36, The person wasn't hit by you, so why are you helping them?

"What the hell? Back when I was trying to forge Sword Intent, I went through hell and back. And this kid just casually comprehends it? Is there really someone in this world so gifted?"

"All these years I've called myself a genius of the Sword Dao—what a joke! To be utterly crushed by a junior today is nothing short of shameful."

Yan Chixia muttered to himself as he took a swig of wine, utterly baffled. Though Xiao Han's talent in the Sword Dao was indeed formidable, comprehending Sword Intent wasn't something that happened overnight.

Someone like Xiao Han, who after just a few days of guidance could suddenly grasp his own Sword Intent—Yan Chixia had never heard of such a thing.

Meanwhile, Xiao Han practiced his sword on the side, secretly amused by Yan Chixia's dumbfounded expression.

The Kai Dad template's Sword Dao talent boost was indeed impressive, but even it had limits. The real reason he could generate his own Sword Intent so quickly was entirely thanks to the system!

System: Spend 100 Energy Value, and even the Transformation Freedom Law can be instantly mastered.

After figuring out the principles behind Sword Intent, Xiao Han used the system to get started.

But he didn't plan to forcibly upgrade his Sword Intent with Energy Value.

First, his Sword Dao talent was already overwhelmingly strong, so he could use this to temper himself.

Second, the Energy Value required to upgrade Sword Intent was so high it intimidated Xiao Han.

With these two factors combined, Xiao Han began honing his Sword Intent like Yan Chixia, striving to advance further on the Sword Dao.

In short, he was broke and couldn't bear to part with those Energy Points.

In the days that followed, whatever Yan Chixia taught, Xiao Han learned. Whenever they encountered a demon, Xiao Han always volunteered to cut the fiend down, while Yan Chixia leisurely drank his wine.

The old man and the youth traveled on like this, stopping and going, for over a week.

One day, Yan Chixia and Xiao Han arrived together at a dock. Only by crossing this great river could they reach the town on the other side.

The river's current was swift, and it stretched several hundred meters across.

To cross, Xiao Han and the others had to take a ferry run by boatmen who had plied these waters for generations. They could fly over, but the horses couldn't.

Fortunately, there were ferrymen who specialized in this "river taxi" business. These boatmen lived off the river, growing up on its banks and mastering the art of navigating its waters.

Xiao Han wanted to lead the Thousand-Mile Horse onto the ferry, but Yan Chixia wasn't around, so he had to give up.

There were plenty of people doing business on this river—not just ferries for passengers, but also fleets of boats from other regions.

Thus, the dock was bustling with people, a stark contrast to the desolate scenes Xiao Han had seen elsewhere. That said, prosperity also meant no shortage of beggars; this area was full of refugees fleeing famine.

Yan Chixia handed the horses to Xiao Han to watch while he went to a tavern near the dock to buy wine.

Just as Xiao Han was leading the horses and taking in the scenery, a quarrel nearby caught his attention.

"I didn't! I really didn't bump into this old man! I just saw him lying on the ground in pain, and my heart couldn't bear it, so I went to help him up. I truly didn't hit him!"

Xiao Han followed the sound and quickly found its source. Leading his two horses closer to the crowd, he saw two fierce-looking men surrounding a scholar, cursing at him.

At a glance, the scholar was fair-skinned and, though his clothes were shabby, his features were handsome.

The scholar seemed timid on the surface, but Xiao Han could tell from his clear eyes that he wasn't lying.

The besieged scholar looked easy to bully, but in truth, he was the type who couldn't stand being wronged, arguing stubbornly to defend himself.

The two men beside him paid no heed, forming a human wall to block the scholar. One of them even gripped the scholar's box-cage tightly, preventing him from leaving.

Behind them lay an old man, feigning sleep.

Harassed like this, the scholar broke out in a sweat, explaining to everyone around: "Good folks, listen to me—I really didn't hit this old man! I just saw him lying there with no one to help, so I went to lend a hand!"

"Hmph!"

The big man on the left snorted coldly: "You say my dad was on the ground with no one to help, so why were you the only one to pick him up? Everyone else ignored him, but you had to step in? I'd say you're just guilty!"

"Exactly,"

The big man on the right sneered in agreement: "If you didn't hit him, why would you help him up?! Could it be, as my brother said, that you're feeling guilty?"

"You... you!"

The scholar trembled with rage, pointing at the two unreasonable thugs: "You have no evidence—how can you slander me for no reason?! When I helped this old man up, there were plenty of folks here who must have seen the truth!"

