420 Exchange 1

The orange flame lit up the forest. Large amounts of maple leaves like molten steel were moved by the flame, and flew everywhere with the air current of the explosion. 

Amber accompanied the maple leafs. 

"Thousand Chance Lock!? Where was the Thousand Chance Lock!?!" Lu Sheng roared in anger as he raised his palm, his eyes filled with horrifying rage!

If it hadn't been for one of the two Evil Art Masters not doing their job and failing to keep Xu Qi in place with the Thousand Chance Lock, the plan would have succeeded already. He would have gotten two, no, at least three Divine Weapons! 

One was needed to submit for the mission, but he could absolutely absorb the mental energy of the other two. The Heaven Burning Ruler could even be a Divine Intellect grade!!

Divine Intellect grade! He had been drooling for a Divine Intellect grade Divine Weapon for a long time now, yet when he finally came so near one, he somehow missed the chance. 

Soon, a gray shape appeared among the burning forest. It was a man whose body was wrapped tight in white bandages. Though the layers upon layers of bandage looked tight and thick, his whole body was in a translucent state as if he could return to the World of Pain at any time. 

He was one of the Evil Art Masters sent on this mission. 

"I've acted according to plan, not my fault," the man said coldly. 

Lu Sheng abruptly turned, and stared coldly at this person. 

"Only a small mistake." Another gray shape slowly appeared on the other side. "I ran into some enemies on the way, haha… I accidentally got delayed a little."

"Accidentally?! Why didn't you act on time??" Lu Sheng's gaze landed on that person. 

"Are you trying to lecture me?" The man laughed coldly. "Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like that in front of my brother?

"We are of an equal rank during this extraction mission, and we move separately. You don't bother us, we don't bother you!" His tone turned stern. 

Lu Sheng's face turned cold. 

"You actually think you—" The gray shape sneered.

"Puff!!"

Lu Sheng charged forward at lightning speed, his gold palm going straight through the gray shape's chest. 

"!!!"

"You!?"

Both gray shapes were shocked. 

Lu Sheng carried the man back. The latter's expression was still a mixture of shock and awe as if he still couldn't believe the fact that Lu Sheng dared to attack him. 

A stream of golden Yang Essence flowed out of Lu Sheng's glowing golden hand like water, fanatically corroding the Evil Art Master's temporary body. 

Though the Yang Essence was disguised in gold, it was still an improved version of Yin Flame at its core. It was named Death Blaze by Lu Sheng, and was especially destructive against spirits. 

It could be said the world had never seen anything like it before, and the strange flame was purely the work of Lu Sheng, who created it with Deep Blue. 

"You!? Release him!!" The other man, shocked and angered at the same time, formed a gray palm, and grabbed at Lu Sheng. 

But Lu Sheng backhandedly slapped the gray palm away. 

"Bam!"

Gray air scattered; the slap even forced the Evil Art Master who attacked several steps back. All he could do was stare at Lu Sheng, who carried his brother and charged into the depths of the maple forest like a mad elephant. 

"Boom!!"

Lu Sheng's hand went through the Evil Art Master's chest, and pinned him against the rock. His other hand grabbed his head, and slammed it ruthlessly into the wall. 

"Boom!!!"

A deep hole was created in the rock wall. 

Everything in ten or so meters' radius cracked, and rocks fell from the mountain. The boulders fell toward the two, but were quickly deflected by an invisible force field. 

As boulder after boulder rained down, Lu Sheng grabbed the Evil Art Master's head again. His head was almost shriveled, and his eyes and nose were oozing blood. 

The Evil Art Master clearly sensed that Lu Sheng truly wanted to kill him. It was a raw and obvious intent to kill, like the tip of a knife pointing at his nose. 

"Spare… Spare me…" He was afraid… He was an Evil Art Master, a native who was born with great power. Through rigorous cultivation, he finally became an Evil Art Master. He didn't want to die here—he was still young. He didn't want to die so pointlessly. 

"There is no next time." Lu Sheng slammed his head down again. 

"Boom!"

Golden light flashed on the ground, and the explosion created a ten or so meters wide crater. Inside, everything was red as if the ground could turn into molten lava at any time. 

Releasing the Evil Art Master's head, Lu Sheng stood up, stomped his feet, and jumped. He happened to notice the other Evil Art Master who just caught up. 

He glanced at him, and noticed that he had visibly shrunk back. 

Though they were both Divine Lords, Evil Art Masters were too fragile compared to the Great Yin's Divine Lords. They possessed neither a superb defense nor regenerative power, and only had the spirit of a Divine Lord. No matter how strong one's spirit was, its power could only be released by a strong enough body... unless they used spirit-based attacks. 

With their fragile body, even if they used their full power, it would have been at most Weapon Master level, and couldn't even beat an ordinary Divine Lord. 

That was why three people were sent to ambush a single Xu Qi. 

It wasn't simply because the Tian'er Blade excelled at movements, but also because Divine Lord level Evil Art Masters were naturally weaker than ordinary Divine Lords. 

