"Good thing it’s just the two of us brothers who are leaving. Otherwise, I’d just have to trick him with a few words, slap him with the label of ’abusing the Lin Clan’s name to show off,’ and believe it or not, he’d lose his composure."
"Of course I believe you, Big Brother. I’ll toast to you."
The two brothers clinked their cups, discussing what their lives would be like after they reached Lai State Prefecture.
"Big Brother, once we get to Lai State, life won’t be as fun anymore. We won’t even be able to go after any pretty women we see."
"With money, you’re worried you won’t find women?"
"It’s not the same. The ones you snatch always feel better."
"Oh, you..."
Ma Xiong shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, a short, sharp scream suddenly came from outside.
The sound wasn’t loud, as if someone’s throat had been seized, cutting it off abruptly.
The hand Ma Xiong was using to hold his wine bowl paused, and his old eyes shot toward the doorway.
"Big Brother, I’ll go take a look."
Feng Kui had already gripped the hilt of the saber at his waist and strode quickly toward the entrance.
Before he could even step over the threshold, a figure flashed in from outside.
White robes, white sash.
Lin Yan stood in the doorway, holding a longsword with blood still dripping from its tip, his expression serene.
"Lin Yan?"
Feng Kui’s pupils contracted. He took an instinctive step back, his hand already gripping the hilt of his saber.
Ma Xiong shot to his feet as well, his old eyes locked on Lin Yan. His voice grew grim. "Young Master Lin, what is the meaning of this?"
"It means nothing," Lin Yan said as he stepped over the threshold, walking unhurriedly into Juyi Hall. "I was simply afraid that Village Chief Ma would be too busy after three days and might forget to give the Seven Stars Escort Agency an explanation. So, I decided to come back and wait."
Ma Xiong’s face turned livid. But beyond his anger, a certain possibility occurred to him, and a chill crept up his spine.
There were over twenty of his brothers patrolling outside Juyi Hall, including quite a few at the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing. Yet Lin Yan had managed to walk right in here, and there hadn’t been a single sound from outside.
Unless...
’Unless... all those men patrolling outside had been silently eliminated by Lin Yan.’
Feng Kui, however, wasn’t thinking that deeply. All he knew was that this man had killed his subordinates. A mere member of a Lin Family branch, daring to be so arrogant in Qingfeng Stockade? He couldn’t tolerate it.
"’After a few months with the Lin Family, some people can’t seem to tell if they’re a pheasant or a phoenix,’ Feng Kui snarled, his hand on his saber hilt. ’Showing off your power here in my Qingfeng Stockade... you’re truly courting death.’"
FWOOSH!
Feng Kui drew his saber and brought it down in a vertical chop, the force of the blow sending a gust of wind straight at Lin Yan’s face.
The attack was ferocious, the wind from the blade biting cold. He intended to cleave Lin Yan in two with a single strike.
Lin Yan’s expression remained unchanged. With a smooth slide of his feet, he executed the Smoke-Stepping Technique, his body drifting back three feet like a wisp of blue smoke to evade the saber’s edge.
Feng Kui’s strike hit nothing but air. With a flick of his wrist, the Saber Momentum shifted from a vertical chop to a horizontal slash, the blade sweeping toward Lin Yan’s waist. The transition was lightning-fast and perfectly fluid.
’Ma Xiong, watching from the side, didn’t make a move. His second brother was a ruthless fighter with rich combat experience. He was more than a match for a young Martial Artist like Lin Yan. These two strikes alone had completely cut off Lin Yan’s escape.’
’So young, so lacking in combat experience.’
This time, Lin Yan did not retreat. His longsword flashed out.
Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques!
The sword strike was incredibly fast. Though launched second, it was the first to connect, grazing past the saber’s edge and thrusting toward Feng Kui’s head.
Feng Kui’s pupils constricted violently. He dodged sideways on pure instinct as the sword’s tip grazed past his ear, carving a bloody line on his left earlobe.
Feeling the sting of pain in his left ear, Feng Kui broke out in a cold sweat. If he’d been a fraction of a second slower, the entire left side of his head would have been gone.
However, before he could even recover from the shock, Lin Yan’s second strike arrived.
One strike followed another, endless and unceasing.
Feng Kui was hard-pressed to defend himself. He swung his saber in a seemingly impenetrable blur, but he still couldn’t fend off the storm of sword images. Several wounds opened on his arms, shoulders, and thighs, drenching his robes in fresh blood.
This was the Flowing Cloud Swordsmanship—as fluid as Flowing Clouds and Flowing Water, continuous and unrelenting, leaving an opponent exhausted from simply trying to parry.
The longer Feng Kui fought, the more terrified he became. The young man’s mastery of Swordsmanship was a cut above his own Saber Technique. If this kept up, his death was certain.
"Big Brother, save me!"
Ma Xiong’s expression was incredibly grim. The long saber that had been on the table was now, somehow, in his hand. As Feng Kui cried for help, Ma Xiong took a single step to the side, his blade flashing like lightning, striking straight for the center of Lin Yan’s back.
He held nothing back in this strike. After a long observation, he had spotted a flaw in Lin Yan’s movements and was aiming for a one-strike kill.
Lin Yan did not turn. Instead, his longsword trembled, tracing a perfect semicircle. Though the sword was thrusting forward, its tip bizarrely curved around to strike behind him.
The form of the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques concluded as the Jinghong Sword Technique was unleashed.
No longer a fine rain of strikes, the longsword drew a single, explosive arc through the air, curving around Ma Xiong’s saber to slice across his throat.
PFFT.
A soft sound.
Ma Xiong’s body froze in place, the saber in his hand still raised mid-air. A blood-red line, as fine as a hair, appeared on his throat.
His expression was still frozen in its earlier confidence, but his body collapsed with a heavy thud.
"Big Brother!"
Feng Kui’s teeth were chattering. His big brother, a Powerhouse who had been at the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing for years, was gone. Killed by a single sword strike.
An indescribable chill ran through him, freezing him to the core. He had lost all courage to fight back and instead screamed, "Someone, help!"
But there was no response.
’A sneer touched the corner of Lin Yan’s lips. ’Thinking of calling for help now? It’s too late.’’
’He had tested the power of the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques. Now, it was time to end this.’
A flash of sword light. Feng Kui remained frozen, his mouth still open in a silent scream for help.
Two breaths later, blood erupted from his throat, and his body collapsed to the floor.
Lin Yan lowered his sword. The tip pointed down as a bead of blood slid slowly along its edge before dripping onto the stone floor.

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