Blood Beneath the Sword Could Fill the Sea

Cai Tanggu looked at the Old Butler opposite him. Though he had learned from records concerning Xunyang Marquis Manor that Tong Ji had reached the peak of the Cave Nether Realm twenty years ago, Cai Tanggu had entered that realm even earlier. He had never expected Tong Ji to be so difficult to deal with.

"I once followed the Marquis in battle across the four corners of the world. The blood beneath my sword could fill half the Sea of Naihe. Yet you sat secure in Fish Abyss Academy. Even if we are in the same realm, the gap between us is still vast."

The Old Butler lowered his head to look at the White-robed Cultivator's sword and sighed mournfully. "It is only a pity that my sword is dead. Without it, I am not the complete Tong Ji. The world calls me the foremost expert beneath the Marquis's command, so naturally I must live up to that name."

Tong Ji raised his eyes and gently stroked the sword in his hand, smiling faintly. "At this moment, I am Tong Ji, not the lame steward of the Marquis Manor."

He was like a sword hidden within its sheath for countless years, its accumulated killing intent surging out in full the instant it left the sheath.

The wrinkles on Cai Tanggu's face rippled like water. "Your leg is crippled, and you no longer have the sword you know best. How much of your true strength can you still wield?"

Tong Ji smiled. "Try me and see."

A cultivator's Flying Sword was naturally no ordinary object. No matter how low one's realm or how poor one's background, the weapon in one's hand could not simply be something cobbled together.

Yet it could not be denied that although the blue-robed and White-robed Cultivators' swords were no ordinary objects, their grades were not especially high. They were merely passable enough to bring out.

They naturally could not be mentioned in the same breath as Cai Tanggu's sword.

But he was Tong Ji, so the matter of weaponry could be ignored.

The sword emerged, killing intent awe-inspiring.

It was as though a violent gale had appeared from nowhere, making Cai Tanggu unsteady on his feet for a moment.

His expression turned grave as he swung his sword in a slash. The two forces stood in equal opposition, then both soared into the sky, like two meteors crashing fiercely together in the night.

Alongside the enormous wooden kite hanging high over Hun City, sparks flew from the collision of the two swords, brilliant as fireworks. The commoners at the temple fair stopped to watch, cheering and leaping with joy.

Jiang Wang, who was also watching that scene, secretly marveled. Uncle Tong really is amazing.

Dong Chongyang silently raised his saber. The young man before him was somewhat beyond his expectations. It seemed Cai Tanggu had not exaggerated; he needed to take this more seriously.

While two swords contended in the air, two sabers also displayed their splendor on Qixia Street.

Jiang Wang knew full well that he did not have much time, so he began a forceful counterattack, charging about like a rampaging bull.

There was no pattern whatsoever to his moves. He simply held his saber and smashed it around.

That left Dong Chongyang somewhat hard-pressed.

Having no technique would have been one thing, but the force behind each slash was incomparably fierce as well. Every unexpected swing, even if blocked, would still inflict a grievous loss amid such haste.

Xie Wuxing, standing atop a roof, raised his brows and said, "Why do I keep feeling that Jiang Wang truly has not cultivated even the slightest bit? What sect would teach its disciples like this? He is plainly like a child holding a wooden sword and waving it about at random."

The Man surnamed Xiao remained silent.

At that moment, his hand itched slightly, and he looked toward Xie Wuxing.

Xie Wuxing frowned. "Why are you looking at me?"

He restrained himself from letting his imagination run wild.

The Man surnamed Xiao said, "I am quite interested in the Sword Pavilion. Shall we have a fight?"

Looking at the scene on Qixia Street, Xie Wuxing said, "If we fight again, this place will be too chaotic."

The Man surnamed Xiao said, "I hear that Sword Pavilion disciples are all fond of battle. Must you even choose the occasion for a fight?"

Xie Wuxing's expression grew solemn. "Since you are inclined to fight, then I shall accompany you to the end."

