"Have you heard? This Martial Arts Conference is being held right here in Nordgard County. The leaders and outstanding disciples from all the sects, big and small, across the entire Arn region will be coming to participate," a thin-faced middle-aged man asked, deliberately lowering his voice.

  "I heard long ago. What news is that? All the sects are now rushing to Nordgard County. Our Red Shark Gang's leader arrived early too, rented out a whole inn. Those coming later might not even find space to sleep on the streets," a man with a bushy beard laughed heartily.

  Inside the Fortune Family Restaurant in the county town, many travel-worn martial heroes sat, carrying sabers and swords. They discussed and argued among themselves, creating a lively atmosphere.

  A Martial Arts Conference is being held in Nordgard County? And for all the sects in the entire Arn region? Leo currently sat in an inconspicuous corner of the restaurant. He had ordered a pot of tea and a plate of beef, silently listening to the discussions around him.

  "What I want to say isn't just that. Such a grand martial event is a first in recent decades. Even the Iron Palm Sect, currently ranked first in Arn, doesn't have that kind of pull. Do you know the reason behind it?" The thin-faced man, feeling rebutted, decided to drop a bombshell.

  "What reason?"

  "The Black Iron Order!"

  "What? The Black Iron Order? That's impossible! It hasn't been seen for nearly a hundred years!" In the restaurant, everyone was shocked, looking at each other in dismay.

  The thin-faced man snorted, "Yesterday, the leader of the Four Seas Gang, The Invincible Sea, was ambushed and killed by his enemies. Witnesses saw the Black Iron Order fall from his body. Besides the Black Iron Order, who else has the power to summon all the sects in Arn for a meeting in such a short time?"

  "That does seem plausible when you put it that way." The people in the restaurant erupted into discussion, their faces showing fear.

  So it's just some trivial martial world matters, Leo thought, smiling and shaking his head. He prepared to settle his bill and leave. Apart from cultivation matters, he wasn't interested in these martial conflicts. However, the words of a white-browed old man soon made his hand pause as he reached for his silver.

  "Legend says the holder of the Black Iron Order once received guidance from an immortal. Initially, the various sects in Arn also refused to obey the Black Iron Order, but they suffered a bloody purge. Within a few days, the residences of the gang leaders and sect masters were either attacked by fireballs that could melt metal and iron, water couldn't extinguish them... or they were pierced by ice arrows, their entire bodies frozen into ice sculptures. Those ice arrows wouldn't melt even in fire and were incredibly cold..."

  Leo's pupils contracted. Fireballs that can melt metal and iron—that's the Fireball Technique, isn't it? And the Ice Arrow Technique—the black-robed old man used it once when trapped by the barrier. The person holding the Black Iron Order is very likely a cultivator. This also made sense. Arn had dozens of counties with over a hundred sects of various sizes, and martial artists numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Among them were quite a few top-tier masters and even several legendary martial artists. No single person could command so many unruly martial artists by strength alone. Only the formidable power of a cultivator could force these martial artists into submission.

  What puzzled him was: why would a cultivator go to such great lengths to gather ordinary martial artists?

  While Leo was pondering this, a luxurious carriage escorted by twenty top-tier martial artists entered Nordgard County through the north gate. Not to mention the four snow-white, exceptionally fine horses pulling the carriage. Just the twenty top-tier martial riders themselves represented a formidable force anywhere.

  The carriage drove straight into a large compound without anyone daring to stop it. A white-haired old man and a man dressed like a plump shopkeeper were waiting there respectfully. If Leo were here, he would definitely recognize this plump shopkeeper as the manager of Mystic Herb Pharmacy.

  Clip-clop, clip-clop...

  The carriage stopped. A haughty-looking young man in a golden robe emerged. He appeared to be only in his twenties, but his disdainful attitude suggested he didn't consider any of the many martial artists present worthy of his notice.

  "I am Emil, Owner of Mystic Herb Pharmacy. This is Manager Sten of our pharmacy. Greetings, Holy Envoy," the white-haired old man, Emil, and Manager Sten bowed simultaneously to the golden-robed youth.

  "Hmm. So it's you who have news of Purple Spirit Grass?" The golden-robed youth stood with his hands behind his back on the carriage, looking down at the two.

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  "Yes, but... the Purple Spirit Grass mentioned by the Holy Envoy was purchased by another young man," Manager Sten reported truthfully.

  "What?" The golden-robed youth's face darkened with anger. Arn was a remote place with few spiritual items to begin with. Finally getting news of Purple Spirit Grass, only to have someone else snatch it away first?

  "I didn't know beforehand that the Purple Spirit Grass was an herb needed by the Holy Envoy. Please forgive my offense, Holy Envoy!"

  Feeling the pressure emanating from the golden-robed youth, Manager Sten's legs trembled, almost forcing him to his knees. Beside him, Emil, whose cultivation was much higher, also paled.