"Oh?"

The two men grinned viciously, scanning the onlookers and threatening: "Let's see if any of these people dare to testify for you!"

Which of the Commoners watching wanted trouble? Even if they saw that Ning Caichen wasn't the one who hit the old man, they didn't dare speak up, stepping back instead.

"You all! Sigh..."

Seeing the crowd retreat, the scholar's lips twisted into a bitter smile.

But he understood—in this world, just scraping together a meal was hard enough. No one wanted to pick a fight with two Local Ruffians.

"Nothing to say, huh? Pay up!"

The big man on the left shoved the scholar, who stumbled forward. Just as he was about to fall, a hand reached out and pressed against his chest.

"Let's talk things out. Pushing and shoving—that's not very nice, is it?"

Everyone's eyes followed the hand to a black-clad youth, no more than thirteen or fourteen, who stepped out from some corner and steadied the scholar.

The two big men frowned. A boy of such striking bearing, in such fine clothes—he might be some young master out on a trip.

They looked at the brash youth clearly stepping in for the scholar, sneering at Xiao Han: "Is this young master a friend of this scholar?"

"This young brother, thank you for standing up for me, but you can't beat the two of them. You should leave quickly, don't get dragged into this on my account." After the scholar was helped upright, his first act was to thank Xiao Han and urge him to flee.

"No, no, no, I'm not one for fighting and killing. What I like most is reasoning with people."

Xiao Han smiled amiably at the two big men. "As they say, harmony brings wealth. I think these two gentlemen wouldn't want to take this matter all the way to the yamen over something so trivial."

The big man on the left changed expression, his eyes narrowing to slits as he looked at Xiao Han. "Kid, you threatening me?"

The big man on the right sneered. "We're not afraid of going to the yamen. First off, we're in the right here. Second, our uncle is the second-in-command of the yamen in this area. Even if we go, we won't come out worse off!"

"No, no, how could that be?"

Xiao Han reached into his pocket and fished out a silver ingot.

The moment the two brothers saw the silver, greedy looks flashed in their eyes. "Young brother, since you're reasoning like this, we brothers might just be able to forgive the scholar. But this scholar knocked into our father—a single ingot of silver isn't nearly enough. At least three... no, five times that!"

"If you can't come up with that much silver, then we brothers will have no choice but to report this to the authorities."

Seeing the silver and jacking up the price on the spot, the two hooligans clearly intended to fleece Xiao Han like a sucker.

Xiao Han shook his head at this. "Two friends, my 'reasoning' isn't this silver, but rather..."

Boom!!!

A blast of air surged. Xiao Han slammed his fist heavily into the ground, and in an instant, the earth erupted into a crater one meter deep and three meters in diameter!

Dense cracks spread outward like a spiderweb for nearly three meters before stopping, startling the melon-eating crowd into stumbling back several steps.

Since the onlookers were far away, they were unharmed, but the two hooligans were knocked flat on the ground.

Because Xiao Han had used a clever technique, the brothers weren't seriously injured—at most, they'd suffer some superficial pain. But once the hidden force of the Eight Extremes Collapse inside their bodies erupted, it would likely leave them bedridden for weeks.

Still, though their lives were spared, watching a kid punch a hole like that right in front of them, and imagining that fist landing on their own bodies—wouldn't they be killed in one blow?!

They'd long heard that the world was full of martial experts who could reach divine levels, but they never thought their luck would be so bad as to run into one today!

With that thought, the two brothers, faces full of terror, quickly knelt and begged for mercy.

As for the old man who hadn't spoken from the start and had been helped up by the scholar?

He'd long since vanished in the chaos, nowhere to be found.

This kind of obvious staged accident scam—Xiao Han had seen it countless times before his transmigration.

"Today, I've given you a light punishment. If I ever see you bullying men and women or throwing your weight around again, I'll make sure you get more than you bargained for!"

"Thank you, great hero! Thank you for sparing us!"

"Get lost, now!"

Xiao Han stepped forward and crushed a stone slab under his foot.

"Yes, yes! We're going! We're going right now!"

After the two hooligans fled, the scholar beside Xiao Han stepped forward to express his gratitude. "Thank you, young brother, for saving me. This humble one is Ning Caichen. I truly cannot thank you enough for your chivalrous intervention."

Xiao Han was stunned. He hadn't expected to run into Ning Caichen here.

Looking closely, this poor scholar did bear some resemblance to "Brother" Leslie Cheung!