With a cold humph, Lu Sheng flew past him. The only reason he let him live was because he didn't want to foul his relation with Shizi Xing for now. Otherwise, he would have squeezed both these meager Evil Art Masters who'd dared act so arrogant in front of him to death with one hand. 

Not long after, Lu Sheng intercepted the group of people in white who had retreated furiously. 

"Stop!" Yuanguang Yuan abruptly stopped and raised her hand, stopping her companions to her sides. 

With the fire that rose to the sky, the crimson light dyed all six people present red as if their normally white cloth had been dyed in paint. 

All six were sons and daughters of the big family in the Great Yin Capital, and no one had expected to encounter a situation like this when they had been assigned the mission. 

Yuanguang Yuan, as the leader of the team, still stepped up in front of Lu Sheng because of her good upbringing in a big family. 

"I am Yuanguang Yuan, part of the main Yuanguang Family in the Great Yin Capital. We are searching for our lost members of our family scattered outside. This master also possesses the Burning Blood—"

She was interrupted by Lu Sheng before she could finish. "The Yuanguang Family… was damaged severely by the recent incident?" Lu Sheng asked casually. 

Yuanguang Yuan's expression changed slightly. "Yes. The current head of the family ordered every member of the family sent out bring at least one Burning Heir. The more we bring back, the higher the rating."

"What's the reward?" Lu Sheng asked casually. 

"Every returning family member will be treated the same as a member of the main family, and would be provided with all the resources needed to break through from Bind level to Earth Prime level. Also, every half a year, they will be given a Divine Weapon shard, a portion of special herbs, and medicine to strengthen the body. As well as—"

"Is that all?" Lu Sheng interrupted again. 

An attractive offer for a bottom level disciple, but not much for anyone above Earth Prime. 

"Um... All family members above Earth Prime level… will enjoy a Golden Leaf grade Divine Weapon… Aside from that…. Aside from that…. I don't know… but the point of summoning back all family members is so the Holy Sword of Dawn could choose a new wielder!" Yuanguang Huan was only a younger generation Earth Prime, and naturally didn't know much about the recruitment of higher levels. 

Normally, the higher levels of recruitments were handled by the Yuanguang Family masters personally, but she had somehow met Lu Sheng. 

Lu Sheng didn't have much against the Yuanguang Family, but he had heard about the Holy Sword of Dawn before. It was one of the two guardian Divine Weapons of the Yuanguang Family. 

That Divine Weapon was one of the oldest among Divine Weapons and Devil Blades. It possessed horrifying power too immense to describe, and could forcibly improve its chosen wielder to the Divine Lord level. Peak level Divine Lord, at that. A Divine Weapon like that… No one would want to go against it. 

He didn't want to have anything to do with the Yuanguang Family, but they happened to come across him trying to kill Jing Hong. 

He needed to think carefully about how this situation should be handled. 

"Are you all from the Yuanguang Family?" Lu Sheng glanced at the six people in front of him. 

"Only three of us, including me." Yuanguang Yuan pointed at herself, her sister Yuanguang Qin, and lastly Yuanguang Sun. "The rest are my apprentice brothers from the Great Yin Capital. Some of them are from the Mu Family, others from Jing Family…"

"That's enough. You may leave." Lu Sheng thought about it, and ultimately released the Yang Essence in his hand. There was too much at stake. It would have been fine if there were only a few, but now that members of all three major families were all present, a lot of trouble would come if all of them were to disappear. 

He wasn't afraid of trouble, but he didn't want to get into trouble for no reason, either. Killing Jing Hong would anger a small part of the Jing Family at most, but if he killed everyone present, all three major families would be turned against him. 

Yuanguang Yuan hesitated, but still bit her lip, and asked, "Then… Does Senior wish to return to his home?" 

Even though she had a good birth, there were still two sisters and one brother above her. To improve her position, she needed to do well in this mission to attract the attention of the Grand Elders. 

And if she could recruit a Weapon Master level family member, her position within the family would vastly improve. 

This one in front of her was definitely a Weapon Master, a peak level one at that. People like him held crucial positions even in the three major families, and all had immense power both in terms of cultivation and politics. 

On top of that, she would earn some good will as the one who made the offer. 

"No. I don't have much feelings toward the Yuanguang Family. It's not important whether I return," Lu Sheng said flatly. 

He thought about it, but still said in a low voice, "Though, the Great Yin Capital… I will visit it eventually. Who is your direct senior? Are they Weapon Masters?" He was quite impressed by this girl who looked soft but had great strength within her. She talked smoothly, and even dared to extend an invitation in front of him, which quite clearly showed her strong will. 

As opposed to the other five people, even the eldest "apprentice brother" was nervous. His brow was visible sweating, and his muscles and skin were strained all over his body. Even his breathing was unstable, let alone speech. 

Everyone else's minds were all blank. They weren't all in the blame here—it was also partly because Lu Sheng's immense power after getting back the various Yin Demons of the Ultimate Eight-Headed Devil Way and the natural pressure he exerted mentally on all weaker beings. 

Ordinary Divine Lords didn't exude this kind of pressure, but he was different since he had a Yin Devil that could influence people's minds.