Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Jiang Ran, however, didn’t make a move just yet.

He was sitting at a table in the tavern, gently swirling his wine gourd and clutching a feathered arrow in his hand...

Just as he was lost in thought, a loud CRASH echoed out. The tavern’s roof was pierced through, and a figure dropped down, followed by a silvery flash of light that seemed to fall from the highest heavens.

The blade’s light aimed straight for Jiang Ran’s head.

Without so much as a glance, Jiang Ran flicked his wrist, and the feathered arrow in his hand shot out.

With a PFFT, it pierced the man’s throat. The arrow’s momentum carried the body with it, pinning it to the wall with a solid THUD.

And in that brief instant, several more figures descended from the sky.

A steel trident plunged down. Jiang Ran spun out of the way, and the trident instantly pierced through the tabletop.

Jiang Ran’s finger descended, tapping directly between the man’s eyebrows.

PFFT!

A spray of blood shot out from the back of the man’s head, and his body collapsed to the ground, motionless.

He lashed out with another kick, batting away an oncoming longsword. Following the momentum, his foot landed on his opponent’s chest. With a surge of power, he stomped the man to the ground.

With a CRACK, his foot caved in the man’s chest, leaving a deep indentation.

Blood streamed from the man’s seven orifices.

Planting his foot, he leaped backward into the air. A saber and a sword scraped past just beneath his feet. While still upside down, Jiang Ran casually threw out two palm strikes, which landed squarely on the heads of the two attackers.

BAM! BAM! Jiang Ran had channeled his Barbaric Dragon Strength.

The absurdly tyrannical force drove their heads directly into their chest cavities.

From the moment these five men entered the tavern until now, only a few breaths had passed, and all of them had been killed on the spot by Jiang Ran, each with a single move.

Jiang Ran landed gracefully back on the table, raised his wine gourd, and took a drink.

’Why hasn’t that archer fired yet?’

The moment the thought arose, he heard the sound of something slicing through the air.

The same arrow that had previously cracked his Gang Qi reappeared.

Jiang Ran looked up, but then he froze.

This time, the arrow wasn’t aimed at him.

Instead, it was pointed at a seemingly unremarkable man in the crowd outside.

Just as Jiang Ran’s gaze fell upon this person, the man himself seemed to realize something was wrong.

He whipped his head around, spread his hands, and with a low hum, an invisible barrier of Gang Qi instantly unfurled.

BZZZZZ!!!

The arrow, slicing through the air, was blocked by the Gang Qi. For a moment, the immense force pushed the man back relentlessly.

He had been standing in the crowd, and as he was forced back, he slammed into numerous Assassins behind him, sending them flying. For a moment, the air was filled with an endless stream of muffled grunts and miserable cries.

Startled by this sudden turn of events, the actor, the woodcutter, and the courtesan all halted their attacks and retreated.

They turned to look, their expressions changing drastically.

"It’s the Moon Chasing Arrow! Has ’Life Taker’ gone mad? How dare he attack Lord Greed Poison?"

"Greed Poison?"

Hearing them, Jiang Ran realized that this unremarkable-looking man was actually Greed Poison!?

He looked up toward the distant direction from which the Moon Chasing Arrow had flown, lost in thought for a moment.

At that moment, Greed Poison tapped a single foot on the ground.

A deafening BOOM echoed out.

The power of that single stomp was truly extraordinary. It instantly spread out in a two-zhang radius, kicking up dust and sand. The force even shattered the corner of a nearby house.

Greed Poison’s outstretched hands shifted their posture, and the force attached to the Moon Chasing Arrow rapidly weakened.

In the blink of an eye, it had dissipated without a trace.

At the same time, a murderous glint flashed in Greed Poison’s eyes.

With a mere thought, there was a WHOOSH, and the feathered arrow suddenly reversed its direction.

The next moment, he pushed with both palms.

BZZZZZ!!!

The feathered arrow shot away, its power now identical to the Moon Chasing Arrow when it was first fired!

Just then, another feathered arrow arrived from the sky.

The two collided violently in midair.

The two forces instantly exploded outward. With two sharp SNAPS, both feathered arrows broke and fell to the ground.

"You’re courting death!!"

Greed Poison’s face was grim. He took a step, intending to kill the traitor first.

But his body stopped in an instant.

He looked back toward the tavern. Jiang Ran, at some unknown point, had already appeared at the entrance.

He spoke with a smile:

"Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt... So you’re the head of the Five Poisons.

"You were hiding in the crowd just now, planning to kill me? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Greed Poison’s gaze was cold, but then he broke into a grin.

"You’re not wrong. I came here today precisely to take your life.

"I just didn’t expect a traitor to be in our midst.

"So, I’ll put a pin in taking your life for now. After I’ve executed the rebel, I’ll be back to take your head."

Having said his piece, he tapped his foot, about to fly away.

But he had barely leaped half a foot into the air when his expression changed abruptly. He suddenly pushed out with both palms, unleashing a powerful force that sent him flying backward.

An invisible blade grazed past his nose and, with a PFFT, sliced into a nearby residence.

It left a deep gash on the wall.

The gash spread, nearly splitting the entire house in two.

If Greed Poison had been just half an inch further forward, he would have been killed on the spot.

Greed Poison’s expression shifted slightly. He felt an icy coldness on the tip of his nose. When he reached up to touch it, a bone-piercing pain shot through him.

He glanced down to see it dripping with blood.

The very tip of his nose had been sliced off by Jiang Ran’s blade.

He flew into a rage instantly.

"Can’t even wait for nightfall to die, huh? Since you’re in such a rush, I’ll kill you first, then go after the traitor!!"

With that, he tapped his foot, and his figure instantly blurred past the other people, arriving right in front of Jiang Ran.

A single palm struck straight for Jiang Ran’s heart.

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow slightly. He found this a bit strange.