Ch. 33
Chapter 33: Sword-Wielders Seek Neither Fame nor Gain; To Hear the Sword Dao Is to Die Without Regret!
Cheng Yu led his men away.
The man who remained where he stood heard the final sentence Cheng Yu had left behind and froze on the spot.
But he quickly smiled and shook his head.
No matter how gifted Cheng Yu was, he was still only a Third Rank martial artist. Even if he were a talented scion of some great clan, there was absolutely no way he could have seen through his concealment.
With a casual wave of his hand, the human-skin mask on his face vanished and was replaced by a silver mask.
He glanced toward the upper floor of a tall and luxurious tavern not far away.
The man moved his foot, and in an instant, he disappeared from where he stood, leaving behind only a faint swirl of dust.
Inside the tavern, Zhao Yi withdrew his satisfied gaze from the window and lifted his wine, draining it in one gulp.
He had barely set down the cup when the masked man appeared before him.
“Mr. Zhao, your Young Master Yu truly is extraordinary for his age. I am sincerely impressed!”
“I saw it all.”
Zhao Yi stroked his white beard.
From the moment Cheng Yu had entered the Hundred-Household Office carrying that severed head, he had already been quietly observing him.
His grandson’s bearing—neither humble nor overbearing, decisive and fierce in action—was far more pleasing to the eye than those hypocrites of the Jianghu who spoke of great principles with refined and scholarly airs.
He carried no small trace of Zhao Yi’s own youthful bearing, when he had feared nothing and looked down upon the world.
Zhao Yi was extremely pleased, and he said calmly, “You rascal, all you had to do was hand the thing over to him. Why go out of your way to change your face? Sooner or later, you were going to meet and get acquainted anyway.”
“Well, now you’ve done it. My grandson noticed that there was something off about you.”
The masked man was taken aback and remembered the sentence Cheng Yu had spoken before leaving.
He shook his head with a smile and picked up a cup of wine.
“If an ordinary nobody like me delivered a Tiger Tally to Young Master Yu and he didn’t find that strange, that would have been the real problem.”
He did not think there was anything wrong with his disguise.
“Not so.”
Zhao Yi’s gaze deepened.
“He not only saw that you were disguised, he also realized you were an expert. Instinctively, he rested his hand on his saber and grew wary, staring fixedly at the center of your right palm.”
“How is that possible?!”
The masked man was instantly shocked. The right hand holding his cup froze in place.
The center of his right palm was the critical point of his entire martial art. Guard against that spot, and more than half his strength would be neutralized.
Even if a Third Rank martial artist could kill a Fourth Rank one, his horizons should still be limited.
How could he possibly have seen even that?
Zhao Yi shook his head and sighed with emotion.
“Do not underestimate the heroes of this world! My grandson came from humble beginnings, yet he has reached this point. Long ago, he ceased to be someone who could be measured by ordinary standards.”
He looked in the direction of the Hundred-Household Office.
“Those of the Jianghu and the imperial court always love to judge by birth. They preach the hollow rules laid down by those in power, treat them as sacred law, and even demand that others live by them.”
“Once they repeat those lies long enough, they not only mislead others—they deceive themselves as well, until they truly believe those rotten rules are the righteous path.”
“They forget that the only thing that can truly bring power is the power in one’s own hands.”
“My grandson possesses peerless talent and acts with decisive resolve. Most precious of all, he has seen through the Jianghu. In the future, he will surely stir up tremendous storms.”
The masked man sat off to the side.
Listening to Zhao Yi speak so grandly, he could no longer sit still.
It seemed that Mr. Zhao’s feelings toward this grandson of his were far more than merely fulfilling his daughter’s request to keep an eye on him!
He was clearly placing enormous hopes upon him.
The hopes of a supreme expert’s legacy!
Zhao Yi glanced at him with a smile and did not bother hiding it.
“Yu’er is a flood dragon that cannot be bound. What lies in his heart is the entire Jianghu.”
“Those sanctimonious creatures have blocked his road, and they will never let him off either. Since I am his grandfather, I must help him with everything I have.”
Help him with everything he had?
The masked man stared at Zhao Yi in shock.
A Ninth Rank powerhouse of the Heaven Ranking, once a Grandmaster, the Grand Secretary whose position carried enormous weight in the Great Qian court—
And he intended to throw his full support behind a mere Third Rank martial artist.
Cheng Yu’s future was bound to soar straight into the heavens.
...
The next day, Cheng Yu led a group of Jinyiwei officers, fully equipped and ready to depart from the relay station in Hongxi County.
Since the prefectural troops of Qingjiang Prefecture could be brought in as support, there was no longer any need to rush through the night to Hongxi County and launch a surprise attack on Leaf Blade Mountain.
So he had rested and reorganized for the night.
Compared with something incidental like taking revenge, what he valued more was thoroughly confiscating the industries of one of the three great sects of Qingjiang Prefecture, then uprooting the other two sects as well and cowing the entire Jianghu of Qingjiang Prefecture.
Anyone who dared raise a hand against the Jinyiwei had to be prepared for their homes to be raided and their sects to be exterminated.
And more importantly—
He felt that he was very close to the Fourth Rank.
Just as Cheng Yu led the Jinyiwei out of the relay station and was preparing to meet up with the stationed prefectural troops, a figure carrying a weapon on his back blocked the entrance.
