White-robed Man

The great rift was wide, as if a massive axe had split the void itself. If not for the golden light illuminating it, Ning Chen and the others might have searched for a lifetime and never found it.

This damn world always had some damn things that defied understanding. Like the Xiantian Realm, for example, or paper that glowed on its own.

Ning Chen felt his original worldview had shattered like a mirror dropped on the ground, beyond repair.

Stepping into the rift, the man and the horse quietly moved forward. The way out was right beneath their feet, yet it still felt somewhat unreal.

He still couldn't fully accept everything that had happened.

The path through the rift came to an end. In a daze, they found themselves on a snowy plain.

The Little White Horse was the first to act. With a kick of its hoof, it gave a showy glance, then plunged headfirst into the snow and began eating ravenously.

Ning Chen looked at it with disdain. A bumpkin who's never seen the world, truly no manners.

The next moment, Ning Chen gently scooped up a handful of snow, then shoved it into his mouth, crunching on the ice shards.

Refreshing!

The man and the horse looked up, feeling refreshed and content, their faces beaming with happiness.

Life in the Underworld Netherworld had truly been hell. No food, no drink, not even snow to eat. Now, finding that they could eat a mouthful of snow felt like a blessing.

The burning sensation in his throat subsided considerably. Ning Chen dropped the snow from his hand and, seeing the Little White Horse still eating frantically, couldn't help but frown. He slapped its upturned backside with a loud smack and scolded,

"Are you trying to die?!"

If it kept eating like this, it would eat itself to death. Everything needed moderation. Their bodies were still very weak and couldn't handle such exertion.

"Hmph."

The Little White Horse glanced at him, then took two steps back and continued eating, determined to have its own way.

Ning Chen was furious, about to explode, when he suddenly noticed that the snow beneath the Little White Horse, where it had just been standing, had completely melted. He couldn't help but look stunned.

What exactly was that pearl this guy swallowed? After so many days, it's still having such a huge effect.

Ning Chen felt worried, but seeing the Little White Horse happily eating, he no longer stopped it.

"Wait here, don't wander off."

As he finished speaking, Ning Chen turned his wheelchair and headed into the distance.

Not long after, Ning Chen returned, carrying a roe deer. It wasn't large, but it was enough for the man and the horse to have a meal.

He didn't know if the Little White Horse ate meat, but at this point, it had no choice.

His tinderbox was out, and there was no dry wood nearby, so starting a fire was impossible. His cultivation hadn't reached the level of the Divine Son, who could manipulate heaven and earth, so he couldn't conjure fire out of thin air.

After crudely butchering the roe deer, Ning Chen suppressed his nausea and forced a piece of meat into his mouth. The strong, raw smell wafted up, and his stomach, which hadn't eaten in days, cramped, sending acid rushing up.

But he knew that if he didn't eat, he would die. His body couldn't hold out long enough to walk out of this snowy plain.

He hastily shoved two pieces of meat into his own mouth, then cut off another piece and put it into the Little White Horse's mouth.

"Hmph."

The Little White Horse didn't want to eat and spat it out immediately.

"Eat it."

Ning Chen's face darkened as he commanded.

Seeing its master angry, the Little White Horse whimpered pitifully, then picked up the raw meat from the snow and ate it with difficulty.

Ning Chen felt his words had been a bit harsh. He sighed softly, stroking the Little White Horse's head, and whispered, "Bear with it. As long as we can survive, a little hardship is worth it."

The Little White Horse rubbed its head against his chest, looking incredibly wronged.

"Alright, stop whining like a woman. Eat quickly."

Ning Chen impatiently pushed the Little White Horse away.

The unprocessed raw meat had an extremely strong, bloody smell. The Little White Horse ate with difficulty, and Ning Chen ate with disgust. In the wilderness, the man and the horse took turns, watching each other, neither willing to lose out, afraid the other might eat less.

The roe deer on the snowy plain were all small. After removing the entrails and hide, there wasn't much meat left. Ning Chen looked at the last piece of meat, shoved it into the Little White Horse's mouth, then cleaned his hands with snow from the ground and said flatly, "Let's go."

