“Young Hero Chen, I do not wish to beat around the bush with you.”
The old man surnamed Qi’s right hand already rested on the hilt of his saber, the veins on the back of his withered hand bulging slightly, yet his tone remained steady.
“There is only this one convoy of ours on this road.
You waited in a place like this for two shichen.
It certainly could not have been just to admire the scenery.
Are you a man of the Azure Dragon Sect?”
“The Azure Dragon Sect?”
The corner of Chen Zui’s mouth curved upward with unconcealed disdain.
“That old rascal Duan Tianhong isn’t qualified to have me run errands for him.
To tell you the truth, I just finished beating him up.
The four elders and thirty-two disciples he brought along should be carrying their sect master back on the run right about now.”
At these words, shock flickered across the faces of the eight martial artists in martial attire at the same time.
Duan Tianhong was a Wind-Riding Realm Grandmaster.
Though he might not be considered among the absolute pinnacle of the martial world, he was nonetheless a genuine Grandmaster-level figure.
This young man before them had only a Mountain-Viewing Realm cultivation, yet he claimed he had just beaten a Wind-Riding Realm Grandmaster?
The Staff Grandmaster planted his wrought bronze staff onto the ground with a thud, the tail of the staff vibrating the gravel so hard it bounced three times.
“Boy, empty words are no proof. You are merely in the Mountain-Viewing Realm; why should we believe you?”
Chen Zui did not answer.
He simply lowered the spear from his shoulder and planted its butt onto the ground.
A cold yet unwicked spear intent diffused from the spear shaft, freezing the air within a radius of several zhang.
That spear intent was not domineering, yet the moment it brushed against their skin, it caused everyone’s hairs to stand on end simultaneously.
Almost at the exact same instant, the eight martial artists in martial attire tightened their grips on their weapons.
Their instincts were telling them:
This young man was extremely dangerous!
Yet the old man surnamed Qi did not draw his saber.
He stared at Chen Zui for a good while, then suddenly released his grip on the saber’s hilt.
“To condense internal energy to this extent within the Mountain-Viewing Realm is something this old man has never seen in all my years.
Young Hero Chen, since you did not come to rob us, there must be a reason why you waited for us here.”
Chen Zui leaned against the trunk of the jujube tree, cradling the spear in his arms as his gaze met the old man surnamed Qi’s directly.
“You might not believe me when I say this, but I’ve been waiting here to travel together with you to Jinyang City.”
“Travel together?”
“That’s right.”
Chen Zui nodded.
“Though let’s make something clear first: I’m not doing this for your sword.
While this sword ‘Sheiru’ is indeed an extraordinary item, I wield a spear. Even if you gave it to me, I’d have no use for it.”
He paused, the smile on his face fading slightly.
“Being cooped up in the Furnace-Listening Pavilion, your news might not be all that well-informed.
However, you should have heard about certain matters.
A few months ago outside Luoyan City, a young man spent some time with the Sword Attendant Gu Yiyou.
Later on, Zhizhou Tower spread the word that this young man possessed the legacy of the Way of the Sword left behind by Gu Yiyou.”
Naturally, they knew of this rumor.
During that period, the entire martial world had been searching for that young man.
“That young man is you?”
The old man surnamed Qi’s brow twitched violently. He re-examined the young man before him, his gaze more than twice as sharp as before.
“None other than yours truly.”
Chen Zui shrugged.
“Those people from Zhizhou Tower forced me all the way to Qingya Academy.
Not long ago, I overturned one of their strongholds in Jiangnan.
As for whether I truly have what Senior Gu left behind, that is a question I do not care to answer.
However, I can tell you one thing.”
He held the spear upright against his back, his tone calm yet resonant.
“Relying on the intelligence I obtained from Zhizhou Tower, I cleared out nine groups of people for you along the way.
There were two other groups too far away for me to attend to, but you should have already left them far behind.
I am not telling you all this to claim credit, but simply to let you know:
I, Chen Zui, harbor no ill intent toward you.”
The valley fell so quiet that only the soughing of pine trees and the occasional pawing of hooves against the dirt could be heard.
The eight martial artists in martial attire exchanged looks.
So the reason their journey had gone so smoothly was that this young man before them had already cleared away these troubles beforehand?
Yet how could a lone Mountain-Viewing Realm martial artist clear nine groups of ambushes all by himself and even thrash a Wind-Riding Realm Grandmaster?
They could hardly bring themselves to believe it.
And yet, the blood clinging to the young man’s spearhead was still wet.
That chilling spear intent from earlier was not something that could be faked either.
One of them furrowed his brows deeply and whispered to the old man surnamed Qi,
“Elder Qi, this young man’s words are far too absurd.
Pardon my frankness, but Zhizhou Tower has always minded their own business with us.
He is merely in the Mountain-Viewing Realm; operating alone, how could he have the ability to pry information out of Zhizhou Tower’s hands?
And where would he get the strength to wipe out nine groups of men consecutively?
I suspect he harbors other motives. Perhaps he is in league with those people, merely trying to get us to lower our guard.”
Another person also nodded in agreement.
“Everything he just said is unverified.
We cannot allow such a person into our ranks.”
They began conferring in low murmurs, offering their thoughts one after another.
The majority opinion was that Chen Zui should not be permitted to join the convoy.
The sword “Sheiru” was tied to the duel between Sword God Lü and Sword Immortal Shen, and held great sway over the martial landscape of both realms.
It was simply of too great an importance.
Taking in someone of unknown background midway through the journey posed far too great a risk.
The old man surnamed Qi remained silent throughout.
His head lowered, his withered fingers rubbed repeatedly against his scabbard.
No emotion could be discerned on that deeply wrinkled face.
After roughly half a cup of tea’s worth of silence, the old man surnamed Qi finally lifted his head, his gaze settling back upon Chen Zui.
Then, he made a gesture that left everyone else in utter disbelief.
He shifted the saber resting across his knees to the side, clearing an empty space on the carriage floorboard.
“Come up.”
“Elder Qi, this cannot be...” one of the men anxiously tried to intervene.
“Why can it not?”
The old man surnamed Qi cut him off, his tone calm yet leaving no room for question.
“He went out of his way to clear our path of trouble.
If he truly wanted to harm us, why would he bother doing something so superfluous?”
He paused, his cloudy yet sharp eyes resting on Chen Zui for a moment.
“Within his aura lingers an exceedingly faint wisp of sword intent.
That sword intent is identical to Liu Yinsheng’s.
I believe that a junior favored by Liu Yinsheng would never be someone of impure character.”
At these words, everyone was stunned once again.
Liu Yinsheng’s sword qi?
Just what was this young man’s background to possess such an extraordinary fortune?
Chen Zui glanced at the old man surnamed Qi with a hint of surprise.
Of the three strands of sword qi Liu Yinsheng had left within him, the one in his right arm had already been expended.
The two strands in his left shoulder and behind his heart still lay dormant.
He had assumed that given his current cultivation, the presence of these two strands of sword qi would not be easily noticed by others.
He had not expected this old man to sense even a lingering wisp of Liu Yinsheng’s sword intent.
“Senior has sharp eyes.”
Chen Zui laid his spear down upon the wagon board, vaulted onto the transport wagon, and took a seat beside the old man.
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