Outsiders

“Senior Brother, where are we going?” Liu Ziyang asked curiously.

Han Shaoliang blew a frivolous whistle and smiled. “I'm going to take you to see the sights along the banks of the Luo River. What do you think?”

Ah, visiting the flower boats... Liu Ziyang realized.

He shook his head. “Forget it, Senior Brother. I'm currently worrying about what to do if I can't achieve entry-level mastery in the Posuo Sword in three weeks. I'm really not in the mood. Let's wait until the dust settles. When that time comes, this junior brother of yours will host the event, and I certainly won't spoil your fun.”

Zhuang Xun also shook his head.

Seeing that the other two had declined, Wang Hou also hurriedly said, “Uh... thank you, Senior Brother. I think I'll pass as well.”

Han Shaoliang scratched his head.

He had actually seen how tense his junior brothers were and wanted to take them out to have some fun and relieve the pressure, but he hadn't expected them all to refuse.

In Han Shaoliang's eyes, out of the three junior brothers he was guiding this time, probably only Yan Pingsheng would be able to stay. The other two were hard to say. Instead of working so hard, they might as well have a good time. At least if they failed in the end, the psychological blow wouldn't be so massive.

“Alright then. In martial arts, balance is key—work hard, but play hard too. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves...”

“Han Shaoliang! Are you ready yet?!” someone suddenly shouted from the opposite side of the lake.

“Old Han, hurry up! I still want to show the new girls who arrived today my Spinning Poison Dragon!”

“Hahaha, you damn beast! If Master Yi finds out you're using the Posuo Sword for that, he'll definitely beat you to death!”

“Coming, coming!” Han Shaoliang shouted back with a grin to the few people on the shore.

“Then your senior brother will head off first. Keep up the hard work.” With that, he leaped over to the others, slung his arms around their shoulders, and walked away.

Watching their retreating figures from the waterside pavilion, Zhuang Xun offered them his most beautiful and sincere blessing in his heart—may they all become impotent.

“Old Han, which one is Yan Pingsheng?”

Han Shaoliang replied, “The fat one. Why?”

“Oh, so that's Yan Pingsheng. Why didn't you invite him to join us? We could have gotten to know each other.”

“They didn't want to go.” Han Shaoliang sighed. “It's nice not having bad habits. Damn, I was dragged down by you bunch of degenerates back then.”

“Bullshit! Who the hell was crying and begging us to take you to see Little Cui back then?”

“Nonsense, when did I ever do that? Didn't you guys literally drag me in?” Han Shaoliang asked. “By the way, why are you so interested in Junior Brother Yan?”

“Old Han, you don't know? Oh, I almost forgot you only recently returned to the academy.” The person slapped his forehead and replied, “He's Chief Disciple Bai's fellow townsman.”

“Huh?! Whose fellow townsman?” Han Shaoliang's eyes widened.

...

At noon, the traffic on the streets was sparse.

A man wearing a bamboo hat sat on the eaves of a tavern at the entrance of a secluded alley. His expression was cold and indifferent, his eyes calm to the point of being bloodthirsty. The sunlight stretched his shadow long.

“They're putting on quite a convincing act.”

Using his Spiritual Sight to perceive the busy Shengxue Cult members inside the tavern, Zhuang Xun's brow twitched.

This was his fifth day of observing the Shengxue Cult.

Ever since he overheard the conversation between the two Shengxue Cult members in the alley that day, he had been coming over frequently to keep watch.

Although he still hadn't figured out their so-called “Blood Son's plan,” he had already confirmed that they truly attached great importance to it.

To avoid exposure, they had indeed refrained from laying their hands on the children among the refugees who had arrived this time. They didn't even pay any attention to them, quietly running their tavern all this while.

“Since that's the case, I can boldly implement the third step of my plan.”

Steps one and two of his plan—creating a clone and having Yan Pingsheng learn bone-reading—had already been completed by Zhuang Xun.

It was only step three—showcasing the talent of his Little Beggar clone—that he had been hesitant to execute. He had worried that if the Little Beggar clone was too conspicuous, he would be targeted by the Shengxue Cult and kidnapped to be used for cultivating herbs.

