Blooding the Sword

The Bai family of An Yue had once been among Daxia's founding heroes.

Their ancestor, Bai Yuankui, had followed Daxia's founding emperor through campaigns north and south. He had not gone alone, but had brought a host of his kinsmen. Fewer than one in ten survived. The sacrifice had been immense.

Because of that sacrifice, the Bai family's ancestor had chosen to relinquish power at the center and return home to live out his days. In recognition of his service and the Bai Clan's losses, Daxia's founding emperor had granted him the hereditary title of Marquis of the Southern March, to be passed down without end.

Centuries later, the family of a founding hero had become a blight on Daxia!

Those who understood the situation could only lament the change, yet it had been inevitable. The Bai family knew Daxia's leaders feared and distrusted them, so they kept building their strength, determined to preserve their wealth and glory for generations to come.

Today, to deal with Zuo Yi, Bai Jingqi had revealed the Bai family's trump card.

"Attack!"

Before his words had faded, bright blades flashed into view. They sliced through the air like lightning, hacking, slashing, shearing, sweeping, and thrusting at Zuo Yi from every direction.

Thirty-five Bai family experts had surrounded Zuo Yi. Together with Bai Jingqi, they filled the thirty-six positions of the Heavenly Spirits. They had unleashed the Deathblow Blade Formation, passed down through the Bai family for five hundred years!

Each held a miaodao more than four feet long. Forged from the finest Burmese iron, the slender, razor-sharp blades bore blue-gray fish-scale patterns and could easily cut through steel pipes and iron bars.

In an ordinary person's hands, such masterwork weapons would have been deadly. But these thirty-five swordsmen were elite members of the Bai