A Sword

Li Wei and Jiang Han crouched by the door, peeking inside through the crack.

They had already been there for a little while, mainly because Jiang Han was simply too cowardly. Afraid that their parents would catch him after he had gone missing for several days and give him a savage double beating, he insisted on scouting out the "enemy situation" first.

As it happened, they witnessed Yun Zheng's smug, punchable expression after injuring someone.

Li Wei's hands were itching a little. Unable to resist, she nudged Jiang Han beside her with her elbow. "Hey, what's the deal with this show-off?"

Jiang Han was also holding back his anger. His voice was low and heavy. "His name is Yun Zheng. He's Jiang Yao's kept man, so I guess he counts as half a member of the Yun Family."

"Half?" Li Wei's curiosity was piqued, and she raised her head a little.

The soft strands of her hair brushed against Jiang Han's neck, making him itch. Her uniquely clean, pleasant scent filled his nostrils, and his face inexplicably began to burn.

His heart gave a jolt. That's strange. Could I have developed some improper feelings toward "Jiang Xue"?

Damn, just thinking about it makes my scalp go numb!

He had always been sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, and it was true that he favored this older sister.

But favoring her was one thing. That was completely different from incest.

Something was wrong. Nine parts out of ten, something was very wrong!

He hurriedly cast aside those messy thoughts, reached out to press down on Li Wei's restless head, and gently pushed her away a little as he rasped out an explanation:

"He was originally just a distant, impoverished relative of the Yun Family, so distant that they were practically unrelated. He grew up in a mountain ravine."

"In his first year of high school, he trained himself to the level of 'Muscles and Bones Ringing in Harmony.' Only then was he discovered by the Yun Family's main branch. After that, they transferred his household registration, gave him a new father, and began grooming him as a priority."

"So he can only count as half a member of the Yun Family."

At this point, Jiang Han's lips curled into a grin, and he snickered. "Yun Zheng was a name he changed himself. Do you know what he used to be called?"

"What?" Li Wei pried away the paw Jiang Han had pressed on her head and asked curiously.

Jiang Han struggled to hold back his laughter, his shoulders bouncing uncontrollably. "Yun Bajin! Supposedly, when he was born, his weight was neither more nor less than exactly eight jin."

"Pfft—!" Li Wei truly couldn't hold it back this time and nearly burst out laughing. She quickly covered her mouth tightly with both hands. "Seriously? How do you know?"

Jiang Han smugly snorted twice, also struggling badly to hold back his laughter. "Ahem, that guy's a total poser. Plenty of people dislike him, and someone always wants to expose his old secrets. After enough people went looking, it was dug up."

Li Wei blinked. "No one dares to deal with him?"

Jiang Han curled his lip. "The Yun Family's eldest young lady protects him. If Yun Xi weren't covering for him, an SB like him would have been beaten to death eight hundred times already."

Yun Xi... The name sounded vaguely familiar to Li Wei. After turning it over in her mind, she remembered.

Yun Xi, the Yun Family's eldest young lady, granddaughter of the Sword Immortal Yun Sheng—second on Huaguo's Martial Immortal List. She was practically a princess who had stepped out of reality!

When Jiang Xue had explained her relationships that day, Yun Xi's photograph had been pinned at the top of the enemies' group, with five black hearts drawn beside it until they were completely filled. She was unquestionably the greatest of Jiang Xue's sworn enemies.

Of course, whether the eldest young lady of the Yun Family even knew someone called "Jiang Xue" was another matter.

At that moment, in the hall, Yun Zheng was poking Jiang Zhirou in the forehead and beginning his passionate display of shameless posturing!

When Li Wei saw this, her eyelids twitched violently, and she couldn't hold back again. "Then... can I beat this Yun Bajin to death?"

Jiang Han choked. Were the Yun Family really people one could afford to provoke?

He had just wanted to stop her when he suddenly felt as though his throat had been gripped. He couldn't utter a single word!

He widened his eyes in terror, and a layer of fine cold sweat appeared at his temples.

Li Wei didn't look at him, so naturally she had no idea what a horrifying ordeal her cheap younger brother was undergoing.

When Jiang Han didn't answer, she was just about to press him further when a sweet and alluring female voice suddenly rang out in her mind, carrying a hint of laziness. "Oh my~ Killing him would be a bit much. Just take off one of his arms."

"Who?!" Li Wei's body hair stood on end. That earlier feeling of being watched and utterly ill at ease had returned!

She retreated two steps in quick succession and abruptly turned her head to look around, but the entrance was completely empty. There wasn't even a ghostly shadow, let alone a person!

