Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Shi Pingzhang frowned and studied Jiang Ran for a moment before shaking his head.

”So be it... It is the will of fate. What use is there in lamenting...”

Jiang Ran sighed.

”Shi Pingzhang, your martial arts are strange and unpredictable. Even with only one arm, there’s no guarantee you aren’t still a threat. I can’t leave someone like you alive.”

”If you don’t wish to suffer, I will ask you a few questions. Answer them truthfully, and I will grant you a quick death.”

Shi Pingzhang smiled upon hearing this.

”Ask away. I’m not doing this for a quick death—I’m simply curious what you want to know.”

Jiang Ran spoke quietly. ”How did you know the Jiaowei Zither was at Red Maple Manor?”

The people of the Heartless Ghost Mansion knew because of the traitor, Tong Wanli.

But Shi Pingzhang had no connection to Tong Wanli whatsoever. So how did he find out?

An idea was already forming in Jiang Ran’s mind... ’but I still need Shi Pingzhang to confirm it.’

And Shi Pingzhang seemed to have no intention of hiding anything.

”Have you ever heard of... Qi Tianyue!?”

”Qi Tianyue!?”

Huang Xuan’s expression darkened.

”The Celestial Palace?”

The members of the five great sword sects exchanged glances. Of course they had heard of Qi Tianyue, the Right Venerable of the Celestial Palace.

Jiang Ran looked pensive.

”How do you know Qi Tianyue?”

”...He saved me.”

Shi Pingzhang said faintly.

”Years ago, your five great sword sects joined forces with the Dao Yi Sect and cast me down from Broken Heart Rock.”

”Qi Tianyue found me at the bottom of Broken Heart Rock and saved my life.”

”However, a man like that never acts without a reason, so I was always wary of him.”

”I haven’t left Broken Heart Rock all these years simply because... the moment I did... your so-called Righteous Path of the Martial World would surely swarm me.”

”With the Mujin Zither, I might not have feared the Dao Yi Sect and the five great sword sects.”

”But across the whole Golden Cicada Dynasty? That’s another story.”

”And what’s more, there’s Jade Building of the Li Country... I’ve never forgotten the ’favor’ of that palm strike from all those years ago.”

”Even now, the ones I’m truly concerned with are not your five great sword sects or the Dao Yi Sect.”

”It’s that untouchable number one expert of the Li Country... Jade Building!”

Huang Xuan and the others had complicated feelings.

They had cast Shi Pingzhang from Broken Heart Rock, assuming the old man must hate them to his very core.

They thought his return to the martial world was surely for the sake of revenge against them.

Yet, to their surprise, he spoke as if they weren’t even on his radar.

The feeling was a strange mix of relief and a burgeoning sense of indignation.

’But then again,’ they thought, ’Shi Pingzhang is a prisoner on death’s door. Why bother holding a grudge against a dying man?’

Just then, Jiang Ran spoke.

”And then? He wouldn’t have told you the Jiaowei Zither’s whereabouts for no reason.”

”...Indeed, he would not.”

Shi Pingzhang nodded.

”So, a while ago, I did something for him.”

”I helped him... injure someone.”

As he said this, Shi Pingzhang’s expression turned grim, and his voice held a slight tremble.

”Who was it?”

Jiang Ran asked urgently.

”I don’t know.”

But Shi Pingzhang shook his head.

”For one, I’m not from your Golden Cicada Dynasty...”

”And even if I were... I’ve been in seclusion for decades. How would I know what new masters have emerged in the martial world?”

”If I had known about you, for example... would I have been so overconfident? Would I have ended up in this state?”

Jiang Ran was left speechless, realizing the man had a point.

But Shi Pingzhang continued.

”Although I don’t know who that person was...”

”Their martial skill was unimaginably high.”

At this, he glanced at Jiang Ran.

”Even greater than yours!”

”That’s impossible!”

It wasn’t Jiang Ran who spoke, but Ye Jingshuang.

”Brother Jiang’s martial arts are peerless! How many in this world could possibly compare?”

Her words might have seemed arrogant, but everyone present today nodded in agreement.

Even Ruan Yuqing, who hadn’t had the best first impression of Jiang Ran, had to admit that his martial skill was truly profound.

’When my killing intent erupted and I lost control, he managed to subdue me without causing any serious harm, and even dispelled my murderous aura...’

The thought made her instinctively touch her nose and sneak a glare at Jiang Ran.

Shi Pingzhang didn’t argue with Ye Jingshuang, but simply continued speaking slowly.

”That person... he was alone.”

”Yet Qi Tianyue had gathered twenty-two of us, myself included.”

”I don’t know who the other twenty-one were.”

”But I’d wager not a single one of them was weaker than me.”

”And yet, after that battle... only three of the twenty-two of us were left.”

”We used every trick up our sleeves and sacrificed nineteen lives, only to land a single palm strike on him...”

”Qi Tianyue never wanted us to kill him in the first place.”

”Because we were completely incapable of it...”

As these words reached their ears, Huang Xuan and the others felt as if they were listening to a fairy tale.

A single expert like Shi Pingzhang was already a menace to the world. If twenty-two such masters were gathered, who under the heavens could possibly stand against them?

And yet, these twenty-two masters had failed to kill a single man.

’Who on earth could this person be?’

’When did such an expert appear within the borders of the Golden Cicada Dynasty?’

”That person... what did he look like?”

Jiang Ran’s voice broke the silence, snapping everyone back to reality. They couldn’t help but listen intently.

Shi Pingzhang gave a faint smile.

”The man... was dressed in black brocade, and he wore a ghost mask.”

”He seemed to have an eye affliction. His eyes were a pale white, exuding an air of cold detachment. It was as if he didn’t belong in the mortal world at all, but had been left behind by mistake, making him utterly out of step with everything around him.”

The Master of the Heartless Ghost Mansion!

Jiang Ran glanced at Ye Jingshuang.

Ye Jingshuang was looking back at him.

From Shi Pingzhang’s description, this man was undoubtedly the Master of the Heartless Ghost Mansion.

His attire and even his eyes were identical to the description of the mansion’s master that Ye Jingshuang’s grandfather had given her years ago.

’If that’s the case, does it mean the Celestial Palace was behind the upheaval at the Heartless Ghost Mansion?’

’What could their goal possibly be?’

As thoughts churned in his mind, Jiang Ran suddenly looked toward the far end of the street. He then raised his saber and walked toward Shi Pingzhang.

”I’ll keep my promise. I’ll make it quick.”

”Good.”

Shi Pingzhang closed his eyes.

Jiang Ran raised the blade in his hand. Just as he was about to bring it down, a voice called out:

”Young Hero Jiang, stay your hand!”