Jiayuan City was vast, yet small enough that it had no room for a waste.
Mo Juren had risen to become one of Jiayuan City's three great underworld kingpins. Even with the City Lord's Mansion backing him, there was no doubt that Mo Juren himself was exceptionally capable.
Capable enough to sense the existence of the people at the very top of Jiayuan City—
cultivators!
But without seeing one with his own eyes, he did not dare draw any conclusions.
One day, Mo Juren learned of a Centuries-Old Spirit Herb. He planned to use it to sound Lord Li out about cultivators.
He wanted to cultivate, too.
But then an accident happened.
At first, he thought he was being robbed.
He had assumed it was a master of the Martial Dao and that they would fight fairly. He had not expected his opponent to produce a long sword from who knew where.
Demon Silver Hand?
His hand had nearly been shattered.
Run!
In all of Jiayuan City, fewer than a dozen people could match his skills—and the person in front of him was definitely not one of them.
He suspected that this person was a cultivator.
The Martial Dao could not possibly be this powerful.
Now, his only choice was Li Garden. Lord Li.
Perhaps the cultivator was playing with a cat and mouse; perhaps he wanted to follow the trail and get more out of him. The cultivator pursuing him had clearly had chances to kill him, yet had only left one cut after another across his body.
This gave him a better understanding of cultivators’ abilities: Mortals could not stand against them.
His obsession with cultivation grew even stronger.
Li Garden was just ahead. Rather than go through the main gate, he jumped over the wall.
The sound of a zither reached his ears. A flash of delight crossed his eyes, and he headed toward Plum Garden.
He had used the back entrance many times to deliver treasures, and knew Lord Li loved to drink beneath the pavilion in Plum Garden.
Behind him was a cultivator at Qi Refining, Fifth Layer. Seeing Mo Juren enter Li Garden, the cultivator slowed down and furrowed his brow.
Then his expression brightened, and a trace of coldness flickered in his eyes.
Just as Mo Juren had expected, the cultivator could have killed the thief who stole his Spirit Herb long ago. But he wanted to get more out of him.
He had never expected that this man would have Lord Li, Li Xunhuan, behind him.
He was with the Black Fiend Sect, so he naturally knew about Li Xunhuan.
He had heard that Li Xunhuan spent his days reading and practicing martial arts, and had even turned down Daoist Qingwen’s offer to protect him on an outing. He had thoroughly disgraced the Black Fiend Sect.
But now, it seemed that was not entirely true.
Was he afraid of getting his hands dirty?
He really was a scholar.
If Heaven gives you an opportunity and you do not take it, you will be punished for it.
This was the perfect chance to “kill with a borrowed knife” and “reap the benefits as the fisherman.”
He would make it look as if Mo Juren had killed the City Lord, then arrive too late and have no choice but to avenge him and collect the body. Daoist Qingwen might even thank him.
His mouth curled into a grin. He urged his magical artifact onward and flew inside.
He was at Qi Refining, Fifth Layer; Li Xunhuan was at the fourth. The advantage was his. A sure kill.
At that moment, beneath the pavilion in Li Garden, Mo Juren was playing the victim and begging for help.
“Lord City Lord, this is the Centuries-Old Spirit Herb Old Mo risked his life to get for you.”
Li Xunhuan took the medicine box and brought it close to smell.
Not bad. The Spirit Herb was a full hundred years old.
He nodded approvingly at Old Mo and praised him.
“Old Mo, well done. What reward would you like this time?”
Mo Juren gritted his teeth. Unable to let go of his obsession with cultivation, he asked,
“Lord City Lord, Old Mo only wants to ask one question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Lord City Lord, are you a cultivator?”
After speaking, Old Mo looked up and stared intently into Li Xunhuan’s eyes, not missing the slightest change in his expression.
Li Xunhuan was taken aback. So Mo Juren had come into contact with cultivators this early?
Was that Fellow Daoist outside the gate someone he had brought here?
Still, Li Xunhuan did not care. It was only someone at Qi Refining, Fifth Layer.
As for Mo Juren’s question, he merely shook his head.
A cultivator?
He did not think he was one.
At present, he was merely a practitioner of the Dao.
