A stone table stood beside the courtyard, surrounded by several stone stools.
An elegant young man in green sat to the right of a Go board. Opposite him, a yellow-robed youth held a cup of tea as they played.
A tall, powerfully built man sat astride the stool to the yellow-robed youth’s left. His bright eyes never left the young man, not even for a moment.
The three were Xu Ziqing, Qiu Yuchen, and Qiu Hu.
Five days earlier, the Gale Sword had come looking for trouble and, after taking a pill, attacked with the intent to kill. Yun Tiangang had slain him, bringing Peng Yu’s grandfather, Peng Han, to seek Yun Tiangang’s life.
Xu Ziqing had been about to intervene when the two Xiantian experts who were the reincarnations of Dongli Xi and Jiao Tu suddenly arrived and forcibly stopped the attack.
In the days that followed, the two Xiantian experts visited daily. Qiu Yuchen, in particular, had somehow become rather friendly with Xu Ziqing.
Xu Ziqing sighed inwardly. He had admired Dongli Xi greatly in the past, and naturally felt a little closer to Qiu Yuchen now than he did to most people.
Qiu Yuchen had also shared a slight karmic bond with Xu Ziqing in his previous life, so meeting him again brought a sense of familiarity.
Perhaps because Qiu Yuchen had been born into imperial power in his previous life, his style of Go was bold and sweeping, showing the vision of a man who ruled a country. He placed each stone as though planning a campaign, as if all under Heaven rested in his hands. His imperious bearing sat oddly beside his handsome, elegant features.
But Xu Ziqing had already embarked upon the immortal path and comprehended the Dao of Life, Death and Reincarnation. He could see the fates of both men almost at a glance. How could he be so easily defeated?
After considering the board for a while, Qiu Yuchen put down his stones with a smile. “I concede.”
Xu Ziqing smiled as well. “You let me win.”
Qiu Hu immediately gathered the Go stones for them. Only then did their gazes turn to the courtyard.
There, Yun Tiangang was locked in combat with another man. He shifted his feet, struck the hollow near the opponent’s shoulder with his sword, and won the exchange.
Immediately another challenger stepped forward and cupped his hands. Without allowing Yun Tiangang any time to rest, he shook his long staff and swept it into a technique so dense that it seemed to leave no opening.
Ever since Qiu Yuchen and Qiu Hu had stopped Peng Han, the elder had seen that he could accomplish nothing, flung his sleeves in anger, and departed. He had not appeared again.
But from that day onward, more and more people had come to challenge Yun Tiangang for his courtyard.
Every challenger was an expert of at least the eighth Houtian level. Whatever weapons they used or techniques they practiced, they all relied chiefly on speed. Some possessed extraordinarily strange footwork. They came in succession, taking turns without rest.
Thus Yun Tiangang began fighting around eight in the morning and did not stop until nearly nine at night. Again and again, he stood as straight and solemn as a long sword, never bending.
Today was no exception. Yun Tiangang had already defeated eight opponents, and the Xuanwu Invitations in his possession had accumulated into a staggering number.
Yet dozens of challengers still waited outside the courtyard gate. Many more spectators were gathering too, treating the spectacle as a topic for gossip and a form of entertainment. With so many people watching, Yun Tiangang could not afford the slightest mistake.
By now, betting pools had even sprung up, with people guessing when Yun Tiangang would finally lose.
Qiu Yuchen had watched for a long time and could see how difficult it was. Smiling, he asked, “Ziqing, aren’t you going to intervene?”
Xu Ziqing sighed. “Tiangang has not reached his limit.”
Others might not understand, but Xu Ziqing knew his senior brother very well. When Yun Lie practiced the sword, he focused on it to the exclusion of everything else and could not be disturbed. Yun Tiangang, reborn from the same primordial spirit, was naturally no different.
Besides, although Yun Tiangang was exhausted every day, his body had not truly reached its limit. After ten years of uninterrupted practice, he must already be capable of tens of thousands of sword swings each day.
These challengers were clearly being sent with a purpose. Xu Ziqing did not know whether Peng Han was behind them or whether they were part of another plot by the sect bribed by the Wu’ao Sect. But even if they came with malicious intentions, they were still a form of tempering for his senior brother.
His senior brother defeated opponents with the fastest and most precise sword strikes. If his heels never moved, these bouts were no different from his daily sword exercises. Even when he was forced to dodge, it would not necessarily exhaust him quickly.
That was why Xu Ziqing intended to help him fulfill his desire to temper the sword.
Xu Ziqing thought, When Senior Brother Yun Lie was young, no one taught him. He spent ten years honing his sword, probably through just such relentless effort. Perhaps repeating that experience after his primordial spirit’s rebirth will bring him another insight.
Qiu Yuchen had only been teasing him. With his sharp eyesight, he could understand Yun Tiangang’s intentions and admired him. At the same time, he had grown rather curious about the relationship between Xu Ziqing and Yun Tiangang.
Yun Tiangang was young, yet his swordsmanship was unprecedented and astonishing. Xu Ziqing also appeared barely twenty, but his strength was unfathomable. Neither Qiu Yuchen nor Qiu Hu could see through it, which proved he was above both of them. This was no mere arrogance on their part: across all the countries, no one had ever achieved strength surpassing the sixth Xiantian level by the age of twenty, far beyond the two of them!
If Xu Ziqing had some method of preserving his appearance, he might be considerably older and could even have been Yun Tiangang’s martial teacher. Yet Qiu Yuchen sensed that Xu Ziqing and Yun Tiangang had entirely different auras. Xu Ziqing was certainly not someone who had cultivated swordsmanship to the ultimate level as Yun Tiangang had. Moreover, his attitude toward Yun Tiangang did not resemble an elder’s at all. Instead, Qiu Yuchen detected an unconscious respect… and an extraordinary understanding between them.
