Old Friend

The Blood Demon Sect had learned of Miao Liwu's whereabouts in advance.

They also knew that an Apex Grandmaster from the Sword Establishment Sect was personally protecting Miao Liwu.

The Blood Demon Sect directly dispatched six Apex Grandmasters to surround and kill him.

After a fierce battle, the Sword Establishment Sect's Apex Grandmaster died on the spot to cover Miao Liwu's escape.

Miao Liwu fled with grave injuries.

The Blood Demon Sect did not fare well either. Two Apex Grandmasters were killed on the spot in a desperate fight.

The other four were also seriously wounded, and one of them died from his injuries shortly after returning to the Blood Demon Sect.

Miao Liwu and that Sword Establishment Sect Apex Grandmaster had effectively joined forces to kill three Apex Grandmasters and severely wound another three.

Such a record was exceptionally brilliant.

Miao Liwu hid all the way, hoping to escape back to the Sword Establishment Sect.

But halfway there, he was intercepted by the Blood Demon Sect's leader, Zhou Qiyun.

Already badly wounded, Miao Liwu was no match for him even after giving it everything he had.

In the end, he died with hatred in his heart on Celestial Peak Snow Mountain.

A peerless genius of a generation had thus fallen.

When Lin Jingzhi, leader of the Sword Establishment Sect, learned that his beloved disciple had been killed, he charged alone into the Blood Demon Sect.

Lin Jingzhi was known as Great Qian Empire's foremost swordsman, and his strength was extraordinarily formidable.

All eighteen remaining Apex Grandmasters of the Blood Demon Sect were mobilized.

At the cost of serious injuries, Lin Jingzhi slew four Apex Grandmasters and severely wounded nine.

Afterward, the badly injured Lin Jingzhi was rescued by the Apex Grandmasters who had rushed over from the Sword Establishment Sect.

Then, three years later—just a few days ago—

Lin Jingzhi announced that he would no longer serve as leader of the Sword Establishment Sect, and that he would once again storm the Blood Demon Sect in his personal capacity.

After the first two incidents, the Blood Demon Sect had already lost seven Apex Grandmasters, and its strength had greatly declined.

The Blood Demon Sect no longer dared to face Lin Jingzhi head-on.

Thus, Zhou Qiyun, leader of the Blood Demon Sect, announced that he would fight Lin Jingzhi alone.

Lin Jingzhi's ultimate goal was to personally kill Zhou Qiyun.

Thus, the two agreed to slug it out on Celestial Peak Snow Mountain, where Miao Liwu had fallen, seven days later.

After listening to the person beside you recount the story, your heart trembled.

You had not expected Miao Liwu to truly be dead.

Your impression of Miao Liwu was still that of a snot-nosed child.

Before your eyes appeared Miao Liwu's guileless little upturned face as he called you Uncle Yu.

Your face turned icy, and Miao Liwu's death filled you with rage.

So, in a fit of anger, you got angry.

There was nothing you could do. You were only at the Bone Tempering Middle Stage; Apex Grandmaster Zhou Qiyun could smash your head apart with one slap.

You couldn't beat him. There was simply no way you could beat him.

You left the inn.

You headed southeast.

You planned to visit the Sword Establishment Sect and pay respects to Miao Liwu.

The Sword Establishment Sect was quite far away. It would take a month to reach it on foot.

When you reached the tenth day of your journey, you had already heard the outcome of Lin Jingzhi and Zhou Qiyun's final battle.

The corpse of Zhou Qiyun, leader of the Blood Demon Sect, had been pierced through by a long spear and hung at the highest point of Celestial Peak Snow Mountain.

Lin Jingzhi returned safely to the Sword Establishment Sect.

The martial world was shaken.

Everyone knew Lin Jingzhi was ruthless, but no one had expected him to be this ruthless.

No matter what, the Blood Demon Sect was one of the Three Great Demonic Cults.

As its leader, Zhou Qiyun's strength and foundations placed him among the very best of Apex Grandmasters.

Yet Lin Jingzhi had taken him down without suffering a scratch.

The Blood Demon Sect had not expected this outcome either, and for a moment, it panicked.

Thus, on the second day after Zhou Qiyun's death, the Blood Demon Sect hurriedly established a new leader.

Moreover, the Blood Demon Sect declared that Zhou Qiyun had merely been an interim leader and had never signed a formal labor contract with the Blood Demon Sect.

