“Ha! Hahahaha…” Before Brother Jue could finish speaking, Gu Jiaolong burst out laughing, “I thought you had some brilliant insight… but it turns out you’re just spouting such nonsense.”

As he spoke, he stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Feng Bujue, his finger pointing at the middle-aged man in front: “According to you, these measly three people think they can stand against the entire Central Plains martial world?”

“Not just three people.” The middle-aged man took over, “Originally… there were five.”

“Heh…” Feng Bujue chuckled, a malicious glint in his eyes. “Now, there are still five.”

“Oh?” The middle-aged man discerned something in his words, his expression shifting slightly.

“I imagine you already know that ‘Mirror’ is dead,” Feng Bujue said.

“I know,” the middle-aged man replied.

“But what you don’t know is… ‘Flower’s’ mission has also failed,” Feng Bujue added.

This news made the middle-aged man’s expression more somber than ever before.

“That’s impossible…” he responded.

“Believe it or not…” Feng Bujue said, “Anyway, you’re destined to die here today, I doubt you have the luxury to care about others.”

The middle-aged man fell silent, but not for long.

“Since you could see through my plan…” When he spoke again, his voice had turned icy, murderous intent already emanating from his body, “…you should understand that even with just myself, I have a ninety percent chance of succeeding today.”

“Whatever your original odds were has nothing to do with me.” Feng Bujue, however, seemed utterly fearless, casually remarking, “Just remember… now that I’m here, you don’t even have a one percent chance.”

Those words were rather arrogant.

At least, that’s how it sounded to the middle-aged man, an overestimation of himself.

But the surrounding players didn’t feel that way because… the one who said those words was Feng Bujue.

You never knew if he was bluffing or stating a fact. For him, the line between “impossible” and “possible” was very blurred.

“Are you two done chatting?” Gu Jiaolong, who hadn’t understood anything they were saying, spoke up again. This big shot from the Sea Dragon Gate really hated being ignored. “What five people, ten people? You…”

The moment that “you” left his lips, he reached back and swiftly drew his blade from his waist, the tip aimed straight at the middle-aged man’s nose.

Faced with this sudden attack, the middle-aged man didn’t move an inch; and as a result… the blade didn’t touch him.

Gu Jiaolong’s arm span, combined with the length of the blade, brought the tip to just two centimeters from the middle-aged man’s face.

“I don’t care who you are, or what your intentions are.” Gu Jiaolong pointed his blade at the man and declared loudly, “This young master is a reasonable person… I have no past grievances with you, as long as you hand over the *Jian Wu Cao Ji* (Sword Dance Manuscript), I’ll spare you…”

He didn’t say the last word.

Not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t.

Leng Yuqiu’s sword was fast, as fast as lightning.

By the time his sword pierced Gu Jiaolong’s throat, the latter didn’t even have time to react.

“Some people’s weapons, even when drawn, are no different from lying on the ground.” Leng Yuqiu sheathed his sword amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, adding as he did so, “And some people’s eyes…” He glanced at Luo Can, Feng Meiyu, and the three gangs’ disciples, “…though open, are no different from being blind.”

“Leng Yuqiu…” Feng Meiyu instantly glared at Leng Yuqiu with a chilling gaze, and sternly asked, “What do you mean by this? Are you trying to snatch food from our mouths?”

Her expression at that moment was extremely fierce, not so much because she hated the other party, but more out of… instinct.

Just now, where Leng Yuqiu had come from, how he had drawn his sword… neither Feng Meiyu nor Luo Can could see clearly; in other words, if Leng Yuqiu’s target had been her or Luo Can just now, the fate of the two of them would probably have been the same as Gu Jiaolong.

Therefore, Feng Meiyu’s current reaction was like that of a weak beast encountering a predator more powerful than itself – only by baring its fangs and claws, hoping to overwhelm the opponent with its aura, could it gain some advantage.

“Snatching food? Heh…” Leng Yuqiu smiled. “Don’t make me out to be like you people… I’ve never said that I came to Linlu Town to snatch the *Jian Wu Cao Ji*.” As he spoke, he glanced at Gu Jiaolong, who was already lying on the ground. “I killed Gu Jiaolong, just because…” He took half a step back and turned to look at the middle-aged man beside him, “…he offended my Shifu.”

