Martial Cultivator

At the foot of the mountain, a young martial artist stood with his saber hanging at his side. A clear breeze lifted his temples and stirred his black robe.

Fluttering in the wind.

On the mountain path, the disciples guarding the mountain crowded together. But no one dared to say anything, let alone approach. After all, just now, two of their fellow disciples had said a couple of dirty words, and now they were already lying on the mountain path over there.

They were not dead, just that each of them had lost an arm.

This young martial artist before them was ruthless and said little. When he started fighting, he truly showed no mercy at all.

Speaking of which, it was strange. In this world, even when cultivators walked among mortals, they would generally follow the principle of showing mercy, so as to meet again without hostility.

But someone like the man in front of them, standing at the foot of someone else’s mountain gate, committing violence, there really were not many like that. It was undoubtedly rubbing someone’s face into the dirt.

In all the years Windspirit Mountain had stood in the world, who had dared to provoke them so openly?

Yet the man before them had not only provoked them, he had done so without leaving them any fault to grasp. After all, it was their side’s disciples who had first opened their mouths to insult him.

Also, seeing that he was just a martial artist, they could not help but mock him a few times. That habit really needed to be changed.

Moreover, this young martial artist before them truly was not one to be trifled with.

The young martial artist waited for about half a stick of incense’s time. He was starting to lose his patience, so he opened his mouth and said, ”Still no news? Then I’m going up the mountain.”

Hearing these words, the cultivators on the mountain path were all terrified. Hear hear, what kind of words were those? Talking about barging onto the mountain just like that. They were not afraid this young man did not know restraint, quite the opposite, they feared exactly that he acted without any fear at all.

If he said he was going up the mountain, he really would go up the mountain. If he killed someone or did anything else, how were they supposed to respond?

And once he forced his way up the mountain, that basically meant both sides had already torn all pretense aside. At that point, even if Windspirit Mountain wanted to smooth things over, they probably would not be able to save face.

And were these great sects not all about saving face in the end?

Hence just as the young martial artist was about to go up the mountain, a cultivator forced himself to step forward and urged the young martial artist to wait a bit longer.

However, this time his tone was much more gentle, no longer as aggressive as before, and he did not dare be aggressive either.

He was all friendliness and smiles.

The young martial artist looked at the cultivator and said with a smile, ”Then I’ll wait another quarter of an hour. If there’s still no news, don’t blame me for having a bad temper.”

That person nodded, but his forehead was already covered in beads of sweat. He had thought through every possible place in the foreign lands, and still had not found where a person like this would come from.

But whether he could figure it out or not was one thing, calming this young martial artist was what mattered most right now.

So during the following quarter of an hour, the cultivators on this side felt like they were sitting on needles, with thorns stabbing their backs, as if bugs were crawling all over their bodies. Ṙ𝐚ℕȫ𝖇Ε𝓢

Not long after, several of them were already drenched in sweat.

And at this moment, finally, a high-ranking figure came walking from the mountain path.

”Greetings, Chief Enforcer.”

After seeing the newcomer, several people all let out a sigh of relief, then saluted one after another. With the Chief Enforcer present, anything could be discussed.

The Windspirit Mountain Chief Enforcer arrived at the foot of the mountain. Looking at the uninvited young martial artist, there was a trace of displeasure in his eyes. In the current situation, he did not want to see any more martial artists at all.

Just looking at him made his anger boil over.

Even so, he still held back his anger and asked, ”May I ask which immortal mountain did your esteemed self come from, and whom you’ve come to visit?”

The young martial artist looked at the Windspirit Mountain Chief Enforcer and said with a smile, ”Chief Enforcer? That’s not high enough. Tell your Mountain Lord to come down and meet this official!”

”You...”

The Chief Enforcer was just about to get angry, but then he noticed the last two words from that young martial artist.

This official?

That kind of self-address was not something just anyone could use.

Looking again at the young man before him, dressed in black and carrying a saber, the Chief Enforcer’s heart instantly tightened. This outfit, fucking hell, could it be that person?

When the Chief Enforcer spoke again, he asked cautiously, ”Your esteemed self... Your Excellency is...?”

The young martial artist smiled and said, ”This official is Chen Chao, Lord Warden Commander of Great Liang.”

