How a "Stepping Stone" Feuds with Heaven's Chosen

Hot-tempered people, when dealing with urgent matters, had a high chance of not only failing to solve the problem, but also easily stirring up further trouble. The several cultivators who had come down the mountain with Long Zhangyuan knew this very well.

Yet none of them intended to stop Zhao Huaiji.

This was neither because Zhao Huaiji held a special status, nor because they had confidence in him and believed that, hot-tempered though he was, he could handle this matter properly.

It was because, so long as Zhao Huaiji did not slaughter everyone attending the Peaceful Heart Charity Fair, merely injuring or crippling a few people was utterly inconsequential to Sword Disciple Mountain.

Sword Disciple Mountain had endured for far too many years. Now, they no longer needed to endure!

From the moment Long Zhangyuan was found and the course of destiny began to turn, they had finally contacted their patriarchs, who had vanished three hundred years ago!

Though that contact was still faint for now, allowing them to communicate with their patriarchs for only brief moments, it was enough for the patriarchs to impart some divine abilities and secret arts to them.

In particular, there was a secret art that could lock away one's vital essence, greatly slow the body's aging, and thereby vastly extend one's lifespan. This had made Sword Disciple Mountain stronger now than ever before or since!

Those centenarian patriarchs who had once been able only to cling desperately to life due to the limits of their bodies could now strike freely at will.

Had their patriarchs not instructed them to wait until Heaven's Chosen had grown smoothly, the patriarchs who had recovered their strength would long ago have hosted a banquet and invited the immortal sects of the world!

A cup of wine could strip away military power; immortal sects could do the same.

At that moment, amid the praise that sounded flattering yet concealed mockery from all around, Long Zhangyuan had already reached the brink of eruption. Sword Disciple Mountain had, without question, given him a second life. Thus, hearing these people speak of Sword Disciple Mountain in such a manner—even if they were merely speaking in barbed insinuations, with little outright insult—drove the fury in Long Zhangyuan's heart to its peak.

Long Zhangyuan was not a man who did not know how to repay kindness!

Sword Disciple Mountain could not be insulted!

Clang!

Another streak of Sword Qi slashed out.

But this Sword Qi differed from the previous one. It was only meant to silence people, so its power was much weaker. At the very least, the sword power within it did not possess the same destructive force as the previous streak of Sword Qi.

However, this Sword Qi failed to unleash its might.

For a figure that had suddenly appeared reached out and extinguished it with a press of the hand.

Though someone had dispersed the Sword Qi, this did not mean they had taken a dislike to Long Zhangyuan, nor that some higher-up from Luojia Mountain or Heavenly Wonder Pavilion had intervened. For in the next instant, an incomparably fierce Sword Force, like an endless tide of crashing waves, slammed toward every cultivator on this street.

Such an indiscriminate attack immediately drew cries of agony from the cultivators on the street.

The newcomer was none other than Zhao Huaiji!

As the protector personally appointed by Sword Disciple Mountain's patriarchs for Heaven's Chosen, Zhao Huaiji had not yet reached the level of Hundred-Year Cultivation, but he was not far from it.

What was more, Zhao Huaiji belonged to Sword Disciple Mountain's direct line. Whether it was the cultivation method he practiced or the magical artifacts he used, all were of the finest grade.

"You may praise Sword Disciple Mountain, and that makes me, Zhao Huaiji, very happy. But praising Sword Disciple Mountain like this makes me, Zhao Huaiji, very unhappy," Zhao Huaiji said in a grave voice.

His voice rumbled like thunder, and faintly, the ring of a sword could be heard within it.

Clearly, his cultivation of the sword path had entered the realm of perfection. He had reached the level where man was sword, sword was man—Unity of Man and Sword. Whether walking, sitting, lying down, or speaking, he was already like a spiritual sword.

As Zhao Huaiji's voice fell, that endless Sword Force immediately grew even more violent.

This forced even Tan Shuchang, who had originally been able to stand firm, to retreat several steps, lest the Sword Force tear apart the Dao General's official robe he wore.

This Dao General's official robe was not a magical artifact. It could only be called a wondrous weapon in the martial world of mortals.

Amid the fluctuations of a sword cultivator's Sword Force, it could easily be damaged.

Tan Shuchang's movement naturally drew Zhao Huaiji's gaze. Zhao Huaiji had initially looked at Tan Shuchang with gloom in his eyes, but after the corner of his eye swept over Long Zhangyuan, he suppressed the killing intent in his heart and merely said, "Boy, your methods are truly vicious! My martial nephew merely accidentally struck you with a sword, yet you sought to take his life with a venomous curse art. Had senior brother Sect Master not bestowed a life-protecting treasure upon him, my martial nephew would already be a corpse."

Zhao Huaiji had said this deliberately. His purpose in saying it was naturally to awaken Long Zhangyuan, so that this Heaven's Chosen could avenge himself with his own hands.

He wholeheartedly agreed with something Sect Master Su Huan'an had said.

Though they needed to protect Heaven's Chosen, he could not be spared the trials and setbacks that Heaven's Chosen ought to have. Otherwise, there would be no way for this Heaven's Chosen to grow.

All they would raise was someone who relied on them for everything—seemingly imposing and extraordinary, but in truth a silver spearhead of wax, impressive to look at yet useless in battle.

Thus, Zhao Huaiji had a sudden idea: he wanted to add another stepping stone for this Heaven's Chosen.

Yes, another one.

Because Tan Shuchang's diary had been stolen, and the little thief who stole it had not only made several thousand rubbings, but had even deliberately left Tan Shuchang's portrait on them, quite a few people recognized Tan Shuchang. But across the whole Jia Five Realm, their number was actually not great.

It could even be said to be exceedingly small.

Moreover, someone of Zhao Huaiji's status would never care about a junior with no notable background or origins. Thus, though Zhao Huaiji knew that his senior brother, the sect master, had reserved a stepping stone called "Tan Shuchang" for Long Zhangyuan, this Heaven's Chosen, Zhao Huaiji had absolutely no idea what that stepping stone looked like.

And now, upon hearing his martial uncle Zhao Huaiji say this, Long Zhangyuan's expression immediately changed.

Only then did he notice the pile of powder by his feet.

He had no idea when his jade pendant had shattered, and for it to have shattered into such a state, it truly meant—as his martial uncle Zhao Huaiji had said—that he had nearly died just now!

For this jade pendant was not single-use. It could be used continuously many times.

Ordinary, nonlethal attacks landing on him would only cause an extremely fine crack, invisible to the naked eye, to appear on the jade pendant.

"Fellow Daoist, I merely slipped up for a moment. Isn't this of yours far too vicious?" Long Zhangyuan stared at Tan Shuchang with icy eyes, his face filled with rage.

After all, he had nearly been killed. What person would not fly into a rage over that?

"You were allowed to slip up, but Tan Shuchang was not?" At that moment, a pleasant voice, like the song of a lark, rang out. As the voice fell, the Sword Force rampaging everywhere was instantly restrained.

At the same time, Zhao Huaiji gave a muffled groan. Not only did he fall to the ground, but he staggered back several steps before managing to steady himself.

"Luojia Unclad, Spirit-Gathering Concealment—what a flawless technique!" Zhao Huaiji was both shocked and enraged. He had not expected a junior cultivator to so easily dismantle his Sword Force, while his anger stemmed from Luojia Mountain giving him so little face.

But in the next instant, Zhao Huaiji could no longer spare attention for anything else. He looked at Tan Shuchang in disbelief and demanded, "You are that Tan Shuchang?"