Qiu Yuchen believed he shared that kind of understanding with Qiu Hu, for whom he also harbored affection. Could Xu Ziqing’s feelings for Yun Tiangang be the same?
Yun Tiangang was so cold all day that little could be read from his face. It was only clear that he treated Xu Ziqing differently from everyone else.
How could Qiu Yuchen not find the pair intriguing?
Yet he felt an inexplicable respect for Xu Ziqing and did not wish to pry recklessly. Annoying the man and losing such a friend would not be worthwhile.
So Qiu Yuchen said nothing more.
He was just about to turn back to Xu Ziqing when he noticed the man’s expression change.
Qiu Yuchen’s heart stirred. What had happened?
Xu Ziqing quickly composed himself. He had just seen something in his senior brother…
The more Yun Tiangang fought, the stronger the killing aura surrounding him became. The spectators might not perceive it, but Xu Ziqing could see that a strange realm of attainment was gradually forming around his senior brother. If that realm deepened further… it would unquestionably become sword intent!
Sword intent was intangible. It resided in the Purple Palace, bound to the soul and spirit.
Back then, even a wisp of his senior brother’s heavenly soul had been able to repel enemies with sword intent. Later, after forming his Golden Core, his three hun and seven po had transformed into a primordial spirit. Sword intent had then come to reside in that primordial spirit, growing still more condensed, rigid and indestructible. Now that the sword intent was about to reappear, was his senior brother’s primordial spirit finally having its seals gradually loosened by all this sword tempering?
Around nine that evening, Qiu Yuchen and Qiu Hu took their leave, and the challengers had no choice but to depart.
Yun Tiangang stood motionless in the courtyard, not taking even one step.
Xu Ziqing went over and reached out to support him. “Tiangang, are you all right?”
Yun Tiangang replied, “After a short rest, I’ll be fine.”
Xu Ziqing understood his senior brother’s nature and did not forcibly lead him away. He simply stood nearby, keeping him quiet company.
The atmosphere between them was peaceful.
Someone outside secretly peered into the courtyard, then hurried away.
Xu Ziqing swept his spiritual sense over the place, shook his head slightly, and paid it no mind.
Whoever that person served, they posed no threat to him.
The spy moved swiftly and soon reached another courtyard.
The brocade-robed youth and his companions were waiting there. Seeing the spy return, they asked, “Well?”
The man answered, “After several days of consecutive challenges, Yun Tiangang is very exhausted now.”
The brocade-robed youth nodded and waved him away. Only then did he say to the others, “Exactly as I expected.”
His senior fellow disciple in blue spoke. “The young sect master is brilliant. Had you not arranged for the Gale Sword to be provoked, that fool might never have angered Yun Tiangang and lost his life. Instead, we learned Yun Tiangang’s strength with very little trouble and made Elder Peng Han his enemy.”
The others praised him as well. “Indeed! The young sect master’s wisdom commands our admiration!”
The brocade-robed youth smiled. “I merely tried an experiment. It saved us a great deal of work.”
As an inspection elder, Peng Han had many people seeking his favor. How could he fail to avenge his grandson’s death? Even if he could not openly attack Yun Tiangang himself, he could pay the more battle-crazed martial artists to do so. Even if they failed to kill Yun Tiangang, they could exhaust him to death.
This was precisely what the brocade-robed youth wanted.
The information brought back by his senior fellow disciple in blue showed that Yun Tiangang was tremendously capable, but his physical strength was not infinite. Just a few days had already left him tired. If this continued, he would surely reach his limit before the Xuanwu Assembly began.
Competing in such an exhausted body would make mistakes far more likely. If the brocade-robed youth then struck during the assembly, no one would have grounds for complaint.
First borrow someone else’s blade to kill, then conceal the killing within the assembly’s rules. Who could find any trace of the scheme?
Despite his usual caution and restraint, the brocade-robed youth could not help feeling pleased with himself for bringing matters to this point.
Time passed quickly. Before long, the day of the Xuanwu Assembly arrived.
Because of the preparations, Qiu Yuchen and Qiu Hu had not visited the previous day. Perhaps Peng Han had been making one final desperate effort, for challengers had poured in from early morning and refused to depart until late at night, long after the end of the xu hour.
Just as the brocade-robed youth had predicted, Yun Tiangang had been pressed day after day until his mortal body was exhausted and nearly at its limit.
On this day he appeared as calm as ever, but Xu Ziqing could see how tightly his body was held. Every step demanded tremendous willpower.
Xu Ziqing still did not help. He knew that his senior brother had reached a critical point in the process of tempering his sword.
Only one small thing remained before sword intent would burst forth.
But what exactly was that missing thing?
Xu Ziqing had a suspicion, though he could not be certain.
The two did not linger. Soon they followed the servant outside.
A carriage was waiting at the gate. They climbed in, and it carried them to the outer entrance of the Xuanwu Assembly.
Many carriages had already arrived and were stopping there.
Martial artists emerged, weapons in hand. Presenting their Xuanwu Invitations, they entered the grounds with their companions.
Xu Ziqing walked in beside Yun Tiangang.
During these days, every challenge for a courtyard had involved wagering Xuanwu Invitations. Yun Tiangang now possessed nearly a thousand of them, an enormous haul.
And the number of Xuanwu Invitations had a special use inside the assembly.
For example, seating arrangements depended directly upon it.