A courtyard stood in a decidedly secluded part of Zhuzhao Peak.
Ning Qingshu, Chen Jianghai, and Wang Dao, three experts ranked near the top of the Entering-the-Dao Candidates Ranking, arrived together and were led inside by a servant.
Before they entered, they heard music drifting out, as mournful as weeping, as plaintive as a lament.
The servant gestured for the three to remain silent.
Then he led them over to wait outside a pavilion.
Yet this dismissive treatment did not leave any of them the slightest bit displeased.
Each patiently watched the blue-robed man playing an erhu in the lakeside pavilion.
The second-ranked man on the Entering-the-Dao Candidates Ranking!
Slaughter Sword Lord Qin Wuyi!
Compared with Chen Jianghai's Sword Hanging from the Heavenly Gate, Ning Qingshu's Shadowless Fairy, and the like, his title was blunt and direct.
The title Slaughter Sword Lord was a bloody record piled up from the countless people who had dared challenge him, only to meet their deaths and become heaps of bones.
Even its literal meaning was enough to lay bare every bit of his imposing might and murderous ferocity.
The erhu played for a long time before its lingering notes slowly faded.
Only then did a voice come from the pavilion. "Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?"
Only after he spoke did the servant lead the three into the pavilion.
Qin Wuyi was still fiddling with his erhu. "You came because of Li Xian?"
"You guessed, Senior Brother Qin?"
Ning Qingshu spoke.
Of the group, she stood highest on the Entering-the-Dao Candidates Ranking, so having her answer showed the greatest respect.
"Of course. I've been waiting for you for days. You've been a little slow."
Qin Wuyi spoke unhurriedly.
"Li Xian is arrogant and conceited. He holds everyone in