A casually spoken sentence, yet it was like a stone thrown into a lake, stirring up a thousand waves.

The name Chen Chao was currently was like a man-eating tiger in the foreign lands; ready to pounce at any time. Who could hear it and not feel uneasy?

One must know, ever since this newly appointed Lord Warden Commander took office, he had already killed quite a few people. Not long ago, he had even wiped out the two great sects, the Glaze Temple and Green Algae Sect, one after the other.

Even more terrifying than that, was that after he destroyed these two sects closely tied to Infatuation Daoist Temple, Infatuation Daoist Temple had unprecedentedly remained silent.

Though previously a daoist from the Infatuation Daoist Temple had gone to the Divine Capital to provoke them and been killed, could that possibly compare to what happened afterward? Can this level of importance even be compared?

But since even Infatuation Daoist Temple chose to let the matter rest, then what did Windspirit Mountain amount to in front of this young Lord Warden Commander?

Still, this god of slaughter had no grudge or feud with Windspirit Mountain, so why had he come all of a sudden today?

“This official wants to go up the mountain. Is your Mountain Lord not going to come greet this official in person?”

Chen Chao did not give the Chief Enforcer much time to think. He spoke plainly, though whether it counted as aggressive was another matter.

But the Chief Enforcer was already terrified.

“Lord Warden Commander, our Mountain Lord is gravely ill. I’m afraid he cannot come down the mountain to receive you.”

The Chief Enforcer spoke slowly, trying to soften his tone as much as possible. He did not dare anger this god of slaughter. If a massacre broke out, never mind whether someone on the mountain could stop him, even if they could, what then?

If they killed this young Lord Warden Commander of the Great Liang Dynasty, they would surely invite a terrifying retaliation from the behemoth that was the Great Liang Dynasty. Now that even the Infatuation Daoist Temple did not dare to do anything, what did the Windspirit Mountain have to stand against it?

So the only thing they wanted now was for this young Lord Warden Commander to get as far away from Windspirit Mountain as possible.

But he had already come.

Chen Chao nodded. “Since that’s the case, this official won’t make things difficult. Then let Mr Chen come down to receive me.”

”Mr Chen?”

The Chief Enforcer’s heart clenched. Though he already had a bad feeling, he still hoped he was wrong. If this young Lord Warden Commander truly knew Chen Wannian, then today’s situation would be even harder to handle.

Chen Chao smiled. “How many cultivators surnamed Chen do you have on your mountain?”

The Chief Enforcer gave an awkward smile. Truth be told, there were quite a few people surnamed Chen. Although the imperial surname of the Great Liang Dynasty was also Chen, firstly, the court never enforced any naming taboos on the common people. Secondly, all the people on Windspirit Mountain were cultivators, none of them cared about such things.

“May I ask Lord Warden Commander to clarify which one you mean?”

By now, the Chief Enforcer was drenched in sweat.

But Chen Chao did not bother beating around the bush. He said bluntly, “This official is somewhat acquainted with Chen Wannian, Mr Chen.”

Hearing that, the Chief Enforcer felt his heart leap into his throat.

As expected, the one thing he had most hoped would not happen, still happened.

Chen Chao smiled and asked, “Chief Enforcer, is Mr Chen also not on the mountain?”

The Chief Enforcer was just about to go along with Chen Chao’s words, but Chen Chao continued before he could speak, “This official would advise Chief Enforcer to think carefully before answering. Otherwise, I’m afraid the consequences won’t be good.”

The Chief Enforcer gave another awkward smile. In the end, he did not dare lie to this young Lord Warden Commander. Bracing himself, he said, “Chen Wannian is indeed on the mountain, but he’s currently involved in a major matter and likely cannot come to receive you, Lord Warden Commander.”

Chen Chao let out a soft “oh,” as if he did not particularly mind, but then immediately followed up, “But what if this official insists that Mr Chen come?”

The Chief Enforcer said nothing.

Chen Chao smiled and said, “To speak frankly, Chief Enforcer, this official came to Windspirit Mountain solely for Mr Chen. If anything happens to Mr Chen or his family while they are on this mountain, then... this official will guarantee that the entire Windspirit Mountain... will know no peace.”