Volume One: The Dragon Rises in the Wild Chapter One Hundred and One: The Martial World Is Full of Villains

Feixia Town was a small settlement at the foot of Feixia Ridge.

In front of a general store stood a young man, sixteen or seventeen at most, dressed in coarse short clothes and wearing a bamboo hat. He was quietly taking in the town before him.

Yu Ye had followed his map to this place.

He wanted to ask around for news and buy a horse.

It had been more than ten days since he left North Qi Mountain. He did not know what the aftermath had been, nor what movements the cultivators of Qi Province were making. As for his previous mount, the black horse, he had returned it to Zhong Jian, since there had been no convenient way to bring it back. The road ahead was long, and without a horse for travel, it would be rather arduous.

Yet the town looked more like an ordinary village: one main road ran through it, with a few shops and an inn along the way. There were hardly any people in sight, and no place that sold horses.

“Shopkeeper, I wish to buy a horse. Could you point me in the right direction?”

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man seated on a bamboo stool by the door. Behind him stood rows of dusty jars and crocks. Perhaps because business was poor, he was dozing off. Without even lifting his eyelids, he answered lazily, “You should be looking for a horse broker.”

“A broker?”

“One who arranges deals.”

“Where might I find one?”

“There isn’t one here.”

“I see...”

Since there was nowhere in town to buy livestock, there was naturally no horse broker either.

Buying a horse was not easy.

Yu Ye thanked him and walked on along the main road.

From behind him came the shopkeeper’s mutter: “A fine steed is worth ten gold pieces, and even an old cart horse costs a silver ingot. What would some country bumpkin know of gold and silver...”

After not far, there was a courtyard by the roadside.

A weathered signboard hung at the gate, bearing the words of the Prosperous Arrival Inn. Under the shade of the trees in the courtyard were several tables, and two men were drinking. By their dress, they seemed to be wanderers of the martial world.

Yu Ye stepped into the yard.

“May I ask what you need, young sir?”

The speaker was a plump woman in her forties, seated alone by a table and cracking melon seeds with her teeth.

But Yu Ye was looking toward the stable.

Inside it were two tethered horses, fully equipped with bridles and baggage.

“So you’re deaf, are you!”

The woman spat out a sunflower seed shell and rolled her eyes.

The two men continued eating and drinking without a care. Each carried a blade or sword, and both exuded a fierce air.

The so-called inn was quite shabby: five or six thatched huts, a ring of brushwood fencing, a stable, and a wine shop. That was the whole of the Prosperous Arrival Inn.

Yu Ye went to a table and sat down. “Shopkeeper, bring me a bowl of plain broth and two cakes.”

The woman did not move. Still cracking seeds, she said, “Well, well, so this young sir is not deaf after all. We don’t serve broth and cakes. Only strong liquor and cured meat!”

“Then bring a jug of wine and two pounds of meat.”

“That will be two candareens of silver, please.”

No food or drink first—money first. They were worried he might not be able to pay.

Yu Ye glanced at his coarse clothes and the dirt on his shoes, but he was not offended. He took out a small piece of silver and placed it on the table.

The woman snatched it up at once and cried shrilly, “Tong Da, a jug of fine wine and two pounds of cured meat!”

“Coming!”

A voice answered, and from the house came a black, thin middle-aged man. He set the wine and meat on the table, gave an ingratiating smile, and hurried off again to tend to his work.

Yu Ye poured himself a bowl of wine.

At the neighboring table, the two men were still bent over their food and drink.

Yu Ye took a sip. The wine was bland and tasteless. He spat it out with a “pth.”

The liquid landed on the ground, splashing dust onto one man’s foot. Noticing it, the man slammed the table with a “bang” and roared, “Damn it, are you blind?”

The other man shook his head and said disdainfully, “Why lower ourselves to the level of some country hick?”

“Calm yourself, brother!”

Yu Ye set down his bowl, stood to apologize, and casually carried the wine jug over with him. With an earnest smile, he said, “It was my fault. Let me make amends with wine.”

He offered the apology only as a pretext, so he could exchange a few words and gather information about the martial world. There is a saying: a clenched fist does not strike a smiling face, and harsh words are not directed at the weak. To strike a smiling man is also a rule of the road in the martial world.

Holding up the jug, Yu Ye was about to pour wine for the angry man. But the other party not only refused the gesture; he also raised a hand and swung it at Yu Ye, snarling, “Filthy wretch, get out of the way—”

So he wanted to bully someone.

It was one thing to make a move, but his words were openly insulting.

Yu Ye shifted aside, dodging the slap. The wine jug in his hand snapped against the man’s face with a crack. The man’s face burst open, and he fell heavily to the ground with a thud, his eyes rolling back as he passed out cold.

The other man was shocked. With a clang, he drew a long saber and slashed down.

Yu Ye, however, sat back down at the table. With his left hand he reached out and caught the descending saber with a bang. A surge of true energy poured through his grasp, so that the man holding the blade could neither let go nor break free. With his right hand Yu Ye picked up the wine jug from the table and calmly poured himself another bowl before saying with a frown, “You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Sit down.”

The man nodded frantically. His strength waned, and he quickly released the hilt, trembling as he took a seat.

By then the woman nearby was so frightened she had no idea what to do. The melon seeds slipped from her hands and scattered all over the floor. Terrified, she hurried into the house and dared not come out.

Yu Ye tossed the saber to the ground, then lifted the wine jug and drank directly from it. The liquor was strong and fiery. Glancing toward the wine shop, he set down the jug and said, “Answer me a few questions.”

“Y-yes, yes!”

