“No sword in this world dares to attack me. Not even a famed sword would dare to do so!”
Rao Yinyin laid frozen amidst the collapsed ruins when she heard those conceited words. She tried to struggle to her feet. But after such an attack from the masked man, she was no match for the sword energy still lingering in her body.
“Who is he? Judging from how powerful his sword energy is, he is probably more powerful than Elder Xiao,” she muttered to herself.
She did not know that Xiao Qixiu could not even handle the first strike from the masked man.
Xiao Qixiu did not want anyone to spread the news that the masked man defeated him with a single blow.
Rao Yinyin watched as the masked man walked out of the house and into the field of flowers. She struggled desperately to get to her feet. However, she ended up spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Partially buried under brick and mortar, she stubbornly struggled, but she was losing consciousness. Finally, her hands fell limply to her side and she descended into darkness.
“Sister Su…” she called out weakly.
“Run!”
… …
“Child, this sword has brought you much pain, has it not?”
The masked man kneeled before Su Qianqian. He tried to sound gentle when he spoke.
“Children your age should demand the attention and love of your parents. A child like you should not be running around with such a tremendous responsibility. The attempted assassinations must have put you through an endless journey of restless nights and tasteless meals.”
Come, let me take your pain away. I will bear it in your stead.”
The masked man placed his hand over Epitaph of City Snow. Su Qianqian clenched her jaw and clutched the sword tightly with a stubborn look on her face.
But a single flick of a finger against her wrist swiftly released the sword from the young woman.
“Epitaph of City Snow…” murmured the masked man as he brushed his fingers against the massive snow-white blade.
When Xu Xiaoshou once touched it, the telepathic artifact had flung itself into its master’s arms with an endearing arrogance. Yet, when held by the masked man, it dared not move a single inch.
CLINK!
The masked man flicked his finger against the blade. The clear ringing of the sword reverberated across the Inner Yard.
Every disciple hiding in their residence felt their hair stand on ends. An unbearable sensation akin to the pain of a sharp blade slicing through their souls surged through their bodies.
“A famed sword indeed. Finally, the real deal and not a fake one!”
The masked man whispered in a tone of approval before he dipped his head and continued, “I will be honest with you. I went to Tiansang Prefecture and paid a visit to the Su family.”
Su Qianqian’s eyes opened wide as soon as she heard him. Instinctively sensing danger in his words, a shudder coursed through her body.
“What did you do to my grandfather?” she asked as she whipped her head up, revealing eyes burning with uncontrollable rage.
“Did your family not speak to you about this?”
The masked man asked curiously. He studied the furious look in her eyes before placing his palm on her head with a smile.
“Your grandfather may be dead.”
WHOOSH!
A wintry wind swept across the night sky. The field of flowers swayed with the wind, but everything else seemed to be at a complete standstill.
Su Qianqian’s eyes flashed as her fingers sank into the earth.
The sword energy rampantly raging inside her flared up, and she shot to her feet.
BOOM!
The explosion of Sword Will pushed the masked man back and sent him staggering.
The seeds of the Crimson Dream Flower flooded the Heavens and burst into dust in the air. An abundance of sword energies gushed out of Su Qianqian’s body as her black hair tussled around like a powerful gust of wind was blowing.
“So, you are at the final-stage Innate Level Sword Will.”
The masked man finally saw what he had wanted to see, and he seemed a little disappointed.
“It is not enough. It is simply not enough.”
If that is all you are capable of, you can never harm me. You cannot hurt me at all.”
“I can kill you right now!” shouted Su Qianqian. She was so furious that she had slipped into a state of madness. The masked man’s verbal assault made her lose all her sense of reasoning.
With a flick of her hand, she beckoned Epitaph of City Snow. The sword instantly vibrated and tried to free itself from the masked man’s hold.
But a swift glance from the masked man immediately quietened down the sword.
“Kill him!” Su Qianqian ordered.
Her sword did not return to her. Yet Su Qianqian showed no hint of fear. Sword energy gathered above her head, weaving itself into an enormous white sword that slashed at the masked man.
