Calm and composed

Who in Canglan City dared call the Langya Mercenary Corps ignorant?

Not even the patriarchs of the four great Lineages dared say such a thing.

Hundreds of gazes converged on Liu Wuxie's face. His sunny expression, faint smile, high nose, and slightly upturned lips outlined a handsome countenance.

"Brat, are you courting death? You dare call us ignorant?"

A mercenary from the Langya Hired Mercenary Corps leaped out. At the fifth stage of the Xiantian Realm, he chopped his palm down at Liu Wuxie with incredible speed. This was the Langya Mercenary Corps' style: strike without warning, vicious and ruthless, leaving their opponents no chance to breathe.

Alarm flashed in Xu Yishan's eyes. He was about to intervene. He detested Liu Wuxie, but he could not let him die here.

"Shing!"

The short saber left its sheath, and an unparalleled blade light slashed down through the air. No one saw how he drew. By the time they reacted, the short saber was already sheathed, and the charging Langya mercenary stood frozen in place.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

Blood gushed madly from his neck, staining the ground red. With unwillingness written across his face, he crashed to the ground.

One slash, one kill!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Sharp intakes of breath rose all around. Everyone, including those from the Tian Household and Wan Household, was stunned by the sight, their mouths hanging wide open.

The Xu Household guards' eyes nearly popped out. During the day, they had mocked Liu Wuxie as trash and sneered that he was utterly worthless. What had that slash been?

Xu Yishan stopped in his tracks, unable to describe his feelings. A hundred conflicting flavors churned within him!

Liu Wuxie's appearance had surprised Tian Qihong and the Wan Household experts. Why was this piece of trash at the camp?

They had paid it little mind. He had always been trash. His presence here was even better: if they killed him, Master Huo could not blame them.

That stunning slash shocked everyone. Like a resounding slap, it struck all their faces, including those of the Xu Household guards.

All this time, he had endured their endless mockery. They had lavished every vicious word imaginable upon Liu Wuxie.

"You... who exactly are you?"

Tian Qihong pointed at Liu Wuxie. He could not believe that piece of trash had grown to such a level, instantly killing someone in the Innate Fifth Stage Realm with one slash.

The Wan Household experts, Langya, Xu Yishan, Deacon Hu, and the others all waited for Liu Wuxie's answer. Was he still the person he had been?

Langya's eyes narrowed to slits. Upon entering, he had sensed danger, but he had not known where it came from. Could it be this seemingly frail youth before him?

What a joke!

Langya had lived for decades. What sort of person had he not encountered? The presence emanating from the youth felt comfortable, with no hint of danger.

The more venomous the snake, the more beautiful it was.

Langya knew very well that the youth before him put him under immense pressure. He struggled to calm himself. That faint pressure weighed upon his shoulders, invisible and intangible, yet undeniably real.

"Does it still matter who I am?"

There was faint mockery in his words. Who he was no longer mattered. Neither side would rest until the other was dead.

"Very good. Even trash like you has had his day of turning things around. Today, I'll kill you along with the rest. Even if you killed someone in the Innate Fifth Stage Realm, you still won't escape death."

Tian Qihong took a deep breath, suppressing the flames within him. Having killed a member of the Langya Mercenary Corps, this piece of trash would be killed by Langya without them needing to act.

Ignoring Tian Qihong, Liu Wuxie turned his gaze toward Langya. They held each other's gaze for a full minute before Langya looked away first. Those fathomless eyes made him feel as though he stood before an abyss.

How could someone so young possess such terrifying eyes, as though they could pierce a person's soul? Langya's palms began to sweat under that soul-crushing pressure.

"Langya, you injured ten guards of my Xu Household. Killing one of yours wasn't excessive, was it?"

Liu Wuxie spoke coldly, without the slightest fluctuation, as though describing something utterly ordinary, or negotiating terms.

"No."

Langya nodded. Their mercenary corps lived every day licking blood from the edges of blades. Death was only a matter of time.

"This is a grudge between our Xu Household and the Wan and Tian Households. By sticking your foot in, you've shown utter disregard for our Xu Household. Since you haven't killed any Xu Household guards, each of you can sever an arm and get out."

Domineering!

How domineering! The moment his words fell, an uproar erupted. Not only did he demand that Langya get out, but he also demanded they cripple an arm each. Even Xu Yilin would not dare say such a thing if he were here.

Every word emerged solemnly from Liu Wuxie's mouth. There was no passion, no surging fervor, only plainness, yet it carried an irresistible majesty.

"Hahaha..." Tian Qihong threw his head back and laughed wildly, amused by Liu Wuxie. He stared at him as though looking at a fool, and so did everyone else, including the Xu Household guards. "This brat must have gone delusional, spouting nonsense here. Making everyone in the Langya Hired Mercenary Corps cripple an arm? Are you trying to make me die laughing?"

The Wan Household disciples and the Langya Hired Mercenary Corps sneered. No one had ever dared make such a demand of the Langya Hired Mercenary Corps. Only one kind of person did... the dead.

Xu Yishan's face darkened, and he patted his forehead. He had originally intended to use the Xu Household's standing, combining persuasion with pressure, to make Langya withdraw.

Now look what had happened. Liu Wuxie's words had thoroughly escalated the conflict, and he had killed a mercenary as well. Reconciliation was impossible.

Only Langya looked slightly grave. His instincts warned him that the youth before him was terrifying.

He had grown up in a wolf den. A pack of wolves was invincible wherever it went, but a lone wolf could achieve little alone.

