Late night, April 24, 2018

"Zhao Xinyu, get out here!"

"Get out here!"

"Come out!"

A furious roar shattered the silence in front of the Cyan Smoke Tavern in the East City District of Golden Jade City, the reverberating echo repeated itself in the narrow street, soon simmering into a ghostly sound, startling those around from their slumber, with children’s cries echoing loudly.

Very soon, the quiet streets lit up one by one, with the men of the households cautiously peeking out with kitchen knives and rolling pins, preparing to play the hero in front of their wives and children. In fact, before Zhao Chenlu suffered the coup, such sudden incidents would never have had to be dealt with by the citizens of Golden Jade by themselves, as patrolling Great Cultivators would intervene immediately. However, the current interim government couldn’t command the reputation that Zhao Chenlu had, and thus, the patrol system practically became defunct.

People soon realized they might have worried too much. Despite the dysfunctional patrol system, Golden Jade City was still one of the premier cities in Xiangzhou, not easily infiltrated by those heretical and deviant. The one shouting in the night was a famous Knight from Golden Jade City, once a zealously obsessed follower of Zhao Chenlu.

His name was Zhang Jincheng, an Independent Cultivator by background, and only 60 years old, he had already reached the Mountain-Overturning Realm. In Golden Jade City, he was considered a moderate genius in cultivation, known for disdain towards those school-trained cultivators from major sects, believing they excelled only in various tests and assessments, but performed poorly in actual combat situations. Although he rarely dared to challenge professional cultivators, it didn’t stop him from feeling proud as an Independent Cultivator.

Until 20 years ago, when he saw with his own eyes, the 15-year-old Zhao Chenlu sweeping through the Golden Jade Grand Competition, brushing aside both school-trained and independent cultivators like they were mere garbage. This madman fell utterly.

Zhang Jincheng knew his background and talent were far inferior to Zhao Chenlu, naturally, he didn’t hope for her favor, so he claimed to be a loyal Guardian to Zhao Chenlu, vowing to protect her silently for life. When Zhao Hongwu and others staged a coup and subdued Zhao Chenlu, Zhang Jincheng was filled with righteous indignation, yet knowing their power was great, he quietly turned to the underground, amassing Wish Power through public images of Zhao Chenlu in anticipation of a miracle.

No miracle appeared. Instead, the shameless scoundrel named Zhao Xinyu emerged, brazenly slandering Zhao Chenlu’s purity with vile words in public—an ex-husband? Physical relations? When hearing this, Zhang Jincheng felt as if he had swallowed a Qingyu True Essence Divine Thunder.

Though he could not take on the interim government of Golden Jade City, he feared not if the opponent was merely a mediocre, sleazy middle-aged man, and besides, he had heard verified information that the City Lord’s Mansion was also eager to kill this man. So that night, after consuming two bottles of strong liquor, Zhang Jincheng boldly arrived at the Cyan Smoke Tavern, loudly challenging.

"Zhao Xinyu, get out here and meet your end!"

Having long awaited upstairs, Wang Jiu did not disappoint, leaping down lightly from a third-floor guest room window to land before Zhang Jincheng.

The Illusion Sword Technique sketched the figure of a middle-aged Sword Cultivator, looking just as ordinary and unremarkable. The True Essence Fluctuation subtly emanating from the Sword World seemed almost indistinguishable from a standard late-stage Cloud Flipping Realm cultivator. Compared to the 60-year-old independent prodigy, Zhao Xinyu’s persona was hardly worth a laugh, yet the confidence displayed upon landing overwhelmed his opponent instantly.

Zhang Jincheng instinctively retreated a few steps, revealing a gaze of suspicion and uncertainty: "You really dare to come!?"

Wang Jiu said, "So you are the Knight, ready to gamble your life in a duel to defend Zhao Chenlu’s honor, correct? Well, to save time, why don’t we begin now?"

Zhang Jincheng was utterly shocked: "Gamble my life in a duel? Are you in your right mind? I am a Mountain-Overturning Realm cultivator, after all, the realm after the Rain Cover Realm. That means I am unquestionably a top expert across the entire Xiangzhou Continent! Do you understand what that means?"

Wang Jiu said, "Of course. From the unabashed leakage of True Essence, it is easy to determine your cultivation in the initial tier of the Mountain-Overturning Realm. Your core techniques include Sanqing Technique, Moon Embracing Song, and Sea-Exploring Needle. Your usual Magical Treasures are the Vajra Banner disguised as a cloak and the Flood Dragon Inner Core in your shoe soles."

After these words, Zhang Jincheng’s face turned as pale as paper: "You, how? Where did you..."

Wang Jiu continued, "Considering the poor performance in True Essence strength, Primordial Spirit resilience, and Magical Treasure coordination, it can be deduced that your actual combat power should lie between a mid-stage and late-stage Rain Cover Realm cultivator generally. Solving you shouldn’t take more than thirty seconds."

"Nonsense!"

Upon hearing Wang Jiu’s assessment of his actual combat abilities, Zhang Jincheng’s face went from white to red, as if his sore spot had been hit. He waved his hand, sending a red light flying over, only to collide with a pure white longsword. The red light dissipated with a roar, and Zhang Jincheng himself spat out a mouthful of blood.

