Demon Sword Awakening

Three thousand small coins was naturally a considerable fortune for ordinary people, but for the prodigal sons of the Marquis's Mansion, it was just enough for a few nights of revelry at a brothel.

Everyone in the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion received monthly allowances, the amount of which varied depending on their status and cultivation level.

Take Ning Han, for example. Although his talent was average, he was a direct descendant of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, so he received one hundred thousand small coins every month.

Ning Xiner's monthly allowance was naturally even higher, at five hundred thousand small coins per month, but her expenses were also considerable, all used for cultivation, to purchase Heart Nourishing Elixir, Blood Accumulation Elixir, Qi Condensation Powder, and so on.

These were all Treasure Medicines essential for cultivation, refined by Heart Nourishers, and their prices were outrageously high. Although the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion also distributed some of these Treasure Medicines each month, the quantity was limited, and most had to be purchased independently.

Even so, Ning Xiner had saved a considerable amount of money, and taking out three thousand small coins was not difficult for her. What she was concerned about was what her brother was going to do with so much money. Ning Xiaochuan originally also had a monthly allowance, but because he could not practice Martial Dao, his monthly allowance was very small, and the monthly allowance he had accumulated over the years was spent in the Pleasure House last time, so he had to brazenly borrow from Ning Xiner.

"I want to go out for a walk and buy some things. If a man goes out without money, he always lacks a sense of security." Ning Xiaochuan did not intend to tell her about his desire to become a Heart Nourisher yet, it would not be too late to tell her after he truly became a Heart Nourisher.

Ning Xiner gently bit her small lips, staring at Ning Xiaochuan with a strange look, "Brother, are you going to the Pleasure House again?"

"Ah! I..." Ning Xiaochuan's face was very embarrassed, not knowing how to explain.

Ning Xiner's eyes carried a hint of disappointment, but she still went back to fetch three hundred silver coins, carefully packed them in a bundle, and handed them to Ning Xiaochuan, saying, "You are my brother, no matter how you choose your future path, I will not look down on you."

"Thank you. In a few days, maybe I can pay you back all this money."

Ning Xiaochuan took the three hundred silver coins, feeling the bundle heavy, his heart suddenly felt at ease, and he quickly walked out of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, intending to first buy the Treasure Medicine spiritual herbs for refining the Heart Nourishing Cauldron.

Ning Xiner watched Ning Xiaochuan leave eagerly, standing in the courtyard, tightly pursing her lips, and tears could not help but fall again in her big black eyes, "Father, Mother, I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, but I know that only this way will my brother be happier. In the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, everyone looks down on him, and it is impossible for him to gain dignity. There... perhaps he can spend money to regain some dignity!"

The currency of the Yulan Empire was cast from precious metals. Small coins were made of Red Copper, and large coins were made of Silver, so small coins were also called "Copper Coins", and large coins were called "Silver Coins".

As for Azure Gold, it was even more precious and rarely appeared on the market. Only the descendants of Royal Marquis occasionally took it out to use, to show their status.

Ning Xiaochuan was now carrying three hundred Silver Coins out of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, without taking any maids or servants with him. In fact, few of the maids and servants of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion were willing to follow him. It was fine if there was no reward money, but it was also easy to be bullied by others.

The Yulan Empire was a Fifth-Rank Empire in the Sky Void Continent, having been founded for more than eight hundred years. Its territory was vast and boundless, spanning ninety-four thousand miles from north to south and eighty thousand miles from east to west, with a population of over ten billion, making it a land of great resources and prosperity. (Note)

Around the Yulan Empire, there were also many Fourth-Rank Dynasties, Third-Rank Kingdoms, Second-Rank Federations, and First-Rank remote tribes.

These tribes, federations, kingdoms, and dynasties all regarded the Yulan Empire as their Imperial Overlord, and every year they would offer countless tributes, coins, and beauties to the Yulan Empire.

Moreover, powerful Martial Dao practitioners from those countries would choose to come to the Yulan Empire to cultivate, some joining the Royal Marquis's Mansion, and some joining the Sect Martial Academy.

