No wonder those villains had been on such high alert, moving to attack all at once. Only then did Mo Fenghuang recall that she didn't know this young man's name, nor did she have any inkling of his background or cultivation level.

Feng Zikang shook his head, took a few steps forward, and delivered a final sword thrust, slaying Zhang Qi.

He casually looted the storage pouches from the fallen Zongheng disciples. The multicolored wooden staff held by Zhang Qi was, of course, claimed by him without hesitation.

"Mmm..."

Mo Fenghuang let out a soft, questioning hum.

"What is it?" Feng Zikang looked back at her.

"Since these people are dead, perhaps their belongings should be laid to rest with them..."

Feng Zikang was just about to peel the Silver Silk Cloud Gauzes from beneath their bodies when he heard her words. He smiled faintly. "Senior Sister Mo speaks wisely. However, I think that if these individuals have passed, their kin and friends in the sect will naturally miss them. If I keep these things and return them to the Zongheng School later, it might offer them some solace..."

"Little brother is truly benevolent; I cannot compare!"

Mo Fenghuang expressed great admiration. She managed to dismount the Black Luan Mechanical Beast, gave it a light pat, and the dark bird cried out before soaring far away.

"Might I yet inquire as to the esteemed name of the little brother?"

"My name is Feng Zikang; I am a disciple of the Military Strategists' Bamboo Grove on Mount Longhu..."

"You are Feng Zikang!" Mo Fenghuang, ignoring her physical weakness, leaped up with mingled surprise and delight, grasping the lapel of Feng Zikang's robes.

"Little Brother Feng, quickly, come with me to save them!"

Although Mo Fenghuang was burning with impatience, she still took the time to bury each of the nineteen corpses one by one. Fortunately, she had her mechanical servants to assist, making the task relatively swift.

Feng Zikang, naturally, took the opportunity to collect all the Silver Silk Cloud Gauzes. It was fortunate for those Zongheng disciples that they hadn't been smashed into dust.

"Senior Sister Mo, who is it you need me to save?"

Pondering this, Feng Zikang could not fathom why the people of the Mo School would seek him out for a rescue mission. Even if the Mo School in Linzi was far away, there was currently Mo Yudu, a cultivator at the Core Condensation stage, sitting right there at Mount Longhu among the Military Strategists.

Mo Fenghuang's face was pale, but she retained a degree of composure; her control over her Qi was quite respectable.

"Little Brother Feng, I need your help to rescue my fiancé..."

"Mo Li!"

"Ah?" Feng Zikang was startled, and he took a closer look at Mo Fenghuang. This woman possessed a gracefully slender figure, a serene countenance, an elegant demeanor, and high cultivation. To think she was Mo Li's fiancée.

But... Mo Li and he had only parted ways in the Southern Territory not long ago; how could he already be in danger again?

It turned out that Mo Fenghuang was the beloved daughter of Mo Wu, the current Grandmaster of the Mo School, and also the reincarnation of the Mo School Saintess from a century ago. Her heart techniques and divine abilities were innate, and though young, her cultivation far surpassed Mo Li’s.

They had been childhood sweethearts, deeply devoted to each other, and their engagement had been arranged.

In the cultivation world, dual cultivation between husband and wife was common. Since the young couple were mutually inclined, their elders naturally wished to see the union fulfilled, yet they repeatedly cautioned them against marrying before their Golden Cores were firmly stabilized.

Mo Li, having advanced to the Path of Inquiry stage and solidified his Dao Heart, undertook a meritorious mission of harmonization in the Southern Barbarian lands. Unexpectedly, it failed, and he even made a vow to bring about utter transformation in the South, which is why he returned to the sect.

Mo Fenghuang received his message, feeling both respect and pity. She reported to her father and then immediately journeyed to the Southern Barbarian lands to check on him.

Who would have thought that in just a few short days, fresh chaos would erupt in the South!

Feng Zikang had slain Wudu Ya, and Duke Ying's Governor of Lizhou, Wu Ji, had consecutively wiped out seven tribal rebel forces. Though stained with blood and steel, the conflict had finally subsided.

