Li Chi was in mid-air, his black iron saber flying straight back at him, its hilt bearing down ferociously toward his chest — with seemingly no room left to evade.

But Li Chi had never intended to evade.

In mid-air, Li Chi kicked out, catching the hilt of the black iron saber squarely. The saber spun rapidly, launched high into the sky.

The black iron saber was extraordinarily heavy. Even a sturdy man would find it strenuous to wield it properly — flung suddenly into the sky, it carried Li Chi with it, lifting him still higher.

The chain was attached to the hilt, and for the moment Li Chi could not release it; the saber was spinning and the chain coiling, leaving Li Chi somewhat at a disadvantage.

The Holy Blade Sect’s young martial uncle Yuan Jianli raised his head to watch Li Chi, his eyes narrowing slightly — as though this man’s reactions, this man’s skill, had struck something within him.

Li Chi strained upward with a fierce pull. *Snap!* The chain went taut, and the black iron saber dropped back down.

Li Chi was also falling, but using the force of that pull, his body briefly paused in mid-air for just a single instant.

Only that one instant — the black iron saber surpassed him and continued its descent.

Li Chi kicked the hilt of the black iron saber. The saber became a streak of black light, shooting swiftly toward Yuan Jianli.

Yuan Jianli still had his head tilted back watching. The saber came with startling speed — yet he gave a disdainful snort.

Just as the black iron saber was about to reach Yuan Jianli, he gripped his sword again with both hands and cleaved down.

“Let me see you get out of this one!”

He brought the slash down.

But just as Yuan Jianli’s sword was about to strike the black iron saber, Li Chi bit down and wrenched the chain — the black iron saber jolted to a halt in mid-air, and Yuan Jianli’s slash cut through empty air.

When a person commits that fully to a strike and then hits nothing — the consequences are easy enough to imagine.

His body lurched involuntarily forward, the force he’d expelled carrying him stumbling ahead.

Li Chi whipped the chain outward, and after it snapped straight, it flew like a hurled iron spear.

In that state of stumbling dishevelment, Yuan Jianli still managed a diagonal sweep of his sword, severing the chain.

His body still pitched forward, and with no further force to stabilize himself, he had no choice but to plant one hand on the ground, using that to vault forward.

The posture was hardly graceful — but he used that push off the ground to flip his body forward and recover from the near-fall.

He landed. And found a fist directly before his eyes.

“The arrogance — what good did it do you?!”

Li Chi, with a thunderous shout, drove a punch straight toward Yuan Jianli’s face.

In that moment, Yuan Jianli’s eyes went wide in an instant. He had barely steadied himself, and that fist was already upon him.

Without a heartbeat’s hesitation, he jerked his head to the side. Li Chi’s punch grazed past his ear.

The rushing wind from the blow poured directly into Yuan Jianli’s ear.

In all his years, this was the first time — the very first time — Yuan Jianli had nearly been killed by a single punch…

He could naturally feel how ferocious that punch was, and he naturally knew what would happen to someone whose face received it full-on.

His strength was unquestionable — yet he found himself confronted by an opponent who was better at fighting.

Combat was never solely a matter of martial technique. There was combat experience. There was combat intelligence.

Li Chi’s fist had grazed past Yuan Jianli’s ear. That ear immediately flared with a ripping, tearing pain.

Yuan Jianli’s gaze went cold. His left hand thrust forward, palm driving toward Li Chi’s heart.

Li Chi, with his punch thrown and missed, shifted his technique in an instant — his elbow dropped sharply downward in a vicious strike.

*Boom! Boom…*

Two dull impacts, overlapping.

A breath later, Li Chi went flying backward, his heart struck by the full force of the palm.

And simultaneously, Yuan Jianli took Li Chi’s elbow squarely to the back of his neck and pitched forward, sprawling face-down on the ground.

Then came another *boom* — Li Chi’s back slammed into the courtyard wall across the way, punching clean through it. Bricks and rubble rained down, and Li Chi crashed through into the courtyard on the other side.

And sprawled on the ground, Yuan Jianli’s skull rang and buzzed. His first instinct was to rise at once — but through the searing pain, his neck felt as though it had snapped. His head was impossibly heavy. He could not move.

There was a crashing, clattering sound as Li Chi forced himself up from beneath the broken bricks, coughing violently — coughing and spitting blood with each heave.

