Chapter Five: Sword of Fire and Thunder (Part One)

"A mantis trying to stop a car, overestimating its own strength!" If it truly let out a sound, followed by a loud "whoosh," it seemed as if a storm of snow had risen in the forest, extinguishing all the flames

As the people who went out in the evening returned, hot meals were already waiting for them, igniting another wave of excitement. The children surrounded Li Fei, laughing and jumping, their admiration for him having long surpassed that for all the deities and gods. The immortals could not provide them with food, but Li Fei could!

Li Fei heard the voices of several people coming from a distance: "Master Uncle, who are those people?"

Li Fei did not know what purpose it could serve; in any case, he picked it up and decided to keep it for the time being

He was afraid that the two would sense his presence, and he did not dare to look directly at them. He tried to slow his breathing and calm his heartbeat, worried that even a slightly heavier breath might be detected by the two masters. This battle was instigated by him, and if they were to discover the truth, he feared he would die without a trace.

At this moment, the Fire Thunder Sword had already struck the golden corpse, which melted like ice water in a furnace, the ghostly aura and cold wind dissipating instantly. Subsequently, the entire body caught fire, transforming into a fiery corpse that crashed to the ground

In the forest, areas with a diameter of fifty to sixty meters have been leveled to the ground, and in the center, there is a large pit where the body of Ming He Sheng lies at the bottom, now reduced to a charred corpse. Li Fei, with a mindset of trying his luck, poked at the body with a branch. The clothing had turned to ash, and the flesh was charred black, a sight too horrific to bear; even his son would not be able to recognize him.

You can buy two sesame cakes or one large steamed bun

Once this pearl emerges, a chilling wind and dark energy surge forth, exuding a putrid stench, as if even the sword of thunder that illuminates the heavens has dimmed somewhat

After dinner, Li Fei called all the important figures for a meeting. There is no need to elaborate; everyone in the *Tu* *Shu* has already regarded him as the supreme leader, sitting respectfully around him and waiting for his speech

Starting tomorrow, Brother Fang will lead a team to investigate the whereabouts of Ma Hu, aiming to find out their place of stay and the patterns of their movements in as much detail as possible; Brother Tang has taken money to purchase some swords and daggers, and if ready-made ones are not available, he will buy tools and materials for blacksmithing to forge them himself; the children can keep watch around the temple to prevent attacks from the scar-faced man or officials; furthermore, a place for hiding items needs to be established inside the temple

He opened a money pouch, which contained hundreds of copper coins. Upon opening another, he found it was also filled with copper coins. Although Li Fei was unaware of the market prices, he realized that copper coins were of little use, which left him somewhat disappointed

If he truly should be a high-ranking practitioner of significant status, why would he come to engage in such trivial matters as catching a thief? Are the members of the Supreme Teachings so bored that they resort to this?

The blue light dimmed instantly upon contact, falling to the ground, revealing a small bronze mirror emanating faint wisps of black energy. The golden corpse struck with all its might, confronting the treasured sword, while simultaneously spitting out a black orb the size of an egg towards Ruo Zhen.

Soon it will be dawn, and Li Fei called Fang Zhimai, Fang Jin, and Tian Yimu aside, taking out the waist tokens and gold and silver: "Brothers, do not ask me how I obtained these items. Please take the money and the waist tokens and blend into the city. Brother Fang will be responsible for buying medicine, while Brothers Tian and Ling will handle the food. Once you have made the purchases, return immediately without lingering in the city for even a moment."

The River of the Underworld is intertwined with treasures and the lives of golden corpses, as the saying goes, "One prospers, all prosper; one suffers, all suffer." Upon witnessing the destruction of the treasure, blood immediately flowed from his mouth and nose. In the midst of the chaos, he hastily wielded a jade short ruler to meet the sword light, his face contorted in a mask of despair.

And as the illustrated book truly transformed the sword techniques, it still could not break through the dual interception of the golden corpse and the reflective mirror. Unable to contain his anger, he soared into the sky, urgently reciting incantations, his hands gesturing continuously. The Fire Thunder Sword stood upright in the air, its red light blazing like a pillar, extending several dozen meters, surrounded by swirling blue and white flames. Within the fire, numerous fire thunders, as thick as a bowl, erupted, accompanied by the sound of thunder, illuminating the night sky with flowing flames.

Li Fei let out a quiet sigh of relief. After waiting for a while and confirming that there was no one nearby, he finally emerged from the tangled branches, shaking off the snow that had accumulated on him. Fortunately, he had managed to escape in time, and with Minghe Sheng conveniently acting as a scapegoat here, otherwise he would have certainly been caught. Even if he had a hundred lives, it would have been over for him.

Jin Lao and a few others, including Tang Tiexian, showed slight concern, but they did not inquire further. At present, filling their stomachs was more important than anything else, even if it meant risking their lives.

Since Li Fei was injured, everything he needed was managed solely by Anu, who had almost become his personal maid. Now, the admiration and enthusiasm in her eyes were evident to anyone, and Li Fei also began to understand that she had feelings for him. There was nothing he could do about it; after all, who could blame him for being so handsome? He couldn't deny others even the right to have a crush on him, could he

There is no longer any dissent among the crowd; everyone can only nod in agreement

As it seemed that he was about to be struck directly by the poisonous orb, the yellow robe on his body suddenly detached and flew out, resembling a brilliant yellow cloud rushing towards the black orb. Upon contact, the black orb vanished without a trace, as if a clay ox had sunk into the sea. It turned out that the robe he wore was also a magical treasure

With money in his pocket, Li Fei felt more courageous and gained an additional measure of a leader's confidence: "At present, our difficulties have been temporarily resolved, but we must plan our next steps. First, we need to address the issue with the Ma household; otherwise, it will lead to endless troubles. Second, relying on begging is not a sustainable solution; we need to find a place where we can establish a village and claim territory. Until we can be self-sufficient, I will find ways to cover everyone's expenses, but in the future, we should spread out to various towns to purchase goods and avoid large-scale procurement in the city to prevent attracting the authorities' suspicion."

