“Son, the Zheng family blade technique has only one essential principle.”

“What is it?”

“Speed!”

“Speed?”

“In all martial arts under heaven, only speed is unbreakable. When the Zheng family blade falls, it’s a hundred times, a thousand times faster than others’.”

“Father, what’s the benefit of speed?”

“When someone else’s blade has just come at you, your blade can already take off their head. That’s speed.”

“How can I achieve speed?”

“Practice drawing the blade every day. Keep drawing, keep practicing, and you’ll become fast!”

“But this blade is too heavy. I can’t lift it.”

“That’s what kung fu is—painstaking effort. There are no shortcuts. Only when your fundamentals are solid can you pursue speed.”

For several years at Haitang Court, he practiced fundamentals every day.

After becoming Third Master Xie, he still practiced fundamentals.

They say ten years to sharpen a sword—he spent ten years perfecting one blade stroke.

Before this blade was unleashed, he had rehearsed it in his mind a thousand times, ten thousand times…

As Xie Zhifei felt the exhilaration, he also went mad with killing, like a blood-stained Asura emerging from hell.

Gods who blocked him—he killed gods. Buddhas who blocked him—he killed Buddhas.

When Zhang Kui and Zhu Qing arrived, they saw this scene.

The General and Third Master stood back to back, one wielding a sword, one a blade. Both bleeding, surrounded by black-clad men, fighting desperately for their lives.

Zhang Kui and Zhu Qing’s eyes grew hot as they charged into the killing circle.

Seeing the situation, the black-clad men knew the tide had turned against them.

All simultaneously executed killing strikes. Taking advantage of their opponents’ lack of reaction, they vanished into the darkness at extreme speed.

Bu Liu could no longer hold on. His sword loosened, and he fell backward.

“Boss!”

“General Bu!”

“General Bu!”

Three faces appeared in his vision. Bu Liu slowly moved his eyes to look at Xie Zhifei.

The first time he went to battle, wanting only to preserve his life, he used a little trick—burrowing into a pile of corpses.

That battle was exceptionally brutal. In the end, General Zheng entered with his blade.

Through a small gap, he watched General Zheng’s blade rise and fall, cutting down enemy after enemy.

At the most critical moment, General Zheng swung his great blade in a killing strike.

He hadn’t even seen clearly how this blade move was executed—he only saw the General flick the blade upward, and the enemy’s head rolled before him.

The Zheng family blade technique was extremely simple—only twelve moves.

The old General hadn’t kept the first ten moves secret—every son of the Zheng family army knew them.

The last two moves, the old General saved as his ultimate techniques, passed down only to Zheng family members.

That blade strike—the old General had used his ultimate skill.

Today, this Xie Zhifei kid had also flicked his blade upward, and the head fell to the ground.

Exactly the same!

But all the Zheng family members were dead, completely dead. Not even a dog survived.

There was indeed a Zheng Huaizuo at Haitang Court.

Zheng Huaizuo indeed couldn’t leave the courtyard.

He climbed the wall every day to throw stones at Xie Zhifei—could he also have been teaching him one blade technique per day?

He was lying!

Why was he lying?

Who exactly was he?

A wave of immense grief struck him. Bu Liu could no longer hold on and passed out.

“Boss, Boss!”

“Stop shouting. General Zheng just lost too much blood and fainted.”

Xie Zhifei’s vision was also growing increasingly blurred. He was barely holding on through sheer will.

“Zhang Kui, you have two choices before you now. Pick one.”

Zhang Kui: “Huh?”

Xie Zhifei: “One is to return to the capital with me and find the best imperial physician to treat your boss. Two is you take him back to the military camp to find a military doctor.”

Was there even a choice?

How could a military doctor compare to an imperial physician!

Zhang Kui gritted his teeth. “Return to the capital.”

Xie Zhifei grabbed Zhu Qing’s arm and used his last bit of clarity to instruct: “Go, go to the villa. Invite both father and son from the Pei family.”

“Third Master, Third Master?”

…

“Useless fools!”

The Prince of Han’s slap landed. The shadow guards quickly knelt.

The leader boldly said: “Your Highness, that Xie Zhifei isn’t some third-rate fighter at all. With one blade stroke, he took off one of our brothers’ heads.”

The Prince of Han’s entire body shook.

The Prince of Han’s shadow guards were all promising candidates he had personally selected from the military, then trained for another ten or eight years before they could graduate.

That short-lived Xie Zhifei had actually…

The Prince of Han turned to look at Dong Xiao.

Dong Xiao said seriously: “If even a minor Xie Zhifei hides this deeply, what about the others? Your Highness, we’ve been too complacent.”

In an instant, the Prince of Han felt cold sweat streaming down his back.

No wonder that cripple never fought or grabbed for anything, looking resigned to fate—turns out he was working everything in the shadows!

Damn it!

“Boren, what should we do next?”

“Your Highness, stay calm.”

Dong Xiao thought for a moment and said slowly: “First clean up this matter’s traces so no one grows suspicious, then make plans.”

The Prince of Han looked at the people on the ground and said sternly: “Is it clean?”

“Reporting to Your Highness, before the operation, everything was done according to old rules. They won’t be able to find anything from that corpse.”

“You may leave!”

“Yes!”

After they left, the Prince of Han said with some concern: “Boren, will they make trouble before His Majesty?”

“No harm if they do. One Xie San, one Bu Liu—who were the assassins really targeting?”

Dong Xiao sneered coldly. “If targeting Xie San—Your Highness is an elder, Xie San is a junior, completely unrelated. If targeting Bu Liu—Your Highness and Bu Liu have always kept to themselves.”

“You’re right.”

“In my view, the bigger the trouble, the better.”

“Why?”

“Bu Liu is so severely injured—can he be cured? Even if cured, can he return to the battlefield? Even if he can return to battle, will His Majesty still send him to lead the charge?”

Dong Xiao shifted his tone. “If not, what happens to the Bu family army?”

“Brilliant!”

The Prince of Han’s whole body perked up.

…

The next day.

Noon.

Xie Zhifei’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

Zhu Qing, who was keeping watch beside him, heard the movement and quickly leaned over. “Master’s awake?”

Xie Zhifei pointed to his throat.

Zhu Qing quickly fed him the warm tea prepared beside him.

After finishing a cup of tea, Xie Zhifei threw off the covers to look at his body, so angry he couldn’t speak.

“Master has seven wounds. The sword wound on your thigh was extremely dangerous. Imperial Physician Pei said if it had been half an inch off, it would have damaged the tendons.”

“What about Bu Liu?”

Xie Zhifei asked weakly: “How is he?”

Zhu Qing: “His injuries are worse than yours. The wound on his lower abdomen took Imperial Physician Pei quite some effort. The sword thrust to his right shoulder was also deep.”

Xie Zhifei: “Quick, help me go see him.”

“Master, General Bu has already returned to the military camp.”

“What?”

Xie Zhifei was shocked.

So severely injured, and he left?

“Before leaving, the General left a message for you.”

“Speak!”

“General Bu said to ask you not to make this matter public. He’ll investigate who these black-clad men were himself.”

“So…”

Xie Zhifei gasped several times sharply: “Those black-clad men were coming for him?”

Zhu Qing: “General Bu didn’t say.”

Xie Zhifei: “Did he say why he doesn’t want it made public?”

“He did!”

Zhu Qing looked at the master’s expression: “He said he still wants to follow His Majesty into battle for a few more years.”