Mo Li was temporarily residing in a small Southern Barbarian tribe, helping the remaining tribespeople reorganize, teaching them hunting and farming, stockpiling grain for winter, constructing dwellings, digging wells, and recovering their strength.

If given a few decades, he might truly have led the Southern Barbarian peoples toward civilization, accumulating boundless merit.

But fate is unpredictable. One day, while Mo Li was cultivating the fields in the stockade, a mass of black clouds rolled in. A tribesman, curious, approached it and immediately convulsed and died.

The Nine Nether Ten Darkness Soul-Siphoning Grand Art! Mo Li recognized the technique. Rage welled up within him, and he launched an attack, fighting fiercely until he captured the demon who had come to harvest souls. Only then did he learn this man was a disciple or grandchild of the White Bone Divine Lord, who was gathering souls everywhere to fuel the Divine Lord's demonic cultivation, engaging in mass slaughter.

Mo Li was furious. Recalling the old matters at Longshiyu, he surmised that the White Bone Divine Lord was behind this. Righteously indignant, he intended to march straight into Mount Mangcang to seek revenge upon the White Bone Divine Lord!

"Heh..." Feng Zikang let out a soft hum, unsure whether it was praise or a sneer.

The White Bone Divine Lord's disciple, Wu Lingzi, was already beyond Mo Li’s ability to defeat. Even if Mo Li tempered his Dao Heart and greatly advanced his cultivation after the Southern Barbarian affair, he would absolutely not be a match for the White Bone Divine Lord... Do all people of the Mo School love to seek death so much?

A sudden wave of irritation washed over Feng Zikang for no discernible reason.

"When I arrived in the Southern Barbarian lands, I heard he had already gone to Mount Mangcang, so I hurried to follow..."

It went without saying that Mo Fenghuang hadn't chased after him to persuade her fiancé to return. She was likely similarly brimming with a righteous heart, wanting to be a pair of heroic lovers, avenging the mortals who died unjustly together.

Mount Mangcang stretched for thousands of miles, featuring thirty-six connected peaks. Each peak was garrisoned by a disciple of the White Bone Divine Lord; it was a stronghold for demons in the southwest of the Divine Land.

However, these minor demons rarely dared to venture out of Mount Mangcang. Their evil was limited, and they were not taken seriously by the Righteous Path figures, who would occasionally send a few disciples to mete out minor punishments and be done with it.

After all, the truly powerful great demons resided overseas, and conflicts were infrequent. The southwestern region of Mount Mangcang was desolate and sparsely populated; Righteous Path cultivators had no need to engage in a direct confrontation with demon cultivators over this matter.

"They slaughtered commoners in several areas of the Southwest and the Southern Barbarian lands; why didn't they invite the senior figures of the Mo School to eliminate them?"

If other sects cared little for the lives of mortals, especially those barbarians, the Mo School, which upheld the principle of universal love, would certainly not stand idly by. Since Mo Li discovered the matter had escalated, he could naturally request the elders of the Mo School to come and eradicate the demons. Why must he fly into the fire like a moth seeking death?

"Ah Li reported the situation to the sect immediately, and the elders have already dispatched people..."

But Mo Li certainly would not wait for reinforcements before advancing. Since he could not tolerate such an atrocious situation, he would naturally forge ahead courageously, completely disregarding his own strength. Feng Zikang sighed; the people of the Mo School were just so stubbornly single-minded.

"Where did he fall into difficulty?"

"By the time I arrived, he was trapped in a cavern on the Third Peak. No matter how I called him, he refused to come out. I originally planned to destroy the thirty-six connected peaks of Mount Mangcang first, but then the White Bone Divine Lord himself made a move. I was no match for him, and it was only because Ah Li sacrificed himself to save me that I managed to escape..."

"Oh?" Didn't you just say Mo Li stubbornly refused to come out? How then did he sacrifice himself to save you?

Feng Zikang saw Mo Fenghuang bite her lower lip so hard that it seemed on the verge of bleeding. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she forced them back.

"He... in his current state, only little brother Feng can save him!"