15: Chapter 15 Helplessness

The sky was already slightly brightening, and Su Jiuchuan felt no sleepiness.

He calculated his current System balance; there were only 566 points of money left, and because he had just advanced to the 5th Realm.

The cost of a single simulation was as high as 1000 points; this amount of money wasn't even enough for one simulation.

The jade pendant given by the Third Prince looked very exquisite and should be worth a lot of money, but Su Jiuchuan had secretly tried, and the System indicated it could not be topped up.

This was troublesome.

With his current strength, he did not have full confidence in facing Lan Guping.

Of course, he actually had other choices, such as abandoning this group of people and sneaking away on his own.

However, after experiencing so many simulations, Su Jiuchuan roughly understood a principle.

On the path of martial arts, one can only advance with courage.

Once the thought of avoiding a battle arises in one's heart, it becomes a Heart Demon on the path of martial arts, which will hinder his progress in the future.

Of course, this does not mean that one must fight even if one cannot win; the opponent was only in the same Realm as him, and if he dared not even fight in such a situation, it would definitely leave a crack in his martial heart.

Not far away, the Third Prince and Chief Escort Master Zheng Nanhai were whispering about something; presumably, they felt that Su Jiuchuan was unreliable and were looking for another way out or something similar.

Zheng Xinyue and Xue Mingcai were whispering in another area. Su Jiuchuan remembered that when they were at Qingyun Temple, Zheng Xinyue had been somewhat cold towards Xue Mingcai, but now, after one night, their relationship had improved a lot.

However, both of them were great beauties. Although they were a bit disheveled from the journey, they possessed a unique beauty that could not be compared to those artificial beauties of later generations.

Su Jiuchuan looked over, feeling that it was quite pleasing to the eye, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

It was just that... the glances these two occasionally cast over were somewhat cold; he feared they were not saying anything good about him.

Just at this moment, Su Jiuchuan heard some movement nearby.

It must be the pursuers from the Lan Family.

Su Jiuchuan carefully checked the equipment on his person.

There was still a small amount of lime prepared in Hechuan City, and he also had some anesthetic he had scavenged from the old Daoist Qingxu at Qingyun Temple.

Then, he closed his eyes. Memories of countless life-and-death struggles flashed through his mind; he needed to adjust to his best state to face Lan Guping.

...

Chief Escort Master Zheng Nanhai stood up abruptly, drew his broadsword, and looked toward the source of the noise.

Clearly, at this moment, he also discovered that someone was coming.

The others were also alarmed and stood up one after another.

"Third Prince, why did you leave without saying goodbye!" A clear voice rang out.

With the sound of hoofbeats, several horses appeared before them. The person in the lead was a young Young Master in white brocade robes, followed by several men in black martial attire.

Lan Guping looked at the Third Prince with a beaming smile.

"Yesterday, I had something come up and had to step away; I didn't expect the Third Prince to leave without saying goodbye. I had no choice but to come personally to invite you back."

"Hmph, treacherous rebels!"

The Third Prince's face was very ugly. Clearly, they had been captured by Lan Guping before. This time, he feared they were doomed to be caught again.

Although Su Jiuchuan was strong, his eye was sharp. From the fight with Qingxu yesterday, he could see that Su Jiuchuan was only at the 6th Realm.

"Haha..., the chaos in the world is naturally the fault of your Qian Family imperial house. My father inviting you to King Yu's side is merely to let you royal descendants talk face-to-face with them and resolve the problem."

Su Jiuchuan nodded upon hearing this. This guy looked good, was eloquent, and most importantly, had strong martial arts Aptitude; this was truly a protagonist template.

The Third Prince bit his lip and stopped speaking; he knew that saying anything more would only be asking for humiliation.

Lan Guping scanned the crowd and quickly looked at Su Jiuchuan, saying: "You must be the brat who saved people yesterday."

"I didn't expect Hechuan City to have a character like you. How about this, you can just follow me and be a lackey!"

"As for you!" Lan Guping then turned to Xue Mingcai and said: "Originally, I wouldn't have looked twice at a woman like you, but my father intends to win over the old Daoist Qingxu, so I would have reluctantly accepted!"

"As a result, before you even entered my door, you actually ran off with someone. Hehe, this is slapping me, Lan Guping, in the face."

"I am going to send you to the military camp in Hechuan City to amuse the soldiers, hehe!"

When Xue Mingcai heard his words, her face instantly turned pale, and her heart sank inch by inch into the abyss.

Swish! Swish! Two sounds.

Suddenly, two men in martial attire toppled from their horses.

A figure flashed, and Su Jiuchuan stood in front of Xue Mingcai, pointing his long blade and saying: "I have no interest in being a lackey for anyone."

At this moment, the morning light appeared, and the golden-red sunlight shone over, stretching his shadow long and large, covering Xue Mingcai entirely.

The smile on Lan Guping's face froze.

He could even capture the prince of the Great Wei Dynasty, yet this brat in grey cloth and hemp robes before him not only ambushed and killed two of his subordinates but also dared to point a blade at him. It was simply courting death.

Murderous intent boiled in his heart.

Without him needing to speak, the six subordinates behind him raised their whips, spurred their horses, and charged over. Their long blades, accompanied by the neighing of the horses, came slashing down.

Chief Escort Master Zheng Nanhai could not care about calling for his daughter at this moment; instead, he turned sideways to block in front of the Third Prince and slowly retreated into the woods behind them.

Blade light flashed, splashing sprays of blood, and several riders fell from their horses one after another.

Lan Guping's face became increasingly stern. He realized that Su Jiuchuan's Realm was also the 5th Realm. He hadn't expected that Hechuan City had been hiding such an expert all along, and he had been completely unaware of it.

He drew his long sword, kicked the saddle, and launched himself from the horse, thrusting with his sword as if it were a Flying Sword from beyond the heavens.

With a crisp "Clang!", Su Jiuchuan had already rushed up and engaged Lan Guping.

Both were in the 5th Realm; their True Qi billowed, and gravel flew everywhere around them.

Of the people present, only the Third Prince and Chief Escort Master Zheng Nanhai could see the situation of the fight clearly.

"He is actually in the 5th Realm!"

Both of them were shocked, but not happy.

This Su Jiuchuan was hiding too much; every time there was a different discovery. Such a person, following the Third Prince, what exactly was he plotting?

If one said he was loyal to the monarch and patriotic, then why did he show absolutely no sign of respect for the Third Prince, and even forced him to use the royal jade pendant to pay off a debt?

If one said he harbored evil intentions, yet in times of danger, he had repeatedly stepped in to save them.

Such a person, remaining by one's side, was truly unsettling.

Chief Escort Master Zheng Nanhai secretly called to Zheng Xinyue, but Zheng Xinyue was fully focused on the fight at this moment and did not even glance at him.

Helpless, Chief Escort Master Zheng Nanhai and the Third Prince exchanged a glance, and the two silently slipped into the woods behind them, quickly disappearing from sight.

Of those present, only Lan Guping noticed this scene, but he could not free himself right now.

This time when he came out, he had been a bit arrogant, bringing only a few subordinates. Now that they had all been defeated at the hands of Su Jiuchuan, he was helpless for the moment.