Inn

The Azure Vast Mountains rose and fell in an unbroken range, like slumbering colossal beasts stretched across the earth. An official road wound through layers of forested peaks.

The last of winter had yet to fade, and the chill still lingered. The trees beside the road had shed their leaves, their sparse branches bare and crooked, crisscrossing along both sides of the mountain path. Withered grass lay yellow upon the ground, dotted here and there with remnants of unmelted frost.

For a hundred miles around, desolate forests stretched without end. The mountains and wilderness were bleak and empty, with no village cooking smoke in sight, much less any trace of travelers. Only the biting mountain wind swept through the woods with a mournful howl, echoing layer upon layer across the empty wilds.

Dusk descended, and the setting sun gathered away its last sliver of light, draping heaven and earth in a thin, gray gloom. A wooden inn stood abruptly by the official road, lonely amid the green mountains and barren forest.

The inn was not small. Its two-story wooden structure had been built against the mountain, and a faded blue cloth wine banner hung before its entrance, fluttering gently in the wind. Within fifty miles in either direction along this official road, it was the only place where travelers could rest and spend the night.

After a full day of travel, Lin Qing was somewhat weary as well. He reined in his horse and looked toward the inn ahead. At last, he had found a place to stay before nightfall.

The moment he reached the entrance, an inn waiter in a coarse linen short jacket hurried over. A practiced, attentive smile hung on his face as he deftly took the reins from Lin Qing's hand.

"Esteemed guest, you've had a hard journey! Please come inside. Our humble inn has clean upper rooms and hot wine and dishes. We guarantee you'll be comfortable!"

Lin Qing gave a slight nod, casually removed the simple bundle from his back, and stepped through the inn's doors.

The instant he crossed the threshold, a wave of heat washed over him, carrying the mingled scents of wine, food, cooking smoke, and the dust of the martial world. The spacious inn hall was packed to the brim. Laughter and chatter, the clatter of bowls and chopsticks, and the sound of wine being poured intertwined, completely shutting out the desolation and chill of the mountain forest outside.

Tables and chairs were neatly arranged throughout the hall, leaving scarcely any vacant seats. At several large square tables on the left sat a sizable merchant caravan. More than a dozen guards wore short sabers at their waists, their expressions alert. Hot tea sat before them, while several richly dressed merchants conversed in low voices, their brows carrying the fatigue and caution of long travel.

Scattered throughout the hall were all manner of wandering martial artists. Several wore bamboo hats with their brims pulled low, concealing most of their faces. Sabers and swords hung at their waists, their auras deep and restrained, their bodies surrounded by a chilly air that warned strangers to keep away.

These martial artists who roamed the world and made their living at the edge of a blade hid among perilous mountain paths and wildernesses, their good and evil difficult to discern.

Lin Qing stood tall, dressed in clean, neat plain-colored clothes. He wore neither luxurious ornaments nor a fierce aura, and amid the mixed crowd in the hall, he was not particularly conspicuous.

The waiter led him to an empty table in a corner of the hall, swiftly wiped the tabletop clean, and asked with a smile, "Esteemed guest, are you stopping for a meal or staying the night?"

"Staying the night. Open an upper room first, then bring several of your inn's specialty dishes and a pot of warmed wine." Lin Qing sat down casually, his voice calm and unhurried.

"Right away!" the waiter answered readily. "One superior guest room, one serving each of our signature braised dishes and stir-fries, plus a pot of aged rice wine! Please wait a moment, esteemed guest. It'll be ready shortly!"

The waiter turned and hurried toward the kitchen to relay the order, his movements as smooth as flowing clouds and running water.

The instant Lin Qing took his seat, several covert gazes in the hall silently locked onto him.

Those martial wanderers scattered around the hall appeared to be drinking, chatting idly, or resting with their eyes closed, but out of the corners of their eyes, they were constantly sizing up everyone passing through the hall.

At an inn in the middle of barren mountains and wild ridges, a traveler capable of journeying alone was either a skilled martial expert or a fledgling disciple carrying travel funds.

Lin Qing was alone, his bundle simple, his bearing clean and youthful. He lacked the vicious aura of someone who had fought and killed for years. Among the dust-covered martial folk who concealed ferocity beneath their faces, he appeared utterly out of place.

In everyone's eyes, he was clearly a young disciple from a prestigious family or sect who had just entered the martial world to gain experience. He must surely be carrying considerable funds.

Countless gazes swept back and forth over him, probing, assessing, and speculating. Beneath them lay undisguisable covetousness and greed, yet no one acted rashly.

Before long, the waiter brought the wine and dishes to the table one after another. Steaming food filled the tabletop, while the rice wine was mellow and fragrant.

Lin Qing raised a hand and slowly removed the bamboo hat shielding him from wind and dust.

