Falling Flowers and Flowing Water

Wang Xuan stood on the official road outside Jingzhou City, travel-worn and dusty, with bloodstains still clinging to his clothes.

He looked up at the city walls, where a dense mass of heads pointed and gestured as though they were watching a monkey show.

The city gate was even livelier. It was packed solid, layer upon layer, with Martial Artists carrying blades and swords and dressed in all manner of fitted outfits. Their gazes scraped over him like knives.

Before Wang Xuan could move, four deep shouts suddenly rang out from within the city, each word pronounced separately, making everyone's eardrums hum:

"Falling—Flowers—Flowing—Water—"

The cries rang like great bells, inner force surging in all directions until even the surrounding air seemed to tremble.

The crowd opposite immediately erupted in commotion and hurriedly scattered, clearing a passage.

Four figures slowly emerged. All were elderly, with even the youngest already middle-aged. Their temples bulged, their eyes shone like lightning, and their steps were steady. One look was enough to tell they were top experts who had cultivated internal arts for many years.

The elder at the front held a thick-backed Ghost-Head Blade, its gleaming edge chillingly bright.

He came to a stop, his voice rolling out like a great bell and suppressing the entire scene.

"Is the person ahead the Skull-Crushing Hand, the one who has slaughtered innocents all along the way and earned such a notorious name?"

Wang Xuan had already recognized them. These men before him were the famed Four Wonders of the South.

Yet the corner of his mouth still twitched. He casually dug at his ear and replied in an utterly perfunctory tone, "Who are you?"

The elder's expression darkened. "I am Lu Tianshu, the Benevolent Righteous Blade! Together with my three sworn brothers, Hua Tiegan, Liu Chengfeng, and Shui Dai, we are known as the Four Wonders of the South. Friends of the martial world give us face and call us Falling Flowers and Flowing Water!"

The three men behind him stepped forward at the same time, their auras joining into one.

Hua Tiegan, holding a short spear, and Liu Chengfeng and Shui Dai, each carrying a longsword, all stared coldly at Wang Xuan.

The Players watching from the city wall exploded into uproar.

"Holy shit! The Four Wonders of the South! Falling Flowers and Flowing Water!"

"Top experts of the martial world! They're appearing already?"

"Benevolent Lu's Great Blade, Hua Tiegan's Center-Level Spear, Liu Chengfeng's Soft Cloud Sword, Shui Dai's Cold Moon Sword... now this is going to be good!"

Hearing the racket from the city wall, Lu Tianshu frowned even more deeply. He stared at Wang Xuan, his tone carrying the air of an elder reprimanding a junior. "Young man, your martial arts are fierce and domineering. You have talent worth cultivating. Yet I have heard all along the way that you will stop at nothing to achieve your ends, slaughtering people without restraint and using cruel methods. You have already fallen onto the evil path!"

He paused, then raised his voice. "You are still young, so it is not too late to turn back! If you surrender and await judgment from the martial world, I can guarantee your life!"

Wang Xuan laughed after hearing that. "Finished?"

Lu Tianshu froze. "You..."

"If you're finished, then fight." Wang Xuan rolled his wrist. "Surrender? I worked hard to practice martial arts, not so people could capture me and 'judge' me."

"Stubborn to the end!"

Lu Tianshu roared like thunder. Haoran Righteous Qi surged through his chest, and his face reddened. He had intended to show mercy, but seeing this junior refuse to repent, his lofty pity instantly turned into thunderous rage. "You insolent wretch! Today, I will use the Benevolent Righteous Blade Technique to rid the martial world of you, demon!"

Before his words had faded, he stomped down hard. With a boom, the solid surface of the official road burst apart in dust and flying stones. He lunged at Wang Xuan like a tiger released from its cage, carrying an unmatched, fierce momentum. The thirty-six-pound Ghost-Head Blade seemed light as a feather in his hand as he swung it. The blade tore through the air with a mournful howl, its force terrifying.

This was the opening stance of the Benevolent Righteous Great Blade Art: Mountain-Splitting Strike!

It looked simple and direct, yet Lu Tianshu had fused the inner force of Haoran Righteous Qi with the blade's fierce momentum. It was as fast as lightning splitting the sky. Before the blade wind even arrived, its peerless pressure had already descended, cutting Wang Xuan's cheeks with pain and making his robes flap violently.

The blade gleamed with cold light as it chopped down from above, carrying the faint force of splitting stone and piercing metal. It seemed as though even the air had been cleaved in two. There was no avoiding it; he could only take it head-on!

Wang Xuan neither dodged nor retreated half a step.

His right hand slowly rose, a warm yellow gleam spreading over his palm. The Lesser Vajra Indestructible Body was pushed to its peak, turning his flesh, skin, tendons, and bones into tempered steel.

