Volcanic Age

The Evil Valley had weakened drastically, but it wasn't to the point of raising concerns.

Still, they wouldn't be able to make any greedy moves.

Zhou Xuchuan decided that it was enough. Getting involved any further could lead to more unexpected variables. That was why he didn't speak to anyone before slipping out of the Evil Valley's headquarters to avoid getting dragged in any deeper.

Jiang Ningchu informed Zhou Xuchuan about the letter from the Evil Valley Sect Master, and Zhou Xuchuan was relieved to hear that the Xia Wu Sect Master had decided to keep his identity a secret.

Twisted Melody is dead.

First was Vast Gate, and Twisted Melody had finally joined her in the netherworld.

What a rapid development…

With that, the Dark Heavens Association would find it difficult to control its spies. Blessed Existence would probably take over Twisted Melody's role, but their effectiveness would surely fall drastically.

A smirk suffused Zhou Xuchuan's lips. To think that a nobody like him in the previous timeline managed to achieve such incredible feats in this life!

The incident had catapulted the Phantom Bow Swordsman's fame to almost the same level as the Plum Blossom Order Sword's. Naturally, Zhou Xuchuan felt conflicted about the development.

He was from the Righteous Faction, but he was also a top expert within the Evil Faction.

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't even imagine just how shocked the public would be upon learning the truth.

Things won't go as you planned.

The Seven Stars Division had been reduced to having just five surviving heads. Zhou Xuchuan would deal with them all, and then he'd take the lives of the head of the Archives and the Lord of the Dark Heavens Association.

That was his ultimate goal…

"Well, then. Should I head back to Mount Hua?"

According to the information he had obtained from the Dark Heavens Association's secret branch, there were no longer any urgent matters requiring his attention.

However, the Evil Valley incident would influence some trivial matters to some degree.

Since that was the case, all Zhou Xuchuan could do was wait and see. He needed to know how Murim would respond, and it would give him some clues about the Dark Heavens Association's next actions.

He grouped up with Little Ghost, who had been on standby near the Evil Valley's headquarters and headed north. They remained cautious in case they had inadvertently left traces.

It was only when they arrived at a deserted location did Zhou Xuchuan removed the skin mask over his face. The sharp, short-tempered face of a warrior who had experienced the harshness of Murim was gone, replaced by the face of the famed swordsman of Mount Hua. 𝘳𝐀Ꞑo͍ꞖƐ𝓢

"Now I can breathe freely."

Truth be told, Zhou Xuchuan didn't feel stuffy under the mask, as the old man's craftsmanship was otherworldly. Even so, he couldn't completely get over the sense of disharmony while wearing the skin mask.

Regardless of how great of a product it was, there'd always be a difference between wearing it and not wearing it at all.

Junior Sister Luo will surely be surprised to see me.

Zhou Xuchuan chuckled. It hadn't been that long since they shared a heartfelt farewell that embarrassed even Zhuge Shengji, but it seemed that they were about to be reunited once more.

Of course, Zhou Xuchuan liked the idea. He also wanted to return to Mount Hua as soon as possible and see the people he had been missing a lot these days.

Just like that, the Evil Faction's hero, the Phantom Bow Swordsman, vanished from existence once more.

***

The Mount Hua Sect located in the Shaanxi province had pure-white snow covering it.

Perhaps it was somewhere higher up on the mountain, but the temperature within it was a bit lower than in other areas.

There were beautiful plum blossoms peeking out from below the layers of snow here and there, seemingly reminding everyone that this was the Mount Hua Sect.

Murmur, whisper…

Plum blossoms weren't the only thing visible in Mount Hua today.

There was also a seemingly endless queue of visitors marring the pure-white snow.

Mount Hua's fame had soared to the top of the Nine Sects and One Gang upon the destruction of the Green Dragon Stockade. Naturally, it was receiving more visitors than usual.

The visitors weren't just from other Murim sects and clans; there were also merchants among them who wanted to build bridges with Mount Hua somehow.

"Look at this stupidly long queue," said a large-framed merchant while scowling deeply. It had already been half a day since he arrived at the entrance, but the queue still showed no signs of getting any shorter.

The merchant was obviously running out of patience.

"Seriously, now! Can't we hurry things along a bit?!"

The merchant's irritation had reached the breaking point, and the cold weather worsened his desire to get indoors.

"Can't you see that everyone else is also waiting like you?"

The merchant wasn't the only person irritated by the lengthy wait.

Someone further up the queue exploded in irritation as well.

"This is why bastards like merchants are so—tsk!"

"What was that?!" The merchant yelled back after getting triggered. "What did you say?!"

