Wudang's Leng Rushuang

"Ding—"

A clear chime rippled through Li Chen Zhou's sea of consciousness, distant and resonant like the morning bell of an ancient temple.

"The Jianghu Road has officially begun. First stop: Famous Sword Manor. Mission: Challenge ten rising martial talents of fifth rank or above. Reward: One random secret manual, ten years of pure inner force."

Li Chen Zhou's long fingers unconsciously stroked the scabbard of the Blood Demon Blade at his waist. As though sensing something, the blade's dark-red patterns flickered bright and dim, like a living creature breathing in and out blood qi. Far down the mountain road, a lone rider came racing through the dust, hoofbeats shattering the sunset and kicking up golden-red clouds.

"Li Chen Zhou!"

The red-clad girl reined in her horse directly before him, pulling so hard that the fine steed reared up on its hind legs. Fury danced in Qian Shisan's almond-shaped eyes. The flexible sword at her waist rang as three inches of cold radiance sprang free. "You left me to clean up the Capital City's mess while you went off to enjoy yourself!"

"Those children..."

"They've been settled!" Qian Shisan flung out a gilded waist token. "Your title, 'Blood Hand Setting Sun,' works better than an imperial decree." Then she lowered her voice, and half a parchment scroll slid from her sleeve. "As for the Buddha Relic, Master has already..."

"Silence."

Li Chen Zhou suddenly caught her wrist, his gaze shooting like lightning toward an ancient pine beside the road. Pine needles rustled down, though there was no wind.

By the time dusk had soaked through the official road, the vermilion signboard of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion was already in sight. Qian Shisan flipped through the air, and before her red boots touched the ground, a silver ingot landed in the counter with a thud. "Seven upper rooms! And bring us your..."

"Hold on."

Bookworm snapped his bamboo slips shut, and a cold gleam flashed across his lenses. "If I remember correctly, didn't someone donate every last coin she had to the Orphanage Bureau yesterday?"

Qian Shisan's eyes shimmered as her slender fingers fluttered over the group like butterflies playing among flowers. "Aren't there still all you kindhearted people?"

Li Chen Zhou sat as steady as a bell, Frost Heaven Six Annihilations turning in his hands. Every page he flipped stirred up fine ice crystals.

The Earthly Fiends Four stood with folded arms, the weapons at their waists trembling at once. "The debt from Hundred Flowers Brothel hasn't been settled yet."

"Creak—"

The inn's old wooden doors let out a groan of unbearable strain as five figures stepped in, crushing moonlight beneath their feet. The woman in front wore white whiter than snow, a long sword at her waist wrapped in seven silver threads that flowed with a chilling gleam beneath the candlelight. With every step she took, a thin layer of frost blossomed across the bluestone floor.

"Five upper rooms."

Before Bai Lusong, the leading Wudang disciple, had finished speaking, the innkeeper was already bowing and scraping. "Please forgive me, heroes. The last seven upper rooms have all been taken by these guests..."

"Ordinary rooms will do too," the blue-robed disciple beside Bai Lusong cut in.

"This..." Beads of sweat rolled down the innkeeper's face. "There truly isn't even a side room beside the stables left..."

Bookworm snapped his bamboo slips shut. A sharp light flashed behind his lenses. "Wudang's Pine Crane Sword, Bai Lusong. Winter Plum Sword, Leng Rushuang..." His voice was extremely low, yet the woman in white abruptly turned her head, sword intent bursting from her eyes.

"This young lady." Bai Lusong stepped forward with his sword held in his arms, the crane pattern on his sleeve unfolding with the motion. "The Wudang Sect is here on urgent business..."

"Urgent business?" Qian Shisan suddenly poked her head out from behind Li Chen Zhou. With her red sleeves fluttering, she had already inserted herself between the two sides.

"We're still heading to Jiangnan to snatch a bridal ball!"

She deliberately stressed the words "bridal ball," making someone among the Earthly Fiends Four snicker aloud.

"Pfft—"

Qian Shisan's laughter rang especially clear in the silent inn. The blue-robed disciple flew into a rage, the tassel on his sword flashing up with a swish. "When Wudang conducts its affairs, since when has it been your turn to..."

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Four cold flashes left their sheaths at once, and the weapons of the Earthly Fiends Four formed a chilling wall of blades.

Crippled Foot bared a mouthful of yellow teeth in a sinister grin. "Do righteous sects now imitate mountain bandits as well?"

The air within the inn seemed to freeze in an instant. The oil lamp crackled and burst with a blossom of flame. Beneath the dim yellow light, the icy crystal cover of Frost Heaven Six Annihilations in Li Chen Zhou's hand reflected an eerie radiance.

"Wudang's Mad Daoist isn't bad. Give them two rooms."

Li Chen Zhou turned another page, frost flowers drifting down from his fingertips.

Bai Lusong's pupils shrank sharply. "Sir knows Martial Uncle Feng?" He hastily bowed deeply. "What happened just now was most..."

"Putting on airs and playing tricks!" Song Qingfeng suddenly drew his sword, its cry like a crane's call soaring through the nine heavens. "Take my move, White Rainbow Pierces the Sun!"

At the instant the sword light surged, Li Chen Zhou remained in his reading posture. He merely reached his right hand casually behind him—

Ding!

"Ding—"

A crisp sword chime resounded through the inn.

White Rainbow Pierces the Sun, said to pierce iron armor, had actually been lightly caught between Li Chen Zhou's two fingers.

Song Qingfeng's face turned ashen. Veins bulged across the hand gripping his sword, but the blade remained utterly motionless, as if cast into iron and stone.

