Chapter 153: Yu Family Village

Instructor Li walked at the front, with Yang Ze and Pan Fang following closely behind him. Looking at these two disciples of the War Hall, a trace of anger welled up in his heart.

Although he had dealt with the War Hall many times and understood that its people were difficult to get along with, Instructor Li hitting a brick wall today still left him feeling extremely displeased.

Both were instructors of the Outer Courtyard, yet his status was still suppressed a notch by the War Hall instructor, and even getting just two disciples had taken so much trouble.

Thinking of this, he suddenly said, "We have already wasted a fair amount of time in the War Hall. Keep up with my pace, as we must set off today."

Just as his voice fell, Instructor Li stepped out with his right foot. This step seemed ordinary, but his figure directly crossed a distance of dozens of *zhang* forward, instantly creating a gap between him and Yang Ze's group.

Pan Fang did not even think; he quickened his pace and hurriedly chased after him. Yang Ze similarly sped up in direct pursuit. How could they fail to see that Instructor Li was deliberately making things difficult for them? Yet, they had no other choice and could only follow.

Instructor Li's figure moved at the fastest speed ahead, with Yang Ze and Pan Fang closely trailing behind. Both of them were exerting their full strength, but no matter how they rushed forward, they could only maintain a certain distance from Instructor Li.

Whenever the gap between them narrowed, Instructor Li's speed would increase by another fraction, preventing them from catching up.

This truly brought misery to the two of them, forcing them to use all their strength just to keep from being left behind.

After running for a full half-hour and circling a little under half of Mount Hengyun, Instructor Li finally stopped. Yang Ze and Pan Fang, following behind, also hurriedly reined in their figures.

As soon as they stopped, both of their breaths grew somewhat heavy. Instructor Li glanced at them sideways without speaking, though a rather unique glint lingered in the corner of his eye as it fell upon Yang Ze.

Although he had intended to make things somewhat difficult for Yang Ze and Pan Fang, the pace he used was not actually very fast, or else the two of them would not have been able to keep up.

Pan Fang was easier to account for; his breathing was still relatively stable. However, Yang Ze's breath was not much different from Pan Fang's, and this was the very reason that made Instructor Li take a second look.

While he loathed the style of the War Hall, upon seeing this scene, Instructor Li still had to admit that the strength of War Hall disciples was indeed considerably superior to ordinary outer sect disciples.

Withdrawing his gaze, Instructor Li clapped his hands, and eight outer sect disciples stepped out from the side, standing before him.

"Greetings, Instructor Li!" the eight outer sect disciples cried out in unison, while at the same time casting their gazes upon Yang Ze and Pan Fang.

Upon recognizing the style of the garments worn by Yang Ze and Pan Fang, the expressions in the eyes of the eight disciples shifted slightly. They recognized these as two disciples from the War Hall.

While these eight outer sect disciples were observing them, Yang Ze was likewise observing them in return. Among the eight outer sect disciples, seven were at the First-Tier Bone Tempering Realm—five in the early stage, one in the mid stage, and one at the First-Tier Great Perfection.

As for the remaining outer sect disciple, he was a martial artist at the early stage of the Second-Tier Blood Condensation Realm, and the fluctuation of blood qi radiating from his body overshadowed all the others.

This came as somewhat of a surprise to Yang Ze. Seeing that only the two of them from the War Hall had been dispatched, he had originally thought this mission was nothing out of the ordinary; but now it seemed things were not quite so simple.

While he was haphazardly speculating, Instructor Li began to speak.

"Yesterday, we received news that the corpse of a registered disciple of our martial academy was discovered within the territory of Xiyuan City in Zhonglu Prefecture. Through investigations by our spies in Xiyuan City, it was found that three registered disciples went missing in the Xiyuan City area half a month ago.

"The elders were furious upon learning of this. Our mission is to head to the territory of Xiyuan City to thoroughly investigate the situation and find out precisely what kind of people dare to make a move against the disciples of our martial academy."

Instructor Li stated the matter, and the expressions of the ten people present subtly shifted. They had all wondered what kind of mission this could be, never expecting that disciples had been murdered out in the world.

Only then did Yang Ze understand what Instructor Li Zhong in the War Hall had meant when he spoke of matters involving life and death. With disciples dead, it was no wonder the War Hall had to step in.

Seeing the slight shifts in the expressions of the ten people, Instructor Li spoke again, "Are you afraid?"

A chill ran through the hearts of the ten, and Yang Ze directly spoke in a loud voice, "We are not afraid!"

Joking aside, at a time like this, no matter how terrified one might be, one could never admit to fear. They were all disciples of the Misty Martial Academy; how could there be any reason to retreat?

"As long as you are not afraid. We must depart immediately today. At our pace, traveling from the martial academy to the territory of Xiyuan City in Zhonglu Prefecture will take at least three days at the fastest. We can delay no longer; let us leave right now."

With that, Instructor Li led the crowd toward the outskirts of Mount Hengyun. Half an hour later, eleven swift horses galloped out from the dense forest outside the Misty Martial Academy, racing toward the west.