“What?”

Not only Luo Can and Feng Meiyu, but all the martial artists in the open and in the shadows, as well as the few players who were still unaware of the situation, were startled by these words.

Although they weren’t clear about the middle-aged man’s strength, they knew a little about Leng Yuqiu’s strength.

Even assuming that this man’s martial arts were only slightly higher than Leng Yuqiu’s, the outcome of today’s battle would be very difficult to predict.

“Everyone, leaders of the Central Plains martial world, heroes, martial artists…” After a moment, that middle-aged man suddenly used his inner strength to transmit his voice, “Now that things have come to this, I’ll be frank…”

He had only said half a sentence, and many people were already sweating profusely; and most of these nervous, frightened, and shocked people were quasi-first-rate experts or above in the martial world… precisely because their martial arts cultivation had reached a certain level, they could appreciate how terrifying the internal energy of the person supporting this voice transmission was.

“My name is… Heyang Xinci.” When the middle-aged man said his name, people also understood that Brother Jue’s words were true—this really was a Japanese person. “In your Central Plains terms… I am the *Shintenyoku Kenryū* (God-Sent Ultimate Sword Style) sect’s leader.”

This wasn’t his first time in the Central Plains. His grasp of Chinese and understanding of Chinese culture might be even more profound than that of many Central Plains people.

“Today, I set up this situation and lured you all here for only one thing…” Having finished his self-introduction, Heyang Xinci continued, “I’ve always heard that the Central Plains martial world is blessed with outstanding talents, a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons reside… I am untalented, but I wish to use my self-created *Shintenyoku Kenryū* swordsmanship to learn from the heroes of the world.” He paused for half a second, “Everyone… there’s no need to be polite with me, whether you all swarm me at once or resort to underhanded tactics… I can accept it. As long as you can kill me…”

At this point, he took out the thing that all the martial artists had been dreaming of from his bosom.

“…then this *Jian Wu Cao Ji*, written by the ‘Sword Saint’ Pei Min, will naturally belong to you all.” Although what Heyang Xinci said was extremely disadvantageous to him, his tone was still very calm, so calm that it made the listeners’ scalps tingle. “But… if no one can defeat me today…” He put the manual back in his bosom. “Then… from today onwards, the Central Plains martial world will be led by me, Heyang Xinci. Anyone who doesn’t obey… within seven days, I will make their sect disappear from the world.”

“What a joke!” Hearing this, Luo Can couldn’t help but interrupt, “Let alone whether you can leave this place alive today… even if your martial arts really are the best in the world, do you think you can exterminate other people’s sects with just these few people?”

“What you say… does have some truth to it.” Heyang Xinci stopped transmitting his voice and spoke to Luo Can in a normal way, “A place like Jiang Family Fort, with dozens of people, can be killed very quickly; but a sect like your Beggars’ Sect, with members all over the world… even the imperial court couldn’t kill them all in the past, so I definitely can’t do it either.”

“Hmph…” Luo Can snorted upon hearing this, a hint of smugness flashing across his face.

However, in the next second, Heyang Xinci changed the subject: “But… that doesn’t matter, I can just kill the leader.”

Luo Can’s face froze, and his body had already instinctively activated his inner energy.

“If killing one leader isn’t enough, I’ll kill two. Whoever becomes the leader, I’ll kill him… and whoever is around him when I kill him, I’ll kill them as well.” Heyang Xinci’s words continued, “I think it won’t be long before no one in this sect will be willing to be the leader anymore… like a snake without a head, it will soon be a dead snake.”

“Outrageous!” Luo Can couldn’t wait any longer. He roared and immediately adopted a stance, wanting to strike first.

At this moment, it wasn’t that Luo Can was eager to strike, but just that Heyang Xinci and Leng Yuqiu, merely standing there, were almost crushing everyone with their aura… if Gang Leader Luo didn’t attack, he was afraid that the members behind him would scatter and flee.

“Yuqiu.” Heyang Xinci, however, didn’t take Luo Can’s actions seriously. He calmly called out to Leng Yuqiu.

