A person of privilege

"Yes, Princess."

The guard named Shen Hong answered calmly, turned unhurriedly, and walked straight toward Li Xian.

But Li Xian...

Showed no intention of paying her any attention.

Instead, he looked past her at the burly middle-aged man beside her. "That night two months ago, were you the one who struck?"

The middle-aged man did not even raise his eyelids, much less bother to answer.

Shen Hong, however, strode up to Li Xian, her expression turning cold. "This is no place for someone of your standing."

With that, she struck without further ado, reaching to clamp down on his shoulder blade.

Li Xian tilted his head slightly. Just as Shen Hong's grasping arm was about to reach him, his right hand shot out like lightning. Though he moved second, he arrived first, winding like a python as his hand drove straight along her arm and clamped onto her shoulder blade before she could reach his.

Then...

His muscles and bones rang out in unison!

Force erupted!

He snapped Shen Hong's shoulder joint with ease.

Crack!

"Aah!"

The sudden, searing pain drew a shrill scream from Shen Hong.

Before she could do anything else, Li Xian flung his hand, like Shakyamuni hurling an elephant, and sent the guard's eighty-odd-kilogram body flying three or four meters. She slammed heavily into the ground and even rolled twice.

The sudden turn of events changed the expressions of the middle-aged man, the young princess, the other two beside her, and their guards all at once.

The middle-aged man in particular, who had looked so indifferent a moment earlier and had thought nothing of Li Xian, felt his pupils contract sharply. "Muscle and bone great accomplishment!? No! You've even trained your force into your internal organs? How is that possible!?"

The guards accompanying the princess and the two young men immediately closed around them as well.

But the princess pushed aside the guard protecting her and stepped forward instead, her delicate brows drawing together slightly. "What is going on?"

She glanced at Shen Hong, whose face had gone somewhat pale from the pain, and snorted in disgust. "Useless!"

"Be careful, Princess... this Li Xian... something isn't right about him..."

The middle-aged man's expression was grave, and his gaze never left Li Xian.

Judging by the force he had unleashed just now and his current breathing rhythm...

He had clearly reached internal organ refinement!

But that made no sense!

Two months ago...

He had plainly been a frail scholar without the strength to truss a chicken!

"What do you mean, something isn't right? He's just some lowborn peasant! You're Yan Lian, an expert who has perfected his internal organs, and you can't deal with him?"

The young woman's expression was icy. Noticing people nearby becoming aware of the conflict and looking over made her all the more displeased. "Hurry up and take care of him."

Yan Lian nodded and stepped forward.

While Yan Lian studied Li Xian, Li Xian was studying him as well. Now, he was certain.

"It was you."

He said calmly, "I don't want to know why you did it. I'm only telling you that, at that moment, 'Li Xian' died. A life for a life is the immutable law of heaven and earth... now, you can struggle and resist with everything you have! You can even use every means at your disposal to beat me to death again! Otherwise, today, you will die!"

Li Xian died?

Aren't you standing here alive and well?

And somehow, you've even entered the realm of internal organ refinement.

Thoughts raced through Yan Lian's mind, but judging by Li Xian's words, only one of them would survive today.

Still...

In the end, he was a mere nobody whom Yan Lian could have crushed to death with ease two months ago. Even if he had practiced some unknown evil art and refined his internal organs, how formidable could he have become in two months?

The only thing that gave him some pause was the man's status...

Miss Liu of the marquis's household still needed this live-in son-in-law to fend off that "immortal seedling," Yan Shui Rou.

If he accidentally beat him to death, would that...

Perhaps she had seen his misgivings, or perhaps she simply acted without restraint.

The young princess spoke. "What an arrogant mouth! Use every means at our disposal to beat you to death!? Li Xian, do you really think being called one of the Four Great Talents of Lijiang makes you somebody?"

The way Li Xian spoke seemed to have angered her into laughter. "Before people of privilege from Prince Yue's Residence like us, a peasant like you wouldn't qualify to cross our threshold in your entire lifetime! How could a commoner understand the splendor of a heavenly palace!? If not for Sister Liu, you could die and rot like a dead dog in some street corner, and I wouldn't spare you another glance. It would only dirty my eyes."

