The scorching sun poured down waves of heat, and fierce winds whipped back upon themselves.
Yet inside Hanxu Pass, it was extraordinarily cold.
Chen Yunfan shed his earlier languor and stared at Li Changqing with a still expression, his hand already resting at his waist.
"What did you say?"
Li Changqing stared blankly at him. "Y-you, your cultivation base-no, your Sword Dao-"
No.
This was wrong.
Chen Yunfan was merely a wine sack and rice bag sheltered by his elders. Even his position as Zhuangyuan had been forcibly bestowed by His Majesty. He should have been accomplished in neither letters nor arms.
How was his cultivation base in the upper three grades?
How had his Sword Dao reached the perfection realm?
This, this-was very wrong!
But while intelligence and rumors could deceive, the pressure bearing down on Li Changqing could not.
At that moment, every hair on his body stood on end. His robes billowed in the wind, and several tears ripped open with a series of rending sounds.
Even though Chen Yunfan had neither drawn his sword nor attacked, the Sword Intent enveloping their surroundings was silently slicing at Li Changqing's body.
First his robes, then his jade belt, and then-
A shallow cut opened across one side of Li Changqing's face, and blood slowly trickled down.
Shi Junqing and the others beside him were equally horrified, all staring at Chen Yunfan in astonishment.
"Commander, sir, y-you-"
Lin Zhong and Chunying exchanged a glance, both looking somewhat odd.
Others might not have known, but they knew just how formidable Chen Xuanji was. How could someone like him have been wounded by an assassin?
Chen Yunfan ignored Shi Junqing and the others. His eyes remained fixed on Li Changqing alone as he continued coldly, "Tell me, was my father truly