Because the Martial Dao level of the Yulan Empire far exceeded those of the Fourth-Rank Dynasties and Third-Rank Kingdoms, only in the Yulan Empire could one become a stronger Martial Dao practitioner! Walking in the Imperial City of the Yulan Empire, one could see blue-haired beauties from the North Ice Kingdom, slaves from the Southern Wilderness Tribe, and noble daughters driving Azure Deer carriages speeding through the center of White Stone Avenue, as well as Martial Dao practitioners carrying Battle Swords leading scarlet Lion-Tiger mounts, the aura emanating from their bodies making people shudder.

Martial Dao practitioners carried swords, beauties rode in fragrant carriages!

"What a big city, you can't see the edge at a glance."

Ning Xiaochuan walked on the street, feeling very novel about everything in the Imperial City, but after walking for a full half an hour, he realized that he had only walked through one street.

"Eh! That seems to be a disciple of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion." Ning Xiaochuan stared at a small alley in the distance. Two servants of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion dragged a rather beautiful woman out of it. The woman was crying and struggling, but it was useless. Both servants were cultivators who had cultivated Martial Dao Profound Qi, and their strength was extremely great. They directly dragged her into the dark blue carriage.

Ning Han stood beside them, with a cold and cruel smile on his face, glanced around, and ordered, "Put this bitch in the Boar Skin Bag for me."

Many people around also saw this scene, but no one dared to interfere. Who would dare to provoke the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion? It was extremely normal for those Royal Marquis's disciples to kill people in the street, let alone kidnap a woman.

Ning Han also boarded the Azure Deer carriage, and then the Azure Deer carriage sped away.

Ning Xiaochuan had the thinking of a modern person and could not accept such a thing. He felt extremely angry at Ning Han's behavior, actually kidnapping people in the street. This was truly lawless.

Others dare not care, but I will.

If he only felt aversion to Ning Han earlier, thinking the man was too arrogant and disrespectful, now he felt Ning Han was simply scum.

Ning Xiaochuan rented an Azure Deer Horse carriage, flicked the whip, and chased after them, all the way out of the inner city to a rather desolate area of the outer city.

The Imperial City of Yulan Empire was divided into the inner city, outer city, and Border District. The inner city was naturally the most prosperous area, where various royal nobles, Martial Dao experts, and wealthy merchants gathered. The area of the inner city was only one-thirtieth of the Imperial City, but it accounted for forty percent of the Imperial City's population, making it a place where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold.

The outer city was still very prosperous, but relatively speaking, it had both prosperous and desolate areas.

Ning Han's Azure Deer Horse carriage stopped in a desolate city area, where a turbulent river flowed, with willows planted on both sides and dense vegetation.

Ning Xiaochuan jumped down from the Azure Deer Horse carriage and chased after them, seeing from a distance two servants tying stones to a Boar Skin Bag.

The bag was constantly moving, making "woo woo" sounds inside.

"It's a pity to throw this girl into the river, she's a Silver-Ranked Music Courtesan from the Jade Viewing Pavilion." One of the servants grinned.

Ning Han stood by the river, facing the wind, with a sneer on his face, and said, "Don't you usually play with enough women? This woman must die, no mistakes allowed. Following this young master, are you afraid of not having women?"

"Young Master Han is right, as long as Young Master Han says the word, whether it's a respectable woman or a wealthy lady, wouldn't they be easily obtained? Hehe!"

Another servant said, "It's tied up, should we throw it into the river now?"

The woman inside the Boar Skin Bag was crying "woo woo", constantly struggling.

Ning Han sneered, "Blame yourself for knowing too much, throw her into the river!"

Just as the two servants were about to lift the bag, a loud shout came from behind, "What are you doing? In broad daylight, are you trying to kill someone and sink the body?"

Ning Xiaochuan walked out, his anger reaching its peak. These people treated human lives too cheaply, tying living people into bags and then sinking them to the bottom of the river. How much fear would the person in the bag have to endure?