“Shifu, what are your orders?” Leng Yuqiu could speak normally in front of his Shifu.

Heyang Xinci then turned his head to look at Feng Bujue and said, “I want him alive.”

“Understood.” Leng Yuqiu responded, and in the blink of an eye, he swept out more than ten meters from his original position, heading straight for Feng Bujue on the roof of the roadside house.

Brother Jue was also extremely alert. Seeing this scene… he turned around and ran, and in a flash, he leaped out who knew how far.

Seeing this, Leng Yuqiu couldn’t help but be secretly shocked by Brother Jue’s *qinggong* (light body skill, agility), but since he had accepted his Shifu’s order, he had to do his best, so he put ten percent of his leg strength to work and chased desperately.

At the same time, Luo Can also made his move.

The *Xianglong Shiba Zhang* (Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms) was the pinnacle of external martial arts, unparalleled in the world. Even though Luo Can’s talent wasn’t considered top-notch, being able to reproduce this lost martial art and integrate it, his martial arts attainments could be seen in a glimpse.

At the moment, Luo Can used all his strength to unleash his moves, and the palm energy he released was extremely terrifying… let alone eighteen palms, among the martial arts heroes watching the battle, there were only a few who were confident that they could take two or three of his moves.

However…

“This palm technique is indeed not bad.” Heyang Xinci lowered his head, looking at the right arm in his hand that was dripping with blood, calmly commenting, “It’s a pity… your skill is too poor.”

As the words fell, Luo Can staggered back two steps. His eyes bulged, and he slowly turned his head, blankly looking at his right shoulder.

He couldn’t believe it… not only did he not see the other party make a move, he didn’t even realize that his arm had been cut off until after the fact…

Not only him, but the leaders and disciples of the various sects who were watching here… none of them saw what Heyang Xinci had done clearly.

When did he move? When did he attack? How did he cut off Luo Can’s right arm? And when did he return to his original position?

These questions, like terrifying nightmares, quickly spread in people’s hearts…

“Too many superfluous movements, and too slow. The speed of internal energy circulation is also as slow as stillness… And his internal energy isn’t even that strong.” As Heyang Xinci spoke, he casually threw Luo Can’s arm on the ground. “A person like you can also be the leader of a sect… the level of the Central Plains martial world is worrying…”

He was undoubtedly mocking them, but for a moment, no one came out to refute him.

The only sound that followed was Luo Can’s painful groan as he fell to the ground…

“Ah… ah–” After a breath, a member of the Sea Dragon Gate was the first to scream miserably and began to run away, rolling and crawling.

His actions instantly triggered a chain reaction. The people from the Sea Dragon Gate ran away almost in the blink of an eye, not even wanting the corpse of their young sect leader.

The people from the Beggars’ Sect were better than them. Someone shouted from the crowd… “Quick, protect the gang leader!” Then, several Beggars’ Sect disciples who were close by rushed up and dragged the unconscious Luo Can back, following the crowd to retreat…

With these two factions running away, it was said that there was no need for the White Plum Sect to stay any longer. Everyone was not stupid. Everyone could see that Heyang Xinci’s martial arts were so high that they could not be filled with “numbers”; no matter how many shrimp soldiers and crab generals there were, it would not work for him.

Unexpectedly…

“White Plum Sect members, listen to my orders!” Feng Meiyu’s expression was surprisingly calm.

“Yes… yes!” The disciples behind her also came back to their senses after being shouted at by her.

“You will immediately split into two groups, withdraw from the town, and if you don’t see me come out by Shen Shi (3-5 PM), you will withdraw to the main altar on your own and make further plans.” Feng Meiyu issued the order with a very firm attitude.

And the members of her sect… after a slight hesitation, quickly carried out the order.

Unlike what is shown in many film and television works, they did not say lines such as “Sect Leader, we will not leave!” or “We will go together.”

In the real Jianghu, real people are often ruthless and unrighteous in times of life and death. There are not many people who can put life and death aside to be loyal… In fact, there are very few.

Before long, all the members of the White Plum Sect had run away; on the street, there were only four people, a corpse, and an arm left.

