Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55: I Said It Before—My Saber Does Not Return to Its Sheath Until It Has Drawn Blood!
Before Sword-Forging Manor.
Something the Jianghu martial artists could not believe no matter what had happened.
The forces of the Great Qian court had brought their troops to this place!
Nearly a hundred figures in Flying Fish Uniforms, Xiuchun Sabers hanging at their waists, came riding forward like specters, their bodies steeped in cold killing intent.
Every last one of them had stepped into the martial ranks.
They were Jinyiwei drawn from all across Dragon Abyss Path, each of them at least Banner Captain rank or above.
All of them cultivated the Jinyiwei art, the Cold Ghost Fiend Saber.
Their similar auras gathered together, forming something profoundly terrifying.
Beside these ranked Jinyiwei stood nearly a thousand Jinyiwei holding crossbows.
The entire Qingjiang Prefecture force of Jinyiwei Battalion Commanders and Strongman Guards had come, all of them equipped with crossbows.
Several hundred among them were even holding exquisitely wrought Profound Cold Heavy Crossbows!
Every crossbow was already cocked, poised to fire.
Further to the rear were a thousand armored soldiers from the various prefectures, holding polearms and standing in neat ranks, awaiting orders.
When those men and horses came to a halt behind Cheng Yu, they practically filled the entire space before Sword-Forging Manor.
The Jianghu martial artists all stared with wide eyes.
With so many men here, what exactly was Cheng Yu trying to do?
He Qin looked deeply at the scene before him, remembered what Cheng Yu had done in Qingjiang Prefecture, and was overcome with fury and shock.
Cheng Yu wanted to raid Sword-Forging Manor!
“What nerve you have!”
He was furious. This was simply not putting Sword-Forging Manor in his eyes at all!
It looked like Cheng Yu had come in overwhelming force, but in truth, there were no true top experts among them. They could not cause any real trouble.
Once Sword-Forging Manor’s Upper Three Ranks experts made a move, then no matter how many troops there were, they would still be nothing but rabble.
But in the very next instant, the scene that truly made him tense appeared.
The larger force split apart and opened a path.
A single figure rode forward. He did not even hold the reins, his arms simply folded before his chest. At his waist hung an imperially bestowed Xiuchun Saber that gleamed with cold light.
Wherever he passed, he gave people the feeling of a frigid evil ghost, enough to make anyone fearful at a glance.
He wore a dark crimson Python Robe, and a golden Jinyiwei waist plaque swung at his belt.
“Hiss!”
The martial artists stretched their necks forward and sucked in sharp breaths.
A golden waist plaque—this was a Jinyiwei expert from the Great Qian Capital!
At the very least, he was a Jinyiwei Assistant Commissioner, an Eighth Rank martial artist!
What was this for?!
Fan Xiu dismounted behind Cheng Yu and stood there proudly, the terrifying aura of his Internal Energy utterly undisguised.
Then, before everyone’s disbelieving eyes, he actually cupped his fists to Cheng Yu in salute before moving to the side.
A dignified Eighth Rank expert was clearly taking orders from Cheng Yu!
Strangely enough, however, Fan Xiu wore an expression that suggested the matter had nothing to do with him.
Only then did the martial artists understand his attitude.
He had come under imperial command, so the responsibility would be pushed onto Cheng Yu.
No one wanted to make an enemy of Sword-Forging Manor.
Only a madman like Cheng Yu would do such a thing!
Cheng Yu did not care about any of that.
Seeing that nearly all the fighting strength on his side had arrived, he finally turned back and looked at He Qin with a faint smile.
“Well, Manor Master He, is my ‘virtue’ enough now? Is it enough for me to seek a weapon?”
“If it still is not enough, that is fine too. There are thirteen prefectures in Dragon Abyss Path, and several thousand more Prefectural Troops besides!”
“What do you mean by that?!”
Hearing this, He Qin clenched his teeth.
He knew perfectly well that Cheng Yu could not possibly mobilize that many more soldiers.
A few more ordinary troops of mediocre strength would not change anything.
But this still conveyed a message.
The Great Qian court was fully capable of dealing with Sword-Forging Manor!
“It means nothing. I only came to seek a saber, but Sword-Forging Manor does not seem very welcoming.”
“So I had no choice but to display a little ‘virtue.’”
This is what he calls virtue?!
