Su Mo tapped the tip of his foot, his figure shooting forward like a bolt of lightning, reaching the man in an instant, his palm darting out to seize the man’s left shoulder.

But when his five fingers clamped down, what he felt beneath them was not human flesh and blood, but a slick, slippery piece of ice, or perhaps a fish.

Before his finger strength could sink in, that shoulder had already slipped free.

When he looked up again, the Store Manager had already leapt more than ten zhang away.

Su Mo’s eyes lit up:

"Fine movement technique. Store Manager, you hid your skill deep."

"Years ago in Donghuang, there were lowly thieves who tried to surround and kill a Store Manager and rob him.

"Young Alliance Leader Su doesn’t really think that, after that, we could only hide away, does he?

"After all, even if you hid yourself without a single flaw, unless you never again meddle in the business of Da You Bank, you will always leave traces behind, to be known by others.

"All the more since this identity has many entanglements with the Seven Great Sects.

"You can fool others, but could you fool them?

"Don’t think they’re all good people.

"When boundless wealth is laid before them, even your own parents and kin can’t be relied upon, much less that group of outsiders.

"I had no wish to be at the mercy of others, so I could only make myself strong."

At this point, the Store Manager suddenly stopped in his tracks.

For the sheer cliff lay just ahead.

He glanced at the churning sea beneath his feet, then turned back to give Su Mo a look, and sighed:

"Between you and me, is there truly no room to ease things?

"All this for a mere Ji Shuhua, is it worth it?

"What I can give you is far more than you imagine. So long as you let me go this time, I can give you half the wealth on this ship."

"How muddle‑headed."

Su Mo gave a slight shake of his head: "If I kill you, I can have it all."

"..."

The Store Manager flew into a rage: "So you really aren’t here to avenge Ji Shuhua!

"You prattle on about benevolence and righteousness, but in truth it’s all for the money on my ship!!"

"If you insist on putting it that way, I can only shrug."

Su Mo said with a smile:

"But, is that to be the Store Manager’s last words?"

"Su Mo... I’ll ask you once more, is there truly no room to turn back?"

The Store Manager looked at Su Mo: "I’m not talking about you and Da You Bank, but about the Ziyang Escort Agency and the Jinglong Association!"

"You’re done pretending?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Su Mo gave him a look, half‑smile on his lips:

"You’re right: before immense wealth, not even parents and kin are necessarily reliable.

"In this world, the number of people who sell their sons and daughters for glory and riches is beyond counting.

"Yet for the Store Manager to call himself no more than a mere merchant is, shall we say, overselling your modesty?

"All these years, you people of the Jinglong Association have hidden yourselves in Donghuang, stirring up storms.

"How many have died because of you? Was Ji Shuhua the only one?

"What’s more, Da You Bank has spread its branches throughout Donghuang.

"The vast wealth accumulated over more than a hundred years has all flowed into the Jinglong Association.

"What you have on this ship probably doesn’t even count as a fraction.

"That is the true reason you must die!

"Store Manager... today you are doomed to die.

"The only question is this: will it be a clean death, or a miserable one.

"If you want a clean death, I can see that you get one—but you’ll have to answer one question for me."

"...Su Mo, you think far too highly of yourself."

The Store Manager laughed aloud: "My life and death rest only in my own hands. Even the Longmen First Jing cannot dictate them. What are you supposed to be?"

With that, he suddenly sprang into the air and jumped straight off the cliff.

He hadn’t expected Su Mo to leap after him.

Their gazes met midair:

"You!?"

"Feeling moved?"

Su Mo smiled.

The cliff wasn’t high. In the space of a few exchanged words, the two of them hit the water almost simultaneously.

And at the instant they entered the sea, currents surged from all directions, slamming toward Su Mo’s major acupoints.

Su Mo’s brow lifted. As his mind stirred, the rushing water abruptly slowed.

But it did not disperse.

Su Mo circulated the Circulating Water Force and thrust out a palm; only then did the water break apart.

At the same moment, a Longsword was already upon him from behind, silent as a ghost.

A crisp ding rang out.

The sword tip pressed against the back of Su Mo’s neck, but could not penetrate a hair further.

The swordsman seemed just as shocked. In the instant his eyes widened, Su Mo had already turned his head.

The water around them suddenly heaved, surging into countless Water Swords that stabbed at the man’s vital points from all directions.

The swordsman only gave his sword a shake.

A gleam of cold light wrapped around his body.

The water stifled all sound. When the Water Swords clashed with the sword edge, they only sent the currents roiling; with each Water Sword he met, the man’s body was forced back a large distance.

A faint trickle of blood seeped from his mouth and nose.

But as soon as it left him, it merged into the sea and vanished without a trace.

As the saying goes, guard long enough and you will slip.

In the water, Su Mo held the natural home ground; his Water Swords were inexhaustible.

The man did have some skill, able to move freely in the water, wholly unimpeded.

But to think he could use that to get the better of Su Mo was impossible.

Just then, the water suddenly churned violently.

Su Mo whipped his head around.

In the darker currents further off, he saw several more figures.

The Longswords in their hands were exactly the same as that first man’s.

Their swords fell together, raising a great surge in the water, forming a vast, towering current of Sword Qi.

It came straight for Su Mo.

Ordinary pressure from water currents, or Sword Qi charging at him—Su Mo could easily dissolve that with his Circulating Water Force.

But this Sword Qi current formed by the combined strength of several men—

Was extremely difficult to break.

He could disperse the current, but not the Sword Qi within it.

His Circulating Water Force could control water, but not another’s Sword Qi.