In the early morning, soft light filtered through the dilapidated roof, resting on Jin Tianwang’s face for a long while before he sensed someone staring at him.

  The first thing Jin Tianwang did was not open his eyes, but rather smile, before speaking, "Brother, what do you intend to do?"

  At Jin Tianwang's feet stood a filthy man staring at him with surprised eyes. Upon hearing Jin Tianwang's words, he came to his senses, walked away, turned to face the wall on the other side, and lay down.

  Jin Tianwang raised his sleeve to cover his face and continued to sleep in that position. By noon, the sunlight had grown too harsh for sleep. Jin Tianwang rose and stretched, noticing the filthy man still lying on his side, facing the wall. For some reason, he felt an unexpected affinity with the man—perhaps because his life seemed just as difficult as his own. With that thought, he stepped closer, intending to look at the man’s face.

  As Jin Tianwang stood at the man’s feet, about to look at his face, a voice suddenly spoke.

  “Brother, what do you intend to do?”

  The filthy man was not asleep at all; he had already turned from the wall to face him.

  Jin Tianwang could only smile before bowing his head slightly to show remorse, then walked out of the shrine.

  In front of this shrine was a well. Jin Tianwang took the opportunity to draw water to wash his face. He pulled the bucket up from the well and placed it on the rim. The water in the bucket was much colder than the surrounding air. He scooped water with both hands and splashed it vigorously onto his face before rubbing his hands all over his face. Then he scooped water to splash again. The cold water made him feel extremely refreshed. However, after this splash, a young woman in an orange outfit suddenly appeared, staring at him fiercely.

  The young woman wore a tight-fitting orange martial artist outfit. She had a beautiful face, her skin darker than the average city girl, aged about seventeen or eighteen. Her hands were on her hips as she stared before speaking concisely, "You are the Smiling Wanderer, Jin Tianwang."

  Jin Tianwang did not expect a young woman like her to know him. With surprise, he did not answer but simply smiled once.

  "Do you remember me or not? My name is Zhou Songyi."

  Jin Tianwang had never met a young woman like her before. He tried to recall if he had heard this name before. His lips could only smile in surprise.

  "It is good that you do not remember me, because today is your day to die." Finishing her words, the young woman suddenly flicked her arm upward.A flash of light shot toward Jin Tianwang.

  The streak moved with astonishing speed. He leaned back and twisted aside, narrowly evading it—but it suddenly curved back through the air. Too late to react, he felt a sharp pain as his left shoulder was slashed. The flash resolved into a triangular throwing knife.

  The blade did not embed itself in his shoulder, which counted as no small fortune for Jin Tianwang. He hurriedly kicked off to retreat, shouting, "The Fairy Flying Knife! You’re from Mystic Valley!"

  The young woman who introduced herself as Zhou Songyi suddenly had a satisfied smile before saying, "Do you remember me now?"

  Five years ago, Jin Tianwang broke into the Mystic Valley and captured the Shadow Bat to clear a friend's guilt. It was a story that made his name in the martial art. But that was all five years ago. This young woman was about seventeen or eighteen. Five years ago, she would have been just a big child. How could Jin Tianwang remember her? He did not expect that merely meeting her would lead to an attempt on his life.

  "Little Miss, I..." Jin Tianwang spoke with shock while striking out with his right palm once. The palm strike passed through the air, hitting and destroying the water bucket on the well rim. The remaining water in the bucket shattered and splashed onto the young woman in the orange outfit. He ran backward to distance himself, his eyes still watching her, wary of her Fairy Flying Knives.

  The young woman shook the water off her face and shouted, "Jin Tianwang, do not just run away! Let us prove life and death!" Then she flicked Fairy Flying Knives from both hands. Jin Tianwang had already fled from the start.