He Qin cursed inwardly.
Faced with an Eighth Rank Jinyiwei expert, he could no longer remain as arrogantly dismissive as before.
Although Fan Xiu was not directly responsible for this affair, he certainly would not stand by and watch the Jinyiwei be humiliated.
Suppressing his anger, He Qin said, “If Hundred-Household Commander Cheng wants a saber, my Sword-Forging Manor will naturally not slight you. Let us do this. You all return first, and in a few days, once the weapon is forged, my Sword-Forging Manor will personally deliver it to Qingjiang Prefecture.”
“With so many people here, my Sword-Forging Manor is hardly in a position to receive guests.”
He Qin spoke through gritted teeth.
A grand figure of the Jianghu like him had actually lived to see the day when he had to lower his head to an Imperial Hound of the court!
【Host displays his strength, forces a stronger foe to lower his head, reasserts the prestige of the Jinyiwei, and is rewarded with a Heavenly Fragrance Pill!】
Cheng Yu saw that He Qin had softened, yet he merely shook his head.
“No hurry.”
This time, he had summoned nearly all the Jinyiwei in Dragon Abyss Path who had stepped into the martial ranks, aside from those at Dragon Abyss Prefecture’s Thousand-Household Office, bringing a total of roughly a thousand men.
In addition, with the Tiger Tally given by Zhao Yi, he had mobilized two thousand Prefectural Troops from the various prefectures.
With such overwhelming momentum, his forces had arrived beneath Sword-Forging Manor.
He could not possibly just turn around and go back so casually.
“I have already agreed to forge a weapon for you. What exactly do you mean by this, Hundred-Household Commander Cheng? Do you really think my Sword-Forging Manor is so easy to bully?!”
Seeing that Cheng Yu refused to accept the compromise, He Qin’s anger surged again.
Once he said this, the other Jianghu martial artists also felt the same indignation and united in shared resentment.
Since when could an Imperial Hound of the court ride roughshod over the heads of the Jianghu’s martial artists?
Why was he being so arrogant just because he came to seek a saber?!
“We won’t stand by and do nothing either!”
“You wrong me.”
Cheng Yu smiled and shook his head.
“According to your Jianghu rules of first come, first served, I arrived the latest. Naturally, I have to wait until all of you receive your weapons before it becomes my turn.”
He had already sent Ai Peng to see what exactly lay within Sword-Forging Mountain.
The Dragon Vein was too mysterious and too precious. It was enough to make the Great Qian Emperor dispatch two Eighth Rank experts.
But the testimony of a mere Fifth Rank steward of Sword-Forging Manor was not enough to make them risk their lives to destroy Sword-Forging Manor and offend the Jianghu.
They had to verify it personally.
As long as Cheng Yu kept He Qin and the few others here occupied from the front, no one would be able to stop Ai Peng.
Nor would he keep too close an eye on him, in case Ai Peng saw the profit and let greed stir in his heart.
“My men brought a month’s worth of provisions. After you all finish forging your weapons and leave, I can take my time. There is no rush.”
The moment those words were spoken, He Qin and the others all frowned.
Only now did they fully understand that seeking a saber was nothing but a pretext!
Cheng Yu was forcing their hand!
Because none of them could afford to leave early. If they left, then they would lose their share of the Dragon Vein.
“Enough of this dawdling. My Dragon Whale Island will give up its turn to you.”
A Seventh Rank martial artist, the Dragon Whale Island Master, spoke in displeasure.
Aside from Cheng Zhenjiang’s family, he had been among the earliest to arrive.
Dragon Whale Island lay overseas and was the farthest away.
If things really went the way Cheng Yu said, then with so many people competing for too little, once he left, he would definitely be kicked aside and get no share of the Dragon Vein at all.
“There is no need. Otherwise people may say I do not follow Jianghu rules.”
“And besides, if you are not in a hurry to return home, then why remain here? Could it be that you are planning to do something with a guilty conscience?”
Cheng Yu calmly shook his head and refused.
“You—!”
The Dragon Whale Island Master was enraged, but he could not very well say anything further.
Now everyone understood it clearly.
Cheng Yu was deliberately trying to disgust them.
Whoever left would get no benefit, yet no one was willing to leave!
The leaders of the various factions could only exchange helpless looks.
Only He Qin and Cheng Zhenjiang remained outside this difficulty. The two of them did not need to worry about such a thing.