Facing that mountain-cleaving strike, he neither blocked nor parried. He simply thrust his palm upward and struck at the blade's edge!

Great Monument-Breaking Hand effect: Indestructible!

"Utterly arrogant!"

A vicious light flashed in Lu Tianshu's eyes as he roared and poured all his Haoran Righteous Qi into the blade. The Ghost-Head Blade's radiance surged, and its power rose by another thirty percent.

His blade technique had always relied on fierce force. What he feared least was a frontal clash. With this strike, let alone a palm, even a cast-iron pillar would be cleaved in two!

Clang!!!

A deafening explosion erupted, and the shriek of metal striking metal pierced everyone's ears.

A terrifying shockwave swept outward from the two men. Dust billowed, grass blades bent backward, and the spectators atop the city walls felt pain stab through their eardrums as their robes snapped in the gale.

Sparks flew where blade and palm collided.

Lu Tianshu's arms shook violently, and pain tore through the web between his thumb and forefinger. An incomparably powerful rebound force surged wildly up the blade, churning his blood and qi and forcing him to stagger half a step.

Wang Xuan, meanwhile, remained standing where he was, utterly unmoved.

Everyone's eyes widened.

Wang Xuan stood there without moving. His palm, gleaming like yellow jade, had actually struck the edge of the Ghost-Head Blade head-on!

The blade had cut half an inch into his palm, but it could go no farther, as though it had struck tempered steel forged through countless hammerings.

Lu Tianshu's arm trembled violently, and his palm went numb. Horror filled his heart. His blade was forged from refined iron and weighed thirty-seven pounds. Combined with the inner force of his Post-Heaven Eighth Layer Noble Spirit Art, this strike could split even an iron block apart!

This brat caught it with his hand?

And actually stopped it?

"Is that all?" Wang Xuan turned his palm, his five fingers forming claws as he directly seized the blade!

Lu Tianshu's heart shook violently. A chill shot up his spine and straight to the crown of his head! The blade had been clamped tightly in the other man's palm, as though it had fallen into an iron prison. No matter how wildly he surged his inner force from his dantian, the Ghost-Head Blade would not move in the slightest, as though it had grown from Wang Xuan's palm.

At that life-or-death moment, he made a decisive choice. His left hand shot out, fingers joined like a sword. Haoran Righteous Qi condensed at his fingertips and became a sharp gust of finger force. Fast as a shooting star chasing the moon, it stabbed straight at Wang Xuan's throat. This finger strike contained his lifelong cultivation. Its piercing whistle could bore a hole through refined iron. It was his trump-card killing move, the Righteous Qi Finger!

Facing that thunderous strike, Wang Xuan merely tilted his head slightly, easily avoiding the vital point at his throat. Yet he neither dodged nor blocked, allowing that finger, packed with deep inner force, to strike solidly into the hollow of his shoulder!

Thud!

A dull impact rang out. The finger force pierced through his robes and struck viciously against his skin, but the shattered bones and spraying blood Lu Tianshu had expected did not appear.

Wang Xuan's shoulder merely swayed lightly, as though bitten by a mosquito. There was not even a red mark on his skin, much less a wound!

"Th-this... what kind of external cultivation is this?!"

Lu Tianshu's pupils shrank to pinpoints. A bone-deep chill filled his heart, and even his limbs turned faintly cold.

He had roamed the martial world for decades and seen countless experts in external cultivation, but he had never seen such a body—impervious to blades and spears, untouched by finger force. It was simply unheard of!

At the instant when his old force was spent and his new force had yet to rise, Wang Xuan moved!

His right hand, still gripping the blade, suddenly exerted force. He twisted his wrist and viciously yanked backward.

Caught off guard, Lu Tianshu instantly lost his balance. His massive body stumbled forward under the pull of enormous strength, his chest completely exposed and stripped of all defense.

Meanwhile, Wang Xuan's left hand had already extended like a ghost, silently pressing onto the crown of his head. Inner force shimmered across his palm, and an incomparably fierce power was ready to erupt. With the slightest release, it could shatter Lu Tianshu's skull and meridians!

"Big Brother!" "Brother Lu!"

Liu Chengfeng and Shui Dai had barely begun to cry out.

Yet Wang Xuan did not stop because of their shouts. He pressed his palm down and released his force.

Squish.

A teeth-grating muffled sound.

Lu Tianshu's head was forcibly pressed into his neck cavity. The headless corpse swayed, still gripping the Ghost-Head Blade tightly, before falling stiffly backward and hitting the ground with a bang, kicking up dust.

Above and below the city walls, everything fell silent.