"Goodness me~! I didn't know that a merchant who had sold his soul for money would still have some pride!" the cultivator replied snarkily.

"You dare…!"

The merchant's face turned red and blue from anger.

The commotion attracted the attention of everyone nearby, and some of them recognized the merchant and the cultivator.

"Hey, that's the head of the Taiyuan[1] Merchants!"

The Taiyuan Merchants was an influential mercantile operation based in Shanxi province. They were busy expanding their territory by opening branches in places as far as the Hebei province and even in the Capital.

"Huh? The head of the Taiyuan Merchants?" the cultivator asked back, seemingly recognizing that title.

"Now you know who you picked a fight with!" the Taiyuan Merchants' Boss exclaimed.

"Say what? Ahahaha!" The cultivator threw his head back and guffawed. "A mere merchant dares to run his mouth in the presence of I, Teng Guoyou!"

"Teng Guoyou? He's the Fivefold Fist!"

Gasps of surprise and admiration came from everywhere in the queue.

What? He's the Fivefold Fist?

The Taiyuan Merchants' Boss stiffened instantly. The Fivefold Fist was renowned for being a Righteous Faction expert who had never failed to suppress his opponents within five punches, so if he were truly the Fivefold Fist...

The Fivefold Fist had also completed several missions as a warrior affiliated with the Murim Coalition. Despite his affiliation, however, his personality was rumored to be rather poor.

Unfortunately for the Taiyuan Merchants' Boss, he was insulted in front of so many people, which meant that he had to do something to save face.

"Even if you're the Fivefold Fist, you were still out of line, sir!" Of course, the Taiyuan Merchants' Boss decided to be respectful at the very least.

The merchants nearby all nodded in agreement, but they dared not voice their thoughts.

"What line did I cross when I only spoke the truth?"

Unfortunately, Teng Guoyou had no desire to take his words back. He stood still with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and he scoffed derisively at the Taiyuan Merchants' Boss with narrowed eyes.

The nearby warriors chimed in.

"The Fivefold Fist is right!"

"You merchants are a bunch of people who only care about money! You've sold your honor away!"

"You should know shame! Tsk, tsk!"

The division between cultivators and merchants ran deeper than most people would find, and as if to prove that fact, both two sides were already glaring at each other.

The situation rapidly approached the point of no return. Just before something bad could happen, the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect rushed over.

"What's going on here?"

"I was minding my own business, but the merchant over there yelled at me to move faster. So I shouted back at him," said Teng Guoyou in a matter-of-factly way.

"Say what…?" The Taiyuan Merchants' Boss became speechless in flabbergast.

The Fivefold Fist was technically correct. The merchant boss had triggered the incident but wasn't it Teng Guoyou who had escalated the situation?

The Taiyuan Merchants' Boss turned to the Mount Hua disciple and said, "Yes, he's technically right, but he's exaggerating. I'll apologize for starting this situation, but don't you think that accusing us of selling our soul for money is crossing the line?"

"Huh, really now?" Teng Guoyou sneered right back. "How absurd! You were the one who picked a fight, but you want me to apologize?"

"Be careful with your tone, sir! I'm trying to be as courteous as possible here."

"I don't get why I should do that."

"Why, you fatherless fool…!"

In the end, the Taiyuan Merchants' Boss couldn't hold it anymore and blew his top.

The Fivefold Fist's fame wasn't to be scoffed at, but it also applied to the Taiyuan Merchants. In fact, the Taiyuan Merchants were prestigious enough to handle an expert without a sect's backing.

The Taiyuan Merchants' Boss wanted to wrap this situation up without escalating it any further, as they were in Mount Hua, but his thoughts changed in the face of Teng Guoyou's unrelenting attitude.

Oh, no! This is bad! The young Mount Hua warrior's expression stiffened. At this rate, a large-scale brawl would break out in front of his sect's entrance. Even if he wanted to physically suppress the commotion, the Fivefold Fist was too strong for him to handle.

In other words, there wasn't much this young cultivator could do here.

He glanced at his junior brother behind him and signaled that they needed reinforcements to quell the commotion.

"What did you call me?! Did you just call me a fatherless fool?!" Teng Guoyou's face grew flushed in anger. Steam gushed out from his nostrils as if boiling blood had rushed to his head. He even clenched his fists tightly.

The young Mount Hua cultivator saw those clenched fists and gripped the hilt of his sword. He tensed up, knowing he was dealing with none other than the Fivefold Fist and not some random punk!

"Senior Fivefold Fist! Please calm down. You are in front of Mount Hua."

"Huh? And a young punk is telling me what to do now?! Are you ordering me to let that insult go unanswered?!"