Right now, he was a lone wolf locked in a fierce tiger's sights. The pressure upon his soul kept intensifying. A bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead without him noticing.

"I can choose to withdraw, but demanding that we sever our own arms is asking too much."

This answer defied everyone's expectations. Coming from Langya's mouth, it stunned countless people. Tian Qihong was still laughing when he suddenly choked, as though he had swallowed a lump of dog shit. The taste needed no description.

The Xu Household guards were aghast. Langya was actually choosing to withdraw. Was it really because of their young master-in-law's words?

Deacon Hu and Xu Yishan exchanged a glance, each seeing profound shock in the other's eyes!

Things had gone somewhat beyond their expectations. Had Langya gone mad, or had Liu Wuxie? They could no longer tell.

"No!"

The icy refusal left Liu Wuxie's mouth and resounded throughout the camp, pronouncing the verdict. Want to leave? Leave an arm behind, or stay here. At that moment, Xu Yishan had the urge to strangle Liu Wuxie.

If Langya withdrew, the remaining Tian Household and Wan Household experts would be nothing to worry about. What on earth was he doing?

He wanted to stop him, but it was already too late. The refusal had already been spoken.

"Young master-in-law..."

Deacon Hu called softly, urging him to quit while he was ahead and stop stirring up trouble. A trace of hope shone in his eyes.

Pretending not to see, Liu Wuxie continued smiling at Langya. That harmless smile made Langya's skin crawl.

"Langya, what are you still hesitating for? Don't listen to this wet-behind-the-ears brat's nonsense. Kill them all!"

Tian Qihong shouted, urging Langya to act immediately, kill Xu Yishan, slaughter all the Xu Household guards, and seize the purple gold vein.

Ignoring Tian Qihong's shouting, Langya withdrew his gaze. Without realizing it, a large patch of his back had become soaked.

"There's no room for negotiation?" Langya asked.

"None!" Liu Wuxie replied.

They spoke a sentence each, and the atmosphere became exceedingly strange. Only the two of them were exchanging blows. There were no flashing blades or dancing swords, yet everyone felt thorns against their backs. The sensation was deeply unpleasant.

"Very well. Then let me experience your prowess, Young Master Liu!"

Rather than cripple an arm, he might as well kill them outright. Langya could never agree, and Liu Wuxie knew he would not. Thus, from the very beginning, he had never intended to let them leave. It was that simple.

"If I can't kill you within three moves, I can spare your life."

He slowly drew his short saber and pointed it toward the heavens. The crowd retreated on its own, clearing a large space for their battle.

"Nonsense! You're making a complete mess of things! Get aside right now!"

Xu Yishan could no longer stand watching and tried to stop Liu Wuxie from continuing his reckless behavior. A perfectly favorable situation had been ruined by a single remark that thoroughly offended Langya.

"Are you speaking to me?"

His icy eyes suddenly stabbed toward Xu Yishan, making the latter stagger in fright. Fierce saber Qi erupted from Liu Wuxie's eyes, nearly blinding him. Xu Yishan froze where he stood, unable to take another step forward.

Ignoring Xu Yishan, Liu Wuxie walked into the clearing. Things had reached this point; no one could stop them now.

"Deacon Hu, take the men and guard the exit. Don't let anyone out tonight."

Liu Wuxie turned and instructed Deacon Hu to shut the gates. No one was to dream of leaving the Xu Household's mining camp alive tonight.

Deacon Hu glanced at Xu Yishan, who nodded, then led the Xu Household guards to seal the exit.

Throughout it all, the Tian Household did not interfere, nor did the Wan Household stop them. Langya was even less likely to step forward. It was kill or be killed.

"Has the young master-in-law gone mad? Defeat Langya in three moves? How is that possible unless he's at the advanced Spirit Cleansing Realm?"

The Xu Household guards whispered among themselves, feeling both respect and hatred toward Liu Wuxie. He had turned a perfectly good situation into a complete mess.

Everyone had believed all along that Langya's sudden desire to withdraw came from his wariness of the Xu Household, not Liu Wuxie.

Only Langya himself knew best that he feared Liu Wuxie, not the Xu Household. The two were complete opposites.

Time would prove everything!

Liu Wuxie would not explain, nor did he deign to. The weak would always look up to the strong.

"If he wants to die, he should die alone. Why must he drag us down with him? Once he dies, we can just surrender. Hopefully, Langya will spare our lives."

Murmurs rose one after another. No one had any faith in Liu Wuxie. Soon, Langya would hack him into eight pieces.

Xu Yishan was unusually calm. That earlier gaze still left him shaken, as though an ancient ferocious beast had fixed its eyes on him.

Langya's weapon was a wolf-fang mace over a meter long. This was also where his name came from. His real name had long since been forgotten.

The icy wind swept up a cloud of dust. Then both men moved together, like two bolts of lightning suddenly colliding.

Saber and mace traded blows. Their figures could no longer be seen clearly, and the forceful clangs of their weapons rang out above the camp.

A suffocating pressure swept in all directions. The ordinary miners swayed, on the verge of collapse. Tian Qihong's expression grew increasingly ugly. He could see that Langya was already using all his strength, yet had not even touched the hem of Liu Wuxie's clothes.

The scene was exceedingly strange. In everyone's eyes, Liu Wuxie should have died long ago, yet he moved calmly and unhurriedly around the battlefield. His short saber still had not slashed down. He was gathering momentum.