One-armed Swordsman

Clang!

The longsword slid into its sheath with a crisp ring.

"Alas!"

Ye Xiaofan shook his head with a bitter smile. After cultivating the Sword Drawing Technique to mastery (4000/4000), no matter how he trained, he could not break through to the Minor Accomplishment Realm.

"Looks like I need to learn other sword techniques and integrate them, or simplify them, before I can break through to Minor Accomplishment."

"I'm still short on money."

Seeing that the time was about right, Ye Xiaofan washed up, ate breakfast, and headed to the Demon Suppression Division. He found that Luo Ming had yet to return, so after roll call, he left.

Unable to cultivate the Sword Drawing Technique any further, Ye Xiaofan did not return home and instead wandered the streets.

"There are more and more beggars in the city. It seems the demon and devil scourge outside the city is getting worse and worse."

"I need to make money and grow stronger, quickly."

Ye Xiaofan could not help but sigh.

In the past, the beggars on the streets had all been old and frail, numbering only a few. Now there were beggars of every age, with several begging every few dozen meters.

Born into a world like this, only by constantly growing stronger could one live a better life.

Black Tiger Gang External Affairs Hall.

Wang Meng, with a scar across his face, sat in the seat of honor with his eyes closed, feigning sleep.

A knock sounded from outside the door.

Wang Meng opened his eyes, his tone low. "Come in."

At the sight of the visitor, Wang Meng leaned slightly forward.

"Well?"

"Reporting to Hall Master, the investigation is complete. The mysterious person who came looking for you last night eventually entered the Sun Family. Their exact identity could not be determined.

"Furthermore, Ye Xiaofan, the target the mysterious person wanted assassinated, is the orphaned son of Ye Tianhe, a General Banner of the Demon Suppression Division.

"His talent is unmatched. He broke through to the first level of Body Tempering after cultivating for merely three or four days, then easily defeated Sun Zhigao, who was at the third level of Body Tempering, despite fighting above his level."

After reporting, the visitor stood where he was and waited.

"The Sun Family, Ye Tianhe's son, talent beyond compare. Interesting."

Wang Meng revealed a strange smile, tugging at the scar on his face and making him appear exceptionally savage.

"You may leave first."

"Yes, Hall Master."

After waving his subordinate away, Wang Meng fell into thought, his fingers tapping irregularly against the armrest.

The reward offered for taking action was plentiful enough that he found it difficult to refuse.

But since it involved both the Sun Family and the Demon Suppressing Guards, he had no choice but to proceed carefully.

"So Gou Congxin was killed by Ye Xiaofan instead. Looks like I need to inform the Gang Leader about this."

Outsiders might not know, but as a hall master of the Black Tiger Gang, he knew that the current Gang Leader had replaced the former one only because the Sun Family had supported him from behind the scenes.

Now, someone from the Sun Family wanted to kill a man but had come to him rather than the Gang Leader. They were putting him over a fire.

They wanted his life!

Black Tiger Gang headquarters.

"Hall Master Wang, you came at just the right time. I've just acquired a batch of fine aged wine. Come, have a taste."

The Black Tiger Gang's Gang Leader, Zhang Dahu, was dressed like a scholar. He held a landscape fan in hand, his features refined, a smile always hanging on his face.

Anyone unfamiliar with Zhang Dahu would think him a scholar incapable of even trussing up a chicken.

Only the upper ranks of the Black Tiger Gang knew that beneath Zhang Dahu's smile lay a suspicious nature, ruthless venom, and a temperament as fickle as the weather.

No one in the entire Black Tiger Gang dared defy his wishes.

"Thank you, Gang Leader."

Wang Meng did not enjoy wine, only the ways of Cao Mengde. Yet he dared not refuse Zhang Dahu's invitation, so he could only set the matter aside for the moment and drink with him.

After three rounds of wine, Wang Meng was already somewhat drunk, and the scar on his face looked even more savage.

Zhang Dahu accepted the towel handed over by a maid and wiped his mouth. With a swish, the fan in his hand opened as he spoke gently.

"Hall Master Wang, what matter brings you to me?"

Hearing this, Wang Meng circulated his blood and qi, instantly dispersing the haze of drink. He hurriedly rose, bowed, and recounted how someone from the Sun Family had sought to buy Ye Xiaofan's life through him.

Zhang Dahu fanned himself with one hand while rhythmically tapping the table with the other.

Time trickled by bit by bit. Wang Meng maintained his bowing posture, not daring to move in the slightest.

"You may keep the five Blood Qi Pills and one thousand taels of silver. You need not concern yourself with the rest. Leave."

Swish!

Zhang Dahu folded his fan, his tone calm and unreadable.

"Thank you, Gang Leader. This subordinate takes his leave."

Wang Meng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After offering his thanks, he backed away and departed.

"The Sun Family wants to kill someone, yet instead of coming to me, they sought out Wang Meng. Interesting. Are they trying to knock me down a peg?"

Zhang Dahu lifted his wine cup and drained it in one gulp. Though his lips bore a smile, his pupils watched Wang Meng's departing back like a venomous snake.

"Unfortunately, I am no longer the man I once was."

Zhang Dahu crushed the cup in his hand into powder, then opened his fan and walked out of the room while fanning himself.