The Little White Horse painfully swallowed the last mouthful of meat, then obediently started walking, wanting to vomit the whole time.

The heavy snow finally stopped, but the sun hadn't risen yet. This snowfall was a disaster, especially in the north, where everything was a vast expanse of white.

Ning Chen didn't know where he was, or even his direction. The snowy plain looked the same everywhere, making it impossible to distinguish north, south, east, or west.

Walking in snow easily caused snow blindness, so Ning Chen would cover the Little White Horse's eyes every so often, then close his own eyes and move forward by feeling. Anyway, they didn't know the direction, so they just kept walking.

However, he hadn't expected that when a person was unlucky, even drinking cold water could cause them trouble.

Just as Ning Chen and the Little White Horse saw a glimmer of hope ahead, a city faintly appearing, a white-robed man approached from not far away.

The white-robed man was clearly startled when he saw the man and horse before him. In this vast snowy plain, such a combination was too distinctive, too easy to spot.

There's a saying: "What you seek far and wide, you find effortlessly."

Ning Chen felt killing intent from the man, and his brow furrowed slightly. Before he could think further, a cold sword light came sweeping towards him.

"Boom!"

Sword and finger met, sending a cascade of snow flying. The man's sword strike was incredibly swift, reaching him in an instant, its wind pressing against his face.

Ning Chen used the two fingers of his left hand to steady the sword, then twisted it, deflecting the blade to the side and neutralizing the force.

At the same time, Ink Sword slid from its sheath, a cold gleam half-revealed, frost radiating outward, blinding his opponent with a single strike.

The man's expression remained unchanged. He extended his left hand and seized Ink Sword. Sparks flew, revealing a pair of gloves forged from raw iron.

Ning Chen's eyes narrowed. He added another three points of force to Ink Sword in his hand, and with a thunk, he managed to slice a half-finger-deep gash into the raw iron gloves.

Threads of fresh blood flowed down Ink Sword's blade. The White-robed Man saw red for the first time. He twisted the hand holding the sword, and the blade disintegrated. A sword emerged from within the sword, thrusting towards Ning Chen's heart.

"Shameless!" Ning Chen cursed furiously, yet he didn't reflect on whether he himself had ever been even more brazen.

A sword concealed within a sword was impossible to guard against. However, Ning Chen had encountered even more dangerous situations than this, so he moved.

Instead of retreating, the wheelchair advanced. In the instant he turned, Ink Sword swung back, like the scythe of the grim reaper, cutting a black arc of light.

Ink Sword was fast, and the move was exceptionally tricky, but Ning Chen's brows furrowed slightly.

He felt a sense of powerlessness; this strike was slow.

At the very least, it was much slower than when he faced the headless Yin Cavalry.

CRACK

Fabric tore, and a spray of blood bloomed. The White-robed Man retreated three steps, narrowly avoiding the fatal strike.

Ning Chen was irritated and dissatisfied. His body had slowed compared to before, and the wheelchair beneath him couldn't keep up either.

This wasn't difficult to understand. There was, after all, a gap between illusion and reality. How could transforming illusory moves into reality be so simple?

The White-robed Man was equally displeased. He found that his fifth-grade martial arts cultivation couldn't completely suppress the young man before him, and in the clash of moves, he was subtly at a disadvantage.

Ning Chen sat in his wheelchair, his eyes slightly narrowed, concealing the thoughts in his mind. Through the brief exchange just now, he could tell that the White-robed Man's martial arts cultivation wasn't as strong as that Old Eunuch's; only the longsword in his hand was somewhat troublesome.

He had to thank the torment he endured in the Underworld Netherworld illusion. Otherwise, he would still be the idiot he once was, with cultivation but unable to utilize it.

Ultimately, martial arts were meant for fighting; strengthening the body was utter nonsense.

When he learned swordsmanship from Sword Enshrined, the old man once said that the purpose of a sword was to kill, and nothing else.

And the one who wielded the sword was a swordsman, a killer with a sword.

Of course, there weren't many people in this world who could be called true swordsmen. Sword Enshrined said he himself could only be considered half a swordsman at best. If that were the case, then he and the White-robed Man before him couldn't even be considered half.

