Attributes! Snow Slaughter! Upper Three Realms!

The crowd's astonished discussions intertwined.

Yuan Haotian's strength was genuinely ruthless in the Jianghu. His swift blade was unmatched across the northern lands, and his title as eighth on the Human Ranking had not been earned through empty boasting!

The Jianghu folk inside the inn all sized up the two men, then began backing away in unspoken accord.

"Now this is going to be a show! Zhang Chu just killed two Dark Strength Realm experts under the Northern Blade Sect!"

"Yeah, this Little Blade King is no pushover. Just judging by his aura, he's a whole notch stronger than Little True Martial."

"Of course. He once wiped out six strongholds with a single blade, and since he ranks eighth on the Human Ranking, he's naturally several cuts above Little True Martial, who has only just entered the Jianghu!"

Everyone had already made their judgments about the two men in the arena.

After all, Little Blade King had made his name in the Jianghu at the age of sixteen. There was no one who did not know of him.

Now that so many years had passed, his strength had surely advanced even further. Even older-generation experts at the peak of the Dark Strength Realm would have to weigh matters carefully before facing someone like him!

"This trip to Lingnan has truly not been in vain. Even if I gain nothing from the Sword Appraisal Convention, I'll have no regrets.

"Exactly. Little Blade King against Little True Martial—they're close in age, and only one place apart on the Human Ranking. Who knows who will be left standing after this fight!"

The inn buzzed with discussion.

Yet Yuan Haotian ignored them all and said, "Zhang Chu, did you know those two were subordinates of my adoptive father?"

Zhang Chu said flatly, "So what if I did?"

"Bold!" Yuan Haotian's gaze turned fierce. "Since you knew, you still dared strike so ruthlessly. It seems your Linjiang True Martial Temple has no regard for the Northern Blade Sect?"

"The Northern Blade Sect?"

At last, Zhang Chu looked Yuan Haotian directly in the eye, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint, indistinct smile.

"Whomever I, Zhang, choose to kill is none of your business. Besides, you came here today for no more than the Human Ranking. Why bother with such laughable excuses?"

"Hahaha, clever enough!" Yuan Haotian was not angered when his intentions were laid bare. Instead, he laughed.

"Since that's the case, I won't waste words."

"Flowing Cloud Swordsman, Bai Feiyu, also came to this Sword Appraisal Convention. He ranks seventh on the Human Ranking and has always kept one place above me, yet he refuses to accept my challenge. I want to borrow the head of you, Little True Martial, so he can understand that hiding is useless. Sooner or later, I'll kill him too!"

With that, Yuan Haotian slowly drew the long saber at his waist.

The blade was narrow and long, its cold gleam biting.

Faint blue patterns flowed across its edge. It was a vicious saber that had drunk the blood of countless men!

"This saber is called Drinking Snow. It is three feet seven inches long, weighs two hundred ninety-eight jin and seven liang, and has followed me for seven years."

Yuan Haotian stroked the blade, obsession filling his eyes. "Today, it will send you on your way!"

Without another word, Yuan Haotian moved.

His saber technique was like the man himself—overbearing and razor-sharp. One slash flashed forth, saber light streaking out like a bolt of white silk.

Saber Gang tore through the air with a piercing shriek!

This slash was more than twice as fast as the Chang Brothers'. Before the blade even arrived, its wind had already swept through the inn, making it impossible to look at directly.

"Northern Land Blade Technique—Thousand Mountain Snow!"

Someone recognized the move.

The signature technique with which the Northern Land Saber King had made his name. The saber light was like boundless snow blanketing a thousand mountains—nowhere to hide, nowhere to flee!

A trace of approval flashed through Zhang Chu's eyes.

Among all the experts he had encountered before,

this Little Blade King, Yuan Haotian, stood in a class of his own.

Compared to that Old Devil, Yuan Hui of Jinguang Temple, he was not inferior in the slightest—if anything, he was almost a touch stronger.

Especially within his saber technique,

there was actually a trace of Attribute Power!

That sparked Zhang Chu's curiosity!

"He actually has Attribute Power too. Interesting."

Zhang Chu suddenly smiled. Without shifting even half a step, he merely reached out with one hand, and with a thunderous boom, that incomparably fierce saber strike was shattered.

The next second, Yuan Haotian felt his saber tremble. A terrifying force instantly traveled through the blade and into his body, sending him flying backward.

"Bang, bang, bang!!..."

Heavy footsteps rang out.

Yuan Haotian felt the Gang Qi within him churn as violent power swept through his entire body like a tidal wave!

Under that immense force, Yuan Haotian gave a muffled groan and staggered back seven steps. Each step left a deep footprint in the ground. The hand gripping his saber trembled slightly, blood already seeping from the web between thumb and forefinger.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chu remained where he stood.

His green robes fluttered, spotless and untouched by dust.

With a single move, Yuan Haotian had been defeated. The difference between them was obvious at a glance!

The inn erupted in an uproar.

"Little Blade King... fell into a disadvantage?"

"How is that possible? Little Blade King Yuan Haotian is eighth on the Human Ranking, while Zhang Chu is only tenth!"

The crowd stared at the two of them in utter disbelief, shocked and unable to understand how Yuan Haotian could have lost.

What they did not know was that if Zhang Chu had not been curious about the other man's Attribute Power, that palm strike would not merely have sent him stumbling back—he would likewise have become a rain of blood!

"Tell me where this Attribute Power came from, and perhaps I'll let you leave alive. What do you say?"

Zhang Chu suddenly looked at Yuan Haotian and spoke.

After this cultivation technique fusion had given birth to Attribute Power, Zhang Chu had become deeply curious about this force.