Wang Jiu said, "Rashly attacking with your Primordial Spirit without gauging the opponent can easily result in retaliatory damage. This should be basic knowledge in regular sects’ Immortal Cultivation combat classes."

"I don’t need you to lecture me!" Zhang Jincheng spat blood as he took off the cloak from his back, preparing to launch the Vajra Banner to capture his opponent inside. Yet before the Magical Treasure could activate, he felt a wave of intense pain surging through his entire body from head to toe!

This lifebound Magical Treasure actually disobeyed its master; instead, it went into a Frenzy State, trembling violently, agitating his damaged Primordial Spirit further, stirring up waves of excruciating agony.

Amid Zhang Jincheng’s moans of pain, Wang Jiu opened his mouth to say, "In actual combat, if the Primordial Spirit is damaged, using the original method to drive lifebound Magical Treasure will likely trigger a Magical Treasure frenzy. This is also a fundamental part of combat courses. Don’t contemporary Independent Cultivators even know such basic common sense?"

He spoke as he walked slowly to Zhang Jincheng, looking into his angry yet helpless eyes, confirming that he likely wasn’t an actor hired by the City Lord’s Mansion but a genuinely indignant Knight coming for trouble.

Since that’s the case, there’s no need to hold back. In this kind of life-or-death duel, life and death rest in the hands of fate. Zhang Jincheng was indeed the first to use a killing move on me—although his move led directly to his own demise, it was sufficient to trigger the Celestial Divine Sword’s counterattack mechanism.

Moreover, a certain death can enhance the dramatic effect, so from the perspective of the Celestial Divine Sword, Zhang Jincheng’s death was appropriate.

In the next moment, Wang Jiu raised the White Sword high and slashed down with force.

"Spare him!" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Just as the White Sword was about to sever Zhang Jincheng, a silver needle flashed into existence, its tiny tip precisely striking the blade of the White Sword, freezing Wang Jiu’s strike in mid-air. In the next moment, a woman in red floated onto the scene.

"Is it really necessary to take a life over a verbal dispute?"

After speaking, the woman withdrew the silver needle and cupped her hands in a salute: "I am Miao Yuhuai, the Manor Master of Xiuyu Manor of Golden Jade City, and I heard you claim to be Zhao Chenlu’s ex-husband. Do you have any concrete evidence?"

Wang Jiu glanced at the woman across from him and asked, "Are you the next one?"

Miao Yuhuai was startled: "Next one what?"

Wang Jiu said, "The next challenger."

"No, I don’t want to fight you; I just want to know the truth. What gives you the right to call yourself Zhao Chenlu’s ex-husband?"

The words were not finished when Wang Jiu suddenly drew his sword and released a brilliant Sword Qi.

For the Celestial Divine Sword, determining friend or foe is never about what the opponent says but about what they do. From the moment Zhang Jincheng roared in anger, Miao Yuhuai had quietly arrived on the scene. When Zhang Jincheng used a Primordial Spirit attack to kill Wang Jiu, she stood by, and when Zhang Jincheng tried to use the Vajra Banner, she still did nothing. But when Wang Jiu counter-attacked, she suddenly jumped in to say spare him.

Her stance was clear as day; she was an enemy, not a friend. Jumping into the battlefield like that meant attacking first and talking later.

Wang Jiu’s Sword Qi was not very destructive, nor was it fast, but it targeted the weak point of Miao Yuhuai’s protective True Essence network. The Sword Qi contained dozens of changes, each one countering Xiuyu Manor’s ultimate skill, [Jade Net Weaving]. Miao Yuhuai had never seen such a targeted Sword Qi and instinctively chose to retreat.

As Miao Yuhuai retreated, Zhang Jincheng was exposed. Wang Jiu’s White Sword, without any hesitation, slowly stabbed into Zhang Jincheng’s chest from top to bottom.

Wang Jiu’s movements were unhurried, the sword tip gradually navigating through the ribs towards the heart, as if deliberately provoking the opponent.

"You!?" Miao Yuhuai’s eyes widened with rage, and she released a Crimson Net that hovered between tangible and intangible. However, this net played right into Wang Jiu’s hands. He immediately withdrew the White Sword Body, and the surging power within the Sword World poured out, transforming into a sharp Slicing Intent, cleaving Miao Yuhuai’s Crimson Net in two.

In the next moment, Miao Yuhuai’s eyes were suddenly covered in a ghastly blood red, and her entire aura weakened by half.

The Crimson Net was her lifebound magical treasure. Though it seemed fragile, it was forged using Primordial heritage and was indestructible. Even experts with a realm higher than hers could at most force her lifebound magical treasure back, paralyzing it, but rarely damaging its body.

However, for the Celestial Divine Sword, any treasure projecting its body outward is an easy target. Even the Great Demon God Emperor would never dare collide his demon treasure with the Divine Sword Body.

After repelling Miao Yuhuai with one strike, Wang Jiu took a large step forward, the White Sword poised to slash at her forehead, but this time someone finally intervened to stop it.

"Stop, all of you!"

With a thunderous roar, the air of the entire district froze.

Wang Jiu’s figure paused in place, the White Sword halting an inch from Miao Yuhuai’s forehead.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t bring himself to strike, but because the true partner of this grand act had finally arrived.

In the night, a squad of Golden Armor Guards descended from the sky. Their leader, eyes glaring and brows furrowed with anger, commanded: "Fighting in public, defying the law; take them all away!"