If I Don't Have a Sword, I Can't Protect You

Those who can cultivate at the Returning Heart Sect include not only commoner disciples like Jiang Beiran who were taken in, but also descendants of major noble families.

Jiang Beiran's luck was extremely good, winning three grand prizes in a row. In a small team of only five people, there was a second-generation official, a second-generation rich kid, and a second-generation knight-errant, and all three of them hated him.

What a disaster!

After investigating the backgrounds of the three junior disciples, Jiang Beiran felt like he was cracking apart. At the same time, he had an epiphany!

This world was targeting him, targeting him very, very much!

But since things had already happened, he could only face them. Jiang Beiran believed he was no longer the same person he used to be. After a year, he had accumulated quite a lot of attribute points and skill points. Even facing a Yellow Rank Middle Grade mission, he felt he had a fighting chance!

The second-generation knight-errant was named Wu Qingce. His father was the renowned knight-errant Wu Fengmian, known as Flying Leaf Hand in the Zhandong area. His mastery of hidden weapons was divine, making him impossible to guard against.

He was the first to seek out Jiang Beiran after returning to the Returning Heart Sect, but his method was very proper: he directly delivered a challenge letter, stating that whoever won would be able to pursue the junior sister.

Although Jiang Beiran explained countless times that he truly had no interest in the junior sister, Wu Qingce was stubborn and insisted on a fight. Either Jiang Beiran accepted the challenge letter and they would meet in the small grove below Supporting Heaven Peak in three days, or he would make a move right then and there.

Facing such a hot-headed youngster, what else could Jiang Beiran say? Besides a barrage of vulgar curses erupting in his mind, he could only put on a smiling face and accept the challenge letter.

However, Jiang Beiran didn't just wait around during these three days. He believed that instead of waiting for the other two to challenge him or make a move in secret, it would be better to take the initiative and find a way to deal with them first.

So, he first approached the second-generation rich kid.

The second-generation rich kid was named Lin Jiuge, the son of Lin Jingxiang, the richest man in Ningyong County. He had lived a life of luxury since childhood, experiencing all the world's splendors. Coming to the Returning Heart Sect to cultivate was purely a whim, and also to earn some face for his father, giving him more confidence when asking for pocket money in the future.

When Jiang Beiran found Lin Jiuge, he had just finished his practice. This second-generation rich kid was quite courteous. On the surface, he still politely bowed to Jiang Beiran and said, "Greetings, Senior Brother Jiang." His voice was just a little strange.

And Jiang Beiran replied with something he didn't expect.

"Junior Brother Lin, would you be interested in discussing a collaboration with me?"

When Jiang Beiran inquired earlier, he learned that Lin Jiuge's family was mainly in the transportation business. Therefore, during their conversation, he shared the era-transcending idea of a "newspaper" with him.

Lin Jiuge immediately clapped his hands in admiration after hearing it. He said he would go home and discuss it with his father right away. If his father thought it was feasible, he would definitely give Jiang Beiran a generous reward. Of course, a partnership where he could invest, as Jiang Beiran had suggested, was also an option.

Jiang Beiran's idea was simple. Since Lin Jiuge's father was the richest man, he was naturally a smart person. If he was smart enough, he would cooperate with Jiang Beiran, who came up with such a brilliant idea, on a long-term basis. If he wasn't that smart, then Jiang Beiran would just consider it an investment to complete this Yellow Rank Middle Grade mission.

After discussing the collaboration, Lin Jiuge's attitude clearly became more respectful. He expressed his admiration for Jiang Beiran like a surging river, and his calls of "Senior Brother Jiang" no longer carried the sarcastic tone from before.

So, Jiang Beiran took the opportunity to ask about the last of the three, the second-generation official Wang Yu'an.

But Lin Jiuge told him that they had coincidentally come together to accept the trial mission and were then grouped together by the Flower Crown in charge of arrangements. He didn't know Wang Yu'an before. He only knew that he was the son of Wang Bingquan, the County Lieutenant of Chuan'an County. However, he had heard of Wang Bingquan because his efficiency in solving cases was extremely high, earning him the love of the local populace.

When arriving in an unfamiliar place, the most important thing was to understand who was in charge. Therefore, Jiang Beiran had studied the names of officials carefully for a while.

The position of County Lieutenant was in charge of public security, second only to the County Magistrate. If translated to modern terms, it would be equivalent to the Director of the Public Security Bureau, a position with considerable authority.

After thanking Lin Jiuge, Jiang Beiran was thinking about what to say to Wang Yuyan when the latter showed up himself.

"Greetings, Jiang Shixiong."

Wang Yuyan was the picture of a gentle scholar. Most people would likely take a liking to him just from his polite smile.

"May I ask why Junior Brother Wang is looking for me?" Jiang Beiran asked with cupped hands.

"It's a bit difficult to say, I..." Wang Yuyan scratched his head. "I came to ask if Senior Brother Jiang truly doesn't like Junior Sister Lin at all?"

"Of course not. Didn't you all see that day?"

"Then... can I ask why Senior Brother is liked by Junior Sister Lin? Can you... teach me?"

Seeing Wang Yuyan's flushed cheeks, Jiang Beiran knew he must have gathered a lot of courage to ask. He also realized that the only way to eliminate this junior brother's hostility towards him was to teach him how to woo women.

Fearing that refusing him would lead to more trouble, Jiang Beiran agreed and began to draw upon his rich experience watching others date.

Back in middle school, he used to browse online forums constantly and had read all sorts of romantic phrases.

For example, [If I don't have a sword, I can't protect you. If I have a sword, I can't embrace you.]

[No weapon is sharper than a tearing wound.]

[If you break her legs, I'll cripple your entire world.] He had seen many like these.

These phrases could have amazed a whole generation in their internet era, let alone in ancient times where even sending a letter was incredibly troublesome.

After hearing them, Wang Yuyan's eyes lit up, and he was practically ready to kowtow and become a disciple.

"I'll teach you these for now. If they don't work, I'll think of other methods."

Wang Yuyan repeatedly thanked him and promised Jiang Beiran a large red envelope if he managed to win over Junior Sister Lin. With that, he left excitedly.

Time quickly passed to the third day. Jiang Beiran, fully prepared, arrived at the small grove indicated on the challenge letter, ready to use Wu Qingce as a test for the strength he had accumulated through various stat boosts over the year.

However, a second-generation martial artist was still a second-generation martial artist. While he appeared to be a newbie disciple of the Returning Heart Sect, he had actually mastered a profound hidden weapon technique. His needle-throwing skills made Jiang Beiran cry out louder than a Crape Myrtle in bloom.

Yet, Jiang Beiran also displayed strength far beyond Wu Qingce's expectations. During a previous trial descent from the mountain, Wu Qingce had discovered that Jiang Beiran's Returning Heart Skill was only at the second level, meaning he was only at the Qi Refining Second Order.

But in actual combat, Jiang Beiran's strength and resilience far exceeded what was expected of a Qi Refining Second Order cultivator, completely disrupting Wu Qingce's attack rhythm.

Coupled with Jiang Beiran's use of Gu poison and consumption of elixirs, he ultimately defeated Wu Qingce through sheer chaotic power, knocking him to the ground.