"Chuhe, you've been focused on chess all day and haven't practiced your swordplay yet," Xiao Ruofeng suddenly remarked.
Xiao Chuhe scratched his head. "Alright," he said, standing up reluctantly. He picked up the sword resting beside the table and walked out of the courtyard. He knew Xiao Ruofeng was deliberately sending him away, but he didn’t mind. Their affairs—well, he wasn’t particularly interested in knowing them anyway.
Once Xiao Chuhe had left, Ji Ruofeng sat down across from Xiao Ruofeng. "Sigh, I dedicate myself to the country and its people, yet my disciple calls me a wicked old man."
Xiao Ruofeng chuckled and poured Ji Ruofeng a cup of tea. "Those Sword Immortals were all summoned by you in the first place."
"Ah, I merely invited them to observe a duel. Who could have predicted the sudden upheaval in Sihuai City?" Ji Ruofeng spread his hands. "I truly knew nothing about it."
"You clearly anticipated it. The Crown Prince would seize this opportunity to take full control of Peerless City. So you deliberately lured those Sword Immortals there to stir up trouble." Xiao Ruofeng blew on the steam rising from his tea. "This time, who did you send?"
"Your Highness jests. The most crucial figure this time is the one I dispatched myself," Ji Ruofeng replied with a faint smile.
Xiao Ruofeng raised an eyebrow slightly. "Zhuo Yuean?"
"Su Muyu," Ji Ruofeng corrected.
Xiao Ruofeng laughed. "Your tone grows ever more audacious. Does Dark River now answer to the Hall of Know-All?"
"All things in this world are interconnected," Ji Ruofeng declared proudly. "And I am the wind—omnipresent."
Sihuai City.
Longevity Sect.
Su Changhe flicked his wrist, tossing the dagger with a chipped blade onto the ground. "First time fighting someone wielding an axe..."
Dian Ye gripped his golden axe, breathing heavily. "The Dark River Grand Master lives up to his reputation."
"We in Dark River specialize in stabbing people in the back," Su Changhe said, licking his lips. "In a fair, head-on fight like this, we’re at a disadvantage."
Bai Hehuai rubbed the Silver Needles hidden in his sleeve, puzzled by Su Changhe’s antics. During the earlier skirmish, it was obvious he hadn’t gone all out.
Su Zhe leisurely puffed on his pipe, listening to the neighing of horses outside the courtyard, the Golden Rings on his Buddhist staff jingling softly.
Su Muyu suddenly lifted his head, gazing at the southeastern sky. "A sword approaches."
"Oh? Whose sword?" Su Changhe asked.
"A blade long sealed in dust, now yearning to break free into the light," Su Muyu murmured, bending slightly as his hand rested on his sword hilt.
In the distance, Jian Wudi quickened his pace toward Longevity Sect. Haoyue Jun gradually fell behind, calling out anxiously, "Sword Master, slow down!"
But Jian Wudi paid him no heed. His pupils had already turned crimson, and the swords at his waist seemed eager to leap from their scabbards.
"Sword Master!" Haoyue Jun shouted again, only to feel an unseen force yank him downward. "Who’s there?" he barked.
"Get down here!" A sharp command rang out, and Haoyue Jun was forcibly dragged into an inn below. The moment he landed inside the room, an involuntary shiver ran through him. Despite it being the height of summer, where a few steps outside would drench one in sweat, the interior felt like the depths of winter—freezing to the bone."Who?" Haoyue Jun hastily drew his weapon and looked up to see a swordsman wearing a bamboo hat sitting before him. Beside him lay a long sword, from which the extreme cold permeating the room emanated. Haoyue Jun suddenly understood—this person had used frigid Sword Qi to forcibly condense the air in the room, thereby blocking the spread of the Flower Poison. Such powerful icy Sword Qi—how many in the world could achieve this?
Among the Five Great Eunuchs, the Fragrance-Stewarding Eunuch Jinxian, known as the "Blizzard Sword," should be capable. But he was of noble status and far away in Tianqi; there was no reason for him to be here.
That left only one other...
Haoyue Jun froze, recalling Jian Wudi's earlier words. He inwardly laughed bitterly—could his luck really be this bad? Although the Lone Sword Immortal was ranked first among the Five Great Sword Immortals, he would rather face him than the man before him now...
"Why aren't you poisoned?" The swordsman's voice was oddly distorted, as if deliberately masking his true tone with some technique.
Haoyue Jun hesitated. "I... I don't know either."
"Because you're working with the poisoner," the swordsman continued. "Hand over the antidote."
"This..." Haoyue Jun hastily retreated. "I don't have it!"
"Then die!" The swordsman flicked his hand, and a strand of Sword Qi shot out, slowly solidifying into a sharp blade pressed against Haoyue Jun's chest.
Haoyue Jun collapsed onto the ground in fright. He wasn't a coward, but he knew—when this man said "die," he meant it without hesitation.
Inside the Longevity Sect.
Su Muyu turned slightly, frowning. "She's here?"
Su Zhe exhaled a puff of smoke. "Then things just got interesting. But there's no time to dwell on that—the sword you've been waiting for has arrived."
"If Song Yanhuai won't come, then let this battle suffice!" Su Changhe declared loudly before tossing aside his dagger and slapping his palm onto Dian Ye's golden axe.
Dian Ye's hand trembled violently, the golden axe nearly slipping from his grip. He quickly retreated, swinging the axe heavily to carve a deep trench in the ground, blocking Su Changhe's advance.
Su Changhe had no intention of pursuing further. Withdrawing his palm, he chuckled. "General Dian, enough of these dull games. No need to hold back now."
Dian Ye's expression darkened. The golden axe in his hand gradually turned a dull bronze as True Qi surged through his body, faint thunder rumbling from the hilt.
"Good. This will be my first duel with a true master of the military arts." Su Changhe raised an eyebrow. "Your inner energy should be perfect nourishment for my Yama Palm."
"There's no time to waste here." Luo Yandie glanced outside the courtyard. "Send the Flying Tiger Twenty-Six Riders in now!"
But a shadow flitted past him, stepping outside the Longevity Sect.
It was Su Zhe.
He stowed his smoking pipe and then slammed his Buddhist staff into the ground. "Come, let's see what the Twenty-Six Riders—who crushed an army of three thousand—are truly capable of!"
At that moment, Jian Wudi arrived.
Without pause or question, his gaze locked onto Su Muyu inside the house.
This was the sword he sought.
Such was the understanding between swordsmen!
The long sword at Jian Wudi's waist unsheathed itself. Gripping the hilt, he descended from the sky.A sword slashed towards Su Muyu.
"Good timing!" Su Muyu drew his sword to meet the attack.
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