With that, she raised her delicate brows and waved a hand. "Beat him to death! If he dies, he dies! What does he think he is!?"

Hearing the princess's words, Yan Lian immediately felt reassured.

He wasted no more words.

The saber in his hand left its sheath.

Facing someone who had refined his internal organs...

Even one who had lacked the strength to truss a chicken two months earlier, he remained fully alert.

As his saber left its sheath, his force erupted right behind it.

Despite pitting the strong against the weak and the greater against the lesser, he still struck first to seize the initiative.

The saber light was icy, swift as a streak of white silk.

Although both had perfected their internal organs, the saber technique displayed in this single strike already showed that Guard Yan's fighting prowess clearly surpassed Liu Fu's.

Yet today was not yesterday.

When Li Xian had fought Liu Fu, he had not yet perfected his internal organs. He had relied on an eruption of core force to turn the tables and kill him.

But now...

Not only had he completed his internal organ refinement, he had already begun blood exchange and marrow washing. Thanks to the Blood Jade Art, he had made some progress in just six days.

Someone who chased fame and fortune would already have dared to proclaim himself a blood exchange and marrow washing practitioner at this point.

Thus, facing Yan Lian's stroke, swift as a streak of silk, Li Xian's blood surged, rapidly gathering into a torrent of violent force that flooded his limbs and bones.

As he drew his saber immediately afterward, its light swept toward the edge of Yan Lian's slash at an even greater speed.

Sparks burst out the instant the two met.

But at the same moment, Li Xian channeled a vibrating force through his slash and into his blade. Not only did it block Yan Lian's strike, it also sent such violent tremors through his palm that he nearly lost his grip on his weapon.

"This force!?"

In that brief instant of trembling, Li Xian's saber had already swept out horizontally, as though carrying a crescent moon, tearing toward Yan Lian's neck.

His arm numb and barely able to hold his saber, Yan Lian hurriedly leaned backward, dodging the edge with a movement akin to an iron bridge backbend. At the same time, force erupted beneath his feet, and he shot backward, rapidly opening the distance between them.

"You're definitely not Li Xian! Who are you!?"

As Yan Lian retreated, he shouted urgently for help. "Brother Liu, lend me a hand!"

The warrior surnamed Liu, Liu Feng, was the only other internal organ realm expert among the five guards.

Hearing his cry, however, he turned his gaze toward the young man beside him.

He was the son of Cao Rui, an assistant commander of Jiangzhou's Military Command.

Liu Feng had likewise been ordered by Assistant Commander Cao to protect Young Master Cao Zhi while he and Yan Ruxue toured Canglang Mountain and attended the Sword Discussion Convention.

Noticing his look, Young Master Cao snapped his fine fan shut. "Go help."

"Yes."

Liu Feng acknowledged the order and entered the battle in a single bound.

Seeing this, the other young man also waved to the guard beside him. "You go too."

This guard had only reached muscle and bone great accomplishment, but faced with his young master's order, he could only steel himself and join the fray. In the blink of an eye, three men were attacking one.

But...

Though two more opponents had joined in, they had no effect on Li Xian at all.

By now, his saber light had completely enveloped Yan Lian.

Liu Feng's sudden attack merely gave Yan Lian, who had nearly lost his life, one chance to escape death. As Li Xian's saber light descended and its vibrating force burst forth, Yan Lian could no longer hold his saber.

The web of his hand split, blood spattered, and the saber was knocked clean out of his grip.

"This is bad!"

Having lost his saber, Yan Lian was horrified. Ignoring the fact that Liu Feng was still beside him, he broke away and retreated at full speed.

Just then, Liu Feng's saber came whistling in, forcing Li Xian to turn slightly and drawing the full brunt of his assault.

Li Xian, who found his repeated interference particularly troublesome, turned his blade and instantly swept aside Liu Feng's strike. Then, taking advantage of the internal organ warrior's wide-open guard, his saber light drove straight in and passed across his throat.

Blood sprayed.

The internal organ warrior's body stopped short.

"Princess, run!"

Seeing this, Yan Lian, who had sacrificed his companion to escape the fight, was scared out of his wits. He rushed to Princess Yan Ruxue's side, grabbed her, and charged straight toward Canglang Mountain.

(End of chapter)