“Your sword energy has materialized…”
His faint smile, hidden beneath a layer of black cloth, went unnoticed as he stuck two fingers out and countered the powerful attack effortlessly.
BOOM!
The ease with which the masked man had defended against the blow belied the force of the collision. Its powerful impact was unmistakable. The thunderous explosion shattered the array which protected the residence and destroyed the field of red flowers, leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake.
Under the bright spill of moonlight, the masked man blocked the enormous blade woven from sword energy with one hand. He gazed downward at the much smaller Su Qianqian and stared straight into her reddened eyes.
A soft laugh shattered the silence, its echo lingering in the quiet night.
“Your grandfather was not the only one. Those uncles and aunts of yours who dared attack me. Many of them probably did not survive.”
Naturally, it is a Swordsman’s honor to die by my hand.”
The masked man said that as if it were the unquestionable truth. His casual tone merely drove Su Qianqian into greater fury.
She could live with the many attempted assassinations taken on her life. She would not shed a tear if anyone of them succeeded in the end.
To keep her family away from danger, she had left the Su family a few years ago. She hid at the Tiansang Spirit Palace in what had seemed like a safe place.
She had not even dared to take one step out of the Tiansang Spirit Palace’s gates. She had lost her freedom, and yet all that she had done had been futile.
“I am the one with the famed sword, not them. Why did you hurt my family?” Su Qianqian wailed as tears filled her eyes.
The masked man looked at her quietly before he slowly answered, “What a naive girl you are!”
You better learn that the world does not revolve around you or your wishes. Just because you think something should unfold in a certain way does not mean that destiny will make it so.”
I was not the only one paying visits to the Su family every day. The visitors visiting your family were not any fewer than the ones visiting you at the Spirit Palace. Frankly, your family might have received more visitors than you did.”
After all, it was a much easier place to get into.”
Su Qianqian did not understand it at all. She yelled hoarsely, “But I am the one who has the famed sword!”
The masked man curled his hand inward slightly, then flicked it. The enormous sword woven from her sword energy instantly disintegrated. He placed his palm on Su Qianqian’s head again.
“Child, you must know this. Many in this world still love you and whose love goes unnoticed.”
Even I got deceived by quite a few fake famed swords. I even got a few from the Su family and a few from various places scattered across the Tiansang Prefecture.”
Gripped by emotions, Su Qianqian could not stop the rage from shaking her slender body, and she finally collapsed limply onto the ground.
“It is not true. It cannot be true. No one told me anything.”
Despite the tough facade that she had always put up, she was just a young girl who was barely sixteen. She was not even of age.
Many loved ones had sheltered her under their wings. With hardly any knowledge of the harsh realities of the world, the young girl understood little.
The masked man shook his head. His expression remained calm.
He had merely laid out what had been plain facts. Perhaps for the young woman before him, the truth was too cruel. It might be harsh to bear, but it was the reality of their world after one stripped off all pretense and lies.
“Sometimes, there is no need for words of love.”
“No. It is not true!” Su Qianqian clambered backward as she trembled violently. She could not accept it… Then her muttering stopped.
“You are lying! That’s right. You are trying to trick me!”
Her eyes widened as she stared unblinkingly at the man before her.
He was the enemy. She should not trust his words.
Hate swelled inside her and flooded her mind. The sword energies that had been coursing through her body had caused unbearable pain. Suddenly, the sword energies stayed still and then surged out of her body as if summoned.
Simultaneously, sword energies erupted from the seeds of Crimson Dream Flowers, which were adrift in the air. Meanwhile, white sword energies formed illusory swords in the sky and pointed their blade tips at the masked man.
Ten thousand blades waited in unison for the command to strike!
Su Qianqian had no blade in her hand. But it did not stop the piercing cry of a sword from reverberating across the entire Tiansang Spirit Palace and resounding through the mountain.
CLANG!
Regardless of where they were in the Spirit Palace, the sword of every Swordsman suddenly heeded their master’s beckon in unison.
“All Swords to the Master?”