Zhonglu Prefecture was one of the twelve prefectures of Qing Province. Bordering Linyang Prefecture to its west, Xiyuan City was situated right in the westernmost region of Zhonglu Prefecture.

Three days later, along the border post road in the Xiyuan City territory, eleven fast horses came thundering past—they were none other than Yang Ze and his group.

Instructor Li's mount surged at the very front. In his hand, he held a formation disk, upon which a needle twitched from time to time to guide the direction.

After galloping for over two hundred miles along the post road, they arrived beside a small hill. With a wave of Instructor Li's hand, everyone came to a halt.

Dismounting, Instructor Li stood at the front, holding the formation disk in his left hand while rapidly forming hand seals with his right. Streams of true essence struck the formation disk, causing the needle to spin wildly.

Suddenly, Instructor Li halted his hand seals and pointed a finger downward. With a sharp snap, the rapidly spinning needle broke off, and several cracks appeared across the surface of the formation disk.

Seeing this, far from shaking his head, Instructor Li chuckled instead. With a pat on his storage bag, four small banners flew out, hovering by his side.

Placing the cracked formation disk onto the ground, Instructor Li formed seals with both hands. The four small banners fluttered around him, flying outward in a peculiar pattern toward the surroundings.

Yang Ze and the others stood to one side, none of them speaking. Watching this scene, Yang Ze recalled the information he had learned only yesterday.

Instructor Li's given name was Li He, a fourth-tier One-Origin Realm martial artist and one of the renowned formation masters in the outer courtyard of the Misty Martial Academy, responsible for imparting knowledge on formations.

Initially, Yang Ze had not taken this to heart, but seeing Instructor Li in action right now, he finally understood that Instructor Li's attainment in the art of formations might truly be quite formidable.

Aware of this, Yang Ze stopped letting his mind wander and intently watched Li He's movements. The four small banners continuously fluttered, and after the span of nearly a hundred breaths, dazzling white light burst from their surfaces, suspending themselves motionless in the surrounding air.

Another formation disk flew out from Instructor Li's storage bag. His left hand danced through the void, and true essence flickered from his fingertips, carving a runic imprint in mid-air that struck directly onto the formation disk.

Simultaneously, the four small banners in the surroundings unleashed four beams of light that shot into the distance. The smooth surface of the formation disk now became pristine and flawless, without a trace of impurity.

Having completed all of this, Li He held the formation disk in his left hand and said to the ten of them, "This place is the location investigated by our spies. The culprit who murdered our academy's disciples is within a radius of one hundred miles from here.

"I have set up a sensory formation here. Within a radius of three hundred miles, as long as any ranked martial artist takes action and releases their own aura, the formation disk in my hand will instantly detect it, leaving them nowhere to hide.

"I will remain here to hold the fort. The ten of you shall search the surrounding hundred-mile radius. The culprit is currently hiding in the shadows; once you discover them, capture them alive if you are capable of doing so alone. If you are not their match, stall them until I arrive. Do you understand!"

Li He solemnly instructed. Not daring to be careless, Yang Ze and the others nodded and then scattered in various directions.

There were only ten of them, yet searching an area with a radius of one hundred miles was no simple task. To complete the search as quickly as possible, they divided the region into ten sectors, with each person responsible for one.

The sector Yang Ze was assigned to was the due north direction. Riding his fast horse, he bypassed the hill and swept all the way toward the north.

This mission could not be considered easy by any stretch of the imagination. The intelligence reported by the spies in Xiyuan City was limited: three registered disciples had gone missing, only one corpse had been found, and no traces of the remaining two had been recovered.

Moreover, they had no idea what the culprit looked like, only being able to deduce from vague clues that the perpetrator was hiding somewhere within this hundred-mile radius. Lacking even precise coordinates, they could only rely on a slow and meticulous search.

As for the culprit's strength, the intelligence contained no description whatsoever, merely stating that it would not exceed the third-tier Pulse Opening Realm.

Thinking of this, Yang Ze felt a headache coming on. Without a shred of concrete intelligence, finding the culprit would likely prove exceedingly difficult.

Though he thought this way, Yang Ze did not dare to slack off. Three registered disciples had died this time; regardless of who the perpetrator was, they were already an enemy of the Misty Martial Academy. As a disciple of the War Hall, he could not simply let the other party off.

Lashing out with his right-hand whip, he drove his steed to an even greater speed. Carrying Yang Ze thirty miles forward, he spotted farmlands appearing ahead, with wisps of cooking smoke rising in the distance. He squeezed his thighs together, and the speed of the mount beneath him immediately slowed down a fraction.

Turning his direction, Yang Ze hurried toward the source of the cooking smoke. Drawing closer, he realized it was a village. Galloping up to the edge of the fields, Yang Ze reined in his horse.

Quite a few elderly farmers were still sowing seeds in the fields. Catching sight of them, Yang Ze dismounted and stepped forward to make inquiries.

Yet as soon as those old farmers saw Yang Ze approaching, they were frightened out of their wits. Dropping their farming tools directly onto the ground, they turned and fled in panic.

Yang Ze froze in place, his figure springing forward to seize one of the old farmers. After asking a question, he learned that this place was called Yu Village.