Guan Mountain Circuit, Puzhou, Rainwillow County.
A fine drizzle fell, the sky like a hazy mass of mist. Willows swayed gracefully in the rain, while the bluestone paving along both sides of the street gleamed faintly with wetness.
There were few pedestrians on the street, yet the teahouse buzzed with voices and brimmed with life.
Something major seemed to have happened today. A crowd of idlers had gathered in little groups, animatedly trading gossip with dancing brows and flying expressions.
A black-clad figure in a bamboo hat entered from outside the teahouse. A long saber in a black scabbard hung at his waist. The figure took a seat in the corner, ordered a pot of clear tea, and listened to the local gossip network exchange intelligence.
The man in black was Xiang Yuan. His Tiger Roar Saber had broken, and the black saber at his waist came from the Qi-Extinguishing Prince's Manor armory.
It had been half a month since he left Fengxian County in Dezhou. His travels over the past dozen days had gone exceedingly smoothly—wherever he went, he won. There had not been the slightest difficulty.
So smoothly that it was boring.
That was no good. Xiang Yuan had gone out to hone his blade, not to flaunt his saber techniques and crush weaklings. But the travel map Wang Wenxu had helped him devise...
Wang Wenxu could not be blamed. How could Wang Wenxu have known Xiang Yuan was laden with such opportunities that ordinary Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators could not satisfy him at all?
Along the way, every Martial Arts School master Xiang Yuan encountered had been laughably lacking in skill. They did not even have the strength to hit people, leaving him so itchy for a good slash that he was itching to pull off something