Land of Chaos

"Kill!"

At the command of the burly man with a face full of flesh, more than a dozen vicious-looking bandits pounced on Chen Xuan like starving wolves.

"Courting death!"

Chen Xuan's gaze turned cold. In an instant, he launched himself from horseback and charged straight at the few bandits rushing at the front.

The bandit closest to Chen Xuan saw him coming and raised his saber to chop down. The blade howled through the air, aimed directly at Chen Xuan's face.

Chen Xuan clenched his right hand into a fist and punched out. A terrifying force instantly burst from his body.

"Bang!"

The force of his fist struck the bandit's chest from a meter away. Crisp sounds of cracking bones rang out. Before the bandit could even scream, he flew backward, blood spraying wildly from his mouth, and died on the spot.

One punch, killing an enemy from a distance.

The other charging bandits immediately faltered, their expressions changing dramatically.

"A... a Huajin master!"

No one knew who shouted it, but terror instantly crept across the bandits' faces.

At the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm, the inner force cultivated within one's body condensed without dispersing, protecting the entire body without flaw. Blades and spears could not penetrate it, and that force could leave the body for several meters, killing enemies from afar.

Against a martial artist of this level, let alone their dozen or so men, even twice as many would not be enough for Chen Xuan to kill.

They had never imagined that a random Guiyuan Sect Outer Disciple they encountered on the road would be an expert of the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm.

"Run!"

Several cowardly bandits turned and fled. They were so terrified that they even threw away their sabers, all to run a little faster.

Seeing that things had turned bad, the burly man with the fleshy face was the first to run. When it came to selling out his companions, he was decisively ruthless.

"Trying to run?"

Chen Xuan snorted coldly and darted forward.

In an instant, he caught up to one bandit. A palm struck the back of the man's head. The bandit did not even manage a groan before falling stiffly to the ground, dead on the spot.

Although Chen Xuan had never cultivated a specialized movement technique, with the speed of the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, these bandits were caught before they had run even a few meters.

A punch, a kick, a palm...

Every strike was clean and decisive, without the slightest drag.

These bandits were only around the Fourth or Fifth Stage of Body Tempering. Had Chen Xuan not awakened his cheat, encountering them would have meant certain death. But now, no one could withstand even one move from him.

Within only a few breaths, the dozen or so bandits who had charged at him had all died at Chen Xuan's hands.

The burly man with the fleshy face had run the fastest. By now, he had fled dozens of meters away and plunged headfirst into the scrub forest by the roadside.

Chen Xuan stopped and looked toward the direction in which the man had vanished, but did not pursue him.

He bent down and picked up a discarded bandit saber from the ground, weighed it in his hand, then hurled it fiercely.

The saber turned into a streak of cold light and whistled into the scrub forest.

"Aah—"

A miserable scream came from the forest, followed by the dull thud of a heavy object hitting the ground.

Chen Xuan dusted off his hands, his expression as calm as still water.

Most of these dozen bandits had been at the Fourth or Fifth Stage of Body Tempering. The burly man with the fleshy face had likely reached the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering, perhaps even the Seventh Stage, and had wiped out a small merchant caravan.

In the eyes of ordinary people, these bandits were a considerable force. But before him, a Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm martial artist, they were nothing more than chickens and dogs made of clay. Killing them was no harder than killing chickens.

Next, Chen Xuan began looting the corpses.

He found several hundred taels' worth of silver notes on the bandits, while the merchant caravan members killed by the bandits carried several thousand taels' worth in total.

The bandits had not even had time to collect their spoils before they encountered Chen Xuan and eagerly went to meet the King of Hell.

"I've avenged you. Consider this silver my payment."

Chen Xuan swung himself onto his horse and continued on his journey.

Half an hour later.

Chen Xuan saw the outline of a city appear on the distant horizon.

That was Lianshan City.

The city walls were not particularly tall, but their surfaces were covered in saber marks and arrow holes. Several sections had obvious signs of collapse, hastily patched with fresh earth.

Chen Xuan approached from the southern gate.

