Water droplets inside the karst cave were still pattering down, and the Dark Iron Saber at Ye Fan's fingertips had not yet fully come to rest when A-San's urgent voice pierced his eardrum. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and a warm, cool tremor radiated from the Jiuxiao Huanpei in his palm—this was the divine artifact responding to his tense emotions.
When he was ambushed and killed in his past life, he had stood in a desperate situation just like this, watching so-called "allies" raise their blades against him. Now... He lowered his gaze to sweep over the bulging outline in his arms, his knuckles whitening on the saber hilt, while a chilling light brewed deep within his eyes.
"Get behind me," he said in a low voice. As A-San flashed in from outside the cave, sweat trickled from the back of his neck down his collar. The footsteps of thirty estate guards rolled like muffled thunder across the stone path, and the red glow of torches spilled into the cave entrance a step ahead, illuminating the cave walls like blood-soaked amber.
Ye Fan could hear the sound of metal scraping against armor, mixed with heavy panting—those people had rushed in without even catching their breath, evidently harboring the intention of finishing things swiftly.
"That little brat of the Ye Family stole Young Master Zhao's Jiuxiao Huanpei!" The lead guard captain barged into the cave brandishing a Ghost Head Saber, the back of his blade striking sparks against a stalactite. "The City Lord said, I want the man alive, and..."
"And a corpse if he's dead?" Ye Fan interrupted, pointing his Dark Iron Saber obliquely at the ground, the tip gouging a half-inch-deep trench into the stone floor. He could feel the tiny realm within his Inner World still slowly expanding, the power of the huanpei coursing through his meridians into all his limbs and bones, making even the tingling sensation in his fingertips carry a clear, profound Dao rhythm. This was the "Unity of Heaven and Man" talent at work, perfectly harmonizing the divine artifact's power with his own vital energy.
The guard captain's pupils suddenly constricted—he saw Ye Fan's shadow distort for a fraction of a second beneath the torchlight, like rumpled water ripples. The next moment, the downward chopping trajectory of the Ghost Head Saber suddenly deviated by three inches, striking the stalactite where Ye Fan had just been standing, the shock bursting the web of his thumb and forefinger. "What... what sorcery is this?" He staggered backward, only to see the blades and spears of the other guards also missing their marks, some stabbing into the stone wall, others hacking onto their comrades' armor, the sound of metal collisions bursting into a chaotic din.
"It's not sorcery." Ye Fan used the back of his blade to backhand-knock away a long spear thrusting from the left. Amidst the crisp snap of the breaking shaft, he heard the huanpei chiming softly in his arms. "It's the space of the Jiuxiao Huanpei."
Before his voice had even faded, the light within the karst cave dimmed by a full thirty percent. The figures of the thirty guards appeared ethereal in his eyes, as though separated by a layer of pale cyan mist—this was a minor spatial domain summoned by the huanpei, which delayed all external attack trajectories by half a breath. In his past life, he had seen confinement arrays set up by Inquiry Realm supreme experts, yet none matched his intent quite like this: he wanted whichever blade to veer off, and it veered off; he wanted to see through whichever flaw, and the huanpei clearly presented the vital energy of that flaw before his eyes.
"All of you, charge!" The guard captain wiped the blood from his face and roared at the top of his lungs, "Kill him, and the City Lord will reward fifty liang!" Spurred by heavy rewards, the guards grew red-eyed. A lean-figured fellow broke in from the right, a short blade laced with dark blue toxic light aiming straight for Ye Fan's waist and abdomen; two burly men wielding large axes pulled open their stances from the left, intending to seal off the cave entrance.
Yet Ye Fan suddenly smiled. He recalled the "Nine Palaces Footwork Manual" he had perused back when he was in the Inquiry Realm, and at this moment, the huanpei automatically deduced the footwork to mastery, every single step falling precisely upon the weak points of the space. He swiveled his body to dodge the short blade, counter-gripped the lean man's wrist, and pushed off his momentum—the fellow crashed directly into the embrace of the two axemen, the weapons of the three men tangling into a knot as screams mixed with the sound of cracking bones erupted.
"Useless trash!" A cold shout came from outside the cave. Zhao Wuji stepped in wearing a dark brocade robe, the jade plaque at his waist glowing with a faint blue light, marking it precisely as the token of the Qinglan City City Lord's Mansion. Staring at the sprawling, disheveled guards in the cave, the corners of his mouth twitched into a sneer. "And here I thought the legitimate scion of the Ye Family had some real skill, but it turns out he only knows how to bully low-level guards?" He raised a hand to unhook the iron bone fan from his waist, its ribs unfolding with a chilling glare, forged entirely from refined steel. "Come, this young master will play with you."
Ye Fan's pupils constricted slightly. Although he had not crossed swords with Zhao Wuji in his past life, he remembered that this fellow had stepped into the Qi Condensation Late-Stage at the age of eighteen, and relying on his status as the City Lord's son, even the Ye Family Head had to yield three points to him. Channeling his inner breath right now, he discovered that his own realm had quietly broken through to the Qi Condensation Mid-Stage Peak under the nourishment of the huanpei, leaving just a thin layer of window paper before the late-stage.