The Jinyiwei had just begun to draw their sabers when the newcomer dropped to his knees before Cheng Yu.
“I pay my respects to Lord Cheng! I beg you, my lord, accept me as your disciple!”
Cheng Yu looked at the man in puzzlement, then suddenly recalled something.
Yesterday, when he had killed Zheng Ping, the sword qi of the Demon-Slaying Sword had burst outward. In his memory, this man had been the only person present who had not shut his eyes and fallen to his knees.
He definitely had some ability.
But the strange thing was that the man showed no inner force at all. This was not concealment like that of the man who had delivered the Tiger Tally yesterday. He genuinely had no inner force anywhere in his body.
Inner force was the root of a martial artist.
Yet despite possessing none, this man gave Cheng Yu a sense of danger.
“Who are you?”
“This humble one is Liu Xiong! I beg you, my lord, accept me as your disciple!”
Liu Xiong kowtowed excitedly, his eyes blazing with fanatic fervor.
“Get up first. I’m one of the Jinyiwei. Why would you want to follow me? And why should I accept you?”
At Cheng Yu’s question, the Jinyiwei beside him burst into laughter as well.
A nobody without even a trace of inner force thought that kneeling and kowtowing would make him Senior Banner Captain Cheng’s disciple?
What wishful thinking!
By now, they already knew that Cheng Yu had killed Zheng Ping. In all Qingjiang Prefecture, who still dared claim they were not afraid of their lord?
After being told to stand, Liu Xiong still kept his head lowered and bowed deeply again.
“From my lord, I glimpsed the true meaning of the Sword Dao. I was shaken to the core. I ask only to serve my lord for the rest of my life—to pour tea, fetch water, and attend to you!”
“We sword-wielders do not seek fame or gain. To hear the Sword Dao, even death would leave no regrets!”
The true meaning of the Sword Dao?
Cheng Yu had not expected Liu Xiong to say such a thing.
From the True Martial Dao Canon he had obtained, one crucial portion was the inheritance of the Dao of Weapons.
With the divine weapon Demon-Slaying Sword in hand, his attainments in the Sword Dao had already reached an extremely high realm.
To say that Cheng Yu was the person in the entire world closest to the supreme realm of the Sword Dao would not be an exaggeration.
As a sword cultivator, Liu Xiong’s reason for coming to apprentice himself to Cheng Yu was reasonable enough.
Even so, Cheng Yu still shook his head.
“Why should I accept you?”
Seeing that Cheng Yu was no longer doubting the sincerity of his desire to become a disciple, Liu Xiong hurriedly said in excitement,
“I have some slight understanding of the Sword Dao. I can fight enemies, guard your side, serve you, run errands, and do chores! If my lord commands me to die, I will not hesitate!”
“I can swear all of this by a Sword Oath! If I violate it, let both man and sword perish!”
The moment he heard the words Sword Oath, Cheng Yu’s eyes lit up.
A mysterious force surfaced in his memory.
The Sword Bearers.
Untainted by worldly rank and hierarchy, they were an organization formed by people who pursued only the Sword Dao.
Every member was an idealist willing to throw everything away in pursuit of the Sword Dao.
Their overly loose structure had prevented the Sword Bearers from ever standing at the forefront of the Jianghu.
And yet among them, there was no lack of truly formidable experts.
They did not cultivate inner force. Instead, they fought using sword force alone.
There had once even been rumors that the leader of the Sword Bearers was a Grandmaster above the Ninth Rank.
“The True Martial inheritance governs the Great Dao of Arms, and I possess the Demon-Slaying Sword. Am I not exactly the future of the Sword Dao they seek?”
Cheng Yu pondered inwardly.
Then he said, “I am one of the Jinyiwei. If you follow me, there is a very good chance you will become the enemy of the Jianghu and suffer calamities for no reason.”
Liu Xiong shook his head without the least concern.
“If anyone dares oppose my lord, I will kill them!”
The instant his words fell, a sharp sword intent swept out from his body.
The cotton cloth wrapped around the sword on his back was instantly torn apart, revealing a cold and chilling longsword.
Cheng Yu nodded in delight.
The Sword Bearers did not cultivate inner force, but sword qi instead, and Liu Xiong’s sword qi was by no means weak.
When fully unleashed, the strength he displayed surpassed even Zheng Ping after using the Tianji Talisman.
His power was comparable to that of a late Fifth Rank martial artist!
Gaining such support would be of tremendous benefit to Cheng Yu.
Liu Xiong knelt on the ground, removed the longsword from his back, and offered it up with both hands, utterly sincere.
“My lord, please accept me!”
Offering the sword!
This was the greatest rite among the Sword Bearers.
The sword was their life. To offer one’s sword to another was to place one’s life in that person’s hands!
At this point, Cheng Yu was not some stubborn fool. Being able to gain such an aide was undeniably a good thing.
He nodded and reached out to seize the sword.
It was a fine sword, close to the Human Rank.
Hum!
A clear cry rang out at once.
A fierce sword qi erupted from the blade.
【Ding!】
【The host has accepted a disciple and passed down the Sword Dao. True Martial Dao Canon: the “Sword” of the Dao of Weapons has been activated!】
【Reward: Sword Immortal-level Sword Dao comprehension!】
【When using the Demon-Slaying Sword (Broken), consumption is reduced!】