The hat fell away, revealing an exceedingly young face. His brows and features were handsome and crisp, his complexion clean and clear, his contours sharply defined, and his eyes calm as still water.

That overly youthful appearance finally made the greed hidden within the hall snap taut beyond endurance.

The many martial wanderers who had merely been watching covertly now stared with burning directness, the covetousness in their eyes almost entirely unhidden.

So young, traveling alone, yet able to journey along this dangerous road—he had to be a young disciple with an extraordinary background. The savings and resources on him were surely plentiful!

Quite a few people quietly set down their cups and ended their idle conversations, focusing their attention on Lin Qing in the corner.

Lin Qing turned a blind eye to it all, as though he had not noticed the surging malice around him, and simply continued eating in silence.

He calmly finished the food and wine on the table. Ink-black night shrouded the mountains, and the evening wind struck the window frames with faint, fragmented rustles. The lights in the inn hall flickered, stretching everyone's shadows between brightness and darkness.

Most of the other guests continued raising cups and drinking, laughing loudly, with no intention of returning to their rooms to rest. Clearly, they were all secretly waiting for night to deepen.

Lin Qing did not rise to return to his room. He remained seated where he was, lifting his gaze to the night sky beyond the window.

It was now mid-January. The night sky was clear and cloudless, and he was waiting for the moon to rise.

Back in Cloudmist Prefecture, he had already thoroughly mastered every Yellow-Tier High-Grade Martial Art he had collected.

During this long journey on horseback, whenever he had a spare moment along the way, he would practice the two visualization arts.

After sitting quietly for a while, a bright full moon slowly broke free of the clouds and soared to the center of the sky. Moonlight flowed down like water, its clear radiance piercing through the forest and spilling across the inn courtyard.

The time had come.

Lin Qing rose and left the inn hall. Avoiding the noisy crowd, he went to a broad wooden viewing platform in the inn's rear courtyard.

The platform was built high in the air, with an open view unobstructed by trees. It was an ideal place to practice the Lunar Visualization Art.

Just as Lin Qing quietly admired the moon, three heavy, disorderly sets of footsteps sounded behind him, breaking the stillness of the courtyard.

The footsteps drew closer step by step. Moments later, three dark figures emerged from the shadows and stopped thirty feet behind him.

All three were middle-aged men around forty, broad and powerfully built. Their wide frames and skin were covered in rough calluses and scars of varying depths left by years of fighting. Their faces were fierce and coarse, their eyes murky and sinister, and their bodies carried a strong stench of blood and the bandit-like air of the martial underworld.

The middle-aged man in the lead had the darkest expression. His cheekbones jutted high, his eyes were sharp as an eagle's, and a heavy steel saber at his waist gleamed coldly. The two at his sides were slightly shorter, yet equally fierce in bearing. Their stances were steady; one glance was enough to tell they were veteran martial artists seasoned by real combat.

The night wind swept over the platform, stirring the hems of the three men's clothes as a sharp pressure blanketed the entire space.

The leading man stepped forward half a pace. He brazenly looked Lin Qing's youthful figure up and down, a greedy and sinister smile curling over his lips. His voice was hoarse and rough, carrying lofty mockery and threat.

"Young brother, my brothers and I have been traveling for some time, and our funds have long run dry. We're short on coin, so we've come to borrow some silver from you to tide us over. We hope you'll make things convenient for us."

Lin Qing slowly turned around. His black eyes were calm and undisturbed as he looked indifferently at the three men.

"What if I refuse?"

His voice was mild and low, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

At those words, the three middle-aged men were all briefly stunned. Then they sneered in unison, and the vicious light in their eyes surged.

"Refuse?"

The leading man let out a cold laugh, and a vast wave of blazing Qi and Blood suddenly erupted from his body!

Crimson Qi and Blood, red as flames, spilled from the three men's bodies, and three dense columns of Blood Qi Wolf Smoke rose and churned.

Although Blood Qi Wolf Smoke was condensed at the Second-Tier Peak, before reaching the Third-Tier Peak, a martial artist's manifested Qi and Blood could only take the form of Blood Qi Wolf Smoke. The three men before him were clearly all Third Tier experts.

The leading middle-aged man in particular had Blood Qi Wolf Smoke around him that was dense and heavy. Strands of crimson currents continuously intertwined, coiled, circulated, and gathered, faintly outlining the embryonic form of a river. He was only one step away from a true Blood-Qi River.

The immense pressure of their Qi and Blood crashed down like a tidal wave, covering the entire wooden platform. The boards trembled faintly, and even the air around them seemed to become thick and heavy.