  "The person who bought the Purple Spirit Grass—do you remember what they looked like? Man or woman?" the golden-robed youth asked sternly.

  Manager Sten nodded repeatedly, "I remember."

  "Have a master painter draw this person's portrait immediately. Investigate their movements covertly. If discovered, do not act rashly. Report to me, the Holy Envoy, immediately. Now, get lost!" the golden-robed youth ordered after a moment's thought.

  "Yes, yes!" Emil and Manager Sten felt as if granted a pardon and hurried out the door.

  "Return to Green Lotus Manor!" The golden-robed youth said this and then ducked back into the carriage.

  Inside the carriage lay a curvaceous woman in a red dress with a lovely face. She twirled a strand of blue-green thread by her ear and said, "Didn't you say Arn has always been your family's territory? How come there are other cultivators here?"

  The golden-robed youth's face turned gloomy. "What I said before was from hearing the clan elders. Our family left Arn over a hundred years ago. Over such a long time, it's quite normal for a stray cultivator or two to appear in Arn. Not knowing about it is one thing, but now that I know, I must eliminate this person."

  "We don't know the other party's depth right now. Are you so confident? Should we notify the experts from the family?" The woman snuggled into the golden-robed youth's arms.

  The golden-robed youth snorted. "Arn is such a remote place; high-level loose cultivators wouldn't come here at all. If it weren't for the fierce competition in the Moonwatch Immortal City, and our family patriarch offending a Foundation Establishment senior in the city, I wouldn't have ended up back in Arn either. Besides, the other party only took Purple Spirit Grass, the lowest-grade spiritual herb. A mere loose cultivator, even if at Qi Refining Level Three, might not necessarily be my match, let alone the fact that there are two of us. What's there to fear? My father is preparing to break through to Qi Refining Level Four and has no time right now. Besides, if I can't even handle such a small matter well, how can I inherit the family's assets in the future?"

  "Fine then. We'll first probe that person's background. But we need to find them first."

  The golden-robed youth nodded. "As long as he's still in Arn, he won't escape our surveillance. Arn has hundreds of sects, big and small, and countless martial artists. I believe we'll soon have news of that person. We'll act according to circumstances then."

  There might actually be other cultivators appearing in Nordgard County. Having experienced the scheming with the black-robed old man, Leo instinctively felt wary of others. But the black-robed old man had remained tight-lipped to him, and he knew nothing about the cultivation world. After careful consideration, Leo decided that even with some risk, he must try to make contact and learn about the cultivation world. Otherwise, relying solely on his own cultivation, he might only reach Qi Refining Level Four or Five in his lifetime. The path of cultivation had now opened a door for him, and he was absolutely unwilling to stop here easily.

  "It seems I must participate in this Martial Arts Conference."

  Leo muttered to himself, took out some broken silver, placed it on the table, and left. Shortly after he left, two middle-aged men wearing bamboo hats nearby flashed looks of pleasant surprise in their eyes. One hurried away, while the other followed far behind in the bustling crowd of the county town.

  As martial artists from various places gathered in Nordgard County, the number of martial heroes in the county town increased rapidly. The streets were packed with traffic and flowing crowds. Leo didn't feel anything unusual on the street; there were just too many people.

  However, after exiting the city gate, the man with the bamboo hat also followed him out, quickly arousing his alertness.

  Could it be people from Mystic Herb Pharmacy again? Leo frowned and quickened his pace, heading towards a deserted wilderness area.

  Gallop, gallop...

  Dozens of top-tier martial artists galloped their horses on the street, followed closely by the carriage pulled by four white horses. The martial artists on the street initially wanted to curse, but seeing such a uniform force of top-tier masters, they immediately shut their mouths. Trouble came from careless talk. They couldn't afford to provoke such a formidable force.

  Outside the city gate, the golden-robed youth and the red-dressed girl left the carriage and chased into the wilderness following the marks left by the bamboo-hatted middle-aged man. However, after chasing for a while and entering a mountain forest, they saw the trailing bamboo-hatted man looking around blankly into the distance.

  The golden-robed youth asked coldly, "Where is the person?"

  "Who do you think you... Ahhhhh!" The bamboo-hatted man, not recognizing the young man before him, started to retort. But his words were cut short as a sharp pain erupted in his abdomen. He curled up like a shrimp and was kicked flying four or five meters away, landing on the ground with a miserable howl.

  "Before my patience runs out, you'd better tell me what I want to hear," the golden-robed youth said with a frosty face.

  "I... I followed that young man all the way out of the city gate... into these woods... then he just vanished. Where he went... I... I really don't know!" Seeing the icy gaze of the golden-robed youth, the bamboo-hatted man shivered, his face pale and trembling as he spoke.

  "Useless trash!" The golden-robed youth waved his right hand. A crystalline ice spike shot out, piercing the bamboo-hatted man's chest. Instantly, the man was frozen into an ice sculpture, his terrified and agonized expression solidified within the ice.