Somewhere in Great Xia, the cold wind was blowing. The surrounding forest was all covered in white.

"Jia!" Around eight hors.e.m.e.n spurred their horses to full speed on the main path urgently. All the pedestrians on the road successively stepped aside.

The man in the lead was dressed in an embroidered set of clothes with a fur cape draped over it. He didn't look very old and seemed cold and detached. Behind him was a bunch of brilliantly clothed men who were also covered in capes. All of them had a small stream like design embroidered on their chest.

That was the symbol of the Lian family. Anybody from the nearby provinces, who had a bit of knowledge would definitely recognize that. After all, the Lian family was considered the most influential family in Zhijiang Province.

At present, other than the man at the front with the embroidered clothes who appeared cold and detached, all the other people seemed rather relaxed. They hardly spent any effort on this mission and had acc.u.mulated quite a lot of points in the Lian family. Many were wondering whether to exchange the points for money or to collectively exchange them for a martial arts manual when they get back.

Just when everybody pa.s.sed a col, the man in the embroidered clothes suddenly sensed a danger. With a press on the horse's back with both hands, his entire body took to the air, like a legendary giant bird spreading its wings.

At that moment, tens of arrows suddenly shot over from both sides and bound everyone within.

The remaining six to seven hors.e.m.e.n snarled as they attempted to draw their swords, but, were successively shot down from their horses. Only two of them barely managed to escape but had sustained injuries as well.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" The man in the embroidered clothes shouted from the skies. He drew out his sword and pounced towards the shadows of the people who emerged from the sides.

"Zhu Chengjun, you shall stay here today!" Two figures charged ahead swiftly after shouting loudly. One of them held a blade with distinct sawtooth ridges along the back which were able to wedge the weapons of others. The other person held a truncheon.

Zhu Chengjun's facial expression took a change when he saw the weapons they were holding. He knew the both of them. To top it off, they were also from the Lian family. At present, out of the four consecrated experts remaining in Lian family, only the two of them were real members of the Lian family. The person holding the sawtooth blade was Lian Peng, and the other was Lian Zhan.

Zhu Chengjun used his sword to deflect the blade that struck at him. He then placed his entire mind and body on that truncheon.

Sure enough, when it was about to reach him, that truncheon suddenly grew longer by a section. A sharp tip, somewhat resembling a steel cone, suddenly appeared on the front end. Six flowers of plum blossoms were ejected into the air, engulfing Zhu Chengjun.

"As expected," Zhu Chengjun thought to himself. If he hadn't known the secret of the other party's truncheon, he would have probably been fooled.

A series of clanks sounded in the air. Zhu Chengjun exchanged a few blows with the two of them. He was at a slight disadvantage as there were two people against him.

"Your strength has surprisingly improved tremendously. Indeed a talent for someone your age." Lian Zhan's facial expression changed and couldn't help but praise him in midair. He had never expected two of them to just be able to barely suppress him in a bout.

"Only a talent who survives is a talent," Lian Peng coldly stated.

"You people..." Zhu Chengjun initially felt puzzled and angry. They were all consecrated experts of the Lian family. Why did they suddenly attack him? And from the looks of the situation, they were determined to kill him.

But at this moment, something flashed through his mind.

"Have you been sent by Lian Qizhi to silence me?" Zhu Chengjun shouted in anger after he landed on the ground.

"Go down and ask the King of h.e.l.l," Lian Peng responded in a cold voice.

Zhu Chengjun scanned his surroundings after he landed. He was encircled by tens of people wielding swords.

"Lian Qizhi sent people to a.s.sa.s.sinate the lover of Qi Zixiao and lured her to the Nine Pavilions. As a result, the Nine Pavilions was destroyed and the emperor of Great Xia lost thousands of elite soldiers. You think that you can survive after killing me? After Lian Qizhi silences me today, it will be your turn tomorrow."

The faces of the two hors.e.m.e.n, who survived by sheer luck, turned deathly pale when they heard that. They were filled with despair.

Lian Peng and Lian Zhan both had a big change in their expressions. Following that, Lian Peng laughed grimly. "These people can't hear anything, you have wasted your effort. There is no need for you to worry for the both of us."

Zhu Chengjun swept his eyes across the surrounding people. "All of you think that you can keep me like this?"

"What if they include me?" A voice sounded from another direction.

"Lian Qizhi! You actually dare to appear!" Zhu Chengjun gritted his teeth and looked over. "As an expert who has reached the apex of Man Wheel..."

He suddenly got distracted halfway while he was speaking and immediately swallowed the remaining half of his words, "I will kill you first".

Explosive sounds could be heard from the joints all over Lian Qizhi's body, and the qi and blood within his body rumbled like thunder rolls. His vigor clambered up little by little, from the advanced level of Man Wheel, to the initiation stage of Earth Wheel, the intermediate level of Earth Wheel, to the apex of Earth Wheel, all the way till the Earth Embryo Realm before it stopped.