Only someone who cultivated essence, energy, and spirit could be considered a true cultivator.
“I’m not a cultivator!”
He did not even get up. He simply held a Flying Dagger using an ordinary martial arts throwing technique, indicating that he was just an ordinary man who practiced martial arts.
Just then, a long sword came flying straight at Li Xunhuan.
The voice came a moment later.
“Li Xunhuan, you truly aren’t a cultivator.”
The man in black came swooping in like a phantom, aided by his lightness skill and Wind Manipulation Technique.
Lion hunts rabbit, yet still uses its full strength. He would not give Li Xunhuan the slightest chance to fight back.
Facing the inescapable net, Li Xunhuan did not so much as blink. His body suddenly shot through the air like an arrow, maintaining a distance of two inches from the flying long sword.
Those two inches seemed to be separated by a barrier of space and time: close at hand, yet worlds apart.
His hand seemed not to move at all, yet the Flying Dagger still shot forth.
In the darkness, a meteor seemed to flash by.
The man in black let out a furious roar. His body abruptly reversed course, and he fled backward even faster than before.
At that moment, Li Xunhuan lightly touched one heel to the ground and came to a halt, catching the long sword between two fingers.
He even leisurely tilted his head back and took a swig of wine.
At the same time, the man in black slammed into the south wall. Then his body, like boneless water, slowly slid to the ground.
Li Xunhuan paid it no mind. If One-Eye at Qi Refining, Sixth Layer could not stop him, how could someone at Qi Refining, Fifth Layer?
But to Mo Juren, all of this was incomprehensible.
A long trail of blood stretched across the ground. The man in black who had left him helpless now lay face down.
Mo Juren slowly walked over and turned the man in black onto his back. The man was clutching his throat with both hands, blood pouring out nonstop.
Mo Juren’s heart chilled. He pulled out the Flying Dagger, putting an end to the man in black’s wicked life.
The Flying Dagger looked utterly ordinary: a willow-leaf blade, three inches and seven tenths long, extremely thin and sharp.
Could a knife like this really kill a cultivator?
Mo Juren was bewildered.
He returned the Flying Dagger.
Beneath the pavilion, Li Xunhuan continued playing the zither and drinking wine, like a scholar.
After a long while, Mo Juren still asked,
“My lord, are you really not a cultivator?”
Li Xunhuan never lied. He looked at Mo Juren warmly, smiling.
“Of course not. Didn’t that man in black just say so?”
Mo Juren had no way to argue. How could he take the man in black’s words at face value? What if he had meant, “You’re not a cultivator; you’re more like a scholar”?
Even as someone who practiced martial arts, Mo Juren found scholars terrifying.
“My lord, then what about your Flying Dagger?”
“It’s a family-inherited martial art. The world isn’t peaceful, so one needs a skill to protect oneself.”
Li Xunhuan answered smoothly. Seeing that Mo Juren was still puzzled, he tested the waters.
“How about I show you that this really is a martial art?”
【Little Li’s Flying Dagger never misses its mark】
It was absolutely not a cultivation method.
This technique just had a bit of causality to it.
“No, no need.”
Mo Juren waved his hands repeatedly. Remembering the man in black’s fate, he did not dare try it.
He had survived against all odds. He did not want to die.
“My lord, could we make a Trade? I’ll exchange all my family’s martial arts for this technique of yours.”
Mo Juren asked cautiously.
He would not give up until he had seen the Yellow River. He still wanted to try; what if it really was a Cultivation Technique?
Old Mo, how many times have I told you? It really is an ordinary martial art.
Little Li’s Flying Dagger only has this much power in the hands of Li Xunhuan.
Why would no one believe him?
Oh, well. If he wanted to trade, then they would trade.
Mo Juren had hidden his family’s martial arts manuals very well. Li Xunhuan had snuck in many times and still failed to find them.
“Sure.”
The Trade concluded, Mo Juren turned and left to go home and treat his wounds.
Li Xunhuan watched him go and bade him farewell.
The immortal and the mortal belonged to different worlds. They would never meet again.
He had already obtained most of what Jiayuan City had to offer. It was time to leave.
Come to think of it, the man in black had come to see him off. Had he not brought a gift?