Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

”Otherwise, she would have likely been the first person in history to master the entirety of the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records.”

”...Sir, you’ve got to be exaggerating, right?”

Jiang Ran blinked. ”Who in this world could possibly have that kind of talent? Besides, I heard there’s a technique in the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records that women absolutely cannot practice. If they do, it’s certain death.”

”There’s a technique like that?”

The old man looked at Jiang Ran, a hint of confusion on his face.

Jiang Ran nodded repeatedly.

”Who’s from the Demon Sect here, you or me? How do you know more about it than I do?”

The old man grumbled, a little displeased.

Jiang Ran was stunned.

”You don’t mean to say you don’t know what techniques are in the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records, do you?”

”I couldn’t be bothered to remember.”

The old man shot Jiang Ran a look.

”Are you going to keep listening or not?”

”I’m listening, I’m listening!”

Jiang Ran nodded hastily.

The old man hummed and hawed for a good while before finally continuing.

”In short, her talent was one of a kind, unmatched under the heavens.”

”Then, one day, she went out to clear her head and caught the eye of that unlucky kid...”

”And what was that unlucky kid practicing? The Nine Shocking God Sabers.”

”Once known as the greatest saber art in the world.”

”Even today, there are some moves in it that I still can’t fully counter. It truly is formidable.”

”...You’re getting off topic.”

Jiang Ran reminded him in a low voice.

The old man nodded.

”Right, right. So that unlucky kid met our Saintess. It was like dry tinder and a spark... they nearly bashed each other’s brains out!”

”???”

’When he said it was like dry tinder and a spark, I thought they’d fallen into a passionate affair at first sight.’

’Turns out they just fought?’

Seeming to notice the confusion on Jiang Ran’s face, the old man sighed.

”Back then, that bastard got lucky and learned the Nine Shocking God Sabers. His head was full of that ’upholding justice’ bullshit.”

”He didn’t give a damn about our peerlessly beautiful Saintess.”

”And after finding out her identity as the Saintess, he was even more determined to rid the martial world of a ’menace’.”

”Mm, that’s how a man of the righteous path should be.”

Jiang Ran smiled and nodded, showing his approval.

The old man shot Jiang Ran a look, seemingly too lazy to argue with him.

”Later, as they kept fighting, a sort of friendship blossomed between them.”

”It was mainly the Saintess who developed a bit of a fondness for him. They were both young, after all.”

”We were happy to see it happen. If the heir to the Nine Shocking God Sabers joined us, it would only boost our prestige!”

”But in the end, he refused.”

”He charged over here with that big saber of his, fought his way in and out, and killed who knows how many of our people.”

”The Saintess was furious, and she completely gave up on him.”

”Finally, the kid left... and in a fit of anger, the Saintess married someone else.”

”Heh heh, two kids in three years!”

”And so, that ill-fated romance came to an end.”

He looked quite pleased with himself as he said this.

As Jiang Ran listened, he felt the story wasn’t that simple.

’Even if the old drunkard was unwilling, why would he risk attacking the Demon Sect’s headquarters? It doesn’t add up. Someone must have been stirring up trouble from behind the scenes.’

’And I’m afraid the one stirring up trouble was this old man right in front of me.’

’No wonder the old drunkard drinks himself into a stupor every day. Could it be because of this?’

’Besides, they were enemies back then, so why are they friends now?’

’There must be another twist to this story.’

Of course, Jiang Ran didn’t completely trust the old man’s words either.

The man looked old, but he was disrespectful. Moreover, he was a remnant of the Demon Sect, so it was hard to tell if his words were true or false.

’He might just be deceiving me.’

Just then, the old man smacked his lips.

”Alright, that’s as far as their relationship went. That old bastard you mentioned was the man our former Saintess once admired.”

”But if what you’re saying is true, shouldn’t there be nothing but hatred between you?”

Jiang Ran glanced at him.

”Then why are you still here, helping him deliver a token?”

”Who said I’m here to help him deliver a token?”

”You just said...”

”Oh, that’s just incidental.”

The old man said with a smile.

”I have other reasons for staying here.”

”What reasons?”

”I’m not telling you.”

After speaking, the old man smiled and began to scrutinize Jiang Ran.

His pair of cloudy old eyes swiveled about, looking as if they wanted to leap out of their sockets and attach themselves to Jiang Ran’s body.

Jiang Ran’s brows furrowed slightly. He felt that there was something wrong with that gaze.

He immediately circulated his internal art. As expected, the old man cried out in surprise. His body trembled slightly, and Jiang Ran—though he couldn’t be sure he wasn’t mistaken—felt that for a split second, the old man’s figure had seemed to fade.

The next moment, the old man’s irritated voice was heard:

”It really is a technique from those long-nosed Taoists!”

”Why did that unlucky bastard teach you this?”

Jiang Ran didn’t answer either question. Instead, he asked:

”Is the Tang family part of your Demon Sect too?”

”Isn’t that a question you already have the answer to?”

Jiang Ran spoke coldly.

”What exactly did they do to me?”

”Do to you?”

Upon hearing this, the old man suddenly dropped his playful facade.

The playful look in his cloudy eyes vanished.

All that remained was a ghastly coldness.

Jiang Ran faced him in silence. Their formless auras spread out, and faint, crisp crackling sounds could be heard from the empty air.

The calm surface of the small river began to churn. Now and then, a fish would float to the surface, its white belly showing. They were dying for no apparent reason.

And just then, something happened that even Jiang Ran didn’t expect.

The old man before him began to turn ethereal.

In the blink of an eye, a living person had vanished from right under his nose.

’What kind of martial art is this?’ a chill crept into Jiang Ran’s heart. ’Are the Demon Sect’s methods really so bizarre? Is it a power of invisibility and escape?’

Then he heard a voice coming from all directions—it was the old man.

”Young people are so hot-tempered. This old man isn’t going to go into detail with you.”

”Sigh, you look pitiful, so I’ll tell you one last thing.”

”Your master went to Jinyang Prefecture. If you want to find him, you should look for him there.”

”Alright, look after yourself. Don’t let... all that bitter suffering... go to waste...”

Jiang Ran blinked.

”But you said you wouldn’t tell me.”