Lianshan City was divided into four major districts: east, west, south, and north. Nancheng was controlled by the Guiyuan Sect, and the guards watching the city gate were also from forces affiliated with the Guiyuan Sect.

If he entered through another gate—

For example, Beicheng, controlled by the Blood Fiend Devil Sect—then as a Guiyuan Sect disciple, he would probably "disappear" the moment he entered the city.

Chen Xuan urged his horse closer and presented his letter of recommendation.

"So you are a disciple of the superior sect. Please, please enter."

After reading the letter of recommendation, the gate guard's face filled with a fawning smile. He hurriedly waved Chen Xuan through and did not dare charge him an entrance fee.

Chen Xuan put away the document and rode through the city gate.

The instant he passed through the gate tunnel, an entirely different atmosphere washed over him.

Lianshan City's Nancheng was livelier than he had imagined.

The main street, paved with bluestone, was a full three zhang wide. Shops stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides—blacksmiths, apothecaries, pawnshops, inns, taverns. It could not be called prosperous, but at least they were all open, with the occasional pedestrian entering or leaving.

Yet most pedestrians hurried along with wary looks in their eyes. Upon seeing Chen Xuan riding toward them, they all moved far aside, standing by the roadside with their hands lowered respectfully until he had passed before daring to continue walking.

At a street corner, several ragged beggars huddled together. When they saw Chen Xuan pass, a flicker of fear crossed their cloudy eyes, and they lowered their heads again.

Chen Xuan noticed dried bloodstains and saber marks everywhere on the walls lining the street. On the second-floor windows of a two-story restaurant, several holes had been punched through the window paper, as though pierced by arrows.

As Chen Xuan surveyed the sights along both sides of the street, a burst of noisy shouting suddenly came from ahead.

"Remnant of the Vajra Sect, today is your day to die!"

The sharp clash of blades came from a restaurant not far ahead, followed by the crashing rumble of overturning tables and chairs and several angry shouts.

The already sparse pedestrians on the street instantly scattered like birds and beasts. The roadside vendors also hurriedly packed up their stalls in a panic.

Within a few breaths, more than half the street had emptied, leaving only Chen Xuan and his horse standing in the middle of the road.

Chen Xuan frowned slightly, reined in his horse, and looked toward the restaurant.

The signboard above it bore the three words: Drunken Immortal Restaurant.

"Bang!"

At that moment, a figure crashed out through a second-floor window. Amid flying splinters, the man slammed heavily onto the street, rolling twice before coming to a stop.

He was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in gray martial attire and covered in blood. Saber wounds covered his chest, shoulder, and arm. The deepest ran from his left shoulder all the way to his chest, flesh curled open as blood gushed continuously from it.

He struggled to rise, but his injuries were too severe. He tried twice and failed both times.

Then seven or eight burly men wielding sharp weapons rushed out of the restaurant.

At their head was a man in his thirties with a sinister face. A saber scar ran from the corner of his brow down to his jaw on the left side of his face. He carried a long, narrow Goose Feather Saber, its blade still dripping blood.

He wore black martial attire, with the two silver characters "Tyrant Blade" embroidered on his cuffs. His entire body radiated sharp Killing Intent.

"Run, then. Why aren't you running now?"

The scarred man walked up to the young man and looked down at him, a cruel smile hanging from the corner of his mouth.

The young man ignored him. His blood and qi boiled, then instantly began to burn. A layer of crimson light enveloped him, and he shot up like an arrow released from the string, hurtling toward the city gate.

His speed was so fast that even an expert of the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm might not have been able to catch him.

"Damn it!" The scarred man stamped his foot viciously. "Chase him! He used the Blood Burning Secret Technique. He can't hold out for long and won't get far!"

The Tyrant Blade Sect disciples immediately chased after him toward the city gate.

Tiannan Prefecture truly was not peaceful.

It was only Chen Xuan's first day in Lianshan City. On the road, he had encountered bandits slaughtering a merchant caravan, and now he had witnessed a martial world vendetta.

Tiannan Prefecture truly was a land of chaos.