Yuan Jianli lay there for several more breaths before his mind returned to him. He pressed both hands to the ground and pushed himself up — but still swayed and staggered.

Then he saw: the man behind the mask, blood streaming beneath it, rising to his feet with a brick in hand.

“A brick?”

Yuan Jianli’s eyes narrowed.

Li Chi gritted his teeth, powered through his feet, and charged forward. Yuan Jianli saw his longsword lying not far away, and kicked it — the sword spun through the air, slashing toward Li Chi in a rapid rotation.

The blade wheeled through the air at tremendous speed, like a spinning pinwheel hurled outward.

Li Chi was still charging. Seeing the blade flying at him, he angled his body and dove aside.

The rapidly spinning longsword swept across Li Chi’s shoulder… *scratch* — the fabric over his shoulder was sliced away, and the jade armor beneath threw off a shower of sparks from the blade’s edge.

And in that moment, the brick came hurtling through the air.

*Smack!*

It connected — squarely with Yuan Jianli’s face — then slid away.

From Yuan Jianli’s nose, blood came gushing. He swayed several times and toppled backward.

Li Chi struggled to his feet. Through the searing pain, he could no longer stand straight.

He looked at the proud man lying on his back on the ground and gave a quiet, contemptuous sound. “What’s wrong with a brick?”

He was panting in great heaving gulps, wanting to go finish the job, but there was simply no strength left — not even enough to walk over there.

“I… *cough, cough* — until I was eight years old, I never lost a fight. And it was all thanks to bricks.”

Li Chi drew in deep breaths to recover, then began stepping forward — coughing with every pace, blood welling from his lips with every cough.

But just then, disciples of the Holy Blade Sect came rushing out from the inn.

They had not dared to approach before. While Yuan Jianli fought, there was nothing they could do but watch.

And even if they could have done something, they would not have dared — because Yuan Jianli’s pride did not permit others to interfere when he was engaged in combat.

It had happened before. Once, while Yuan Jianli was battling a formidable opponent, a fellow sect member had attempted to attack the opponent from behind.

Though the hidden weapon struck and wounded the target, Yuan Jianli wanted no part of that gratitude. Upon returning, he crippled that sect member’s martial arts, turning him into a broken husk.

Now, seeing Yuan Jianli lying motionless on the ground, how could the Holy Blade Sect’s people remain still? They came rushing out en masse.

Li Chi stood hunched in place. Ahead of him, Holy Blade Sect disciples surged forward with battle cries.

*Pfft* — an iron skewer came flying, piercing the throat of the sect disciple closest to Li Chi.

Two Tingwei Army senior officers — Zaoyun Jian and Yu Hongyi — dropped down on Li Chi’s left and right simultaneously, and both reached out to support him.

When Li Chi and Yuan Jianli had been fighting, the Tingwei Army soldiers had long since followed, but they too could not intervene. Had they rushed in recklessly, they would not only have been unable to help, but might have harmed Prince Ning in the process.

Now, seeing both combatants gravely wounded and unable to hold on, both sides’ people had fully emerged.

The Holy Blade Sect disciples, buoyed by their numbers, paused for only a moment before surging forward again with redoubled force.

Two longswords appeared — one on the left, one on the right — their blade-light flashing like lightning.

The Holy Blade Sect disciples pressing closest had their throats sliced clean through by the sword-light. Still carrying the momentum of their charge, they ran two more steps before crumpling to the ground.

Old Zhang Zhenren and Little Zhang Zhenren, one sword each, stood blocking in front of Li Chi.

“Move.”

Li Chi’s voice was faint, but brooked no refusal. “Watch for someone exploiting the chaos from behind… move fast… remember to pick up my saber.”

Zaoyun Jian and Yu Hongyi exchanged a glance, then swept Li Chi backward through the air in rapid retreat. Old Zhang Zhenren and Little Zhang Zhenren did not linger either — they drove the Holy Blade Sect disciples back, retrieved Li Chi’s black iron saber, and followed after.

The Holy Blade Sect disciples dared not pursue for the moment, and hurried instead to carry Yuan Jianli back to the inn.

“Do not return to the inn. Find somewhere to hide, now.”

