44: Chapter 44 Take it or leave it

It turned out that Su Jiuchuan had already realized that the streak of white light was actually a short sword.

What did this mean? Su Jiuchuan dared not think about it.

The situation on the field was quite strange now; City Lord Guan Lin had been pierced through the chest by that strike and had fallen to the ground, his life or death unknown, leaving the other soldiers at a loss when they saw their commander in such a state.

Many of the bandits who had been suppressed in the corner saw this and actually broke out of their encirclement and fled.

The soldiers seemed to have no heart to fight to the death, merely standing to the side and glancing frequently toward their commander.

After Shen Xiuru fired that streak of white light, she seemed completely drained, her complexion a purplish-gold, and she collapsed to the ground as if she might die at any moment.

The two soldiers who had originally intended to drive her away did not know what to do when they saw her in this state.

They could only press their spears firmly against her chest while waiting for orders from above.

Perhaps only Guo Fan was in decent condition on the scene, but after being captured, he had been tightly bound and was now gazing with envy toward the direction where the short sword had fallen.

"Stop!" Guo Fan suddenly shouted fiercely.

City Lord Guan Lin, who was over there, also regained consciousness at this moment, though his face was deathly pale; disregarding his serious injuries, he hurriedly shouted, "Stop him!"

The soldiers, seeing that their commander was fine, were just letting out a sigh of relief when they suddenly heard this command; turning their heads, they saw a black shadow lunging toward the direction where the white light had vanished.

They immediately realized what was happening and chased after him.

Su Jiuchuan had already found the short sword by then.

The short sword looked ancient in design and was now lying on the grass, twitching from time to time like a small fish thrown onto the shore.

He hurriedly grabbed it, and the short sword struggled in his hand for a moment before finally going still.

This was definitely a treasure, so Su Jiuchuan did not dare to delay; he turned and ran toward the rolling mountains behind him.

Countless soldiers had already rushed over, and for a time, the forest was illuminated everywhere by torchlight.

...

Half a month later, Su Jiuchuan appeared outside Tianshui City.

During this time of flight, he had no time to meet up with Zheng Xinyue and just kept running into the mountains.

Several times, he was surrounded by government troops; these soldiers of the Hubiao Battalion had a Formation that could trap him, and even with his high cultivation level, he could not escape for a while, with a steady stream of soldiers reinforcing them.

If he hadn't relied on the broadsword in his hand to continuously cut through the soldiers' spears and forcibly break through the encirclement to escape, he feared he would have been worn down to death by this war of attrition.

During the gaps in his flight, Su Jiuchuan carefully examined this broadsword and discovered two characters engraved on the hilt: "black blade," so he named the sword the black blade.

Regardless, he had finally shaken off his pursuers and emerged from the mountains; upon inquiring, he discovered that the nearest city was this Tianshui City.

Walking into the city, he found that this place, located in the heartland of the Dynasty, was quite peaceful and prosperous.

Su Jiuchuan finally relaxed; he was already very far from Xuzhou.

These days of fleeing through the forests had been truly exhausting, so he prepared to find a restaurant to have a good meal.

And the most famous restaurant in Tianshui City was the Zuixian Restaurant.

At this time, the sun had just passed noon, and there were not many people in the restaurant.

Guided by the waiter, he sat down in a corner on the second floor, ordered a few dishes, warmed a pot of wine, and began to drink alone.

"I heard something big happened over in Xuzhou City," a middle-aged man in green clothes said to the person beside him.

"Did they clash with King Yu?"

The middle-aged man in green smiled and said, "Probably not, I just heard that a young Genius, only eighteen years old and already a First-grade Martial Artist, not only injured City Lord Guan Lin in Xuzhou but even wounded someone from the Chiyan Sect."

Hearing this, Su Jiuchuan frowned again; how was it that he was the one who injured City Lord Guan Lin, and even the Chiyan Sect people were being blamed on him?

Why did this reek of a conspiracy!

"Impossible, that City Lord Guan Lin has long been a First-grade Martial Artist, and being able to guard a city, he is also an elite among First-grade Martial Artists; how could he be defeated by a Second-grade? It sounds like fake news."

The middle-aged man in green said unconvinced, "How is it impossible? I heard my master talking about it with someone. This young man is named Su Jiuchuan, and I don't know what his background is, only that he carries a black broadsword, not only assassinated City Lord Guan Lin, but also escaped the pursuit of the Hubiao Battalion..."

His voice grew quieter as he spoke, and the person beside him followed his gaze, only to see a young man sitting in the corner with a broadsword leaning against the wall beside him.

Su Jiuchuan noticed everyone's gazes and felt a bit depressed; this broadsword was still too eye-catching.

After all, the broadsword's hilt was very long, nearly one and a half meters, and it was entirely pitch black; it was truly too distinctive for others not to notice.

"Is this Young Master Su Jiuchuan?"

At this moment, a young man in brocade robes walked over from a table by the window, raised his hands, and cupped them in a salute.

"Correct! That is me." Although he did not want to cause trouble, he was not someone who feared trouble either.

"I am Young Master Lin Yanyi, and I would like to spar with you, brother."

"Ah, so that is Young Master Lin Yanyi! I heard he is a First-grade Martial Artist who has already challenged the young Martial Artists of ten cities in a row. I didn't expect him to come to our Tianshui City!" The middle-aged man in green and others exclaimed in low voices.

"I heard he claims to be the number one person under the Innate realm; he is too arrogant!"

Su Jiuchuan was also puzzled; it seemed this guy wanted to use him to build his own reputation.

"Not interested!" He couldn't be bothered to play with this kind of person.

Young Master Lin Yanyi frowned and said, "Could the rumors be false? How could the person who injured City Lord Guan Lin be such a coward?"

Su Jiuchuan shook his head, thinking that this kind of provocation was too low-level, but it seemed he wouldn't be able to finish his meal today.

He stood up, tossed an ingot of silver onto the table, and prepared to leave.

"Clang!"

A long sword blocked his path.

Su Jiuchuan smiled; having lived two lifetimes, he would not be easily provoked, so he simply walked around the long sword and continued downstairs.

Young Master Lin Yanyi's face instantly turned red; never before had any Martial Artist remained indifferent to such a provocation.

He was young and already a First-grade Martial Artist, and he had set up arenas in ten major cities, challenging the younger generation of Martial Artists without a single defeat.

Now that he heard someone of the same age was actually able to defeat a First-grade Martial Artist while being at a lower rank, he couldn't help but feel eager; he just had to step on such a Genius to feel satisfied.

However, he was unwilling to force the other party to fight at sword point, as that would greatly damage his image.

"Then what would it take for you to have a match?"

Hearing this, Su Jiuchuan couldn't help but stop and look over, saying, "How about adding a wager? The loser gives one hundred thousand taels of silver?"

Young Master Lin Yanyi was stunned and muttered, "Silver? What is the use of such worldly possessions?"

"How about it? Love to fight or not!" Su Jiuchuan shrugged and turned to continue walking.

"Fine, I agree! Three days from now, see you at the arena!" Seeing that Su Jiuchuan was about to walk away, Young Master Lin Yanyi shouted back.