Arthur, who had been chatting and laughing moments before, stared at Lin Qi with a livid face. A cold, venomous light flickered in his solitary eye. He said nothing, only clenched both fists as he glared at Lin Qi. Beneath his feet, a thick slab of bluestone suddenly split with several fine cracks.
Among the men gathered around Arthur, one stepped forward—a middle-aged man with long, tangled hair so filthy it looked as though he hadn't washed it in months. He barked, "Where did this bastard come from, daring to speak to Young Master Arthur like that? Get on your knees and apologize, or else!"
The middle-aged man's hair wasn't the only thing that was filthy. His clothes were tattered, with spiderwebs and moss clinging to them. He looked worse than a corpse in a garbage heap. Even from several meters away, a nauseating stench rolled off him. It was hard to imagine how he'd ended up in such a state.
Lin Qi ignored the man and strode toward Arthur. The last traces of the Magic Tiger Potion's power were coursing rapidly through his bones and muscles, releasing the final remnants of its medicinal effects. Lin Qi silently circulated his family's inherited cultivation art. His aura churned like flowing water, mingling with the surging heat from the Magic Tiger Potion as it washed through his body.
As Lin Qi walked, deep, powerful, unmistakable crackles sounded from his bones. He drew a deep breath. The falling snow within three feet of him danced with each inhale, while his exhaled breath poured out several meters like a dragon's fiery breath.
Arthur gave a low groan. "Lin Qi, you're back?"
Almost involuntarily, Arthur touched the eyepatch over his left eye, and his body shuddered violently. His face was ashen, shrouded in an unmistakable, murderous aura. But it vanished in an instant. Suddenly, Arthur's smile bloomed like a flower. With his red hair, violet eyes, and extraordinarily handsome features, he looked like the legendary sun god descending into the mortal realm as he smiled.
At the sight of Arthur's smile, the other men beside him all released their sword hilts. They stared at Lin Qi in astonishment, unable to understand where he'd found the nerve to speak to the eldest young master of the Black Tiger Family like that.
Only the filthy, tattered middle-aged man had nearly reached Lin Qi. With no eyes in the back of his head, he hadn't noticed Arthur's strange change of expression. He cried out in a shrill voice, "Young Master Arthur, today is my first day serving under you. Let me use this boy's blood to prove my loyalty!"
Lin Qi didn't even glance at the middle-aged man. He kept striding toward Arthur, sneering as he went. "Well, well, Arthur. You've started collecting lackeys, have you? Is this your new hired thug? Are you really so short of a few coppers? Couldn't you at least clean him up before bringing him back? Remember, this is the family estate. Letting someone like him show up here brings shame on the family!"
Lin Qi shot the middle-aged man a disdainful sidelong glance. "Even a stray dog is cleaner than him!"
The middle-aged man's fury had reached its limit. With a furious roar, he suddenly drew his sword and slashed at Lin Qi's neck. Unlike Enzo's usual Stabbing Sword, the man wielded a common medium-sized cavalry sword. Its blade was two fingers wide and about three feet long, with only the front foot or so sharpened. A faint trace of blood glimmered along its blue-green edge. Clearly, the sword had drunk the blood of many people.
As the sword rose, a faint red glow shrouded its edge. The middle-aged man was, astonishingly, a Human Knight.
But Enzo, close behind Lin Qi, drew his own sword at the same time. His four-foot Stabbing Sword had a many-sided blade and an exceptionally sharp point, and it was enveloped in a deep-red aura. Using the Army Academy's taught fencing footwork, he swept to Lin Qi's side like a gale. In the blink of an eye, he had thrust seven times at the middle-aged man.
Seven blood-red flashes tore through the air and the freezing wind. Dozens of snowflakes, each the size of a child's palm, shattered against the sword tips.
The middle-aged man had never dreamed Lin Qi would have such a formidable swordsman as Enzo at his side. Enzo's aura was stronger than his, his youthful vigor and muscular strength greater, and his reactions considerably faster. As the seven flashes closed in, the middle-aged man frantically yanked back his sword and hacked downward at an angle with all his strength.
The two swords clashed. Six blood-red flashes vanished, but the seventh deftly slipped past the cavalry sword's downward strike and scraped along its blade to pierce the middle-aged man's left shoulder. The Stabbing Sword, capable of easily punching through standard armor, pierced his shoulder as if through rotten wood, leaving a hole as thick as a thumb. Enzo yanked his sword free and followed with a kick to the man's stomach.
Ordinary noble fencing never involved footwork like that. But Enzo wasn't a noble; he was a student at the Army Academy. The principles of military fencing differed greatly from those of the nobility. The sole aim of military swordsmanship was to kill the enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Blood sprayed everywhere. The middle-aged man felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and let out a scream—but before it could escape, Enzo's iron-plated military boot slammed into his stomach. The heavy thud rang out. The man flew more than a meter into the air, then was sent tumbling back over two meters, coughing blood.
The cavalry sword went spinning far away. Clutching his stomach, the middle-aged man curled up on the ground, convulsing as blood poured from his mouth again and again.
Arthur's smile stiffened for a moment, but he quickly forced an even brighter, more affectionate one. "Lin Qi, when did you get back? Why didn't you tell the family? We could've sent someone to meet you at the docks!"
Arthur didn't spare the badly wounded man a glance. It was as though he weren't a swordsman he'd just recruited, but merely a pile of trash.
Lin Qi stepped in front of Arthur, his face dark, and punched him in the face. It was a punch thrown with all his strength. Lin Qi poured into it the battle aura he'd cultivated since childhood, the raw strength he'd built by honing his body from a young age, and every bit of power the Magic Tiger Potion had given him. Every muscle in his body was taut, and he held nothing back.
His fist roared through the air, a faint orange-yellow glow shining around it.
Arthur's expression changed. Instinctively, he retreated several steps and shouted, "Lin Qi, what are you doing?"
Without a word, Lin Qi quickly closed the distance, his fist still cutting through the air as it shot toward Arthur's handsome face.
The other men beside Arthur were aghast. They drew their swords together, and five blades whistled toward Lin Qi's vital points from different angles. Whatever reason Arthur had for smiling at Lin Qi, Lin Qi now threatened Arthur's safety—and Arthur was their leader!
As the five men attacked Lin Qi with their swords, Enzo's expression changed. He hurriedly swung his sword to meet them.
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