Gap

"Someone really came looking for death? How many were there?"

Han Tieshan's face turned cold as he abruptly rose to his feet and asked.

"O... one person." The gang member trembled all over. "His sword was too fast. Dozens of brothers in the outer courtyard surrounded him together, but his One Sword, Six Shadows knocked down five or six men with every strike. Fewer than ten are left alive."

"One Sword, Six Shadows..." Han Tieshan narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhao Hanjiang. "A master swordsman—could he be from Ten Thousand Sword Villa?"

"Probably not. If he were a disciple of Ten Thousand Sword Villa, he would not make it so obvious, unless he deliberately wanted to provoke a war."

Zhao Hanjiang shook his head.

"Elder Zhao, rest for now. I'll go meet him."

Han Tieshan said coldly.

"Don't be careless." Zhao Hanjiang rose, took out two pairs of deerskin gloves from his waist, and put them on unhurriedly. "Since he dared to come alone, he is no ordinary opponent. At the very least, he has reached the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm. Draw his attention in the open; I'll wait in the shadows for an opportunity."

"Fine."

Han Tieshan nodded, picked up the Nine-Ring Broadsword beside him, and strode out of the room.

Zhao Hanjiang did not follow him out. Instead, he turned and circled around through the side door to the rooftop of the inner courtyard.

Moving like a civet cat, he silently climbed onto the roof's flying eaves, crouched in the shadows, and drew out a handful of silver needles, pinching them between his fingers.

From this position, he could overlook the boundary between the inner and outer courtyards. Whether the intruder launched a frontal assault or circled around for a sneak attack, nothing could escape his eyes.

Chen Xuan stepped into the inner courtyard.

Suddenly, he stopped.

He sensed a fairly strong aura drawing near. The footsteps were steady and powerful, thudding against the Bluestone slabs like a savage bull striding over.

Then Chen Xuan saw a burly figure in his fifties with a square, upright face enter his sight.

This man was Han Tieshan. He wore a dark-blue brocade robe and carried a Nine-Ring Broadsword in one hand. Nine iron rings ran along the back of the blade, clattering sharply as he walked, especially piercing in the silent night.

The blade was broad and thick, a full palm-width across. It weighed at least a hundred catties; an ordinary person might not even be able to lift it with both hands, yet Han Tieshan held it one-handed as lightly as if it weighed nothing.

"Who are you? Who sent you?"

Han Tieshan sized Chen Xuan up and down before asking in a deep voice.

Chen Xuan did not answer.

His attention was not on Han Tieshan, but on the rooftop of the inner courtyard.

There was a faint, barely perceptible aura there, like a venomous snake lying in wait in the dark. That person had also reached the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm, but his aura was more restrained and more sinister.

Han Tieshan deliberately dragged the Nine-Ring Broadsword along the ground as he approached slowly, making such a racket. Clearly, he was trying to draw Chen Xuan's attention and conceal the aura of the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm martial artist hidden in the dark.

"Two at the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering." Chen Xuan thought to himself, The Baishui Town Branch truly has a trump card up its sleeve.

Still, Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm martial artists remained within the range he could handle.

"Not talking?" Seeing that Chen Xuan did not reply, Han Tieshan snorted coldly. "Then I'll break your arms and legs first, and interrogate you slowly afterward!"

As his words fell, he sprang forward. The Nine-Ring Broadsword became a streak of silver light, its nine rings chiming together with a piercing metallic crash as it hacked down toward Chen Xuan's head.

This strike was heavy as a mountain, its blade wind howling. The blade aura formed by the unleashed force nearly tore the air apart.

Chen Xuan shifted his feet. The blade swept past his shoulder and struck empty air before smashing viciously into the ground.

"Crack—"

The Bluestone slab split with a deep fissure, fragments scattering everywhere. The Nine-Ring Broadsword sank half a foot into the ground, while the iron rings on its blade continued to hum and tremble.

After missing with one strike, Han Tieshan's expression changed slightly. Just as he was about to pull back his blade and switch moves, a blaze of sword light suddenly filled his vision.

Six sword shadows appeared in the air at once, striking at vital points—his throat, face, eyes, chest, and more.

Nine Shadow Killing Sword, One Sword, Six Shadows.

Han Tieshan was horrified. He hastily drew back the Nine-Ring Broadsword and spun up a curtain of steel before him, attempting to block the six strikes.

Clang—

The sound of steel striking steel echoed through the air.

"What terrifying strength!"

At the instant of collision, Han Tieshan's expression changed completely.

He felt an enormous force surge through the blade.

At the first clash, more than half the force on his blade was scattered.

At the second, all of it was shattered. By the third, his tiger's mouth had gone numb and his arm weak, and he could barely hold the Nine-Ring Broadsword any longer.

At the fourth clash, the Nine-Ring Broadsword was knocked from his hand. The fifth and sixth strikes came at him simultaneously.

"Not good—"

Han Tieshan instinctively leaned backward, trying to evade the two strikes, but he was still a step too slow. The sword edge had already slashed across his chest.

The fifth strike shattered his protective force.

The sixth pierced through his flesh and drove straight into his heart.

Han Tieshan lowered his head to look at the sword buried in his body, his eyes full of disbelief.

What he cultivated was the superior martial art Iron Bone Technique, and it was a horizontal training hard art. After tempering his body for forty years, even if he had not reached Copper Skin and Iron Bone, he was not far from it. Yet someone had pierced him through with a single sword strike.

"No... impossible..."

Han Tieshan muttered in a low voice, the words seeming to squeeze out from the depths of his throat. Crimson blood gushed from the wound, running down the sword blade and dripping onto the shattered Bluestone slabs.

But soon, a flicker of madness appeared in Han Tieshan's eyes. Both hands clamped tightly around the sword piercing his heart, and with all the strength in his body, he let out his final roar: "Elder Zhao, kill him!"

His hands gripped the blade with desperate force. Forty years of horizontal training had made his grip far stronger than an ordinary person's. Even with his heart pierced, the strength he unleashed on the brink of death remained terrifying.

At that very instant, Zhao Hanjiang moved on the rooftop. Both hands flicked out at once, and twelve silver needles shot forth simultaneously, flying toward Chen Xuan like a net blotting out the sky.

The silver needles cut through the air with faint shrieks. Their needlepoints gleamed with a ghostly blue radiance beneath the moonlight, glaringly conspicuous—it was the color of deadly poison.

Zhao Hanjiang truly deserved to be an old hand of the martial world. His timing was impeccable.

He had kept his eyes on the battle below the entire time. The instant Han Tieshan grabbed the sword embedded in his body, Zhao Hanjiang released his hidden weapons without even needing Han Tieshan to speak.

Chen Xuan had no time to pull out his sword and block the hidden weapons. He could only withstand the twelve Flying Star Life-Taking Needles with his body.

The moment Han Tieshan finished speaking, the twelve poisoned needles had already closed in on Chen Xuan.

"He's dead for sure!"

Zhao Hanjiang sneered inwardly.

The Flying Star Life-Taking Needle he cultivated was specifically designed to pierce through force. Even if a Ninth Layer of Body Tempering martial artist spread force across his entire body, it would be useless. Moreover, the needlepoints were coated with Seven-Step Gut-Severing Powder, sealing the throat the moment blood was drawn.

Even a First Layer of Qi Casting master, if struck by his Flying Star Life-Taking Needles and pierced through the skin, would have to expend a portion of his true qi to resist them.

Otherwise, once the poison spread, even a First Layer of Qi Casting master would collapse to the ground.