The Gap

"To think there are actually people who don't know what death is. How many came?"

Han Tieshan's face turned cold as he stood up abruptly to ask.

"O-one person." The gang member trembled all over: "His sword is too fast. Dozens of brothers in the outer courtyard swarmed him together, but every time he swung his sword, six shadows appeared, and five or six people fell. There are fewer than ten of us left alive."

"Six shadows from one sword..." Han Tieshan narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhao Hanjiang: "A master of the sword. Could it be someone from Ten Thousand Sword Villa?"

"Unlikely. If it were a disciple of Ten Thousand Sword Villa, they wouldn't be so blatant, unless they were actively trying to start a war."

Zhao Hanjiang shook his head and said.

"Old Zhao, you rest for a moment. I will go meet him."

Han Tieshan said coldly.

"Do not be careless." Zhao Hanjiang stood up, pulled two deerskin gloves from his waist, and put them on unhurriedly: "Since the other party dares to come alone, he is no ordinary character. He is at least at the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm. You attract his attention in the open, and I will wait for an opportunity in the shadows."

"Good."

Han Tieshan nodded, picked up the Nine-Ring Broadsword at his side, and strode out of the room.

Zhao Hanjiang did not follow him out, but instead turned and circled through the side door to the roof of the inner courtyard.

His figure was like a civet cat, climbing onto the eaves of the roof silently. He crouched down in the shadows, pulled a set of silver needles from his waist, and held them between his fingers.

From this position, he could overlook the entire boundary between the inner and outer courtyards. Whether the intruder attacked head-on or tried to sneak in from behind, nothing could escape his eyes.

Chen Xuan stepped into the inner courtyard.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

He sensed it—a not-insignificant aura was approaching. The footsteps were steady and powerful, making "thump, thump" sounds as they landed on the bluestone, like a wild bull walking toward him.

Following that, Chen Xuan saw a burly figure with a square face and an age of over fifty appear in his line of sight.

This person was none other than Han Tieshan, wearing a deep blue brocade robe and carrying a Nine-Ring Broadsword in his hand. Nine iron rings were threaded through the back of the blade, making a crisp clattering sound as he walked, which was particularly piercing in the silent night.

The blade was thick and broad, a palm wide. This sword weighed over a hundred pounds; an ordinary person might not even be able to lift it with both hands, yet Han Tieshan held it with one hand as if it were weightless.

"Who are you, and who sent you?"

Han Tieshan looked Chen Xuan up and down and asked in a deep voice.

Chen Xuan did not answer.

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

There, a faint, lingering aura existed, like a venomous snake lying in wait in the dark. The opponent's cultivation had also reached the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm, and the aura was even more restrained and chilling.

Han Tieshan was deliberately dragging his Nine-Ring Broadsword along the ground as he walked slowly, creating such a commotion, clearly to attract his attention and mask the aura of the other Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm martial artist hidden in the dark.

"Two Ninth Stage of Body Tempering experts." Chen Xuan thought to himself: "The Baishui Town branch really does have a backup plan."

However, a martial artist at the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm, was still within his range of response.

"Not talking?" Seeing Chen Xuan remain silent, Han Tieshan let out a cold snort: "Then I'll break your limbs first, and then interrogate you slowly!"

As his voice fell, his figure erupted. The Nine-Ring Broadsword transformed into a streak of silver light, the nine rings chiming in unison to produce a piercing metallic clash as it slashed toward the top of Chen Xuan's head.

This strike was heavy and powerful, the blade wind whistling, and the blade energy released was enough to almost tear the air apart.

Chen Xuan shifted his feet, the blade edge grazing his shoulder as it missed, slamming fiercely into the ground.

"Crack—"

A deep crack was carved into the bluestone, gravel flew, and the Nine-Ring Broadsword embedded itself half a foot deep into the ground, the iron rings on the blade still vibrating with a hum.

With the strike missing, Han Tieshan's expression changed slightly. Just as he was about to pull the blade out to change his move, a brilliant sword light suddenly flared before his eyes.

Six sword shadows appeared in the air simultaneously, striking at his throat, face, eyes, chest, and other vital points.

Nine Shadow Killing Sword, six shadows from one sword.

Han Tieshan was horrified. He hurriedly pulled back his Nine-Ring Broadsword, dancing it into a screen of blades in front of him in an attempt to block these six strikes.

Clang—

Blade and sword collided, the sound of metal clashing echoing in the air.

"What terrifying power!"

The moment they collided, Han Tieshan's expression changed instantly.

He felt a massive force surging from the blade.

At the first clash of blade and sword, most of the energy on his blade was shattered.

By the second strike, the energy was completely dispersed. The third strike left the web of his thumb numb and his arm sore, making it difficult to keep his grip on the Nine-Ring Broadsword.

At the fourth clash, the Nine-Ring Broadsword in his hand was knocked flying, and the fifth and sixth strikes arrived simultaneously.

"Oh no—"

Han Tieshan instinctively leaned backward, trying to dodge the two strikes, but he was a step too slow; the blade had already slashed across his chest.

The fifth strike shattered his protective internal energy.

The sixth strike pierced through his flesh and blood, driving straight into his heart.

Han Tieshan looked down at the sword blade embedded in his body, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He had cultivated the superior martial art Iron Bone Technique, a form of hard qigong that had tempered his physique for forty years; even if he didn't have skin of bronze and bones of iron, he was not far off, yet he had been pierced through by a single sword strike.

"Im... impossible..."

Han Tieshan muttered in a low voice, the sound squeezed out from the depths of his throat as bright red blood gushed from the wound, flowing down the blade and dripping onto the shattered bluestone tiles.

But soon, a hint of madness appeared in Han Tieshan's eyes; he gripped the sword blade embedded in his heart tightly with both hands, using every ounce of his remaining strength to let out a final roar: "Old Zhao, kill him!"

His hands clamped onto the blade with a death grip; forty years of hard qigong training gave him a grip strength far exceeding that of an ordinary person, and even with his heart pierced, the power he erupted with in his dying moments was terrifying.

At that very instant, Zhao Hanjiang on the roof moved; he flicked both hands simultaneously, launching twelve silver needles that flew toward Chen Xuan, covering the sky and blocking out the light.

The silver needles tore through the air with a faint whistling sound, their tips gleaming with a deep blue luster that was particularly blinding under the moonlight—they were coated in deadly poison.

Zhao Hanjiang was truly a veteran of the martial world; he had timed his move perfectly.

He had been watching the battle below the entire time, and the moment Han Tieshan grabbed the sword embedded in his chest, he released his hidden weapons without waiting for Han Tieshan to speak.

Chen Xuan wanted to pull his sword back to deflect the hidden weapons, but it was far too late; he could only rely on his physical body to withstand the twelve Flying Star Life-Taking Needles.

As soon as Han Tieshan's voice fell, the twelve poison needles were already closing in on Chen Xuan.

"He's dead!"

Zhao Hanjiang sneered inwardly.

The Flying Star Life-Taking Needle he cultivated was specifically designed to break through internal energy; it was useless for a Body Tempering ninth-stage martial artist to cover their entire body in energy, and the tips were coated with Seven-Step Gut-Severing Powder, which killed instantly upon contact with blood.

Never mind a Body Tempering ninth-stage martial artist, even a Qi Casting first-stage expert would have to expend a portion of their true qi to resist if his Flying Star Life-Taking Needles pierced their skin.

Otherwise, once the poison spread, even a Qi Casting first-stage expert would collapse to the ground.