"You cultivated the Haoran Sword, so it wasn't hard to guess you came from the Academy."
Lü Qingchen said, "It's a pity you didn't learn more in the Second Floor before you were expelled. Your opening sword strike carried the force of wind and thunder, yet you forced it into something nimtuous and elusive. Had you met me twenty years ago, you wouldn't have been my match, even before I reached Profound Insight."
The middle-aged scholar lowered his head with a faint smile. He had been invited to assassinate the princess and, after hearing of the old man's strength, had thought it would be simple.
But those who supplied the intelligence hadn't known that the old man had entered Profound Insight on the grasslands.
More startling still, this South Gate elder of Haotianism had abandoned the sword for mind power.
"Great Tang has no shortage of powerful people, but grand swordmasters are rare. With your talent, why not serve the state?"
"Mr. Qingchen, since you come from Haotianism, you should remember what the Imperial Astronomy Bureau said back then: 'Night Curtain veils the stars; the nation shall know no peace.'"
The middle-aged scholar looked toward the ornate carriage, now reduced to wreckage.
"I don't care what General Xia Hou thinks. I only know that the demon girl in your party deserves to die!"
All expression slowly drained from the scholar's face. He took a deep breath. Fallen leaves began swirling around him, and his long robe rustled.
Leaves danced wildly beside the great tree. His blood-soaked blue robe suddenly billowed, and streams of blood burst from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. It was as if a terrifying, invisible force were pouring into him from the leaves and the world itself, driving out all his strength along with his blood!