Feng Linghuai instinctively stepped back, nearly falling from the rooftop.

The Man surnamed Xiao curled his lips into a faint smile and decisively drew his sword.

Xie Wuxing had always felt that the Man surnamed Xiao was far from simple, so he chose to strike first.

Sword Qi streaked across the entirety of Qixia Street.

The Man surnamed Xiao raised his brows. "There is no need to probe. Please use your strongest sword."

Xie Wuxing froze briefly, then smiled. "Then as you wish."

River Stream Sword Intent stirred the Qi of heaven and earth and poured down in a torrent. The houses beneath their feet instantly crumbled into ruins. Feng Linghuai panicked and leapt onto another rooftop. Having used his aura, pain stabbed through his entire body, and his face turned deathly pale.

The Man surnamed Xiao hovered in midair. Looking at the broken walls and shattered ruins below, he smiled. "My turn to draw my sword."

He lightly raised the hand holding his sword, and a strand of Sword Qi shot fiercely toward Xie Wuxing.

River Stream Sword Intent shattered at once.

Before Xie Wuxing could react, the Sword Qi dispersed before his eyes.

And the Man surnamed Xiao had already sheathed his sword.

Xie Wuxing broke out in a cold sweat.

He stared at the Man surnamed Xiao in utter disbelief. "What realm are you actually in?!"

The Man surnamed Xiao answered, "I am not entirely sure either."

Xie Wuxing panted. "How could anyone not know their own realm?"

He had suffered a tremendous blow.

Losing to Jiang Wang had not burdened him much. They had been evenly matched, and he had only lost by half a step. But the Man surnamed Xiao had used only one sword strike—indeed, it could scarcely even be called a sword strike—and he had somehow lost for no reason at all.

He had descended the mountain to subdue demons and eliminate devils, to display the prestige of the Sword Pavilion, yet he had suffered two consecutive defeats. Xie Wuxing felt the world's deep malice toward him.

He observed the Man surnamed Xiao, his eyes gradually widening. "Where is your Yellow Court?!"

The Man surnamed Xiao did not speak.

Xie Wuxing said in shock, "Could it be that you are not a cultivator, but a martial artist?!"

Only one who had forged a Yellow Court could be considered a true cultivator. Without a Yellow Court, one was naturally a martial artist, for Celestial Masters had no methods beyond talismans. Anyone capable of walking through the air had to be at least a Grandmaster.

But martial artists differed from cultivators. To reach the Grandmaster realm, no matter how exceptional their talent, they could not possibly be too young.

What was more, if he truly were a Grandmaster, while he could suppress a peak Cave Nether Realm cultivator, Xie Wuxing would not have lost so quickly. He even possessed the ability to kill an ordinary Grandmaster with a single sword.

Unless the Man surnamed Xiao was a Great Grandmaster!

But such a young Great Grandmaster could not be found anywhere in the entire world.

Most crucially, the Man surnamed Xiao clearly possessed the aura of a swordsman. How could he be a martial artist?

This was far too strange!

Xie Wuxing could not understand it no matter how he racked his brains.

His expression suddenly changed drastically.

He remembered something his teacher had once said: over the past ten years, a strange occurrence had emerged in the world. Someone calling himself Jianli had not forged a Yellow Court, yet possessed a cultivator's abilities and had gained immense renown within Longchan of the Sui Kingdom.

That person was also a swordsman.

Yet he differed somewhat from the swordsmen recognized by the world.

That Jianli carried a wooden sword on his back, merely a most ordinary sword carved from bamboo and wood. No one could see through his realm, yet he possessed the strength of a great cultivator above the peak of the Cave Nether Realm.

This made ordinary people within Longchan, those unqualified to forge a Yellow Court, yearn for him with all their hearts and revere him greatly.

The Qingxuan Bureau had therefore spent a long time searching everywhere for him, but he was like a divine dragon whose head could be seen but whose tail could not. Not even the slightest trace had been found to this day. They only knew that his name was Liu Pian.