The things Zhou Qiyun had done in the past did not represent the Blood Demon Sect's position. The Blood Demon Sect no longer had any relationship whatsoever with Zhou Qiyun.

The Blood Demon Sect carried out this entire series of maneuvers as smoothly as flowing clouds and running water, as though they had rehearsed it many times.

You could not help giving the Blood Demon Sect's crisis public relations a huge thumbs-up.

Seeing the Blood Demon Sect admit defeat, the Sword Establishment Sect did not pursue the matter further.

A month later, you arrived at the Sword Establishment Sect.

After explaining your identity, you entered the Sword Establishment Sect.

You met Wei Xia.

Wei Xia was only a year younger than you. She, too, was already in her seventies.

When she learned you had come, she hobbled out trembling on her cane to greet you.

Unlike you, whose appearance was still youthful,

Wei Xia was already white-haired and wrinkled, with tear stains often lingering at the corners of her eyes.

She examined you closely and carefully.

After a long while, Wei Xia sighed. "I am already on the verge of the grave, yet Young Master He's bearing remains unchanged."

You did not see Miao Jiayao. You knew Miao Jiayao must have passed away, after all, since he had been nearly twenty years older than Wei Xia.

Wei Xia shuffled her feet and accompanied you to Miao Liwu's grave.

A peach tree had been planted before Miao Liwu's grave, its blossoms blooming in radiant splendor.

As she burned paper offerings, Wei Xia rambled on about Miao Liwu.

Whenever she spoke of Miao Liwu, the dull, lifeless look in Wei Xia's eyes would become bright and animated again.

One by one, she recounted Miao Liwu's glorious deeds.

From Miao Liwu's rise in Willow Tree Village, to gaining a modest reputation in the martial world,

To entering the Sword Establishment Sect and becoming the foremost person beneath the Apex Grandmasters,

And finally becoming the sole candidate for the Sword Establishment Sect's next leader.

Wei Xia remembered every single thing about Miao Liwu with perfect clarity.

She even remembered every word Miao Liwu had said when bringing her good news.

As an old friend of Wei Xia's family, you could tell that she wished she could tell you about Miao Liwu's entire life.

The more Wei Xia spoke, the happier she became, pride and delight continually flashing in her eyes.

A long-lost smile appeared on her wrinkled, sagging face.

But as she spoke, Wei Xia's gaze fell upon Miao Liwu's grave mound.

She stared blankly into space.

As though all the air had suddenly gone out of her.

Wei Xia realized that Miao Liwu truly was gone.

She shook her head and said nothing more.

At that moment, she lost all desire to speak.

Wei Xia struggled to her feet and silently turned around.

She let out a deep sigh. "Actually, it would have been quite good if our family had simply spent our whole lives in Willow Tree Village."

Leaning on her cane, her body bent over, she slowly shuffled away.

Her back was still small and frail.

The timid, small, frail figure of Wei Xia's back when she had first come to peek into your little courtyard and you had driven her away gradually overlapped with the old woman's figure before you.

You knew that Miao Liwu's death had dealt Wei Xia a tremendous psychological blow.

The treasured son she had gone to every length to conceive had now died before she herself did. Just thinking about it was enough to feel that immense pain.

You burned a few more sheets of yellow paper for Miao Liwu.

At that moment, Lin Jingzhi arrived.

This ruthless man, who could easily kill Apex Grandmasters of the same rank, stood before you.

He looked at you and said, "Young Master He, when it comes down to it, I was Liwu's second Martial Uncle. You were his first Martial Uncle."

"Leader Lin, you jest."

You had merely unintentionally allowed Miao Liwu to enter the Martial Path, then left behind some cultivation manuals and weapons.

That truly did not make you Miao Liwu's Martial Uncle.

Lin Jingzhi took out a fairly large box.

"Young Master He, this was something he had originally planned to give you. But he could not find you, so he never got the chance."

You guessed that you had later gone deeper into Black Dragon Forest, which was why Miao Liwu could no longer find you.

You accepted the box.

When you opened it, there were 500 Inner Divinity Pills inside, along with a treasured saber flashing with cold light.

That snot-nosed kid Miao Liwu had already been buried in the dirt, yet he was still dropping equipment for you. He had truly burned himself out.

You tucked away the Inner Divinity Pills and put away the treasured saber.

You patted Miao Liwu's grave mound. "Good boy. You really came through!"