Chapter 20 - Encounters

"Greetings, hope I meet you well."

A very magnetic voice sounded behind Fei Hong and Fei Li Ling that made them turned around. Maybe it was because he had recently heard the grating voices of shopkeeper Xu and the sales woman just now that he felt a little distrust, but this voice made Fei Hong feel a little bit more comfortable.

"Greetings to you too." Fei Hong rplied politely before continuing. "You are?"

"Oh, I am from Angong town, my name is Zhang Shi." This man was the man who followed them from the merchant shop.

"I'm Fei Hong. This is my sister, Fe Li Ling." Fei Hong nodded and replied. He looked at the man curiously. For a man with no cultivation skills, he was wearing a rather luxurious dress. He had to be a wealthy merchant in Angong town. "Is there anything you want in particular? We're kind of in a hurry if you don't mind."

Zhang Shi smiled and sat beside Fei Hong. He took out a package from his storage bag and handed it to Fei Hong. "Brother Fei, take a look at this."

Fei Hong opened the package with a puzzled face and looked inside. He was startled by what he saw inside it. A few palm-sized irregular dark silver ore. "This is Heavens Cove?!"

Seeing Zhang Shi smiled and nodded, Fei Hong was even more surprised. He couldn't help but asked himself how the man had come across the metal. This mysterious iron was the best base material for refining, and because the mysterious iron ore was becoming scarcer now, this mysterious iron was not available to ordinary people. Even in the whole of Angong land, it was believed that no one could get this kind of precious items.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Fei Hong raised his head to look at Zhang Shi, and asked softly.

"I don't mean to trouble you. But I heard you telling the shopkeeper that you're a ironsmith. So, if it's no trouble, I want you to help me refine a piece of iron armor that's mysterious. I bought the profound iron with a lot of money, so I'm looking for the best craftwork. There will be two extra pieces of ore inside it, so I will give them to you as a reward for refining the armour. So, what do you think?"

Fei Hong was overjoyed. Although this profound iron was really difficult to refine, he happened to have seen the relevant method in the master Hao's refining room. More so, there were two pieces of profound iron ore as a reward for him. This condition was simply amazing.

"I accept. But the refining of this profound iron will take at least one month. So, you might have to wait." Fei Hong answered.

Zhang Shi stroked his beard and nodded. "No problem. After the refining is complete, my brother will come to Zhang Mansion in Angong Town to find you."

After that, Zhang Shi got up, said his goodbyes and left. Seeing that it was getting late, Fei Hong quickly found a carriage and took Li Ling home.

After eating the ten-year-old Yellow-Demon spirit grass, his grandfather's condition had been brought under control, and Fei Hong came back with peace of mind. There were too many events that happened on this day that got Fei Hong deep in thoughts. He walked the mountain road while thinking about the day's things.

*I wonder if Master will know about the battle with shopkeeper Xu* Fei Hong now valued ​​the two profound irons the most. If he could refine a master armor, he would have confidence in the sect's competition in one month's time.

But this profound iron was really a kind of rare materials that would get anyone talking and suspicious of him. So he decided he couldn't let his master know.

With this thoughts, Fei Hong couldn't help but smile. He looked up and saw that the Sacred Swords gate was still far away. He decided to take the shortcut he found when he came back from home the last time. He turned around and entered the forest.

From time to time, there was a screech of insects in the mountains and forests, reminding Fei Hong of the scene where he was playing with Li Ling when they were younger. At that time, he felt so happy... . Just in the blink of an eye, all that was just gone.

Suddenly, Fei Hong heard a rustling sound, like someone or something was tearing something. He quickly stopped and cautiously adjusted his walking. It could be a beast. But what kind of beast would be looking for food on this side of the forest? He feared that whatever beast it was, it might cause trouble for him. But then, he thought about it, this place was already very close to the Sacred Gate, there were some restrictive arrays here, and the beasts couldn't get in at all. So, could it be a human then?!

Fei Hong squatted down while thinking. He moved a little bit behind a big tree, and peeked at what was causing the rustling sound.

What Fei Hong saw took his breath away. Under the pale moonlight, a man wearing a Sacred Sect costume was sitting cross-legged on the ground, tearing a dead fox apart and draining its blood into a container. Later, the man actually raised his head, opened his mouth and drank the fox blood.

What shocked Fei Hong even more was that when the man raised his head, he turned out to be Ding Fei!

What was this that Ding Fei was doing? Fei Hong didn't dare to breathe at this moment, his eyes were fixed on Ding Fei.

After Ding Fei finished drinking the blood of the fox, he folded his hands together and muttered some words in his mouth. After a while, a trace of red smoke slowly wafted out of his head while Ding Fei's body also kept trembling.

Now, Fei Hong understood that Ding Fei was practicing some kind of evil technique. No wonder his cultivation level had increased by two levels in only three months. It seemed that not only was his talent high, but also that he was practicing evil arts.

After nearly half an hour, Ding Fei slowly woke up, his complexion returned to normal, looked around, turned and walked away quickly.

After Ding Fei had left, Fei Hong waited for a while behind the big tree before walking out cautiously. He moved towards the dead fox to take a closer look at it. As he expected, the fox was female!

He suddenly remembered that he overheard Ding Fei's discussion when he was pursuing Mo Yu at the foot of the mountain that day. He now felt that it was related to Ding Fei's practice of this evil skill! Thinking of this, Fei Hong shrugged. If Ding Fei wanted to practice evil techniques, that was't his own problem. With his own current strength, it was better to stay away from these arts. He hurriedly left, taking another direction.

But not long after Fei Hong had left, a figure sprang out of the forest and stood in front of the dead fox, with a sneer from the corner of his mouth....