60: Use my sword to seek justice for me!

Inside a massive residence not far from the Wanxiang Tower in Dongshan Prefecture.

A courtyard was brightly lit, and under the brilliant lights, a figure clad in purple was practicing swordplay.

The sword light was like water, splashing across the endless Void Realm. Even without mobilizing any power of blood and Qi, it caused the void to tremble and distort, as if it were about to shred the entire space.

This person was Chen Jiangping, the Vice Master of Wanxiang Tower, a Peak expert among Martial Dao Second Ranks, and a terrifying existence who could even contend with an ordinary First Rank for a move or two!

Such experts were extremely rare even within a single prefecture, and they were considered powerhouses across the entire Nine Provinces, each possessing a resounding reputation.

But suddenly—

"Whoosh!"

In the courtyard, it was as if a gentle breeze had blown past. Chen Jiangping, who had been practicing his sword, felt his vision blur.

In the next moment, a youth wearing white clothes with a white longsword on his back and a proud, cold expression appeared before him.

"cold chi sword, Jiang Hanhan!"

Upon seeing the newcomer's face, Chen Jiangping's pupils constricted, and a look of surprise flashed across his face before it quickly turned into a smile.

"I did not know Young Hero Jiang, the cold chi sword, was visiting Wanxiang Tower. I, Chen Jiangping, failed to welcome you properly; I hope Young Hero Jiang can forgive me."

"I simply do not know what important matter brings Young Hero Jiang here so late at night to find me?"

"If there is anything, please state it in detail, Young Hero Jiang. I will certainly do my best to help!"

Chen Jiangping smiled, and even the sinister air on his face dissipated significantly. He was far more polite than he had been in front of Zhao Haihong or Lin Yi, or even in front of the Myriad Phenomena Tower Master.

After all, the person before him was a peerless Prodigy who had reached the 31st rank on the nine provinces latent dragon general ranking at the age of twenty-three. In terms of potential, he was among the top few in the entire 108-member Latent Dragon Ranking. It could be said that he was destined to achieve a level beyond the First Rank in the future.

While Chen Jiangping considered his own talent extraordinary and believed he had a sliver of potential to reach beyond the First Rank, he was far inferior compared to the man before him.

Thoughts raced frantically through Chen Jiangping's mind.

However, facing Chen Jiangping's politeness, Jiang Hanhan remained cold. His icy eyes looked at him without a hint of warmth as he slowly spoke.

"Vice Dean Zhao of the Dongshan Martial Academy is my master. Tell me, what do you think I am here for?"

"What! Zhao Haihong is your master? This... how is this possible!"

Hearing this, Chen Jiangping felt as if his mind had exploded; he was completely stunned.

He didn't understand. Zhao Haihong was clearly just a mediocre Third-Rank Transmitting Merit Elder of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. It would be impressive if he could produce a few Second-Rank Martial Artists in his lifetime. How could he be connected to a super Prodigy like Jiang Hanhan? And have Jiang Hanhan call him 'master'?

One must know that the title 'shifu' was not something to be used lightly. In the Jiuzhou World, there was always the saying: 'Teacher for a day, father for a lifetime.' The concepts of 'shifu' and 'teacher' were completely different.

A 'teacher' could be someone at a martial arts hall where one paid to learn, or someone who taught a few classes at a martial academy.

The relationship between such a teacher and their students was not particularly close. Even if they were on good terms, a student might respect them as an ordinary elder and offer a hand with minor issues, which would already be considered good.

If the relationship was poor, the student and teacher might as well be strangers.

But a 'shifu' was different. This was an existence truly comparable to, or even surpassing, a father! The intimacy of the relationship was unimaginable!

And now, a mere Zhao Haihong, a tiny Third-Rank Martial Artist—what right did he have to be called that by Jiang Hanhan?

Chen Jiangping was baffled, but at this moment, he didn't have time to ponder the question further.

Because he knew that given the degree of humiliation he had inflicted on Zhao Haihong today, Jiang Hanhan might very well kill him right now.

At this thought, fear inevitably rose in Chen Jiangping's heart, and he hurriedly explained.

"Young Hero Jiang, to... today was my mistake!"

"I did not know Old Zhao was your teacher. If I had known, even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't have dared to offend Old Zhao!"

"Spare me today, and tomorrow—no, I will go right now to apologize to Old Zhao!"

"No need."

Looking at Chen Jiangping's terrified state, Jiang Hanhan's expression remained cold. He reached out with his right hand, slowly drawing the longsword from his back, and spoke indifferently.

"If apologies were useful, then what would be the point of the sword in my hand?"

"Furthermore, I never give my enemies a chance to apologize."

"Instead, I will only use the sword in my hand to..."

"Seek justice for myself!"

"Swish!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a white sword light so brilliant it seemed like a great sun suddenly illuminated the entire night sky.

At this moment, in Chen Jiangping's eyes, everything around him seemed to vanish. The entire world seemed to consist only of this terrifying sword light.

That sword light was incomparably brilliant!

Incomparably dazzling!

Incomparably terrifying!

And equally unstoppable!

"Ah!"

A scream rang out. In the courtyard, the two figures could be seen crossing paths.

In the next instant, Chen Jiangping—who had been so formidable and arrogant earlier that day—was now lying on the ground in a wretched state. He clutched his empty, bleeding right ear while screaming, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at the white-clad figure holding the longsword.

"Top twenty of the Latent Dragon Ranking! This is absolutely the terrifying strength of the top twenty on the nine provinces latent dragon general ranking!"

"Otherwise, if it were just the 31st rank, then with my strength, even if I couldn't defeat him, I should have been able to withstand a few moves. How could I be insta-killed by a single sword strike without any power to resist!"

"Too terrifying! Truly too terrifying! Jiang Hanhan is only twenty-three! His strength has actually reached the level of the top twenty on the nine provinces latent dragon ranking."

"If his strength improves again in two years, how strong will he be? Is he going to take the number one spot on the Latent Dragon Ranking?"

Chen Jiangping's heart was filled with immense dread, fearing that Jiang Hanhan would suddenly strike again and kill him.

But fortunately, what he feared did not happen. Under his terrified gaze...

In the moonlight, Jiang Hanhan flicked the blood off his sword and slowly returned it to its scabbard.

"Phew!"

Seeing this, Chen Jiangping breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He forced his body through the tearing pain, his face pale, as he slowly rose and bowed respectfully.

"Th-thank you, Young Hero Jiang, for sparing my life today. This humble one, Chen..."

"No need to thank me!"

In the courtyard, before Chen Jiangping could finish, he was coldly interrupted by Jiang Hanhan.

"If you want to thank someone, thank my Junior Brother Lin Yi!"

"Lin Yi?"

Hearing this, Chen Jiangping was stunned.

But in the next instant, before he had time to be confused, Jiang Hanhan's figure had already vanished like an afterimage, leaving only a cold voice in the air.

"Because he told me that one day in the future, he would personally..."

"Kill you!"