Teng Guoyou's beard trembled. Killing intent began leaking out of him as if his rage was no longer under his control.

Just as the cultivators in the vicinity reached for their weapons, a man rushed out of Mount Hua's gate.

"Everyone, please calm down!" It was a middle-aged man with a gentle, handsome countenance. The plum blossom insignia on his sleeves meant that his affiliation need not be explained.

Teng Guoyou sharply asked, "And who are you?"

"It's my pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm the Gentle Smiling Swordsman, Liu Zhengmu."

Liu Zhengmu greeted the Fivefold Fist respectfully with a cupped fist.

Whew! We're saved!

The frantic young Mount Hua cultivator sighed inwardly in relief. Then, he silently raised his thumb to his junior brother, who had followed Liu Zhengmu back to the gate.

Since time immemorial, it had always been difficult to spit on a smiling face.

Thanks to Liu Zhengmu's good-natured and gentle smiling face, he was internally acknowledged as an expert at defusing volatile situations. Even his title was the Gentle Smiling Sword, wasn't it? He was the most suitable for this kind of job.

"So what?!"

Unfortunately, the situation was very volatile. The word "fool" seemed to have touched Teng Guoyou's reverse scale, as he showed no signs of calming down.

He even raised his voice in anger as if the newcomer had displeased him even more.

"Sure, I'm sorry about causing a commotion, but I was insulted! That's not something I can forgive, so get out of my way if you don't want to get hurt!"

What?!

The Mount Hua disciples instantly grew displeased.

Teng Guoyou had dared to cause trouble right in front of Mount Hua's entrance, but he even dared to look down on Liu Zhengmu who was attempting to bring peace!

It was true that Teng Guoyou had lost his cool, allowing his boiling blood to rush to his head, but wasn't he crossing the line here?

"I understand where you're coming from, but you've become too agitated."

Befitting his reputation, Liu Zhengmu remained patient against such belittling remarks. Rather than losing his temper, his eyes arched gently like a pair of crescent moons as he focused his efforts on pacifying the irate cultivator.

Unfortunately, Teng Guoyou didn't even pretend to listen.

He slowly approached the Taiyuan Merchants' Boss while infusing his qi into his fists.

"Goodness!"

"Fivefold Fist!"

"You dare?!"

The Mount Hua disciples erupted in anger.

Liu Zhengmu was well regarded and respected within Mount Hua. Not only was he a capable teacher who had nurtured a hero, but his gentle and warm personality also had a calming effect on many people.

In fact, the people of Mount Hua often said that anyone in a bad mood would no longer feel unhappy after chatting with the Gentle Smiling Swordsman.

Besides all that, how could these disciples turn a blind eye to some random stranger being so disrespectful right in front of their sect's entrance?

It can't be helped, then.

Liu Zhengmu groaned inwardly. If he could help it, he wouldn't want to do this, but the situation was forcing his hand. He glanced at the young Mount Hua disciples.

"All of you, protect the crowd and make sure that they won't get hurt."

Despite being disrespected, Liu Zhengmu remained calm, caring more about the safety of the visitors. That alone was enough proof of his caring nature.

"Oh, so you'll stand in my way in the end?!"

Teng Guoyou growled, and the ends of his brows rose up sharply. He wouldn't act this way if he were his usual self. After all, this was Mount Hua, the home of the Exalted Sword Immortal.

However, standing in an unmoving queue for a long time had soured his mood, and the merchant's insult had pushed him over the edge. At this point, he couldn't let the matter go.

Experts like him were proud creatures, and experts from the Righteous Faction were even more prideful. They'd often risk their lives to uphold their honor.

"Fine! It seems that you have no idea who I am, so let me teach you an unforgettable lesson!" Teng Guoyou growled menacingly while circulating his qi.

"I am the Fivefold Fist, Teng Guoyou! A man invited by the Murim Coaliti—"

SMACK!

Teng Guoyou arrogantly shouted his name while standing tall and proud, but something struck the back of his head, forcing him to look down at the ground.

"…!"

A deafening silence descended.

The angry Mount Hua disciples, the Taiyuan Merchants' Boss celebrating inwardly, and the peanut gallery clamped their mouths shut.

"What the…?"

Teng Guoyou looked up slowly and glanced to his side.

A fairly good-looking young man was standing behind him.

"I'll keep it brief. Kowtow and apologize to my master," said the young man.

"…!"

Liu Zhengmu was stunned upon seeing the young man. The young man who had ruthlessly smacked the back of Teng Guoyou's head was none other than his disciple!

1. Taiyuan is a city in China's Shanxi province. Not to be confused with Shaanxi province, which is located right next to it. ☜

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