"Just what I wanted." He hoisted the Dark Iron Saber onto his shoulder, pointing the tip straight at Zhao Wuji's throat. "Just in time to test out my new treasure."
The iron bone fan cleaved through the air with a whistling rush, but Ye Fan neither dodged nor evaded. The huanpei grew burning hot in his arms, and a half-mu patch of green bamboo within his Inner World suddenly radiated golden light—this was the divine artifact deducing the opponent's moves. He saw three killing strikes hidden within the trajectory of Zhao Wuji's fan ribs: the first fan forced him to retreat, the second sealed his left path, and the third aimed straight for his heart. Yet when his Dark Iron Saber met it, the blade suddenly bloomed with a pale cyan halo, completely discharging all the force of the iron bone fan to the right.
"Clang!" Weapons clashed, and Zhao Wuji stumbled back three steps, his palm numbed by the shock. Raising his head in disbelief, he caught sight of the azure light swirling in Ye Fan's eyes—a sharpness he had never seen before, as though it meant to dissect his moves from start to finish. "You... you broke through?" Gritting his teeth, he lunged forward once more, the iron bone fan transforming into a sky full of starlight, every single ray sealing off Ye Fan's retreat.
Yet Ye Fan smiled. The power of the huanpei surged forth like a tide, and he felt his five senses infinitely amplified: he could hear the contraction of muscles beneath Zhao Wuji's robes, see the minute wear and tear on the iron fan ribs, and even anticipate that the opponent's next move would employ "Sweeping a Thousand Armies." Swiveling sideways to evade, the Dark Iron Saber slashed smoothly toward the joint connecting the fan ribs—the exact weakness he had deduced using the huanpei.
"Crack!" The iron bone fan snapped into two halves. Zhao Wuji's eyes widened in disbelief, unable to fathom that the weapon he treasured like a priceless jewel had been ruined in a single exchange. Just as he was about to flare up, a crisp shout rang out from outside the cave: "Enough!"
A-Man's figure blocked the entrance, the beast patterns on his dark armor gleaming coldly under the torchlight. The bronze token hanging at his waist flashed with a deep light, serving precisely as the emblem of the Ye Family's forbidden ground guards. "This is the forbidden ground of the Ye Family," his voice sounded like iron quenched in ice. "People from the City Lord's Mansion dare to trespass upon a restricted family ground and even attempt a bloodbath in the karst cave? Do you take the Ye Family for dough to be kneaded at will?"
Zhao Wuji's face turned instantly pale. He glanced at the token at A-Man's waist—that was the "Territorial Suppression Token" personally bestowed by the Family Head, one that even his father the City Lord had to treat with utmost courtesy upon seeing it. "Uncle A-Man..." He twitched the corners of his mouth. "It's this brat who stole my family heirloom..."
"Family heirloom?" A-Man strode into the karst cave, his gaze sweeping across the guards sprawled all over the floor and the iron bone fan snapped in two, finally landing on the object in Ye Fan's arms. "I have guarded the forbidden ground for twenty years, and I have never once heard of any family heirloom of the City Lord's Mansion hidden here." Pausing for a moment, his voice suddenly turned icy. "If Young Master Zhao truly wishes to seek redress, come to the Ye Family Head tomorrow to submit a formal visiting card. For now..." He pointed toward the cave entrance. "Take your people and get lost."
Zhao Wuji's fingernails practically dug into his palms. Glaring fiercely at Ye Fan yet not daring to act out, he could only flick his sleeve and roar: "Let's go!" Scrambling clumsily to pick up their weapons, the guards stumbled after him as they retreated out of the cave. The torchlight gradually receded, and the karst cave plunged back into silence, leaving only A-Man's sigh: "You child, you're always stirring up trouble."
Ye Fan put away the Dark Iron Saber and cupped his fists toward A-Man: "Thank you, Uncle, for resolving this."
"What's there to thank?" A-Man patted his shoulder, the warmth of his palm transmitting through the fabric. "I guard the forbidden ground precisely to guard the fortune of the Ye Family. That you were able to make the Jiuxiao Huanpei acknowledge you as its master is the Ye Family's good fortune." Pausing briefly, he lowered his voice. "But remember, a tree that stands out in the forest..."
"Will be destroyed by the wind," Ye Fan finished for him, a sharp glint flashing in the depths of his eyes. "I understand."
On the return journey, Ye Fan held the Jiuxiao Huanpei tightly in his palm. The phantom landscape on the huanpei's surface slowly shifted, as though recounting some ancient secret. He could sense that the space within his Inner World had expanded by a few more margins; right beside the original half-mu of green bamboo, an additional clear spring had appeared, the clear bubbling sound of the spring water distinctly striking his Sea of Consciousness.
"Once I'm back in my quarters..." Gazing at the starry sky overhead, he curled the corners of his lips into a smile of anticipation, "It's time to take a proper look and see just how many more capabilities this Jiuxiao Huanpei truly possesses."