The three of them simply stared at him blankly, causing Li Fei to feel uneasy. He thought to himself, could it be that this world is also experiencing inflation? He hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, is there not enough money?"

Li Fei was about fifty or sixty meters away from them, yet he still felt as if his entire body had been struck by a hammer, nearly spitting out blood. Fortunately, the snow and ice had not yet melted significantly in this area, and many large trees had fallen, their branches and leaves pinning him down without exposing his body. He dared not look any further, burying his face in the snow and holding his breath.

As everyone lay asleep, Li Fei took out the spoils to examine them closely. The three bamboo plaques were made from century-old bamboo, engraved with names and some symbols of unknown meaning, all branded with a heated iron stamp, clear and exquisite, making them difficult to counterfeit

Enough, enough, this is already too much! Fang Zhi's veins were bulging with excitement, tears streaming down his face: "One tael of gold can be exchanged for ten taels of silver, one tael of silver can be exchanged for a thousand copper coins, and here there are nearly seventy thousand copper coins in total!"

It is merely a trivial jester, everyone should return... We have more pressing matters at hand, let us prepare to set off tomorrow morning...

What a tyrannical Taishang Sect, killing at will, showing no regard even for those who practice the Dao, let alone the common people. The law of the jungle prevails, with the strong revered; in this world, there is fundamentally no reasoning to be had.

Li hetushu .com .com sighed and was about to leave when a sudden thought struck: Could Minghe be considered a master as well? Might he still possess any magical treasures or secret manuals?

Li Fei gave each of the three individuals a waist token, provided Fang Zhimai with five taels of silver, and gave the other two some small silver coins and copper coins. The three of them borrowed the latest and finest clothing and hats, and left in high spirits

Two great masters are engaged in a fierce battle, causing the snow accumulated on the trees within a radius of several hundred meters to shake and fall in flurries. Li Fei has already buried most of his body beneath the snow, leaving only a pair of eyes peering out through a small opening.

"Fire Thunder Dao Sword! So you have already attained the Intermediate Dao Sword!" Ming He’s expression changed drastically. When he attempted to escape, he realized he had already been locked in by the aura emitted from the sword energy and thunder barrier. With no other options but to confront it head-on, he was left with no choice but to fully activate his protective treasure, the Soul-Returning Mirror. The blue light doubled in intensity as it surged toward the sword light fire pillar, and the Golden Corpse leaped up, closely following the blue light.

When he first stole the items, he felt a bit nervous and guilty, as being a thief contradicted the morals he held as a student. Unless absolutely necessary, he preferred not to engage in such actions. However, upon suddenly acquiring a large sum of money, the earlier feelings of guilt vanished into thin air. If he was to be a thief, so be it; it was better than going hungry. At worst, he would only steal from the rich and not from the poor, robbing the wealthy to aid the needy, which could be seen as living up to the phrase "acting on behalf of heaven".

Clean that ghostly token; it turns out it is not made of gold, but rather a rare piece of black iron. On it is intricately carved a fierce ghostly head, adorned with two prominent horns and protruding fangs, vividly lifelike, with a long tongue hanging down. Beneath the tongue is a variant of the character "令".

The sword descended with a red glow, flowing flames, and thunderous fire, appearing slow yet swift, exuding an unstoppable and all-piercing momentum

So how many things can one copper coin buy?

Li Fei inhaled sharply, realizing that silver was so useful; seventy thousand steamed buns would be enough for the refugees in the temple to eat for half a year.

After much deliberation, each leader has taken their orders and set out to act, hoping that the dawn of hope has already begun to rise before them

The people left behind in the temple were so excited that they wiped their tears, expressing endless gratitude to Li Fei, who was nothing short of a living Bodhisattva saving them from suffering! They only knew that the money for buying things came from Li Fei, and there was no need to speculate on how it was obtained. After all, he could even command ghosts and deities, so it was not surprising that he could conjure money.

This place is not suitable for staying long, so he hurriedly left and ran back to the temple.

A branch suddenly lifted a hard object, which fell to the ground with a "clang". Li Fei picked it up and shook it a few times; it turned out to be a ghostly token about three fingers wide, heavy as if made of gold, likely worth a considerable amount. He collected the token and looked around, finding only a few charred corpses—one was a golden corpse, while the others were refugees who had frozen to death by the roadside. However, there were no magical artifacts or the green jade ruler that had been used by the River of Hades earlier. If they were not broken, they must have been taken away by Ruo Zhen.

It was not yet noon when the three of them returned successfully. Fang Zhi had purchased enough medicinal materials, while Fang Jin and Tian Yimu each carried two large burlap sacks filled with steamed buns and rice. They also specially brought back a braised pig's trotter and two roasted chickens for Li Fei.

Unexpectedly, the last large money bag contained a small gold ingot, five larger silver ingots, some loose silver coins, and additionally, a piece of translucent green jade pendant shaped like a butterfly, intricately carved, which should be worth quite a bit of money

With a roar, flames erupted in all directions, accompanied by a simultaneous barrage of thunder. Minghe was engulfed by the red light and flames. This strike was akin to the earth splitting and mountains collapsing; the nearby ice and snow melted instantly, and trees shattered and flew apart, all ablaze.