He had never believed this power was unique to himself, so he greatly wished to understand where Attribute Power came from.

For Zhang Chu faintly had a premonition that this Attribute Power was related to the Upper Three Realms.

It might even be the only road leading to the Upper Three Realms!

Now that he had encountered someone else who possessed Attribute Power, he naturally could not let the opportunity slip by. He wanted to ask.

But before Yuan Haotian could say anything in response, Ma Wuji's expression suddenly changed.

"Hiss! That line again!..."

He knew that line far too well.

He would never forget how, at Jinguang Temple that day, Zhang Chu had said precisely the same thing to Ghost Monk Yuan Hui.

Then the man refused, and died...

"You! Very well—you dare humiliate me!"

Yuan Haotian's face darkened.

He had been extraordinarily gifted since childhood. The Northern Land Saber King had taken him as an adopted son, and by eighteen he had entered the peak of the Dark Strength Realm and ranked eighth on the Human Ranking. His path had been smooth sailing all the way.

When he fought Zhang Chu today, he had thought victory would come easily. He had never expected the other man to be so powerful.

"You forced me to this!"

"Don't you want to know my saber technique? Then I'll show you the true strength of the Northern Land Blade Technique!"

"This move was originally prepared for Flowing Cloud Swordsman Bai Feiyu. I never expected to use it on you!"

Yuan Haotian drew a deep breath, ruthlessness flashing in his eyes as though he had made a mad decision.

He gripped his saber with both hands and raised it above his head.

As he did so, his aura began to climb wildly, and an icy wind instantly filled the inn.

His robes billowed without wind, snapping loudly. The blue patterns upon the blade seemed to come alive, radiating an icy glow.

A terrifying cold wind spread through the room, mixed with bloody killing intent. Those with weaker cultivation inside the inn found it hard to breathe, their faces turning pale.

"This is... the Northern Land Saber King's ultimate art, Snow Slaughtering the World! Yuan Haotian actually mastered this saber technique?!"

The white-haired elder suddenly cried out in horror.

The Snow Slaughter Saber Technique was the Northern Land Saber King's ultimate technique when he had roamed the Jianghu in his youth. Whenever the saber emerged, snow would be seen, and its killing intent would soar to the heavens.

It was an extremely strange saber technique!

Rumor had it that those who cultivated it would gradually have their temperaments eroded, and even their blood could freeze solid at any moment!

In the end, they would become nothing more than a cold ice sculpture!

After the Northern Land Saber King made his name, he rarely used this technique. Who would have thought he had passed it on to his adopted son!

"Zhang Chu, take my final blade!" Yuan Haotian's eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse. "Snow Slaughter... the World!"

Having witnessed Zhang Chu's strength, Yuan Haotian knew that if he did not bring out his final ultimate art, he would certainly lose today.

He could not bear to lose to an unknown nobody. Thus, even if he had to risk grave injury, he would kill the other man. He was the mighty eighth-ranked expert on the Human Ranking!

In an instant, the saber light surged!

It was no longer ordinary saber light, but a glow radiating frigid saber qi, like light from the Arctic!

As the saber descended, everyone in the inn felt a chill in their hearts, as if Death itself had fixed its gaze upon them!

This slash had already surpassed the scope of Hidden Force and faintly touched the threshold of True Gang!

"Give you three parts of color, and you open a dyehouse."

"Since you refuse to speak, then die!"

Zhang Chu watched Yuan Haotian soar into the sky, his expression cold.

Hearing those words, Ma Wuji already knew the other man was finished. From this day onward, there would be no more Little Blade King in the world.

"Little Blade King, Little Blade King... of all people, why did you have to provoke him? He's a demon Daoist..."

Sure enough, before Zhang Chu's words had even faded, an immense aura of the opposite nature erupted from his body.

Boom!!...

It was as though heavenly thunder had exploded beside their ears.

A terrifying palm imprint instantly struck Yuan Haotian, who was rising into the sky.

"You...!" Yuan Haotian had not even finished speaking.

The next second, his entire body exploded like New Year firecrackers with a bang, flesh and blood flying everywhere.

The force was so strange that even the Jianghu folk who had long since retreated were swept up in it.

For a moment, everyone felt as though a world of ice and fire had descended at once, while their Spiritual Power instantly withered.

That was right—this palm strike was precisely the first move of the Northern Cold Flame True Hand that Zhang Chu had just learned: Cold Flame True Hand!

Amid the deafening crash, the inn's roof was blasted away by violent force, and rainwater poured down.

The tables, chairs, and benches were all reduced to powder. Cracks spread across the walls, and the entire inn teetered on the verge of collapse.

When the dust settled, everyone looked on in horror...

The once-proud Little Blade King

had become a pool of blood covering the ground!

The Northern Land Saber King's adopted son, Little Blade King Yuan Haotian, eighth on the Human Ranking, had been blasted into fragments by a single palm strike!

Silence.

Only the sound of falling rain remained...

Outside the inn, dozens of Jianghu travelers stood frozen in place, utterly unaware even as rain struck their faces.

"He... he killed Little Blade King?" The scar-faced man's voice trembled, the words almost squeezed out from his throat.

"Mad... he's gone mad!... That was the Northern Land Saber King's adopted son! His only adopted son!"

The white-haired elder also drew a sharp breath,

his eyes filled with horror.

"The Northern Land Saber King has no sons and regarded this child as his own. Little Blade King ran rampant through the Jianghu for all these years—who dared touch him? Even those venerable old figures of the Jianghu had to give the Saber King three parts of face. Yet today, he died here..."