"Wudang swordsmanship..."

Li Chen Zhou slowly turned around. Frost instantly crawled over the trapped sword tip. A cold gleam flashed through his eyes. "Nothing more than that."

Crack!

A flick of his fingertips broke the refined steel sword apart. The three pieces of broken blade shot through the air and embedded themselves in a beam with three sharp thuds, arranged in the shape of a winter plum blossom. As Song Qingfeng staggered back, a flash of white swept past—Leng Rushuang had somehow appeared behind him, her delicate hand lightly pressing against his back, sparing him from making a public spectacle of himself.

"If there is a next time." Li Chen Zhou's gaze swept over Song Qingfeng's throat like a blade. "What breaks will be this."

He turned and climbed the stairs, his robes fluttering as he tossed back one sentence. "Since you look down on those two rooms, make yourselves at home."

Qian Shisan stuck her tongue out at Song Qingfeng. "Wudang's brilliant disciple couldn't even take one move from our lord!" Her red skirt fluttered as she skipped after Li Chen Zhou. The Earthly Fiends Four sneered repeatedly, their iron boots pounding heavily against the stairs.

Bookworm slowly closed his bamboo slips, a cold flash glinting off his bronze-rimmed glasses. "A frog in a well cannot be told of the sea..."

On the second-floor corridor, Qian Shisan tugged Li Chen Zhou's sleeve, practically jumping with delight. "That finger of yours just now was marvelous, my lord! You didn't see Song Qingfeng's expression..."

In the hall below, Bai Lusong supported the limp Song Qingfeng, his face livid.

The latter's sword-holding right hand was still trembling violently, frost continuously falling from the broken sword.

"Senior... Senior Brother..." Song Qingfeng's voice was hoarse. "If this gets back into the Jianghu..."

"Shut up!" Veins bulged at Bai Lusong's temples.

"Enough."

A cold voice sliced through the air like a frost blade. Leng Rushuang slowly stepped forward, the black sword tassel moving without wind.

She picked up the broken sword and ran her fingertips over the mirror-smooth fracture. Her pupils suddenly contracted.

"Frost Heaven Force." She abruptly raised her head, her gaze piercing through the railing. "The Nie Family's supreme art."

Upstairs, Li Chen Zhou's footsteps paused slightly.

Qian Shisan leaned over the railing and peeked down. "This icy beauty has some discernment after all."

Sword light surged in Leng Rushuang's eyes. She lifted her fair hand, and an afterimage flashed past.

Slap!

The crisp slap echoed throughout the inn. Song Qingfeng staggered back three steps, and five red finger marks immediately rose across his left cheek.

"This slap punishes your three sins." Her voice was as cold as ice. "First, for rashly attacking. Second, for disgracing the sect's rules. Third..." The black sword tassel moved without wind. "For nearly ruining Wudang's century-old reputation!"

Bai Lusong hurriedly cupped his fists. "Enforcer Leng judges wisely." He turned and glared at Song Qingfeng. "Why haven't you..."

"There is no need." Leng Rushuang waved her jade-like hand. "Has Wudang not lost enough face already?" When she turned to the innkeeper, her tone had returned to calm. "Two communal rooms."

The innkeeper looked as if granted a great pardon and was about to lead them away when Leng Rushuang suddenly cupped her fists toward the second-floor Heavenly Room. "For today's matter, Wudang will certainly give Senior an explanation."

The seven silver threads on her snow-white scabbard suddenly glimmered with cold light.

"At Famous Sword Manor's Sword Trial Assembly, Rushuang looks forward to receiving instruction in the Nie Family's supreme art."

Li Chen Zhou's soft laughter came from within the room. "I shall await good news."

Qian Shisan lay over the window lattice, watching the Wudang group head toward the dilapidated side rooms in the rear courtyard, and could not help giggling. "This icy beauty is really interesting. She obviously wants to fight, yet she still puts on such airs."

Bookworm snapped his bamboo slips shut. "Winter Plum Sword Leng Rushuang entered the Rising Dragon Ranking at eighth place when she was only twenty." His lenses reflected a cold gleam. "Qingxu Zhenren once said that her swordsmanship had grasped seventy percent of the true essence of 'Winter Plum Reflecting Snow.'"

Crippled Foot spat out the grass root in his mouth with a scoff. "Before my lord..." The curved saber at his waist suddenly trembled. "She is merely a plum blossom that breaks easily."

Returning to his room, Li Chen Zhou called up the system information panel:

Host: Li Chen Zhou

Realm: Mid Fifth Rank (192/240)

Martial Arts:

Thirteen Guardian Golden Bell Shield (Mastery)

Three Abyssal Slashes (Mastery)

Soul Absorption Art (Mastery) Divine Attribute 20% (Unlocks Great Shift of Heaven and Earth)

Thousand Faces (Mastery)

Soaring Illusionary Steps (Mastery)

Hell Soul Exchange Scripture (Mastery)

Wind God Kick (Mastery)

Heavenly Frost Fist (Mastery)

Hundred Hit Dragon Claw Hand (Mastery)

Frost Heaven Six Annihilations (Beginner's Insight)

Indestructible Divine Skill (Mastery)

Internal cultivation: 192 years (calculated according to an ordinary person cultivating a basic technique for one year)

Lifespan: 37 years

Weapon: Blood Demon Blade (Charging: Current Progress 60%)

With the aid of memories from so many martial arts already at Mastery, Frost Heaven Six Annihilations had advanced at such terrifying speed.

By the time he reached Jiangnan, he expected to have fully integrated it and entered the Mastery realm.