At the entrance of the Yao Mansion, Li Xingtuo walked out, sword in hand, just as a doorman was frantically turning to rush inside and make a report.
The doorman stared at him, utterly bewildered. He had only gone in for a moment and was already coming back out.
Li Xingtuo, however, gave the man a warm nod, walked past the gates, glanced in a certain direction, and with a single step, vanished from Jinling City.
The passersby on the street watched as Li Xingtuo entered the Yao Mansion, only to emerge an instant later. He left behind nothing but an afterimage that slowly dissipated, his true form vanishing without a trace. After a moment, the onlookers exchanged baffled glances.
Just an instant later, a deafening uproar erupted from within the Yao Mansion. The clamor of utter chaos spilled into the street, followed by a throng of expert guards and retainers surging out in valiant pursuit. But where could they possibly find a trace of Li Xingtuo?
Of course, they knew this themselves. Otherwise, they would never have been so courageous.
And so, within the hour, news spread throughout Jinling Prefecture. Li Xingtuo, Sect Leader of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect, had barged into the Yao family’s estate. He had injured their Patriarch, Yao Yuzhi, even after he wielded their clan’s Divine Weapon. It was as if he had walked into an undefended courtyard, arriving and departing as swiftly as a fleeting shadow.
However, this was Jinling. And while the gossips were practically bursting with the desire to discuss it, no one dared to speak of the Yao family’s defeat in public. They could only talk about it at length in the privacy of their homes to satisfy their burning urge, and even then, they had to keep their voices down, afraid the walls had ears.
After all, this was the Yao family!
And yet, this was the same Yao family whose ancestral home Li Xingtuo had breached, alone and with a single sword. He had injured Yao Yuzhi in front of everyone, and not even the family’s Divine Weapon had been able to stop him.
The people of Jinling could only exchange meaningful glances on the streets, passing a frustrating day where they couldn’t speak their minds.
The next day, however, this strange silence was completely shattered.
News arrived like the wind: the previous afternoon, Li Xingtuo had suddenly appeared in Yongyang. There, on the banks of the Yong River, he defeated Qian Wubing—the old master of the Qian family, also known as Elder Yongyang, ranked eighth on the Flying Dragon List.
According to rumor, the moment Li Xingtuo saw Qian Wubing, killing intent flared. The two battled from inside the city all the way to the south bank of the Yong River, fighting with such intensity that the river’s waters seemed to flow backward. The old master was only saved when three Grandmasters from the Qian family arrived, bearing their clan’s Divine Weapon.
Elder Yongyang was already advanced in years, and rumors had long circulated that his time was running out. While he had reportedly found a secret longevity formula in recent years and recovered significantly, this encounter had likely shaved off at least another decade from his life.
This news spread throughout Jiangnan overnight, leaving the gossips in Jinling Prefecture utterly stunned.
How vast was the Jiangnan region? Though Yongyang and Jinling were both part of it, they were separated by hundreds of miles.
Li Xingtuo had reached Jinling in the morning and Yongyang by dusk. In just half a day, he had traveled between two cities, defeated the strongest masters of the great Yao and Qian families, and forced both to deploy their clan’s Divine Weapons—all before departing as he pleased.
The magnificence of his swordplay had overshadowed the thousand-year-old aristocratic families of Jiangnan.
It made people recall the last time the great families had all been forced to deploy their Divine Weapons. Wasn’t it during the Rebellion of the Eight Sects, all those years ago?
The patrons in Jinling’s teahouses and taverns could no longer hold back. They didn’t dare speak of the Yao family, but they figured there was no harm in discussing the Qian family.
And in discussing Li Xingtuo’s overwhelming victory against Elder Yongyang, they naturally had to bring up what he’d done that same morning.
In an instant, the names Li Xingtuo and the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect filled every street, alley, teahouse, and tavern. Even the Yao family was powerless to stop it.
Soon, cities and towns all across Jiangnan were recounting his legendary deeds. The prestige of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect soared yet again, and in the hearts of many, its power now seemed to eclipse that of the lowest-ranked of the great families.
In fact, it wasn’t a mere feeling. The Sect Leader of the Sword Sect had swept across Jiangnan; who in those two families could possibly be his rival?
As for why Li Xingtuo had acted this way, the gossips quickly uncovered the reason:
A few days ago, Grandmasters from the Qian and Yao families had forced their way into the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect’s Jinling Villa. They had broken down the gate, caused a huge scene, and, in a blatant act of bullying, injured Li Xingtuo’s head disciple, Qin Zhenyang.
People immediately understood.
When a disciple is bullied, it’s only natural for their master to show up and demand satisfaction. It was perfectly justified, a matter of principle.
However, no one had ever seen someone retaliate so swiftly, so brutally, and with such utter disregard for the great families’ prestige.
To charge from Yunzhou to the families’ lairs within days and force two of them to submit with a single sword...
So this was the true, formidable power of Cloud Mountain.
「Inside the Sword Sect’s villa.」
Li Xingtuo looked at Qin Zhenyang, whose expression was normal and whose Qi and Blood were vigorous. He sighed.
"Eldest Disciple, how did you recover so quickly?"
A vein twitched on Qin Zhenyang’s forehead.
"Master, my apologies. My cultivation is passable. I’m not so fragile."
Li Xingtuo shook his head repeatedly.
"It’s rare that I find an excuse to get out and about. I thought you were intentionally being considerate of your master."
Qin Zhenyang said with a deadpan expression:
"Master, the paperwork doesn’t just disappear because you’re away. It only piles up higher."
Li Xingtuo’s relatively cheerful expression faltered slightly.
"You talk too much! It’s your fault for being as strong as an ox! If your injuries had been more serious, I could have struck a heavier blow."
"Master, it’s not like you showed Qian Wubing any mercy, did you?"
Qin Zhenyang asked.
Li Xingtuo’s expression darkened, and he nodded.
"That old bastard has already fallen to the Demon Dao. If his descendants hadn’t risked their lives to carry him away, I would have slain a demon that day! Your Junior Brother Zhang was right in his investigation. These aristocratic families have started using heretical methods to prolong their lives."
Qin Zhenyang’s expression grew heavy, and he let out a breath.
"And the assassin who killed Steward Wang—Junior Brother Zhang identified him as well. It was the same man from the Qian family he encountered by the Wu River, the one called Mr. Qian. What’s strange, though, is that I’ve gone through all the Qian family’s records and can’t find anyone who matches that identity."
Li Xingtuo frowned slightly.
"Perhaps he’s a rising figure from one of the branch families, someone not yet famous."