Yuan Jianli said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Bring the Master’s sacred saber. If Gan Daode learns I am wounded, he will come to kill me.”

His subordinates dared not delay. The whole group protected Yuan Jianli and ran, not certain yet where they were headed — the only thing was to leave the inn first.

Meanwhile, as Li Chi’s group was retreating, they ran into Gui Yuanshu and the others rushing over.

“Let them go — don’t let them see us.”

Li Chi’s words came in a quick, urgent murmur. Little Zhang Zhenren immediately raised a hand toward Gui Yuanshu and waved.

Gui Yuanshu understood Li Chi’s meaning in an instant. With a sweep of his hand, he led his people turning into a narrow alley.

The group had barely left when the main road filled with the sound of thundering hoofbeats — countless cavalry came galloping from a distance, hoofbeats dense as rolling thunder.

Gui Yuanshu and the others watched from their hiding place in the alley. Torches whooshed past at the alley entrance — testament to how fast the cavalry were moving.

Gui Yuanshu could see them clearly. The two riding at the very front were two of Gan Daode’s Five Tiger Generals.

One was named Chou Yi. The other was Liao Fanhua.

These two were highly valued by Gan Daode, and their fearsome reputations spread far and wide. Massacring villages and exterminating strongholds — of all Gan Daode’s people, these two had done it most.

Of those Five Tiger Generals of Gan Daode’s, which one was not savagely brutal? Where their troops passed, any resistance — man, woman, elderly, young — was put to the sword without exception.

Zaoyun Jian’s group rushed back to their lodgings in great haste. By then, Gao Xining had long since been unable to sit still and was pacing back and forth across the courtyard.

Seeing the others return, Gao Xining immediately rushed over.

Seeing Li Chi being supported back by others, Gao Xining’s eyes instantly reddened.

“My injuries aren’t serious — prepare wound medicine, something to stabilize the qi and blood… and prepare strong spirits, the strongest available.”

Li Chi spoke quickly — he was afraid Gao Xining would worry too much.

In short order, everything Li Chi had asked for was prepared and brought into the main hall.

Li Chi sat in a chair, breathing hard. “Help me remove my clothes. Flush the wounds with the spirits, then apply the medicine.”

Zaoyun Jian and Yu Hongyi moved swiftly and very carefully, helping Li Chi out of his outer garments.

What they revealed: Li Chi’s chest guard was shattered. Even the jade armor beneath the chest guard had cracked in one place.

It was clear that the blows Li Chi had sustained were even more ferocious than those he had suffered when Dantai Qi had pressed him so hard before.

Despite wearing jade armor, the intensity of this battle had left Li Chi’s body scraped and abraded in far too many places.

The two of them flushed Li Chi’s wounds with the spirits. The corners of Li Chi’s mouth twitched continuously — silent testament to how much pain he was enduring.

That pain, in truth, did not come primarily from the external wounds.

Li Chi’s face was deathly pale. He suddenly looked toward Gao Xining, who was tense with worry. “Turn away.”

Gao Xining immediately turned. She knew what was happening with Li Chi, but she listened.

Li Chi coughed up a mouthful of blood, then raised his hand and wiped the corner of his mouth. “It’s fine now.”

He signaled with his eyes. Zaoyun Jian immediately kicked Li Chi’s discarded outer garment sideways, covering the blood just coughed up.

“Internal injury medicine.”

Li Chi looked toward Gao Xining — he did not look toward anyone else, because he knew that in this moment, he needed to give Gao Xining something to do for him.

She had already been holding the medicine. She fed it to him immediately.

After quite some time, Li Chi let out a long, heavy exhale, leaned back slightly, and settled into the chair. He looked as though he had truly spent every last reserve of his strength.

“That hurt like hell…”

He suddenly broke into a grin. “That fellow over there is probably thinking the same thing.”

—

Somewhere within Wulai City, in a civilian dwelling.

Yuan Jianli lay on a kang — a rough earthen sleeping platform he would never ordinarily have touched — his breathing somewhat labored.

He did not have Li Chi’s advantages. There was no woman beside him such as Gao Xining. No brothers such as Yu Jiuling and the rest.

So it turned out…

The pain of being beaten and wounded by another person — it hurt like this.

Yuan Jianli drew a long, deep breath.

To have been so thoroughly battered… by that man.

—