"Everyone, push harder! He can't hold out much longer!"
The man at Body Tempering Major Accomplishment shouted, and five sabers pressed in at once.
"Kill!"
Lin Yuan's knees buckled, his hands numbed by the impact.
His gaze suddenly sharpened.
Enlightenment!
Activate!
The clamor of battle instantly faded into the distance, and the steel sabers slashing toward him moved as if in slow motion.
Splitting, chopping, sweeping upward, thrusting.
Every move broke down clearly into a series of connected images.
[Martial arts: Army-Breaking Saber Art (Beginner 5/10)]
Now!
Lin suddenly drove off the ground.
Sweep Away a Thousand Armies!
Lin Yuan forced four men back with a single move. Before the remaining man could react, he heard a furious shout.
Cleave Mount Hua with Force!
A heavy, powerful saber strike crashed down on his head.
His padded armor split open effortlessly, and his entire body tore apart from shoulder to waist, spilling blood and entrails across the ground.
The fighting paused for half a beat.
"Impossible! How do you know the Army-Breaking Saber Art?"
The remaining four retreated in panic, horror on their faces.
"Didn't you teach me?"
Lin Yuan spoke quietly.
"I don't believe it!"
Someone charged with a shout, his saber aimed straight at Lin Yuan's throat.
Lin Yuan sneered, sweeping his saber upward.
Sever the Mountain Passes!
The spine of his blade knocked the other man's weapon aside.
Lin Yuan turned with the momentum, changing his saber's trajectory.
Long Wind Sweeps the Blade!
A flash of steel skimmed across the man's neck.
The man clutched his neck and toppled to the ground, unwilling to accept his end.
[Martial arts: Army-Breaking Saber Art (Minor Accomplishment 9/10)]
As he employed the saber art, his proficiency kept increasing.
The remaining three were so shocked that they retreated again and again.
This really was the Army-Breaking Saber Art they used!
Had he learned it before?
No, he clearly hadn't known any saber techniques at the start.
A terrifying thought exploded in all three men's minds.
"A monster!"
"Now it's my turn!"
Lin Yuan's expression hardened, and he raised his saber and charged at the three.
After being pinned down for so long, he would have been lying if he said he wasn't frustrated.
The three joined forces to resist.
Lin Yuan turned his blade and raised it to thrust at the strongest man.
Drive Straight In!
A chill ran down the man's spine. He hurriedly executed several strange steps, and the blade skimmed past his clothes.
Seizing the opening, he leaped into the treetops and vanished into the distance in a few bounds.
Lin Yuan looked up and kept staring.
Regret filled his heart.
I activated enlightenment too early!
That lightness skill really was good.
What a pity.
Taking advantage of Lin Yuan's distraction, the remaining two turned and ran.
Lin Yuan turned and glanced sideways at them.
"You're only at Minor Accomplishment of Body Tempering. You think I'd let you escape?"
Crack.
Lin Yuan snapped the saber, then hurled the pieces.
They whistled through the air.
Both men were struck in the back and fell into the grass.
Not far away.
Master Wu's mouth hung open.
He silently put away his needle pouch and watched Lin Yuan with shining eyes.
"The Five Qi Converging to the Origin Art can do that too?"
Lin Yuan crouched and began searching the corpses one by one.
"Yes, yes, yes."
He couldn't easily explain the system. In any case, he was the only one who knew the Five Qi Converging to the Origin Art, so wasn't whatever he said about it final?
A short while later.
Lin Yuan hefted the money pouch.
A mere few hundred copper coins.
He found it rather paltry.
He was a man carrying fifty thousand taels in banknotes, after all.
Forget it. Even a mosquito's leg is still meat.
Lin Yuan tied the money pouch shut.
The two retraced their steps.
"I wonder how Lin Jiu is doing?"
Lin Yuan was a little worried.
Master Wu fell silent for a moment.
"That man's high fever hasn't broken, so he can only use half his strength. Lin Jiu should still be able to escape."
Lin Yuan looked puzzled.
"First-grade martial artists have powerful bodies. They can still get sick?"
Master Wu looked at him as though he were an idiot.
"What do you think martial artists are?"
"The lower three grades temper Qi and strength, the middle three gather Gang Qi, and the upper three refine the soul."
"Martial artists in the lower three grades are merely a little stronger."
Understanding dawned on Lin Yuan.
As they talked.