  Jin Tianwang ran at full speed across the large bridge, heading toward the East Gate. In his heart, he secretly blamed fate and his own bad luck. Right now, martial artists believed he was a wicked lecherous bandit, forcing him to flee back and forth. Yet he still encountered a young woman named Zhou Songyi from the Mystic Valley coming to take his life. What kind of day was this exactly? Even though a smile still appeared on his face, he muttered to himself, "Being born a human is extremely difficult; being born as me is many times more difficult."

  Jin Tianwang crossed the bridge to the market. Suddenly, shouts erupted from all sides, calling his name furiously. Martial artists from every nook and cranny chased after him as he ran at full speed. A number of martial artists threw objects intending to intercept and obstruct him. He could only dodge back and forth, unable to run at full power anymore. The martial artists following behind were getting closer and closer. Suddenly, a light yellow shadow shot ahead, overtaking him to stand blocking the way in front.

  The young man in the light yellow outfit had skin as white and clean as snow. His eyes were lines, pupils invisible. His small ears were pressed close to his head. His sharp red mouth was half-open, half-closed, seemingly baring teeth or smiling at Jin Tianwang. An exceptionally long and slender sword was another symbol of this young man. This sword harbored a murderous aura. Fast sword, even more murderous person. This young man was none other than Zhao Xianzhi.

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  "I have come to punish you for thinking to offend Lady Tie Guanyong the other night," Zhao Xianzhi spoke with an icy voice.

  How could Jin Tianwang think to clash forcefully? He suddenly turned to flee in another direction.

  "Damn it!" the young man said with a resentful voice, starting to run in pursuit again.

  Two nights ago, Zhao Xianzhi accepted a job for Tie Guanyong outside the city. The Zhou family, who raised livestock outside the city, was dissatisfied with the trading rules set in the market and tried to persuade their associates to resist. That night, twenty-eight lives all departed with wounds on their throats. Then the house was set on fire and destroyed. No one thought to seek the culprit; everyone knew well what the story was. Therefore, two nights ago, Jin Tianwang did not meet Zhao Xianzhi.

  Zhao Xianzhi was a young man with extremely fast footwork. Jin Tianwang could not shake him off easily.

  Jin Tianwang saw an emerald green reflection on the side accelerating to follow, creating extreme unease for him. Just Zhao Xianzhi was already a handful; having to face Ke Daoping as well was an extremely heavy burden.

  Jin Tianwang tried to run in circles, using his shoulders to sway back and forth to deceive Zhao Xianzhi's eyes, then turning corners to dodge many times already. However, he knew well that he could not deceive like this forever. He could not deceive this fast sword forever.

  Suddenly, Zhao Xianzhi spun that slender sword once past Jin Tianwang's face.

  Jin Tianwang suddenly switched feet and spun his body once. He happened to see some metal shooting out from the very end of that slender sword's scabbard. He considered himself to have escaped that miraculously fast sword once, understanding the secret of Zhao Xianzhi not needing to draw his sword.

  The metal that shot out suddenly disappeared back into the scabbard. Zhao Xianzhi attacked and missed, turning into rage.

  Those who knew Zhao Xianzhi's skills watching around felt surprised at how the fastest sword could miss. If the fast sword missed, there could only be one answer: Jin Tianwang's footwork was even faster than that fast sword. However, there was no way Jin Tianwang could be faster than Zhao Xianzhi. At least, Zhao Xianzhi would never accept it.

  Zhao Xianzhi suddenly spun his sword toward Jin Tianwang again. Jin Tianwang ran in circles while keeping a suitable distance, spinning back and forth, dodging every move of Zhao Xianzhi's fast sword. The fast sword that no one saw when it was drawn could do nothing to Jin Tianwang. How could such a thing be possible? At least, Zhao Xianzhi would never accept it. Therefore, Zhao Xianzhi suddenly used both hands to hold his slender sword, spinning the sword in a circle toward Jin Tianwang again, before using his left hand to pull another mechanism. The metal extending from the scabbard tip was shot out like a dart. Jin Tianwang did not expect that slender sword to have such a mechanism. Although somewhat startled, he still ducked his head down. The metal soaring like a dart passed his left shoulder, drawing a stream of blood, before piercing into the chest of a martial artist following behind until he fell and died.