Falling Flowers and Flowing Water, the leader of the Four Wonders of the South, Lu Tianshu the Benevolent Righteous Blade, was dead after a single exchange.

His head had been slapped straight into his stomach.

"Ahhh! Big Brother!" Liu Chengfeng's eyes nearly split apart, turning red in an instant. With a shake of his longsword, sword light spilled forth like soft clouds. He moved with the sword and stabbed madly toward Wang Xuan.

"Villain! Give me your life!"

Shui Dai roared as he unleashed the Cold Moon Sword Technique. His sword light was icy and chilling as it stabbed at Wang Xuan's vital points. Liu Chengfeng's Soft Cloud Sword struck at the same time, its sword momentum winding like drifting clouds. One hard and one soft, their sword net instantly enveloped Wang Xuan.

There was not the slightest ripple on Wang Xuan's face. The Water-Skipping Technique moved beneath his feet, and his body slipped through the dense sword attacks like a slick fish. It looked perilous, yet not even the corner of his robes was touched.

From time to time, he struck out with the Great Monument-Breaking Hand, meeting both men's longswords head-on.

Clang! Clang!

Explosions of metal rang out one after another, numbing Shui Dai and Liu Chengfeng's arms and knocking their sword forms askew.

The more they fought, the more alarmed they became. This young man's inner force was no weaker than theirs, his body was hard, his strength immense, and his speed even faster! Their carefully refined sword techniques had their rhythm disrupted by a single palm strike. No matter how they fought, they could not gain the slightest advantage.

Holding the Zhongping Short Spear, Hua Tiegan stood outside the battle circle. His face had gone slightly pale, and his palms were drenched with sweat. He looked at his eldest brother's miserable corpse, then at Wang Xuan, who remained utterly at ease despite being besieged by his second and third brothers. His calves began to cramp.

Should he join? Even Big Brother had died. Wouldn't going up just be throwing his life away?

But if he did not... with so many martial world comrades watching, where would the Four Wonders of the South put their faces?

While he struggled wildly inside, the situation on the battlefield changed in an instant.

Wang Xuan had figured out the patterns of Liu Chengfeng's Soft Cloud Sword. The technique was continuous and unending, but there was a faint, nearly imperceptible sluggishness between transitions. He deliberately revealed an opening, leaving his chest wide open.

Liu Chengfeng took the bait as expected. Thinking Wang Xuan had grown exhausted after the prolonged battle, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. His longsword shot out like a venomous snake's tongue, stabbing straight toward Wang Xuan's heart!

This strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless, gathering all the power of his lifelong cultivation.

Wang Xuan neither dodged nor blocked. The muscles of his chest suddenly bulged.

The longsword struck his chest and actually rang like metal hitting metal. The sword tip penetrated less than half an inch before it could advance no farther.

Liu Chengfeng's expression changed drastically. He tried to pull back his sword and retreat, but it was already too late.

Wang Xuan's right hand shot out like lightning, activating the Throat-Locking Grappling Art. His five fingers clamped around Liu Chengfeng's wrist, and a sharp, icy current of qi instantly seeped inside. Liu Chengfeng's entire arm went numb, his meridians seeming to freeze as his longsword fell to the ground with a clang.

Wang Xuan's left hand followed with a palm strike to the crown of his head.

Liu Chengfeng did not even manage a grunt before his skull shattered, yellow and white matter scattering across the ground.

"Third Brother!" Shui Dai howled in grief. His sword technique grew more frantic, but it had already lost all order.

Wang Xuan turned aside to evade a sword strike, then joined the fingers of his right hand and jabbed toward Shui Dai's ribs.

Shui Dai drew back his sword to block, but Wang Xuan changed direction halfway through, turning the jab into a grab. He seized the blade and twisted hard!

The refined steel longsword was bent by his bare hand!

Shui Dai's mind shook violently just as Wang Xuan's foot slammed into his stomach.

Shui Dai flew backward seven or eight meters and crashed to the ground, spitting blood. He struggled twice but could not get back up.

From Lu Tianshu's first strike to Liu Chengfeng and Shui Dai falling, only several dozen breaths had passed.

Of the Four Wonders of the South, two were dead and one was severely injured.

Only Hua Tiegan remained, still holding his spear and standing in place, his face pale as paper and his body too terrified to move.

Wang Xuan glanced at him, ignored him, and turned toward Jingzhou City's gate.

The Martial Artists and Players who had been watching from the walls were now utterly silent. Each one hunched their necks, their eyes filled with fear.

Wang Xuan shook the blood from his hand, raised his foot, and walked toward the city gate.

Everywhere he passed, the Martial Artists blocking the gate scattered with a rush, clearing a broad path. No one dared stop him.