"Why are you looking around?" The voice rang out in her mind again, carrying a hint of teasing. "This old lady is Jiang Xinyue."

Li Wei was stunned. Her body stiffened in place, and she subconsciously murmured in a low voice, testing the words in disbelief. "G-Grandma?"

"Aww, my good granddaughter..." Jiang Xinyue's tone was still somewhat improper, but then her words abruptly turned extremely urgent. "Enough, enough, less nonsense! Get inside and chop off his arm! That brat from the Yun Family is putting on such an awkward act, it's killing me. If you don't go in now, the situation is about to get out of control!"

"Understood!"

Li Wei instantly brightened. Hadn't she spent so long pestering Jiang Han precisely because she wanted to feel out this man's background?

Now that she had a Grandmaster backing her up, what was there to be afraid of?

She immediately strode forward with the swagger of someone who recognized neither kin nor heaven, raising her foot to kick the door.

But then she thought it over. This was still her own home for the time being. Her expression stiffened, and she awkwardly lowered her foot.

"Ahem!"

She cleared her throat and reached out to push open the door. At the same time, her thoughts raced as she rapidly brought up the system panel.

Combat Method: First String: Cold Pool Sinking Jade (Initiated 30/30→Mastered 0/100)

Abyss Essence: 642→612

Combat Method: First String: Cold Pool Sinking Jade (Mastered 100/100→Proficient 0/300)

Abyss Essence: 612→512

Combat Method: First String: Cold Pool Sinking Jade (Proficient 300/300→Minor Accomplishment 0/1000)

Abyss Essence: 512→212

"Feels great~"

She raised the first form of the Nine Moon Reflection Swords, "Cold Pond Sinking Jade," to the Minor Accomplishment realm in one go. An ocean of insights surged into her mind like a flood bursting through a breached dam.

The amount of information this time was more than ten times greater than when she had added points to the Initiated level.

Yet strangely, Li Wei didn't feel the slightest burden. Those profound pieces of knowledge seemed to belong to her by nature, merging seamlessly into complete understanding.

Could I have become completely desensitized to pain? Or was it the qualitative transformation brought about by breaking a hundred in Vitality Value?

But she had no time to investigate further.

Just then, she clearly heard Yun Zheng's provocative declaration. "Don't say I didn't give your Jiang Family a chance! Today, I'll stand right here! Among your Jiang Family's Quasi-Martial Artists, anyone who can defeat me will get a satisfactory explanation from me! How about it?!"

Li Wei forcibly resisted the urge to cover her face and complain. In a tone as calm as possible, yet unmistakably mocking, she said, "Oh, I was wondering who had honored us with his presence. So it's the illustrious 'Yun Bajin'!"

Yun Zheng, who had been enjoying everyone's attention and passionately showing off, suddenly stiffened and whipped his head around!

When he looked toward Li Wei, his eyes had been flooded with blood and turned completely scarlet. The aura around him was violently ferocious!

"You—are—asking—to—die!!!" The three words seemed to be squeezed through his clenched teeth, carrying boundless hatred and Killing Intent.

Crack!

The instant the floor tiles shattered, he shot toward Li Wei like an arrow loosed from a bow. Both hands transformed into claws, and ominous black-red radiance flickered from his fingertips!

"Ah—!"

"Watch out!"

"Get out of the way!"

Seeing Yun Zheng get serious, the Jiang Family members in the hall instantly descended into chaos.

Looking at the familiar features of the girl at the door, the quicker ones had already guessed that the newcomer was "Jiang Xue."

She was family, after all. Though they were frightened inside, several people still cried out instinctively!

However, the white-robed middle-aged man who had silently followed behind Yun Zheng suddenly narrowed his pupils the instant he saw Li Wei!

Not good! There's an expert!

He had just been about to leap forward and intercept Yun Zheng, who had lost his reason, when he was horrified to discover that his body was frozen as if encased in ice. He couldn't move at all!

A Jiang Family Grandmaster!

The white-robed middle-aged man's eyelids twitched wildly. His heart sank to rock bottom with a thud. Casting aside all concerns about face, he immediately shouted, "Please show mer—"

Before he could finish, a pale-blue figure had appeared like a phantom where Yun Zheng had stood moments earlier.

Her skirt hem spun lightly before settling soundlessly, stirring up a faint, cool fragrance.

Li Wei gave her wrist a light flick. All the blood beads on the sword flew off, and then, with a crisp swish, she cleanly sheathed it back into her "belt."

Only after doing all this did she slowly raise her eyes toward the white-robed middle-aged man, whose face had gone deathly pale. "What did you just say?"