“Looking at this situation… you plan to fight to the death.” Heyang Xinci was not in a hurry to take action. He knew that in order to plant fear in those people’s hearts, he could not be too fast.

Sometimes, fear not only comes from the “unknown” but also from “understanding.”

He needed to slow down the pace of the killing in order to make people realize what was happening.

“I’m not afraid of death.” Feng Meiyu said the truth. Her life was already a tragedy. After revenge, all she got was endless emptiness and dual torment on her body and mind, so she didn’t care much about her life. “But I don’t plan to die in vain either.”

“You plan to die together with me?” Heyang Xinci asked again.

“Not necessarily.” Feng Meiyu said.

“Oh?” Heyang Xinci had actually noticed the quietly approaching threat, but he still calmly signaled the other party to continue.

“Because… there are still many people who are not afraid of death like me.” Feng Meiyu continued.

When she said this, a few more people appeared on the street.

To be precise, there were five people.

These five people were of different genders, ages, and sects, but they all had one thing in common – all five of them used swords.

“Confucian Swordsman Xie Xiuwen, Purple Bamboo Hermit Meng He, Heavenly Prodigy Sword Qiu Baqi, Poisonous Spider Sword Tang Ling, South Sea Hunchback Immortal Ma Tayun…” Heyang Xinci’s gaze swept across the faces of these people one by one, and he reported their names one by one. “Hmm… that’s about it.”

“What’s about it?” Qiu Baqi was a thin man in his forties, who looked refined and courteous, but his personality was quite impulsive and combative. “Your lifespan?”

“Heh…” Heyang Xinci chuckled and didn’t take the provocation seriously. “What I mean is… with you few gentlemen standing here, the famous swordsmen of the Central Plains martial world can be considered to have arrived.”

His words were not bad. Apart from Duan Keyi and Cotton Daoist, who were already dead, and Leng Yuqiu, the successor of the *Shintenyoku Kenryū*, these five swordsmen were the most famous in Jianghu.

“It’s good that you know.” Tang Ling’s hand was already on her sword.

“I’ll show you that there’s no one left in the Central Plains martial world!” Qiu Baqi was obviously the kind of person who would give up his life for a breath.

“First, I want the *Jian Wu Cao Ji*, and second, I don’t want to listen to you, so… I think… it’s better to kill you.” Purple Bamboo Hermit had a habit of speaking, which was to proceed step by step, with the primary and secondary in order, and… he didn’t like to lie.

“Hmph… I don’t have any other intentions anyway. As long as it’s a Japanese pirate, I’ll kill one when I see one!” Ma Tayun’s son, daughter-in-law, and grandson… all died at the hands of Japanese pirates, so he could be said to have deep hatred. Therefore, for people from Japan, he didn’t distinguish between good and bad, and he would just kill them.

“You Japanese barbarian… today I will make you pay with blood!” And it was not surprising that Xie Xiuwen would stand up.

This Xie family leader, who was in a state of semi-retirement in the mansion, had deliberately disguised himself and secretly came to Linlu Town, just to protect his grandson at a critical moment.

He thought that with Liu Bo accompanying his grandson, he didn’t need to worry too much; he would only need to take action in the evening and on New Year’s Eve.

Unexpectedly… Xie Wuhua would die in the inn during the daytime.

After learning of his grandson’s death, Xie Xiuwen had been looking for Leng Yuqiu, but at that time, the latter had left the inn and disappeared, and only appeared here today.

Therefore, whether as a member of the Central Plains martial world or out of personal grievances, Xie Xiuwen would definitely come out and fight with the other party.

“Good… good…” Heyang Xinci was still fearless in the face of the five great swordsmen and a White Plum Sect Leader.

On the contrary, his face showed excitement.

“You don’t have to be polite… the six of you can come at me together.” At this moment, Heyang Xinci… untied the strap on the weapon beside him and tore off the layer of broken cloth used for wrapping.

Then, a *katana* (Japanese sword) with a total length of about one and a half meters, without a scabbard, and with an extremely dull blade… appeared in front of everyone.

When Heyang Xinci picked up his weapon, he finally put on a real “stance” and said, “Your words… should allow me to enjoy a little bit of fun.”