At the same time, at Ten-Mile Slope outside Jingzhou City.

A dark mass of people nearly covered the slope and the flat ground below. A rough glance showed well over ten thousand people. They were divided into two groups, dressed in a hodgepodge of clothes, though each group was faintly centered around a separate formation.

At the front of the formation on the left stood a burly young man in brocade robes, with the character "King" marked on his brow. His face was cold and stern. It was Yu Qingtian. He watched the dust rising in the distance with icy eyes.

At the front of the formation on the right, Shen Chenzhou stood in white robes with his hands behind his back, a faintly amused smile on his face.

"Brother Shen, you came too late," Yu Qingtian said.

"Yueyang City is still some distance from Jingzhou." Shen Chenzhou nodded. "Pulling together a force like this along the way cost me some time."

Yu Qingtian snorted. "Don't waste any more time. Take down Ding Dian first."

As the two spoke, a dull tremor suddenly came from the ground.

In the distance, dust rolled through the air. Teams of government soldiers wearing uniforms and carrying spears and shields marched in neat formations, surrounding Ten-Mile Slope from all directions. There were at least five or six thousand of them.

At the front of the army, a middle-aged man in the official robes of a prefectural governor rode a tall horse. Surrounded by personal guards, it was Ling Tuisi.

He circulated his inner force, and his voice spread across the land. "You lawless martial rabble have gathered in numbers exceeding ten thousand and plotted rebellion! By order of the imperial court, this official has come to suppress bandits! Those who lay down their weapons and kneel to surrender shall be spared! Those who resist to the end shall be killed without mercy!"

His voice was stern and carried official authority.

Yu Qingtian and Shen Chenzhou exchanged a glance and both smiled.

The local natives were always like this. With righteousness on their side and strict military discipline, they had always been invincible against martial rabble who had never received formal training. Over time, they naturally developed an attitude of contempt.

"Killed without mercy?" Shen Chenzhou shook his head, sounding as relaxed as though he were commenting on the weather. "Brother Yu, did you hear that? He wants to kill us all without mercy."

A cruel curve pulled at Yu Qingtian's mouth. "A thing that does not know its own limits."

He looked toward the dark mass of people ahead, most of them Players who had signed Servant Contracts, their eyes numb yet fearful. He called out loudly, "Everyone, listen! Leave none of the government soldiers alive!"

Shen Chenzhou also spoke calmly. "The Power Gang as well. Charge them and kill them."

The Player cannon fodder trembled, the fear in their eyes deepening. Bound by their contracts, they had no power to resist such a suicidal command. They could only release desperate howls, grit their teeth, wave their blades and swords, and charge toward the encircling government forces!

Ling Tuisi froze atop his horse. He had not expected this group of "rabble" to dare charge directly at a disciplined military formation.

"Loose arrows!" he immediately ordered.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

An arrow rain descended, and the Players at the front fell in droves as screams rang out.

Yet those behind were driven by their contracts and could not stop. They trampled over their companions' corpses and continued charging until the two sides collided like raging floods!

In an instant, Ten-Mile Slope became a bloody meat grinder. The sounds of clashing weapons, battle cries, and screams merged into one.

Though the government soldiers were well trained, they were not hardened veterans withdrawn from frontier defenses. Usually, the most they did was suppress mountain bandits. At first, they could still retaliate in orderly fashion, but against the army of Servant Players who did not fear death, their lines were gradually breached. Both sides became tangled in chaotic combat. They quickly lost their numerical advantage and were swallowed by the Servant Player army.

Shen Chenzhou and Yu Qingtian stood on Ten-Mile Slope, calmly watching everything as though the people dying before them were not humans, but insignificant ants.

"Oh, right." Shen Chenzhou suddenly remembered something. "That Wang Xuan should have reached Jingzhou too, right? It seems the Four Wonders of the South went to block the gate."

Yu Qingtian sneered. "The Four Wonders of the South? Just four old wastes. Let them test that brat's strength."

Before he could finish, a Player came scrambling and tumbling over, his face filled with terror. "Guild Leader! Guild Leader! Bad news! A fight broke out outside the city! The Four Wonders of the South... their leader, Lu Tianshu, was slapped to death by the Skull-Crushing Hand! Liu Chengfeng is dead, and Shui Dai is badly injured!"

"What?" Yu Qingtian frowned.

Shen Chenzhou also lost his amused smile, his gaze narrowing slightly. "That fast? The Four Wonders of the South were that useless?"

The Player panted heavily. "No... it's that the Skull-Crushing Hand is too tough! Blades can't cut him, swords can't pierce him! Lu Tianshu's great blade was caught barehanded, and then... then his head was gone!"