At one side, Zhao Xichun stood there blankly with Cheng Si in her arms.
No matter what, she still could not believe that this Jinyiwei—utterly fearless even while facing so many experts, and even pressing them step by step—was her own flesh and blood.
After a long while, the most anxious of them all, the Dragon Whale Island Master, finally took the initiative to speak.
“Since you insist on following Jianghu rules of first come, first served, then we will also follow Jianghu rules!”
“I heard you killed Zheng Ping, who ranked one hundred and one on the Human Ranking. Is that true?”
Cheng Yu nodded.
“It is. He dared ambush me, so I sent everyone in his sect, from top to bottom, to a reunion. Why? Are you unhappy about it?”
The entire place was instantly shaken.
A reunion?
Did that not mean he had raided his household and exterminated his sect?!
To speak so lightly of wiping out an entire Jianghu force—he truly was a ruthlessly vicious man.
“You rebellious son!”
Cheng Zhenjiang heard this and was filled with shame and fury, yet there was nothing he could do.
The Dragon Whale Island Master let out a cold snort.
“I do not care about any of that. Since you defeated a prodigy of the Human Ranking, then you possess Human Ranking strength.”
“According to Jianghu rules, a disciple of my Dragon Whale Island may therefore challenge you. You are not permitted to refuse!”
“Zhou Fang, go test him!”
“Yes!”
A disciple of Dragon Whale Island with knotted muscles cupped his fists and stepped forward.
The surrounding martial artists immediately understood the Dragon Whale Island Master’s intent.
Zhou Fang ranked eightieth on the Human Ranking and possessed peak Fourth Rank strength.
He had cultivated Dragon Whale Island’s uniquely inherited High Grade art, Dragon Whale Strength. Once he struck, layer upon layer of hidden force stacked atop one another.
It was the most suitable kind of technique for leaving a man gravely wounded by hidden force without killing him outright.
If Cheng Yu suffered a severe injury, and that Jinyiwei Assistant Commissioner still looked unwilling to get involved, then the Jinyiwei and the soldiers would have no choice but to withdraw, whether they wanted to or not.
“Zhou Fang of Dragon Whale Island requests instruction from Hundred-Household Commander Cheng!”
Cheng Yu looked at the man who had stepped out and calmly shook his head.
“I will not fight. My saber does not return to its sheath until it has drawn blood.”
Zhou Fang assumed Cheng Yu had turned cowardly, and joy surged in his heart.
With a sharp shout, he barked, “Since you insist on Jianghu rules today, then there is absolutely no such thing as refusing a spar!”
Before his words had even fully fallen, he pulled out a pair of short halberds and rushed straight in.
The Internal Energy gathered upon the halberd tips layered and surged like crashing waves.
As long as he struck Cheng Yu, then even if the blow was blocked by a weapon, he could still rely on the hidden force to severely injure him!
If that happened, his name would be made!
Just as delight filled Zhou Fang’s heart, his vision suddenly blurred.
A blade of saber light flashed like a phantom, and thunder roared.
“Zhou Fang!”
The Dragon Whale Island Master and the other experts were all horrified.
By the time Zhou Fang realized what had happened, both the hands that had been holding his short halberds had already been severed.
The wounds were charred and pitch-black.
“My hands!”
Zhou Fang was aghast, resentment surging through him.
Cheng Yu had actually dared cripple both his hands!
Fury and shock exploding together, he opened his mouth, and a tiny poisonous needle hidden beneath his tongue shot out.
Dragon Whale Island’s unique hidden weapon—the Poison Fish Spine!
Anyone below the Upper Three Ranks would die the instant it struck!
“Yu’er!”
“Cheng Yu!”
When the Poison Fish Spine flew toward Cheng Yu, Cheng Zhenjiang, Zhao Xichun, and Fan Xiu were all startled.
What none of them expected was that the poisonous spine slammed straight into Cheng Yu’s chest, yet failed to even pierce his Flying Fish Uniform.
Instead, it dropped to the ground with a crisp clink.
In the next instant, saber light rose again.
Zhou Fang’s head fell to the ground, his face still frozen in disbelief at the failure of the Poison Fish Spine.
Cheng Yu’s gaze was ice-cold.
“I said it before. My saber does not return to its sheath until it has drawn blood!”