He stroked his newly grown beard and said indifferently, "There are too many from the aristocratic families, intimidating temporarily but not for a lifetime."
"I am still too mild."
Yan Daiqing shivered with a chill.
He did not know what capabilities Wen He, mentioned by two geniuses of the Academy, truly had, but felt that a great talent from the Academy would undertake any task without psychological burdens.
If Wen He were to come, he would be more ruthless.
This Wen He seemed to have protected the moral baseline of all the great talents from the Academy.
He immediately wrote a letter to inform Li Guanyi of the situation here, and Li Guanyi’s response was affirmative. The Qilin Army had been stationed for a long time. Finally, during a meeting with Emperor Ying Jiang Wanxiang, Li Guanyi decided to step back and planned to enter the Central State via the water route.
Sword Madman Murong Longtu was teaching Li Guanyi martial arts.
The news spread throughout the Martial World, Murong Longtu’s sword not only broke the invincible body of the first grandmaster, Jiang Su, but also shattered a bigger issue— that a purely dedicated martial artist could step into the realm above grandmasters just by focusing on martial arts and swordsmanship.
In a small city in Ying Country.
The fishing Bai turned into a traveling merchant Bai.
Even though Sword Madman left a formidable aura in that sword, Bai Yuanfu dared not gamble. The hearts of the people in the Martial World were fickle; ever since three hundred years ago when Duke Chen and Duke Ying were crowned kings, people seldom talked about rules.
It was all about winning by strength.
He even took out the signboard of his school, sold it for money to cover expenses, and only brought along that mystical weapon and Bai Mao’er; the old man knew that with the signboard, he couldn’t protect himself, and It might end up being stolen along with the mystical weapon, leading to the complete dissolution of his school.
Yet, by keeping Bai Mao’er and the sword, the day Bai Mao’er understood the Sword Intent hidden in the mystical weapon, the signboard, even if not physically present, would still exist in essence.
One day, they went to a small city, and Bai Yuanfu was driving a donkey cart, the little fellow sitting on some weeds at the back of the cart, holding a straight, smooth stick, striking the plants on both sides.
The weeds were swiftly chopped off.
Bai Yuanfu watched and laughed, took a sip of water; he also wanted to drink some wine, but he had to save the little money he had saved up when he suddenly heard noisy sounds nearby as many martial artists gathered beneath a building, clamoring loudly.
Bai Mao’er asked, "Grandpa, grandpa, are those swordsmen over there?"
Bai Yuanfu curled his lip and said:
"Swordsmen, perhaps, with all this clamor..."
"What is there to clamor about?"
As the donkey cart passed by, Bai Yuanfu saw a resolute swordsman take out a list and post it; it was The World’s First Building’s rankings. Bai Yuanfu had memorized all the names of the swordsmen in the grandmaster rankings from the Martial World, but today, he noticed that the person who was first was no longer Sword Madman.
It was the second grandmaster who had moved up.
Bai Yuanfu was stunned, scanning briefly.
A new name had appeared in the middle of the grandmaster ranking list.
[Great Chen · Qiongqi Blood King · Chen Chengbi]
Bai Yuanfu muttered, "What a name, it gets worse every time."
"Even Mad King from decades ago sounded better. Mad King was just a bit insane, but Blood King sounds like something from an evil sect."
"But where is Sword Madman? Even if the World’s Number One Grandmaster slid down, he shouldn’t just disappear from the grandmaster rankings, right?"
Other martial artists were also clamoring, asking about the whereabouts of Sword Madman.
The resolute swordsman held his hands in salute, took out a golden scroll, and placed it above the top ten grandmasters’ list. Bai Yuanfu widened his eyes, staring at the row of text, then suddenly burst into loud laughter.
The old man laughed heartily.
Feeling generous, he took out some money to buy a pot of wine.
A pot of Jiangnan’s a branch of spring, then he tilted his head back to drink; with just one sip, he was deeply inebriated, lying on the donkey cart with a complex expression on his face, unsure whether crying or laughing, but all the emotions eventually blended into the wine and he swallowed them all.
"I hate you intensely, yet, I also respect you..."
Hate you for halting the Sword Dao for 60 years.
Yet, I also respect you for paving a path for my peers in the Martial World!
Martial artists, not inferior to All Schools!
Sword Madman, Murong Longtu, defeated the World’s Number One Divine General, Jiang Su.
Honored on The World’s First Building.