The roasted chicken was the famous Wind-Smoked Roast Chicken from Donglu County; it was a bit dry to eat, but paired with the Five Grains Yellow Wine from Donglu County, it was absolutely delicious.

The roast chicken and yellow wine were both brought from the surface world by Flying Heaven Sword Chu Fei. When Lu Yuan and the other two arrived, Ling Yuzhu’s protective talisman had already been activated by the ferocious assault of a Shura. Once such a talisman was activated, the holder was disqualified from this trial and eliminated.

Of course, the talisman could not sustain itself indefinitely; it could only hold out for a short time. This was why the Sword Immortals, Flying Heaven Sword Chu Fei and Soaring Goose Sword Gu Fei, who had achieved the unity of man and sword—body merging with the blade—had come to the rescue.

This time, it was Lu Yuan who suddenly appeared and dealt with the sixth-level Qi Refining Shura.

However, the Chu Fei Martial Uncle on the surface could not possibly know this. He immediately merged man and sword, flying on his blade to offer aid. When he arrived, he happened to encounter Lu Yuan. As it happened, he had brought some provisions, which Lu Yuan and the other two—who were sick to death of eating only (Bigu Pills)—managed to extort from him.

"Three gluttons," was Chu Fei's thought after leaving.

Turning back, the roast chicken was currently being warmed over the fire.

Alas, there wasn't much roast chicken, only one bird, and not much wine either, just one pot.

It would truly be hard for three foodies to divide such meager rations.

The roast chicken was indeed set over the fire, roasting.

At this moment, Ye Fang said, "Speaking of which, Sixth Senior Brother, as Third Senior Sister mentioned, among the eight true disciples of our North Peak, only the three of us remain underground. The other five have already lost their qualifications for this trial. On the South Peak side, I heard only two were eliminated, leaving five true disciples still active. Isn't this pressure too immense?"

Lu Yuan drawled lazily, "Don't overthink it. We just need to do our best, that's all. As for whether we can bring glory to our peak line in the end—are you tired from worrying so much? Tsk, tsk, you've really been influenced by your master."

Ye Fang considered it and realized that fulfilling one's duty was enough; thinking too much served no purpose. Of course, while he agreed internally, he couldn't concede verbally: "Hmph, Sixth Senior Brother, you're only talking tough now. If you were in front of my master, you wouldn't dare even let out a puff of air."

Lu Yuan nodded. "Can't be helped. Your master's aura is too powerful. Gentleman Sword Fang Ru—every word, every action, every gesture—is like a gentleman of antiquity. Not to mention us juniors, I doubt even many of the Ninth Generation Martial Uncles and Martial Aunts truly dare to defy your master's imposing presence..."

Thinking of Gentleman Sword Fang Ru, always wearing a stern and utterly serious expression, Lu Yuan and Ye Yuan started laughing first. Although Ye Fang wanted to smile, a disciple should not criticize their master's faults, so he kept his face set.

By now, a fragrance was wafting from the roasting chicken. As the aroma drifted, Lu Yuan, Ye Fang, and Ye Yuan simultaneously realized a problem: there was only one roast chicken and only one pot of wine—how would they divide it?

Lu Yuan chuckled heartily, and his Yangwu Sword was instantly unsheathed: "Same old rule: whoever has better swordsmanship gets the larger half."

"Shameless!" Ye Fang cried out repeatedly.

Ye Yuan nodded. "Truly shameless. With your current swordsmanship compared to ours, how dare you suggest that."

It turned out the rule among the three was to contest for the delicacies and fine wine through a duel of swordsmanship; it had always been this way. However, Lu Yuan's swordsmanship was now far superior to the other two, leading Ye Fang and Ye Yuan to cry "shameless."

Lu Yuan paid them no mind. The Yangwu Sword darted out towards Ye Fang and Ye Yuan. Ye Fang's Rectitude Sword and Ye Yuan's Circular Drawing Sword were simultaneously drawn. The swordsmanship of both had improved slightly since entering the underground world. Since the matter was to be decided by swordsmanship, it was time to test it.

Their swordsmanship was no longer constrained by fixed forms or prescribed moves. This didn't mean Ye Fang and Ye Yuan had reached the second stage of swordsmanship, but they understood the concept—they were evolving towards the second stage, where one moved spontaneously without being bound by specific sword forms.

This evolution, however, required a considerable amount of time.

The sword style Ye Fang learned was rigid and orderly, yet within that rigidity lay boundless momentum. All disciples who studied under the Gentleman Sword possessed this kind of sword-wind. Every individual's swordsmanship developed its own style, which became more pronounced at higher levels of mastery. A strong style could even influence one's own disciples.

Ye Yuan's Circular Drawing Sword carved arcs in the void, intercepting Lu Yuan, clearly intending for both of them to work together against him.

Lu Yuan laughed loudly. They actually intended to join forces against him? But was that possible? Both of their sword styles had significant flaws, especially since Lu Yuan was overly familiar with their techniques. He pointed out their weaknesses with casual gestures, pressing his attacks relentlessly. In less than ten moves, he sent both their long swords flying far away. With another flick, he sliced off half of the roast chicken and poured out half of the wine.

"My apologies, haha."

"Shameless!"

After this brief meal—which was far from a full repast, but infinitely better than the tasteless Bigu Pills—they continued their journey.

They traveled on after eating and drinking, but they encountered not a single demon for a long time. "Where are the demons? We haven't bumped into many recently," Ye Fang frowned.

"This Moon Demon Sect is just a small underground demonic sect. Its master, Moon Shura, only commands a few dozen great demons and minor devils. We've already taken down about twenty of them; how many more could there be?" Lu Yuan said dismissively.

They proceeded a while longer, and ahead, a faint blue mist appeared. Recalling Ling Yuzhu's experience, Lu Yuan immediately realized this was likely the blue light emitted when a protective talisman activated, meaning true disciples from either the North or South Peak were nearby. He recalled that of the North Peak's five other true disciples, the rest had been eliminated.

Therefore, they must be disciples from the South Peak.

"Let's go take a look," Lu Yuan said. The other two nodded, and the three immediately headed over. After a short run, they saw several figures lying on the ground, each emitting a faint cyan glow. Describing it as "a ground full of people" was a slight exaggeration; there were only five individuals lying there, but since people had been scarce in the underground world lately, seeing five bodies made them feel like there were scores of them.

"What is this?" Lu Yuan paused, then instantly understood. These were the five uneliminated true disciples from the South Peak. Lu Yuan connected many dots at once: the underground world was extremely dangerous, even containing Shura at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Normally, ordinary true disciples shouldn't be able to last long.

But now, it seemed the five true disciples of the South Peak had gathered together. Where one person was weak, five were strong. Gathering together, combined with the profound and exquisite sword arts of the Southern Peak of the Sword Sect, it was normal that they could hold out until this point.

Meanwhile, Ye Fang had asked the same question of the fallen disciples. It turned out they were all wiped out after encountering Moon Shura.

Moon Shura, the Master of the Moon Demon Sect.

Encountering Moon Shura resulted in the same fate for all five of them: defeat.

And that was the scene Lu Yuan saw before him.