Was this something a human would do? The two servants were also startled, put the bag back on the ground, and turned to look. They were immediately dumbfounded. How could it be this good-for-nothing?

Ning Xiaochuan quickly walked forward, untied the leather ropes tied to the Boar Skin Bag, and rescued a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl from inside.

This girl had fair skin, bright eyes, long and curled eyelashes, and was quite beautiful, but at this moment, her face was pale as paper, and her delicate body was trembling.

"Young Master Ning, why is it you? Don't worry about me, run away quickly! They will kill you!" Yu Yan had personally seen Ning Xiaochuan beaten to death in the Pleasure House two days ago. Although she didn't know how Ning Xiaochuan had come back to life, she was still very worried for him because she knew Ning Han's ruthlessness.

Ning Han was also slightly surprised at first, but when he saw Ning Xiaochuan come out, the surprise on his face quickly melted into a mocking smile: "Sickly Ning, I didn't expect you to actually appear here, haha! It's truly the Road to Heaven you don't take, the Gate to Hell you barge into. Ning Hai, go and kill him for this young master, and completely eliminate this scourge today."

The servant named Ning Hai hesitated a little. Although Ning Xiaochuan was a Sickly Ning, he was still a direct descendant of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, a true Royal Marquis's descendant! "What are you afraid of? This matter will be borne by this young master and Fourth Master." Ning Han said.

The servant named Ning Hai was at the Profound Qi Fourth Level. Hearing Ning Han's words, he immediately felt confident, a fierce light appeared in his eyes, and he grinned: "Sickly Ning, you actually want to be a hero to save the beauty, but unfortunately, you are not a hero, today you can only be a bear. You would never dream that today would be your death date, haha!"

Ning Hai's foot stomped hard on the ground, his body shot up, and he punched towards Ning Xiaochuan, a faint red Profound light emerging from his fist, tearing the air with a "pop" sound.

Having cultivated to the Profound Qi Fourth Level, one could release Profound Qi externally and injure people with Qi. The power of a punch reached two thousand pounds. If the destructive power of Profound Qi was added, the power of a punch was enough to kill even an iron-skinned bull.

Although Ning Xiaochuan was now at the Profound Qi Third Level, the difference between him and a cultivator at the Profound Qi Fourth Level was not small. The reason he dared to jump out and accuse Ning Han and others was because he felt that Ning Han would not dare to kill him.

Today, he truly realized what it meant for human life to be cheaper than grass. In this world, if one's strength was not strong enough, then one could only wait for death.

Ning Han seemed to have already seen the scene of Ning Xiaochuan's head being smashed, and a cruel sneer appeared on his face.

Yu Yan tightly closed her eyes, unable to bear to see such a cruel scene.

Ning Xiaochuan stared at the huge fist getting closer and closer to him, his body slightly retreating one step, standing still, the blood in his body rapidly circulating, and he struck out with a palm, blocking Ning Hai's fist.

"Clang!"

The small sword in Ning Xiaochuan's heart suddenly burst out with a cheerful sound, a blood-red stream of Qi rushed out of his heart, passed through his blood vessels, and transmitted to the palm of Ning Xiaochuan's hand.

At this time, Ning Hai's fist happened to hit Ning Xiaochuan's palm print, making a "bang" sound, but the punch did not knock the Sickly Ning down? He quickly became terrified, discovering that the speed of blood flow in his body was more than ten times faster, and the blood was not under his control at all, surging towards his fist, and then flowing into Ning Xiaochuan's palm, being absorbed into Ning Xiaochuan's body.

Note: The Yulan Empire is 94,000 li from north to south and 80,000 li from east to west. Converting it to "kilometers" is 47,000 kilometers and 40,000 kilometers, respectively. The area is - 1.88 billion square kilometers. The area of Asia is about 44 million square kilometers. In other words, the land area of the Yulan Empire is about 40 times the area of Asia. Therefore, the 10 billion population of the Yulan Empire, living in an empire 40 times the size of Asia, is not crowded, but rather sparsely populated!