Crimson energy churned around the middle-aged man as his aura became colder and more sinister. His eyes locked onto Lin Qing, and his tone carried bone-piercing menace. "Brat, don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! In these barren mountains and wild ridges, hand over your silver obediently, and we may leave you with an intact corpse. Otherwise, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

In the eyes of the three men, Lin Qing was merely a young lad under twenty. No matter how outstanding his talent was, at most he could only be at the Second-Tier Peak. Under the combined pressure of three Third-Tier Martial Artists, he could not possibly resist. A little intimidation would be enough to make him submit obediently.

Yet in the face of the overwhelming pressure of Qi and Blood, Lin Qing stood straight as a pine, utterly unmoving, his eyes still indifferent.

Blood Qi Wolf Smoke? Nearly condensed into a river?

The power of Qi and Blood that others took such pride in was not worth mentioning in his eyes.

The Blood-Qi River that others could only condense at the Third-Tier Peak had already been forged by him on the eve of his formal entry into the Third Tier.

The Blood-Qi River was the advanced form of Blood Qi Wolf Smoke and the threshold for breaking through to the Fourth Tier.

Before even officially stepping into the Third Tier, he already possessed the Qi and Blood power of the Third-Tier Peak. The depth of Lin Qing's foundation was simply shocking beyond belief.

Lin Qing's gaze suddenly turned cold, and he spoke no further.

Clang—

A crisp, piercing sword cry suddenly tore through the night!

The sword in his hand flew from its sheath, and a dazzling, snow-bright flash of silver suddenly burst across the night sky!

As for the Embroidered Spring Saber, it was the standard-issue weapon of the Martial Suppression Office, and he had returned it when he left.

His figure moved like a clear breeze sweeping past a shadow. In an instant, he broke through the three men's Qi and Blood pressure, moving so fast that the naked eye could barely catch his trail!

The faces of the three middle-aged men changed drastically. Their hearts jolted as they hurriedly raised their hands, trying to draw their sabers and meet the attack.

But everything was too late. Lin Qing's movement technique was far too swift!

A flash of cold light swept past.

Splat!

The piercing sound of spraying blood rang out.

The head of the Third Tier expert closest to forming a Blood-Qi River suddenly shot into the sky. A fountain of blood erupted from his neck, while his body remained rigidly upright for a moment before crashing heavily to the ground, completely devoid of life.

The pupils of the remaining two middle-aged men contracted sharply. The blood throughout their bodies seemed to freeze in an instant, and their minds went blank.

Just moments ago, they had been confident of crushing him, certain they could easily handle this young lad. Never had they imagined that this seemingly inexperienced youth would be so terrifyingly powerful!

Not yet twenty, yet he had killed a martial artist comparable to the Third-Tier Peak with a single sword strike. This was not merely "outstanding talent"!

Cold sweat instantly soaked their backs. As they looked at Lin Qing standing beneath the moonlight with sword in hand, his bearing cold and detached, nothing remained in their hearts but endless horror and panic.

In his extreme terror, one of them had his teeth chattering. In a hoarse, trembling voice filled with incredulous fear, he blurted out, "You... you... you, could you be... could you be Sun Shaoping?!"

At such an age, with such strength, they could think of no one but Sun Shaoping. Instinctively, he linked the terrifying youth before him with that legendary genius.

The only answer he received was a frigid sword flash that arrived in an instant.

The last man met the same fate. Before he could even scream, he collapsed to the ground with a crash.

In the blink of an eye, all three Third Tier villains who had run rampant through the mountains and wilderness had been executed.

The night wind swept across the platform, dispersing the stench of blood in the air. The moonlight still fell coldly, and Lin Qing sheathed his sword, his movements calm and unhurried.

He crouched down and searched the three bodies one by one.

Three Third-Tier Martial Artists were already formidable experts in their own right and should have accumulated considerable wealth. Yet after searching them, the silver on all three combined amounted to only a little over forty thousand taels, merely a few thousand more than the Demon Hunting Team he had encountered at Azure Sun Mountain. It truly surprised Lin Qing.

However, he found a martial arts manual in the leading middle-aged man's chest. It was an ancient thread-bound book with a hard cover. Lowering his eyes beneath the bright moonlight, he saw four vigorous, ancient ink characters clearly written upon its cover—Fire-Fusing Heart Stance.

It was actually a Fourth Tier cultivation art. A flash of delight passed through Lin Qing's eyes. What an unexpected gain!

Fourth Tier cultivation arts were already core inheritances of top aristocratic families and sects. He had never expected to obtain one from a mountain bandit.

What he did not know was that this man, having neared the Fourth Tier, had drained the wealth of several brothers to buy it from the Black Market.

Lin Qing tossed a bag of silver to the waiter in the distance, then rose and returned to his room. He intended to carefully study this Fourth Tier cultivation art.