Li Ping'an rubbed his brow and smiled. "Not bad, not bad."
Song Zhongzhi forcibly steadied his breathing. In that brief span, at least twenty years' worth of cultivation had been utterly depleted.
He could sense that the three-inch short sword itself was not of a high grade.
But it had been nurtured exceptionally well and was extraordinarily sharp.
"Again," Li Ping'an said.
"Come on!!" Song Zhongzhi roared.
"What are you shouting so loudly for?"
With that, Li Ping'an sank his essence, qi, and spirit into the sword at once.
A faint hiss rang out, and silver light spread over the blade.
It thrust swiftly forward from the rear.
It seemed slow but was fast, seemed illusory yet was real, giving one the feeling that a lifetime had passed.
"What swordsmanship!!" Li Yanluo, watching the spectacle from his cell, could not help exclaiming.
Song Zhongzhi's mind reeled, his legs rooted to the ground.
Sword Qi entered his body, and an intense sense of danger surged into his heart-the danger of life and death.
Then came a faint ding.
The cold gleam before Song Zhongzhi flashed and vanished, disappearing abruptly like a bolt of lightning.
He froze for a moment, then suddenly felt a pain in his heart and looked down.
"...You... who are you!?"
Song Zhongzhi fell backward onto the ground and asked with the last scrap of his strength.
Li Ping'an raised his Wine Gourd, tilted his head back, and took a drink.
"Me? I've had far too many identities.
"I used to be a beggar, then sang for a living to put food in my mouth, then killed someone and became a fugitive.
"After that, I became a Bounty Hunter, worked as a physician, and taught school.
"As for now... the Chief Senior Disciple of Shushan's Heaven-Reaching Peak!"
*Heaven-Reaching