The Sword Hut Guest Flees on His Azure Blade, While the Halberd Marquis Pursues Him Through the Air

West of the Ming River, atop Pale Cliff, mountain winds swept dead grass over the edge.

A man in fitted black clothes stood at the cliff's edge. His bamboo hat was pulled low, hiding most of his face and revealing only his hard, angular jaw.

His dark robes snapped in the wind. He stood as straight as a drawn sword, radiating a fierce, solitary edge.

The man raised his eyes toward the east. His gaze pierced the clouds and mist for miles, settling on the black figure by the banks of the Ming River.

In his view, that figure was no more than a speck of dust.

Yet a withered twig circled around his fingertips.

A wisp of pale green Sword Qi coiled around it. As his fingers trembled, his mind focused to a single point, forming a faint connection with that distant speck.

The Sword Hut's secret art, the Heart-Focusing Sword!

He was Jianlongzi, the finest successor of the Sword Hut's previous generation.

His Sword Controlling Technique had reached the realm of "the sword moves as the heart commands." Forget taking a head from miles away—even striking down a gnat from ten miles off wouldn't be beyond him.

"Master, you haven't left the mountain in years. How could you know the agreement from back then had already been voided?"

"To unify the realm, Qin had even resorted to the power of wicked cultivators, destroying two states in succession. And the Sword Hut still remained in seclusion, honoring an agreement made long ago. How laughable!"

"This strike will take Ying Zheng's head and proclaim to the world that the Sword Hut has returned!"

"The sword song the world has forgotten deserves to ring out once more."

"As for the cultivation resources Chu gave me, I merely accepted them along the