Ning Chen started to feel a bit nauseous, perhaps from eating raw meat earlier, and the snow glare was hurting his eyes. This place really wasn't a good spot for a fight.

The White-robed Man watched the young man before him, and in an instant, his longsword pressed in for the kill again.

As the sword came out, he was still wondering why the young man seemed somewhat distracted.

Ning Chen snapped back to attention, Ink Sword held horizontally before him, blocking the sword aimed at his throat. Then, he tilted his head, Ink Sword sliding along the longsword's blade. In a flash, it spun back, blood splattering, and a severed arm flew through the air.

Watching the blood spray, Ning Chen sighed softly. He was still best at severing arms, because arms were closest to him.

The next moment, the wheelchair turned, Ink Sword spun again, and a streak of ink-black light flashed, dealing a fatal blow.

The White-robed Man watched helplessly as he fell, his body still in the posture it had taken moments before. He crashed into the snow, unable to ever stand again.

"Cough, cough." Ning Chen coughed violently a few times, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He impatiently wiped it away with a hand, then bent down and rummaged casually through the White-robed Man's belongings. Standing up, he patted Little White Horse's rump and said, "Let's go, let's head into the city, little buddy."

"Hmph." Little White Horse responded with a snort, then followed alongside the wheelchair, slowly walking towards the ancient city in the distance.

The ancient city was truly far away. By the time the two reached the city, it was already pitch black.

The inns on the street were about to close, but Ning Chen managed to stop them. He was starving, and his brother, Little White Horse, was also starving.

The innkeeper was initially very impatient, but when he saw the fist-sized piece of silver in the young man's hand, his expression immediately changed from gloom to sunshine. He wished he could treat the young man like an ancestor.

Ning Chen subtly flicked a glance at Little White Horse, signaling, See? Following me isn't so bad, is it?

Little White Horse lowered its head meekly, behaving properly, which greatly pleased Ning Chen.

"What would the young master like to eat?" the innkeeper asked with a fawning smile.

Ning Chen glanced at the menu hanging in the hall, then pointed at each item, a look of a nouveau riche on his face. "Except for these few, give me one portion of everything else. No, make that two portions."

Hearing the former's words, the innkeeper's smile grew even wider. He feigned concern and asked, "Young master, are you taking one portion to go?"

"No, that portion is for it." Ning Chen pointed at Little White Horse by the door, sounding quite impatient.

"Young master wants this horse to come in and eat too?" the innkeeper asked in surprise.

"Is that a problem?" Ning Chen was even more annoyed. What was he dilly-dallying for? He was practically starving to death.

"This... it's against the rules." The innkeeper looked troubled. This was a place for people to eat; how could he let an animal in?

Ning Chen tossed the silver ingot in his hand over. "This is yours."

"Heh heh, your words are the rules!"

The innkeeper's face lit up, and without another word, he turned and headed for the kitchen.

Before the food arrived, the two starving gluttons had already guzzled pot after pot of tea from the hall. Just as Ning Chen was about to lose his temper, the dishes finally appeared.

The chef had been dragged out of bed by the innkeeper, and in his dazed state, his performance was a bit off. Still, that didn't stop the two wide-eyed creatures from devouring their food.

Due to a shortage of staff, the innkeeper was also helping in the kitchen. When he finally found a moment, he decided to check on the front hall. The moment he stepped in, he was utterly stunned by the man and the horse, who seemed to be devouring everything in sight.

The hall was a mess, littered with empty plates everywhere. Around the man and the horse, there was hardly even standing room. Nearby, the young waiter who had served the food looked pale—it was the first time in his life he had witnessed such a terrifying sight.

Ning Chen and Little White Horse, of course, were oblivious to the profound psychological trauma their eating habits had inflicted. The two of them possessed a mental fortitude and thick skin far beyond their time, and simply didn't care what others thought.

And so, more and more people in the hall stood frozen in shock, staring blankly at the bizarre pair of man and horse...

Sogou Novel provides the first rapid release of the latest chapters of "First-Grade Blade-Wielding Eunuch." This chapter is [chapter title], and the address is [URL]. If you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to recommend it to your friends on QQ groups and Weibo!