San Tian Liang Jiao

Chapter 204 Cang Ling Sword Tournament (12)

Chapter 1 The Curtain Falls

The morning's spectacle only came to an end when Feng Bujue and his party followed Lin Chang up to the second floor. However, the discussions among the various martial artists would not cease. Feng Bujue's introduction to the martial world was undoubtedly shocking, so much so that, for a time, he made the martial artists in Cang Ling Town forget their original purpose for coming here.

Who exactly was Feng Bujue? What kind of martial arts did he practice? How could someone in their twenties possess such miraculous skill? When was the Broken Sword Teahouse established? Was it really just a small sect, or was there a larger organization backing it? And what about the skills of the other four besides Feng Bujue? And so on...

Of course, by the next day, with one major event after another occurring, and the duel drawing ever closer, people's focus shifted elsewhere.

But let's leave that for now and return to the morning of "the first day."

After Feng Bujue and his group were invited upstairs by Lin Chang, the Wanxia Manor people were quite embarrassed. They had no choice but to return to their seats, drink in silence, and pretend nothing had happened.

Gongsun Qian had originally wanted to humiliate the others and regain some face, but he hadn't expected them to speak so brazenly and then reveal a level of inner power that defied comprehension, leaving everyone speechless.

Seeing the mocking glances thrown their way by Ji Tong's group from Eight Directions Manor, Gongsun Qian felt a fire burning in his chest. Before long, he got up and left the inn's lobby.

As he was about to go upstairs, Ji Tong called out to him, "Brother Gongsun, don't forget to take care of that dog's corpse, lest it rot in the inn and foul the place."

"Hmph!" Gongsun Qian snorted coldly, not responding to the provocation. This matter wasn't such a great disgrace; it would pass. If he were to clash with Ji Tong now, it would only make him look like he was lashing out in anger, losing his air of superiority, so he endured it.

As he went upstairs, Gongsun Qian whispered to his eldest disciple, who was following behind him, "Later, when no one is watching, take a few of your fellow disciples and bury Wang Ao's body in the mountains."

"Yes, Master," his disciple replied.

"Ah," Gongsun Qian seemed to have thought of something, and added, "Go through the back door..."

"Yes... Disciple understands."



The newly reopened Cang Ling Inn had clearly been renovated and expanded, with its footprint now fully twice the size it was when it was abandoned years ago. The inn had four floors and no shortage of rooms, with over fifty rooms upstairs and downstairs, divided into Heaven, Earth, and Human categories, and further sorted by A, B, C... The furnishings and decorations in each room also varied slightly.

The situation in Tongqiu County had been mentioned before. Due to the negotiations and delays in Tongqiu, the main forces of the major sects had essentially arrived in Cang Ling on the same day, traveling by the main road. After entering the town, they naturally discovered the problem of tight room availability at the inn.

Surely, a sect couldn't just take up twenty rooms for their twenty members, including the sect leader and disciples, right? If they did, the inn would be full with just the people from One Manor and Two Towers.

Therefore, after discussions, the sects decided to allocate rooms "fairly."

Despite Wanxia Manor's power, they ended up with only four rooms: one for the sect leader and his wife, one for Gongsun Li, one for the two most senior disciples, and one for five disciples to squeeze into (of course, once Wang Ao's body was dealt with, the five would become four). The remaining ten disciples could only stay outside the inn, and they had to be available at a moment's notice when the sect leader gave instructions.

Similarly, Eight Directions Manor also occupied four rooms. Subsequently, the three sects and four clans each had only three rooms. As for the other miscellaneous sects, they had at most two rooms. Some third-rate sects had to squeeze three to five people, including their sect leader, into one room at the inn, receiving worse treatment than even the great sects' senior disciples.

Compared to these people, solo travelers like Lu Shan, whose martial arts skills and status in the martial world were both decent, benefited greatly. As long as they arrived early, these types of martial artists could each occupy a room.

At that moment, Feng Bujue and his party followed Lin Chang to Heaven-Class Room C, one of the best rooms in the inn.

In the days leading up to the duel, the Ye Manor had only sent seven people in total: Ye Hai and the Six Swords of Flowing Shadow. But these seven people occupied the seven best rooms in the inn.

Unlike the other sects, the Ye Manor, as Sword God Ye Cheng's own sect and the supreme power in the martial world, didn't need to discuss rules with others in Tongqiu. Frankly, even if the Ye Manor booked the entire inn and forbade outsiders from staying, the other sects would have no grounds for complaint.

In the end, this duel was a private matter between Xie San and Ye Cheng. They had never invited anyone to watch. It was only because the news leaked that so many people had come. These martial artists, who loved to join in on the fun, had come uninvited to witness the momentous battle. The fact that the Ye Manor people hadn't charged admission or kicked them out was already considered courteous. The "fair allocation" was a matter for them to sort out among themselves; the Ye family had no need to participate.

"Young Hero Feng," Lin Chang said to Feng Bujue after entering the room, "These three are my junior brothers and sisters."

Three people were already seated in Heaven-Class Room C, clearly waiting for Feng Bujue and his group to arrive.

"This is Sect Leader Feng," Lin Chang said to his three companions, pointing to the players individually, "That is Sect Leader Feng's wife, and the other three are all heroes of the Broken Sword Teahouse."

Lin Chang's brief introduction served its purpose, and one of the three immediately spoke up.

"This humble one is Miao Shaoqing, the Bamboo Within Sword." The speaker was a man in his thirties, with a refined and handsome appearance and the air of a scholar. He wore a black brocade robe, and his sword leaned against his chair beside him. The "Bamboo Within Sword" looked like an ordinary bamboo pole, about a meter long. One might mistake it for a dog-beating stick, but if you were to call it a sword, others might not even be able to tell which end was the hilt.

Miao Shaoqing was the fifth among the Six Swords of Flowing Shadow. Among the four swords present, he was the youngest, so he took the lead in cupping his fist in greeting to Feng Bujue.

"Pleased to meet you..." Feng Bujue said with a smile, but in his mind, he was thinking: *I feel like I have so many weird names to remember again…*

"Su Shang, the Autumn Orchid Sword."

"Ye Mu Han, the Ephemeral Sword."

The next two to introduce themselves were both female swordswomen. They didn't use the phrase "this humble one," perhaps feeling that it was inappropriate to refer to themselves that way in front of a junior like Feng Bujue.

Su Shang, the Autumn Orchid Sword, ranked fourth among the six swords and was twenty-six years old. Although not stunningly beautiful, she could still be considered a fair maiden. Her figure was quite petite; one could estimate that she was only about 1.5 meters tall when standing. However, the size of her bust was disproportionately large compared to her height. Her breasts were full and high, even though she was wearing a beige outfit with a high neckline, it was hard to hide those proud curves.

Ye Mu Han, the Ephemeral Sword, looked several years older than Su Shang. An aura of a tomboy emanated from her. Her hair was styled like a man's, and her skin was rough. Even her voice was coarse. However, she wasn't quite androgynous, since she didn't have an Adam's apple. Even though her appearance was valiant, compared to Atobe Keigo, she was still a bit more feminine.

"Greetings to the two female heroes," Feng Bujue returned the greetings one by one.

Now that the others had introduced themselves, Little Tan and the others had to announce their names out of courtesy. "Um... This one is Wang Tanzhi, I don't have a title..."