The smell of blood gradually drifted over from the woods ahead.
Lin Yuan's expression tightened. He pushed aside the branches, then stopped dead.
Mutilated bodies littered the ground, and blood had pooled into ponds.
Lin Jiu leaned against the roots of a tree.
He slept peacefully.
Lin Yuan rushed over.
After examining him briefly, Master Wu looked grave.
"He's still alive."
Master Wu stopped the bleeding and bandaged his wounds, working for quite some time.
"His wounds are under control. He must have used some kind of secret art. His blood essence is severely depleted. He'll need century-old ginseng to replenish it."
Hearing this, Lin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it could be replenished, money was no problem.
Lin Yuan turned his gaze toward Liu Lie.
He had no idea what secret art Lin Jiu had used to actually kill a first-grade martial artist in combat.
Carrying Lin Jiu on his back, Lin Yuan finally reached Ping'an County with Master Wu before nightfall.
Ping'an County had high, thick walls, with bow-wielding guards stationed on top.
People crowded before the city gates.
A dense mass of people.
The clamor never ceased.
The air was filled with all manner of indescribable odors.
Master Wu slipped into the crowd and returned shortly afterward with an ugly expression.
"The county town is under lockdown!"
Lin Yuan had already expected this.
He set Lin Jiu down.
"I'll go take a look."
Lin Yuan slipped into the crowd.
Unable to enter through the gates, the refugees had used whatever materials they could find to build shacks outside the town.
Some took advantage of the chaos to steal.
Those caught inevitably received a vicious beating.
People fought over spots near the walls, too.
A battered pot was kicked over, and two families grabbed carrying poles. Those nearby hurriedly scattered to watch the spectacle.
Lin Yuan turned sideways to pass them.
Behind a shack, a woman quietly caught a passing man by the sleeve.
"Half a flatbread. Will that do?"
The man stopped, looked the woman over a few times, then ducked into the shack.
Strange sounds came in fits and starts.
Lin Yuan passed silently through the crowd, and several carriages appeared in the open space ahead.
Several middle-aged men in silk stood there, with household servants behind them.
One of them held a girl by the chin, turning her face this way and that as he examined her teeth.
"Not bad."
The man let go and ordered a servant to bring out a sack of white flour.
The girl's father immediately showered him with gratitude.
Lin Yuan stopped nearby.
"What's this?"
An old man nearby raised his head and glanced over.
"Wealthy households from town, out picking maids."
"She's only worth a sack of flour?"
"She's still worth a sack of flour now. In a famine year, a sack of coarse rice would be enough to take her away."
Lin Yuan stared at the carriages, lost in thought.
After circling around a few times, he stopped a steward who was selecting people.
The steward was just about to snap at him.
His gaze fell on Lin Yuan's bloodstained lapels, then shifted to the saber at his waist, and his head instantly cleared.
"Young fellow, need something?"
"Let's speak somewhere private."
Lin Yuan raised a hand.
The steward remained silent.
Lin Yuan pulled his sleeve up slightly, revealing the corner of a banknote.
Datong Bank, a denomination of one thousand taels.
The steward's expression changed, and he looked around.
"Come."
The two walked to a secluded spot.
The steward stopped five meters away.
"Young master, do you want to enter town?"
A steward was a steward, after all. Quick-witted, he immediately guessed Lin Yuan's intention.
"Do you have a way in?"
The steward did not answer immediately. He stroked his two tufts of goatee and fell silent for a good while, a troubled look on his face.
"There is a way, but a thousand taels won't be enough."
Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes, his tone firm.
"I only have a thousand taels, and there are three of us who need to enter the city."
The steward shook his head, indicating that he wished he could help but was powerless to do so.
Lin Yuan cupped his hands.
"Farewell."
"Wait!"
"Young master, please stay!"
The steward reached out, staring at Lin Yuan suspiciously for a good while.
Could he really only have a thousand taels?
"Ahem, ahem."
The steward made a show of coughing twice, then changed his tune.
"A thousand taels isn't out of the question. I'll take the job."
"My name is Lin Hai. May I ask your name, young master?"
*???*
Lin Yuan's expression turned odd.
Seriously? I stopped someone at random, and he turned out to be one of my own?
"My name is Song Zhong."
*???*
The steward's expression turned odd.
Seriously? This kid's family must be sick in the head, giving him such a lousy name.
"Wait for me here at midnight tonight."