gui Feng felt no satisfaction—on the contrary, his face was ugly. The exchange had looked even, but Gui Feng knew he had in fact come off worse.

What a formidable master!

Could this be Wukong Yan's hidden strength? He narrowed his eyes.

Fu Feng and Chang Heng both grew grave; their thoughts matched Gui Feng's. These three cultivators sheathed in golden armor all had cultivation above the Meridian Condensation stage, and their strength was formidable indeed! Though their features could not be made out, their whole bodies were steeped in an intense, murderous, razor-sharp aura—only those who had come through countless bloody battles could radiate such dense killing intent.

No wonder the Wu Feng bandits had been wiped out—three masters had been hidden on Barrenwood Reef. Relieved, all three rejoiced inwardly that they had not forced their way in. Against any one of these golden-armored cultivators, even Fu Feng would have no certainty of victory.

The third heaven of Meridian Condensation: Gui Feng and Chang Heng were only at the first heaven. But each of these three golden-armored cultivators stood at the second heaven or above.

The gulf between Meridian Condensation and Foundation Establishment was vast, yet the difference between one Meridian Condensation and another was just as vast. The second heaven of Meridian Condensation was fully three times the first!

In cultivation, they were outmatched; in combat experience, outmatched; in magic treasures...

He looked at the great swords in the three men's hands, glowing as if red-hot—clearly no ordinary items; their grade surely reached the fourth rank. Between the two sides there was little to choose. Their greatest confidence lay, perhaps, only in their arts. Gui Feng had immense faith in the *Nine Ghosts Nail Curse* he was cultivating.

In Zuo Yan's sea of consciousness, Pu Yao was muttering: "A pity about that bald one—he would have been fine material for refining a Golden Armor Guard."

Zuo Yan paid him no mind; his eyes were on the sky.

This time three Golden Armor Guards stood at his side; though his injuries were not fully healed, his courage was much greater.

"I have kept you three waiting. May I ask what brings you here?" Zuo Yan had never cared for pleasantries and went straight to the point.

Fu Feng did not beat around the bush either. He smiled and said, "I have two favors to ask of you."

"Oh." Zuo Yan was rather surprised; he had not expected them to have real business—and two matters at that.

"Your annihilation of the Wu Feng bandits was truly gratifying," Fu Feng said. "I would like to buy a piece of information from you, Brother Zuo."

Wu Feng bandits? Zuo Yan was stunned, then it came to him—so the gang that had attacked him was the Wu Feng bandits; no wonder they were so strong! His thoughts raced, and his tongue was just as quick: "What information might that be?"

Fu Feng fixed his eyes on Zuo Yan and said gravely, "I want to buy from you the location of the secret realm."

Zuo Yan's heart lurched. A secret realm!

He was truly shaken by those two words, "secret realm." After the last Sword Trial Assembly there had been an exploration of a secret realm, and Zuo Yan had missed it because he had been thrown into the Sword Intent Formation; he had always regretted it. He had never expected to hear news of a secret realm now.

Fu Feng had come asking for its location out of the blue, and shrewd Zuo Yan realized at once where the news had come from.

The Wu Feng bandits!

It had to be the Wu Feng bandits!

Pu Yao was quicker than he was, and his methods were inexhaustible; in the blink of an eye he had wrung the answer he wanted out of those laborers still soaking in the black pool.

After Pu Yao's brief account, Zuo Yan grasped the rough sequence of events, and was at once disappointed.