He opened and closed his mouth, looking at Li Wei, who was completely at ease, then at the bloody severed arm five or six meters away, and finally at Yun Zheng, who had already fainted. His Adam's apple bobbed once before he ultimately chose silence.

Damn it, that's definitely Great Perfection! No mistake!

Having confirmed it with his own eyes, he knew she was someone he absolutely couldn't afford to provoke.

After offending someone like this, unless he killed her right now, only a dead end awaited him.

Would the Yun Family offend an unparalleled prodigy of this level for a mere guest retainer? It was impossible, just thinking about it.

What status did those who had reached Great Perfection hold now? It was enough to make a comparison.

Feeling the invisible force binding him quietly disperse and his body regain control, he immediately bowed deeply toward Li Wei.

Then, with practiced efficiency, he scooped up the severed arm, tucked the unconscious Yun Zheng under his arm, and dashed out the door without looking back.

He moved faster than a rabbit that had spotted a hawk.

No, that's not how the script was supposed to go! I'd only just started showing off, and the warm-up guest already took the supporting character away? I haven't even delivered my prepared lines!

Li Wei stared at the empty doorway, her face filled with bewilderment.

Also, she was pondering why she had felt absolutely no emotional fluctuation after chopping off someone's arm with a single sword strike.

Was she a psychopath? Or had the world gone insane?

While she was still in disarray, Jiang Xinyue's signature sharp shriek suddenly exploded in Li Wei's mind.

"Damn! You've cultivated Sword Passes Without Sound?!"

"Cold Pond Sinking Jade has reached Minor Accomplishment?!"

"I haven't even had time to pass my cultivation on to you! And you're telling me that not only did you learn it, you directly reached Minor Accomplishment?!"

"You learned it from that lousy material Jiang Xue had? From the time you met Jiang Xue until now, has it even been half a month?!"

"Do you know how long it took me to learn this move back then? Could you show some basic respect for the laws of nature? The way you're doing this makes me look like an idiot!!"

...A continuous string of high-pitched screams made Li Wei's brain buzz. Before she could recover, a huge crowd came surging over, chattering over one another with fiery enthusiasm.

"It's Xiao Xue, right? My, how you've grown! It's only been four years, and you've blossomed into a fairy."

"Xiao Xue, I'm your Second Aunt. I even carried you when you were little! Do you remember your Second Aunt?"

"And me! I'm your eldest uncle! When you were little, you loved pestering your eldest uncle to go bird-nest raiding in the park!"

"Big Sister Xiao Xue, I'm Lele! The one who was always following behind you when we were little! You're so beautiful—beautiful and cool! I like you so much!"

"Little Xue, are you at Minor Perfection or Great Perfection now? That brat Yun Zheng was practically made of paper in front of you. One touch and he shattered!!"

"That move just now was Cold Pond Sinking Jade, right? Sword Passes Without Sound—there's no doubt it reached the Minor Accomplishment realm! Xiao Xue, you're amazing!"

"Xiao Xue..."

"My good niece..."

Li Wei: "..."

She felt as though she was about to be drowned by this sudden flood of enthusiasm.

"Make way, make way! Grandma said she wants to see Jiang Xue. Everyone, move aside!"

Jiang Han exhausted every ounce of strength he had before finally pulling Li Wei out of the fiery crowd of relatives. He grabbed her wrist and ran for his life, looking exactly like a ferocious beast was chasing them.

After the two of them finally escaped the noisy hall, Li Wei felt as though the entire world before her eyes had turned into mosquito coils. She was dizzy and muddle-headed.

Her relatives' enthusiasm had nearly melted her on the spot. It was simply too much for her to handle.

As they ran, Li Wei gradually steadied herself and suddenly recalled the strange sight she had caught a fleeting glimpse of in the hall.

She found it strange. Why did every female relative have a lotus flower perched on her forehead?

The colors were all different too—red, gold, white... They actually looked rather distinctive.

Er, the strange thing was that the Golden Lotus on her eldest maternal aunt's forehead seemed to be crooked.

Was this some unique Jiang Family custom or status symbol?

But Jiang Xue had never mentioned anything like that...

Li Wei raised a hand and touched her smooth forehead. She couldn't shake the feeling that among this group of "lotuses," she was somehow... a little out of place.

At the same time, Jiang Family, main hall.

Jiang Yunshu: "Where's Jiang Yao?"

Tang Zhou: "I don't know..."

Jiang Yunshu: "Wasn't she just on the sofa?"

Tang Zhou: "Yes."

Jiang Yunshu: "What do you mean, 'yes'? Go find her!"

Tang Zhou: "Oh, all right, all right."