The man cupped his hands in deference and said ingratiatingly, “My brother has eyes but no vision and has offended a great master. Whatever you command, we would not dare disobey...”

A display of bare-handed saber snatching was enough to cow anyone in the martial world.

“Where are you two from? And what is the current situation at North Qi Mountain?”

“My brother and I were sent out by our master on errands. We passed through here. As for North Qi Mountain...” The man thought for a moment and said, “It’s several hundred li from here. Word was that an immortal sect had been established there, and people from all directions were summoned to attend the opening ceremony. My brother and I are too lowly to join such excitement. Later there seemed to be a great fire on the mountain, but I know no details.”

These two were likely retainers of some wealthy household, and there was not much to be learned from them.

Yu Ye flipped his hand and set two silver ingots on the table. “Take them.”

“This...”

The man stared blankly, at a loss.

“Take them.”

Yu Ye slapped the table.

“Y-yes, yes!”

Still not understanding what was going on, and not daring to refuse, the man quickly drew the silver to himself.

Yu Ye rose and went straight to the stable. He chose a tall, glossy chestnut horse, led it out, then leaped into the saddle and rode toward the gate.

The man hurried after him to stop him. “That is my riding horse. How dare you seize it by force...”

“Bold of you!”

Yu Ye’s expression turned cold. “You took my silver. I am buying your horse. How can that be called robbery?”

“Ah...”

The man looked at the silver on the table, but regret came too late.

Yu Ye paid him no further heed. He shouted toward the wine shop, “Shopkeeper, you took my silver too, yet you watered down the liquor and cheated me in bad faith. If you don’t compensate me properly, I’ll tear down your Prosperous Arrival Inn!”

“Oh no, please don’t tear down the inn...”

Two people rushed out of the wine shop: the plump woman and the black, thin man, each hugging two jars of wine as they ran over.

Yu Ye raised a hand and made a grasping motion. The jars flew up into the air one after another, and with a sweep of his arm, all four vanished without a trace. He clamped his legs against the horse’s sides and left the stunned innkeepers and the frightened man far behind, charging down the road with domineering force.

It was rare to play the villain for once.

And strangely, it felt rather satisfying.

Not only had he secured a mount for travel, he had also taught the black-hearted innkeepers a lesson.

Perhaps that was why the martial world was so full of rogues...

Night fell.

By the bank of a small river, the grass and trees grew thick, and the evening breeze was gentle.

Yu Ye sat in the grass, watching the horse wander nearby.

This chestnut horse was inferior to the black horse he had ridden before; in a day it could manage only a little over two hundred li. To reach the seashore ten thousand li away would take at least a month and a half. There was no need to rush the journey, but he could not delay his cultivation.

The Celestial Shield, also known as the Heavenly Dragon Shield, was still not fully mastered.

As for the Heaven-Prohibition Art, he had only just begun to grasp its outline. Thus far it extended only to the ability to seize objects from afar. To cultivate the Binding Seal of the Heaven-Prohibition Art would require deeper pondering and comprehension.

And since he now lacked for spirit stones, he should continue trying to improve his cultivation. Without strong cultivation as support, the use of the Seven Slaughters Sword Qi would inevitably feel cramped. As Jiao Ying had said, the Seven Slaughters Sword Qi comprised seven sword forms, each stronger than the last. Once the sword art was brought to great completion, few would be able to stand against him.

Indeed, the realm of invincibility was something to long for.

And if cultivation were a mountain to climb, then he had only just set out.

Yu Ye took out a spirit stone and was about to sit in meditation and regulate his breath, when a thought occurred to him. In his hand appeared a jade slip, a jade tablet, and a token.

These were the relics of Nanshan.

The spirit stones, pills, techniques, and talismans among them were valuable, though not particularly unusual.

But these three items before him were clearly different.

The white immortal-sect token should have belonged personally to Nanshan. On both sides of the token were engraved the words of the Cloud River Immortal Gate of Qi Province’s Central Mountain, similar to the token he had seized before, though this one bore two additional words: Fire Cloud.

What did Fire Cloud refer to?

And the Cloud River Immortal Gate of Qi Province was extremely mysterious. Why was it so intent on treasures from overseas cultivators?

The jade slip did not contain a cultivation method, but rather a treatise on formations.

It recorded the diagrams and methods of setting up dozens of large and small arrays, encompassing all manner of killing, trapping, sealing, and confinement. If one could truly master this path, one would be able to set up or break all kinds of formations. In the future, if he encountered a formation, he would never again be helpless.

The jade tablet was somewhat damaged, but what it recorded was a cultivation art called the Ninefold Heaven and Earth Escape. It included Heaven Escape, Earth Escape, Fire Escape, Wind Escape, Water Escape, Dragon Escape, Tiger Escape, Spirit Escape, and Ghost Escape. Unfortunately, the incantations were incomplete, leaving only the Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Dragon escape methods. Even so, these five escape arts were already astonishingly marvelous.

Nanshan truly deserved to have come seeking treasure; the formation treatise and the Ninefold Heaven and Earth Escape in his relics were exceedingly remarkable.

Still, whether treatise or escape art, both were obscure and profound. I’m afraid that without several decades of hard study, it would be impossible to comprehend their deeper mysteries.

“Flood Dragon Shadow!”

“What is it?”

“You passed on the Celestial Classic and the Seven Slaughters Sword Art to me. I ought to repay you!”

“Oh...?”

“Today I shall pass this treatise on formations and the Ninefold Heaven and Earth Escape to you.”

“Oh? That’s a bit suspicious.”

“After you have studied them, just pass me the relevant tricks.”

“Hmph, so you really do mean to take shortcuts. You’ve changed...”