  Jin Tianwang, who received a shallow wound on his left shoulder, did not stop his pace. He continued to spin before soaring out again. However, Zhao Xianzhi did not follow further, remaining standing stiffly right there.

  Ke Daoping, who followed just in time, ran past Zhao Xianzhi's stiff body while throwing a weapon at Jin Tianwang.

  Zhao Xianzhi suddenly felt as if Ke Daoping was mocking his ability. He roared in fury while striking the slender sword in his hand at the middle of Ke Daoping's back.

  How could Ke Daoping expect Zhao Xianzhi to act against him like this? However, he was a young expert renowned in the martial world. Even though the slender sword struck without him being wary, he could throw the weapon in his left hand backward, hitting and deflecting the slender sword just in time. He turned back to look at Zhao Xianzhi's face with pitying eyes before turning back to run after Jin Tianwang, who had pulled away.

  Zhao Xianzhi now knew how vast the martial world was. How could merely a trick of installing a mechanism in his slender sword cope with true experts like Jin Tianwang and Ke Daoping? But the young man's desire to win remained stubborn. He followed Ke Daoping's back, running with all his might.

  Jin Tianwang saw the East Gate not far away. Hope arose in his heart that once he left Wei City and entered the forest area, he could shake off the pursuit of these people. However, his hope had to stumble and stop when he saw a tall, large man standing with arms crossed, one hand holding a black blade that harbored the most ruthless and vicious aura, blocking the front of the city gate.

  This tall, large man was naturally "The Reckless Blade" Li Sibei, the unrivaled expert of this Wei City.

  "Whoever dares to be an enemy of Jin Tianwang seeks death!" A voice rang out, seemingly from the sky, accompanied by a massive figure like a giant bird diving straight toward Li Sibei blocking the gate.

  Jin Tianwang naturally knew it was "The Blood Hawk" Zhang Zhufan coming to help him. However, for Zhang Zhufan, who was like a legend of the martial world, to come help him who was branded a lecherous bandit was an extremely uncomfortable matter.

  Both Zhang Zhufan and Li Sibei had tall, large bodies like giants. Fighting fiercely became an earth-shattering matter. The blade in Zhang Zhufan's hand was made of bizarre metal, red as blood, while Li Sibei used a blade made of pitch-black metal harboring a ruthless aura. The two blades clashed, creating circles of red and black blades sweeping out and scattering. Those with weaker skills all suffered misfortune; some received minor wounds, some lost arms or legs.

  "Uncle Zhang, let us go together!" Jin Tianwang shouted.

  The city gate was bolted shut. The city guards were all well-acquainted with Li Sibei and naturally cooperated with him. Jin Tianwang ran through the fighting circle of the two blade masters at full speed before passing through as if nothing had happened.

  In truth, how could Li Sibei allow Jin Tianwang to pass? But Zhang Zhufan's blade circle kept intercepting and obstructing. Furthermore, Jin Tianwang's footwork was extremely fast, fast enough to be startling.

  Jin Tianwang did not slow down when facing the gate blocking the front. Suddenly, a loud boom erupted like a mountain collapsing. "Boom!"

  Li Sibei, who was bold, was still startled by the loud boom like a mountain collapsing. He had to retreat to escape by instinct. Before looking back at the city gate, he found that the city gate, made of hardwood thicker than the span of an arm, was now miraculously shattered. And Jin Tianwang and Zhang Zhufan had left Wei City.

  Up to this point, Li Sibei still pondered, not understanding what happened to this city gate. How did Jin Tianwang shatter this city gate and escape? When he failed to understand it, he simply stopped trying. Li Sibei was that kind of man.