Martial World Loyalty

Old Sun's hand holding the wine cup trembled slightly, but a smile spread across his face.

“Sir, who are you looking for? Meiwu Town isn't exactly huge, but it's not small either. I've lived here my whole life; there's no one on these streets I don't know.”

“A young man who uses a spear,” Meng Ping said flatly.

Old Sun’s heart skipped a beat.

He loved hearing about the happenings of the martial world, so he naturally knew the news of the Nameless Spearman.

Whether or not Chen Zui was that Nameless Spearman currently causing a stir, as a friend, he could never betray him.

Old Sun shook his head impassively.

“A spearman? There are a few people in town who practice martial arts, but they're all just show-offs with sticks and staves. I haven't seen anyone who can actually use a spear.”

Li Qing stared into Old Sun’s eyes for a moment, the corner of his mouth curling into a slight smirk.

“Is that so?”

Li Qing raised a hand high and whipped his scabbard hard across Old Sun’s face.

The force was immense. Old Sun was sent tumbling off his bench, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Half of his face swelled instantly, a trail of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and several broken teeth rolled onto the bluestone pavement, mingled with the blood.

“Old geezer, I'll ask one more time.”

Li Qing crouched down, using his scabbard to tilt up Old Sun’s chin.

“Where is that spearman?”

Old Sun lay on the ground, his whole body shaking, yet he gritted his teeth and refused to utter another word.

Li Qing snorted coldly and stepped on Old Sun’s fingers, slowly grinding them down.

The pain of ten fingers connected to the heart caused Old Sun’s body to spasm. Cold sweat mixed with blood poured down his forehead, yet he remained silent.

He had lived for over sixty years and had never raised a hand against anyone, nor had he practiced a day of martial arts in his life, but he knew the meaning of martial world loyalty.

Although the kid Chen had arrived late and would occasionally cheat him out of wine money, he knew the boy was definitely not a bad person.

He couldn't sell him out.

“Old man, is it worth throwing your life away for an outsider?”

“Like hell it is...”

Old Sun squeezed the words through his teeth, a trace of a smile actually appearing in his eyes.

Li Qing’s expression darkened, and he was about to increase the pressure with his foot.

A sound of rushing wind exploded near his ear without warning.

His heart leaped, and he instinctively released his foot, retreating rapidly.

A red-tasseled spear fell from the air, its butt-end smashing heavily into the bluestone pavement where he had just been standing.

The stone shattered, and debris flew in all directions.

The shaft of the spear continued to vibrate, emitting a low hum.

“Who is it?!”

Li Qing looked up, still shaken.

He saw a figure approaching at a leisurely pace.

After steadying himself, Li Qing sized up Chen Zui, a playful glint flashing in his eyes.

“So you're the spearman? You don't look like much.”

He clapped his hands, giving his scabbard a light twirl.

Chen Zui ignored him.

He walked straight to Old Sun’s side, bending over to help the old man up. Glancing at the injury on his face and his fingers, which were swollen like radishes, his brow furrowed slightly.

“Old Sun, does it hurt?”

Old Sun grinned, revealing the bloody gaps where two teeth were missing.

“Doesn't hurt. It’s much lighter than the time my wife hit me with a rolling pin.”

Chen Zui reached out and patted the dust off Old Sun’s shoulder.

“Old Sun, you're a real one. You haven't spent your life listening to stories about martial world loyalty for nothing.”

“Then about that wine money...”

Chen Zui smiled slightly.

“In the future, it'll be my treat.”

With that, Chen Zui turned around, shielding Old Sun behind him. He looked up at the three grey-robed men with swords at their waists.

His gaze swept across Li Qing, Meng Ping, and Zhao Hanqiu, finally settling on Zhao Hanqiu.

“Are you looking for me?”

Zhao Hanqiu stepped forward and cupped his hands in a polite salute.

“Are you the Nameless Spearman who challenged Xie Jiuzhen and crippled the Young Sect Master of the Jinyang Sect?”

“I wouldn't say I ‘challenged’ Xie Jiuzhen; I almost got killed by him,” Chen Zui corrected. “But it's true that I crippled Meng Huaiguang.”

The three exchanged glances.

The rumors in the martial world were indeed true.

The man had personally admitted to crippling Meng Huaiguang.

There was no mistake.

Zhao Hanqiu rested his hand on his sword hilt, his tone remaining steady.

“I am Zhao Hanqiu of the Taixu Sword Sect. Your possession of the sword path inheritance of the Senior Sword Attendant has caused quite a stir in the martial world. As they say, the capable shall possess it. Today, we three brothers have come to seek guidance.”

Chen Zui chuckled.

“If I told you I don't have any sword manual, let alone the sword path inheritance of the Senior Sword Attendant, would you believe me?”

Li Qing sneered. “You say you don't, so you don't? Senior Brother Zhao, why waste words with him! Just take him down first!”

With that, he drew his sword.

The blade flashed with a cold light in the morning sun, pointing straight at Chen Zui.

He channeled his Mountain and Sea Realm cultivation to its full extent, a faint green sword aura clinging to the blade.

He used the “Three Forms of Flowing Clouds,” the introductory sword technique of the Taixu Sword Sect.

Although it was an introductory technique, it carried significant momentum in Li Qing’s hands. The sword light rolled like drifting clouds, showing a fair amount of mastery.

Vendors and pedestrians on both sides of the street had already scattered, stretching their necks to watch from a distance.

The timid ones had already hidden inside the shops along the street, peeking out through the gaps in the door panels.

However, facing this strike, Chen Zui didn't even draw his spear.

He simply stepped to the side, and Li Qing’s sword pierced the empty air, grazing his robes.

Immediately after, his right hand shot out. His fingers clamped onto Li Qing’s wrist and twisted downward.

With a crisp sound, Li Qing’s wrist was instantly dislocated.

The long sword fell from his hand, bouncing twice on the bluestone pavement with a clear metallic clang.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Chen Zui struck Li Qing’s chest with his palm, sending him flying. He crashed heavily into a vegetable stall by the roadside.

Li Qing lay among the rotten vegetable leaves, clutching his chest and coughing up a mouthful of blood!

“Junior Brother Li!”

Meng Ping’s expression changed drastically, and he drew his sword to charge forward.

However, Zhao Hanqiu raised a hand to stop him.

Zhao Hanqiu’s gaze fell on Chen Zui, his expression much more solemn than before.

Chen Zui’s grab and strike just now seemed casual, but in reality, they were so fast that even he could only barely catch a glimpse of an afterimage.

This was definitely not something an early stage Inquiry Realm could achieve.

“You truly were hiding your strength.”

Zhao Hanqiu slowly drew the long sword from his waist. A layer of sword aura, as condensed as water, flowed over the blade.

“Junior Brother Meng, form the formation.”

Meng Ping gritted his teeth and nodded, drawing his sword.

He and Zhao Hanqiu flanked Chen Zui from the left and right.

The two simultaneously channeled their internal energy, their feet moving in identical steps.

The momentum of their two swords merged, their sword auras reflecting off each other.

This was the “Two Instruments Light-Splitting Sword Formation” that the Taixu Sword Sect was famous for.

With the two of them working together, the power was far greater than a simple sum of parts.

Zhao Hanqiu was already at the peak of the Inquiry Realm, just one step away from entering the Second Rank Earthly Realm.

And while Meng Ping was slightly inferior, he was still a solid early stage Inquiry Realm.

The two had cooperated for many years and shared a deep connection. Now that the sword formation was formed, the air within several yards seemed to be sliced by sword qi, producing faint hissing sounds.