Maintaining his astonished expression, Xie Wuxing cupped his hands and said, "May I ask your honored surname?"

After a moment of silence, the Man surnamed Xiao said, "My surname is Xiao. I am not as you imagine."

Hearing that question and seeing Xie Wuxing's expression, the Man surnamed Xiao could naturally guess what he was thinking.

But Xie Wuxing was even more shocked.

If the Man surnamed Xiao before him was not the same person as that Jianli named Liu Pian, then it was highly possible that Liu Pian had truly opened another path. Could one cultivate without Hundred Days Foundation Establishment and without forging a Yellow Court?

This had to be something capable of changing the entire balance of the world!

It was precisely because the path of cultivation was so arduous that Hundred Days Foundation Establishment alone caused most people to shrink back at the sight of it. Even those who completed foundation establishment might spend their entire lives unable to find the opportunity to forge a Yellow Court, resulting in the scarcity of cultivators throughout the world.

If the first steps of cultivation could be made easy, then it might not be impossible for everyone to cultivate.

If there were only one Liu Pian in the world, it could be explained as extraordinary talent, as someone born with knowledge.

But if more people like Liu Pian could emerge in the world, then seeking Liu Pian might become more important than seeking immortals.

After all, Liu Pian was a "supreme treasure" laid directly before them, one that could possibly make the Sui Kingdom more powerful!

Though his experiences after descending the mountain had been humiliating, if he could verify this matter, Xie Wuxing could scarcely imagine what kind of flourishing age the Sui Kingdom would enter.

He asked again, "Brother Xiao, did you cultivate under that Senior Liu?"

The Man surnamed Xiao shook his head. "My Yellow Court is merely not in its usual location."

Xie Wuxing was utterly bewildered.

A Yellow Court could be somewhere else?

The Man surnamed Xiao continued, "Just as some people have their hearts on the right side."

Xie Wuxing understood.

Yet he still found it somewhat inconceivable. Could this be an excuse deliberately made up?

"The Yellow Court is a cultivator's foundation. If Brother Xiao is so unusual, how can you reveal the truth so casually?"

Xie Wuxing stared at him with an inquisitive gaze.

The Man surnamed Xiao smiled. "I merely said that some people's hearts may be on the right side. I never said where my Yellow Court is. My constitution is indeed somewhat special. Even if I told you that my Yellow Court was not in its usual location, you still would not be able to find it."

This was the longest speech he had made.

Xie Wuxing looked deeply at him.

Those of higher realms, or even those in the same realm, could detect where another person's Yellow Court lay. Even if the Man surnamed Xiao's Yellow Court was in an unusual position, it should still be detectable.

Yet the facts proved that he truly could not find where the Man surnamed Xiao's Yellow Court was.

But whether such a case existed in the world was something he needed to return to the Sword Pavilion and ask his teacher about.

The safest method was to bring the Man surnamed Xiao back to the Sword Pavilion as well.

Otherwise, once he left Hun City, if he failed to find the man again, then even if he confirmed that the Man surnamed Xiao and Liu Pian shared some connection, it would only create trouble from nothing.

This matter was of great importance. If Xitan discovered even the faintest clue and found Liu Pian first, the Sui Kingdom would face an enormous crisis.

Xie Wuxing finally decided to remain in Hun City, keep watch over the Man surnamed Xiao at all times, and uncover his secrets as much as possible.

Seeing Xie Wuxing looking like that, the Man surnamed Xiao had no intention of explaining further.

At this moment, Cai Tanggu and Tong Ji had already returned to Qixia Street.

But Cai Tanggu had fallen from the night sky. Just as he was about to rise, Tong Ji pressed his sword against Cai Tanggu's forehead.

Cai Tanggu's face darkened. "You truly deserve the name of foremost expert beneath the Marquis's command. Even crippled and without a weapon suited to your hand, you could still defeat me."

Tong Ji's expression remained calm.