"Lord Luo! The Hero has returned! I repeat, the Hero has returned!"
A guard came rushing into Lord Luo's room without knocking.
"Hero? What nonsense are you talking about? We are having an important discussion right now! Scram!" Lord Luo got angry when his important meeting was interrupted, not to mention the grave situation that has been stressing him lately.
"Sorry for interrupting your meeting, but I heard you need some help, so I came."
Yuan entered the room a few moments later.
However, because of how drastically different his appearance was compared to his last visit, especially his longer hair, Lord Luo didn't recognize Yuan at first.
"Y-You are—!"
Once Lord Luo got a good look at Yuan's handsome face, his body immediately began shivering from sheer excitement, and he even began crying.
"D-Daoist Yuan! Is that really you, Daoist Yuan?!" Lord Luo couldn't control his emotions and spoke as though he was before his savior.
"You have changed— grown so much in just a few months! I almost didn't recognize you!"
"It's really me," Yuan confirmed with a gentle nod.
Then he continued, "Can you tell me what's troubling you and the city? If there's anything I can do to help…"
"Please take a seat first—" Lord Luo suddenly stopped talking when he finally noticed the four beauties standing behind Yuan.
He turned to look at the table only to realize that there was not enough room for everyone.
However, he promptly made a decision and said to the people sitting down, "Stand up and let these esteemed guests sit!"
"It's okay, we can stand." Yuan shook his head.
The people that had already begun leaving their seats froze, and they turned to look at Lord Luo.
"If you say so, Daoist Yuan." Lord Luo nodded before telling the others to get back in their seats.
After sitting down and taking a deep breath, Lord Luo spoke, "Daoist Yuan, have you heard of the Blood Sect?"
"The Blood Sect?" Yuan found this name very familiar for some reason, but he couldn't instantly recall where he'd heard it.
"Young Master, the Blood Sect is one of the top evil sects in this world. Their disciples practice dangerous and forbidden cultivation techniques that people don't practice for obvious reasons, which more often than not causes their disciples to go crazy or become bloodthirsty, and when that happens, they cause havoc in the cultivation world." Feng Yuxiang gave him a brief explanation.
'Ah, I remember now… The Sect Master of the Flying Sword Sect mistook me as a disciple from that place…' Yuan finally recalled what occurred really early on in his journey in this world.
"What about the Blood Sect? Are they causing trouble in this city?" Yuan then asked.
"No, they're not— at least not yet." Lord Luo sighed.
"Not yet? What do you mean by that? Are you expecting trouble?"
Lord Luo nodded and said, "Ever since the Blood Sect's most talented disciple— who is also their Sect Master's only son disappeared mysteriously, they have been doing all sorts of crazy things, such as attacking people randomly."
"And after many months of investigation, they announced his son dead. I heard the Blood Sect's Sect Master had grieved over his son's death so much that he went insane."
Yuan raised his eyebrow when he heard this information, and he proceeded to ask, "What's the name of this person who suddenly went missing?"
"Meng Li— also known as Devil Meng Li." Lord Luo replied.
Yuan subconsciously turned to look at Xiao Hua, who was calmly standing beside him.
He recalled this name very clearly, as he'd learned the Bloody Sword Strike from this person after watching him fight another expert!
However, these two experts had perished under the hands of Xiao Hua! In other words, Xiao Hua holds some responsibility for this mess!
Knowing this information, Yuan felt a little obligated to deal with the situation.
"The Blood Sect had been attacking cities and even sects at random for the past month. Many people have suffered— died because of them. Their most recent victim was the Flying Sword Sect, who they completely destroyed, and judging by their movement patterns, they will most likely attack this city soon."
"W-Wait a second… Did you just say the Flying Sword Sect?" Yuan's eyes widened with shock and disbelief after hearing their name.
This was the first sect that he'd visited in this world! And his friend, Mo Zhou, was a disciple there!
"What happened to the Flying Sword Sect?!" Yuan asked with a deep frown on his face.
"They are gone. Completely vanquished. It was a brutal slaughter. Over half of their disciples were killed, and even their Sect Master died trying to defend his sect. However, what can a single Spirit Master do against the Blood Sect that has multiple Spirit Masters?"
Yuan gritted his teeth and tightened his hands into a fist after learning the situation.
'I lost another friend…'
"Brother Yuan…? Are you okay?" Xiao Hua asked him when she noticed killing intent coming from his aura.
"Why…?" Yuan suddenly mumbled.
"Why must they kill innocent people…?"
"They are humans too, right? They aren't demons, so why are they doing this…? Or maybe they are demons disguised as humans..."
Yuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Feng Feng, where can I find the Blood Sect?" He suddenly asked her.
"Unfortunately, you won't be able to find them, Young Master."
"Why not?"
"Because the Blood Sect is not a traditional sect where they have a set location for their sect. They operate and recruit without any headquarters. In other words, we cannot find something that doesn't exist."
"Then how do they communicate with each other?"
"They mostly operate with letters and by mouth. This is how they still exist despite having almost the entire world as their enemies. In fact, that's how most evil sects operate in order to stay alive."
"So there is nothing we can do in this situation besides watch them kill innocent people?" Yuan clenched his jaws even tighter.