The Sun Family wanted to knock him down a peg, but could he not use this opportunity to test Sun Wude's reaction?

A short while later, Zhang Dahu arrived at a secluded little courtyard.

Within the courtyard, a One-armed Swordsman gripped a blade with only half its length remaining, repeatedly drawing it.

The One-armed Swordsman remained focused on drawing his blade, as though he had not seen Zhang Dahu arrive.

"Help me capture someone tonight. Alive."

Zhang Dahu watched for a while, a strange glint flashing through his eyes.

"Who?"

The One-armed Swordsman continued drawing his blade without pause.

"Ye Tianhe's son, Ye Xiaofan."

At the words Ye Tianhe, the One-armed Swordsman's movement paused slightly. He fell silent for a moment.

"Fine. After this, we are even."

A waning moon hung crookedly against the star-strewn sky.

A breeze swept through, and pink petals danced through the secluded little courtyard like snow filling the heavens.

In the pavilion, Ye Xiaofan held a wine jug and stared blankly through the falling pink petals at the waning moon above.

No one knew how long had passed before faint footsteps startled Ye Xiaofan awake.

A one-armed man with a blade tucked at his waist appeared in the courtyard.

Ye Xiaofan's pupils contracted sharply. His entire body tensed as one hand snatched up the longsword from the stone table. He sprang to his feet and stared gravely at the newcomer.

The one-armed man's blood and qi fluctuations were imperceptible, making him seem like an utterly ordinary person. Yet merely standing there gave Ye Xiaofan an extreme sense of danger.

It was as if a fierce tiger hidden in the darkness had fixed its gaze upon him.

"Very beautiful."

The one-armed man extended his sole remaining arm and watched petals fall into his palm.

"Who are you?"

Ye Xiaofan was already prepared to flee.

"I forgot. You can call me One-armed Blade."

The one-armed man clenched his palm tightly, then opened it again, watching the crushed petals fall from between his fingers.

"You look very much like Ye Tianhe. I owe someone a favor. Come with me. I do not wish to use force."

Ye Xiaofan narrowed his eyes and casually asked, "Who sent you to capture me?"

The one-armed man raised his head to look at Ye Xiaofan, revealing a pair of eyes weathered beyond measure.

"Zhang Dahu of the Black Tiger Gang."

The one-armed man walked toward the pavilion, one step at a time.

At that moment, the petals filling the sky seemed to freeze for a breath.

Ye Xiaofan was stunned as well. He had not expected the other man to answer so readily.

"Heh. If you want to capture me, we'll see whether you have the ability."

Under the night sky, the one-armed man's lips twitched, seemingly revealing a mocking smile.

The two drew closer and closer.

Ye Xiaofan suddenly kicked the stone table at the one-armed man, while the Sword Drawing Technique shot straight for his heart.

Without pausing at all, the one-armed man used his palm as a blade. Scarlet blade qi split the stone table in two and simultaneously blocked the incoming longsword.

Ye Xiaofan's heart trembled.

Blood and qi released externally—at least an expert above the fourth level of Body Tempering.

He could not fight him head-on!

Ye Xiaofan immediately abandoned any thought of exchanging blows.

Wind God Steps!

His body became like wind sweeping through the air. In a single step, he crossed three zhang, then lightly tapped the top of the wall and soared into the air again.

"Worthy of being Ye Tianhe's son."

Two sharp lights shot from the one-armed man's eyes. Clearly, Ye Xiaofan's movement technique had startled him as well.

He immediately stepped forward and likewise used a movement technique to pursue Ye Xiaofan.

Yet he had devoted his life to the blade, and his movement technique had only reached the Minor Accomplishment Realm. Relying on his profound cultivation at the sixth level of Body Tempering, he steadily closed the distance between them.

Seeing this, Ye Xiaofan furrowed his brow.

The one-armed man's movement technique was ordinary, but his cultivation was profound. It would not be easy for Ye Xiaofan to rely on the power of his body alone and use the Wind God Steps to shake him off.

He would very likely be caught before reaching the Demon Suppression Division.

The one-armed man behind him drew closer and closer.

Ye Xiaofan immediately stopped caring that using blood and qi carried a sixty percent chance of triggering the residual poison suppressed within his body.

Ye Xiaofan drove the blood and qi within his body to its limit. In midair, his feet seemed to step upon solid ground, and in two or three strides, he crossed six zhang.

Seeing Ye Xiaofan's speed suddenly double, the one-armed man revealed an expression of disbelief.

Was this fucking speed something a second-level Body Tempering cultivator could unleash?

After pursuing him for some distance longer, the one-armed man stopped as he watched Ye Xiaofan's figure grow increasingly blurred.

On the other side,

Seeing that he had shaken off the one-armed man, Ye Xiaofan immediately found a courtyard and vaulted inside.

He found an empty room.

The moment he shut the door, his face instantly flushed an unnatural red. The blood and qi inside him began to surge about uncontrollably.

His internal organs burned with agonizing pain as if seared by blazing fire, and his life force rapidly drained away.

Then his throat sweetened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood laced with threads of black.

"Damn it!"

The residual poison in his body had erupted.

Ye Xiaofan cursed inwardly, sat down cross-legged, and frantically circulated the Withered Wood Meets Spring Technique.