But now that the Shengxue Cult was keeping a low profile, the bandits were far away outside the mountains, and the mysterious force that killed everyone on sight was only active within Zechuan City, there was absolutely no danger to speak of. He could control the Little Beggar clone to act a bit more recklessly.

However...

Zhuang Xun looked at the Shengxue Cult members running the tavern, hesitating over one thing—whether he should report them to the Law Enforcement Hall.

As the saying goes, when a quiet child suddenly behaves, they must be up to no good.

With the Shengxue Cult members being so quiet and honest, their so-called “Blood Son's plan” must have extremely far-reaching goals.

Ultimately, though, Zhuang Xun decided to observe them for a bit longer. If their plan posed a potential threat to him, he would use the Debt-Lending Bladesman to report them to the Law Enforcement Hall and let Yang Ling handle it.

To be able to work for Chief Disciple Bai is his honor. (Hands on hips, proud face)

As for why he didn't report them now, it was because Zhuang Xun still wanted to use this tavern to have his fourth permanent clone join the Shengxue Cult.

Indeed, his next target was the Shengxue Cult.

Although none of the four Zenith martial artists on the surface of Mount Dazhou belonged to the Shengxue Cult, Zhuang Xun still believed that the Shengxue Cult was the most dangerous power on Mount Dazhou, and he had to infiltrate the enemy's ranks as soon as possible.

At its peak, the Shengxue Cult had once ravaged the entire world, boasting countless powerful experts and followers everywhere.

If not for being annihilated by the Jiyi Sect, which was known as the “Greatest Sect under Heaven” at the time, they would have almost brought the evil god they worshiped, the “Ancestor of Primordial Blood Creation,” into this world in its complete form.

However, because of this, the Jiyi Sect's vitality was severely damaged, and it lost its title as the “Greatest Sect under Heaven.” Later, it was ambushed by the Ten Thousand Beasts Alliance from the north, losing the entire Xietian Mountain Range.

As one of the ten thousand mountains of the Xietian Mountain Range, Mount Dazhou also became a lawless territory.

The Xietian Mountain Range became the prime destination for various martial artists to flee or live in seclusion, making it extremely chaotic.

Zhuang Xun was one of the beneficiaries of this. Because the forces within the Xietian Mountain Range were independent and even hostile to one another, with no unified dynasty or sect to govern them, it was impossible to investigate a person's specific background. Once someone left their own territory, they lost all influence entirely. Some factions didn't even have clear origins themselves.

For instance, on Mount Dazhou, the four strongest forces were basically from the outside.

The Shengxue Cult went without saying.

She Chenxiang, the leader of Qushe Ridge, was once a traitor of the Ten Thousand Beasts Alliance, who had fled into the Xietian Mountain Range while being hunted down by them.

Yang Gai, the City Lord of Zechuan City, was once a disciple of the Jiyi Sect, who later left the sect for unknown reasons to become the city lord of Zechuan City.

As for the Principal of the Wanxing Martial Academy, he was even more mysterious.

Mainly because there was no introduction of himself in the books of the Principal's study, Zhuang Xun didn't know his specific origin either.

All he knew was that twenty-seven years ago, the Principal had suddenly arrived at Mount Dazhou. Then, while the City Lord's Manor and Qushe Ridge were fighting their fiercest battles, he had nonchalantly built the Wanxing Martial Academy right between them, even cheerfully borrowing money and manpower from both under their bewildered gazes.

After that, the Principal gained the reputation of being the strongest martial artist on Mount Dazhou.

Well, it was quite magical.

The only native force on Mount Dazhou was the seven great families, and the only native Zenith martial artist was Yi Xiaoxiang.

Actually, Yi Xiaoxiang wasn't entirely native either. Their father had once been a disciple of the Sword Sanctuary of the World, which was known as the “holy land of sword cultivators.” Disheartened, he had come to Zechuan City over twenty years ago, married a woman of the Zhou clan, and fathered Yi Xiaoxiang. At the warm invitation of the Principal, he had served as the Courtyard Head of the Posuo Courtyard for a few years, before finally passing away over a decade ago when his old injuries flared up.

At the time, after reading the history of Mount Dazhou in the Principal's study, Zhuang Xun had been deeply shocked.

This tiny Mount Dazhou had actually managed to gather four of the world's top forces.