"On what basis do you think I can be the master of the Lian family?" Lian Qizhi was all smiles. At this moment, he was three inches taller when compared to just now.

Zhu Chengjun was dumbfounded. Lian Qizhi had always displayed strength at the apex of Man Wheel, even though many people had felt that he didn't have what it took to be a master. But, he never would have thought that he was actually the most powerful one in Lian family.

"Now you can rest in peace. It's a pity that you don't have any family. Otherwise, I could help you take good care of them. But this is good as well, as you don't have to worry about anyone." Lian Qizhi grinned.

"I willl kill you!" Zhu Chengjun's face was full of killer's intent. He was up against three Earth Wheel experts—one of which was at the advanced level of Earth Wheel. He was sure that he couldn't escape. He pounced at Lian Qizhi when his qi and blood level was raised to the highest level, wanting to bite off a piece of his flesh even if he were to die.

With a swing of both arms, Lian Qizhi flipped into the air and shot out thirteen silver beads in succession. Each of the beads. .h.i.t Zhu Chengjun's sword and a "dang" sounded when the last bead struck. Zhu Chengjun's sword broke. With the remaining energy left in that last bead, it penetrated his shoulder, and he was sent flipping backwards before landing on the ground.

Zhu Chengjun covered his shoulder with one hand and was overwhelmed with shock. That long sword of his was considered quite a rare piece of weaponry, and he could even deflect a huge rock with it. Unexpectedly, it broke when it was struck by the silver beads of the other party. Was Lian Qizhi this strong?

"I supposed you can die contentedly now," Lian Qizhi spoke softly. He stood in the same spot and didn't chase after Zhu Chengjun.

Just as Zhu Chengjun thought that he would inevitably die and when everybody thought that the bout was over, a sudden round of applause was heard from the top of a tree not far away.

Everyone was startled by those claps, especially Lian Qizhi. To his surprise, somebody actually escaped his attention and hid nearby. Who exactly was it?

A young scholar carrying a book trunk was seated on top of the tree, and he looked as if he was a student rus.h.i.+ng for an examination. As Lian Qizhi attentively sensed for his aura, it wasn't much different compared to an ordinary person.

However, n.o.body actually sensed that there was someone up there, and even a fool could tell that he was no ordinary person. On the contrary, they immediately felt that he was someone not to be trifled with.

"When I saw all of you come over earlier on, I already felt that there will be some fun. But, I have never expected it to be so much fun. It is so interesting indeed. If I were to bring you people back as gifts, Qi Zixiao would definitely be very happy." That scholar was full of smiles.

"Who are you?" Lian Qizhi panicked and barely managed to remain calm on the outside.

"Sword, come." That scholar didn't reply, but instead, reached a single hand out into the sky and let out a long cry.

"Are you a sword master?" Lian Qizhi's expressions took a change. The other party was actually a very rarely seen sword master, and he immediately felt regretful. In succession, he shot out eighteen silver beads from his hands towards the sword master with a swoosh.

"Aiyo, don't hurry." As if he missed his step, that scholar fell to the bottom of the tree. Looking around sneakily, a long sword flew over from the forest and immediately landed in the hands of the scholar as he fell from the tree.

The scholar was Ning Caichen, and the sword was Green Pearl.

Ever since the previous trip to Dayao, Green Pearl had always been this sneaky, as if it was a thief.

...

After a short while, Ning Caichen grabbed Zhu Chengjun with one arm and ran for his life, as if he was a gamboling bunny. An entire row of silver pearls was embedded into the book trunk on his back. They would be worth ten over taels of silver if he were to pluck them off.

Lian Qizhi's silver beads could even penetrate a 30-centimeter-thick tree trunk in one strike. But, it couldn't pierce through this simple and crude book trunk.

Zhu Chengjun couldn't help but say, "When I initially heard you say 'bring all of you back as gifts', I thought you were going to bind them up for Qi Zixiao," as he bore with the pain. He didn't care if the other party replied to him. In any case, it was what he wanted to say at that moment.

At present, Zhu Chengjun had a few other wounds on his body, especially on his legs. Initially, when he saw Ning Caichen's imposing manner when he first appeared, he thought that he had met an expert. Never did he expect that Ning Caichen would grab him and escape.

At first, he should still be grateful to him for saving his life nevertheless, but Ning Caichen had actually used him as a s.h.i.+eld. If not, he wouldn't have been so badly injured, to the extent that he couldn't even tell his flesh apart from the blood on his legs.

"In any case, I only have to bring you to Qi Zixiao. There is no need for me to step into action." Ning Caichen's forehead kept perspiring. He ran even faster when he heard the shouts coming from far behind.

Zhu Chengjun laughed. He already couldn't be bothered about what would happen when this man brought him back to Dayao. A sudden elation rose in his mind when he thought about the entire Lian family peris.h.i.+ng together with him.

Lian Qizhi, you wouldn't have expected this!